It all started one day in my 5th-grade class. My teacher gave us a writing assignment as she always does every week. When she assigned an assignment, she always gave us an organizer to help us develop ideas on what to write. To be honest, I never enjoyed those writing assignments.

        One day in January of last year, however, something was different from all the other writing papers that I had done so far. Strangely enough, I was kind of looking forward to the writing project since the topic of the essay was refreshing and interesting to me. For the essay, my teacher told us to write about what we wanted to be when we get older. I was so excited because I already knew the answer to that question. Still now, my future goal is the same: I want to serve the State of Kansas as a senator.

         As always, the writing assignment came with an organizer that had many questions. One of those asked who my role model was, but I did not know how to answer that question. Surprisingly, my teacher noticed that I was struggling with that question. She suggested that I contact the office of state senator Tom Hawk and learn about what it was like to be a senator. I sent him an email with a few questions about what a senator does in office, how many years you could be in office, and how the Senate was formed. A week later, his office replied to my mom and asked if I wanted to page for Senator Tom Hawk. Of course, my answer was YES! I was so excited to go because I have never been to the capitol building before. I knew this was going to be the best experience in my life.

        A week later I arrived at the capitol building in Topeka and worked as Mr. Hawk’s page. It was a great learning experience. I had opportunities to go around the building and do errands for the other senators as well as observe what senators do for the State of Kansas. I really enjoyed going inside the courtroom and listening to what I would hopefully be doing in the next 20-25 years from now. From that day forward, I felt motivated to work as hard as I can until I achieve my dream.

        In about 25-30 years from now, I see myself at the capitol building in Topeka, Kansas. Many people dream about being someone great or doing something big at some point in their lives, but only a handful of them achieve their dream. I can just imagine how hard it will be to become an elected senator and how many failures I would experience before getting there. Luckily, I have learned a lot about disappointment through basketball.

        For the past three months (December – February), my basketball team (the Monarchs) practiced every Saturday and we had games every Sunday. Every game and every practice we improved our technique and communication, and so I thought we could win a majority of our games. It turns out that we were not good enough and we ended the season without winning a single game. Despite these losses, my coach and my team worked very hard and shocked our parents (as well as ourselves) at the final game by scoring 14 points. We still didn’t win that last game, but it was improvement! “Do not be afraid of greatness some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon em’” from William Shakespeare. Many great people like Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. went through things unimaginable, but they did not let those things bring them down and quit. I have already signed up for a basketball clinic to be prepared for the next season.

        I am imagining a beautiful future for Kansas, a place that is much more innovative and interesting than now. My family has traveled to many parts of the state for my older siblings’ extra-curricular activities. I am always thinking about how big Kansas is and how poor many small towns look like. Recently I did a research project with my classmates about a “future city” and learned how small and large cities across the globe are inventing their future through innovative technologies and ideas. Likewise, I would like to experiment with new technologies and ideas for Kansas’ future. We added many things to our “future city” like a hyper loop, air traffic, and mega towers. I think in the future of Kansas there will be these things and much more.

        I would like Kansas to be a fun place for families and tourists. For vacation, my family often goes to Colorado and I think I know why: there are not many interesting places to visit in Kansas. I am dreaming of many new attractions. My dad loves hiking and I would like to see beautiful hiking trails all over Kansas and many interesting things to do along the trails. One of the ideas that I had in mind was a petting zoo. All animals that don’t have a home would come here and live happily ever after. To get in the petting zoo, you wouldn’t have to pay to enter but we would accept donations. If one of our visitors would like one of our precious animals, it would be very simple.

         One day I would like to invite a 5th-grade girl from Amanda Arnold Elementary School to be my page and to give her an opportunity to learn what senators do at the capitol building in Topeka. I want to make the future something that everyone can look forward to. I don’t want the future to be the same as now, but I want it to be better than ever. We all can live in a better community but that will never happen if can’t make the right decisions at the right time. I want to make everyone proud of where they live now. We want to change Kansas and our community for the better to create a happier future for everyone.