My name is Alexis and I am going into my sophomore year of college at CU Boulder majoring in Electrical Engineering and minoring in Media Production. Film is my main calling. Ever since I was young, I would grab a camera and start recording myself and what I was doing. Many times I tried to make talking videos for YouTube and everything but I was always too embarrassed to post them. When I started High School, we have a program called Pathways where we pick a certain course that we are interested in like STEM, Business, and more. There was one for film and I really wanted to do it, but my parents told me that I would not make a living off of it. Since each of my parents graduated with a degree in engineering, I went into the STEM pathway. It wasn't until the end of my Sophomore year that I realized that I needed film in my life again. I needed to grow my understanding of it and I became hungry to just know more. So in my Junior year, I started the film and video production pathway. Ever since then, I made it a goal to combine both engineering and film together for my future career. People don't really think about it, but there is so much engineering that goes into making an amazing film. It takes engineering to have stabilizers, drones, connecting sound, and more. Even with just shooting a commercial, it takes engineering to have a robot move at a certain time your camera moves to either have food exploding or a glass cup to be spinning. Those are the things that catch our eyes. Movies and TV shows bring a lot of joy into people's lives. It has given me a place to escape and forget about the world for some time. I want to create future content that gives the same feeling to others. But also have a message behind each film. I've created short films and scripted some about experiences people go through that might not be talked about a lot. I also create these stories for people to maybe have a better understanding of what someone could be going through. My films are either sad/depressing or straight-up comedy. For some reason, my mind goes to one of those categories. I feel like having a broad and complete different intake of film reaches out to more people who do have different viewpoints and opinions. I want to reach out to as many people as possible and let them escape in their own world.

My favorite artist would have to be Riehata. She's a professional dancer and choreographs and dances with many musical artists. She is also a mom of young boys. Dance is an art form and it takes time, patients, and dedication to become a great dancer which she is. Her dance moves are powerful and so inspirational, she is what I strive to be one day.

When people hear artists, they usually think of someone who paints, draws, and/or does something similar in those aspects. However, an artist to me is someone who uses their creative mind to develop a piece that inspires others and unlocks their creative side. My artistic attributes lean more towards film. There are so many things you can do with film. Since I was young, I've always been drawn to film. I would grab any camera I had and just start recording. Sometimes there was a meaning and sometimes not. When I was in middle school, we had a news station where students could record announcements and then be broadcasted throughout the whole school. For the longest time, I wanted to be a news anchor, but then I realized that I wanted to create my own stories through film instead of sitting there and reading a prompter. I want to be holding the camera and in front of the camera and most importantly edit. Editing to me is the most exciting part because that’s where the real creativity comes in. Figuring out what kind of transitions you want to do and make sure everything runs smoothly. I want to do film for the rest of my life, but I was repeatedly told that I would not be able to make a living with it, so right now I’m majoring in Electrical Engineering. However, I just can’t let film go, so starting the Semester of Fall 2021, I will be starting my minor in Media Production. Once I graduate, I plan to use both Electrical and film to create amazing pieces. Engineering is a big influence in films. If you want to create a gadget that moves an object at a certain time, that involves engineering. As a female and Asian American, I want to inspire other females and minorities to continue to reach for their goals and use all their skills to create amazing masterpieces and be an inspiration to others after them. I inspire to be the first Alexis Pak and I want to inspire others to be the first them and not be the next Da’vinci or the next Steven Spielberg.

Like most people might say, a woman that I admire in my life is my mom. I'm an only child so she always keeps tabs on me with everything that I am doing. Growing up, the main thing that she has taught me is to be a giver. There are so many people out there that just want everything and think they deserve everything. But that's not how life works. You need to earn the most valuable things in life. Throughout middle school, my mom would give me snacks to give to kids who aren't eating and need them the most. I continued this all through high school. Whenever someone needed food, they would come to me and with no hesitation, I will give them something I have. Since there are so few people who do constantly give, I never receive anything back after years of giving. Not just food, but other needs as well. But, this is another life lesson my mom taught me, which is it is ok to not physically receive something back from somebody, knowing that you might have made someone's day or even life is worth more than just any present. With this mentality, I always put everybody before myself. I know that is not overall a good thing because I need to make sure I am happy too, but I felt like that's what has become my mission in life. To give to others and impact their lives positively. It really only takes one person and one small gesture to help someone. I'm trying to be that someone for others who don't already have that someone. I live a very good life. I have supportive family members who will do anything for me and close friends I can count on. I know so many people who don't have that and I know it's hard. Of course, I will never truly understand what they could be going through but even knowing for myself that I am impacting them positively makes me and them feel better. I am a Freshman at CU Boulder currently and I am majoring in Electrical Engineering. Engineering has so many opportunities to be able to go out and change many lives. I am also trying to minor in Film and I want to combine both fields. There are so much film and engineering combined everywhere that is unnoticeable, but it is impacting many lives and influencing others like me to continue to then influence others. If it wasn't for my mother. I wouldn't be the person I am today. I owe her everything. She pushes me to be better and keeps me safe from experiences that she has already gone through so I wouldn't. She is my world and I will forever admire her.

Each person has a purpose. Each person has a certain calling. Whether it is a calling to help those in need, or a calling to bring joy and laughter. Everyone needs to execute those callings they have and use them in the community. Just a small gesture to someone else can make their day. Being involved in a community to me means changing lives. Changing the lives of others and yourself. The way I've been helping out my own community so far is by helping others who might feel forgotten sometimes. Just letting someone know that there is someone listening. There is someone who hears their story. Even though I myself cannot relate to that story, there are thousands of others who do. I want to make more of an impact on my community and across the world, but I know that it's not gonna happen overnight. Trying to reach the whole world is not as important as reaching just one person's whole world and changing it for the better. It's like having a friend group. It's better to just have 1 or 2 very good friends than having 20 people who call you a friend but don't remember your name. Right now I am majoring in Electrical Engineering and wanting to minor in Film. Film is my calling. To tell stories and have people think. That is how I plan to help my community. Even though the videos I've made didn't get close to 100 views, I'm hoping it has at least impacted one person. I want to expand my knowledge and understanding to reach out to more people and impact more lives positively. Even if my end result only reaches 200 people, I at least know the impact I've made is greater.

It was only two months ago when I learned how to love myself. I know that my struggles don't compare to so many other people's struggles, but no two people have the exact same situation and how it impacts them. It took me 4 years to finally accept the person I am today. In my eyes, I didn't have the perfect body or face. In many ways, I never thought I was good enough. There were many moments where I was thinking of taking my own life, but I knew I couldn't. I knew how much that would've impacted my family especially being an only child. 2020 really pushed me over the edge, however. I just became sadder having Prom, Graduation, and everything that was supposed to happen that didn't. I became more depressed and I didn't want to do this I loved anymore which made me even sadder. I was digging myself a deeper hole every day. It wasn't until I went back home from college in November when I finally decided to do things that will make me happy. I started working out every day but still saw no improvement. Finals were coming and that made me incredibly stressed. When I got my grades for my classes, I saw that I failed my calc class. I never failed a math class before. I never went below an 80% in math before. I triggered the feeling of being worthless again until I received an email saying that I can take the course again over Winter break. I knew it was gonna take everything I had to do on the course but I couldn't let the opportunity be taken away from me. From the start of Winter break to now, my self-love grew more and more. I started to lose weight, I passed the class and now I'm starting the Spring Semester off on the right foot. One of the main problems why it is so hard to love yourself is because we feel like we are always being judged. We care too much about what other people think. I have so many friends who are apart of the LGBTQ+ community. At my college, one of my friends is gay and the other was raised by lesbian moms. I try to support them to the best of my ability for things they could be going through. The friend who is gay told me stories of times people picked on him just because he is gay. The main problem people pick on each other is because of jealousy. And it can be from one simple thing that the other person has and they don't. Other people who don't love themselves try to make the people around them hate themselves too. My goal has always been to make others happy. That is my calling in life and I will make sure to never stop. People just need to see the beauty they have within themselves and make it shine.

This is my 6-year-old Corgi chihuahua mix, Rex. He's been there for me through my good and bad times. I'm an only child and I don't have a lot of close friends so whenever I need to talk to someone or just rub my tears away, he is always there. Also, since my Prom was canceled, we improvised a Prom night at my house and he was my date. I can't imagine my life without him. He means the world to me and he will always be my best friend.

I was told that family is first. Family is above everything we are going through no matter what. I am now starting to see that now. Family can be anything too. The meaning of family is not the same for everyone. Family could mean close relatives like parents and siblings. Family can also mean close friends that have impacted our lives. What I consider family are my parents and grandparents. My parents are divorced and ever since I was 5, I went back and forth between houses. My mom got remarried but my dad never did. Even though my parents are not together anymore, they still care about each other. They told me that they still need to work together to raise me and have a bright future for myself. That's always been the goal for my parents, to have a better life. It took a lot of crying and harsh talks to understand that. When I started going down the wrong path, they had to have those tough conversations with me. During the time of the conversations, I didn't want to hear it. I didn't care what they were saying. I wanted to live the life I wanted to live. I wanted to take off on my own. Trying to take off without any flying lessons is almost impossible. For some people, they were able to do it. Yet for me, I couldn't do it. I thought I was ready to graduate to take on life but I wasn't. I know that my parents will do anything for me to be the best version of myself. They are my top supporters and they will always be my top supporters.

Film has always been my calling. Elecrtical Engineering is what I am majoring in right now, but I want to start taking classes in film and video production. Since I was young, I was always invested into being in videos and creating videos. Electrical engineering is something that will help me be more unique and I will be able to create amazing things that can be used in my future films. Right now I am trying to come up with short film projects to post on YouTube and start putting my name out there. I went to Univeral Studios recently and my parents and I came across the The Bourne Stuntacular. We had no idea what it was and it was pretty hidden. We walked into a theater with a huge curved screen and began to watch the show. It right away blew my mind by how they combined live action and film. It really inspired me to one day be apart of something so special. Everything that Universal Studios presents is something I would love to do. The amazing 3D rides like Transformers, Harry Potter rides, and many more. With everything I want to create, I want to impact someone's life one way or another. Either something they are dealing with or just to bring joy to that person's day.

There are two areas of technology I am interested in studying. They are opposites of each other but they can be combined to create amazing things. The main thing I am majoring in is Electrical Engineering but my number one interest/hobby is filmmaking. It is hard to find a job with just a film production degree and so electrical engineering was the closest field of engineering that connects with film. With an electrical engineering degree, I'll be able to create and innovate great things for any film project given to me. I've watched behind the scene videos of how some companies create commercials and it takes a lot of engineering to create these great/interesting shots that catch an audience's eye. Electrical engineering is not an easy major and can be very difficult. With this education, it's not much of a problem I want to solve but to be able to inspire other people and have others be able to get inspired and think from watching films. Some so many people are great business owners, CEOs, engineers, etc. from being inspired by watching something and questioning how they can make something better or do something better. I never knew what I wanted to do growing up because I was told film won't get me anywhere and there is nothing else I wanted to do. So I finally found how I can do something that I love and then help others find their calling.

Edith Clarke (1883–1959) is by far one of the most inspiring engineers out there. No matter if it is a male or female, she is an inspiration to all. She walked across coals of fire for future female engineers to walk. For her to become the first female in the U.S. to be employed as an electrical engineer, and the first female professor of electrical engineering in the country is such an inspiration to many including myself. Now there are over thousands and thousands of female electrical engineers and it all started with her. What I hope to achieve in STEM is to of course change the world and make it into a better place but in some ways be unique about it. I am also really interested in film and I've been seeing many behind the scene footage on how they can make a scene look magical. Whenever I watch a film it takes me into another universe and lets me escape the real world just for a little bit. I want to be able to use electrical engineering and create code and build mechanics to make those magical sceneries come to life. I'm kind of in a confusing place with engineering a little bit because it's amazing how quickly advanced everything is happening. I just don't want the advanced technologies to be abused. For example, in the Netflix series, "Black Mirror," they show in many different episodes of how abusive and manipulative technology can be to the human race. If we don't know how to control it and use it in a good way, then catastrophe will happen. I want to be able to use engineering in a good way and bring positivity into people's lives and even change people's lives even from watching something for over an hour on a screen.

All my life, I've always wanted to learn how to speak Korean since my dad's side of the family is from Korea. I went to visit in the Summer of 2019, but I was not able to communicate with them and they were not able to communicate with me. That's what I have been striving for years now. A better connection with my family and understand more about myself as well through them. Unfortunately, I was not able to achieve this goal before my Grandpa died. I regret not pushing myself before to learn it so I would have been able to talk with him and hear his stories and tell him mine. Now it is my mission to finally succeed in this goal so I can talk to my grandma and learn from her and all of her stories and maybe even my grandpa’s too. Right now I am taking Beginning Korean 1 at my University. This grant will help me continue on this path of learning Korean. The University is very expensive and my family is in trouble of possibly losing the house if my step-dad gets laid off from his job. Anything will help push me to reach my goals and to finally be close with my family after 18 years.

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