Everyone had their laptop open, eagerly dragging blocks to create the next line of code that would move their player, but at the bottom of the stairs, there was one laptop and student closed off to the world. I was co-president of my high school’s STEM Club, and that day we were teaching coding to students at my former elementary school. I sat next to him and said softly, “Hey, I know it’s frustrating, but mistakes just mean we’re learning.” After a few moments, he reopened his laptop, and we walked through the problem together, one step at a time. Before long, he was coding again, smiling as his player completed the challenges. That moment reminded me of myself a few years earlier. Growing up in a rural farming town in Illinois, technology wasn’t something that came easily. My internet connection was slow, there were no tech classes, and I barely knew anyone who worked in the field. I never imagined I would pursue a career in cybersecurity, I didn’t even know what that was until high school. Everything changed when I attended the GenCyber Summer Camp at Illinois State University. I signed up thinking it would be a fun week on a college campus, not realizing it would completely reshape my future. I remember walking into the classroom that first day, one of the only girls in the room, surrounded by people who already seemed to know how to code. I felt out of place, like maybe I didn’t belong there. But my instructors and classmates were kind and patient, encouraging me to keep trying even when I struggled. Slowly, I began to understand the logic behind coding and the importance of protecting systems from cyber threats. For the first time, I could picture myself doing this for a living. That experience lit a spark in me that has only grown brighter. Now, as a cybersecurity and management/leadership student at Maryville University of Saint Louis, I’ve had opportunities I once thought were out of reach. I earned my Foundational Cybersecurity Technologies (GFACT) certification from the SANS Institute, joined the Women in Cybersecurity chapter of Saint Louis, and became a part of the Maryville University ethical hacking team. Walking into a room of mostly male cybersecurity professionals is still intimidating, but I am there to learn, grow, and pave the way for other young women who will come after me. My goal is to become a cybersecurity incident responder to help organizations recover from cyberattacks and protect the systems people rely on every day. But beyond that, I want to make technology more accessible to students from small towns like mine. I want them to see that they don’t have to come from a big city or have years of coding experience to make a difference in STEM. Sometimes, they just need someone to sit next to them and say, “It’s okay to start small. You belong here.” This scholarship would allow me to focus less on financial stress and more on continuing to grow, mentor, and give back. I want to pay forward the encouragement I’ve received to the next generation of curious minds, especially those who, like me, once doubted if they belonged in STEM. Because we do belong here. And the more women who take that first step, the brighter the future of technology will become.

I look around the room, where monitors and TVs cover the walls, all displaying black backgrounds with lime-green text; I had never been more nervous in my life. This was the first day I decided to join the meeting of the Maryville University Ethical Hackers. Nothing is more intimidating than walking into a room full of people that you don’t know and recognizing your differences from every one of them. I am the only woman there, nevertheless a bisexual woman, in a meeting where I know very little about cybersecurity, but that didn’t stop me from taking up a seat on the couch. Now, I look back on that first meeting and wonder what would have happened if I had turned back and walked out the door because I was frightened. I can tell you a couple of things. I wouldn’t have met lifelong friends, wouldn’t have learned exciting and complex cybersecurity knowledge, and wouldn’t have pushed myself to try something new, even though I was different. Luckily, the ethical hackers club at my university is very supportive and welcoming, but I know that is not always the case in the world of cybersecurity. Keeping this in mind, I want to be that support for students interested in pursuing cybersecurity or technology. Recently, I was the head of a STEM Club committee to bring technology education to a local, rural elementary school. In this project, we created a curriculum for 4th and 5th-grade students to learn about technology and coding. We started with block coding on Code.org and worked our way up to coding calculator robots to draw shapes! Watching the students' faces fill with joy when learning showed me how important technology outreach is, especially for students who typically don’t see themselves in that space. Being from that rural community, I have felt ashamed of my sexuality and being “different” from everyone else. Those experiences have fueled me to bring technology education and resources back to small towns like mine. The places where students can see that being “different” is not something to be ashamed of, but to be proud of. Currently, I am a second-year student at Maryville University of Saint Louis, where I am pursuing a dual degree in cybersecurity and leadership. My ultimate career goal is to be a cybersecurity incident responder. My skill set and passions align with this field because of my strong problem-solving abilities, ability to work under pressure, and passion for protecting digital systems. After graduating, I plan to gain experience on an incident response team, developing my skills in identifying, analyzing, and responding to cyber attacks. In the next ten years, I aspire to lead a team of cybersecurity incident responders, as per my dual degree in leadership. This scholarship would be a great financial relief for my upcoming semester, as I work 30+ hours a week during the school year to afford my education. This scholarship would allow me to spend less time working and more time focusing on attending clubs like the Maryville Ethical Hackers, pursuing internship opportunities, and giving back to the community. To conclude, I am committed to securing the digital world as I pursue my career goal of becoming a cybersecurity incident responder. My experiences of being a bisexual woman who grew up in a rural community have shaped me into a person who is motivated to excel in cybersecurity and contribute to a more inclusive and accessible field.

When I was younger, I never thought I would pursue technology, let alone cybersecurity, a field I heard of in high school. Growing up in rural, cornstalks-for-miles, Illinois, my access to technology resources and classes was limited, but that did not stop me from pursuing my interests, it only fueled me. At STEM Club, I found a sense of community and belonging. This was a safe space to explore interests, work on bettering the community with STEM, and make friendships. At competitions, I was with other like-minded people where we could be ourselves and “geek out.” Meeting people with similar interests to me, especially other women interested in computing or cybersecurity was a truly comforting feeling. Arguably my favorite part of STEM club was involving the community with our projects and programs. Every Spring, our group travels to the elementary schools in our district for “STEM Celebration Days.” STEM Celebrations Days are an activity-focused day for children to practice and enjoy the engineering design process. We created these activities to encourage personal growth and learning in STEM. The children use their skills to make a plan, test it out, fail, learn from their failures, and try again. A critical part of being a professional in STEM is knowing you will fail. We welcome failure, as long as you can reflect on your process, make some changes, and try again. This year, I was the head of a new project to introduce computer science education to local students. All the Olympia schools are in rural, farming communities, where access to technology information and activities is limited. We taught 4th and 5th graders about computer science through online programs where they learned coding basics and eventually, we built up to coding basic programs into rovers through calculators. Through these opportunities, I have learned that community involvement is a large part of my life and I would like to make an impact by becoming a cybersecurity professional. In my future years, I plan to study cybersecurity at Maryville University of Saint Louis. Now more than ever, people are vulnerable because our interconnected world relies heavily on technology, affecting areas such as schools, hospitals, and banks. Everywhere is vulnerable to a cyberattack, even in the most rural places. Without individuals like myself who are willing to step up to defend our digital networks, these essential institutions would be at risk. In conclusion, my curiosity and passion for technology not only provided me with a sense of community and personal growth but also ignited a passion for local outreach and education. The experiences and lessons learned, especially through projects like STEM Celebration Days and the Rural Technology Outreach Program have solidified my commitment to making a positive impact. As I continue my education, I look forward to contributing to the field of cybersecurity, protecting critical infrastructure, and ensuring a secure future for our nation.

As the president of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Club during my high school years, I had the privilege of not only contributing to my school community but also shaping my future trajectory. This leadership role provided me with valuable experiences, personal growth, and influenced my career aspirations. At STEM Club, I found a sense of community and belonging. This was a safe space to explore interests, work on bettering the community with STEM, and make friendships. At competitions, I was with other like-minded people where we could be ourselves and “geek out.” It was a truly comforting feeling to meet people with similar interests to me, especially other women interested in computing or cybersecurity. Arguably my favorite part of STEM club was involving the community with our projects and programs. Every Spring, our group travels to the elementary schools in our district for “STEM Celebration Days.” STEM Celebrations Days are an activity-focused day for children to practice and enjoy the engineering design process. We designed these activities to encourage personal growth and learning in STEM. The children use their skills to make a plan, test it out, fail, learn from their failures, and try again. A critical part of being a professional in STEM is knowing you will fail. We welcome failure, as long as you can reflect on your process, make some changes, and try again. This year, I am the head of a new project to introduce computer science education to local students. All the Olympia schools are in rural, farming communities, where access to technology information and activities are limited. We will teach 4th and 5th graders about coding and computer science through fun games and activities such as online coding quests, calculator coding, and we will build up to coding some small rovers. Through these opportunities, I have learned that community involvement is a large part of my life and I would like to make an impact by becoming a cybersecurity professional. In my future years, I am planning to study cyber defense and security at Davenport University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Now more than ever, people are vulnerable because our interconnected world relies heavily on technology, affecting areas such as schools, hospitals, and banks. Everywhere is vulnerable to a cyberattack, even in the most rural places. Without individuals like myself who are willing to step up to defend our digital networks, these essential institutions would be at risk. In conclusion, my position as president of STEM Club not only provided me with a sense of community and personal growth but also ignited a passion for community outreach and education. The experiences and lessons learned, especially through projects like STEM Celebration Days and the current initiative at Olympia South, have solidified my commitment to making a positive impact. As I continue my education, I look forward to contributing to the field of cybersecurity, protecting critical infrastructure, and ensuring a secure future for our nation.

Protecting the Future - Making a Positive Impact through Cybersecurity In the growing digital world, a large portion of people’s lives is online. Everything from healthcare and banking information, to family photos. Without careful measures in place, this information is at risk of being compromised. I, Amy Dederich, plan on pursuing a career within a branch of computer science- cybersecurity, to positively impact the world by being protected from cyber attacks. Firstly, many cyber attacks can be prevented when people are educated on the correct methods to protect their personal information. Most people don’t know how valuable their information is to hackers and the proper ways to protect it. With my career choice, I will educate people on how to best protect their sensitive information from being compromised. Now, cyber attacks don’t only happen on a personal level, but also on a national and global level. Large companies and government organizations are at high risk for cyberattacks being of the sheer mass of sensitive information kept in their facilities. Everyone trusts their information with places like hospitals, banks, and schools, but what they don’t know is that these companies have a team of people working to protect their information from being exploited. When I am a cybersecurity specialist, I will make a positive impact by ensuring people feel their information is safe with the places and businesses they trust. In addition, cybersecurity protects the critical needs of society. Cyber crimes can take down power grids, phone lines, and digital transactions. If any of these were affected in a cyber attack, the quality of life for people would decrease until cybersecurity specialists, like myself in the future, were able to get the service back up and running. With protection measures in place, these events are very unlikely to happen, but cybersecurity specialists must change their defense methods frequently to adapt to new attacks and changing technologies. Furthermore, cybersecurity allows digital innovation to thrive. When companies or people make new technologies, they are at their most vulnerable because they don’t have much protection. Cyber attackers could steal their ideas, coding, and information from an innovation without proper defense measures. After my future studies, I will have the knowledge to be able to protect startups and innovations so that they are able to create products that will benefit society. Also, cybersecurity gets pushed to the background unless a cyber attack were to happen. With an amazing team of cybersecurity experts, you should never have any concerns or worries about the information security of businesses, government entities, and yourself. The positive impact that they make is ensuring systems are running smoothly, information is protected, and cybercrimes are being defended against. To conclude, I will make a positive impact on the world by studying cybersecurity. My aspirations and goals will allow me to protect the information of people from being exploited, to protect critical systems in society from being shut down, and to ensure people and businesses feels safe and secure with their digital information. I, Amy Dederich, will benefit the future of the world through cybersecurity by allowing it to grow and thrive with technologies that are secure and safe.

The most useful back-to-school tip I have to suggest is doing long-term projects as soon as you get them. I have recently started doing this, and it saves me a bunch of stress and cramming to get projects turned in. The reason why I find this so helpful is because you have long-term assignments and short-term homework, when you do your long-term assignments over a period of days far away from he due date, it leaves time open for the short-term homework due the next day, relieving stress.

When I was younger, I never thought I would want to pursue a degree in information systems. There were many other things I wanted to be instead, a singer, a veterinarian, and even a waitress. But, as I became older and wiser, I realized that a degree in technology is a highly practical and useful degree for everyone, especially women. Last school year, I got an email from my guidance counselor about an upcoming opportunity at Illinois State University. It was a summer camp dedicated to high school students interested in IT and specifically, cybersecurity. I applied to this camp along with 250 other students and waited for an email back. After long past the day that the school said they would notify the people who made it into the camp, I sent them an email asking about my status. They had put me on a waitlist. Just a couple of weeks before the week long summer camp, I received an email saying someone dropped out, and I was in! Before the camp, I had been interested in coding and learning about computers, but I had never taken action on it because I did not know where to start. When I arrived on the first day of camp, all of the 11 instructors were male. Without lying, I was very intimidated by the instructors that obviously knew a lot about technology. It did not help that none of them were women. After the first hiccups of the camp I had a tremendous amount of fun learning about new technologies and cybersecurity. Our big project for the camp was creating a useful device using two Raspberry Pis with a small group. Our group decided we were going to make an earthquake detector. First, we hooked up a vibration detector to my Raspberry Pi and coded a simple program that would send an alert for any vibration over a 6.5, which would eliminated any unwanted alarms. Next, we connected an alarm to the receiving Raspberry Pi, which would buzz whenever the first Raspberry Pi registered an alert. While we were doing this project, I noticed I was enjoying mysef, even though it was a lot of hard work. This was my first real coding project, and with the help of my group we made a functioning, useful, and successful product. Another aspect to this wonderful camp was learning about different careers in technology. We had guest speakers from State Farm and even the FBI! They told us the many career opportunities that arise from having a degree in technology. After having so much fun at the camp, I learned that even though a career in technology would be hard work, it would also be very practical and rewarding! With all the excitement I have for pursuing a degree in technology, I know that there will be some challenges. Most of my classes will be mainly men and I will have to work twice as hard to prove myself to some of my classmates. I know that myself and all the other women in technology will get through it because we can lean on each other for support and guidance. Even with all of the challenges and obstacles, I know that pursuing a degree in STEM as a woman will be an amazing and beneficial challenge!

“Dare to be brave today, and trust that when you extend your wings, you will fly." -Mary DeMuth. For most people being brave means getting out of their comfort zone. That’s what makes it hard, the comfort zone is called the comfort zone for a reason. It takes a particular person like myself to step out of their comfort zone and live boldly. The most significant step I took out of my comfort zone would be when I joined the high school speech team. I acknowledged that I wanted to work on my writing and speaking skills, but it always made me nervous and uncomfortable. Well, I bit the bullet and signed up! My speech coach suggested that I focus on the category “Original Oratory”, which means I would have to write and perform an eight-minute long speech about a problem I am passionate about. Overall, I had it kind of easy for the first part of the season because most of the tournaments were virtual and you could record and submit a video. This means I would say the same speech over twenty times before I would submit it. But, at the end of the season, there was a live tournament where the judges would watch, all in real-time. Before I went on, I was a mess, but I took some deep breaths and decided to live boldly and bravely. I extended my wings and I did indeed soar during the performance, just getting started was the hardest part. I am very proud of myself for taking those risks on the speech team because it did improve my writing and especially my public speaking skills.

Now, I have always been an enthusiastic fashion guru, but we all know that fashion has a large impact on the current climate of our world. With social media playing a large part in the high consumption of fast fashion, I limit my closet of fast fashion and buy most of my clothing secondhand. This has a positive impact on the climate because the clothing has already been made and loved by another person before I buy it. Also, my favorite thrift store takes it one step further. I have volunteered at this thrift store that donates its’ profits to the local churches in town. Clothing comes into the shop that has stains or holes in it, so what they do with that is donate them to people around the world who cannot afford to buy new clothing. Some people say that you can’t be trendy or stylish with thrift store clothing, so they buy fast fashion. That is simply not true, it is not about the brand of clothing you wear, but the way your wear your clothes. All in all, buying secondhand clothing is my way of having a positive impact on the climate because it reduces fast fashion waste, I can have a personal style, and local thrift stores support the community.

As I sit in bed writing this at 10:02 pm the day that this essay is due, I realize that I need to get my act together and start applying for scholarships in order to be able to afford the whole college experience. If somebody gave me 1,000 dollars right now, I would be ecstatic! Now I hope that money would be in 100s or 50s because if I was given 1,000 dollars in pennies I would have to rent a truck and drive to the bank with a very heavy load. I would honestly be quite shocked, but very grateful. Either way, I would hurry to my neighborhood bank and drop that money straight into my savings funds for college. Savings are very important to me, as I would like to major in a business-related field. Now I have been working very hard this past summer trying to make money to save for college. Working 40 hours a week taking orders, making burgers, and cleaning is very stressful on the body and mind. My last bi-weekly paycheck was 850 dollars and 1,000 dollars from just writing a silly, little, essay, now at 10:14 pm the day it was due would be a tremendous joy.

I decided to try something new amid COVID-19 since all my other activities were canceled, the speech team. Speaking was not my strong suit, but I joined because of curiosity. This speech was filmed over 10 times before I got one where I felt confident in my abilities. I would say this was bold because I put myself out there even when I knew it would be challenging. This was a huge step for me and because of that, I have improved my speaking skills indefinitely, which has made me a more confident person!

The moment of truth. Will all my hard work be for nothing or will it be the best creation I have ever made. Hold your breath. 3..2..1 flip! This is the constant playing of emotions that run through my head every time enjoy my favorite hobby, baking. I love to create the best artwork in the world, the kind you can eat! The kind of rush you get from looking at a finished masterpiece after you have spent hours perfecting every last detail is unlike any other. Cakes send out plenty of different messages, I mean they say it right on top; “Happy Birthday Lisa!”, “Welcome Home Dad!”, or “Congratulations on Winning the Wheezy Creator Scholarship, Amy!” But, not all messages are that plain and simple. It is not what the cake says, but what it represents. I want to say through my cakes to the person who is eating it, “This cake was made with love especially for you.” Imagine a happy couple. At their wedding, they have a large cake for all their family and friends. They picked out all the details together, from favorite flavors to the wedding theme, and the last touch of a topper of the two of them on top. Everyone at the wedding is starstruck by the amazing sight and is marveled by the taste. Each bite the guests take, they feel a sense of joy for the happy couple, hoping the best for their new lives together. And each time the bride and groom see photos of their cake, it reminds them of the best day of their lives. The world needs to see my creations because they represent an event. The most joy in life comes from attending important life events, like, your graduation, wedding, and baby shower. My cakes are the finishing touch to each event and are a taste you can remember that life achievement as. It is my dream to own my own bakery to put people’s ideas into edible creations to be the centerpiece of the best days of their lives.