The most important things in my advocacy today are women in STEM and the power of young people. These are both parts of my identity and shape the way I travel through my life experiences. Growing up, my middle and high school always promoted a culture of community service, as we hosted an annual make a difference day doing different community service activities, an annual food drive, and yearly penny war competition to fundraise for local charities. Although small and limited in resources, I had the chance to explore being a women in STEM as the co-captain for the robotics team, which I continue to mentor today as an alumni. Outside of school, I also volunteered with the Volunteer Income Tax Association to help underprivileged members of my community to file for their state and federal tax returns, and served as the Special Events Chair for the local Youth Volunteer Corps, hosting events such as a hygiene drive, virtual pandemic story time, and community service fair. All of these experiences allowed me to meet people in my community and learn about different identities and personal stories. I have also volunteered at sociopolitical events like March for Our Lives and drunk driving awareness to advocate for causes that are important to me and my community. Today, I am a undergraduate computer science and data science student with an interest in promoting the presence of women in underrepresented fields of STEM and encouraging the youth to use their identities to shape their experiences. I am an officer for one of the women in computer science clubs on campus, allowing undergraduate and graduate students to offer mentorship and guidance in the journey of a woman in STEM. I am also working as a Center for Academic Excellence academic mentor, where my goal is to help students develop strategies for succeeding in their academic, personal, and professional lives. One of my personal projects has been to develop a YouTube channel documenting my experiences as a college student pursuing a degree in such a Caucasian and male dominated field. Through my work, I strive to offer advice to those still learning or feeling unsure of how they should take their next step in their journey. The biggest reward for me is feeling like I have been able to support and contribute to the improvement in a person's life, and using my experiences to better the opportunities for someone else. In the future, I plan to continue my advocacy for women in STEM and the young voices of the world. The power of technology has shaped and will continue to impact society as we know it, and the newer generations are the people to propel this movement forward. A current issue that has yet to be addressed is the lack of research on the female body in response to various medical products and processes that impact their bodies. This includes an understanding of the menstrual cycle as well as the pain tolerance differences across many gender and body types. My future goals are to become a trailblazer for the proper treatment and knowledge of the female body and to encourage women and young people to pursue their dreams through a network of mentorship and community. Every day is a chance to make a difference, and it is something I strive to bring into the lives of as many other people as possible.

I often find myself observing the structure and function of objects, ideas, and systems that I interact with in my every day life. How does an animal know exactly what food to eat and what environment it can survive in? Why is it human nature to crave security and loyalty but not everyone gets it depending on their background and individuality? The idea of creation is one that has long been debated across a multitude of cultures and communities, and it is one that has led me to doubt the existence of a God or any higher deity that has somehow designed everything that exists in the world today. Growing up, I was one of very few Asian-Americans and and one of very few girls who were interested in STEM. I had to seek out a lot of opportunities for myself, because there just weren't any readily available to me. I joined the robotics team in 7th grade and taught myself how to use tools and basic engineering design concepts from YouTube videos I found on the internet. Over the years, I have had to assert myself into opportunities, such as taking college-level classes and online computer science courses when my school didn't offer any STEM opportunities, to founding and running two new clubs and two existing clubs despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. So many of us, including myself, like to think we live in an idealistic world, where every school offers every student the right opportunities to grow and succeed, but that's not what I have found. My graduating class was barely 60 students because kids kept leaving, and we had no sports team and only three clubs that were barely existing before I took charge and brought new groups to life. I was not taught about applying to college or public speaking skills unless I looked for webinars myself or started my own debate club to teach others. I often found myself teaching myself and having to create opportunities in a world that is idealistically designed to help every student succeed. Entering college, I realized that my hometown did not offer me the same amount of preparation as others did. I graduated as top of my class, yet I was surrounded by students who achieved what I did and more. They had families from the United States who helped support them through their growth and were not discriminated at a school that was primarily white. I was one of maybe a quarter of the students in every 700-person lecture hall when I attended my computer science classes, a field that I had been the only person from my high school to pursue or even pick as a degree. Over the years, I have created my own opportunities and conquered the challenges that were thrown at me in a world that does not give the same chance to everyone. It is a world that exists because of human nature and systems made to benefit only certain people. I believe in what is tangible and what I have seen and experienced myself, and the idea of a heaven is not a reward I would rather focus my time and energy on, instead of working to make a better life for myself and others. Everyone is on their own path in this world, and it is not the world that some creator has made for them, but instead what they create for themselves that defines the life they live.

In eighth grade, I decided to join the high school robotics team as a useful introduction to programming and engineering design, as well as a fun experience to meet new people. What I discovered was that much of the organization was student-led, and the adult mentors were very hands-off. I found out during my first year that we were short on experience in several crucial areas of the team. Because of this, we struggled to perform together as a group. The following year, I stepped up and decided to bring things together. One of the first things I did was take charge of the financial aspects of the team and create a fundraising committee to raise money for parts, tools, and other resources. Even though this was something new to me, I taught myself how to apply for grants and reach out for sponsorships and donations. Using my writing and organization skills, I was able to coordinate a spreadsheet with a master list of all possible grants and sponsors to contact regarding potential funding and support. I conducted regular meetings with a fundraising committee to check that our team was putting in sufficient effort toward fundraising and sponsorship outreach. These skills have been passed down over my four years of high school and remain with the team now that I have graduated. Another area of improvement was in our team's ability to communicate common engineering technology concepts in electronics, programming, and product design. Having a very limited array of engineering and technology classes to gain knowledge and experience from, I sought out YouTube tutorials and online courses to help me be better equipped to take the initiative in our robotics projects. With an already small attendance roster for our team that first year, I took it upon myself to supervise the construction of our electronics board and main robot structure and transfer information between teams, which included the programming team that utilized Java and provided API libraries to code the robot's movement and task performance objectives. I was able to learn on the job and communicate the instructions to those with less experience for a team effort. In just two years, we raised over $21,000 in grants and expanded our team from ten to thirty members actively helping make our team the best it could be. I was able to gain confidence in an area that had originally been completely foreign to me, and I am inspired to lead others in having an enriching experience learning about STEM and the world of robotics. Working in engineering and technology constantly inspires me to push myself out of my comfort zone and work to create things from ideas in my head. Through working with robotics, I have gained both soft and technical skills that allow me to take initiative and produce applications and projects in my college career. I am excited to learn more that will help me improve and level up my creations and make a lasting impact on important issues in my community.

I am unique in that I am unapologetic about being myself. I follow a motto of passion and perseverance to tackle any challenges and tasks I come to face. This ambition has led me to pursue a multitude of projects to make an impact on my community. As the oldest of three siblings and a minority female in my town, I constantly strive for personal growth and appreciate learning how I best thrive in my environment, despite the odds. As a child, I wasn't provided with any mentors or role models, so I decided to become my own. I immersed myself in every cool thing I could do, from the arts, science, volunteering, content creation, and more. Upon entering high school, I decided to join the robotics team as a useful introduction to programming and engineering design, as well as a fun experience to meet new people. What I discovered was that much of the organization was student-led, and the adult mentors were very hands-off. I found out during my first year that we were short on experience in several crucial areas of the team. Because of this, we struggled to perform together as a group. The following year, I stepped up and decided to bring things together. I took charge of the financial aspects of the team and created a fundraising committee to raise money for parts, tools, and other resources. Even though this was new to me, I taught myself how to apply for grants and reach out for sponsorships and donations. In just two years, we raised over $21,000 in grants and expanded our team from ten to thirty members actively helping make our team the best it could be. I was able to gain confidence in an area that had originally been completely foreign to me, and I am inspired to lead others in having an enriching experience learning about STEM and the world of robotics. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, everything was thrown out of proportion. I realized that now was a better time than ever to do what I loved doing the most, and that was helping others. Through the resources of the Youth Volunteer Corps in my community, I took on the role of Special Events Chair to help organize and host a school-supply drive to collect school supplies for schools and students in need. As a student myself, I understood the importance of having the right tools for my learning experience. As Chair, I was responsible for the direction and organization of all the activities happening at the event. We managed to collect hundreds of various school supplies to donate to our community’s education centers and schools. It was a rewarding experience and inspired me to continue this movement of helping others. I began collecting hygiene products and clothing items for the local Women’s Center and also created a “Book Worms” program for teens to read stories to younger children over Zoom calls. Taking the lead on these projects helped me feel more connected to the people around me and help make a difference in my community. As I continue on my journey of growth and development, I am amazed at how simple actions can make a lasting impact on others. I plan to give back to my community by pursuing a career that bridges the technology and medical fields. Along the way, I find it crucial to make meaningful connections with those around me and leave behind a positive legacy and an important impact on the world around me.

Time is something that we can never take back once it's past, yet we still hold on to every moment we have and spend it planning for what might happen in the times to come. Because of this, the song "The Nights" by Avicii has the most important message to me. The lyrics preach a message of living in the now and embracing all the special things that we have in life at the current moment because, in the end, we're all going to die anyways. There's no use worrying about what might go wrong or what went wrong in the past, and instead, it is important for us to "not let life slip away" while we're here. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I let myself fall into a slump of procrastinating on projects I cared about and not caring about the things that I was doing. When I discovered this song, I decided to step up on my goals and live by doing instead of wishing things would happen. During my senior year of high school, I started my school's debate club and lead four other clubs in my school and my community. I proved to myself and others that it was possible to get things done if you just set your mind to it and stop time from slipping away because of your worries or fears.