To me, legacy means the lasting influence that a person leaves behind in the minds of others. It is the mark you leave on the word. It can be an individual's influence through their actions, or it can be cumulative, a cycle perpetuated by consecutive links, members of a community or family, carrying on the beliefs, values, and unique perspective handed down to them by their predecessors. Everyone is a mosaic of the influences they were exposed to. But which ones define me, or more specifically, my values, and by extension my goals in life? I think that my family's influence fits that bill. My parents immigrated to America from Sudan, both already bearing degrees, and both of whom believe that STEM education equips one with the skills needed to do meaningful things. Maximizing the utility of your learning, if you will. I feel that my upbringing made it so that I was bound to value education, even through the tumults of middle and high school, where one gets their first sampling of the many kinds of ways to approach life that exist. I faltered emotionally at first, but remained steadfast in regards to academics until the end. I know what a privilege it is to be able to realize my dreams, to attend University, without interruptions due to coups and proxy wars. I know my own family members have known grief that I can hardly grasp, but they continue to move forward, whether returning to their jobs or self studying before their schools and universities reopen, or moving the different counties to study. They have shown so much resilience, in carrying the legacy that they have been handed, and I would be remiss to fail to hold myself accountable: I have a duty of sorts, and that is to embrace the opportunities that have been afforded to me. The legacy of not only valuing knowledge, but respecting all that goes into gaining it, the relationship between student and teacher, and so on and so forth, is not a passive one. A foundation has to be laid in order for children who are brought up in an entirely different social environment from their parent to see eye to eye with them when it comes to what should be prioritized in life, and that was indeed the foundation that was set. My upbringing shaped my values of course, and is the primary reason I feel that applying myself is the only logical way to go about school, but it also shaped my interests; watching travel shows and seeing walkable neighborhoods, nature documentaries the wizened me up to the nuances of coexisting with nature, and the consequences of refusing to, books about art, but also stories about my mom's college days, a gift from my environmentalist ant's coworker, who blew my mind by with he concept of graphic design: art that has a job to fulfill. In the years preceding high school graduation, I found out just how much the fields of urban planning, architecture, and their intersections with public health the ecology, climate, waste, material science, and so on all speak to me; everyone wants to make the world a better place, and these areas of study all have the potential to, quite directly, give me the tools I could use to make it a slightly "better place" by design. So, I am pursuing a B.S. in Biological Science. It seems unrelated, but interdisciplinary study makes it make sense. I intend to use it as a launching pad for postgraduate study in any of the aforementioned fields.

A belief in the value of education was instilled in me by my parents at a young age. They both value education greatly and obtained graduate degrees. However, it took some soul searching to find out exactly why education is important to me. I realized that education can make me a person who is able to handle challenges and make the best possible judgements I can from experience in a way that can help the people around me. The college experience as a whole is something that I believe will help me grow as a person. I also have a goal: to pursue a career related to the sciences accompanied by a creative, communication-oriented component. Learning to communicate well, especially when it comes to explaining plans for a project on others’ behalf in a cohesive way will be important for me in my future career. I want to be pushed to work more efficiently; I tend to unknowingly stretch out the time I allocate for tasks to occupy the time available for me to complete them in, so I hope to learn to allocate my time more wisely. It will also be an opportunity to make connections with people. Exposure to diverse opportunities is important to me. I want to have guidance when it comes to navigating internships and getting experience in the field and the like. Ultimately, I want to seize as many opportunities as I can in college. My cousins in Sudan had to put each of their educations on hold when conflict broke out in 2023. The challenges that they are facing with needing to start their degrees over from the beginning or having to self-teach while also dealing with recent losses feels far removed from my day-to-day life. Knowing how uncertain their lives have been these past few years. motivates me to take advantage of the ease with which I can continue my education. I feel privileged to have options when it comes to my higher education. I plan to pay it forward for others like myself by making myself available as a mentor for girls who are first year students in Muslim Student Association at the University of Pittsburgh in a few years. This is because since I am now in the position of receiving this support from my upperclassmen and know how helpful it is. Knowing I am not alone as a muslim woman in the academic space that I occupy is nice because there are people who have been in my shoes who I can turn to for advice or simply a sense of community.