It is extremely important to have diverse representation in STEM careers because of how it affects society. Though we are all humans, people of each race are slightly different. By having diversity in the different stem fields, we can account for these differences and come up with solutions to problems that benefit everyone. An example of where diversity in Stem is necessary is through the technology world with the new advancements of AI. At Villa Maria Academy, I have taken on the role of president of the school’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, otherwise known as DEIB. Every year in October, members of the committee are invited to attend a social justice conference in Washington D.C., referred to as the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Social Justice (IFTJ). At the conference, we have the opportunity to listen to different speakers and attend a plethora of breakout sessions. I have attended this conference all four years of high school. However, I was most impacted by this year’s topics, specifically the bias within AI. Biases within AI have occurred as a result of using non-inclusive data sets when creating code for facial recognition. This has numerous effects, but the most crucial is in the criminal justice system. AI has allowed police to identify suspects in crimes using pictures from surveillance cameras. However, this bias has caused many women and minorities to be falsely accused of crimes they did not commit. These insights have significantly broadened my understanding of AI's role in areas like law enforcement and have fueled my desire to address this critical societal challenge. I hope to pursue a career in STEM because I believe the issue of bias within AI is a great concern of society's security and criminal justice system. It is unjust to wrongly convict one of a crime and punish them for another’s actions. Pursuing a computer science degree would allow me to help find a solution to biased AI. This would greatly benefit society because it would allow for stronger security. Cameras with facial recognition software are very common in today’s society to secure devices; however, faulty facial recognition reduces security, defeating the original purpose. Unbiased AI would allow devices to be secure since they’d be able to correctly identify individuals. Furthermore, it would make society safer because criminals would be correctly convicted for their crimes, allowing for more peace and trust. Attending a school with a prestigious computer science program would give me the knowledge and experience needed to make a positive impact in addressing AI bias. Attending a school with a prestigious computer science program and challenging curriculum aligns perfectly with my goal of contributing to solutions in this field. I would have an abundant source of opportunities and potential connections necessary for gaining the skills and networks necessary to achieve my goals. I am confident that a STEM education will be instrumental in allowing me to gain the knowledge and experience needed to make a positive impact in addressing AI biases and their repercussions.

At Villa Maria Academy, I have taken on the role of president of the school’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, otherwise known as DEIB. Every year in October, members of the committee are invited to attend a social justice conference in Washington D.C., referred to as the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Social Justice (IFTJ). At the conference, we have the opportunity to listen to different speakers and attend a plethora of breakout sessions. I have attended this conference all four years of high school. However, I was most impacted by this year’s topics, specifically the bias within AI. Biases within AI have occurred as a result of using non-inclusive data sets when creating code for facial recognition. This has numerous effects, but the most crucial is in the criminal justice system. AI has allowed police to identify suspects in crimes using pictures from surveillance cameras. However, this bias has caused many women and minorities to be falsely accused of crimes they did not commit. These insights have significantly broadened my understanding of AI's role in areas like law enforcement and have fueled my desire to address this critical societal challenge. I would like to pursue a career in the STEM field because I believe the problem of bias within AI is a huge issue facing society, especially within the criminal justice system. It is extremely unjust to wrongly convict a person of a crime and punish them for someone else’s actions. Pursuing a computer science degree would allow me to contribute to finding a solution to this problem and create a more accurate AI system to be used. This would greatly benefit society because it would allow for stronger security. Cameras with facial recognition software are extremely common in today’s society, securing devices. However, faulty facial recognition reduces security and defeats the original purpose. Unbiased AI would allow devices to be completely secure because they would be able to correctly identify individuals. Furthermore, it would make society safer because criminals would be correctly convicted for their crimes, allowing for more peace and trust. Attending a school with a prestigious computer science program and challenging curriculum aligns perfectly with my goal of contributing to solutions in this field. I would have an abundant source of opportunities and potential connections necessary for gaining the skills and networks necessary to achieve my goals. I am confident that a STEM education will be instrumental in allowing me to gain the knowledge and experience needed to make a positive impact in addressing AI biases and their repercussions.

At Villa Maria Academy, I have taken on the role of president of the school’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, otherwise known as DEIB. Every year in October, members of the committee are invited to attend a social justice conference in Washington D.C., referred to as the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Social Justice (IFTJ). At the conference, we have the opportunity to listen to different speakers and attend a plethora of breakout sessions. I have attended this conference all four years of high school. However, I was most impacted by this year’s topics, specifically the bias within AI. Biases within AI have occurred as a result of using non-inclusive data sets when creating code for facial recognition. This has numerous effects, but the most crucial is in the criminal justice system. AI has allowed police to identify suspects in crimes using pictures from surveillance cameras. However, this bias has caused many women and minorities to be falsely accused of crimes they did not commit. These insights have significantly broadened my understanding of AI's role in areas like law enforcement and have fueled my desire to address this critical societal challenge. I would like to pursue a career in the STEM field because I believe the problem of bias within AI is a huge issue facing society, especially within the criminal justice system. It is extremely unjust to wrongly convict a person of a crime and punish them for someone else’s actions. Pursuing a computer science degree would allow me to contribute to finding a solution to this problem and create a more accurate AI system to be used. This would greatly benefit society because it would allow for stronger security. Cameras with facial recognition software are extremely common in today’s society, securing devices. However, faulty facial recognition reduces security and defeats the original purpose. Unbiased AI would allow devices to be completely secure because they would be able to correctly identify individuals. Furthermore, it would make society safer because criminals would be correctly convicted for their crimes, allowing for more peace and trust. My connection to a veteran is through my grandfather. He is one of seven children and joined the military after high school. He and my grandmother were high school sweethearts and decided to travel from Pennsylvania to Texas together for the military. My grandfather is very brave and courageous due to his time served during the Vietnam War. When I was a child, he would tell me stories of his service there, carefully describing the scenery around the base. He would mention how tough it was to be away from my grandmother but knew he needed to support his family. I am inspired by his determination and strength through the war and time in the military and work to apply those qualities to myself and my life.

At Villa Maria Academy, I have taken on the role of president of the school’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, otherwise known as DEIB. Every year in October, members of the committee are invited to attend a social justice conference in Washington D.C., referred to as the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Social Justice (IFTJ). At the conference, we have the opportunity to listen to different speakers and attend a plethora of breakout sessions. I have attended this conference all four years of high school. However, I was most impacted by this year’s topics, specifically the bias within AI. Biases within AI have occurred as a result of using non-inclusive data sets when creating code for facial recognition. This has numerous effects, but the most crucial is in the criminal justice system. AI has allowed police to identify suspects in crimes using pictures from surveillance cameras. However, this bias has caused many women and minorities to be falsely accused of crimes they did not commit. These insights have significantly broadened my understanding of AI's role in areas like law enforcement and have fueled my desire to address this critical societal challenge. I would like to pursue a career in the STEM field because I believe the problem of bias within AI is a huge issue facing society, especially within the criminal justice system. It is extremely unjust to wrongly convict a person of a crime and punish them for someone else’s actions. Pursuing a computer science degree would allow me to contribute to finding a solution to this problem and create a more accurate AI system to be used. This would greatly benefit society because it would allow for stronger security. Cameras with facial recognition software are extremely common in today’s society, securing devices. However, faulty facial recognition reduces security and defeats the original purpose. Unbiased AI would allow devices to be completely secure because they would be able to correctly identify individuals. Furthermore, it would make society safer because criminals would be correctly convicted for their crimes, allowing for more peace and trust. Attending a school with a prestigious computer science program and challenging curriculum aligns perfectly with my goal of contributing to solutions in this field. I would have an abundant source of opportunities and potential connections necessary for gaining the skills and networks necessary to achieve my goals. I am confident that a STEM education will be instrumental in allowing me to gain the knowledge and experience needed to make a positive impact in addressing AI biases and their repercussions.

At Villa Maria Academy, I have taken on the role of president of the school’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, otherwise known as DEIB. Every year in October, members of the committee are invited to attend a social justice conference in Washington D.C., referred to as the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Social Justice (IFTJ). At the conference, we have the opportunity to listen to different speakers and attend a plethora of breakout sessions. I have attended this conference all four years of high school. However, I was most impacted by this year’s topics, specifically the bias within AI. Biases within AI have occurred as a result of using non-inclusive data sets when creating code for facial recognition. This has numerous effects, but the most crucial is in the criminal justice system. AI has allowed police to identify suspects in crimes using pictures from surveillance cameras. However, this bias has caused many women and minorities to be falsely accused of crimes they did not commit. These insights have significantly broadened my understanding of AI's role in areas like law enforcement and have fueled my desire to address this critical societal challenge. I would like to pursue a career in the STEM field because I believe the problem of bias within AI is a huge issue facing society, especially within the criminal justice system. It is extremely unjust to wrongly convict a person of a crime and punish them for someone else’s actions. Pursuing a computer science degree would allow me to contribute to finding a solution to this problem and create a more accurate AI system to be used. This would greatly benefit society because it would allow for stronger security. Cameras with facial recognition software are extremely common in today’s society, securing devices. However, faulty facial recognition reduces security and defeats the original purpose. Unbiased AI would allow devices to be completely secure because they would be able to correctly identify individuals. Furthermore, it would make society safer because criminals would be correctly convicted for their crimes, allowing for more peace and trust. Being a recipient of this scholarship would greatly help me to achieve my goal of finding a solution to create unbiased AI software because I would be able to attend a school with a prestigious computer science program and challenging curriculum that aligns perfectly with my goal of contributing to solutions in this field. I would have an abundant source of opportunities and potential connections necessary for gaining the skills and networks necessary to achieve my goals.

At Villa Maria Academy, I have taken on the role of president of the school’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, otherwise known as DEIB. Every year in October, members of the committee are invited to attend a social justice conference in Washington D.C., referred to as the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Social Justice (IFTJ). At the conference, we have the opportunity to listen to different speakers and attend a plethora of breakout sessions. I have attended this conference all four years of high school. However, I was most impacted by this year’s topics, specifically the bias within AI. Biases within AI have occurred as a result of using non-inclusive data sets when creating code for facial recognition. This has numerous effects, but the most crucial is in the criminal justice system. AI has allowed police to identify suspects in crimes using pictures from surveillance cameras. However, this bias has caused many women and minorities to be falsely accused of crimes they did not commit. These insights have significantly broadened my understanding of AI's role in areas like law enforcement and have fueled my desire to address this critical societal challenge. I would like to pursue a career in the STEM field because I believe the problem of bias within AI is a huge issue facing society, especially within the criminal justice system. It is extremely unjust to wrongly convict a person of a crime and punish them for someone else’s actions. Pursuing a computer science degree would allow me to contribute to finding a solution to this problem and create a more accurate AI system to be used. This would greatly benefit society because it would allow for stronger security. Cameras with facial recognition software are extremely common in today’s society, securing devices. However, faulty facial recognition reduces security and defeats the original purpose. Unbiased AI would allow devices to be completely secure because they would be able to correctly identify individuals. Furthermore, it would make society safer because criminals would be correctly convicted for their crimes, allowing for more peace and trust. Attending a school with a prestigious computer science program and challenging curriculum aligns perfectly with my goal of contributing to solutions in this field. I would have an abundant source of opportunities and potential connections necessary for gaining the skills and networks necessary to achieve my goals. I am confident that a STEM education will be instrumental in allowing me to gain the knowledge and experience needed to make a positive impact in addressing AI biases and their repercussions.

At Villa Maria Academy, I have taken on the role of president of the school’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, otherwise known as DEIB. Every year in October, members of the committee are invited to attend a social justice conference in Washington D.C., referred to as the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Social Justice (IFTJ). At the conference, we have the opportunity to listen to different speakers and attend a plethora of breakout sessions. I have attended this conference all four years of high school. However, I was most impacted by this year’s topics, specifically the bias within AI. Biases within AI have occurred as a result of using non-inclusive data sets when creating code for facial recognition. This has numerous effects, but the most crucial is in the criminal justice system. AI has allowed police to identify suspects in crimes using pictures from surveillance cameras. However, this bias has caused many women and minorities to be falsely accused of crimes they did not commit. These insights have significantly broadened my understanding of AI's role in areas like law enforcement and have fueled my desire to address this critical societal challenge. I would like to pursue a career in the STEM field because I believe the problem of bias within AI is a huge issue facing society, especially within the criminal justice system. It is extremely unjust to wrongly convict a person of a crime and punish them for someone else’s actions. Pursuing a computer science degree would allow me to contribute to finding a solution to this problem and create a more accurate AI system to be used. This would greatly benefit society because it would allow for stronger security. Cameras with facial recognition software are extremely common in today’s society, securing devices. However, faulty facial recognition reduces security and defeats the original purpose. Unbiased AI would allow devices to be completely secure because they would be able to correctly identify individuals. Furthermore, it would make society safer because criminals would be correctly convicted for their crimes, allowing for more peace and trust. Attending a school with a prestigious computer science program and challenging curriculum aligns perfectly with my goal of contributing to solutions in this field. I would have an abundant source of opportunities and potential connections necessary for gaining the skills and networks necessary to achieve my goals. I am confident that a STEM education will be instrumental in allowing me to gain the knowledge and experience needed to make a positive impact in addressing AI biases and their repercussions.

At Villa Maria Academy, I have taken on the role of president of the school’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, otherwise known as DEIB. Every year in October, members of the committee are invited to attend a social justice conference in Washington D.C., referred to as the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Social Justice (IFTJ). At the conference, we have the opportunity to listen to different speakers and attend a plethora of breakout sessions. I have attended this conference all four years of high school. However, I was most impacted by this year’s topics, specifically the bias within AI. Biases within AI have occurred as a result of using non-inclusive data sets when creating code for facial recognition. This has numerous effects, but the most crucial is in the criminal justice system. AI has allowed police to identify suspects in crimes using pictures from surveillance cameras. However, this bias has caused many women and minorities to be falsely accused of crimes they did not commit. These insights have significantly broadened my understanding of AI's role in areas like law enforcement and have fueled my desire to address this critical societal challenge. I would like to pursue a career in the STEM field because I believe the problem of bias within AI is a huge issue facing society, especially within the criminal justice system. It is extremely unjust to wrongly convict a person of a crime and punish them for someone else’s actions. Pursuing a computer science degree would allow me to contribute to finding a solution to this problem and create a more accurate AI system to be used. This would greatly benefit society because it would allow for stronger security. Cameras with facial recognition software are extremely common in today’s society, securing devices. However, faulty facial recognition reduces security and defeats the original purpose. Unbiased AI would allow devices to be completely secure because they would be able to correctly identify individuals. Furthermore, it would make society safer because criminals would be correctly convicted for their crimes, allowing for more peace and trust. Attending a school with a prestigious computer science program and challenging curriculum aligns perfectly with my goal of contributing to solutions in this field. I would have an abundant source of opportunities and potential connections necessary for gaining the skills and networks necessary to achieve my goals. I am confident that a STEM education will be instrumental in allowing me to gain the knowledge and experience needed to make a positive impact in addressing AI biases and their repercussions.

Biases within AI have occurred as a result of using non-inclusive data sets when creating code for facial recognition. This has numerous effects, but the most crucial is in the criminal justice system. AI has allowed police to identify suspects in crimes using pictures from surveillance cameras. However, this bias has caused many women and minorities to be falsely accused of crimes they did not commit. These insights have significantly broadened my understanding of AI's role in areas like law enforcement and have fueled my desire to address this critical societal challenge. I would like to pursue a career in the STEM field because I believe the problem of bias within AI is a huge issue facing society, especially within the criminal justice system. It is extremely unjust to wrongly convict a person of a crime and punish them for someone else’s actions. Pursuing a computer science degree would allow me to contribute to finding a solution to this problem and create a more accurate AI system to be used. This would greatly benefit society because it would allow for stronger security. Cameras with facial recognition software are extremely common in today’s society, securing devices. However, faulty facial recognition reduces security and defeats the original purpose. Unbiased AI would allow devices to be completely secure because they would be able to correctly identify individuals. Furthermore, it would make society safer because criminals would be correctly convicted for their crimes, allowing for more peace and trust.

At Villa Maria Academy, I have taken on the role of president of the school’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, otherwise known as DEIB. Every year in October, members of the committee are invited to attend a social justice conference in Washington D.C., referred to as the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Social Justice (IFTJ). At the conference, we have the opportunity to listen to different speakers and attend a plethora of breakout sessions. I have attended this conference all four years of high school. However, I was most impacted by this year’s topics, specifically the bias within AI. Biases within AI have occurred as a result of using non-inclusive data sets when creating code for facial recognition. This has numerous effects, but the most crucial is in the criminal justice system. AI has allowed police to identify suspects in crimes using pictures from surveillance cameras. However, this bias has caused many women and minorities to be falsely accused of crimes they did not commit. These insights have significantly broadened my understanding of AI's role in areas like law enforcement and have fueled my desire to address this critical societal challenge. I would like to pursue a career in the STEM field because I believe the problem of bias within AI is a huge issue facing society, especially within the criminal justice system. It is extremely unjust to wrongly convict a person of a crime and punish them for someone else’s actions. Pursuing a computer science degree would allow me to contribute to finding a solution to this problem and create a more accurate AI system to be used. This would greatly benefit society because it would allow for stronger security. Cameras with facial recognition software are extremely common in today’s society, securing devices. However, faulty facial recognition reduces security and defeats the original purpose. Unbiased AI would allow devices to be completely secure because they would be able to correctly identify individuals. Furthermore, it would make society safer because criminals would be correctly convicted for their crimes, allowing for more peace and trust. Being a recipient of this scholarship would greatly help me to achieve my goal of finding a solution to create unbiased AI software because I would be able to attend a school with a prestigious computer science program and challenging curriculum that aligns perfectly with my goal of contributing to solutions in this field. I would have an abundant source of opportunities and potential connections necessary for gaining the skills and networks necessary to achieve my goals.

At Villa Maria Academy, I have taken on the role of president of the school’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, otherwise known as DEIB. Every year in October, members of the committee are invited to attend a social justice conference in Washington D.C., referred to as the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Social Justice (IFTJ). At the conference, we have the opportunity to listen to different speakers and attend a plethora of breakout sessions. I have attended this conference all four years of high school. However, I was most impacted by this year’s topics, specifically the bias within AI. Biases within AI have occurred as a result of using non-inclusive data sets when creating code for facial recognition. This has numerous effects, but the most crucial is in the criminal justice system. AI has allowed police to identify suspects in crimes using pictures from surveillance cameras. However, this bias has caused many women and minorities to be falsely accused of crimes they did not commit. These insights have significantly broadened my understanding of AI's role in areas like law enforcement and have fueled my desire to address this critical societal challenge. I would like to pursue a career in the STEM field because I believe the problem of bias within AI is a huge issue facing society, especially within the criminal justice system. It is extremely unjust to wrongly convict a person of a crime and punish them for someone else’s actions. Pursuing a computer science degree would allow me to contribute to finding a solution to this problem and create a more accurate AI system to be used. This would greatly benefit society because it would allow for stronger security. Cameras with facial recognition software are extremely common in today’s society, securing devices. However, faulty facial recognition reduces security and defeats the original purpose. Unbiased AI would allow devices to be completely secure because they would be able to correctly identify individuals. Furthermore, it would make society safer because criminals would be correctly convicted for their crimes, allowing for more peace and trust.

At Villa Maria Academy, I have taken on the role of president of the school’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, otherwise known as DEIB. Every year in October, members of the committee are invited to attend a social justice conference in Washington D.C., referred to as the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Social Justice (IFTJ). At the conference, we have the opportunity to listen to different speakers and attend a plethora of breakout sessions. I have attended this conference all four years of high school. However, I was most impacted by this year’s topics, specifically the bias within AI. Biases within AI have occurred as a result of using non-inclusive data sets when creating code for facial recognition. This has numerous effects, but the most crucial is in the criminal justice system. AI has allowed police to identify suspects in crimes using pictures from surveillance cameras. However, this bias has caused many women and minorities to be falsely accused of crimes they did not commit. These insights have significantly broadened my understanding of AI's role in areas like law enforcement and have fueled my desire to address this critical societal challenge. I would like to pursue a career in the STEM field because I believe the problem of bias within AI is a huge issue facing society, especially within the criminal justice system. It is extremely unjust to wrongly convict a person of a crime and punish them for someone else’s actions. Pursuing a computer science degree would allow me to contribute to finding a solution to this problem and create a more accurate AI system to be used. This would greatly benefit society because it would allow for stronger security. Cameras with facial recognition software are extremely common in today’s society, securing devices. However, faulty facial recognition reduces security and defeats the original purpose. Unbiased AI would allow devices to be completely secure because they would be able to correctly identify individuals. Furthermore, it would make society safer because criminals would be correctly convicted for their crimes, allowing for more peace and trust. Attending a school with a prestigious computer science program and challenging curriculum aligns perfectly with my goal of contributing to solutions in this field. I would have an abundant source of opportunities and potential connections necessary for gaining the skills and networks necessary to achieve my goals. I am confident that a STEM education will be instrumental in allowing me to gain the knowledge and experience needed to make a positive impact in addressing AI biases and their repercussions.

A camera is one piece of technology that shows me how technology can make the world a better place. With the use of such a simple yet complex electronic device, one can grasp a lot in one photo or video, giving the camera a multitude of uses and benefits. Cameras allow us to express ourselves artistically by capturing images of portraits, landscapes, and other works of art. Furthermore, they open up a new avenue for storytelling because just one image can provide so much insight without the use of words. Photographs can tell stories through images rather than words because they can capture the emotions, memories, and ideas of an event. There is also room for much interpretation and thought as a result. This new way of storytelling has aided in the creation of a new job industry known as content creation, where influencers can engage their audience virtually. It allows them to tell their stories or present ideas to an online audience rather than in person. Cameras aid in creating a better world because people can easily share their ideas, which allows others to understand and relate to each other. This, in turn, brings different groups together and creates peace. Another way the camera has helped make the world a better place is through businesses. Cameras benefit many companies in two main ways: marketing and documenting. Companies use cameras to market a product or service by sharing enhanced images to attract consumers. Additionally, various professions such as journalism and research use cameras to document events, conduct studies, and present evidence on a topic. This serves as another benefit to the world because these images can reach a larger audience, giving the company a higher chance of success due to a high consumer rate. Cameras are a versatile innovation that has helped to enhance and improve the world in many different ways. With their continuous development and integration into society, the world will continue to become a better place.