The discoveries of scientists and researchers can go on to be life-changing. When information is discovered and tested, it can lead to the betterment of the entire human race. Take Madame Marie Curie for example; her discoveries and research with radioactive material led to treatments for various types of cancers. Or That is why I plan on changing the world by working with my major Cognitive Science. Cognitive Science is the study of the human mind and brain through computer science, philosophy, psychology, and linguistics. Specifically, we are interested in understanding how humans process and represent information mentally and how mental processes are realized within the brain. Once I enter the workforce post-graduation, I hope to go deep into researching the processes of the human mind. While there is so much we already know, there’s plenty more that we don’t quite know yet. For example, why do people dream? Why does the same trauma impact various people differently? Of course, there are plenty of theories on these subjects, but we are yet to know for sure and there are plenty of subjects beyond these to study. Upon learning these things through studying patients and conducting research, I wish to make this information available to the general public so that all of us can know how we work. As of now, however, I am still in college but that hasn’t and will not stop me from helping now. In high school, I was a member of the Beta Club, which valued itself on community service. For example, I helped implement a recycling program throughout my high school my 11th-grade year. Within my first year of college, I prided myself on helping those around me still. I would create group chats on GroupMe for my classes that did not have them so that my peers and I could assist each other when understanding course content. If someone struggled with classes I’d always offer to help them discover the answers. This coming school year I hope to do more through official student organizations, such as working as a student ambassador of my school's LGBTQ+ Resource Center so that I could help other students who are like me find supplies and resources as they navigate finding themselves while already dealing with the stress of college life. In conclusion, I hope to make this world a better place than when I entered it by being at the cutting edge of research on the human mind and brain work. Until then, however, I have tried to be a help to my community as a whole, whether that be back in high school being a member of the Beta Club, or in my first year of college, where I have gotten my classmates together. In the short term, I hope to be an ambassador and guide to many students within my community.

As Carl Gauss once said, “Math is the queen of science” and as a STEM major, I have to agree. It is important to have an understanding of math in nearly every STEM field. As a Cognitive Science major the importance of math inside of the subject is not the most apparent but upon further investigation you will find that numbers are at the basis of much of what people inside of the field do. Much of the work relies on computers and requires at least a base level of how software engineering works, additionally, an understanding of statistics is also needed as a lot of the research is based on analyzing information. Additionally, math is needed inside of regular life. If you know how to do basic algebra and basic equations, you can typically figure out most problems when buying things or making a deal with someone. While some may argue that you can just use your phone or computer, I would argue back that even when using those devices, a basic understanding is needed to make sure you are calculating things correctly. And personally, I just really enjoy learning about math, especially algebra and statistics. While I’d be lying if I said I also didn’t enjoy more subjective subjects, as a pattern oriented person, there is a comfort and ease that I find when doing math problems. Once you understand how a concept in math works, you are able to complete other problems that are similar. And even as you go further and the difficulty increases, it's just the different concepts previously learned stacked on top of each other. It also feels important to me as an African-American that I appreciate that I am able to learn about math and other school subjects. A lack of formal education (whether it be that education was not allowed or that it was incredibly hard to obtain) was used to take advantage of many people of color in this country ( and still is). Since many African-Americans weren’t allowed to learn how to do math, they were often tricked into paying too much for a good. For example, if they were trying to buy 5 crates of some product that should’ve cost $2 each, the salesman would have told them it was $12 for the products, instead of $10. In conclusion, math is not only incredibly important, I personally enjoy it very much. It is important for what I study, important inside of regular life, something I enjoy doing, and something I appreciate that I get to learn as my ancestors were not able to.

When you are a little kid, you constantly ask questions on why something happens, your brain is a sponge constantly collecting "water" and you need to fill it up. As we grow older, that wanting to know why goes away for some, and that's part of growing up. But for me, that need to understand how everything works never really went away. I want to know things, I want to learn why things are the way they are. By pursuing higher education, I hope to learn so much more about the world. Not just through classes, though I am excited to study and learn from professors, but also from my peers, who have lived lives so different from mine. While in High School, I tried to widen my grasp on what I know. participating in extracurriculars. I was in Drama Club, Academic Team, and Beta Club. I also practiced instruments such as the guitar and ukulele. I would volunteer through Beta Club and on my own, such as helping run a yearly tennis event at my local park. These extracurriculars have taught me many new things. The first is how to be confident in what I know and to speak up. After I study, I know my lines, so I should go out there with confidence. I know the answer to these questions so I need to have faith in my answers. I know the chord progression so I just need to play. Second, they taught the value of working with others. No one can know everything nor can they learn everything by themselves. From my music teacher teaching me how to make an "A-chord" to the upperclassmen in Drama Club teaching me how to present myself on a stage, so much of what I've learned has come from others. And it's not just things said to me explicitly, it's things I've picked up from watching others. The way I write my answers down in Academic Team is the same as how my first coach in middle school would write hers when she would play along. The way I give instructions to other actors is similar to how my 9th-grade drama teacher would. Currently, what I am most passionate about is creating something that will matter to people. I don't want to leave this world without having something out there with my name on it, that impacted someone in some regard. By going to school and making connections with others as well as learning more things, I will be able to fuel this passion to create by gaining what I need to make something that matters to people.

I am going off to college this August and this piece covers a lot of the mixed emotions I feel about this. I have lived in my hometown my entire life and am now leaving and am going to be living somewhere else. This is about my desire to leave and change things while also being afraid of being forgotten back home and by people, I have come to know.

My "everything" is my fundamental beliefs about the universe. I don't know if there is a god, though I like to think that there is one. What I do know is that we are tiny, so very tiny, inside a universe that is so big, bigger than any of us could really comprehend. And beyond that, the chance of us existing, as who we are is so small. Regardless of how you believe that we got here, what we know is that the fact that we are here at all is so tiny. However, despite that, we are still here. We are here and we live lives filled with love and joy and hope and pain and celebration. We live these lives with so many emotions and our hearts beating every single moment. It makes me uncomfortable how tiny and unique we are but I also find beauty in it. And it motivates me. Since I am here, and I live the life that I live, I want to enjoy every single second of it. I want to do what I want and chase my goals. I have so many things I want to do, so I'm going to do it. I am going to pursue film and music, and theatre, because that is what makes me happy. I will pursue this because I am so tiny but I am here, so I will. My art piece is the song that I wrote and sang on the link below. I tried to capture the feelings that I have described in this essay and I hope that you enjoy it!

As someone who is queer and nonbinary, I am proud to be LGBTQ+ as I am part of a community that encourages people to be themselves and support each other. I am also proud to be LBGTQ+ as it is another part of my identity that allows me to be part of something much greater than me that has a history of triumph, tears, pain, and joy. My Instagram is LissaWho55.

My favorite movie is The Shape Of Water, directed by Guillermo del Toro and written by him and Vanessa Taylor. The movie won Best Picture at the Oscars in 2018. On the surface, it just seems like a weird film about a woman in love with an amphibian monster and an ambiguous ending, like many Del Toro films have. However, this movie is much more than that. It’s a play on the Beauty And The Beast trope by having the women fall in love with the monster, even though he never turns into a human. It’s an exploration of being a minority, written and directed by a minority. It’s a story about those who are called monsters by the society that they are in, for things outside of their control, such as their race, disability, or sexuality. This is explored in the 1960s, a time of high pressure and stress on many Americans. It talks about the pain that people feel when they are villainized, as well as people who abuse their societal advantages to get farther in their own wants and goals. It’s a story that is about humanity and how there is beauty even in a dark place. And beyond the meaning, the film is shot incredibly well. Del Toro sets the stage to give the movie almost a dream-like feeling. He uses cool greens and blues, paired with an occasional bright color that can catch the eye. He shows different parts of the world from dark warehouses to ideal suburbs, to low-income apartments, making each place distinct. In conclusion, the shape of water is my favorite movie. The feeling it gave me when I watched it, is unique and fills me with such a love for the art of filmmaking.