#1. Liana Green

Liana Green was my high school advisor for many years and I would consider her a good friend and mentor to me. Liana is passionate about things that she likes to do. Two of her passions are music and rock climbing. She led the 

music program at school and played several instruments professionally. I participated in a few of her music classes and her rock climbing classes. I think she made me a better person and she always challenged me to be better. Liana helped me become who I am today by supporting me throughout high school and through tough times.

#4. Charlie Jabaley

Unlike the other three heroes I mentioned, Charlie is someone that I don't personally know but I still think he is an inspirational person. Charlie Jabaley spent most of his life pursuing his job and making money by creating a bus

iness in the music industry, but he was overweight. It started in high school until he reached his heaviest weight of 304 pounds. Charlie had a dream of becoming an athlete so at the age of 28, he quit his job and decided to become healthier. So far, he has lost 120 pounds. At the time of his quitting his job he also had a life threatening brain tumor. He now has a Nike sponsorship and has biked across the United States.

Leadership project.

For my hours as a community leader, I spent time working at the Rainier Valley Food Bank. My school, PSCS organized the project. Along with one teacher, we took a bus from the International District to the food bank. I spent most of the time unloading shipments of food that got delivered and putting everything away so it could be handed out later. The part that I really enjoyed was when I got to hand out the food (cans, produce etc.) to people. There is something really nice about handing food to people that need it. I would say that it was a much better experience because of the people that I met working and volunteering there. They are all amazing people with different experiences. I would highly recommend volunteering at a food bank if you can and I would also recommend going through a food bank simulation. What I mean by that is, you get a fake name and description. So, I got stickers for the amount and types of food that was allowed me. After going through the simulation, we talked about the experience, how we felt, if we had enough food for the week, and how the experience could be improved. The goal of this is to make the experience of entering a food bank, the best it can be.

#3. Duncan Moore

I meet Duncan through my school where I took some of his classes. He was also the one who led me down the path to finding one of my passions, scuba diving…Because of Duncan, I took a free introduction to scuba diving class. I admire Duncan because he spends time volunteering. In addition to volunteering at my old school, he volunteered to dive in the tank at the Seattle Aquarium. I think we share a lot in common and share some of the same values as each other.   

#5. Bill Nye

I remember as a kid always watching Bill Nye, “the science guy” and being fascinated by the show. I see now how corny it was, but that was not really the point. It got me interested in science and interesting things. As a kid

, I preferred to watch science shows over Cartoon Network.  Now that I am older, I appreciate a whole different side to him. These days he is focusing on helping the greater community and trying to educate the older generation about real problems in our world and trying to save it. Bill could have retired long ago, but he keeps educating and teaching.

1.What are my goals upon having reached black belt for my future training and learning?

In the future, I hope to continue increasing my flexibility, confidence, and strength all of which martial arts has helped with but I always want to improve. I have always had problems with my flexibility, but I would like to get better at it. Confidence will come with age and experience and strength will come by doing more Martial Arts and other physical activities. I think the most honest answer for me is that I want to feel comfortable defending myself in a real situation. I am 18 years old and I am starting to travel by myself and live on my own. Hopefully I will never have to use my training, but if it comes to that then I want to feel like I can defend myself.

2. What kind of black belt will I be?

During my time in the Martial Arts studio, I strive to be a good leader. I enjoy helping other martial artists learn skills and techniques that I have learned. I especially like helping younger students. I want them to have fun, while improving their skills and confidence.

In addition to inside the Martial Arts studio, outside in the real world, I hope to be the kind of black belt that is respectful of other human beings.

#2. Andy Smallman

Andy Smallman was the director of the school that I went to for high school and I can honestly say that he is one of the people that has helped shape me for the person I am today. I am grateful to get to know him and continue to know him. He also taught some of my favorite classes over the years like Band of Brothers and Developmental Theory. One reason I really liked his classes was because of the way he taught it. Band of Brothers is a TV show about the 101st airborne division during WWII. Even though it is a TV show, it is very historically accurate and I know if I was just to have it taught to me, I wouldn't have understood it as well as I did.