Legacy is a broad term that can vary greatly in significance and interpretation depending on the individual. It can range from meaning the familial legacy a parent has on their child to the cultural legacy of celebrities. Legacy to me is a generational defining characteristic, being the impact that older generations have on the following. The reasoning for this belief is that it is those in the past who ultimately mold the environment of the youth and who shape the course of future society. It is this kind of legacy that was passed down to me, an ambition for emotional understanding and a passion for engineering which I hope to pass on to any children I might have one day. From the grander societal impacts of devastating and costly wars to the more personal types, such as one’s upbringing, it is irrefutable that past generations have and always will leave a lasting footprint on society. One major factor in how a person ends up is the environment in which they are raised. This environment is nearly always determined by the actions and efforts of the caretakers, typically the parents. For example, for those unfortunate enough to grow up in a single-parent household, the absence of a parent can have extreme consequences on the child, ranging from lack of attention due to an overworked parent to the dire potential of physical needs not being met. Needless to say, cases like these are examples of a negative legacy, regardless of the control of the caretaker. The consequences of legacy on the micro-scale often accumulate to have generational effects on the macro scale, which have significant meaning to the nature of society. The legacy my parents have left in my life has been substantial and is best showcased in my upbringing. Although my parents are separated, each has played a key role in shaping how I view and interact with the world. My mother, who has primary care over me, has deeply instilled positive core values in me, such as integrity, respect, and empathy which I still highly value to this day. Despite being under the primary care of my mother, it was ultimately my father who gave me a deep passion for mathematics and science. It has always been my father who has encouraged and assisted me with my academics throughout my life, eventually resulting in my desire to go into the field of engineering. Although I was not raised in a whole-family household, I believe the unique upbringing of having separated parents ultimately made me stronger and contributed to my ability to understand others mentally and emotionally. Being taught from a young age the reality of marriages not always lasting showed me that people are often not perfect, but rather complex and sometimes irrational. There are two cycles regarding this kind of legacy, one which I wish to break, and one which I hope to continue. My family has a history of broken homes, both on my mother’s side and father’s side, primarily caused by a lack of emotional understanding, and it is this cycle which I hope to break in the future. If I choose to have a family, it will not end up similarly, and I plan to break this cycle through my ability to empathize and compromise with others emotionally. Along with that, should I have a family in the future, I am hoping to continue the cycle of seeking out what’s not understood in pursuit of knowledge, primarily through encouraging academic success and skepticism.

Maintaining a positive mental state can often be challenging, and in the modern day seem downright impossible. For those in schooling, those who are constantly working, those who are stressed over social relationships, and much more, it’s all the more important to prioritize mental health to avoid mental and emotional burnout. Maintaining mental health leads to avoidance of a spiral of a lack of motivation and potentially heavily damaging behavior. I believe that some of the best ways to counteract mental decline are through staying connected with others and learning to find enjoyment in a hobby or passion. More than ever, the younger generations in society are being diagnosed with depression, which is one of the keystone symptoms of poor mental health. The isolation brought about by the electronification of communication in the world, which has been compounded by the moderately recent external isolation imposed by the pandemic have greatly negatively affected the mental health of the youth. Poor psychological well-being has many damaging side effects on individuals, ranging from a lack of motivation to potential acts of self-harm, whether they be physical or emotional. The quality of one’s mental state is the ultimate driving factor in how people view themselves and the world, and how they act accordingly. Maintaining this health is highly important in preventing a negative cycle of unmotivation which can cause further decline. A lack of motivation can result in behaviors or a lack of certain positive ones which can deteriorate the psyche. These behaviors can range from disassociating with others to relying on unhealthy substances and are ultimately detrimental in escaping this cycle of poor mental health. Isolation can drive those who are mentally healthy down a path of literal and figurative depression which erodes one’s mental health. The processes of maintaining a positive mental state often vary depending on the person, however, there are often common denominators when it comes to understanding why certain people are or aren’t mentally well. One of these factors is the sociability of someone, or rather how connected they are with others. Humans are inherently social animals, and it is in their nature to communicate with others, whether it be physically or verbally. Although there are a few who can survive alone, there are none who can withstand the eventual loneliness. One of the major cornerstones of quality mental health is in-person socialization. In the modern day, many attempt to, or rather don’t realize that they’re substituting meaningful interaction with online virtual relationships which often lack emotional depth. Maintaining relationships with others greatly reduces the possibility of isolation, and often results in a higher feeling of satisfaction in one’s own life. Another way of maintaining one’s psychological well-being, which I subscribe to, is finding joy in a passion or hobby. Those in higher education, and those with blue or white collared jobs often find themselves in a depressive state of mind. This can be primarily attributed to a lack of passion for what they are studying, or rather burnout from repeating the same task every day. Finding a passion, such as a sport, a hobby, or even something niche and personal can greatly reduce the deterioration of mental health by contributing a level of meaning to one’s life and pulling attention away from a potentially harmful mindset.

In the ever-increasingly polarizing world that we live in, it has become seemingly less and less likely to notice the good in humanity, but rather it’s easier than ever to focus on the more overbearing and pessimistic headlines in the news. The act of helping others in need has always been a social necessity for humanity, and I believe the importance of such acts cannot be understated. Because certain people could be at a low point in their lives and aiding them may ease some of the negative feelings they have, as well as the fact that since every person requires assistance in their life eventually, and the help given to others may come back around to them, it is highly important to help others. There are periods in everybody’s lives in which it feels as though there’s very little reason to continue on, times where it seems as though almost all the positive aspects of humanity have dried up. It is in these moments which even tiny acts of kindness can make all the difference in changing this perspective. Helping someone who’s down on their luck in life can give them a spark of hope that might help save them. Those who suffer from immense loss, whether it be a loved one, personal property or a job, can spiral into a horrible depression. Tiny positive acts can, although not ‘cure’ this depression, ease the effects brought about by the loss. Though these acts can be impactful for the more extreme negative cases, they can be just as meaningful for those who are simply having a rough day. For someone who might have lost a possession, or even just spilled hot coffee on themselves, being shown an act of kindness through being helped can lift them up and improve their mood. When seemingly everything on the news showcases how awful humanity can be, having someone help in a time of need can bring light into someone’s life, even if it’s just for a moment. It’s often said ‘what goes around comes around’, and I believe this holds to a certain extent in our society. Those who believe themselves to be completely independent and not need to rely upon others can often end up begging for the help which they so desperately tried to ignore. Humans are inherently social animals and have always had the desire to assist and receive assistance from others. Helping people in times of need can prove beneficial when someone eventually needs to help themself. Showing compassion towards someone when they most need it can help in creating a bond between individuals. These bonds between people ultimately are what make up the fabric of communities in society. Contributing to the greater good by helping others is not only primarily beneficial to others but can prove to be just as helpful when that person is in need. As one helps another, so will that person be helped as well when they need it.

It’s often been said that ‘you are what you eat’, and I believe that this phrase holds to a moderate extent. What we consume can have drastic effects on our bodies, ranging from physically weakening to sometimes a painful addiction to a substance. Controlling one’s eating habits can be very challenging, and in the case of someone who is constantly indulging themselves in, and potentially even addicted to unhealthy food, feel nearly impossible. I believe that because of the positive effect having robust eating habits can have on one's body, as well as the potential to benefit mental health through a higher self-image, it’s ultimately very important to have and maintain healthy eating habits. In the modern day, although it has never been easier to acquire food, whether it be from the grocery store, a fast food chain, or even having it delivered, it has simultaneously never been easier to develop poor eating habits, which can be detrimental to one’s both physical and mental health. Contrasting the lives of those who eat healthily and those who do not, it becomes apparent what kind of effect developing positive eating practices can have. Those who eat healthier and more nutritionally balanced food tend to see fewer physical health risks over longer periods such as obesity, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar than those who indulge themselves in junk foods. These negative physical effects, specifically obesity, may also result in potentially even worse mental health. Obesity is not only harmful to one’s body but also to the mind. It can lead to a poor self-image, being treated worse than others, and possibly even self-loathing. Although these kinds of problems might fall toward a more extreme end of the spectrum of health, they may still pose an issue if negative eating habits are not dealt with and replaced with positive ones. As someone who has struggled with positive dietary habits in the past, I fully understand the difficulty in letting go and overcoming the addiction. When I was younger, I was blissfully unaware of what I was consuming, ignorant of what kind of harm I could be inflicting on my own body. The constant stream of soda that I was drinking, and the fast food I couldn’t stop myself from consuming had, over the few years that I had partaken in this behavior, severely negatively affected me, to the point where it resulted in an overly unhealthy body and an extraordinarily high blood sugar. Despite my state at the time, though, I overcame it by educating myself on the matter of health, learning what I was putting inside of my body and changing my eating habits for the better. Although it wasn’t instantaneous, the physical effects of this shift were extraordinarily beneficial. Changing my dietary style positively has also affected my mental health as well, although not as severely as my physical health. Eating healthy allows me to be confident in myself, knowing that I’m doing something beneficial, giving me a better self-image than if I had not been. Whereas my previous eating habits made me ashamed of who I was, unable to even look myself in the mirror as a result of hating myself and my body, now I’m someone more capable of self-love.

As I’m leaving the comforts of high school and entering the new environment of college and the challenges which are brought on by it, there are many reasons for me to be excited about the change, however also just as many, if not more, challenges which may hinder my ability to stay mentally and physically healthy throughout the journey. Maintaining physical and mental health may be difficult during my time at university, however, I plan to do so through two of the major aspects of college that pique my interest specifically, which are the potential to involve myself with my college’s community to develop new bonds and the education which I’ll be able to receive involving the field of study that I’m most passionate about. It cannot be understated how crucially important it is to make and maintain connections with other people. Humans are inherently social creatures and to deprive them of contact with others is one of the most mentally damaging things that can be done. I am very much looking forward to meeting new people in college. I tend to socialize a great deal, even if it may sometimes be to the cost of my efficiency at any given task, primarily because of how intriguing listening to other people’s thoughts and stories can be. It also excites me because those who I meet in college may end up becoming long-term friends, even after graduation. What keeps my mind and body healthy is being around other people and having them recognize me and bond with me. I believe the ultimate challenge I will face in university will be against devolving into my loner tendencies, as I have done subconsciously in the past. To counteract this, in preserving my mental and physical health, I plan to make as many new connections with others as possible, to minimize the likelihood that I’ll spiral into a horrible depression. Despite the challenges posed by college, I am going to persevere with the help of those around me, current and future to maintain and prioritize my overall health. I am deeply passionate about the fields of nuclear and mechanical engineering. As I am majoring in mechanical engineering, it can be expected that I will be spending an enormous amount of time researching, studying, and writing about the subject. I am very excited about this prospect, as the concept of learning more about the intricacies of our world and the machines which essentially run it fascinates me. Despite my interest in studying this field, one of the major challenges posed by the college is the potential isolation brought about by the requirement of constant studying to maintain academic success in core and even elective classes. Finding a balance between enjoyment and studying a field I’m in is a challenge in and of itself, however, I believe that creating a distinction between my academic and social life will be key in preventing me from feeling isolated in this new environment. When there isn’t a kind of barrier in place to separate one’s social life from their academic, or even work life, it becomes detrimental to the person’s mind and body, resulting in anxiety, stress, and sometimes a rooted depression. To counteract this, I plan to set limits on how long I will immerse myself in the classes I’m taking, ultimately saving my mental and physical health from corroding.

A large part of my life has always been trying to understand how everything around me works. Even when I was a young child, I would always take apart objects around the house and put them back together to better grasp how they worked. To this day, whenever I am unable to grasp something I try as hard as I can to learn it. It is only natural, then, that as a result of this nature, I would follow down the path of engineering, but more specifically mechanical and nuclear engineering. I believe that the thing that most inspired me to choose this career path is the amount of potential it allows me to understand the world on a deeper level, as well as the potential that I see in the field of nuclear engineering to better the world. My tendency to seek out knowledge has led me to take up an interest in many subjects, but more relevantly to the career I’ve chosen, the broad fields of mathematics and science. Before I had even understood what engineering was, or that it was even a path I could take in life, I had been fascinated by the subjects of math and science in school, which are fundamentally the backbone of engineering. Areas under science, such as biology, chemistry, and physics demonstrated how the world functioned on both a macro and micro level, and areas under mathematics such as calculus, geometry, and algebra helped express and describe these sciences. I believe that studying mechanical engineering will allow me to utilize most of these subjects which I’ve already learned, but more importantly, allow me to learn much more than what I already know. Although I am majoring in mechanical engineering in college, I am more passionate about nuclear engineering, primarily because I believe that it holds the greatest chance for me to make a positive change in this world. The inspiration I had to go into this field lies in the potential I’ve always seen in nuclear power and its ability to surpass and even one day replace the less renewable methods of energy production. My aspiration is that in the future I can contribute to the field of nuclear engineering by helping develop the means to harness and effectively utilize nuclear fusion. Post graduation I see myself on the road to this dream by working under different nuclear development companies to gain a foothold in the field, allowing me to reach for higher and more skilled positions, so that one day I may be able to achieve my dream.

I’ve long been passionate about pursuing a career in the field of engineering, ever since I was a young child taking apart and reassembling everything I could find. Generally, though, I’ve been and still am interested in taking up a career that involves an area of science, math, or preferably both. There are two major potential careers that I am interested in exploring further. These careers are nuclear engineering and mechanical engineering, ones which deeply interest me and allow me to utilize my passion for creating and designing. The profession which I am by far, the most passionate about entering and going into is nuclear engineering. I’ve been greatly intrigued by the potential of nuclear energy for the last few years in which I was enrolled in high school, researching as much as I could in my free time and keeping up with any major or minor breakthroughs in the field. A career in nuclear engineering would satisfy me immensely in life, as I believe that the future of humanity will be highly dependent on nuclear fission and fusion. One of my major aspirations in life is to contribute to the next breakthrough in nuclear science, which I am hoping is a method of efficiently harnessing the energy produced from nuclear fusion. If I could contribute even slightly to the development of such technology, I fully believe that I would be content with my life. This career would allow me to research and develop new methods for providing sustainable and renewable energy for humanity. I can’t think of a better subject to research than nuclear technology, and as far as my interests go, it holds the greatest potential to allow me to benefit humanity on a large scale. A second career that I am planning to explore more thoroughly during college is mechanical engineering. This field resonates with me a great amount, as it is one of the more directly physics-based fields of engineering. As someone who attempts to understand each facet of mathematics taught to them as much as possible, this field seems as though it would allow me to utilize what I’ve learned. Mechanical engineering also interests me, because nearly everything that is manufactured in our world is a result of mechanical engineers creating and attempting to perfect machines that allow it to be made. Because for the foreseeable future, there will be a constant need for mechanical engineers to continually design and redesign the machines which allow our world to operate, it would be very fulfilling and reassuring to know that I would always have a place in bettering this world through my designs.

I have long been interested in the fields of science, but more particularly that of engineering. Since I was young, I’ve always had a passion for understanding the world and its mechanics, which would later push me down the path of engineering. I believe that while many career paths will positively impact society and the world as a whole, fewer are effective at accomplishing this feat than those which fall under the umbrella term of engineering. I am planning to major in Mechanical engineering, and potentially minor in nuclear engineering. My passion is the latter, however, I believe mechanical engineering will be more beneficial for a degree, as it will allow me to more firmly grasp physics and the functions of our world. By educating myself thoroughly in the facet of mechanical and nuclear engineering during my time at A&M University, I aspire to achieve my improbable, yet determined dream to play a role in advancing the field of nuclear power. Throughout human history, mankind has utilized many kinds of fuel sources to drive its needs of exploration and the growth of civilization. From the early uses of wood, to then coal, and currently oil, the demand for a method to accomplish tasks has remained constant. I believe wholeheartedly that the next major fuel source will come from the fruits of what is being developed in the nuclear field of research, and my dream is to be a part of this by potentially realizing a method to harness the power of the future, nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion, the type of power used by stars, holds an extraordinary potential to replace and far surpass any modern methods humanity has for maintaining and furthering its technological advancement. I hope to, for a lack of better words, ‘change the world’, and bring a more sustainable and powerful means to propel our society, or rather civilization further. Although this dream is arguably unrealistic, I am still passionate about it, nonetheless. However, even if the reality of nuclear fusion does not come to pass, I still believe I am going to be able to make a positive impact on the world by developing our current nuclear technology, nuclear fission. As we as a society slowly shift away from our unsustainable fossil fuel sources, a different method of power will be necessary to compensate. Although there are other methods, such as wind and solar power, the cost of mass producing the components needed for this technology is far too expensive, and ecologically harmful, as the extraction of rare earth metals is extraordinarily harmful to the planet when done on a grand scale. The career path I am following to be an engineer in, nuclear engineering, is much more reliable, and in the future much more promising. The current technology may be limited, however, engineers, which I am planning to be a part of, along with those who study and research nuclear energy, will be able to minimize the cost and greatly increase the efficiency of the technology, so that it may be harnessed for societal use. Being a part of this future, and developing technology to harness nuclear energy is a dream I hope to realize, and this scholarship would greatly increase the chances that I could.

Nearly my whole life I’ve been interested in the mechanics of our world, or rather how it operates. I’ve been passionate about the different sciences and consequentially engineering since I was introduced to them. Even when I was little, I was always constantly taking apart and reassembling objects around the house to grasp a better understanding of them, to the dismay of my mother. I am currently a mechanical engineering major enrolled at Texas A&M University, who is still passionate about all things mechanical, and although my major differs from the career path I am aiming to go down, nuclear engineering, I am still nevertheless fascinated with the field. This scholarship would make a substantial impact on me this year, taking much stress off the financial burden of student loans and payment plans needed to attend my college of choice. I have chosen not to burden my mother any further financially, since I believe that she had already taken care of me and my brother plenty, raising us alone. This scholarship would help me by allowing me to focus more on my studies, and give me a greater chance at being successful with the path I have chosen to take. I hope to take up a career in the field of nuclear engineering and to be able to design new methods of harnessing nuclear power. My most unrealistic, yet most desired aspiration I have is to help in developing a method that can efficiently, yet financially profitable use nuclear fusion as a power source, because I believe doing this would greatly and positively impact the world and how it may operate. Although I have had my fair share of lows in life, even if they are very little compared to what many others have faced, there is one point in time that I can specifically point to as being when I felt the most emotionally fragile, and close to breaking. During my sophomore year in high school, which had been the year after the lockdown of the world, but more relevantly to this moment, my school, I had been very alone. Being very introverted during my freshman year, primarily due to not having experience in socializing during my prior three years of homeschooling, I had not made many friends. The one or two friends I did have I gradually grew apart from when COVID struck. I felt very alone, and even though I had my mother, my brother still lived with my dad during that period. One of the only attachments I had to this world was my cat but in my case my best friend, Toby. He had helped me get through many difficult situations ever since he was a kitten, being there when I didn’t have that many things to lean on. Toby passed away during my sophomore year and it devastated my psyche. I struggled a lot in my academics during this period and was as close as I have ever been to giving up on life. But because I am writing this, it means that I didn’t. What got me through this was meeting someone who I would eventually call my best friend. I’m lucky enough to have been able to, although not necessarily ‘fill the hole’ left by Toby, was able to mitigate the emotional fallout I had. Since this time, I’ve been able to steadily grow more and more socially, finding more people that care about and support me, and even though I still miss my true best friend, I know that I’ll still need to carry on.

My life has been, is, and is going to be best described as a quest for knowledge of all sorts, specifically in the field of science, and more specifically, mechanical and nuclear engineering. It’s always been a dream of mine to ‘change the world’, although rather stereotypical and fantastical. I believe that the most broadly impacting way that I could do that is through advancement in the field of nuclear energy, which I hope to be involved in as much as I am able. This scholarship would significantly help me along my path down this field of engineering, allowing me to stress less on the financial burden of college, and focus more on what I’m passionate about, nuclear energy and technology. Since I was young I have been vastly interested in the mechanics of the objects around me, taking apart and reassembling them often to get a better understanding of how they worked. My fascination with mechanics led me down the path of science and arithmetic, which are arguably what describe the functions and mechanics of our world. Due to my increased interest in the subjects of math and science, I have taken many advanced classes involving these subjects during my high school career, in which I graduated with a moderately high 3.92 GPA. Currently, I am a freshman mechanical engineering major enrolled at A&M University. I still have a passion for mechanics and understanding the how systems of our world operate, and I am hoping to further my knowledge during my time at university. My passions aside from engineering include piano, running, and although I am still inexperienced, cooking. My future goals remain constant, that being to become heavily involved in the field of nuclear engineering, as I believe it will play a major role in the future of human civilization, and to increase my pool of knowledge as great as possible. To achieve these goals, and more directly the former, this scholarship would greatly benefit me, as it would allow me to dive further into my studies without needing to suffer from the tremendous cost of loans, and let me take a heavy burden off of my mother’s shoulders. Due to being raised in a single-family household, my mother has, throughout my and my brother’s life, stressed out constantly over us, and I am hoping to ease the tension placed upon her even slightly, as the least that I could do to show my gratitude towards her. My life has always been a quest to seek out and better my comprehension of everything around me, and I am hoping that I can continue downthis path.

The dream version of my future self is someone who is still seeking knowledge in every facet of life, a person able to help his friends and family whenever they're in need, and someone confident with the choices he's made in life.

The movie that has had the greatest impact on my life is one that I saw when I was a lot younger. It is what inspired me to become fascinated with science as a whole, seeing what bright, or rather in the case of this movie, dystopian future humans are capable of creating for themselves, and the impacts. The movie which I am referring to is none other than the classic “WALL-E”, which shaped how I approached the world and sparked my interest in engineering, and more broadly in science as a whole. Seeing this movie as a child ignited a passion for the sciences, planting a seed that would grow throughout the years. I was fascinated by the hypothetical technology presented in this movie, the giant spacecraft, the intelligent robots, and the dangers of AI, which was the major antagonist of the movie. One of the main aspects of “WALL-E” that caught my attention was the ruinous state that Earth was left in by the humans in the film before they departed into space. Although I was still a young child, it reminded me of many of the headlines and news stories of the impacts of climate change that I saw and heard my mother talk about. For a short time after first seeing this movie, I had an irrational fear that the world was going to end soon, just as it had in the movie. It encouraged me to research, not only the topic of climate change, but also other interests I had in the future, and even in the present. This constant urge I developed to learn and acquire knowledge about this world persists even now, where I am constantly trying to understand how different the mechanics of life operate. A second, and although less, still meaningful way that the movie “WALL-E” impacted me was by showing me that, even if small, I had an impact on this world as well as other people. The young me who saw this movie came out with a deeper sense of cause and effect. My previous understanding of the world was one where everything “just happens”, as if it was a natural process, in contrast to reality, where most modern-day events have a cause behind them. Although in the film the main cause and effect showcased was that which humanity had on the planet as a result of constant pollution and disregard for it, I had taken away that it also applied on an individual level as well. This concept which had been brought to the forefront of my mind changed how I interacted with those around me, my teachers, parents, peers, and friends. I became more conscious of the fact that even the small things I did could affect them in large ways, and put in more effort into impacting them in a positive way. In conclusion, the movie “WALL-E'' deeply impacted me as a child, shaping my interests and thought process. The film sparked my passion for the sciences and helped me become more aware of my actions and how they affect others. I am grateful that I was able to see this movie as a child, as it set me down a path of seeking knowledge, one which I still am on to this day.