A wise man named Theodore M. Hesburgh once said "The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet." Just like Theodore was stating, I believe I have many visions for my future to impact the lives of others. These visions of mine are so ambitious that you would perceive me as crazy, dumb, or even stupid, but to me, ambitious goals are the only way to reach the heights that you want to get to in life. Like I just said, I want to use my leadership skills to focus on the lives of others instead of only prioritizing mine. I am also a firm believer that a leader doesn't only have visions of their future, but they are also selfless and put others before them. I have been able to achieve one of my main visions to help others and that is helping underprivileged kids develop skills to better their future and provide them a stable foundation for their lives. There are so many communities that are struggling, and it is also affecting the future prodigies of this world. There are many kids in the world who never had parental role models in their lives or the resources to become the best version of themselves. I also believe that there is a way to help kids build a firm foundation while benefiting their mental health and that is through faith and beliefs. I am a firm believer in Christianity and I would love to share the faith with people who struggle at home, school, or in life. I have grown up with kids who were less fortunate than me and who were also incredibly talented. This has influenced me to want to help kids like them reach their maximum potential. This past summer I created an own-initiative baseball camp for underprivileged children from ages 10-12. I also incorporated bible studies so that the kids could learn more about God and be in an environment where they felt safe and comfortable to share their feelings and thoughts. As a high school baseball player, I am knowledgeable about how high school programs operate, so I worked with the kids to help them learn drills to practice with their coaches and on their own. I also informed them on how school baseball will be in the future and I feel like I better prepared them for what is to come. I also did bible studies for the kids, and I noticed they were all engaged and felt comfortable enough to share their feelings. I did this camp for three short days and I already noticed tremendous changes in attitudes and baseball knowledge. They were all invested in getting better and wanted to participate in bible discussions. After the camp, I wanted to get their feedback, so I asked "How did this camp help you get better at baseball, learn more about God, and feel comfortable sharing their feelings?" The feedback I received was very heartwarming with responses varying from "I learned more baseball and got closer to God" to "I got to bond with the coaches and they helped me become the best I can." I exemplify leadership like this in my everyday life because I have been helping young kids at an organization called Power Cross and have had encounters like this almost every day for 10 years. I believe that I can make an even bigger impact in the future, but for now, I will keep creating more ambitious visions for my future.

I have experienced many hardships, but one stands apart from the rest. I started playing sports when I was four years old. I was not very athletic, and others picked on me because of it. Even though I worked hard, I struggled to become a better athlete. A couple of years later, my father observed me as I was walking, and he realized that I walked with my knees facing inward. We went to the doctor and later received the diagnosis that I have femoral anteversion. Children are born with inward-facing femur bones, but as they grow older, their femur bones will automatically adjust themselves and face forward. Femoral anteversion is when people don't undergo this process and are stuck with it for the rest of their lives. So, as I continued in my athletic career, I could not jump, run, or be as flexible as everyone else. This means I had to work three times harder than everyone else to not only be at their level but to surpass them. I carried this burden for my entire athletic career, but I soon realized that my issue wasn't a burden but a motivator. It motivated me to work hard, and my work eventually paid off because I became one of the better athletes in my school and on travel teams. I persevered through an obstacle that seemed impossible to defeat. I learned not only to push through my obstacles but to use them to my advantage. Not only did it motivate me to work hard, it developed a desire in me that I never thought I would have. I want to serve others by developing medicine to help people like me who experience hip, spine, and leg pain. I want to develop and administer drugs for kids who struggle with the same issue that I did. I felt like I had to go through my struggle alone because there was not much that could have been done to ease the pain or discomfort. I want to be there for kids like me around the world. I don't want to limit my work to only the United States, but I also strive to help minority groups who experience hardships and may need extra help. I am using my struggle to motivate me to serve others. Even if I don't end up working anywhere near a pharmacy, I would love to somehow contribute to the development of medicine that can help kids like me because to me, my struggle is not a burden, but a mark on my life that signifies motivation, determination, and change.

I became interested in a computer science degree because I first heard about the career from my cousin's boyfriend who works in computer science. The idea of pursuing this degree appealed to me because I enjoy working with technology. I am also very intrigued by how computer systems work. I like learning about ideas such as designing memory devices and circuit boards. To my knowledge, I also know there is a lot of collaboration that is incorporated into creating such things and I consider myself to be a great collaborator, communicator, and leader. I am also very intrigued by how people like Elon Musk create very intricate and complex computer systems such as AI (artificial intelligence). These systems can be voice changers, AI chats, and even robots that mimic human behavior. All these ideas interest me because I like challenging myself and a way I foresee myself doing that is by pursuing a computer science degree. After receiving my degree, my main goal is to work either as a computer hardware engineer or an AI engineer. I want to be involved in projects that require critical time and effort into improving technology for better human use. My goal is not only to work in my dream job but also to gain more knowledge and depth in my understanding of technology. As a kid, I used to see fictional movies and read fictional books that include incomprehensible technological advancements and it made me curious if I would be able to improve such technologies in that manner. I want to develop machines that can understand human emotions, actions, and reasoning. I think that this would be a game-changer in our developing world because our world is becoming more technological as we know it. This field is a growing field and I would love to be a catalyst for that movement. I feel like I am the best candidate for receiving this scholarship because of how determined and hard-working I am. I am currently a high school junior that will achieve a high school diploma and an associate's degree in science in only four years. This requires me to overload courses and take some in the summer. Not to mention, the school that I attend contains many rigorous courses and I excel in them. I balance school while playing varsity baseball for West Iredell High School. I transport from one school to another every day after school hours. I also take any opportunity to do any volunteer work that I can. This shows that I am not afraid to accept a challenge and that I will persevere through hardships and downfalls.