As I entered my high school’s gymnasium, where rows of desks awaited, I felt a strong connection to all 200+ people in the room. We were all AP Calculus students about to take the exam we’d been preparing for all year. I held my head high since I knew we would all go on to be exceptional leaders and innovators in many STEM careers. The importance of calculus to STEM fields lies in its use in practical applications, its fostering of problem solving mindsets, and exploration of its natural beauty. In my chemical engineering classes, we use calculus for many practical applications. Reaction rates and kinetics can be determined using differential equations. Minimizing or maximizing certain variables can allow for process optimization. All transport phenomena can even be described with equations derived using calculus! The subject of chemical engineering would cease to exist without such fundamental equations. Additionally, calculus has been the bedrock for all the high-level math I’ve encountered in college. Mastering calculus in high school allowed me to succeed in my differential equations classes. Thus, learning calculus has been a milestone in my future career path. Besides applications to STEM careers, learning calculus also helps students develop an analytical, problem solving mindset. While not all students will use calculus in their professions, cultivating deductive thinking and logic is invaluable. Studying calculus helps to hone these skills, as well as foster creativity. In my AP Calculus class, we tried quizzes on our own, then checked with our peers before turning them in. This process allowed us to see everyone’s different techniques of tackling the same problem. Learning multiple solutions helped us to better understand concepts, rather than repeating the same method without knowing why that method works. As a calculus student, my intellect was enriched by learning the subject, and I developed essential problem solving skills. My initial motivation to learn calculus was to advance my education, but I fell in love with the natural beauty and intricacies of the subject. One of the most fascinating things I learned in calculus was Fibonacci’s Sequence. This sequence seems arbitrary at first, but has many unexpected applications. Fibonacci’s Sequence can be used to describe many phenomena in biology, like arrangements of petals on a flower. Learning calculus is an adventure full of surprises, which can be fulfilling to the learner. At its core, calculus describes variability and motion. Whether it's predicting the spread of a disease, describing sound waves, or analyzing growth of animal populations, calculus allows STEM specialists to examine dynamic phenomena. Calculus plays a significant role in all STEM fields, allowing for innovation and discovery.

Growing up, I always felt like my calling was to become a doctor. My family members were always in and out of the hospital, as three of my immediate family members have NEMO deficiency syndrome. We celebrated several birthdays and Christmases in my brother's hospital room. I felt like it was my duty to help people like them. I had my first hand at healthcare education in my high school biology class. The medical diagrams made me very uncomfortable, and I had an anxiety attack every time I had to dissect something. Clearly, I wasn't cut out for the medical field, but I was still determined to follow my passion. I decided to go into chemical engineering, because I excelled at the subject in high school. I was nominated for an award in chemistry at my high school. I received a 4 on the AP Chemistry exam and a 5 on the AP Calculus BC exam. I studied so much to receive these honors, because I loved STEM subjects, especially chemistry. I would watch videos on chemistry experiments in my free time because the subject really excited me. I knew that a chemical engineering degree would open a lot of doors for me. I went through my first two years of my undergraduate degree exploring different career paths. I ultimately decided on focusing in biomedical engineering and pharmaceutical production. I'm taking elective classes to further my education in these areas, and I've connected with a professional engineer at Johnson & Johnson to mentor me in my career journey. Through my career, I hope to improve production processes so medications become more widely available and affordable for consumers. My ultimate mission in life is to help people. I've become an advocate for others wishing to work in STEM, especially those who may be underrepresented. Currently, I'm an outreach chair for Society of Women Engineers at UT Austin. I work with my team to provide students with resources and opportunities to help them reach their full potential. We also do community outreach projects, like participating in school science fairs or collecting canned goods for our local food bank. I also write letters and make friendship bracelets for the Girls Empowerment Network. I encourage girls in grades 3-8 to follow their passions and write about my experiences in STEM. Through my volunteer activities, I hope to increase the number of women with college degrees in a STEM related field.

Growing up, I always felt like my calling was to become a doctor. My family members were always in and out of the hospital, as three of my immediate family members have NEMO deficiency syndrome. We celebrated several birthdays and Christmases in my brother's hospital room. I felt like it was my duty to help people like them. I had my first hand at healthcare education in my high school biology class. The medical diagrams made me very uncomfortable, and I had an anxiety attack every time I had to dissect something. Clearly, I wasn't cut out for the medical field, but I was still determined to follow my passion. I decided to go into chemical engineering, because I excelled at the subject in high school. I was nominated for an award in chemistry at my high school. I received a 4 on the AP Chemistry exam and a 5 on the AP Calculus BC exam. I studied so much to receive these honors, because I loved STEAM subjects, especially chemistry. I would watch videos on chemistry experiments in my free time because the subject really excited me. I knew that a chemical engineering degree would open a lot of doors for me. I went through my first two years of my undergraduate degree exploring different career paths. I ultimately decided on focusing in biomedical engineering and pharmaceutical production. I'm taking elective classes to further my education in these areas, and I've connected with a professional engineer at Johnson & Johnson to mentor me in my career journey. Through my career, I hope to improve production processes so medications become more widely available and affordable for consumers. My ultimate mission in life is to help people. I've become an advocate for others wishing to work in STEAM, especially those who may be underrepresented. Currently, I'm an outreach chair for Society of Women Engineers at UT Austin. I work with my team to provide students with resources and opportunities to help them reach their full potential. We also do community outreach projects, like participating in school science fairs or collecting canned goods for our local food bank. I also write letters and make friendship bracelets for the Girls Empowerment Network. I encourage girls in grades 3-8 to follow their passions and write about my experiences in STEM. Through my volunteer activities, I hope to increase the number of women with college degrees in a STEM related field.