My father handed me a violin bow at the age of 3. He played when he was younger and even met my mother in orchestra. And as much as I hated practicing all the time, violin became a way for me to connect with my father. To me, my dad is the epitome of success. Not only did he work hard to leave Taiwan and raise us in America, but he’s overcome many hardships in his own life. As an engineer, he was always fixing and building things, and I always loved it when he asked me to help. I remember us fixing up his car together and then playing catch in the backyard, like families on television do. But as I got older, he grew detached and moody, and our games together mostly ended. Violin was one of the only things that still connected me to him. He still made me practice every day. I eventually learned he suffered from Glaucoma since youth and was experiencing another large decline in his vision. He refused to drive after he accidentally drove me over the highway median. This and the many failed eye surgeries he’d undergone left him bitter and blind in one eye. Learning to understand why my dad acted the way he did allowed me to reconnect with him. He told me about opportunities he couldn’t take as a teenager because of his eyesight and pushed me to chase my dreams. I started wanting to become an engineer like him to solve the problems of the world. Now, in my research lab, one of our topics of study is electrical, self-driving vehicles. I am reminded of how me and my dad worked on his car together, and how that same car nearly killed me. My experiences growing up with a visually-impaired father taught me to see from others’ points of view and inspired me to work to one day use engineering to help people. Recently, my family has been playing music together with me and my dad on violin, my mother on piano, and my sister on cello. We play music from my dad’s childhood, since he can no longer read sheet music. It truly amazes and inspires me how he has managed to overcome his vision-impairment to play music, enjoy life, and work to support us. And he has also helped our family overcome our own struggles, from my chronic illness (Grave’s Disease) to my sister’s battles with depression and drug addiction. I truly cannot think of a more successful person than one who has overcome difficult struggles of his own and helped others to do the same; one who remains happy after the world was against him; one who has used his love of music to bond his family back together. That person is my father.

The perfect squad to choose to face a new supernatural threat would be Eleven, Dustin, and Dr. Brenner. This may sound like a stupid list, but hear me out. Eleven (at her peak) is the obvious choice. She has good powers for fighting and for seeing what other people are doing. She's also very determined when facing threats and is always the one who defeats them. Think about every evil in the entire show-- practically all of them were taken down or nearly taken down by Eleven at some point. Dustin isn't as obvious of a choice, as he's weaker, but he is one of the smartest characters in the show. He kind of remind me of himself, with how he'd create random inventions that would somehow end up helping them. He is also a kind soul, which saved the entire group back in season 2, when he bonded with a demodog and stopped him from attacking them. I know that Dustin's quick thinking, his inventions, and his need to protect his friends will help us defeat whatever supernatural threat we are facing. Last, but not least, is probably my most controversial pick: Dr. Brenner. One of the reasons I picked him was because he has become very protective of El, regardless of his intentions behind it. He also has a lot of scientific knowledge about the supernatural and the upside-down. But the main reason why I picked him for this squad is that he literally never dies. His character is practically immortal and has died twice already on camera. Even the character's actor says that he refuses to believe that Dr. Brenner is truly dead after the last season, because he just always comes back. So overall, my team will consist of an overpowered superhuman, a brainiac, and an immortal. This is objectively the best team and no one can argue with me.

When I first went to TAMS, a high school running out of the University of North Texas, I was very anxious about attending courses with college students. My first math professor, who was teaching me calculus I, only made this anxiety worse. The TAMS seniors had warned us to specifically watch out for this professor. We couldn't choose our classes first semester, so kids who were sorted into her class were considered unlucky. The seniors said she was strict, mean, a harsh grader, and barely gave out letters of recommendation for college. But when I went to her class for the first time, I found that she was actually a really great professor. She had a lot of passion for the class she was teaching. Not only that, but she had a great sense of humor. She'd give us cute little joke stories about math topics, like how an old student of hers caught her for speeding using the Mean Value Theorem. And I'll never forget her log cabin integration joke. Or how she'd have people come up to the board and mark off every little thing they did wrong, from grammar punctation to bad handwriting. She'd then joke that each mark off was "minus 1,000 points on your final exam". But something more about this professor was that she truly cared about the learning of her students. After the first week of class, she pulled me out of the classroom and asked if I could help the girl next to me, as I had been performing well in the class, and the other girl was struggling. I agreed, and me and the girl actually became great friends. The professor often gave people incentives to help the others in the class, like when she gave out class-wide group quizzes and only grade one quiz, meaning everyone had to make sure that everyone had good answers and work. She'd also say that helping other students would be something good to put on a recommendation letter, otherwise she'd have to write that the student didn't care about others. She ended up writing me a letter of recommendation and sending it to four portals, though she normally only sent letters to two, if any. But she was truly a great inspiration to me in the importance of helping and teaching others. So I ended up becoming an official math tutor for my school. I now tutor juniors and seniors in Calculus I and II. Some of these kids are taking the same professor I took and frequently complain to me about her, to which I always respond by saying how much I love her. I remember going to one of her office hours (I was no longer in one of her classes at the time) to thank her for her letter of recommendation. We talked for nearly an hour and bonded over our struggles in teaching the juniors. One junior in particular had failed her first quiz and came to me for help. After a few sessions, she got the highest score on her next quiz, and the professor even asked her to go up to the board to demonstrate her answer. Now, she comes to me at least once a week, and we're now great friends. This professor has inspired me to work to help other students, allowing me to form close bonds with students I never would've befriended before. Thanks to her, I now consider the possibility of becoming a professor myself in the future.

One in ten pets adopted from a shelter are returned within six months. Little did I know, my Chihuahua Lu would face these odds. We adopted Peluche to be an emotional support animal for my sister. When she first saw him, she joked about him looking scruffy and having a weird name. Peluche is French for stuffed animal, something my sister thought couldn’t describe the skinny and seemingly stuffing-less puppy. But the biggest reason everyone wanted to return him was because he wasn’t potty-trained. I was the only one who became deeply attached, finding his clumsy antics endearing. I nicknamed him “Lu” and let him sleep on my bed each night, despite him being an unshowered mess. The idea of returning him became increasingly horrifying. Dedicated to keeping him, I tried to potty-train him, but it was hard because I couldn’t constantly monitor him. After consulting various articles and videos to no avail, I remembered the vibrating collar my mom used to train our other dog, and I borrowed it to see if it could help me. After an initial test, I found it was useful, but only with constant surveillance, so I decided to modify the collar to make my own device. To find a way to detect when he peed, I researched different types of sensors, ultimately deciding on moisture sensors, a reliable detector of urine. I also added an alarm system to the collar, so I could hear when Lu was peeing and move him outside, to teach him the correct place to go. By the end of my endeavor, it was all integrated and sewn into an outfit for Lu to wear. As an added bonus, it was adorable. Surprisingly, my parents supported me and even helped file for a patent, where I learned the excessive writing and complex diagrams involved. This experience solidified my passion for engineering, encouraging me to apply to TAMS, a competitive STEM-school, where I could continue making things. Now, in a UNT power electronics lab working for more environmentally friendly methods of electricity conversion, I’m able to work on publications with similar methodology to what I had already experienced with Lu’s device. At MIT, I will continue applying my creativity to challenging problems. When I see Lu, I am reminded of this experience which drives me to use engineering, research, and innovation to change my world. More than that, I have also gained the opportunity to live a life with my best friend, Lu. It prides me to say that he never did become part of the one in ten statistic. Every time I walk through the front door, no matter how long my trip, he races towards me with excitement, welcoming me home. When I eat, he sits on my lap, and when I sleep, he sleeps on my stomach. Where I go, he goes. And with him, follows a reminder of a life-inspiring experience. From this experience, I have learned to face my challenges head on and use my skills and passions to work to overcome them.

As an HVAC engineer, my dad was always fixing and building things, and I always loved it when he asked me to help. I remember us fixing up his car together and then playing catch in the backyard, like families on television do. But as I got older, he grew detached and moody, and our games together mostly ended. I eventually learned why: he suffered from Glaucoma since youth and was experiencing another large decline in his vision. He refused to drive after he accidentally drove me over the highway median. This and the many failed eye surgeries he’d undergone left him bitter. Learning to understand why my dad acted the way he did allowed me to reconnect with him. He told me about opportunities he couldn’t take as a teenager because of his eyesight and pushed me to chase my dreams. I started wanting to become an engineer like him to solve the problems of the world. Now, in my research lab, one of our topics of study is electrical, self-driving vehicles. I am reminded of how me and my dad worked on his car together, and how that same car nearly killed me. Self-driving vehicles are a technology that truly inspires me about the way in which technology can make the world a better place. My parents recently acquired one for my father to be able to take himself to work safely, though he still can't drive other people. The car is still in its beta phase, but I am still amazed by its full self-driving capabilities. You simply set the location, and it takes you there. My father, who doesn't really care for animals, has recently stated that he now understands how owners feel about their dogs, as that is how he feels about this car. Even though the car doesn't understand, my dad says he is grateful that it is always working so hard to take him places. It fascinates me how someone can form a connection with this device, and how technology can help to make the world more accessible. Seeing how this car has improved my father's life is what motivates me to work in my research lab with power electronics that can help these vehicles with their energy consumption.

Opportunity died June 10th, 2018. I wouldn’t know of his death until Feb 13, 2019, when NASA disclosed it. I remember the day he died. I was in school, the same place where my fascination with space had first begun. Years before, in the third grade, I had to watch a YouTube documentary on the birth of twin Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Back then, granted I was eight, I lacked drive and clear career aspirations. This documentary was one of my first introductions to the real world of space and engineering. My favorite part was seeing the humanity in their work, not just the technical aspects. The rovers’ cute, humanoid features, like big eyes and tiny hands, showed the personality and fun of their creators, who’d call the rovers their babies and nicknames like “Oppy” for Opportunity. You could see the joy and pride they found in their work. Over the years, I grew attached to Oppy and watched his journey through life on Mars. I finally knew what I wanted to do: aerospace engineering. NASA announced Opportunity’s death on February 13th, 2019. Last year, the famous documentary on Opportunity’s death, “Good Night Oppy”, was released, bringing to the world the same love for the adorable rover that I had since third grade. The movie showed his final, teary transmission, and I had now witnessed his birth, life, and death. From the life I have lived with him, I have taken inspiration and a calling to pursue my dream of working in aerospace. My father used to tell that, as a child, he was also infatuated with space and wanted to become an astronaut. He told me about how his visual impairment didn't allow him to reach for his dreams, but he pushed me to pursue my own. This dream pushed me out of my high school and into the engineering track of a STEM school. Here, I took real engineering classes, alongside inspiring college students with the same goals as mine. These classes supplied me with invaluable connections with people who had impressive jobs in different fields of engineering but still came back to introductory level classes to learn more. I got the opportunity to work in a research lab with people who wanted to affect the world in the way I did. I wondered if this could compare to how it felt for the people in the documentary. My excitement was unimaginable when I was given the opportunity to work on the very thing that kept Opportunity alive: solar panels. Now, I work to use multiport converters to increase the efficiency of solar panels by minimizing energy waste and stabilizing power. In winter, it took Opportunity days of sleep to recharge. But with the work I'm trying to do, I hope to one day extend the lives of rovers and similar devices. These experiences have helped prepare me for an innovative future, and I thank Oppy for his life and how it has impacted mine and countless others. Now, I hope the dreams he has given me will continue to drive me forward and allow me to pay him back.

Opportunity died June 10th, 2018. I wouldn’t know of his death until Feb 13, 2019, when NASA disclosed it. I remember the day he died. I was in school, the same place where my fascination with space had first begun. Years before, in the third grade, I had to watch a YouTube documentary on the birth of twin Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Back then, granted I was eight, I lacked drive and clear career aspirations. This documentary was one of my first introductions to the real world of space and engineering. My favorite part was seeing the humanity in their work, not just the technical aspects. The rovers’ cute, humanoid features, like big eyes and tiny hands, showed the personality and fun of their creators, who’d call the rovers their babies and nicknames like “Oppy” for Opportunity. You could see the joy and pride they found in their work. Over the years, I grew attached to Oppy and watched his journey through life on Mars. I finally knew what I wanted to do: aeronautics/aerospace. NASA announced Opportunity’s death on February 13th, 2019. Last year, the famous documentary on Opportunity’s death, “Good Night Oppy”, was released, bringing to the world the same love for the adorable rover that I had since third grade. The movie showed his final, teary transmission, and I had now witnessed his birth, life, and death. From the life I have lived with him, I have taken inspiration and a calling to pursue my dream of working in aerospace. This dream pushed me out of my high school and into the engineering track of a STEM school. Here, I took real engineering classes, alongside inspiring college students with the same goals as mine. These classes supplied me with invaluable connections with people who had impressive jobs in different fields of engineering but still came back to introductory level classes to learn more. I got the opportunity to work in a research lab with people who wanted to affect the world in the way I did. I wondered if this could compare to how it felt for the people in the documentary. My excitement was unimaginable when I was given the opportunity to work on the very thing that kept Opportunity alive: solar panels. Now, I work to use multiport converters to increase the efficiency of solar panels by minimizing energy waste and stabilizing power. In winter, it took Opportunity days of sleep to recharge. But with the work I hope to one day extend the lives of rovers and similar devices. I hope these experiences have helped prepare me for an innovative future, and I thank Oppy for his life and how it has impacted mine and countless others. Now, I hope the dreams he has given me will continue to drive me forward and allow me to pay him back.

I'm on the board of ambassadors for the NiHao Food Bank Initiative, an organization of Asian-Americans fighting against hunger in the DFW area of Texas. We have partnered with locations such as the North Texas Food Bank (NFTB), where we have provided meals for thousands of homeless. This quickly became my favorite volunteering location. When a student who had just moved to the United States asked where they could volunteer, I brought her here. Now, she is one of my best friends. Collaborating with the NTFB has allowed me to volunteer and create lasting experiences with people who I wouldn’t otherwise be close with. Furthermore, NiHao has connected with schools in our area, allowing our cause to spread throughout the community, to people of all types. The experience of corresponding and meeting with school representatives has taught me how to reach out into a community to ask for help and fight together against our common enemies of oppression and starvation. So I decided to take up the position to lead the social media team of NiHao, allowing me to spread our organization and its cause further. At MIT, I will continue to contribute to and create organizations like this, advocating for the unfortunate while also working against discrimination and toward an inclusive environment for everyone. I also frequently volunteer at my school by tutoring juniors and seniors in Calculus I/II and electrical engineering, with over 100 volunteering hours counted. One junior, in particular, has made a large impact on me. When she first came to me, she'd failed her first quiz and been ridiculed by the notoriously strict professor, with a notoriously hard class. After a few sessions together, she went on to get the highest grade on the next quiz. The professor even called her up to the front to demonstrate her solution. Since then, she's been my most frequent tutee. I tutor her almost daily, and we're even friends now outside of tutoring. It makes me happy that I am able to help and connect with my students. I never would've become friends with kids like her, if not for my volunteering. I also volunteer frequently at Rays of Light, where I lead volunteer groups to take care of children with disabilities, particularly Down Syndrome. I'll never forget the first time I volunteered here. I was partnered with an older adult, so naturally, I felt a bit awkward and out of place. The child we were paired up with was super lively and fun. But the adult I worked with was very strict, limiting her phone time, and not allowing her to do certain things she wanted to do, even though it wasn't against the rules. So I decided to take over. I played with her like we were friends, not like I was tasked with taking care of her. She dragged me around on a scooter in the gym, and we played tag and hide and seek all day. This experience was what first opened up my confidence with working with children, and it is what brought me back again and again to volunteer. Overall, there are many ways in which I love to give back to my community. And each involves deep personal relationships that I will be forever grateful for. I will always enjoy helping people and helping my community.

I'm on the board of ambassadors for the NiHao Food Bank Initiative, an organization of Asian-Americans fighting against hunger in the DFW area of Texas. We have partnered with locations such as the North Texas Food Bank (NFTB), where we have provided meals for thousands of homeless. This quickly became my favorite volunteering location. When a student who had just moved to the United States asked where they could volunteer, I brought her here. Now, she is one of my best friends. Collaborating with the NTFB has allowed me to volunteer and create lasting experiences with people who I wouldn’t otherwise be close with. Furthermore, NiHao has connected with schools in our area, allowing our cause to spread throughout the community, to people of all types. The experience of corresponding and meeting with school representatives has taught me how to reach out into a community to ask for help and fight together against our common enemies of oppression and starvation. So I decided to take up the position to lead the social media team of NiHao, allowing me to spread our organization and its cause further. At MIT, I will continue to contribute to and create organizations like this, advocating for the unfortunate while also working against discrimination and toward an inclusive environment for everyone. I also frequently volunteer at my school by tutoring juniors and seniors in Calculus I/II and electrical engineering, with over 100 volunteering hours counted. One junior, in particular, has made a large impact on me. When she first came to me, she'd failed her first quiz and been ridiculed by the notoriously strict professor, with a notoriously hard class. After a few sessions together, she went on to get the highest grade on the next quiz. The professor even called her up to the front to demonstrate her solution. Since then, she's been my most frequent tutee. I tutor her almost daily, and we're even friends now outside of tutoring. It makes me happy that I am able to help and connect with my students. I never would've become friends with kids like her, if not for my volunteering. I also volunteer frequently at Rays of Light, where I lead volunteer groups to take care of children with disabilities, particularly Down Syndrome. I'll never forget the first time I volunteered here. I was partnered with an older adult, so naturally, I felt a bit awkward and out of place. The child we were paired up with was super lively and fun. But the adult I worked with was very strict, limiting her phone time, and not allowing her to do certain things she wanted to do, even though it wasn't against the rules. So I decided to take over. I played with her like we were friends, not like I was tasked with taking care of her. She dragged me around on a scooter in the gym, and we played tag and hide and seek all day. This experience was what first opened up my confidence with working with children, and it is what brought me back again and again to volunteer. Overall, there are many ways in which I love to give back to my community. And each involves deep personal relationships that I will be forever grateful for. I will always enjoy helping people and helping my community.

I'm on the board of ambassadors for the NiHao Food Bank Initiative, an organization of Asian-Americans fighting against hunger in the DFW area of Texas. We have partnered with locations such as the North Texas Food Bank (NFTB), where we have provided meals for thousands of homeless. This quickly became my favorite volunteering location. When a student who had just moved to the United States asked where they could volunteer, I brought her here. Now, she is one of my best friends. Collaborating with the NTFB has allowed me to volunteer and create lasting experiences with people who I wouldn’t otherwise be close with. Furthermore, NiHao has connected with schools in our area, allowing our cause to spread throughout the community, to people of all types. The experience of corresponding and meeting with school representatives has taught me how to reach out into a community to ask for help and fight together against our common enemies of oppression and starvation. So I decided to take up the position to lead the social media team of NiHao, allowing me to spread our organization and its cause further. At MIT, I will continue to contribute to and create organizations like this, advocating for the unfortunate while also working against discrimination and toward an inclusive environment for everyone. I also frequently volunteer at my school by tutoring juniors and seniors in Calculus I/II and electrical engineering, with over 100 volunteering hours counted. One junior, in particular, has made a large impact on me. When she first came to me, she'd failed her first quiz and been ridiculed by the notoriously strict professor, with a notoriously hard class. After a few sessions together, she went on to get the highest grade on the next quiz. The professor even called her up to the front to demonstrate her solution. Since then, she's been my most frequent tutee. I tutor her almost daily, and we're even friends now outside of tutoring. It makes me happy that I am able to help and connect with my students. I never would've become friends with kids like her, if not for my volunteering. I also tutor at frequently at Rays of Light, where I lead volunteer groups to take care of children with disabilities, particularly Down Syndrome. I'll never forget the first time I volunteered here. I was partnered with an older adult, so naturally, I felt a bit awkward and out of place. The child we were paired up with was super lively and fun. But the adult I worked with was very strict, limiting her phone time, and not allowing her to do certain things she wanted to do, even though it wasn't against the rules. So I decided to take over. I played with her like we were friends, not like I was tasked with taking care of her. She dragged me around on a scooter in the gym, and we played tag and hide and seek all day. This experience was what first opened up my confidence with working with children, and it is what brought me back again and again to volunteer. Overall, there are many ways in which I love to give back to my community. And each involves deep personal relationships that I will be forever grateful for. I will always enjoy helping people and helping my community.

One of the biggest social issues in my eyes is that of homelessness and hunger rates. I'm on the board of ambassadors for the NiHao Food Bank Initiative, an organization of Asian Americans fighting against hunger in the DFW (Dallas Fort Worth) area of Texas. We have partnered with locations such as the North Texas Food Bank (NFTB), where we have provided meals for thousands of homeless. This quickly became my favorite volunteering location. When a student who had just moved to the United States asked where they could begin volunteering, I brought her here, to the NFTB. Now, she is one of my best friends. Collaborating with the North Texas Food Bank has allowed me to experience food packing first-hand and create lasting experiences with people who I wouldn’t otherwise be close with. Furthermore, NiHao has connected with schools in our area, allowing our cause to spread throughout the community, to people of all types. The experience of corresponding and meeting with school representatives has taught me how to reach out into a community to ask for help to fight together against our common enemies of oppression and starvation. Most schools have gladly agreed to work with us, and NiHao has also received numerous awards since then. With the NiHao Foodbank Initiative, I have learned to fundraise and ask for help at various events, including traditional Asian festivals that have helped me to reconnect with my own culture. I have also experienced food packing, and the joys that come with delivering the packages to the people who need them. My experiences working with the hungry and fundraising for NiHao have made me much more aware about the staggering size of the homeless and hungry population right here, locally. I also now realize that a bigger percentage than expected of this population is children. This realization showed me just how privileged I was and made me start to want to do even more to help. I ended up deciding to take up the position to lead the social media team of NiHao, allowing me to spread our organization and its cause further. I now own both the organization's Facebook and their Instagram accounts, posting regularly. In college, I will continue to contribute to and create organizations like this, advocating for the hungry while also working against discrimination and toward an inclusive environment for everyone. Homelessness and hunger will always be pressing issues in our time, but I will continue fighting to raise awareness and help the hungry population as much as I can.

On April 23, 2022, I lost a fencing tournament. Such a simple event ended up changing my life. Last year, I developed severe shin splints. I went to physical therapy and learned of the possibility of stress fractures, if not taken care of properly. Still, I decided to compete in my next national fencing competition, since I’d already paid and trained for it, and then I would take a break afterwards. To compete through pain, I got a Toroidal shot and then six Cortisol shots, all of which failed. The only thing that really helped was getting my leg wrapped at the medical station at the actual tournament. Even then, the wrapping was so tight that it seemed like I could barely move my leg. I did poorly the first round of fencing (pools), placing me near the bottom of the competition. I was below 100th place and barely passed the cut for eliminations. For table play, I got to fence someone lower but had to fence 3rd place right after. After winning my first bout, I knew I'd likely lose the next one. I was D-rated and was ranked 80th in the country, and I had to fence an A-rated fencer ranked top 16. Luckily, halfway through the bout I realized she was mostly fencing with brute strength, no strategy. I figured out she had an easily predictable fencing pattern, and I caught up from 4:8 to winning 15:14. After this, I beat another A-rated fencer, making it to top 16. Now, I had to fence the top ranked cadet women’s saber fencer in the nation. As I went up to fence, I heard my competitor’s mother telling her that she was lucky that I beat the other two girls, so that she’d have an easier opponent. So going into the bout, I’d already psyched myself out. After losing the first few points, I started giving up, thinking I had no chance of winning. I decided I had already done good enough, so I threw the rest of the bout, losing by a lot in the end. Getting into top 16 at this tournament got me my B-rating, but had I won one more bout, I would’ve gotten my A. Since then, I have fenced this girl again many times, along with other members of the USA fencing team. At my last nationals, I beat two of three girls on this national team, carrying my team to 6th. Looking back, I wish I had still tried my hardest for that final bout, even if I lost anyways, because I know I could’ve done much better than how I did. But this experience taught me that I should always try my best and never give up, even when the odds seem low. Now, when I think of quitting, I am reminded of how I fought my way up that day, and wat more I could've done had I not given up early. This has pushed me through not only other fencing tournaments, but also musical and academic competitions. One such competition was a state Science Olympiad competition, where my catapult began malfunctioning the night before the tournament. I nearly gave up, wanting to sleep, but then I remembered with happened at that fencing tournament. So I stayed up late and ended up figuring out the reason for the malfunction: the angle the ball started at. The next day, we finished 5th. The lesson I learned from losing that fencing tournament will always stay with me. It has and will continue to push me to never give up and always persevere.

I'm on the board of ambassadors for the NiHao Food Bank Initiative, an organization of Asian-Americans fighting against hunger in the DFW area of Texas. We have partnered with locations such as the North Texas Food Bank (NFTB), where we have provided meals for thousands of homeless. This quickly became my favorite volunteering location. When a student who had just moved to the United States asked where they could volunteer, I brought her here. Now, she is one of my best friends. Collaborating with the NTFB has allowed me to volunteer and create lasting experiences with people who I wouldn’t otherwise be close with. Furthermore, NiHao has connected with schools in our area, allowing our cause to spread throughout the community, to people of all types. The experience of corresponding and meeting with school representatives has taught me how to reach out into a community to ask for help and fight together against our common enemies of oppression and starvation. So I decided to take up the position to lead the social media team of NiHao, allowing me to spread our organization and its cause further. At MIT, I will continue to contribute to and create organizations like this, advocating for the unfortunate while also working against discrimination and toward an inclusive environment for everyone. I also frequently volunteer at my school by tutoring juniors and seniors in Calculus I/II and electrical engineering, with over 100 volunteering hours counted. One junior, in particular, has made a large impact on me. When she first came to me, she'd failed her first quiz and been ridiculed by the notoriously strict professor, with a notoriously hard class. After a few sessions together, she went on to get the highest grade on the next quiz. The professor even called her up to the front to demonstrate her solution. Since then, she's been my most frequent tutee. I tutor her almost daily, and we're even friends now outside of tutoring. It makes me happy that I am able to help and connect with my students. I never would've become friends with kids like her, if not for my volunteering. I also tutor at frequently at Rays of Light, where I lead volunteer groups to take care of children with disabilities, particularly Down Syndrome. I'll never forget the first time I volunteered here. I was partnered with an older adult, so naturally, I felt a bit awkward and out of place. The child we were paired up with was super lively and fun. But the adult I worked with was very strict, limiting her phone time, and not allowing her to do certain things she wanted to do, even though it wasn't against the rules. So I decided to take over. I played with her like we were friends, not like I was tasked with taking care of her. She dragged me around on a scooter in the gym, and we played tag and hide and seek all day. This experience was what first opened up my confidence with working with children, and it is what brought me back again and again to volunteer. Overall, there are many ways in which I love to give back to my community. And each involves deep personal relationships that I will be forever grateful for. I will always enjoy helping people and helping my community.

One in ten pets adopted from a shelter are returned within six months. Little did I know, my Chihuahua Lu would face these odds. We adopted Peluche to be an emotional support animal for my sister. When she first saw him, she joked about him looking scruffy and having a weird name. Peluche is French for stuffed animal, something my sister thought couldn’t describe the skinny and seemingly stuffing-less puppy. But the biggest reason everyone wanted to return him was because he wasn’t potty-trained. I was the only one who became deeply attached, finding his clumsy antics endearing. I nicknamed him “Lu” and let him sleep on my bed each night, despite him being an unshowered mess. The idea of returning him became increasingly horrifying. Dedicated to keeping him, I tried to potty-train him, but it was hard because I couldn’t constantly monitor him. After consulting various articles and videos to no avail, I remembered the vibrating collar my mom used to train our other dog, and I borrowed it to see if it could help me. After an initial test, I found it was useful, but only with constant surveillance, so I decided to modify the collar to make my own device. To find a way to detect when he peed, I researched different types of sensors, ultimately deciding on moisture sensors, a reliable detector of urine. I also added an alarm system to the collar, so I could hear when Lu was peeing and move him outside, to teach him the correct place to go. By the end of my endeavor, it was all integrated and sewn into an outfit for Lu to wear. As an added bonus, it was adorable. Surprisingly, my parents supported me and even helped file for a patent, where I learned the excessive writing and complex diagrams involved. This experience solidified my passion for engineering, encouraging me to apply to TAMS, a competitive STEM-school, where I could continue making things. Now, in a UNT power electronics lab working for more environmentally friendly methods of electricity conversion, I’m able to work on publications with similar methodology to what I had already experienced with Lu’s device. At MIT, I will continue applying my creativity to challenging problems When I see Lu, I am reminded of this experience which drives me to use engineering, research, and innovation to change my world. More than that, I have also gained the opportunity to live a life with my best friend, Lu. It prides me to say that he never did become part of the one in ten statistic. Every time I walk through the front door, no matter how long my trip, he races towards me with excitement, welcoming me home. When I eat, he sits on my lap, and when I sleep, he sleeps on my stomach. Where I go, he goes. And with him, follows a reminder of a life-inspiring experience.

One in ten pets adopted from a shelter are returned within six months. Little did I know, my Chihuahua Lu would face these odds. We adopted Peluche to be an emotional support animal for my sister. When she first saw him, she joked about him looking scruffy and having a weird name. Peluche is French for stuffed animal, something my sister thought couldn’t describe the skinny and seemingly stuffing-less puppy. But the biggest reason everyone wanted to return him was because he wasn’t potty-trained. I was the only one who became deeply attached, finding his clumsy antics endearing. I nicknamed him “Lu” and let him sleep on my bed each night, despite him being an unshowered mess. The idea of returning him became increasingly horrifying. Dedicated to keeping him, I tried to potty-train him, but it was hard because I couldn’t constantly monitor him. After consulting various articles and videos to no avail, I remembered the vibrating collar my mom used to train our other dog, and I borrowed it to see if it could help me. After an initial test, I found it was useful, but only with constant surveillance, so I decided to modify the collar to make my own device. To find a way to detect when he peed, I researched different types of sensors, ultimately deciding on moisture sensors, a reliable detector of urine. I also added an alarm system to the collar, so I could hear when Lu was peeing and move him outside, to teach him the correct place to go. By the end of my endeavor, it was all integrated and sewn into an outfit for Lu to wear. As an added bonus, it was adorable. Surprisingly, my parents supported me and even helped file for a patent, where I learned the excessive writing and complex diagrams involved. This experience solidified my passion for engineering, encouraging me to apply to TAMS, a competitive STEM-school, where I could continue making things. Now, in a UNT power electronics lab working for more environmentally friendly methods of electricity conversion, I’m able to work on publications with similar methodology to what I had already experienced with Lu’s device. At MIT, I will continue applying my creativity to challenging problems When I see Lu, I am reminded of this experience which drives me to use engineering, research, and innovation to change my world. More than that, I have also gained the opportunity to live a life with my best friend, Lu. It prides me to say that he never did become part of the one in ten statistic. Every time I walk through the front door, no matter how long my trip, he races towards me with excitement, welcoming me home. When I eat, he sits on my lap, and when I sleep, he sleeps on my stomach. Where I go, he goes. And with him, follows a reminder of a life-inspiring experience.

Spider-Man was one of my first steps into the world of superheroes and action movies that I enjoy today. My absolute favorite Spider-Man will always be Tobey Maguire's because he was the one who first introduced me to comic books and superheroes. I remember watching the first movie with my mom, when I was a little kid. Since then, I've seen every other Spider-Man movie, most DC superhero movies, every MCU movie, and every X-Men/Deadpool movie. Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man is what led me spiraling down this amazing path of superheroes. Tobey Maguire had an iconic and accurate portrayal of Peter Parker. He was smart/nerdy, relatable, and you could really see his struggles balancing his personal life, relationships, and responsibilities as Spider-Man. Maguire had a sort of emotional depth, showing both joy and anguish/sadness very well. His portrayal of the emotional toll of being a teen superhero really resonated with me. Maguire's Spider-Man also has some of the most iconic moments in superhero movie history, like the upside down kiss with Mary Jane and the train scene in the second movie. It was also fun to see his character grow and develop. It was like I was growing up alongside him, waiting for the movies to come out. His character developed from a shy high-schooler to a mature and confident superhero. Maguire also had the best chemistry with his cast, like with Mary Jane and Harry Osborn. I do love the new Spider-Man and his involvement with the Avengers and the MCU. I'm really enjoying him kind of becoming the next Tony Stark, especially because of their father-son relationship. But although I love Tom Holland's Spider-Man, he wouldn't have been able to do it without Tobey Maguire's initial portrayal and success. As a huge fan of all the Spider-Men who watched "Spider-Man: No Way Home" in theaters on release-day, I was both shocked and thrilled to see Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield reprising their roles. I will forever be an unapologetic comic-book and superhero-movie fan, and I will never forget what started it all-- Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man.

I sat beside my sister, ready for a fun, lighthearted animated Netflix series. This usually wasn't my thing-- action movies and high intensity fight scenes were more my speed. But my (much older) sister and I had finally become friends after years of annoyance and hatred, so I was at a point where I'd watch just about anything with her. The show was called "Bojack Horseman", and it was about an irrelevant anthropamorphic horse named Bojack, who was in a famous TV show in the 90's. And for the first few episodes, it seemed to be just another a lighthearted animated sitcom for adults. A few heavy topics like sex, drugs, consumerism, and Hollywood elitism, but it seemed to be about what every other edgy animated series for adults was like: little plot and darkish jokes. But after a while, I realized it was more than that. This show really has a way of getting the viewer to dislike Bojack. It depicts him as a terrible person, regardless of the fact that he's the main character. And even though the show shows his childhood and family trauma, it doesn't use it to excuse the fact that Bojack is a pretty bad person who does bad things. I really enjoyed the show's dive into generational trauma, showing Bojack's grandma, mother, and little sister. One of my favorite subplots was when Bojack's mother had Alzheimer's, making her forget all the horrible things she did to him growing up. Everyone around her said she was a sweet old lady, frustrating Bojack, who she didn't even remember. We saw his mother a lot in this show, and she was always pretty malicious. This makes it all the better when we realize that she really isn't acting and she is now just a sweet old lady, reverting back to the days of her own awful childhood. This show also has a great way of depicting Bojack's struggle with Alcoholism. When alcohol is shown on screen, the liquid morphs into a kind of galaxy pattern. The galaxy pattern often shows up when Bojack is drinking, showing his guilt for causing overdose of his friend Sarah Lynn, along with a warning for the horrible things that happen when he starts drinking. Addiction is something that also runs in my own family. Watching this show with my sister, someone who struggled with drug and alcohol abuse herself, was a great way for us to finally connect. This show became "our show", and we've watched it together more times than I can count. Bojack Horseman is the perfect combination of humor and serious topics like addiction and generational trauma. And the experience I had watching it with my sister ensures that it will always be my favorite TV show.

At first, I was getting recruited to the US Air Force Academy, for fencing. But instead, I have recently committed to MIT, where I will be pursuing a degree in aerospace or aeronautical engineering. With this degree, I plan on working in the weapons/defense industry or maybe working for space organizations like NASA. I will still be joining the air force ROTC at MIT and will go on to serve the four years of military service after. I have always been interested in Air Force and Space Force and working in aerospace or defense. I have also always been interested in flying, since learning about how my great-grandfather flew for the military decades ago and how he gave his life for his country. I hope to be able to honor and continue his legacy by pursuing my passion for aerospace and flying. I have many friends who attended the US Air Force Academy, telling me about how they were pursuing careers in flying. Hearing about their experiences, from flight simulations to skydiving, has really encouraged me to continue chasing my dreams. As for community, I'm on the board of ambassadors for the NiHao Food Bank Initiative, an organization of Asian-Americans fighting against hunger in the DFW area of Texas. We have partnered with locations such as the North Texas Food Bank (NFTB), where we have provided meals for thousands of homeless. This quickly became my favorite volunteering location. When a student who had just moved to the United States asked where they could volunteer, I brought her here. Now, she is one of my best friends. Collaborating with the NTFB has allowed me to volunteer and create lasting experiences with people who I wouldn’t otherwise be close with. Furthermore, NiHao has connected with schools in our area, allowing our cause to spread throughout the community, to people of all types. The experience of corresponding and meeting with school representatives has taught me how to reach out into a community to ask for help and fight together against our common enemies of oppression and starvation. So I decided to take up the position to lead the social media team of NiHao, allowing me to spread our organization and its cause further. In the future, I will continue to contribute to and create organizations like this, advocating for the unfortunate while also working against discrimination and toward an inclusive environment for everyone.

Opportunity died June 10th, 2018. I wouldn’t know of his death until Feb 13, 2019, when NASA disclosed it. I remember the day he died. I was in school, the same place where my fascination with space had first begun. Years before, in the third grade, I had to watch a YouTube documentary on the birth of twin Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Back then, granted I was eight, I lacked drive and clear career aspirations. This documentary was one of my first introductions to the real world of space and engineering. My favorite part was seeing the humanity in their work, not just the technical aspects. The rovers’ cute, humanoid features, like big eyes and tiny hands, showed the personality and fun of their creators, who’d call the rovers their babies and nicknames like “Oppy” for Opportunity. You could see the joy and pride they found in their work. Over the years, I grew attached to Oppy and watched his journey through life on Mars. I finally knew what I wanted to do: aeronautics/aerospace. NASA announced Opportunity’s death on February 13th, 2019. Last year, the famous documentary on Opportunity’s death, “Good Night Oppy”, was released, bringing to the world the same love for the adorable rover that I had since third grade. The movie showed his final, teary transmission, and I had now witnessed his birth, life, and death. From the life I have lived with him, I have taken inspiration and a calling to pursue my dream of working in aerospace. This dream pushed me out of my high school and into the engineering track of a STEM school. Here, I took real engineering classes, alongside inspiring college students with the same goals as mine. These classes supplied me with invaluable connections with people who had impressive jobs in different fields of engineering but still came back to introductory level classes to learn more. I got the opportunity to work in a research lab with people who wanted to affect the world in the way I did. I wondered if this could compare to how it felt for the people in the documentary. My excitement was unimaginable when I was given the opportunity to work on the very thing that kept Opportunity alive: solar panels. Now, I work to use multiport converters to increase the efficiency of solar panels by minimizing energy waste and stabilizing power. In winter, it took Opportunity days of sleep to recharge. But with the work I hope to one day extend the lives of rovers and similar devices. I hope these experiences have helped prepare me for an innovative future, and I thank Oppy for his life and how it has impacted mine and countless others. Now, I hope the dreams he has given me will continue to drive me forward and allow me to pay him back. At first, I was getting recruited to the US Air Force Academy, for fencing. But instead, I have recently committed to MIT, where I will be pursuing a degree in aerospace engineering. I will still be joining the air force ROTC and will go on to serve the four years of service after. I have always been interested in Air Force and Space Force and working in aerospace, aeronautics, or possibly even weapons/defense.

One in ten pets adopted from a shelter are returned within six months. Little did I know, my Chihuahua Lu would face these odds. We adopted Peluche to be an emotional support animal for my sister. When she first saw him, she joked about him looking scruffy and having a weird name. Peluche is French for stuffed animal, something my sister thought couldn’t describe the skinny and seemingly stuffing-less puppy. But the biggest reason everyone wanted to return him was because he wasn’t potty-trained. I was the only one who became deeply attached, finding his clumsy antics endearing. I nicknamed him “Lu” and let him sleep on my bed each night, despite him being an unshowered mess. The idea of returning him became increasingly horrifying. Dedicated to keeping him, I tried to potty-train him, but it was hard because I couldn’t constantly monitor him. After consulting various articles and videos to no avail, I remembered the vibrating collar my mom used to train our other dog, and I borrowed it to see if it could help me. After an initial test, I found it was useful, but only with constant surveillance, so I decided to modify the collar to make my own device. To find a way to detect when he peed, I researched different types of sensors, ultimately deciding on moisture sensors, a reliable detector of urine. I also added an alarm system to the collar, so I could hear when Lu was peeing and move him outside, to teach him the correct place to go. By the end of my endeavor, it was all integrated and sewn into an outfit for Lu to wear. As an added bonus, it was adorable. Surprisingly, my parents supported me and even helped file for a patent, where I learned the excessive writing and complex diagrams involved. This experience solidified my passion for engineering, encouraging me to apply to TAMS, a competitive STEM-school, where I could continue making things. Now, in a UNT power electronics lab working for more environmentally friendly methods of electricity conversion, I’m able to work on publications with similar methodology to what I had already experienced with Lu’s device. At MIT, I will continue applying my creativity to challenging problems When I see Lu, I am reminded of this experience which drives me to use engineering, research, and innovation to change my world. More than that, I have also gained the opportunity to live a life with my best friend, Lu. It prides me to say that he never did become part of the one in ten statistic. Every time I walk through the front door, no matter how long my trip, he races towards me with excitement, welcoming me home. When I eat, he sits on my lap, and when I sleep, he sleeps on my stomach. Where I go, he goes. And with him, follows a reminder of a life-inspiring experience. My advice to others is to face your challenges head on and use your skills and passions to try to overcome them. Never give up, and always keep trying!

Throughout my diverse experiences in engineering, volunteering, fencing, art, and dog-raising, I have made various ideas for innovations that could help to improve the world. For engineering, I am currently conducting research at the University of North Texas (UNT) in a power electronics and renewable energies lab under a professor of electrical engineering. I researched over the summer, earning a stipend for working 35+ hours a week for 10 weeks. I also applied for and was awarded a research grant. In this lab, I am currently working on a new family of multiport DC-DC converters, focusing on buck-boost converters, which will be able to improve the efficiency of solar panels and other forms of renewable energy. DC systems are more flexible, effective, less conversion levels than traditional battery-based AC renewable energy systems. Multiport DC-DC converters, specifically, have applications in smart grids and renewable energy, integrating various power sources, optimizing power distribution, and adapting to dynamic environments. And buck-boost converters excel in regulating voltage for diverse applications, offering versatility, efficiency, and reliability. This is why multiport DC-DC buck-boost converters are my field of research. Currently, we have designed the PCB board and recently received a prototype, after sending the model for fabrication. I will continue to work on this prototype by soldering in the components, and hopefully I will have a working model, along with some analyzable voltage waveforms and graphs to add to my poster, which I will be presenting at the next UNT Scholars Day Conference. As for volunteering, I am on the board of ambassadors for the NiHao Foodbank Initiative, a group of Asian Americans against hunger in the DFW area. My experiences fundraising, asking for volunteers, and trying to coordinate with schools gave me the idea for an innovative mobile app which could revolutionize volunteering with food banks, by connecting volunteers with relevant opportunities based on skills/availability, providing real-time updates on urgent needs, and fostering community through gamification. Volunteers can indicate skills, receive training, and easily donate money or food. The app could also use feedback and ratings to maintain accountability and recognize contributions, ultimately enhancing the effectiveness of food distribution efforts. I have also been fencing since I was nine and am now nationally ranked. I have received impressive results, such as top 8 at summer nationals and top 32 at junior Olympics. My sport is heavily connected to my field of study (electrical engineering), as fencing involves a lot of electrical wiring and conductive clothing, in order to see when someone has been hit. An innovation that I think would benefit this is improved video-replay systems. Currently, the video review system has no sound and the has a two-dimensional image becomes flat and two-dimensional, making it harder for the referee, if he is unsure about a point. Often times, there are no video systems at all until you reach top 16 at nationals, or are fencing outside of the US. This often results in incorrect calls and arguing/yelling coaches and parents. Another solution to this could be the use of sensors. In saber fencing, right of way is the most important thing. Special motion sensors could tell the ref who was beating who's blade, or who was going forward first, all important things which contribute to right of way. I have always been interested in art. Recently on TikTok, there has been a trend of calling out creators for "cheating" art using AI generated art. I think a good innovation would be an application on your phone that instantly tells you when a piece of art is AI generated or plagiarized from somewhere. Integrity is very important, and the true creators of art should always be credited. Furthermore, maybe TikTok could improve their flagging abilities and be able to take down pages that purely use AI art or plagiarize off of genuine creators. On of the biggest innovations I have worked on is one with my dog. We adopted a baby chichuahua named Peluche to be an emotional support animal for my sister. When she first saw him, she joked about him looking scruffy and having a weird name. Peluche is French for stuffed animal, something my sister thought couldn’t describe the skinny and seemingly stuffing-less puppy. He was a bit aggressive and constantly bared his teeth. But the biggest reason everyone wanted to return him was because he wasn’t potty-trained. I seem to be the only one who became deeply attached, finding his clumsy antics endearing. I gave him the nickname “Lu” and let him sleep on my bed each night. Dedicated to keeping him, I tried to potty-train him, but it was hard because I couldn’t constantly monitor him. After consulting various articles and videos to no avail, I remembered the vibrating collar my mom used to train our other dog, and I borrowed it to see if it could help me. After an initial test, I found it was useful, but only with constant surveillance, so I decided to modify the collar to make my own device. To find a way to detect when he peed, I researched different types of sensors, ultimately deciding on moisture sensors, a reliable detector of urine. I also added an alarm system to the collar, so I could hear when Lu was peeing and move him outside, to teach him the correct place to go. By the end of my endeavor, it was all integrated and sewn into an outfit for Lu to wear. Surprisingly, my family supported me and even decided to help me file for a patent. I learned that patent applications require a lot of writing– more than you’d think possible for a seemingly simple device. Getting the opportunity to draw my own diagrams, I drew four on my iPad, with no idea if I was doing it right. I remember my pride when the patent lawyer said my diagrams looked professionally made and ready for submission. The most tedious part was writing the descriptions for these diagrams, which had over 50 labeled points. My patent application remains under review, but it was a great introduction to a world of engineering and innovation. One in ten pets adopted from a shelter are returned in under six months. Hopefully an innovation such as this one can help to get rid of this statistic. It is apparent that I have constantly considered ways of improvement for all of the different parts and experiences of my life. Some are merely ideas, but some I have been working on for a while. Hopefully I will be able to successfully have a few of these ideas come to fruition, along with any I come up with in the future, and truly make my impact on the world some day.

Opportunity died June 10th, 2018. I wouldn’t know of his death until NASA's disclosure, nearly a year later. I remember the day he died. I was in school, the same place where my fascination with space had first begun. Years before, in the third grade, I had to watch a YouTube documentary on the birth of twin Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. It was one of my first introductions to the real world of space and engineering. In the superhero movies I used to force my mother to watch with me, the engineer would suddenly come and fix everything. This was different. Scientists and engineers were the main characters, and I saw what it really took to perform miracles. The creativity in their problem-solving captivated me, like how they landed the rovers by covering them in giant air bags and letting them bounce around until settling. But my favorite part was seeing the humanity in their work, not just the technical aspects. The rovers’ cute, humanoid features, like big eyes and tiny hands, showed the personality and fun of their creators. You could see the joy and pride they found in their work. When I went home that day, I immediately showed the documentary to my mother and watched it again. I’d look over at her to make sure she wasn’t missing the good parts. Over the years, I grew attached to Oppy and watched his journey through life on Mars. I finally knew what I wanted to do: become an engineer like them. NASA announced Opportunity’s death on February 13th, 2019. Last year, the famous documentary on Opportunity’s death, “Good Night Oppy”, was released, bringing to the world the same love for the adorable rover that I had since third grade. The movie showed his final, teary transmission, and I had now witnessed his birth, life, and death. From the life I have lived with him, I have taken inspiration and a calling to pursue my dream of working at NASA. This dream pushed me out of my high school and into the engineering track of a STEM school. Here, I took real engineering classes, alongside inspiring college students with the same goals as mine. These classes supplied me with invaluable connections with people who had impressive jobs in different fields of engineering but still came back to introductory level classes to learn more. I got the opportunity to work in a research lab with people who wanted to affect the world in the way I did. I wondered if this could compare to how it felt for the people in the documentary. My excitement was unimaginable when I was given the opportunity to work on the very thing that kept Opportunity alive: solar panels. Now, I work to use multiport converters to increase the efficiency of solar panels by minimizing energy waste and stabilizing power. In winter, it took Opportunity days of sleep to recharge. But with the work I hope to one day extend the lives of rovers and similar devices. I hope these experiences have helped prepare me for an innovative future, and I thank Oppy for his life and how it has impacted mine and countless others. Now, I hope the dreams he has given me will continue to drive me forward and allow me to pay him back.

Graves' Disease is an autoimmune disease that has greatly affected my everyday life. I am on constant medication and suffer from issues with eating, overheating, emotional outbursts, fatigue, and a fast heartbeat. I have been diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism from a young age. The first time I went on medication, it greatly decreased my appetite. When I went to a new doctor because I was underweight, he did nothing and instead said I should be happy because a lot of young girls want to be skinnier. This was/is the worst treatment I ever received from a healthcare professional. I will never forget his unprofessionalness, along with his complete disregard for my condition. I went off the medication. This was during the pandemic, so I stopped going to check-ups. When I went back to my old family doctor, she decided my condition was too extreme and I had to go to a specialist. Apparently, she reported that I had just recently been diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism and that I was on heart medication for a year, both untrue facts. My specialist was better than my family doctor. She finally diagnosed me with Graves' Disease and said funny things, like that she could see my thyroid from across the room. But she also said scary things, like that she was surprised if I hadn't yet gotten thyroid storm, a rare, life-threatening condition. I got back on medication and began having frequent blood drawings. But overall, my negative experiences have given me a level of mistrust in the American healthcare system. For the longest time, my condition was my excuse for everything. A bad grade was because I was too fatigued to study. Poor performance at a fencing competition was because my heart went too fast. Screaming at my family was because I couldn't control my anger. While these things all had an ounce of truth to them, I was basically giving up on life. It took my parents telling me they felt like they couldn't even talk to their daughter without her blowing up to make me realize that I couldn't let my condition define me or my life. I realized that I should be using Graves' disease not as reason for failure, but for why success was so impressive. So I started trying harder-- at everything. My grades skyrocketed. I applied for an early-college STEM school, where I took all of my classes alongside college students. I even skipped levels in math and became a tutor for students in calculus I/II/III and electrical engineering. I went even further with academics, researching in power-electronics at my university, earning multiple research grants/scholarships and presenting at conferences. For fencing, I started going to more practices and began analyzing videos of world champions. I started going to national tournaments each month and became nationally ranked, placing top 8 at the summer nationals and top 32 at the junior Olympics. I was proud to have proven that I could do it all despite of my condition. With both fencing and academics, I recently committed to MIT, which has been my unattainable dream school since childhood. But with all of my successes, I never forgot how I'd been treated and neglected by healthcare professionals in the past. I had become the team lead of a volunteering group at Rays of Light, an organization dedicated to helping disabled children and their parents to live happier lives. Some of the kids I have spent time with will forever leave their marks on me. And I hope that I have been able to show them that they too can achieve their goals.

Understanding the nature of our universe is important not only as a scientific endeavor but also as an essential human trait. I firmly believe that delving into the mysteries of the cosmos is necessary for our collective growth and progress. Firstly, comprehending the universe allows us to gain insight into our place in it. It humbles us by revealing the vastness and complexity of the universe, reminding us that we are part of something much larger than ourselves. This understanding fosters a sense of interconnectedness and unity, encouraging us to collaborate and work together as a global community. Additionally, studying the universe drives technological advancements. As we strive to unlock the secrets of distant galaxies and celestial phenomena, we develop innovative technologies that benefit society. From space exploration to advancements in communication and medicine, our quest for cosmic knowledge has practical applications that improve our lives and drive human progress. As I embark on my own journey to contribute to our understanding of the universe, several ideas and concepts guide me. I believe that I can contribute to this understanding through research. Currently, I am conducting research under a professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of North Texas. My research is in power electronics and multiport converters. This experience has been a great introduction to the vast world of research. I hope to one day be able to research in my field of interest, aerospace. This is one of the ways in which I could help to contribute to our understanding of the universe. Furthermore, curiosity and a willingness to embrace the unknown are required. The universe is vast and filled with things we have yet to discover. Embracing uncertainty and remaining open-minded allows us to challenge existing theories and explore uncharted territories, leading to groundbreaking discoveries. In addition to scientific concepts, I hope to employ creativity and innovation in my pursuit of cosmic understanding. As an aspiring aerospace engineer, I recognize the power of technology to extend our observational capabilities and gather data from distant parts of the universe. I have recently gotten the experience to work with a patent lawyer to patent one of my technological inventions. This experience has introduced me to the adult world of innovation. By continuing to design and build sophisticated instruments, I aspire to contribute to space missions and observational projects that can help humankind to expand our knowledge of the cosmos. Finally, collaboration is at the core of scientific progress. Working with diverse teams of scientists and researchers fosters a rich exchange of ideas and perspectives. I have a bit of experience working with others, whether it be in my school (where I work with the board of the academic society as a math and engineering tutor), in my internship (where I worked as an information technician for the girl scouts of the USA), or in my research (where I work under a PI and a multitude of doctoral candidates and graduate students). I hope to participate in more collaborative projects that unite experts from around the world, transcending geographical and cultural boundaries to collectively advance our understanding of the cosmos. In conclusion, the quest to better understand the nature of our universe is an imperative undertaking that shapes not only our scientific knowledge but also our worldview as humans. As I pursue my passion for STEM and engineering, I am committed to contributing to this noble endeavor. By embracing research, curiosity, creativity, and collaboration, I hope to make meaningful contributions toward unraveling the mysteries of the cosmos and inspiring future generations to continue this awe-inspiring journey of exploration and discovery.

My name is Anna, and from an early age, my passion for STEM and engineering has been the driving force behind my journey. I am currently on the engineering track at my STEM school affiliated with the University of North Texas. Today, I am eager to make a large impact on the world. My dream of becoming an engineer for NASA began in the third grade when I watched a documentary on the creation of Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. Witnessing the human side of the mission-- their dedication, their stupid mistakes, and the joy they found in their work-- moved me deeply. From that moment, I knew that my life's purpose was to contribute to the progress of humanity and inspire future generations through engineering. As a dedicated student, I have consistently maintained high grades while actively participating in extracurricular activities. Being a national fencing competitor, volunteering in the community, competing in the Science Olympiad, and conducting research have all enriched my academic journey. And my experiences in research under the guidance of Dr. Kingman Siu have allowed me to gain practical insights into the fascinating world of electrical engineering and power electronics applications. This scholarship represents an incredible opportunity for me and my family. It will provide the financial support necessary for me to attend a prestigious STEM college. With this help, I will be able to focus on my education and continue to excel in my chosen field. Moreover, it will help me be able to go to the college of my choosing, with cutting-edge research opportunities and like-minded individuals that I can connect with, and who share my passion for exploration and innovation. The impact of this scholarship extends beyond my personal growth. It will alleviate the financial burden on my family, granting them peace of mind as I pursue my dreams. By investing in my education, this scholarship will empower me to become an accomplished engineer, capable of making a significant contribution to society and leaving a lasting legacy. In conclusion, I am eager to seize this opportunity and showcase my dedication to engineering. I am committed to making a difference in the world. This scholarship will propel me closer to my dream of working for NASA and inspire others to pursue their passions fearlessly. Together, we can embark on a journey of discovery and innovation that transcends boundaries and embraces the infinite possibilities of the cosmos.

My name is Anna, and I have an unwavering passion for STEM and engineering. I am currently on the engineering track at my STEM school, where I am diving into the fascinating world of engineering and research. My dream is to become an engineer for NASA, a dream that I have had since the third grade. If awarded this scholarship, I would use the money to create a better life by pursuing a prestigious STEM college education. This educational foundation will equip me with the necessary skills and knowledge to contribute meaningfully to the field of engineering. With a college degree, I will have the tools to make a positive impact on the world through innovative research and advancements. Furthermore, I believe in the importance of promoting women in STEM. As a female aspiring engineer, I understand the significance of gender representation in engineering. Unfortunately, women remain underrepresented in STEM fields, and I am determined to change that narrative. By excelling in my studies and research, I hope to inspire other young women to pursue their dreams fearlessly in STEM. I intend to use part of the scholarship money to participate in outreach programs that promote STEM education among young girls in underserved communities. By sharing my experiences and passion, I aim to ignite curiosity in these aspiring scientists, engineers, and innovators, fostering a more inclusive and diverse STEM community. Moreover, the scholarship funds will alleviate the financial burden of college expenses, allowing me to focus wholeheartedly on my studies and extracurricular pursuits. I believe in giving back to society, and with this scholarship's support, I will have the opportunity to engage in community service and volunteer work, sharing my knowledge and skills to benefit others. In conclusion, the scholarship money represents an opportunity to create a better life for myself and others. By using it to pursue a STEM college education, I will equip myself to make a positive impact on the world through engineering research and innovation. Additionally, I am committed to promoting women in STEM and plan to invest in outreach programs to inspire and empower young girls in underserved communities. This scholarship will not only help me achieve my dreams but also enable me to contribute to a brighter and more inclusive future for all. With gratitude and determination, I am confident that this scholarship will be a catalyst for transformative change in my life and the lives of others.