Hi, I am Peyton Thomas and I am 17 years old. When I was 15 turning 16, I got my first restaurant job. I fell in love with cooking and the environmental aspect of it. Starting to focus on working a lot, I found a new workplace called Rooster's Call. The owner gave me an opportunity that I won't say, but it will help me a ton later on in life. My goal in life is to be like her and own my own restaurant. I don't want to be the person that just owns the restaurant; I want to be involved in it and actually work with the people hired in. While working, I am enrolled in school at PCHS. I do men's volleyball (a program I helped start), am enrolled in Marching Band throughout soon to be all 4 years, jazz band for 5 years soon to be (including middle school), and live a lovely life with my family.

The program I am attending this summer is called NSLC Business and Entrepreneurship at Yale University. The National Student Leadership Conference provides an immersive pre-college experience that prepares students for life beyond middle and high school, allowing them to study in university classrooms, learn to navigate a campus, and experience living with roommates. Students are able to explore a career concentration they are interested in before going into college and declaring a major. Each NSLC program also contains a leadership curriculum designed to teach skills that can apply to all areas of life. This program will help me get my name out there in the business world as that's the best thing you can do. At the National Student Leadership Conference (NSLC) on Business & Entrepreneurship, high school students engage in realistic simulations that provide firsthand experience in starting, managing, and building a company. Collaborating with peers, participants tackle challenges from idea generation to securing financing and launching a business. By the end of the program, students gain practical insights into transforming ideas into viable business plans and delivering effective pitches to investors.

One other opportunity I was provided with was the college class they offer. The course will seek answers to some of the most pressing questions facing today's world. For example, what are the main challenges international businesses face when navigating the increasing patterns of global interdependence and trade? How are goods, people, and ideas moving around the world in new ways? If globalization goes beyond our borders, it underscores the fact that problems such as financial crises, conflicts, and environmental concerns are now experienced on a global scale, affecting countries, businesses, and communities. This class will be interdisciplinary in nature in order to reflect the challenges that international businesses and entrepreneurs face in today's globalized world. This class will therefore examine the intersection of globalization, economic development, political science, the environment, and gender issues. Through the use of videos, newspaper articles, and other media tools, we will uncover what it means for businesses and individuals to be globally oriented in today's world.

The overall cost of all of this is almost 7 grand. My parents have provided me with enough money to pay for the overall tuition, but there are things like flights there and back, the college class cost, essentials needed for the trip, etc. Donating will help me a ton and will invest in my future.