Music has played an active role in my life since before I can remember. I started by playing piano at the age of 3, and eventually won 1st place in the Youth Piano Contest at the Iowa State fair (age 12). I joined the handbell choir at our family's church when I was 8 and played with the group all throughout high school. I also started playing French Horn when I was 10 and have much enjoyed it. Music has a way of displaying a multitude of emotions: sorrow, fear, happiness, adventure et cetera. All throughout my youth I enjoyed performing with honor bands. My favorite composer was, and still is Rossano Galante, who writes pieces that depict natural landscapes. He composes in a style that allows every instrument to be heard, with contrasting rhythms that work beautifully together. After High School, I studied Music Education at Drake University, with the goal of showing students the many emotions that can be present in music. After a few years of teaching, I realized that within teaching, it isn't just the musicality that you show students, you also must manage classroom behaviors and administrative tasks. I ended up deciding that teaching was not for me, although I still enjoyed performing. Currently, I play with the Omaha Symphonic Winds. The group consists of adults with many different occupations, who simply enjoy playing their instruments. We play a variety of music, from Granger to John Williams as well as Rossano Galante and Sousa. We are performing in a few weeks at the American Concert Band association conference taking place in Omaha. I also am a substitute ringer in the Handbell Choir that my mom directs, and often perform with the group when I return to Des Moines. It feels good to help out the group when needed, as I know that the congregation appreciates their performances. I am currently studying Data Science at Indiana University Online. Although I have decided not to pursue music as a career, I find enjoyment in performing with local ensembles. I currently live in rural Iowa, half-way between Des Moines and Omaha, although when I move back to the city, I hope to further my participation in musical ensembles. I would like to teach music lessons, volunteer by playing in the pit orchestra for local high school productions and possibly even join a handbell choir at a local church. I would like to work with local organizations to offer music lessons to lower income students and continue playing christmas carols for the residents at local retirement communities. Participation in music has the power to transform our communities and our world, and throughout my future endeavors, I will continue to contribute.

Ever since I was a child, I have enjoyed mathematics. I was the girl that would practice their multiplication tables during church services and stayed up till 10pm solving every AP Calculus essay question from the prior 10 years. Math and data are in everything we do. It can be used to solve problems, make the life of the consumer easier and even save lives. That is why I chose to study Data Science, so that I can use my love for math to make a meaningful impact on the lives of individuals. Currently, I study data science at Indiana University. Through my studies thus far, I have learned how mathematical concepts and calculus can be used to model data as well as how much of a role math plays in computer programming. Aside from the requirements of my current course load, I am dabbling in writing programs that are useful for the public. One of the programs I am currently writing generates a suggested list of recipes based on what dietary restrictions a user inputs. For instance, if the user is vegan, the program will generate a list of three meal recipes that the user can make. If the user has minimal items on hand or is allergic to gluten, for instance, the program will provide meal suggestions that meet this criterion. I am also dabbling in creating mini programs to emulate the games we know and love, such as Scrabble. It is incredibly interesting to me how much math is involved in programming, specifically in the python language. You can use your knowledge of angles and side lengths to create designs using the 'turtle' functionality, and it is incredibly satisfying when you successfully complete your program as intended. In my future career, my goal is to use data and programming to find solutions for healthcare dilemmas that affect us daily. I would love to work first-hand with the creation of a device or app that offers lifesaving detections, such as non-invasive blood sugar monitoring, iron deficiency and electroyle detection, while making such devices accessible for all. Regardless of what the future holds, I want to use my math talents to solve problems within the healthcare sector and positively influence the lives and health of the community around me.

Ever since I was a child, I have enjoyed mathematics. I was the girl that would practice their multiplication tables during church services and stayed up till 10pm solving every AP Calculus essay question from the prior 10 years. Math and data are in everything we do. It can be used to solve problems, make the life of the consumer easier and even save lives. That is why I chose to study Data Science, so that I can use my love for math to make a meaningful impact on the lives of individuals. Currently, I study data science at Indiana University Southeast. Through my studies thus far, I have learned how mathematical concepts and calculus can be used to model data as well as how much of a role math plays in computer programming. Aside from the requirements of my current course load, I am dabbling in writing programs that are useful for the public. One of the programs I am currently writing generates a suggested list of recipes based on what dietary restrictions a user inputs. For instance, if the user is vegan, the program will generate a list of three meal recipes that the user can make. If the user has minimal items on hand or is allergic to gluten, for instance, the program will provide meal suggestions that meet this criterion. The goal is for this program to output suggestions from a data base of resources, but I have not had a chance to begin learning how to implement that. One of my biggest inspirations within the data and technology industries is the health benefits of smart watches and the ability of apps, such as Samsung health to measure and track different health specifications. Currently, I use Samsung health to track my exercise and nutrient intake, which is measured from inputting the foods I eat daily. There is also a new feature in the app that reminds you to take you meds at a specified time. Smart watches, while having similar capabilities, can also measure heartrate and body composition. While these are good starting points, what are the possibilities in five of ten years? What if on top of measuring heartrate, smart watches were also able to measure blood sugar levels? What if other health specifications were able to be detected such as iron in the blood or electrolyte levels. I personally struggle with getting enough water, sodium, and potassium in my body, while many people I know consistently hasve low iron levels. For people who have diabetes, this technology could be lifesaving. In my future career, my goal is to use data and programming to find solutions for healthcare dilemmas that affect us daily. I would love to work first-hand with the creation of a device or app that offers these lifesaving detections; and making it accessible for all, not just something that the ultra-wealthy can afford. Regardless of what the future holds, I want to use my math talents to solve problems within the healthcare sector. As a woman entering a STEM profession, I can offer a unique perspective. Issues that affect women such as maternal mortality and infertility, as well as economic issues such as the gender pay gap and the price of women’s goods, may get overlooked without female representation amongst data and decision-making specialists. In a company, I can use my perspective to make suggestions for enhancing product effectiveness and marketing for the female consumer. In my career, I want to use my math skills and programming abilities to positively influence the lives and health of the community around me.

Calculus is the study of using mathematical techniques to find the instantaneous rate of change or area beneath a curve. It has many applications to the function of innovations in our lives. I first took calculus as a junior in High school. I then took two calculus courses when I started studying data science at Indiana University. When I first took calculus, I greatly enjoyed it, learning about how speed, area and related rates could be determined through equations. I would stay up until 10:30pm most nights practicing every AP calc AB essay question from the previous 10 years. --- Due to this I did very well on the AP test. The second time I took calculus, I similarly spent a lot of time solving problems, although this time it was as a 24 year old, writing problems and solutions on scratch paper during my Bank job. Calculus has many applications, the simplest being finding the rate of change (velocity) and acceleration(derivative of velocity) of a moving object. Velocity and acceleration are principal in the mechanics of vehicles, and other machinery. If a piece of machinery is revolving or moving in a capacity, calculus can be used to determine how fast the machine is moving, the productivity of such machine, and potential ways to improve productivity based on specifications of the machine. Other important parts of calculus are integration, where the area underneath a curve is determined based on the anti-derivative of the upper bounds of a graph. The concept of integration can be used to determine area of objects, which can then be calculated to find needed materials for building. This might include the amount of steel needed to produce a certain part (mechanical engineering) or the amount of concrete needed to construct a road or bridge (civil engineering). From a data science perspective, one can use the principals of calculus to determine the correlation within data points. One of the concepts in my calculus class through Indiana University was how you can use the least square regression technique to determine the line of best fit that reflects a set of data. Once the equation of correlation is determined, you can use integration to determine percentile, standard deviation, variance and more. Knowing these specifications opens the door for many more pieces of information that can be obtained. Pretend I am given a set of data including the ages, daily technology usage and amount of sleep per night that a person gets. I could used this data in correspondance with calculus principals to determine the equation of best fit and then find the percentile points. I could find the mean and the median of the data and then make decisions based on the data. If people in a certain age bracket spend a lot of time using technology, you could target a product towards that group of people. You could also use data to find correlations between age and lifestyle, what activities each group of people engages in daily, what foods do people eat, and what makes people buy certain foods. You could examine age, livestyle, genetics and maternal mortality rate amongst women. These are just a few examples. The applications of data and calculus are involved in the function of every innovation in our daily lives. As a future data scientist, I want to use my knowledge of calculus and programming to help improve the health of individuals. Whether that is through programming an app that can non-invasively monitor blood sugar, or finding trends that cause maternal mortality, data science can be used to drastically improve peoples' lives.

Technology and the continuous growth thereof is incredible. In my lifetime, I have seen the evolution of social media, the prominance and evolution of smart phones, the switch from cable to streaming services, as well as different technologies that improve our daily lives such as Tile trackers that help find missing household items and smart watches. One of the new technologies that interests me the most is the use of smart watches to detect heartrate, activity levels and body compositions. Currently, there are multiple corporations that offer smart watches, each of which offer different capabilities. For this purpose, I am going to do a comparison of The Galaxy Watch5 Pro and the Apple Watch Series 9. A lot of people use smart watches as an easy way to keep track of time and check messages, as they can be synced with a phone. Many people use them to track their health while they exercise. Both the Samsung and Apple watches contain similar base technologies, such as a GPS and a heartrate monitor, which determines heartrate by measuring electrical signals in your blood. Through these technologies, each device can determine when cardio occurs. Other features of the Samsung and Apple Watch are temperature sensors that can be used to track a woman's cycle and emergency services that can call 911 should you fall or crash while exercising. There is even a model of the Apple Watch that has the functionality to play a Siren, should a person be in a dangerous situation (this is incredible valuable for women). Currently, both products offer similar functionalities, the main difference is the Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis that newer models of the Samsung Watch have. BIA exerts a weak electrical current that determines resistance in the body, which thus assumes which areas are fat and muscle. There are many more potential technologies that can benefit us in the comming years. One that comes to mind is a blood sugar, blood pressure sensor and Iron detection (for people with Anemia). There are foreign companies that have engineered devices that detect this, but neither Samsung nor Apple have the patent to these technologies. Imagine how detecting sugar or iron in the blood stream could save someone's life before crisis occurs. In the future, I hope to use data to determine and promote ways for smart devices to improve the health outcomes of people.

When I was a child, I always enjoyed math – practicing my multiplication tables in my head during church services and timing myself on math equations. When I got to High School, I found enjoyment in solving math problems and learning new mathematical concepts. I had a great AP calculus teacher, who believed that all students could succeed, while showing the application of mathematics. He was a very energetic and engaging teacher, inspiring me to spend many outside hours practicing each topic. I would stay up until 10:30 every night solving every AP Calculus AB essay question from the previous 10 years. After High School, I attended college and later proceeded into the teaching profession. I soon realized that teaching was not the correct profession for me, so I got a job as a bank teller, where I use some basic math to help customers budget as well as calculating interest and amortization schedules, when I am not working with customers. Currently, I am a student at Indiana University, where I study data science. I took calculus this most recent semester and found a great amount of enjoyment in the applications that calculus has in the world. I have learned how to create a regression line with only a few data points, to estimate trends and how to maximize profit within a constraint. It fascinates me how math and data are involved in every industry: healthcare, agriculture, business et cetera. Data and the study thereof can show unique insights within a business. It can be used to make predictions and decisions that will improve both profit and the needs of people. Lastly, data modeling can transform information into tangible diagrams that can help communicate findings with the public. In my future profession, I hope to not only analyze data, but advocate for it and present my findings, while continuously learning and discovering new insight. As a woman entering a STEM profession, my goal is to provide a new perspective on data analysis. According to Census.gov, as of 2019, 27% of STEM workers were female. When broken down into each department, 25% of total computer workers were women and even fewer for engineering, at 15%. The number of women in STEM profession has of course increased over the years, but there is still room for growth. Many things contribute to the lack of women pursuing STEM careers, including discrimination and harassment in the workplace and in college preparatory programs. There is also a stigma surrounding Science, Technology, Engineering and Math that affects young girls – that being good at Math and Science will label them as a nerd and not as desirable for boys. In Data Science, I want to stand up against this stigma, and help other young women find careers in STEM. A possible opportunity for this would include working with the local school to start a club for the organization “Girls Who Code” or “Girls Who Math”. As a female entering the data science field, I can also provide a new perspective on the data that I work with. Pretend there is a product, where 90% of consumers of the product are female identifying. If the data analytics team and executive team are predominantly male, decisions made about the product may not adequately represent the needs of the customer. Similarly, if working in the healthcare sector and pulling data about maternal mortality, for instance, a female analyst will be able to provide a new perspective on solutions. My goal is to contribute my perspectives within the data field, while continuously learning, communicating and advocating for my findings.