At Nebraska Honors, we value the following:

Intellectual Curiosity: The exploration of topics or projects that requires engagement on a deeper level.
Diverse Perspectives and Experiences: Individual and/or varied life experience.
Meaningful Service to the Community: Sustained service and/or volunteer work that serves the public interest.

We are looking for students who share these values and exhibit them in their daily lives. Choose one of the three
values listed above. Using specific examples, A) demonstrate how you have lived this value in your own life and B)
describe what you would contribute to the Nebraska Honors community in relation to this value.

Keep in mind that we already have your transcript and resume, but feel free to expand upon a particular experience
from your resume if it is relevant to your response.

One of the greatest joys in my life is to entertain. To bring a smile to a person's face
whether I know them or not, to move them, to make them think, to have an impact on a person’s
life for a mere second or forever. I started acting as a freshman in high school and have since
been a devoted member of York High School’s one-act team, speech team, and musical
productions. What I do today as an actor requires serious time commitment, self discipline,
respect, and hard work; however, none of these values would be accomplished without heart. I
have always, in a way, acted. When I was young, it was putting on puppet shows for my parents
and siblings with stuffed animals from school field trips, trying to get my brother to laugh, or
spending hours creating intricate storylines for playing Barbies with my two sisters. As I got
older, it became always wanting to bring life to situations by telling over-the-top stories with
over-the-top characters, seeing if I can get my friends to roar with laughter. It was making a fool
of myself to get someone I have never talked to stop their tears. Today it is still a combination of
those things, but I am also now actually performing. Every time I walk on stage or in front of an
audience, I think back to those moments in my childhood, and I remember my sole purpose for
doing what I do: to entertain. To me, entertainment means to transport a person to a different
time and place, to take a person away from whatever they might go home to at night, or whatever
they were thinking about prior to sitting in their audience seat. Entertainment gives a person the
option to be completely present in the moment for as long as I have their attention. In 2021, I
was cast in the role of Bonnie Parker in our One-Act show, Bonnie & Clyde. I put my heart and
soul into that character, because I knew how much her story could give to people. At the end of
the season, I received the award of NSAA Class B State Best Actress for this role, and my team
won the NSAA Class B State championship title for our production. Numerous times, I had
people come up to me and tell me that my performance changed their life. Even two years later, I
still have people tell me what that performance did to them. That is why I do what I do. In
character and out of character. I will take as big, or as little of a reaction that I can get, as long as
I am able to give something to the audience they can keep for themselves. One of the most
amazing takeaways as an actor is that I am able to use what I do to perform, but also to engage
with my peers and community. I have come to realize that acting is communicating. It is
communicating emotions, words, and actions. It is not just on the stage and screen, but
everywhere in our lives. I have earned over one hundred medals in one-act and speech combined,
but absolutely nothing will ever amount to the gift of applause from your audience and the
knowing you did your job. You brought something to the audience, and you made them feel. You
moved them. You changed them. That is the greatest gift of all. As a member of the Nebraska
Honors community, I would bring heart and help to my peers at UNL, the community of Lincoln,
and to the world. I would serve as an excellent example of the leadership, respect, and discipline
the Honors community strives to accomplish and represent.