Texas Students in STEM Scholarship

I remember the exact moment I fell in love with logic. It was at the young age of three years old when I completed my first jigsaw puzzle. Recognizing the patterns and shapes that I had to fit together was something I found fascinating. This experience stuck with me, and over the years, I have only grown more fond of all things logic, including math and computer science. I treat them like jigsaw puzzles. Math is a subject built around familiarizing yourself with formulas, concepts, and of course, the application of logic. I can take a seemingly challenging problem and break it down by analyzing its components, where I can then use formulas and concepts to fit the puzzle pieces together. I can say the same about computer science, where I first brainstorm many ways to reach my end goal. I then consider my options and use class methods or even create my own, connecting everything one piece at a time. Before I realized it, my love for math carried over to computer science, solidifying the latter as my major. Entering my junior year of high school propelled my drive tenfold. My computer science teacher, Coach McDonald, motivated me to pursue a future in the subject more than anyone else. I spent countless hours studying new concepts ahead of time and getting ahead in his class, absorbing the course content rapidly. I also participated in UIL and did well on the computer science test for my first year there, where I contributed to our team getting second place in the district competition. This passion for logic, specifically through computer science, has driven me to pursue future endeavors in the STEM field. I plan to become a software engineer for my career. I aim to create innovative and revolutionary software and programs to improve the quality of life for our society. Pursuing a career as a software engineer would allow me to work with many others in my field, creating a collaborative and healthy work environment where ideas and visions for the future would become a reality. For instance, I could work on a breakthrough project concerning self-driving cars by improving their detection capabilities by feeding them new data sets. Progress in this area could lead to fewer car accidents and save thousands, if not millions of lives over the years. This would result in a safer world for many, and would also make day-to-day life less of a stressor. After graduating, I plan to take on my duties as a software engineer and reach the highest levels of technological innovation. I will utilize my knowledge of computer science to aid me in collaboration and software/program development to improve and save many lives.