1. Outside of golf, I am a committed student, but I also like to express myself creatively. Since I was a little kid, I have always loved arts and crafts. Drawing, painting, ironed perler bead designs, slime, homemade squishies, I’ve done it all. As I grew older, I used my creative talents to express my care for others. Combining all the skills I had acquired, I handmade intricate cards for my family members on special occasions. Leading up to a birthday, mother’s day, father’s day, or some other holiday, I would be in my room for hours, days, and weeks, designing, cutting, drawing, and assembling cards for my family members. Despite sometimes spending 50 hours on creations, the smiles on my family’s faces when they saw what I had been hiding away crafting for weeks made the sweaty hands and cleaning paper scraps all worth the time. Apart from arts and crafts to express my creativity, I also play piano. Starting in elementary school, I was thrust into the world of music and found myself hearing feedback from my piano teacher and her resounding Steinway and Sons grand piano every Wednesday after school for the next ten years. I learned theory, technique, history and played piece after piece of Vivaldi, Bach, Tchaikovsky, and more. I even composted my own piece once. I branded my unique melody of notes, “The Dance of the Elephants”. 2. As the high school chapter of my life closes, I will be moving to a new chapter where I will be continuing my academic and athletic journey at the University of California, Irvine. I have chosen to major in cognitive science and I will be competing as a part of the women’s golf team. Throughout high school, I was always asked, “What do you want to major in?”. To that question, I never had an answer, but whenever someone asked, “What are you interested in?”, I did have an answer. “STEM” is what I would say. In high school I started with foundational courses like algebra and general science, but once I saw how foundational topics connected to specialized studies, my curiosity grew, driving me to pursue more advanced STEM courses. From my upperclassmen years, honors chemistry, honors precalculus, and AP psychology, then AP calculus, AP biology, AP computer science principles, sports medicine, and anatomy and physiology naturally fit into my schedule. After immersing myself in many STEM courses and enjoying each one uniquely, when the time came for me to apply to college and choose my major, I knew exactly which field I wanted to pick. After contemplating my experiences, and deliberating with my family, I landed on cognitive science. So with four years of experiences, knowledge, and thinking, I finally had an answer to “What do you want to major in?” 3. I plan to give back to my community in college and post-graduation in the way that I can best–through sports–specifically golf. A sport such as golf is considered out of reach for those in underserved communities because of its expensive nature. However, individuals who can invest the time and money in learning and regularly playing golf reap the rewards of social currency. They can converse with others and leverage their experience with golf to form connections and increase future opportunities. In underprivileged communities, lack of opportunities to try sports like golf results in a loss of social currency. As a golfer myself, I want to impart my experiences to help kids in underprivileged communities experience golf and forge possible paths for future success. In high school, I volunteered over 80 hours with Elevate Golf Academy, an organization whose vision is to create communities inclusive of class, color, creed, and gender who come together through the game of golf. Through my role as a volunteer assistant coach, I have mentored children whose parents cannot afford golf equipment, have been in foster care, have learning disabilities, and come from a spectrum of backgrounds, in learning the game of golf including its technique and instilling core values. I find joy in coaching young players from all different backgrounds and watching their development. I am even more fulfilled when I know that even if the players don’t continue playing golf, they will have learned essential life skills and gained the social currency that golf provides. 4. When most people hear that I will be an incoming freshman playing division 1 golf for UC Irvine, they respond with, “Are you on a full ride?”. My honest answer is that I don’t know. The common practice of splitting a number of full scholarships that is less than the total number of players between the teams applies to my school. The system means that some players could be on a full ride, and others may have zero financial assistance leading to tension and stress. If I was in a situation where I needed to save an extra thousands of dollars to pay my tuition, I would not be able to play in a golf tournament to gain experience, compete, and learn. I would not be able to purchase equipment that could elevate my game to another level and inch closer to my goal of playing professional golf. I would not be able to pay for extra professional coaching that will push me to be a better person and player. However, with the Hulede Collegiate Golf scholarship, I would be able to attain the resources I need to better myself and move to the next level. Without as much pressure to compete with my teammates for increased scholarship money, and freed savings to help play in another tournament, buy that new club, or take another lesson, I will be able to enjoy college just a little more and better my performance on the course.