STEM Opportunity Scholarship

I always viewed STEM-related fields like chemistry and biology as something necessary to the world of education. Maybe it is because I find love and admiration for the environment around us and have a deep appreciation for the planet that always seems to give but never receive from us, humans. Science education is not only important for the youth to learn but for people my age as well, those who may be in college and who are specifically focused on their fields instead of allowing their perspective of the world to open to a larger degree, bringing in new perspectives and beliefs that may help them as well. Science education did not only benefit me by allowing me to gain a well-versed brain filled to the brim with information on how the world functions through reactions and reagents but also allowed me to find a love for what is around me. I feel that when most people go outside, they will never take time actually to sit down and enjoy the greener side of life. In a car-centric country and city focused not often do we take the opportunity to simply sit down in the grass, underneath a tree, and look into the sky. These things are so normal to us, of course, we all know what the sky is, what the soil is, and even what a tree is, but we never take the time to look deeper into these simple concepts. STEM education for all allows people to truly sit down and enjoy those quieter moments that we take for granted. Maybe it is just me, but I love sitting down and enjoying the trees; I think about how they are composed of leaves that use the sunlight to give themselves strength just like we do. I think about how their roots are so deeply connected that forests can span for miles just like how we are connected as humans even if our roots are separated. From nature, we can learn how to appreciate even the smallest of the world's creations like bugs, I do not enjoy bugs, but through my knowledge of sciences, I have come to have a deep appreciation for the smallest organisms that help this earth grow. Without science education for children, I would have never found the love for animals that I have now channels like the PBS network broadened my view and allowed me to enter a world that I now live in. Education in STEM fields is not just important but, it is required for everyone to sit down, smile, and enjoy even the air that blows through our fingertips because, without that moment of clarity, you would never realize that air carries knowledge beyond our understanding.

What can I take apart today? This question is what I ask myself most days. As a kid I always pulled things apart and put them back together, just to see how they worked. I got yelled at a few times for not putting it back exactly how I found it, or because I forgot where I placed it. However, I still ended up pulling everything apart when they weren't looking. During this time, even with my knowledge now. I think I would still be taking things apart. As a kid, I learned so much more from actually taking things apart than, then just playing with them. This way of interacting with everything helped me gain this way of thinking. By not just saying "Oh it works so what's the point of thinking about it" it turned to, " but why is it happing, what engineering is happing to make it work?" This mindset is what some people say is useless because what's the point of worrying about if it works? "There is no point trying to fix it if it already works. I would say no. this mindset gave me more ideas and made me more creative than any other way of thinking has ever let me. I can up with ideas that worked or barely worked to make something a little bit easier. Without it, I would have never come up with half of my ideas, if I did not have this way of thinking. If I could give some encouragement to anyone who wants to follow this way of thinking it would be, "lets go come up with a solution that no one has ever thought of and let go that fixes a problem that everyone faces." if you say yes to any part of that, then I want to say then STEM is the best choice for you. This problem could be as simple as stopping the microwave from beeping at you or to build an energy source that is cheaper than any other and less impactful to the environment than any other. The thought that I could be the person that can change the world or even make everyone's life easier drives me to work harder and learn as much as possible. STEM to me and hopefully others is a way to show off what you can do and what you are capable of. To solve something larger than just ourselves to fix a problem.