I want to see my community, the country, and the world be able to rally around those who experience hardship. I want to see them uplift and support one another despite what they may feel on the inside. Hatred is want I want to be put aside, thrown in a box, and never felt again. It needs to be a reminder of the horrible things society endows on others - their capacity for evil needs to be shrunk. People need to be able to make sound decisions on what is right and what is wrong. The bridge between them for each and every person in our world needs to blend more together, creating a more harmonious world for all. As an Asian-American in America, I am considered culturally diverse. I am viewed as un-American, which fuels the incomplete view that causes the intolerance of me, leading Asian-Americans such as myself to lose the freedom to be who they truly are. I believe that America is welcoming to immigrants that conform to their constructs, thus creating a melting pot of Western beliefs. America does not care if I am American, they only see the culture that defines me, causing me to adopt new identities to assimilate into the predominantly white culture to become part of the white communities or risk being ostracized by society. As a result of America not having yet adopted a multicultural curriculum, I, a person who appears different from the ideal American cannot easily blend into society, highlighting that the culturally diverse are unable to be embraced in American communities. Because of the singular view of an American, it fuels the intolerance of diverse individuals and cultures because of an instilled ideal American. I am detached from a society that is intolerant and uneducated of my background. I hope that by educating society, it will help America to understand and to comprehend others with compassion and love by gaining a complete view of Americans that will allow the tolerance of different cultures Volunteering within my community has given me a greater understanding of myself and the world. It has offered me the chance to engage with others in society that I normally would never have contact with. With close relationships and constant contact, I believe that my presence in their lives will allow people to tolerate me more. By taking volunteering opportunities where I get to work with young kids, I have taken the initiative to be a part of someone's life and possibly impact their future self. Although I usually just work with the children on crafts and edifying them on science, volunteering at Kidsquest Children’s Museum has given me the chance to become a teacher and expose kids to my culture. My involvement in these atmospheres of connection and aid has created an understanding peer, listener, and contributor to those around me. By interacting with people through volunteering in my community, it has prepared me to be a compassionate leader in my future profession, and make greater strides in bridging gaps between people’s knowledge and perceptions of me in hopes to abolish hatred today and in the future.

Being a pink starfish under the sea in a plethora of sea creatures is bound to make you unique, however, Patrick Star in SpongeBob SquarePants was not only special due to those circumstances, but he also had flavor. What I mean by this is that Patrick was unafraid to be himself. He was friends with a lot of creatures in Bikini Bottom and although he was dumber than the average character viewers came across, his humor and inability to understand basic notions make him a worthy character. From Patrick, I have learned to embrace friendship and be a supportive friend - someone who is always there to watch your friends back. I have also learned that you do not need wits to be noticed, you just need to be your true self, and the rest will follow.

Gerrymandering has two goals: to maximize the impact of supporters' votes and to reduce the impact of opponents' votes. It is a tactic that involves changing geographic boundaries in order to gain a political advantage for a certain party or group that helps or impedes the desired electoral outcomes for that party. The practice ensures that only the select are heard or represented. Current gerrymandering policies are dangerous because it allows politicians to more easily gain control in their states. By cracking and packing, politicians will have made it easier for them to win the election. These biases in politicians will then determine what occurs in the United States, making the underrepresented more unheard, while the majority voice booms. The party has the opportunity to amass great power to be essentially in total control. We can inject equity into the process on a state-by-state level by not gerrymandering. The federal government should come up with a method to divide states into districts that are competing with no automatic loser and go against what the Supreme Court ruled in Rucho v. Common Cause. Individual states should not have independent experts redistributing, but rather a group should do it for the whole nation because it will better help to ensure that there are no biases. Districts should include a diverse group of people, not those that are replicas of each other.

A picturesque American town filled with rolling green hills and blossoming trees is filled with vibrant animal and plant life; its lush greenery an attraction for travelers. Suddenly, the town is filled with a thick haze leaving sickness and death in its wake. An eerie silence looms as birds fall from the sky and unusual illnesses arise. With the threat of diseases transmitted by insects such as malaria and typhus, dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) fogged cities as the source of destroying life. Unknowingly harmful and devastating, widespread aerial sprayings of the toxic pesticide threatened the natural world. As a biologist, Rachel Carson noted these observations in her book “Silent Spring” published in 1962 where she feared that the excessive use of DDT would cause a silent spring: a season defined by a quiet stillness. Her book demonstrates her passion for the environment and her unwavering devotion to protecting it, giving rise to the conservation of America's natural world, prompting the fight against environmental degradation. With the publication of “Silent Spring,” Carson exposed the horrors wildlife and humans suffered as a result of widespread pesticide application to the environment. She conveyed tropics that concerned humans, generating fear among the public rather than addressing scientific experts. Furthermore, Carson’s message implanted in American’s minds pressured them to abandon their ignorance about the environment to preserve it. In a time of widespread environmental ignorance, “Silent Spring” decreased the ignorance the public had towards the environment, helping to generate public awareness that nature was vulnerable, moving the public debate to which pesticides were dangerous rather than questioning if they posed a threat to society. I want to help the public understand what could be seemingly simple concepts by confronting the public, which could be aided by pursuing higher education. With higher education, comes greater perceived respect and validity. When I hope to use my voice with a stroke of reason, my higher education will aid to to educate and inform others in a manner to generate the eye of the public. My involvement in clubs at my school such as Green Team and Eagle crew will support me to be a leader in environmental advocacy. With Green Team, we helped the school better view how they can help and protect the environment. In Eagle Crew, I welcomed incoming freshmen to my high school and helped them navigate their first year of high school. In these atmospheres of aid and connection, I will be able to help counter the inevitable demise of humankind. I am also involved in contemporary dancing, an art form combining several dance styles into one. I am currently passionate about the environment and ways we can help to preserve life on earth because climate change is irreversible for the most part. We can only try to extend human life because Earth will be occupied by other creatures in the time humans are unable to inhabit it.

American society paints a picture for Americans to attain the dream through hard work, tricking Americans into following the status quo of a mythical goal to gain acceptance. Americans live their lives on attaining wealth, which causes them to stride toward earning money. The concept of earning money from American society weighs down individuals that it becomes a heavy burden, causing Americans to act uncharacteristically in following the status quo, hence why people are weighed down by the idea of being rich. Following the American Dream is a treacherous path that requires endurance and patience to possibly attain that desired wealth, however, it is not guaranteed. Some people in society may get a chance to live out the American Dream of being successful, but it is false for all people to attain it. The belief that the American Dream can be achieved with hard work may be a false belief for some. People come and embrace America to try and pave a better and more lucrative life for themselves. They abandon their old way of life and try to become more Americanized to try and achieve the American Dream. In “Ellis Island” by Joseph Bruchac, he writes that Ellis Island is the answer to dreams. When you appear the way America wants you to and act accordingly, America has a place open for you and the dream is more easily accessible. However, if you do not check those boxes, life in America to achieve the dream is more difficult and requires more than simply hard work, but endurance, or toleration. Tolerance to accept and endure the pain and suffering others put on some because of the color of their skin, sexuality, religion, gender, etc. The fact those reasons hinder the possibility of attaining the dream, there can be no shared optimism and endless possibility. The American Dream advertises a false life for the majority, causing them to work harder than those that are the “standard” American. America was built by immigrants and discriminates against them. America waves the American Dream at others and ropes them into doing hard work to try and attain what the dream advertises. The ”cookie-cutter shape of a model American” is an image that a majority can not match up to nor is it an acceptable image. Everyone is different and they cannot abandon what makes them unique to have America accept them. I have learned that there is no formula to success; there is no one path or equation that will guarantee it. When I look up to individuals I admire, I hyperfocus on their path to success and stardom, but fail to realize that success comes about in many different ways. It is not simply just being a TV star, reading lines, or being rich and happy, but the small steps they took in the past too. One person’s way to success might not work for me, which is why I need this scholarship to attend the University of Washington to further my education.

“I will take one large cup of french fries please” I request. “That will be 4 dollars and 95 cents” the cashier utters. I hand him four dollar bills, three quarters, and two dimes and he gives me a number card in exchange. “Number forty-five” the cashier hollers. Oh, that is me. I approach the counter and grab the brown bag holding my french fries, leaving the card. I walk back toward where I was standing before and take a seat. Opening up the bag, the deep-fried, salty, and thin slices of potato waft their scent toward me. A stark reminder of my childhood and time getting Happy Meals at McDonald’s. Soon, all the french fries in the cup are gone and I make my way to the compost bin to discard the brown bag. But, wait. There still lies one more french fry. Ecstatic, I take it out and savor it before I dump the bag. This feeling, the feeling of finding one last fry at the bottom of the bag after thinking that all were eaten is the feeling I get with my phone. I used to think of phones as objects you can get, much like the bag of french fries you can buy with money. However, there is so much more to the concept of phones. I now think of phones as a feeling, a transitory place that depends on the intimacy of relationships. And, no I do not mean the intimacy that is done in private most of the time in the bedroom, but the familiar and close relationships we have that uplift us - good friends and/or family. It is the closeness of bond that facilitates laugh attacks, happiness, or even high-tempered anger. A refuge in a time of despair and hurt when no one else can understand me. It is a place to be accepted with unconditional love and no judgment that would not result in regret for the vulnerability shown. My outlook on the way I think of phones has shifted from a place to something more unclear and ever-evolving. The aspects I once associated with phones now are not the same aspects I once associated with it. The french fry that lost its way from the group of other french fries in the cup is much like my outlook on phones today - it deviates from the norm. Phones are considered tools for many and was my past perception, but phones allow for the connection all humans seek; it allows us to connect with friends daily across the world, meet others, watch videos on people’s culture, and simply enrichen our day-to-day lives. Phones for me provide the excitement and thrill that is not always around. It comes, goes, and surprises you in the moments you never expect. Laugh attacks and joy are all moments that are not calendared in, just like how a lonely french fry at the bottom of the bag is not put there on purpose. My view of phones used to be the bag of french fries, but now it is the feeling like when finding a lonely fry at the bottom of the bag. These devices, although can give happy feelings are not always like that. In driving, they have the power to provide the opposite of finding a french fry at the bottom of a bag - a time of pain and destruction.

This meme represents me every time I drive by potholes, even if I do not hit them. I pray that when I jerk the wheel over to avoid the pothole, that I went over the right amount. Potholes just give a different sort of pain, a pain of being yelled at I wish to avoid.

How, when, and where I dance is all variable, constantly in a state of flux that depends on what I hope to accomplish, how I feel, and the music that serves as my gas to my creative engine. As a dancer of my own volition, I am constantly trying to grasp new opportunities to better myself. Most commonly I spend time on Instagram looking at dancers and choreographers, trying to find new moves or styles to emulate and make my own. Kirsten Russell, Dyllan Blackburn, Holden Maples, and Ella Horan are some of my favorite dancers that take contemporary in a new approach. Their differing and eccentric styles are styles I hope to be able to bring to the table. I also thoroughly enjoy improv. The movements I do constantly surprise me, wondering where I got that combination of movements from or how my musicality is so flawless sometimes. Thus, how I dance is a mix of styles of those I watch and learn from. The bits and pieces I remember and incorporate into my dancing add flair to my eccentric style that is uniquely mine. The time to dance has no bounds. I can dance right when I wake up to when I hope to go to bed, and when I am sad or happy. I make the most of the opportunities I get to dance, trying to find free workshops or classes. CLI Studios has been a great resource, allowing me to learn from various choreographers in the Los Angeles area. Their live classes encourage me to get out of bed, even at 8 a.m. on a Saturday. Even when there are no classes, I enjoy being able to work on my movements, perfecting them to the best of my abilities during the day. During the school day, I look forward to the breaks between my classes, allowing me to do a 10-minute dance break. The song “Chemtrails over the Country Club” by Lana Del Rey is my favorite right now to break out into dance with. The song lays the groundwork, serving as a base to build my dance upon. Just as when I dance has no bounds, where I dance does too. Whether in the grocery store or in front of my TV, I always find the space to dance. The room you need to dance is minimal, as long as you can be somewhere, you can dance. Thus, there are limitless areas where I can dance. Every area of space I have been has been more than enough to keep me fit and happy. Even those spaces with obstacles can serve as a stage for my craft by taking the objects in front of me and utilizing them as props. I find that props can sometimes better help convey a story if used correctly. In essence, dance is ever-changing. As a craft it constantly grows and engages me, bettering myself to be more adept in this world we call home.

“1. Wet your hands with clean, running water (warm or cold), turn off the tap, and apply soap. 2. Lather your hands by rubbing them together with the soap. Lather the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails. 3. Scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds. 4. Rinse your hands well under clean, running water. 5. Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dry them.” According to the CDC, these are the five steps to washing your hands the right way. A fundamental notion for others, a constant ritual for me. In my mind, cleanliness and being dirty is distinct and govern how I live my life. Soap is a necessity, a commodity without which I simply could not imagine my life. Growing up, I have always had “inside” and “outside” clothes. The thought of going outside in my “inside” clothes and sitting back down onto the couch was prohibited in my family, and I imagine it will be a habit forever embedded within me. This was probably the start of my becoming a germaphobe: a little girl in a perceived clean and germy world. Today, I still remain a germaphobe, probably worse than when I was younger. The dry skin on my hands, unhealed by lotion is a physical mark of this. I do not imagine my cell phone as clean. I need to wash my hands with soap before touching my stuffed animals and going to bed. My body paralyzes when my pants accidentally touch the steps as I walk up them and when my blankets fall off my bed. These are just some of the daily things I think and do about that separates me from others. I have an inside battle, a battle no one knows about inside me. Being a germaphobe, a misfit has shaped my dreams of finding work in the medical field. I know, a little weird right? A hoard of germs there. But, I believe having such a clean mindset can help others. I will be sure to wipe down the equipment, change out items when contaminated, etc. It will give a different outlook, one that will help to keep all people safe and healthy. Although few people think about the items that are invisible to the eye, such as the microscopic bacteria surrounding us, they can be deadly. In today's society, this is extremely evident. The eye can't see COVID-19, you can't grab it like a rope and it can be anywhere and nowhere. I want to be able to investigate and understand the microbes that surround us. By understanding the role of microbes in shaping the geosphere and in controlling element cycling, I will get the opportunity to elucidate the role that cooperation, communication, and competition play within microbial populations. To grasp this is to better understand how the world functions. Finding the biotic factors and understanding them will change the world.

It goes like this: a teenage girl confined in her home due to an illness gets a new neighbor boy. They fall in love slowly through the glass window, but one day the girl decides to leave home and travel with him. They go to Hawaii. Oh, no you might say. The girl one day is suddenly unable to breathe, and during her visit to the hospital finds out her illness was something she never had. Her mother had been lying to her all these years just to keep her within reach and safe. This is the basic, super simplified version of my all-time favorite film: Everything, Everything. I love it because it has romance and drama. The characters captivate us to join on their journey through love almost to death’s door. It is a captivating rendition of a girl who has never met the outside world - breathed the salty ocean air, walked on sand, felt the leaves, etc. Through Maddy, the main character, we get to leave our lives and are transported into another that is so vastly different from ours. Maddy just wishes to leave her house and go outside, something most of us do daily and take for granted. The movie reminds me that life for everyone is different, and we must appreciate what we have that others may not. It has given me a perspective and life lesson with a twist of drama that makes Everything, Everything my all-time favorite film.

Growing up Asian-American I have been in two worlds. In each world, I feel the need to blend in to become more with the majority. I, a Chinese girl have stood in front of a mirror, staring at the vanilla-colored makeup that covers my yellow complexion, a mask I hide behind to blend into the white culture. I feel the need to camouflage myself into American society, not knowing the cost. Each day I lose a piece of myself to become something I am not. Scared to embrace who I am, I represent individuals who cover their biological makeup to resemble the dominant culture. Although I live in America, the home of the free, I endlessly seek approval from others who ostracize me because I am different. In American society, the lack of multiculturalism leaves culturally diverse people such as me to face barriers in order to become part of a community. As a result of being unaccepted into society, I change myself to fit in and have no sense of belonging. The stereotypes that people circulate around Asians do not fit me. I am not good at math. My eyes are not as small as others to the point where I look like I am squinting with my eyes wide open. These stereotypes hurt. Very few people are the model Asian that Americans expect one to be. They are disappointed and mock you when you fail a math test because their views are clustered for only part of Asian culture, an oversimplification and fixed view. But, stereotypes are just that - stereotypes. They hold no real value or information, just to those that are ignorant enough to believe them. Because America is under the assumption that I am culturally diverse, I am viewed as un-American; it fuels the incomplete view that causes the intolerance of me, leading Asian-Americans such as myself to lose the freedom to be who they truly are. I believe that America is welcoming to immigrants that conform to their constructs, thus creating a melting pot of Western beliefs. America does not care if I am American, they only see the culture that defines me, causing me to adopt new identities to assimilate into the predominantly white culture to become part of the white communities or risk being ostracized by society. American society also excludes me because they cannot identify me as a good person. They resort to thinking about the worst of my culture, causing them to avoid me because of the perception that Asians all have COVID. To me, there is little to no hope to live in both cultures. American society causes me to choose their way of life and to abandon the other because of America’s ability to offer fulfillment of dreams and desires. As a result of America not having yet adopted a multicultural curriculum, I, a person who appears different from the ideal American cannot easily blend into society, highlighting that the culturally diverse are unable to be embraced in American communities. Because of the singular view of an American, it fuels the intolerance of diverse individuals and cultures because of an instilled ideal American. I am detached from a society that is intolerant and uneducated of my background. I hope that by educating society, it will help America to understand and to comprehend others with compassion and love by gaining a complete view of Americans that will allow the tolerance of different cultures I am forced to change who I am to be a part of the great American melting pot that is predominantly white because of the singular view of what an American is, fueling the intolerance of my Asian background. I grow closer toward the dominant culture, but in the process, lose my own culture to assimilate into Western society. I see little hope of the coexistence between the two cultures I am embedded in until Americans are educated on the struggles and beauty of Asian culture.

It pulls me out: the extensive knowledge and opportunity to learn dance from others, my self-concept, and people’s selfish nature. COVID-19 has affected my life in a primarily positive way. (I know, weird right?) I have gotten the chance to come closer with dance through online classes I would not have had the opportunity to take otherwise. CLI Studios which sprung up during the early months of COVID-19 had a two-week free intensive due to COVID-19 and still continues to host public classes. Learning from others that are renowned in the dance industry and gaining insight from their moves, words, and works have been life-changing for me to adapt and create my own style. I have learned from this pandemic that growth is possible and that attaining and doing what you love has no barriers. I have also learned that you have to be able to adapt and grow quickly to meet the demands of our ever-changing society. Shifting from an in-person to an online format for school has shown me that I am resilient. I am able to bounce back when faced with challenges easily, finding new ways to accomplish and get the job done. My understanding and assessment of who I am has emerged gradually, but COVID-19 has really shown me the stability of my self-concept. Not only am I confident and independent, but I am a sociable and assertive creature. Also, with the world heeding to COVID-19, I am aware of people’s selfish nature. Their quick rise to support the communal versus the personal is not present. It shows humans as flawed, paying attention to staggering headlines, but not more nuanced and subtle troubles occurring near them.

My playlist elaborates on a song that serves as an inspiration to my creative engine - “Chemtrails over the Country Club” by Lana Del Rey. The following songs involve getting up to dance and a significant other, where dance takes its place. Dance is like a lifelong partner, giving me the encouragement and power to tackle anything that comes my way, consuming my life for the better. Dance has also given me a growth mindset, meaning that it has helped me understand that where you start is simply just where you start, not where you end up.