Otto Bear Memorial Scholarship

My interest in STEM began long before I ever stepped into a high school classroom. My mom homeschooled me through middle school and my freshman year, and during that time she shared her love for chemistry and mathematics with me. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, and her passion for science shaped the way I learned from a young age. Instead of focusing on memorizing facts, she taught me that I was capable of doing hard things—like pushing through a difficult algebra course that I wanted to give up on more than once. With her encouragement, I finished it, and the effort paid off. When I later entered Colfax High School, those challenging early lessons made higher-level math classes far easier to understand and succeed in. Those early years gave me a strong foundation in math and science that continues to influence my education today. That foundation has also shaped my future goals. Although I am not yet certain which specific STEM field I want to pursue, I know I want a science-based career. I am especially drawn to analytical chemistry, engineering, and physics—fields that rely on mathematics, critical thinking, and curiosity about how the world works. What matters most to me is using science to help others and make a meaningful impact. While I do not have every step of my path mapped out, I am committed to developing the skills that will allow me to contribute to something bigger than myself. That same desire to learn extends beyond the classroom. One of my biggest hobbies is reading, and I enjoy books of all kinds, from science and nonfiction to fantasy and romance. Whether I am exploring new ideas or simply enjoying a good story, reading has always been a source of both learning and relaxation. That love of learning also carries into my academic life, where I hold myself to a high standard because I genuinely enjoy challenging myself and mastering new concepts. Balancing Running Start college courses with high school has strengthened my discipline, time-management skills, and ability to stay focused on long-term goals. While academics are important to me, I also value serving the people around me. I served as an usher for the Tapestry Women's Choir, where I supported community events and welcomed attendees. My commitment to service further extends to music. Choir has been one of the most rewarding parts of my high school experience, and I was honored to receive the Director's Choice Award for my dedication to the program. What made choir so meaningful to me was the sense of connection it created. As our voices blended together, I experienced how a group of individuals could create something far greater than any one person could achieve alone. It showed me that even an individual voice can become part of something extraordinary when combined with the talents and efforts of others. Because choir has had such a positive impact on my life, I plan to serve as a teaching assistant for my choir director, Ms. Bopp, during my senior year. I look forward to helping younger students grow while giving back to a program that has given so much to me. As I continue my education, I hope to bring together my love of science, my dedication to learning, and my desire to help others. Whether I ultimately pursue chemistry, physics, engineering, or another STEM field, I want to use my skills and knowledge to create solutions that improve people's lives and make a positive impact on the world around me.

Long before I understood chemical equations or the scientific method, I was captivated by a simple question: How do we know what's true? Every summer, I watched crime documentaries expecting suspense, but I found myself captivated by the evidence instead. A single fingerprint, a trace of DNA, or even a seemingly insignificant fiber could tell a story no witness could. What fascinated me wasn't solving the mystery, but realizing that evidence could speak when people couldn't. I assumed it was just another quirky obsession I would eventually outgrow. Instead, it became the foundation of my future. For years, I didn't even realize that curiosity had a name. Then I learned it was chemistry. I initially thought of it as another science class. My mom wasn't surprised by my lackluster grades in the subject. She labeled it as “hard”, and I viewed every assignment as so. However, the more I worked at it, the more I realized the evidence I had admired for years wasn't common sense, it was chemistry at work. The samples carried a story, and the fingerprints, toxicology reports, and chemical residues all relied on the same scientific principles I was learning in class. Chemistry stopped being a difficult subject and became the language that could answer. During a middle school field trip, my class participated in a mock forensic investigation involving stolen jelly sandwiches. We collected evidence, analyzed samples, measured liquids, and pieced together clues in a laboratory setting. While the mystery was fictional, my fascination was real. Watching small pieces of evidence come together into a complete explanation showed me that forensic science was more than something I found "cool". It was a process I wanted to understand and one day use to help others. That experience stayed with me, leading me to attend STEM festivals and forensic science events whenever I had the opportunity. Hearing professionals discuss their work and seeing forensic science beyond shows confirmed that this wasn't a passing interest but a career I wanted to pursue. From that point forward, I challenged myself by taking my school's most rigorous chemistry and biology courses because I wanted to build the knowledge and discipline the field demands. It was beautiful, this passion I cradled for years. When dubbed “hard”, I wasn't just motivated by the challenge itself, but the satisfaction of mastering something I once thought was beyond me. Chemistry depended on scientists who are curious enough to ask the right questions, disciplined enough to follow the facts, and compassionate enough to remember the people behind them. Perseverance is just as important as intelligence after all. Forensic science demands precision and resilience, and those challenges are exactly what inspire me. As I continue my education, I hope to become part of a new generation of women in STEM who strengthen the field through curiosity and integrity. My goal has never been simply to earn a STEM degree, but rather to build a career where science can uncover the truth. I need to perfect my craft, so that one day I can use science to uncover the truth and help bring justice to those who deserve it. Nevertheless, I aspire to help strengthen a field that benefits from diverse perspectives and careful collaboration. Scientific breakthroughs happen when people with different experiences approach problems from new angles, and I want to be part of that progress. Long before I understood chemical equations or the scientific method, I was captivated by one question: How do we know what's true? Now, I know the answer I want to spend my life pursuing: to become a forensic scientist.

I wanted to be an astronaut—once. Ever since I was little, I've been enraptured by the stars, space, and planets beyond Earth's horizon. I dreamed of going to the Moon, to Mars, and answering every question humanity has asked about what lies beyond our exosphere. But partial blindness in my left eye kept my dreams grounded. As I got older, I fell in love with coding, robotics, and the inner workings of technology that rockets (pun intended) humanity into space. One of my favorite hobbies is astrophotography, which allows me to connect my fascination with space to the stars above me. Now, as a high school senior pursuing aerospace engineering, I aim to specialize in propulsion systems and inspire other young women to fall in love with STEM. Beyond my love for space, I dedicate a large amount of my time to leadership and community service. My involvement in pageantry for over 15 years has allowed me to develop skills in public speaking, advocate for causes I support, and connect with people from all over the country. I even founded my own nonprofit dedicated to spreading awareness about illiteracy and empowering youth. I dedicate myself to growth through every aspect of my life, whether it be through preparing for a competition, studying for one of my IB classes, or volunteering in my community. These experiences remind me that STEM is not just about knowledge, but collaboration, communication, and making a difference through the work you do. My career goal is to become an aerospace engineer with a specialization in rocket propulsion. Propulsion fascinates me because it is what truly transforms ambitious engineering ideas into reality, making exploration beyond Earth possible. Spaceflight presents numerous complex engineering challenges, from sustainability to safety, and I aim to make myself a part of the next era of innovation in space exploration. As humanity prepares to begin construction of a moon base, there will be many incredible opportunities for engineers to create systems to transport materials—and eventually humans—outside of our planet. In addition to contributing through my career, I wish to make every aspect of STEM more accessible and inclusive to everyone. Despite women having made incredible breakthroughs in numerous STEM fields, we remain underrepresented in the big picture, especially in engineering. Throughout my experiences, I have been able to learn the importance of mentorship. I hope to be able to use my platform in the future to encourage young women to pursue their passions. Diversity and equality lead to innovation where all voices are heard. By combining creativity with advocacy, I aim to create a future where discovery is encouraged, and every young woman who looks at the stars can see an opportunity in STEM.

Mathematics isn’t just a boring class to me, it’s a language used to explain the universe, and my journey with this language began in my sophomore year Pre-Calculus class. I had learned algebra and geometry in middle school, and while I did well in them, I always felt like something was missing: some fundamental piece that connected all these topics. Pre-Calculus showed me how to apply these topics such as trigonometry, exponential growth functions, and inverse functions. All my questions of "why?" were answered in that class. It felt like all the topics I had struggled to visualize in the real world were all explained and connected in that class, and I was a detective piecing all the parts together. My love for math made me start considering math as a career path, but I knew I had to have experience first. The day I turned 16, I started applying to jobs in my area, and the first place I applied was Mathnasium, a math tutoring center for K-12 education. I was nervous I didn't qualify for this job, but I applied anyway. Fortunately, I got the job, and that is when I solidified my career plans even further. I work there around 12 hours a week and have been there for the past 2+ years. My life has felt like an exponential growth function ever since, because of how much this responsibility has changed me in good ways. I have even gotten multiple promotions because of positive feedback from students and parents about my performance. This job has shown me that I have a passion for teaching: for explaining things and re-wording them and personalizing the education experience to different styles of learning. I love drawing diagrams, using physical objects, and relating problems to kid's favorite topics to help them understand. I try to give as much explanation as to why we have to do things a certain way, so the kids can feel what I felt taking Pre-Calculus. Seeing a kid’s eyes light up when they finally understand a complex problem will always feel like a gift to experience. My passion for math also brought me to enroll in Running Start, a program that allows me to take college classes full-time as a high school student. I have immersed myself in the community college experience, meeting friends and study partners and taking high-level math and physics classes. Some of these people I have met at community college have become long-term friends, and have introduced me to new experiences such as music and art. I go to jazz band concerts, art shows, and theater performances at the college, as well as my STEM-focused interests. When I think of all these experiences together, I find that I truly only have one career goal, and one passion to pursue. I need to become a college math professor, to combine all the things I love and to be able to work with students who are passionate about learning. I want to focus on individualizing the learning experience for students, to make learning math feel like discovering mysteries of the world, and to cater my lessons and lectures to the needs and learning styles of everyone. My experiences as a tutor and a learner have shown me the joy of unlocking the mysteries of math for others. I am eager to continue this journey, to work towards a more accessible learning environment for students, as I pursue my dream of becoming a college math professor

After high school, I plan to go to Walla Walla Community College to pursue an Associates in Applied Sciences in Welding Technology. I didn't originally aspire to be a welder. My journey began when I was 14 years old and received my dream truck, a 1940 Chevy pickup, from a family friend. Over the past three years, I've been working on restoring that truck. Initially, my dad insisted I take a welding class to learn how to weld pieces for my truck. Unfortunately, my experience in high school welding class wasn't the best. I had to teach myself to run a bead because my instructor mainly focused on the boys in the class and the boys didn't offer me much help either. Despite this, I persevered. Fast forward two years, and I'm now teaching freshmen how to weld and applying for trade school. Taking these classes made me realize how much I enjoy welding and working on fabrication projects. Now, I want to learn different welding techniques so I can do any job that comes my way. I'm not the type to sit at a desk all day. I like being hands-on and staying busy. This experience in high school has really shaped my plans for after graduation. If I hadn't gotten that truck, I might never have tried welding. But now, I'm excited about becoming a certified welder and maybe even traveling around the country for work. The support of this scholarship would help me achieve my goal of obtaining an Associate in Applied Science in Welding Technology at Walla Walla Community College. One thing I want to do in my career is to encourage more women to consider trades, especially male dominated fields such as welding. I think it's important for there to be more diversity in these fields. By sharing my story and helping other women become interested in the trades, I hope to make a difference. I also believe in the importance of learning and growing in your career. As I become more experienced, I want to help teach others, especially young women who are just starting out. In the future I see myself going back to college to obtain my Career and Technical Education Degree to become an agriculture and welding teacher so I can inspire and teach younger generations how to weld. Welding is more than just a job to me; it is a passion that has ignited a fire within me to excel in the trade industry. My journey with welding began unexpectedly, but it has grown into a deep-seated desire to make a difference in the field and inspire others, especially women, to pursue their passions fearlessly. Through dedication, perseverance, and a commitment to lifelong learning, I am confident that I can achieve my goals and contribute positively to the welding industry. You can be assured that I am a capable candidate for your generous support. Thank you for your consideration.

My favorite times in school have been doing lab work for my chemistry classes, such as creating a voltaic cell. Since childhood, I have always loved finding solutions to problems. I came across materials sciences last year, and I immediately felt that familiar sense of curiosity. I learned about the three types of allotropes in my Junior year of high school, and they sparked my interest in the atomic structures of materials and how this affects their unique properties. My career goal is to become a materials scientist and research non-corrosive materials that have a much shorter lifespan than traditional plastics, an example of this being biopolymers. With these advancements we can more effectively tackle the issues we are facing as a global community due to plastic pollution. I often think about how wasteful our society is. Why have we created a world in which nearly everything is disposable? I did my Extended Essay for the IB diploma on recycling landfill gas, and I concluded that there was no feasible solution to deal with the levels of waste we are producing. Research into new materials to replace those we are currently using will help to mitigate the issue of overreliance on landfills. Innovations such as water-soluble packing peanuts give me optimism, and I am hopeful that progress like this will continue. Dealing with school and district policies in my time as a representative on the district Student Voice Council and Green Leadership Coalition, I have discovered that you have to find the root of an issue before you can address the issue systematically. With Biopolymers being derived from renewable sources, there is great potential in this field and immeasurable inspiration can be taken from the natural world. The variety of polymers is fascinating to me because of their unique properties. Traditional plastic polymers are surprisingly strong, most are recyclable, and they are very resistant to breaking down, meaning some of them may be around longer than humans. This final point is increasingly becoming a major issue. There are so many plastics and different polymers we have created that will break down exceptionally slowly. We have no plan in place to manage this problem. Taking inspiration from nature, creating a biopolymer that can withstand the same conditions that we expect of our plastics would allow us to transition away from relying on traditional materials. Waste is accumulating at a rapidly growing rate, and our environment is suffering the consequences. There is currently no realistic way for society to stop the use of plastics in an equitable way, which is why we need another solution to the problem. Replacing existing polymers with biopolymers could help to mitigate this issue. The most effective strategy for decreasing plastic pollution is limiting the production of synthetic polymers at the start. I am passionate about helping people, and I hope to do this by using my skills for the betterment of our shared environment. Working in a STEM field will allow me to succeed with this goal. People often forget about who the work in the STEM field is all done for. Whether it is a client or someone we'll never meet, it is the responsibility of engineers and scientists to work for the betterment of the world. Perfecting whatever we do is our contribution to society. Doctors take care of us, teachers raise the next generation, contractors grow our cities, and engineers work to ensure they are equipped with the proper tools to find success.

I am a woman who does not feign away from being herself for the sake of conforming to societal ideals of what I ‘should’ be like. I have taken my passion for astrophysics and aerospace related sciences and paved pathways of opportunity for myself and the youth in my community who are interested in STEM. The pastime which brings me the most joy is robotics, where I act as an engineer on my team and wield the title of Director of Administration of my private student run non-profit organization for the 2023-2024 season. The most influential part of my role inside of my club was fostering a community of engagement and education by creating lessons in coding and CAD alongside the board for students who have the desire to learn; focused on students who come from a background of economic hardship which may lack the resources for free STEM based education. I practiced robotics for 3 years, winning four judges awards and receiving two invites to state level competitions. I have taken this love of robotics and applied it to my work at Boeing in machine data analysis, electrical systems troubleshooting, and ultrasonic composite tests. Outside of the class room I may be found crowd surfing in a mosh pit at a local show, exploring a new area of town, or taking a risk by picking up a book by an author I’m not all too familiar with. I highly value one's ability to be confident in who they authentically are, this is a trait that took me a fair while to obtain. I have found that experiencing all that I may in a responsible way has provided me with practice in pushing myself out of my comfort zone. Typically at shows that I attend, the majority of fellow attendees are not women or other types of minority. In order to get comfortable, I in a way had to prove myself in the scene. I would befriend other girls and we would push into the tallest boy we could find in the mosh pit, all in good fun of course, to prove that we can throw some elbows too. The aerospace field has presented me with a place where I may express my passion for mathematics, physics, and space in a productive manner. I am currently in my second internship at Boeing. For my first internship I wrote standardized step details for engineers on the floor which described the steps in the processes in composite wing manufacturing alongside writing testing procedures in radius filler production system failure data analysis. The steps I created are still on the floor to this day and are used in quality inspections and training of new hires, secondly, the test I conducted was successful and the machining problem has been solved. This year I have created a thermostat system from scratch, fabricated wires and installed components, did lean manufacturing, and physics based tests to detect poor quality in engineered composite parts. Looking ahead, I plan to apply this knowledge as I move on from aerospace to aeronautics, I aspire to work on rocket propulsions, fueling, or leadership in rocket ship manufacturing and engineering. I feel the value of the work I did and how its being used every day when I commute home from work. I am excited to take the next steps into my future which will allow me to feel this fulfilled ten times over.