Harry B. Anderson Scholarship

Hello, I am Dana Abbring. I am an introspective, intelligent, ambitious individual who works through God, my school, and community to make positive contributions to the world, doing everything with the intent to improve the lives of others (or improve my ability to improve the lives of others). I envision a future in which the lowly are lifted up and don't have to suffer, where we don't squander the Earth nor the limited time we have on it, and where we acknowledge all are loved. I can be quite stubborn in my pursuit of achievement and have never felt discouraged from trying something new, challenging my intellect, nor helping the world. Thus, I am determined to be a woman in STEM. With my mind for math, curiosity for science, and fascination with modern inventions and technological advancements, STEM piqued my interest and got me excited to be an engineer starting in elementary school. I have been inspired by Thomas Edison, Marie Curie, and Shark Tank entrepreneurs to be an inventor, and explored such instincts by participating in Camp Invention (a program sponsored by the National Inventors Hall of Fame to encourage innovative thinkers) during two summers and being a counselor for a third. Like Harry B Anderson, I love to travel with my family and have gone all over the United States. This past summer, I went to Europe for the first time; that opened my eyes to “normal” occurrences in America that, when viewed through an international lens, frame our United States as wasteful. Fast food chains serve plastic utensils, grocers bag 20 goods in 10 separate bags, and highways are littered. These are sad truths of my home country, and I want to change that through science, technology, engineering, and math. I plan to study materials engineering, which creates and studies materials, then utilizes and manipulates what currently exists in the world to make something new and meet a specific purpose. I believe this is the career that will allow me to pursue my passion to not waste the Earth, but instead invent something new (or apply something in a new way) to make a positive impact. I’m inspired by Harry B Anderson to use natural materials to create something homemade and sustainable. I love making do-it-yourself products that have a purpose and personal touch. In addition, I enjoy sharing what I know, and like Harry B Anderson I hope to spread my newfound chemical and material knowledge with the world so that others may make decisions that consider our limited resources and use them more efficiently and effectively. Inspired by great scientists, inventors, and people like Harry B Anderson, I aspire to become a materials engineer and use my career in the STEM field as a force for positive change in society. Thank you for the opportunity to alleviate monetary worries from the work required to pursue my dream.

Ever since I was a little girl I have been fascinated by the way the world works around me. Throughout school, I always found myself drawn towards my science and math classes in particular. I'm one of those people who would rather sit and solve 100 math problems than write one research essay. Growing up I had a lot of supportive people in my life who helped foster my passions. My mother in particular always believed in me. She always encouraged me to take difficult STEM based classes and would buy me books or rent me movies on the topics I found to be particularly interesting in my classes. The older I grew the more my passion for STEM grew. By my first year of middle school I was positive that I would end up with a STEM based career. Throughout high school I took my time to explore a lot of careers in fields that interested me. Junior year of high school I read up on biomedical engineering and I just felt something click. The field seemed truly perfect to me, I would be able to do a job that I was passionate about while also developing things to help others. My planned field of study is biomedical engineering. My dream job in this field would be to work with a company that makes artificial organs. A younger cousin of mine has been told that he will need a heart transplant when he is older. Discovering that led me down a rabbit hole of research surrounding organ donations and transplant lists and how people can spend their whole lives waiting for an organ that they will never receive. I would like to change that. My goal is to help make artificial organs more easily available to the public. I would like to develop artificial organs that are more affordable but still work well, because nobody deserves to spend their entire life hoping for something that they will never receive. Overall, pursuing a degree in STEM is something that I have always known I would end up doing. I have always found myself fascinated by different STEM based ideas. A STEM based career field would allow for the perfect mix of all of my passions, such as seeing how things work and helping others. Growing up I have always searched for a career that I would enjoy, and I think I have truly found that with biomedical engineering.