Well before the global pandemic; our cities have been living an epidemic. Our cities and its people are defensively reactive rather than proactive. Every year a generation ruins it for the next. There is no place for us youth to express ourselves safely. No place to meet up and hang out. Social media is gaining momentum as the worst killer because it helps promote violence. As a young black eighteen year old male living in Milwaukee, there is nothing to do. Thankfully, STEM is my outlet. I am a proud nerd. I am graduating this Friday with an above 3.0 average. Senior year dropped me down but I am motivated to pick my grades up my freshman year. There are so many highlights of negativity but rarely the positive. When my robotics team went to the state championship, there was no mention of it at school, in the school district, or the news. However, if there is a car chase or worst, the news will carry it all day long. I am the future student who will help to program the next latest and greatest handheld device but America is only concerned if its a gun in my hand. I am going to school to major in computer science. I have always dreamt of becoming an inventor. One day, I hope to work to work and develop a concept that is unimaginable, just as everything around us has been engineered. It is important to me to follow my passion for STEM especially in Technology. If it weren't for STEM, I am not sure where I would be. Perhaps in the streets that have norhing to offer. Attending school is my key to a better future. A scholarship would help me move in the right direction.

Throughout school, I was viewed differently than others. As much as I tried to keep my head down and blend into the shadows, I stood out from others because I am different. I am the tee-shirt slogan that is feared rather than celebrated; I am young, black, and gifted. I am a quiet, shy, black nerd. When I was younger my parents enrolled me in every sport possible hoping that I would discover my talent. Many of my parent's friends could not understand why I didn't have a love for basketball. On the court my athleticism made people wonder if sexuality was why I did not want to play sports. It wasn't that I didn't have the ability to play, I had no problem dribbling and shooting the basketball. I had a problem with the idea of physical contact and that was evident when my parents put me in football for a year. I was interested in tennis, track, and golf. I medaled in track hoping that it would get people off my back about sports participation. I learned to golf and play tennis because I found a long-term purpose for them. In the black community, it isn't common to say let's go shoot a few holes of golf. However, it is common to go play golf while you are working on business deals or trying to collaborate ideas. Of course, this makes me different than my peers. I realized that gaming was my sport. However, that was not viewed by my parents, teachers, or friends as something that was worthy of my time. Now that Esports is recognized as a sport, I have no interest in being a part of it. Gifted children and adults do not fit well within social norms. I enjoy being a part of something that is not mainstream. My passions are similar to those that appreciate raw uncut authentic underground music; once the music becomes mainstream it loses its soul. It again is hard for my parents that I do not want to play Esports in college because they view it as a gateway to acceptable norms when people ask, what does your son like to do. It has been difficult being different from others and being true to who I am. Society wants you to conform to a likeness of everyone else. People who are gifted are challenged by the quirks that we have. In my community, it is easier to be accepted just by the style of clothes and shoes that you have. My style makes me stand out but not in a good way. Because I do not care about fashion trends and style, people look down on me that it might be because I don't have money. High School is supposed to be the best time of your life. As a shy quiet nerd, I have isolated myself from these experiences. It has been difficult to find my voice when others around me are so loud. I continue to keep my head down and try hard to blend into the shadows because the world does not see or value the person that I have become or plan to be. When I become a computer scientist, the way that I want to give back is by celebrating the young black nerds. Schools do not have the funding or interest to invest in computer science and coding. When my First Tech Challenge team went to state, we were not celebrated like a basketball team. I want to invest in the future black leaders because not all black males want to play sports.

I thought I had my goal plan all figured out. However, lately, I feel trapped that I might not be able to reach the goals that I set forth for myself. It's easy for others to tell you that it is easy or you will get through it, don't give up but it is hard. When you're in grade school you have the path written for you. Then in high school, you are given choices but the path is still mostly made up for you. Then senior year comes and you are sent out into the world with the belief that you can conquer it all. Currently, I am taking AP Calculus and I feel as though this one class determines my entire future and the goals that I imagine myself to have. If I can not get a passing grade do I have to change my entire trajectory? My goal is to become an engineer. Calculus is the core class that engineers have to take. My ultimate short-term goal is to pass calculus. If I am struggling now, will I struggle in college and not make it? My goal is to go to college but why be in debt if I am not going to be successful? My goal is to go through college debt-free but I have not scored any scholarships so far, so I feel like I am at the end of my options. My goal was to become a computer science engineer. My future goal was to find success and work on a team that helped to improve the lives of others through the discoveries that we create on the computer.

My unique character is from an old soul. I sometimes feel as if I am not from the 2000s but more from the '80s and '90s. The '80s and '90s are the eras that fuel my interest. I am a gamer at heart as well as a collector of games. When I was in First grade, my sister had an old Game Boy Advanced laying around that she finally didn't care if I played. I thought it would be cool to take it to school, where unfortunately it was stolen out of my bookbag. The loss fueled my hobby and ambition of holding on to nostalgia items. In 2018, after searching for years at thrift shops, comic book stores, and Game Stop, I finally found a purple Game Boy Advanced with the SpongeBob game that someone stole from me. When I saw it at a fair, the way I felt sparked a curious craze of searching for other Game Boy models. Collecting old games is a hobby that can occupy boredom because the search involves looking online and in stores. I became a collector of these games, but I also began restoring them. My dad found an original Game Boy and Game Boy color sitting around his job. The person that put them there thought they were broken but thought someone might want them. With a few parts I ordered online and pieces from another game, I was able to restore the models to be played. Now I have a collection of various Game Boys from all the years that they came out. They are not worth a lot of money, but the nostalgia-fueled my interest and hobby. My hobby fuels the spark of my goal of becoming a Computer Scientist.

I can see it now, my job is already secure upon graduation. I graduated as a Computer Scientist with a Master's Degree in Computer Engineering. My future career is within a Fortune 500 Company but my ambitions are to go further than I can imagine. In the near future, I will have already interned at the company for over a year before my college graduation. In the future, I would be working with a team developing a breakthrough technology that will solve a future problem. Our patent would be pending but I will have hoped that this is the first of many. It is my dream to have invented something. When I was younger, people laughed at my idea of one day becoming an inventor. That future spark has not happened yet. Although the invention of time travel would be the most amazing thing. In short, my dream for my future career would be to work in a company that invests in me. I do not want to be paying for college for the rest of my life. I enjoy trying to solve problems and do not want to be in a career that is stagnating. I want to be able to travel within the company and work not only in the United States but to also, work abroad. Finally, in my future career; it is my hope that the company will help to promote more inner-city youth to aspire careers in STEM.

It was the first round of the First Tech Challenge Competition, and our First-year team was indeed the underdog. In the first round of the competition, we held on our own with our alliance team until one sharp turn. A wheel fell off our robot. I was told later the announcer cracked a joke about it, but I tuned out all the crowd's noise out of my head. We had to stay competitive, and the robot was still moving in most directions. I never took my eye off the robot and the challenge of trying to stack the blocks. When the second wheel fell off, many thought we were out of the challenge. Knowing how the point system worked, I knew if I stayed out of my alliance team member's way and attempted to push blocks closer to them in reverse, we still had a chance to remain alive. Immediately at the sound of the buzzer, I thanked the team and ran the robot to our pit area. I was determined to fix the robot before the next challenge. By skipping lunch, borrowing tools from other coaches and alliances, and persevering, my team later qualified for the State Competition. I believe this to be a top achievement preparing me for the future. Pursing the possibility for me is by persevering, never giving up. I exhibited courage and leadership when the wheels came off the robot. I knew everyone would be looking at our team and robot. I quietly told my teammate not to give up. I could've easily felt defeated and embarrassed by the circumstances, but I wasn't. I stayed focused on the challenge at hand by tuning all the noise out, even if it came from those who believe in you and doubt you. I have found that I can become very competitive on things I want to achieve. I don't give up when it is something that I truly desire. I focus on my end goal, from removing stripped screws on a motherboard to taking apart an old stereo piece by piece to save a Japanese CD. Everything doesn't come easy. Luckily, we fixed the robot during the competition to compete, but other projects I have done have taken days and weeks to finish. As a Computer Engineer, I understand that it will take a lot of trial and error and perseverance while performing a task. I know that perseverance will help me with my future goals. I thought that my good grades would help me, so I worked hard in school. I am looking forward to the following four-plus years in college and the challenges that college will bring; because I am looking towards that end goal. My goal is to one day work on something that will require a patent. Childhood dreams can come true, and mine is to become an inventor. As a Computer Science Engineer, I know that many challenges will come, and I will be able to look back and remember how I didn't let a few broken wheels on a robot stop the drive towards becoming an Engineer.

It was the first round of the First Tech Challenge Competition, and our First-year team was indeed the underdog. In the first round of the competition, we held on our own with our alliance team until one sharp turn. A wheel fell off our robot. I was told later the announcer cracked a joke about it, but I tuned out all the crowd's noise out of my head. We had to stay competitive, and the robot was still moving in most directions. I never took my eye off the robot and the challenge of trying to stack the blocks. When the second wheel fell off, and many thought we were out of the challenge. Knowing how the point system worked, I knew if I stayed out of my alliance team member's way and attempted to push blocks closer to them in reverse, we still had a chance to remain alive. Immediately at the sound of the buzzer, I thanked the team and ran the robot to our pit area. I was determined to fix the robot before the next challenge. By skipping lunch, borrowing tools from other coaches and alliances, and persevering, my team later qualified for the State Competition. I believe this to be a top achievement preparing me for the future. Pursing the possibility for me is by persevering, never giving up. I exhibited courage and leadership when the wheels came off the robot. I knew everyone would be looking at our team and robot. I quietly told my teammate not to give up. I could've easily felt defeated and embarrassed by the circumstances, but I wasn't. I stayed focused on the challenge at hand by tuning all the noise out, even if it came from those who believe in you and doubt you. I have found that I can become very competitive on things I want to achieve. I don't give up when it is something that I truly desire. I focus on my end goal, from removing stripped screws on a motherboard to taking apart an old stereo piece by piece to save a Japanese CD. Everything doesn't come easy. Luckily, we fixed the robot during the competition to compete, but other projects I have done have taken days and weeks to finish. As a Computer Engineer, I understand that it will take a lot of trial and error and perseverance while performing a task. I know that perseverance will help me with my future goals. I thought that my good grades would help me, so I worked hard in school. I am looking forward to the following four-plus years in college and the challenges that college will bring; because I am looking towards that end goal. It is my goal to one day work on something that will require a patent. Childhood dreams can come true, and mine is to become an inventor. As a Computer Science Engineer, I know that many challenges will come, and I will be able to look back and remember how I didn't let a few broken wheels on a robot stop the drive towards becoming an Engineer.

My drive for good grades began in Kindergarten but became more relevant eleven years ago when my sister graduated from high school. I remember vividly; an admissions counselor told my mom that the only way my sister would receive help to attend college was by moving out and having a baby. I knew having children to go to college was not an option for me because of the struggles my mom had as a single parent and what my sisters are now going through as single parents. I will not be the first in my family to attend college because my mom did attend college; however, I will be the first of my mother's four children to attend. My mom worked extremely hard going to work and school and trying to find time for us between homework. My mom was a teenager when she had my oldest sister. Welfare gave her the option to go to work or school, and she chose to attend school and proudly worked herself off of welfare. My mom continued to work hard but never had extra money to put away for my sisters and me to attend college. The idea of college was that we might one day all make it there on our own. My journey is about to begin, and I followed the road making all the right choices as a young black male in Milwaukee. I submitted my first round of college applications. Every week, I fill out applications for scholarships, and I find myself thinking back eleven years ago. Many of the applications I have filled out from colleges, FASA, and scholarships are looking for the first college student below the poverty line. Will I make it over this threshold? You need more than one generation to break the cycle to end poverty. I am proud of how far I have come because of the lessons that I have learned. Aside from hoping that I have made my mom proud, I would like to help her with the sacrifices that she has made. I also would like to be a role model for my nieces and nephews because they do not currently have a positive male figure in their life. Once I have given back to my family, I do wish to give back to my community. Schools highlight the same careers to underprivileged children. During career days, they bring people that children see in the community; a police officer, firefighter, a nurse, and someone from an office. In grade school, nobody introduced us to engineers. One of the reasons is that there are not that many black engineers within Milwaukee and schools consider the engineer to be the custodian. I want to show young aspiring children that they can become "imagineers" taking a word from Disney. The world needs more inventors, creators, and designers that look like the people that dream of owning that Telsa or playing that video game. If children do not see people in their image they have a hard time imagining themselves growing up and becoming it. My role model was a cartoon character. I saw Gary the Gadget Guy Penguin on Disney's Club Penguin and that is who I wanted to grow up and become. I hope that one day, I can be that real engineer/scientist that will inspire a generation that will change the world.

No matter if Rahm Emmanuel or Winston Churchill quoted it, “Don’t let a good crisis go to waste,” it certainly is an evolving lesson from the pandemic. I refer to the specific study that Fortune 500 companies are conducting to determine if staying at home increases productivity. Before March 14, 2020, only Mother Nature could get schools shut down; however, those days are now a thing of the past. Now, non-essential employees, educators, and students can open laptops and work from home. So now, what was considered a dream to work from home has become a reality throughout the World. When asked what my dream job would be, it would be to work from home. I am a gamer and collector of gaming consoles. Although I enjoy gaming, my dream job is to play games and develop them. It has always been a dream of mine to become an inventor. I would consider my dream job to be to team up with other like-minded engineers as we “invent” the next generation of gaming experiences that provide entertainment and possibly help solve a World issue with green energy. My dream job would allow me to work from home and travel to Japan to work with graphic anime designers. At one time, people thought that gaming was a waste of time. Now computer graphics are used not just for gaming but also in the medical, educational, business, and entertainment industries. Working from home is no longer something unimaginable but a way of life. My dream is to think and dream big and stay home.

My name is Christopher Taylor. I am currently a senior at Golda Meir School, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I have strived to work towards good grades throughout my school career because I knew this was the key to opening doors to attending college. My career ambition is to work as an Engineer in Computer Science. Gaming, coding, and robotics have been my sport since middle school becoming the first, First Tech Challenge middle school team to compete and go to State; which I continued to do robotics until the pandemic. I am a Student Apprentice at Leonardo DRS. I am also on the Varsity Golf team for Golda. My drive for good grades began in Kindergarten but became more relevant eleven years ago when my sister graduated from high school. I remember vividly; an admissions counselor telling my family that the only way my sister would receive help to attend college was by moving out and having a baby. I knew having children to go to college was not an option for me. I will not be the first in my family to attend college because my mom did attend college; however, I will be the first of my parents' four children to attend. Both of my parents worked extremely hard. My mom, at the time a single teenage parent, was given the option to go to work or school, and she chose to attend school and proudly worked herself off of welfare. My mom married and I followed three sisters. My parents continued to work hard but never had extra money to put away for my sisters and me to attend college. The idea of college was that we might one day all make it there on our own. My journey is about to begin, and I followed the road making all the right choices as a young black male in Milwaukee. I submitted my first round of college applications. Every week, I fill out applications for scholarships, and I find myself thinking back eleven years ago. Many of the applications I have filled out from colleges, FASA, and scholarships are looking for the first college student below the poverty line. Will I make it over this threshold? You need more than one generation to break the cycle to end poverty. Throughout high school, I made sure that my classes and grades would hopefully get me through the door of a school with recognition for engineering. I was mistaken that merit and good grades would be enough to get to college. I am seeking the help of someone to hear my story and see me for the future. Although I want to begin in Computer Science my goal is to work on a team that invents something that may change someone's life or how things work that could have an impact on life. I am not sure what that thing is in the future but I know I want to prepare myself when the opportunity is upon my team, we will be ready for the challenges it brings. In order to be on a good team, it begins with a good education. College provides opportunities well before you are hired into the workforce. Without the college experience, I will not be able to fulfill my lifelong dream of working on an invention for the future. I was taught to shoot for the moon and hope to land on a falling star that will rise me to the top.

I have heard that opening up a rich chocolaty candy bar packed with caramel and nuts could bring life's simple pleasure. For me not so much, I have never had milk chocolate or caramel. I am allergic to dairy and nuts. Most can't relate to what my simple pleasure in life is but I thought I would equate it to something that many can imagine as an enjoyable pleasure. Just like opening up that candy bar, my pleasure comes from opening a new package of Pokemon cards. Similar to the ooze from the caramel, I too am looking for gold. I imagine myself as Charlie Buckets in Willie Wonka as I slowly open the package just enough to reveal what is inside but able to close back as if it were never opened. Most of the time, once I have opened my package if it has brought me pure satisfaction. A rare card that might be worth money is what I am looking for. Once I have revealed my cards, I go on the phone to search if the cards that I have are valued at anything. If I am lucky, I am able to bring joy to my friends first, if I have a card that they are looking for. The feeling that I get from opening that brand new package of cards is what makes me happy. If the card is worth money, the satisfaction intensives as I remove it from the package and place it in a protective sleeve. It is not that often that I get the pleasure of selling cards because my happiness comes from collecting the cards with the hope that one might be worth selling. Perhaps to pay for college.

Students identified as extraordinary, gifted, and unique do not want to waste time on repetitive math and science facts in class. Schools in America, especially in underrepresented communities, underserve their students by educating them with a sit and get and sit and sit method. Too often, students do not receive a challenge to use their imagination, creativity, and talents in school beyond a few questions or problems written on the board. These students are expected not to lose their minds when the same problem is on the board all week long. These students begin to find other means necessary to cure their utter disdain and pure boredom. Luckily for the institution of public education, my parents, and my sanity, I did not allow my boredom to get the best of me. Perhaps I didn’t act out because I am laid back and shy. When I was younger, the school was long drawn out and boring, probably like this essay. Then in middle school and high school, I discovered STEM. I enjoyed math, but math was no longer numbers written on the whiteboard but instead applied with problem-solving, coding, and designing. Academically, I enjoyed math, but my hobby has been working on computers from early on. In STEM, we worked with computers from programming and rebuilding them. I have taken apart several computers at home, but with STEM, I learned how to replace the motherboard and get the computer to operate at maximum speed. As a gamer, I appreciate that STEM has brought an appreciation to the entire gaming world. Another way STEM has helped me is because my family doesn’t think that I am wasting my time playing games or competing online. I am not sure what would have happened to me if not for participating in the robotics and STEM Club. In the club, I met two of my best friends. They helped a shy, quiet student engage and become more involved in what I did. Our robotics team went to state, and although I am not athletic, I realized that STEM is my sport. We felt like the school should have made banners for us because we were the first school in our district to go to state in robotics. Of course, we were not celebrated or glorified like the basketball and football teams; however, I felt like an all-star. STEM has opened my eyes to my future. I learned how to code, design, and build robots. I have explored STEM-related fields through the club. I always wanted to become an inventor and discovered that engineers are inventors. I hope to work with a team that engineers and builds something that will help make a positive impact. I am passionate about STEM because it has changed my life. By participating in STEM Club, it helped me academically, socially, as well as set goals for my future. I am not sure what outcomes I would have had or if the doors would have opened up for me to pursue engineering if it were not for STEM. I hope that more young students discover STEM. In finding out how STEM can change your life, you might become the next scientist or engineer that changes the world.

In an age of social media and direct messages; it may seem odd to some that sometimes you have to cancel all the noise and listen. Friendships can be lost and enemies made because we don't listen, we assume we already know the information. A conversation is limited to a few characters and spaces and the actual message is not all that clear. I found myself caught in a string of DM's with random comments popping in-between the message. Nothing made sense and I found myself confused from the entire conversation. At first, I tried to ignore the messages but then you do not hear the person; you just hear a bunch of annoying dings. Frustrated by alarms, I turned away from the screen and turned the volume down on my computer. However, the sound of the alarm no longer was from my computer but this time, a loud noise from my mom in the other room. My mom just received a call from my best friend's mom. Now I was completely frustrated because I wasn't sure why my friend was upset and I didn't want to be in the middle of what seemed to be a messy situation. The next day, my mom had all my friends and me sitting in a circle talking about our feelings. That day, I learned to be an active listener. I had to look at each friend as they spoke. I had no choice but to listen to what was being said. I had to accept that everyone had an opinion and feelings and what they said was important. More importantly, I learned that day that my friend wanted to take his life. If I continued to not listen, my story would be different. Listening means being a friend.