Connie Konatsotis Scholarship

In the next four years of college, I will be studying Electrical Engineering and Computer Science with hopes of building my own startup. Through education, I aim to bridge the gap for minorities in technology. By being a female Pakistani engineer, I aim to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in all the work that I do and maintain creative freedom to build upon unique ideas by all. Coming from an immigrant Pakistani family, my parents have always taught me to give back to my underrepresented while reaching for the stars. They have raised me to be a woman that not only advocates for herself, but also for other fellow women and minorities. This embarked my first leadership position in my high school robotics team, where I was the only female to be promoted as the Director of Education. With this valuable opportunity, my biggest goal was to reduce the gender gap. After climbing up the ladder, I made it my duty to talk privately to female students and ask them what changes they would like to see in STEM-affiliated clubs. Many girls wanted to see more diversity in school flyers, and a more engaging curriculum for all. After implementing their changes, I helped make the robotics club a 50:50 gender ratio. I saw the visible impact I made on girls my age, girls who previously felt under confident in their abilities to excel in a male-dominated field. Under my wing, they became one of the best programmers and builders on their respective teams. Being a leader is not only helping others, but breaking social barriers and reminding fellow girls that “if I can do it, so can you”. Even after graduating from high school, I continue to be a mentor for my robotics girls. Through educating girls and minorities on robotics, I wanted to extend the impact outside of my school. A few friends and I became affiliated with a program that hosts hackathons nationwide for beginner girls in STEM. We fundraised almost $100,000 towards hosting coding events specifically geared to teach girls how to build their first website or mobile app. We hosted events featuring inspirational female speakers and mentors that high school girls could look up to for guidance and support. We got financial support from top organizations like the Elon Musk Foundation and the founders of top coding companies. While I’m studying towards my degree, I aim to be very involved on campus by taking leadership positions in clubs like the Society of Women Engineers and Girls Who Code. Whenever I join programming classes or clubs, I always feel like the odd one out, with only a handful of girls in my class that I can relate and feel comfortable around. During my time in college, I aim to focus on efforts that promote more diversity, equity, and inclusion for girls and minorities.

I have been drawing and painting for as long as I can remember because art is more than an interest; it is a talent, a creative outlet, and a form of expression. My art is inspired by my other passion, biological sciences, because I was immersed in science at a young age. Growing up, I admired the illustrations in my family’s collection of science and medical books, and I used specialized coloring books in anatomy, biology, zoology, and botany to practice drawing structures that intrigued me. I assisted my mother with preparing practical exams for her anatomy class by labeling models and preserved organs and flagging structures on cadavers. I also gained experience working with bacteria and human cells in her laboratory where I discovered that a microscope can be used to capture artistic images of biological structures. My involvement in STEAM activities, including advanced placement science courses and pre-college art programs, fueled my passion to further my art education in college in hopes to become an artist and art curator. This summer I have been using my art to encourage and support people diagnosed with breast cancer. When living with a terminal illness it’s easy to feel alone on your journey and lose sight of hope. Having battled depression and social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, I experienced loneliness both physically and emotionally. This led me to discover that despite this, I could use my art as a therapeutic coping mechanism and as a way to connect with people. Since terminal illnesses are prevalent in my family, it is important for me to stand by breast cancer patients the best way I know how: through my art. I am writing letters with words of encouragement and personalized drawings to uplift these women’s spirits and remind them of their resilience during such a difficult point in their life. Just like these letters, I will continue to create art that brightens people’s days regardless of their circumstance. Everyone lives a unique experience, but through art we can share our individual perspectives to connect with each other in a way that is deeper than what words can convey. My art is multifaceted ranging from drawing and painting to jewelry making and nail design. Through these mediums and many more, my goal is to impact the world as an artist who creates a wide variety of art that will inspire and enliven the masses. I also believe that one of the greatest ways to impact the world is by cultivating diversity, equity, and inclusion. Therefore, as an art curator I plan to showcase the works of marginalized artists including people of color, women and queer people in order to amplify their voices so that they no longer go unheard.

I was recently accepted to the UCLA undergraduate major in architecture. Previously regarded as more of an arts and humanities subject, my understanding is architecture is now included along with other subjects of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). My multicultural identity as a Chinese-Jewish American adoptee, and my experience growing up in a 600-square-foot apartment, have inspired my architectural views about space. I aspire to create innovative, multi-functional indoor-outdoor spaces that embrace diverse human needs. As a one-year-old, I was adopted from China by a single Jewish mom. During my childhood, I was encouraged by my mother to stay connected to both my cultures. I learned Mandarin, visited China, trained in Shaolin Martial Arts, and played the Chinese Erhu, a musical instrument with two strings and a bow between them. I also embraced my Jewish culture by attending a Yiddish preschool, celebrating Jewish holidays, and having a non-traditional bat mitzvah. Most importantly, I was taught to value social justice. As a child, I built a Sukkah, a temporary shelter used during the festival of Sukkot. I later gifted this structure to a homeless person. In 2020, at UC Berkeley's embARC summer program, I pitched a design to improve the living conditions of homeless people. I included longer park benches for sleeping and sculptures that can double as shade or shelter from the rain. Also, I interned at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum where I used art to educate people, including about Asian-American discrimination during the pandemic. As an international adoptee, I aim to become an architect who helps people feel welcome and accepted in their daily environment. My multicultural identity enables me to reimagine spaces to be more inclusive, accessible, and supportive of people with different needs and backgrounds. My experience living in small places, including an orphanage in China, a one-bedroom apartment in California, and a summer internship in Portugal also influenced my perspective on architecture. From a young age, I felt confined and wished to reconfigure the space around me. I imagined opening ceilings to the sky, incorporating floor-to-ceiling windows, and knocking down walls to invite nature inside. This past summer, as an intern at two separate architectural firms in Lisbon, Portugal, I learned how space can be reimagined using indoor-outdoor concepts and multi-functional design, while also preserving cultural and historical identity. During a construction site visit, I observed how optical illusions can defy spatial confinements. On a crowded city block, one apartment building was being converted into a four-story townhouse. The interior was small, yet it felt large. Each level had floor-to-ceiling glass that looked out onto separate tiered sections of the backyard, creating a relationship between the inside and the outside. While the interior was modernized, the historical building facade was preserved. I also participated in the conceptual development of a school playground and used AutoCAD to create a play structure made from recycled plastic that could be reconfigured into an outdoor classroom area. Having experienced life and architecture on three continents, I am aware most people live in crowded conditions and small spaces with low light and I hope to address these limitations through my architectural designs. The hands-on and theoretical Architecture program at UCLA, along with my prior architecture courses, diverse experiences, and multicultural perspective is preparing me for my dream of becoming a well-rounded architect and pursuing graduate studies. I seek to help others by designing and implementing living spaces that are multi-functional and improve people's lives.

I am a daughter, friend, and student. I currently attend Jackson County Early College as a senior. I can often be found reading a good historical fiction or suspense novel with a mug of hot chocolate. One of my favorite places to be is in the kitchen. I enjoy whipping up some fantastic desserts and pastries! I also spend time giving back by serving my community at food banks and nonprofit thrift stores. I have even had the privilege to spend some time in a free health clinic and interview a doctor on her daily schedule and duties. This summer, I will gain my C.N.A license to work with patients, gaining patient care experience. My career goal is to become a physician to provide crucial healthcare to individuals living in impoverished areas or who do not have access to proper healthcare. Many people die every day because they do not have the medical care to survive. I want to change that. I dream of fighting for the right to live in my career, traveling to unreached areas of the world, providing medical care, and sharing the gospel. The daily interaction I would have with various people of all age groups, ethnicities, and backgrounds excites me and would educate me on the different walks of life, something a textbook fails to do. My dream of becoming a doctor comes with a long road, yet I feel that I will be equipped to handle the journey because this is what I am meant to do, and with that belief, I can overcome any obstacle. I hope to specialize in pediatrics, as I have always felt I connect better with children than adults. I will be successful in becoming a doctor because it is my calling. Science encourages us to explore; never satisfied with unanswered questions. Technology calls us to invent and perfect, creating beautiful things that make life easier for others. Engineering is for the builders, the dreamers, always looking into the future and crafting the essentials and the ideas. Art makes the world burst with color, creating masterpieces of all shapes and forms, inspiring others, and impacting us profoundly. Mathematics is an unending puzzle that connects to all other aspects: art, science, technology, and engineering. STEAM holds something for everyone; we all have a role in this acronym. Through STEAM, we create a beautiful, diverse picture of how everyone contributes their knowledge; we make a wonderfully distinct and varied world, holding hope for everyone. We are united in our pursuit of STEAM fields, each lending to the other, building blocks of knowledge. Through the outreach of STEAM, individuals have the opportunity to make a lasting difference in the world.