What is math? To a lot of people, it's a confusing, jumbled mess that seems unapproachable, unreachable, and incomprehensible. To many who do understand it, it's a convenient tool, a way to go from a necessary input to a useful output. While it can be both of these things, I think math is something unique, something beautiful. To me, math is the secret language of the universe, the key to conversing with everything from the largest of stars to the tiniest of cells. It's a key that thousands before me have carefully built, that thousands still continue to work on, a key that humanity will continue to develop for as long as our curiosity survives. Math promises to unlock secrets we can't yet imagine, to raise our understanding to levels that today might not even be dreamed of. I grew up surrounded by math, immersed in it from a young age in a way I think not a lot of people have been. My dad is a mathematician at heart, and he eagerly shared that passion with his kids. Before I knew how to multiply or divide, I understood basic rules of trig, before I even got into algebra, we talked about how one can sum up infinitely smaller rectangles to get an area, and other basic foundations of calculus. I never understood how important any of it was until my first years at community college, when I started actually applying it to the real world. I remember learning how to apply calculus to actual, physical problems, and somewhere in those lessons, it hit me. This was the math they talked about when they said math was the language of the universe. There was something beautiful and complex in the simplicity of what we learned. The fact that I could take a simple equation, a simple mathematical statement and use it to describe a seemingly chaotic and complex system amazed me. It still amazes me more than I can properly express. Growing up, I always struggled with reading. Understanding things through written word has never been my strong suite. This has made it harder for me to learn, harder for me to understand, and harder for me to succeed. It's often felt like I have to struggle twice as hard for the same results as those around me, and that can be really frustrating and disheartening. But somehow with math, that's different. Calculus and trigonometry , balancing equations and using them to compute the world around us, something in that world actually makes sense. With math, it feels like I can truly understand the world around me in a way that words don't give. Math lets me learn when words fail me, and it's with that learning and understanding that I hope that I can do something truly amazing in the world.

In my family home, there sits a simple drawing. It looks to have been made with colored pencils, and it depicts the house's living room, as it looked many years ago. The living room it depicts looks nothing like the one I can remember from when I visited. It's completely different now, but the drawing still sits there, almost like a window to the distant past. My great grandmother was an artist, who, in spite of great hardship and struggle, practiced art her whole life. We still have some of her doodles, many of them on paper bags, or other scraps of material she could find. The living room drawing stands, not just as reminder of the past, but as a testimont to her lifelong struggles, and dedication to fulfilling her dream regardless of what life threw at her. My great grandmother had seven kids, and was dirt poor. She worked long hours in a factory most of her life just to support her family. Yet somehow, she found the time to make such a beautiful piece of artwork. My great grandmother went so far as to attend a mail in art school after get retirement, so that she could truly grow as an artist. She was an amazing woman. Her simple drawing that sits in my family home is, to me, a reminder of times and struggles gone by. It's a reminder that no matter where I go or what I do in life, I can always make time to better myself, both as a person, and an artist.

Looking back, I want to know that I did my best. That no matter what, I always stood by what I felt was right, I always gave it my all. Regardless of what life throws my way, I want to know I was the best version of me I could possibly have been. Ideally, my dream life would have me changing the world for the better. I want to become and aerospace engineer, and help humanity reach for the stars. I would love to have the opportunity to work on an off Earth colony of some kind, if they get built in my lifetime. Honestly, I want to help make that colony possibly. I want to leave behind a legacy of change and opportunity for those after me. I also want to inspire people. I don't really care if I become famous or rich, but I'd love to show people that anyone can pursue their dreams. I've struggled a lot in school, and with life in general, and I want that struggle to mean something. I want to help people realize that even if they struggle, they can prevail, and should continue pursuing their dreams.

"This too shall pass." It's an old saying that can be applied to many situations, but for some reason, I've never heard it applied to personal finance. Over the years, however, I've come to believe this is the best financial lesson one can learn. No matter what your situation is like now, it can always change, always be different. The saying is often used as a word of comfort, a suggestion that what you're going through won't last forever. However, there's an ominous warning to it as well. Many people with good lives assume some sense of stability. If you have a nice job and a cushy financial situation, you might not consider what could happen if something were to suddenly take that away. That's why I believe the old saying is very appropriate for personal finance. If you assume life could change at a moment's notice, you can plan for future hardship, and prepare for possible difficulties. What if your lose your job? What if your encounter an unexpected health issue? What if something large in your home breaks? It's always wise to assume that financial hardship will eventually come your way, and plan accordingly. On the flip side, this saying indicates a possible end to financial struggles. If you're down on your luck, you can often manage to find a decent job or get some help, and fortune might come your way, regardless of how bleak things may look. No matter what side of prosperity you're on, it's always wise to remember that things could change unexpectedly. Always try to plan for the worst, and never give up hope that things might get better.

It's hard to feel confident about what I want to do in life. I've never felt like I could pursue my dreams, I never felt I was good enough to pursue my dreams. No matter what I went through, no matter how much I doubted myself, there were always people standing by me, telling me I could do it, telling me I was good enough. Because of their support, I'm in college, I'm making my way in the world, and I'm trying to make a difference. I know that there's a lot of people out there that don't have that same support as I've had. There's a lot of people out there who may not realize their dreams because they don't think they're good enough. If I could leave one thing behind in this world, it would be a bit of hope and encouragement for those who come after me. I want my struggle to encourage others to keep going. I want to be able to reach out to people that doubt their ability to succeed, and give them that extra push they need to pursue their dreams. I want to give people the hope and confidence my loved ones have given me. I would love to tutor someone who's struggling, I want to provide guidance to people who are uncertain, anything to help others become who they want to be. If I could help just one person believe in themselves, if I could give one person the confidence to pursue their dreams, it would make the world that much better. Maybe they wouldn't do much to change the world, or maybe they would. Either way, I hope I can help people feel good enough to reach for their dreams, and make the world a better place in the process.

We hear a lot about great inventors and pioneers, brilliant men that changed our world. I'm sure you can think of several right now, Alexander Graham Bell, Orville and Wilbur Wright, and Neil Armstrong come to mind for me. These amazing men changed our world for the better and inspired generations. But what about the ones never heard about? Until recently, the name Katherine Johnson was meaningless to most. How about Adda Lovelace or Elijah McCoy? Though their contributions to the world are valuable and still with us today, the amazing marginalized men and women who changed our world remain largely unknown. Even if their contributions are scarcely credited, the ill treated inventors of the past still left their mark, they still contributed their ideas. Many others were not so fortunate. Where would we be today if Albert Einstein was never given an education? What kind of world would we live in if the Wright Brothers had been unable to pursue their crazy ideas? What if the cure for aging lies with a young woman at a dead end job who was told she wasn't good enough for college? This is why educational inequity is important to everyone. People being unable to get proper schooling or pursue their dreams because of circumstances beyond their control doesn't just hurt them, it hurts all of us. It hurts everyone that might have benefited from the inventions and discoveries of the brilliant men and women that were never given a chance.

We have a lot of preconceived notions about how the world works. We believe, with an unearned confidence, that we understand the things we study. That's why my favorite scientific discover is that dinosaurs would have had feathers. It's such a jarring discovery that changed everything the scientific community thought they knew about the natural world of history. This sort of amazing, perception altering discovery is exactly what we need every now and again, to make sure we don't get set in our ideas. While featherd dinosaurs might seem like an idea confined to history, it has far broader implications than just our perception of dinosaurs. If our beliefs about our own world's past were so misguided, how does this impact our beliefs about everything around us? Humans are often excessively prone to finding differences where there are none, and we mistakingly believed that the world of the dinosaurs was vastly different than our own. This discovery showed us that dinosaurs would have had a lot in common with modern animals, and that their world wasn't so different. Perhaps other worlds, even those that form millions of miles away, won't be so different either. We like to think of exciting variations between creatures, but this must make us consider that maybe we're ascribing too many differences when there are truly similarities. This applies not just to discoveries or broad scientific concepts, but to people as well. We often believe others are very different from ourselves, but really, we all have a lot in common. We all have hopes, dreams, aspirations, and we all have others we care about. Many perceived differences are superficial, or made-up entirely. I see this discovery as a demostraron that we need to set aside our preconceived notions, and try to look at what's really there.

I honestly never thought much about how my dad influenced me growing up. He was just kind of always there. It was never a question of if he'd be willing or able to help me with my school work, but a question of when he'd squeeze in the time. I don't know how he found time to help me with everything he had going on, but somehow, he always did. Growing up, I struggled a lot with reading. I was never good at understanding spelling and tenses , or how the various pieces of a sentence fit together. I still struggle with my speech sometimes. When I started Algebra, the introduction of variables (or, as my brain saw it, a bunch of letters) to math was really hard for me to grasp. I was ready to give up and call it a day, I thought my mathematical knowledge was going to end there. The idea of progressing further seemed like something I'd never be able to do. And yet here I am, studying to become an aerospace engineer. I'm not sure I could have picked a degree or field that involved more math. How did I get past that initial hardship? With a lot of help and patience. My dad loved math, and he didn't want me to fear it. He spent hours every day trying to explain it to me, to help me work through my confusion. It was not an easy task. I fought and struggled through algebra, getting upset with him and lashing out at every misstep. But my dad never gave up, and slowly, the concepts started to make sense. Slowly, I started to realize that math wasn't that hard, and maybe I could do this after all. My dad is undoubtedly the reason I am where I am today. His passionate about math and science really wore off on me, and I'm proud to be pursuing a career that I know makes him really proud. The biggest thing he gave to me, though, is not the love of math, but the knowledge that I am good enough, the knowledge that I am smart enough. I want, more than anything, to be able to share that knowledge. So many people fail to pursue their dreams because the math or schooling seems too daunting, and because they feel inadequate for the task. I want to share the confidence my dad taught me with others who are struggling to feel good enough. I want to be able to show my love of math and learning with the world, and hopefully inspire others to pursue their dreams in the process.

I never believed I was smart enough to peruse my dreams. I thought that engineers were some kind of geniuses that were right about almost everything, and didn't make a bunch of dumb math errors. Then I started reading one of my favorite online comics, XKCD. The comics are fairly random jokes and stories about various topics, including what it's like to be involved in programing or engineering, and that's made the entire field a lot more approachable for me. Seeing the difficulties and challenges faced by those in fields that are typically entered by smart, educated people helped me to realize that I don't have to be perfect or flawless to pursue my dreams. The simple, relatable humor of this fun, occasionally goofy comic made me realize that I, with all my flaws, can be a part of a STEM industry too.

I glance excitedly at the TV between bites of food. Normally, we aren't allowed to watch anything at the lunch table, but this is a special occasion. The SpaceX rocket is attempted to dock with the ISS, an exciting first attempt for them. It's the first time in a while that an American ship will be docking with the ISS, too. My dad likes to share these moments with us, and I love to watch them. I stare at the TV, wishing to be a part of that exciting mission. I see the people cheering at mission control, wondering what it must feel like to watch your rocket launch with bated breath, hoping it succeeds. That feeling must be terrifying, invigorating, thrilling even. I want to know what that feels like personally. Some day, I promise myself, I'm going to be a part of one of those missions. One day, I'll know what it's like to watch something I built launch into space. For as long as I can remember, I've been fascinated by outer space. It's our next unsolved mystery, the next great, unexplored frontier. I want, more than anything, to be a part of exploring this mystery, and perhaps making it just a bit less mysterious. I'm not sure how far space travel will advance in my lifetime, but I want to be a part of getting us a bit closer to the stars. My current plan is to get a degree in Aerospace Engineering, then use that degree to get a job somewhere in the aerospace field. I want to join a company that is working towards getting humanity off of Earth, and I'm excited to work towards that goal. I'm currently a little less than halfway through my aerospace degree, and I'm excited to see what the next couple of years of college will bring for me. I hope that getting humanity to the stars will give us a better chance of survival and help save our planet. Currently, all of humanity, everything we know and love, everything we are, is confined to a single, moderately sized planet, floating through space. Our world could be easily wiped out or destroyed by a single, fairly common cosmic event. Additionally, if our population continues to grow like we've been growing, Earth will eventually run out of space and resources. I want to insure that humanity will be protected from random destruction, and that our future will be safe. The only way to do that is to get people off world, and establish colonies and even civilizations on other planets. I know that this is an ambitious, long term goal, but I believe that it is a worthwhile pursuit. I want to help insure humanity's future, and I believe that my dream of space travel will help do just that.

I was rejected from my dream school, not once, but twice. It was upsetting the first time, but the second rejection was absolutely devastating. It's not even like it was a prestigious university with a tiny acceptance rate, Virginia Tech had a seventy percent acceptance rate. With my grades and associates degree, I thought I was practically a shoe-in. It turns out, I wasn't. The first time I was rejected, I figured I'd take the opportunity to better myself. I spent a year going to classes at my community college that I knew Tech wanted me to have, earned transfer credits, made friends at the school, and just did my best to make myself a better candidate. I thought I had improved my chances in every area. After a year of self-improvement, I applied again to go to college again this fall. Once more, I was rejected. I just wanted to sit and cry and give up. Admittedly, I took a few minutes to do just that. But I knew that I wasn't ready to give up, not yet. So I picked myself up emotionally, and proceeded to get in contact with everyone I knew at the school. I contacted all of my teachers that I thought might be able to help, contacted the transfer advisor for Virginia Tech, contacted the dean of STEM for my school, I got in touch with everyone I could think of. I ended up going through a lot of loops and wound up at a lot of dead ends, but eventually I figured out the appeals process. I wrote up a letter of appeal, explaining why I didn't have an important class that Virginia Tech wanted, explained my situation as a whole, and then waited. Within two days, I got a response back saying a council would meet to review my request. Two days after that, I got notification of my acceptance. I honestly couldn't believe it, after so much struggle I was finally in! What I learned from this whole experience was to never give up on your dreams. I got kept away from what I wanted, but I kept going, I kept fighting, and in the end, I got it. There's a time and place to back down when a situation is truly hopeless, but in cases like these, it can't hurt to try and find some way to fight for your dreams. I think this whole ordeal taught me that sometimes a rejection isn't the end of the world, and that it's possible to recover from a pretty serious blow. Going forward, I will take this knowledge with me to hopefully help me build my future, both in and out of school.

I just moved in to my first apartment. Me and my new roommates are trying to get to know each other, so we're talking about ourselves and asking each other questions. One of them notices I have what seems to be hiccups, and she asks me about it. I mention that I suffer from Tourette's, a fairly rare neurological condition that causes me to make uncontrollable noises and motions sometimes. My roommate mentions that she has a cousin with Tourette's, and asks a couple of questions about it. We then move on with the conversation, my issue isn't a problem for her. This is an amazing change from when my grandfather was growing up. He also suffered from Tourette's, and it made him randomly curse sometimes. People at the time weren't nearly as understanding, they didn't try to help, and they just thought he was being rebellious. People didn't understand and they didn't try to, and people like him suffered as a result. One thing that gives me hope for the future is this simple change, the fact that people are increasingly acting with empathy and compassion. The fact that I, unlike my grandfather, enjoy the care and understanding of my piers is a monumental change for the better, and it's a very common one. There's a lot of harm that occurred because of previous generations fearing people for being different, and ostracizing them as a result of this fear. People latched on to any sense of otherness that set a person or group apart, and persecuted them for it. While we still have a lot of issues, and people are still persecuted unnecessarily, younger generations seem to have an increased sense of empathy and compassion. Each generation seems to care a little less about what someone looks like and where they come from, and a little more about who the person is and what they're struggling with. As this change continues, people are more and more comfortable being who they are, and being open about issues they previously would have never been able to talk about before. This change gives me a lot of hope that future generations will be even more understanding. We'll always have people that hate and fear others, but those people are going away, and I hope for a day where treating people badly for things they can't control is a thing of the past. Seeing people care and work to do better gives me hope that we really can overcome our hate-filled past and make a brighter, more inclusive future.

I sit at my thin, convertible laptop, typing on a keyboard no thicker than my phone. Said phone next to me has thousands of high quality images contained on it, a calculator, a half dozen apps for instant communication with people anywhere in the world, and access to the entire collection of music that currently exists. Forty years ago, my father used a giant desktop computer that had a fraction of a single modern picture's worth of storage, that he had to program himself every time he booted it up. Technology is continuously getting smaller and more convenient. We can do things today people sixty years ago couldn't have even imagined. We can fly to the stars, create electronics that can be carried by small birds, we're experimenting with growing meat that requires no animals, and the only reason we don't have flying cars is because they're not practical. And all of this is made possible by our increasingly amazing computers. That's why I think that the new technology that most excites me is the shrinking of computers. Though computers are hardly new, their increasingly miniscule size is, and it's also the most exciting and useful technological advancement we've been able to make. The smaller we make computers, the more useful they become. Modern computers can fit easily in our pockets and be pulled out at a moments notice to do anything we may need. As the technological advancements behind this shrinking continue, who knows what the future might look like. The smaller we can make computers, the more applications they have. How long until we can make machines that are as small as cells and can destroy any and all harmful diseases? How long until computers can be imbedded into our wrists? The implications for medical technology would be massive. Nanobots, the ability to monitor people in critical condition, the ability to unobtrusively scan patients, and much, much more. Medical technology has already advanced by leaps and bounds, and this will only further that. Additionally, smaller computers are making satellites easier and easier to produce. The bigger a satellite is, the more expensive it is to launch into space. Therefore, the smaller our computers get, the cheaper it will be to launch all varieties of satellites and probes. The discoveries this might lead to would be amazing. All in all, I'm very excited about our shrinking computers and growing uses for them. By the time my kids are using technology, what will it even look like? They'll likely be so foreign to me I'll have to relearn how to operate computers, and that thought thrills me. The thought of computers that can be sent virtually anywhere, to do virtually anything, excites me and gives me hope for the future.

We all grow up differently. We grow up in different regions, with different cultures, in different eras, everything about our upbringing can differ from person to person. Even people born and raised in the same area with the same culture can have completely different experiences. In the modern world, we are increasingly in contact with ways of thinking that are vastly different from our own. I think that the biggest problem facing the modern world is a lack of empathy. With so many cultures coming into such close contact with each other, we need to be able to understand what others are going through so that we can work together to make a better world Our world is divided by many issues, including politics, culture, and religion. The fact that few people try to understand the other side of these issue makes anger and hate grow on both sides. Without empathy, people that are different from us quickly become an unnamed enemy, something to be hated and feared. If we could look at someone completely different from us and see that they are only human beings, going through the same troubles and turmoil as us, we could work together to solve the biggest issues plaguing our planet I'm not saying that empathy is easy. I myself can't always understand the other side of an issue very well. Why are people so afraid of the vaccine? Why don't they try to stop global warming? Why can't they care more about what I'm going through? Though I let my anger get the better of me, it doesn't help anyone to hate the other side. If we could all have a little more understanding, the world would be a much better place.

It's a few days after my birthday, and a car pulls up into the driveway. It's my grandfather, with a giant hug and a birthday card. He wasn't feeling very well when we had my birthday party, but he wanted to make sure to visit me. He gives me a simple birthday card with a heartfelt message and a ten dollar bill. He does this every year, for birthdays and Christmas. No matter what's going on, he gives me and my sister a card like this for birthdays and Christmas. My grandfather doesn't have much. He honestly can't afford to the money, but he still gives it, no matter what. My parents have told him he doesn't need to, but he still does it, and it seems to bring him a lot of joy. To me, generosity means to care. It means to care enough to want to make a difference in someone's life, and to be willing to do something to actually make that happen. Generosity means helping others, sometimes at the expense of your own comfort or situation. Generosity isn't always about gifts, it's about opening up your heart and wanting to offer something important to others. You can be generous with your time, money, empathy, anything you have, really. No matter how someone gives generosity, though it comes from the heart. It means that the person giving it cared enough to do something, cared enough to try and make a difference. To me, generosity has always seemed as good for the giver as the recipient. When I do something generous, it feels nice to know that I've done good. I think I understand why my grandfather gives so freely when he has little, because he wants to know that he's done something good for us.

Our goal, as human beings, should be to leave the world at least a little bit better than we entered it. I first heard these words several years ago, at a Neil deGrasse Tyson lecture. My family loved the new Cosmos show, so when he started touring, we had to go hear him speak. The statement was at the end of a lecture that I can barely remember the details of, but I can still remember that bit clearly. I doubt I recall the exact words perfectly, but the message has stuck with me perfectly for all these years. Oftentimes, we are told there are giant issues that need fixing, a world that needs to change and grow. This can be overwhelming, an impossible task to even think about tackling. That's why the simple idea of an achievable goal is so much better to hear. Doing volunteer work, helping someone out, getting into a field that helps the world, these are all ways we can leave the world a better place than we were born. It's a much easier goal to tackle, and a lot easier to use to reflect on our lives. We can't always say for certain if we've done something big enough to make a tangible difference, but we can look at what we've done and ask if what we're doing is truly helpful, if it's really going to make a positive difference. Ever since that lecture, I strive to live my life by those words. I want to do good and make the world a slightly better place with everything I do. If everyone tried to leave the world just a little bit better than how we entered it, the world would be a far better place.

It was the fifth time we'd argued over this same word. No matter how many times I was told how it was spelled, it didn't make any sense. It wasn't pronounced that way, so why would you spell it like that? Why not just spell it how it was pronounced? The inconsistency of language bothered me to no end. I complained to my mother about this continuously, until she offered to make a very stern call to the person responsible for this injustice. We took an old flip phone, dialed an imaginary number, and gave them a very serious talking to. With this out of my system, we continued the challenging process of learning how words were spelled. My mom was the one who taught me how to read, but it wasn't easy. I had a hard time understanding language because honestly, it just never sat well with me. The inconsistency and ever-changing rules were hard to remember. Under normal circumstances, I'm not sure I would have ever worked past it. However, I was fortunate enough to have parents that were willing to work with me, on my level. I was frustrated and confused, and needed a lot of guidance in figuring out how to learn. I enjoyed learning new things, I just needed someone to help me get unstuck when something confused me. I think that the biggest change we should make to education is to make it more fun and focused on teaching kids to love learning. In far too many schools, we have kids sitting hours every day being lectured at and absorbing information. They often remember this information just long enough to be able to spew it back for the next test, then promptly forget most of what they learned. This isn't helpful, and just wastes everyone's time. What we need to teach kids is not to cram for tests or which random facts they should know, but a love of learning. My favorite example of this system working is Finland. Finland has some of the best educational outcomes in the world, because they focus on the kids and what they want to learn. The earliest schooling in Finland doesn't have the typical classroom structure we do, and instead encourages education through play and engagement. They let the kids guide what they want to learn, and this is a big part of the reason Finland consistently ranks highest in education worldwide. This highly effective system encourages a love of learning among children, and has been proven to be effective. This is why I believe it would be good to try and emulate this gentle encouragement everywhere. If we taught future generations to love learning, not just do it out of necessity, they would have the tools and drive to create a better world and a better future.

Carl Sagan, the original host of cosmos, described our world as a tiny, pale blue dot. I love this description, because of how different it makes the world feel. It's humbling to think that everything we are, everything we've ever been, is contained within a tiny, fragile rock, orbiting a mediocre star. Earth is a beautiful, unique, and astounding world, but to the greater cosmos, we are nothing but a blip. All of humanity's hopes, dreams, and accomplishments could be reduced to nothing but space rubble in a single cosmic event. If I had unlimited funding, I would work towards making us less fragile by attempting to get humanity to the stars. I would spend a large portion of my money to work on researching and testing new spacecraft and communication technology. I would start planning how to create colonies on other worlds, train new astronauts, and I would fund research for any technologies that might prove useful in the creation of a base outside of Earth. I would work tirelessly to make it easier to enter and exit the atmosphere, and I would try to streamline production of as many spaceships as possible. I understand that this would be a long and difficult goal, but I want to give humanity the best start possible in our existence off world. If I can get us to the stars that much quicker, it makes it that much harder for us to suddenly be wiped out or destroyed. This could also help us save the Earth from the nightmare of our own creation. My second project, if given an unlimited budget, would be to try and reverse global warming. Just because I want to get us off of Earth doesn't mean I want to leave it desolate. Earth is still our home, and it deserves our help. My first course of action would be to research our largest, most drastic plans to stop global warming. With enough funding, I could easily create some of the most insane projects, and that's what we might need at this point. The recent climate report showed that we need to do something as soon as possible, as it may already be too late. Though I'd do a lot of research before trying anything, my current favorite plan would be to paint large portions of the world. There is a paint that reflects the vast majority of sunlight, and if we could paint enough of the Earth with it, this would help not just stop, but reverse global warming. The reflective paint would send so much sunlight back to space, it could help counter a lot of the damage we've already done. Additionally, this plan would be the easiest to attempt and compared to other plans, has minimal possible harm it could do. I would look into painting rooftops and all manmade structures with this paint, while also researching the possibility of painting the more barren parts of Earth. Finally, I would take advantage of my space program to attempt to move as many harmful endeavors off world as possible. I would want to start a new era of space farming, where mass produced plants such as corn and wheat were moved into space stations or to the moon. Animals such as cows that produced a lot of methane, would also be moved to space to minimize their impact. These crops and livestock would be raised, harvested, and possibly even prepared off-world. The only contact they would have with Earth would be when they were shipped back as food. My end goal would mean moving all harmful production off Earth, including factory work, mining, electricity production, and anything that could cause further harm. I'm certain this wouldn't all happen in my lifetime, so I would select and train the best and brightest to mange my projects and funding when I was gone. I would make every effort to surround myself with the smartest, most competent people, so that I didn't inadvertently make things worse. It is by taking drastic, but well researched action, that I would hope to leave the world a far better place than I found it.

Aiden is not the easiest person to deal with. He drives me nuts sometimes. Honestly, I didn't think I'd be able to care this much about someone who's so different than me. He's weird, goofy, and has no sense of social graces or personal space. He literally tried to pick a piece of dirt off my face once because it was bugging him. My family thinks he may be on the spectrum, but his parents never got him tested, even though the doctor that diagnosed him with ADHD suggested it. Whatever's going on inside his head, he's become very important to me over the past couple of years, and by knowing him I've learned a lot about myself and the world around me. I knew pretty quickly Aiden's family was very different than mine. For one thing, they were a lot stricter than my parents. He was 17 when we first met, and they still disciplined him like a young child. At first, I didn't think much of the differences, I assumed they were just doing what they thought was best for him. Over time, though, I realized they were sabotaging him. Their behavior was cruel and damaging, and it left him with no idea how to act in a lot of his life. It turns out that Aiden's mother was the main issue. She seemed to want a play thing, not a son, and she took out all her frustrations on him. Nothing he did was ever good enough, and she'd deliberately sabotage his class work. Neither parent ever helped him with homework or encouraged him in any way, and it was painful to watch how this impacted him. He retreated to whatever escapism he could find and his already poor social awareness got worse. As we knew each other for longer, he slowly opened up to me. I tried to support him as best I could, and together we started learning how to work past his painful upbringing. It's not easy, and it's still a work in progress, but Aiden is slowly unlearning his worst habits and figuring out how to behave around people he cares about. A couple of months ago, Aiden's situation got way worse. His parents were paying for him to go to college, and like many people our age, he couldn't really afford to live on his own yet. When he came home between semesters, his mother started treating him even worse. He didn't have access to food half the time, and when he tried to get food his mother would take it. She was yelling all the time, being cruel, and he couldn't take it any more. The result of all of this was a giant fight, which caused him to finally have to pack his bags and leave. Since then, Aiden has moved in with me and my family. It's not an easy situation, but it's good to have him in a safe environment. We're trying to help him until he can get on his feet again. I'm trying to continue explaining things to him, and he in turn shows me a way of looking at the world I never would have seen before. His perspective is nothing like mine, and it's strange, but its also nice to be able to look at the things around me through different eyes. I've learned a whole new way of viewing life, one that's full of so much more strangeness and wonder than I would have ever thought possible.

I looked over the research paper I'd just proofread for the tenth time. I'd been staring at it so long, the words had lost their meaning. Not that they had much meaning for me in the first place. I'd just spent hours perfecting this assignment, but I honestly couldn't tell you why. I put everything I had into it, but I honestly couldn't care less. On some level, how I did in school was important to me, but it was hard to muster up the energy to feel that sometimes. Looking back, it's obvious I was struggling, but at the time it just felt like I was failing. Failing at life, failing at school, failing as a human being. I threw everything I had into my classes just to escape the hopelessness and numbness that seemed to follow me. I put all my time into classwork just to keep myself from thinking. And for a while, it worked. For a few years, I managed to shove my bad thoughts and feelings to the back of my brain, drag myself out of bed each day, and keep going. But I couldn't outrun my own feelings forever, and when I finally decided to try to reconnect with my emotions, it all came tumbling down. Recently, I had to face my own depression. I had to take a bit to learn who I was outside of the projects I threw myself into. It was then that I realized the exhaustion wasn't my fault, and I learned to have empathy and compassion for what I was going through. This made me view others a lot differently. None of us are perfect, and that's ok. I want to be there when those around me struggle. I went through a lot alone because I was too scared to reach out, and I've made it my mission to make sure others don't feel like they have to be alone. I can't fix the pain or make things better, but I can be there supporting those close to me no matter what.

I waited with nervous anticipation. I was pretty happy with my application to my dream school, I had a solid GPA and thought I'd taken all the classes I needed. I waited with great impatience to hear back from them, hopeful that I would get in. When I finally got the email, it wasn't what I'd expected. I didn't make the cut. Last year, I was rejected from Virginia Tech. I had applied to their engineering program, but I had missed a required class. A single chemistry class would have let me in, but I didn't realize I needed it. After the rejection, I wasn't sure what I'd do. I felt dejected and defeated. Shortly afterwards, the worst of the pandemic hit. Turns out that for me, Covid was a blessing in disguise. My biggest challenge is that I live over an hour from the nearest school, and my family only has one car. In 2020 I had recently finished a two year degree at Virginia Western Community College, but I was only able to do it by taking online classes. After finishing my associate's degree, I wanted to transfer to Virginia Tech. Obviously that plan failed. The great thing about the pandemic, though, was that all the classes at Virginia Western that had been in-person were now either hybrid or completely online. Whereas before I was limited in what I could do, now I could take almost any classes they offered. I immediately signed up for the chemistry class I was missing, and decided to wait until the pandemic was under control to attempt to apply to Tech again. I took this time to do as many engineering classes as I could fit into the time I had at Virginia Western. This past year has allowed me to take a lot of important math and engineering courses. Because of the pandemic, I was able to take a lot of classes that I would have had to take at Virginia Tech, and got ahead on classes for my bachelor's degree. Now that the Covid vaccine is widely available and life is starting to get back to normal, I decided to apply to Virginia Tech this past spring. I was accepted! It was only because of the extra classes and my extended experience at my Virginia Western that I was able to get in. In a way, it was Covid that let me follow my dreams.

My great grandmother had to work in a factory while raising seven kids. She didn't have the opportunity to go to a formal art school until her retirement, when she took classes through the mail. However, she spent her entire life practicing creativity whenever she could, often using scraps of paper bags and wood. I would love to be like her in that respect, always practicing my artwork no matter where my education and career take me.

A few years ago, my grandmother who I'd lived with my whole life moved out and left my family alone. We had no way of knowing our lives would change so suddenly overnight. My roommate just found out the G.I. bill that was supposed to cover her college had been mostly used up. Her finances are suddenly highly uncertain. I got really sick a few years ago, and it took months for the doctors to figure out what was wrong. Those doctor's visits really added up. I've learned that everything can change at a moment's notice, life can be suddenly flipped on its head with no warning. The single best piece of financial advice I've been given is to never assume tomorrow. No matter how well you're doing now, or how well-off you are financially, things can always change for the worse. My mother taught me to plan for the possibility of sudden financial loss. No matter how unlikely it seems that financial troubles could come your way, it's important to save for if they do. I was always told that I should pay into a savings account like it was a monthly bill. That way, if I ever find myself in trouble and really need the money, it will be there. It might seem like you have a stable job, a nice house, or a solid source of income, but disaster can always strike. The company you work for might go under, a hurricane might destroy your home, you might have unexpected medical bills, anything could happen. This is why it's important to always be prepared for an unexpected future. We can't predict what tomorrow will bring, but we can do our best to be prepared to deal with the challenges the future has in store for us.

I don't look like a scientist or inventor. I look nothing like the great minds that everyone credits with our biggest advancements and inventions. I certainly don't match the TV depiction of a genius mathematician or engineer. I've never been super gifted, I constantly struggle with my mental health, and I've never been the insanely passionate, obsessive inventor. I'm a 5' 2", curly haired young woman, and I don't think I'm the first thing anyone pictures when they think of an engineer. I may not look like what people typically associate with an inventor, but after a lot of looking I've discovered people like me that I can look up to. I can look at women like Sally Ride, Margaret Hamilton, and Catherine Johnson, and be inspired by everything they accomplished. I not only look a bit like them, but they all share in a struggle I will now continue. And while I may not look like him, I can relate to Neil deGrasse Tyson, who didn't do very well in school, and who no one thought would do much in the world. To me, that's what representation means, it's being able to look at a field and see people that are like me in some way. For some people, it's important to see others that share their struggles, for some it's seeing people that are the same gender, and for others it's seeing those that share their heritage. No matter what about a person's identity is most important to them, people need to be able to look at the world and see others that share in that characteristic doing good. Because this can help them realize that they themselves can achieve their own dreams and create a better world. My personal dream is to reach for the stars. I've always been fascinated by the Apollo mission and the amazing people that made it possible. I want, more than anything, to be a part of a similarly important or exciting mission. This is why I plan to get a degree in Aerospace Engineering at Virginia Tech. Once I have my degree, I'll go work for one of the many awesome companies that are trying to get us off of Earth. My motivation to reach for my dreams wouldn't be possible without the hundreds of amazing women that have advanced our world so much. My parents taught me about the women responsible for the space industry, the women who created computer programming as we know it, and the women that have advanced our understanding of the natural world. It's learning about the amazing women that have struggled to be seen in a world of male-dominated fields that has made me realize I can make it if I'm determined enough. I hope to join the incredible women that have advanced our world, and make it that much easier for the next generation to reach for their dreams, regardless of who they are and what they look like.

My whole life I struggled with feeling like I wasn't good enough and wondered if I'd be able to make it in any kind of professional field. I knew that I wanted to be an Aerospace engineer, space travel has always excited me. I knew that if I could manage to get the engineering degree, I'd love to work building spacecraft and helping make spaceflights possible, but for a long time I thought I wasn't smart enough. I finally managed to mostly overcome my self-doubt a couple of years ago, only to run into the challenges of taking college classes in the middle of a pandemic. The classes were harder than in-person, and the professors were generally less sympathetic and far less helpful. One class that was particularly hard for me was Physics. I was rejected from Virginia Tech last year, so I started taking Engineering classes at my community college to improve my application this year. Among these classes was Physics, which I was thrilled to finally be able to take virtually (previously the school had only offered in-person classes, which I couldn't do because of my rural location). However, the class turned out to be a complete nightmare. The professor believed the only way to make sure students did well in virtual classes was to assign more work outside of class, then demand that students spend all of the scheduled class periods asking him questions and going over examples. He got very upset when we couldn't fill the full class time with questions. I kept up with the class alright for the first few weeks, but then I got stuck and couldn't figure out forces on moving bodies. When I tried to ask a question about what equations would be on the upcoming test, I got belittled and mocked in front of the class for not asking the question well enough. That really rattled me, and in spite of studying as hard as I could for the test, I couldn't manage to figure out what I was supposed to study. I failed that test worse than I've ever failed a test before, and I felt awful. I knew at that point that while I could try to recover in the class, it would be at the expense of every other class I was currently taking. I couldn't keep up with the workload this class was giving me and do well in my other classes. Though it felt like a failure on my part, I decided to drop Physics. Because of my school's policy, I was able to drop the class without receiving a grade penalty, so this allowed me to focus on my other classes with no affect on my GPA. It was a really hard decision for me, because it felt like admitting I wasn't good enough, admitting that I couldn't handle the class. I felt like I would have done better if I was smarter or had worked harder. However, dropping the class turned out to be the right decision. I was able to keep up my grades in my other classes, and more importantly, I was able to take the time to understand them. Additionally, when I do take Physics again, I'll be able to take the time and effort to understand the material, not fight with this professor. This whole ordeal taught me that as stubborn as I can be sometimes, it's ok to take a step back and admit I need to deal with an issue another time. It taught me that backing down sometimes doesn't make me any less strong or capable.

The best way to help people that struggle with mental health is to stop being ashamed and start seriously talking about our own mental health. Everyone, at some point, struggles with their mental health. We struggle to do what they're supposed to, struggle to feel what they're supposed to. Most people just don't realize how normal it is. There are services designed to help, but they can't do any good if people don't even know they need the help. Additionally, a lot of chronic mental health issues make people feel like they don't need or deserve help. Depression, anxiety, eating disorders, these all tell people that they're not good enough, in some way they are never going to be like the people they look up to. Many people who fight with these disorders don't believe they truly have it that bad, and find some way to demean their own feelings and struggle. Many mental health issues remain entirely unknown because people are either too ashamed to talk about them or don't know that they're even struggling. When people talk about their mental health struggles, it can show others that it's ok to not be alright. If the heroes that we look up to start opening up about their mental health issues, and those around us begin treating these struggles like normal problems people go through, we can realize that what we're dealing with is nothing to be ashamed of. The more people talk about their mental health, the more it makes it feel normal to not be perfectly emotionally stable. There's been a lot of pressure in the past to hide our pain, and that needs to stop. The more open we are about how mental health affect us, the more we can help those that most need it.

I read a lot as a kid, so it can be hard to pick a favorite book. However, I think the book that had the greatest emotional impact on me was Neil Gaiman's "Ocean at the End of the Lane". The book itself was short, but it invoked a lot of powerful feelings. The story is told from the perspective of a middle aged man that returns to his hometown for a funeral. He stops at an old house that he used to play at as a kid, and as he sits looking out over the lake there, he begins to remember events from when he was a boy. He remembers his childhood friend and her family as powerful beings, his father's mistress as an evil force, and the small lake as a powerful ocean. I think that this book really stuck with me because when I read it, I was at a turning point in my life. I was just thinking about leaving home, and I wasn't sure if it was ok to hold on to my childhood as I started on this new life journey. The book itself reflected on this man's childhood, and how he saw his world when he was a kid. Though it seemed obvious that events couldn't have taken place as he remembers them, in a way that didn't make them feel any less real in the story. As the man revisits this old house, he revisits a portion of his life long forgotten, and the book helped me sort out how I felt about moving on from my own childhood. It felt like a welcoming reflection on imagination and growing up, and this has guided me as I try to find my way in life.

I've always looked up to Sally Ride. She was a courageous woman that did what women at the time weren't supposed to do. She didn't care what others thought of her, she followed her dream, pursued her passion, and became the first American woman to go to space. She was brilliant and courageous, and refused to let what others thought of her define her. Sally Ride faced ridicule and massive challenges in becoming the first American woman to go to space. Before her mission, reporters asked her targeted questions such as whether she cried under pressure, questions that weren't directed at male collogues. She knew that her trip to space could later provide a stepping stone for women in STEM everywhere, and she had millions of critical eyes watching for her to fail. She didn't let all the pressure or criticism get to her, though, and she ended up leaving the Earth not once, but twice. Sally Ride knew that as the first American woman in space, people would look to her for inspiration. She understood the seriousness of that, and she worked even harder to help people realize their passions. She wanted to encourage the next generation of scientists and engineers, and she made it her life mission to inspire others. Even after her famous space mission, Sally Ride didn't leave her legacy at that. She created a foundation to help minorities, particularly women, in STEM. She ran the foundation with her lifelong partner, who continues her work even after her death. She is a massive inspiration for me, and if I could have just a fraction of her courage and commitment in my career and personal life, I know I could achieve my own dreams and reach for the stars.

I knew I wasn't depressed. I couldn't be struggling with my mental health, I had such a good life. I was doing just fine. That's what I told myself for years, that I was fine, I had to be. Depression was something that happened to other people. I honestly didn't have it that bad, I had dreams and ambitions and a really good life, overall. And really, I rarely even thought about what life would be like without me, and whether I was a burden on those around me. It generally only happened when I was super tired, stressed, and unmotivated. I didn't have it that bad just because I struggled to get out of bed in the mornings, lots of people had struggles and lots of people got sad sometimes. I wasn’t special. I struggled with my mental health for years without even realizing. I knew that my family had a history of depression, but I honestly didn’t think it could happen to me. I spent years convincing myself it wasn't that bad, that I didn't have depression, that I was just being overly dramatic. Then, a couple of years ago, I was on birth control, which really messed with my system, and I had a lot going on. As a result, I developed a continuous wheeze, and in trying to figure out what was causing it, I discovered I have a somewhat rare condition called Tourette’s Syndrome. It causes a person to make involuntary noises and motions, and can also cause some weird psychological issues. I immediately went off the birth control pills because it was making my Tourette’s symptoms much worse. I then experienced the worst bout of depression I’ve ever dealt with. I was exercising in my family’s basement, and I looked at my pocketknife and thought to myself “if I slit my wrists now, no one would even think to look for me for half an hour or so. That’s plenty of time to bleed out.” My first thought after that for some reason was “but Aiden (my boyfriend) would be sad.” I broke down completely in that moment and had to finally face that I’d honestly been struggling with thoughts like that in the back of my mind for years. What if I threw myself off this building? What if I just stabbed myself now? These thoughts popped up randomly, sometimes because of my Tourette’s (Obsessive Thoughts, a common comorbidity with Tourette’s, can include unprovoked thoughts of self-harming), but others I felt almost tempted. I spent so many years blaming myself for my own depression that when I started dating someone who had struggled with depression himself, I had to fight with myself not to blame him. I had to actually consider that sometimes being unable to function isn’t a person’s fault, and in doing that, I had to learn to forgive myself for my own shortcomings. I’ve also had to reevaluate my own self-image. If I too, struggle with mental health, does that make me less strong? Does that make me less capable? Can I really have a good life with all this emotional pain? It took me a long time to come to terms with the answers to these questions. I looked to others that have struggled with their mental health, people I would consider strong, capable individuals. If they could become good people with their pain, then maybe I could too. I realized that I am the person I make myself, regardless of my circumstances. I didn’t choose to be depressed, I didn’t choose to struggle in school, I didn’t choose to feel horrible, but I can choose to fight my way through each and every day. I can choose to believe in myself and those around me, and I can choose to maintain that belief, even when it feels like it’s hopeless, or there’s no point to anything. I had to learn a lot about myself to come to any kind of peace with what I was dealing with, but once I did, it was oddly freeing. I had to learn that it was ok for me to be flawed, and it was ok for me to fall apart sometimes. And in learning that, I realized that if I could survive what my own brain was throwing at me, I could do whatever the hell I set my mind to. In realizing that my mental health wasn’t the end of the world for me, I realized that I could pursue whatever dreams I wanted to pursue. My whole life, I believed that I wasn’t good enough to follow my true ambitions, and when I broke that cycle of not believing in myself, I finally decided to do what excited me, regardless of how hard it would be. That’s why I plan on going into Aerospace Engineering, because no matter what my brain tells me, that’s my passion and I am good enough to pursue it. I think the biggest way my mental health struggles have affected my relationships is that I don't want to give up on most people. I’m ready to walk away from a relationship when the person is obviously bad for me or doesn’t care to improve themselves, but if someone is struggling for reasons beyond their control, I want to help. If I see someone in pain that genuinely reaches out and wants to do better, I can’t leave them to fight that fight alone. I think that in part, I see some of my own struggles in theirs. When I see someone reaching out like that, I see a hurt, scared person, and I remember when I felt that hurt and fear. Honestly, I frequently still feel that hurt and fear. And because I gave up on myself once, I refuse to do that to others. I refuse to repeat that mistake. I refuse to give in and let the fear win.

For years, my dream has been to go to space. I've watched and read all the science-fiction I can get my hands on, and nothing excites me more than the idea of reaching for the stars. I know that I will probably never travel through space like the great heroes of science fiction, but I want to make sure that world happens. I want to make sure that future generation are able to travel from world to world and discover things we can only dream of. I believe that humanity's future is among the stars, and I want to make sure we manage to get there. I believe this will give future generations better opportunities and a better world. I want to become an Aerospace engineer so that I can contribute my ideas to the thousands of people that are currently working to get us to the stars. I hope to be able to contribute some ideas and work towards the goal that thousands are currently working towards. We're already well on our way to achieving some forms of serious space travel, and I am confident that within a few decades, we will have a colony on Mars. The sooner humanity is able to reach beyond our own world, the better we can understand, and attempt to help, our own planet. Currently, we already have people going back and forth to space, and now it's time to take the next step. I am ready to contribute my work and ideas to whatever companies seem closest to actually achieving these goals. I want to see humanity succeed, even if I'm not there to benefit from this success. I believe that by getting to space we will be able to contribute to stopping global warming, and the killing of our planet. I understand that global warming cannot be fixed by simply leaving Earth, but I believe that humanity's resources and our ability to support ourselves will be vastly improved. As is, our resources are finite and running out. Additionally, mining and using many of the resources we currently posses is highly dangerous, and tends to contribute to our planet's problems. We are limited in what we can do because we are limited to a single planet, who's resources we've already partially depleted. Therefore, I believe access to more resources and, space travel in general, will help humanity to truly thrive. By traveling to space, we can access new power sources that don't put our planet in jeopardy, and maybe even create food colonies on other worlds. If we could farm cows on the moon, or grow corn in a perfectly sterile ship, we could stop adding all of these harmful chemicals and pollutants to our atmosphere, and start to reforest the areas that were previously used for food. Additionally, at the rate we're going, global warming will require drastic action to fix. When the appropriate scientists in their respective fields come up with a plan to try and fix the problem, I hope to be there, ready to help them. Any plans that we might use to fix global warming will require engineers, and many would require Aerospace engineers specifically. When the time comes, I want to be able to help save the planet from the possible devastation we've caused.

Legacy isn't just about what we leave behind, it's about who we leave behind. Our legacy is how we leave the world, and what difference we make. I don't expect to be remembered long after I'm gone, but I hope to leave behind enough change that my existence in this world mattered. Lots of people will be remembered far beyond my lifetime, but I don't expect to be one of them. I'm ok with this, as long as when I'm here on Earth, I make a positive difference in the world. Every person we encounter, everyone who's lives we touch, they are our legacies. They're the ones we leave behind, the people that can continue with what we started. My upbringing was full of kindness and empathy. My parents did their best to raise me and my sister well. They taught us to follow our dreams, and they gave us the tools to do that with. They always taught me that the goal of any parent should be to do better for their kids than their own parents had done for them. That way, the world would always be improving. They taught me to care, and to want to do good for those around me. My grandparents on both sides had a really rough upbringing, and honestly, didn't turn out to be the best people. My parents both had a traumatic childhood, and swore to do better by me and my sister. I intend to continue this legacy of doing better, and offer the best possible care and love for my own kids and those around me. I was taught to follow my dreams, and that's exactly what I intend to do. I plan to help humanity reach for the stars, and I hope to be a part of the reason why, several generations from now, we can live on planets we currently can't even see. This is a part of the legacy I hope to leave behind, but it's not the only part. Honestly, it's not even the most important. I want my legacy to be the people around me who's lives I've touched. I plan to get out into the world and help change it for the better. I want to see laws passed that protect vulnerable people, I want to see global warming halted in its tracks. I want to see people lifted out of poverty, and I want to help people do better. While I can't do all of this alone, I intend to add my voice to those currently fighting to better our society. I plan to be a part of their struggle, so that we can all share in a legacy of change and kindness. Aside from this broader legacy, I want to help those in my community that need it. I want to inspire people, to show them that they can do whatever they set their mind to. I want to give someone close to me the means they need to do better for themselves. I want my legacy to be the people around me who's lives were in some way better because I was in them. And if I am remembered, I want to be remembered for achieving my dreams in spite of hardships I've faced. If I am remembered, I want it to inspire people to pursue their own dreams, and show them that anyone can change the world.

I knew I wasn't depressed. I couldn't be struggling with my mental health, I had such a good life. I was doing just fine. That's what I told myself for years, that I was fine, I had to be. Depression was something that happened to other people. I honestly didn't have it that bad, I had dreams and ambitions and a really good life, overall. And really, I rarely even thought about what life would be like without me, and whether I was a burden on those around me. It generally only happened when I was super tired, stressed, and unmotivated. I didn't have it that bad just because I struggled to get out of bed in the mornings, lots of people had struggles and lots of people got sad sometimes. I wasn’t special. I struggled with my mental health for years without even realizing. I knew that my family had a history of depression, but I honestly didn’t think it could happen to me. I spent years convincing myself it wasn't that bad, that I didn't have depression, that I was just being overly dramatic. Then, a couple of years ago, I was on birth control, which really messed with my system, and I had a lot going on. As a result, I developed a continuous wheeze, and in trying to figure out what was causing it, I discovered I have a somewhat rare condition called Tourette’s Syndrome. It causes a person to make involuntary noises and motions, and can also cause some weird psychological issues. I immediately went off the birth control pills because it was making my Tourette’s symptoms much worse. I then experienced the worst bout of depression I’ve ever dealt with. I was exercising in my family’s basement, and I looked at my pocketknife and thought to myself “if I slit my wrists now, no one would even think to look for me for half an hour or so. That’s plenty of time to bleed out.” My first thought after that for some reason was “but Aiden (my boyfriend) would be sad.” I broke down completely in that moment and had to finally face that I’d honestly been struggling with thoughts like that in the back of my mind for years. What if I threw myself off this building? What if I just stabbed myself now? These thoughts popped up randomly, sometimes because of my Tourette’s (Obsessive Thoughts, a common comorbidity with Tourette’s, can include unprovoked thoughts of self-harming), but others I felt almost tempted. I spent so many years blaming myself for my own depression that when I started dating someone who had struggled with depression himself, I had to fight with myself not to blame him. I had to actually consider that sometimes being unable to function isn’t a person’s fault, and in doing that, I had to learn to forgive myself for my own shortcomings. I’ve also had to reevaluate my own self-image. If I too, struggle with mental health, does that make me less strong? Does that make me less capable? Can I really have a good life with all this emotional pain? It took me a long time to come to terms with the answers to these questions. I looked to others that have struggled with their mental health, people I would consider strong, capable individuals. If they could become good people with their pain, then maybe I could too. I realized that I am the person I make myself, regardless of my circumstances. I didn’t choose to be depressed, I didn’t choose to struggle in school, I didn’t choose to feel horrible, but I can choose to fight my way through each and every day. I can choose to believe in myself and those around me, and I can choose to maintain that belief, even when it feels like it’s hopeless, or there’s no point to anything. I had to learn a lot about myself to come to any kind of peace with what I was dealing with, but once I did, it was oddly freeing. I had to learn that it was ok for me to be flawed, and it was ok for me to fall apart sometimes. And in learning that, I realized that if I could survive what my own brain was throwing at me, I could do whatever the hell I set my mind to. In realizing that my mental health wasn’t the end of the world for me, I realized that I could pursue whatever dreams I wanted to pursue. My whole life, I believed that I wasn’t good enough to follow my true ambitions, and when I broke that cycle of not believing in myself, I finally decided to do what excited me, regardless of how hard it would be. That’s why I plan on going into Aerospace Engineering, because no matter what my brain tells me, that’s my passion and I am good enough to pursue it. I think the biggest way my mental health struggles have affected my relationships is that I don't want to give up on most people. I’m ready to walk away from a relationship when the person is obviously bad for me or doesn’t care to improve themselves, but if someone is struggling for reasons beyond their control, I want to help. If I see someone in pain that genuinely reaches out and wants to do better, I can’t leave them to fight that fight alone. I think that in part, I see some of my own struggles in theirs. When I see someone reaching out like that, I see a hurt, scared person, and I remember when I felt that hurt and fear. Honestly, I frequently still feel that hurt and fear. And because I gave up on myself once, I refuse to do that to others. I refuse to repeat that mistake. I refuse to give up and let the fear win.

For years, my dream has been to go to space. I've watched and read all the science-fiction I can get my hands on, and nothing excites me more than the idea of reaching for the stars. I know that I will probably never travel through space like the great heroes of science fiction, but I want to make sure that world happens. I want to make sure that future generation are able to travel from world to world and discover things we can only dream of. I believe that humanity's future is in space, and I want to make sure we manage to get there. I believe this will give future generations better opportunities and a better world. I want to become an Aerospace engineer so that I can contribute my ideas to the thousands of people that are currently working to get us to the stars. I hope to be able to contribute some ideas and work towards the goal. We're already well on our way to this goal, and I am confident that within a few decades, we will have a colony on Mars. The sooner humanity is able to reach the stars, the better we can understand, and attempt to help, our own planet. Currently, we already have people going back and forth to space, and now it's time to take the next step. I am ready to contribute my work and ideas to whatever companies seem closest to actually achieving these goals. I want to see humanity succeed, even if I'm not there to benefit from this success. I believe that getting to space will be able to help contribute to stopping global warming, and the killing of our planet. I understand that global warming cannot be fixed by simply going to space, but I believe that humanity's resources and our ability to support ourselves will be vastly improved. As is, our resources are finite and running out. Additionally, mining and using a lot of those resources is highly dangerous, and tends to make the situation worse. We are limited in what we can do because we are limited to a single planet, who's resources we've already partially depleted. Therefore, I believe that long term, access to more resources and, space travel in general, will help humanity to truly thrive. By getting into space, we can access new power sources that don't put our planet in jeopardy, and maybe even create food colonies on other worlds. If we could farm cows on the moon, or grow corn in a perfectly sterile ship, we could stop adding all of these harmful chemicals and pollutants to our atmosphere, and start to reforest the areas that were previously used for food. Additionally, at the rate we're going, global warming will require drastic action to fix. When the appropriate scientists in their respective fields come up with a plan to try and fix the problem, I hope to be there, ready to help them. Any of the plans that we might use to fix global warming will require engineers, and many would require Aerospace engineers. When the time comes, I want to be able to help save the planet from the possible devastation we've caused.

Empowering women needs to start at the very beginning. There are plenty of social issues that plague women, and prevent brilliant, amazing, ambitious young women from enacting the change they otherwise would, but the biggest issue that plagues most women I've talked to is our own self-esteem. We have a lot of expectations placed on us from before we learn to talk, and are too often expected to be cute, sweet, agreeable little princesses. We, as a society, need to stop sexism at its very origin, and teach our daughters at a young age that they can be the strong women we know they are. Several years ago, my aunt sent me a video example of a young girl, who was smart and interested in science. Everyone spent years telling her she was so pretty, and shouldn't get dirty, and should focus less on her weird projects. By the end of the video, she uses her reflection in a science fair advertisement to apply lipstick. This is what we need to stop, the discouragement of girls having interests that society considers icky or unfeminine. Once girls learn they are able to participate in anything they want to, the young women they become will be unstoppable. The other thought process society needs to break is our preconceived notions of what important people such as leaders, scientists, engineers, and doctors look like. Kids are surprisingly observant, and if we treat certain fields like men's fields and others like women's fields, they understand that. If we only show men working a certain job, that's the only person kids think are able to do that job. When we are given a clear image of what someone in a certain field or industry is supposed to be, and we don't match that image, sometimes our ambitions are crushed before they were even truly formed. We need more female role models, and more people celebrating and talking about the women that do amazing work in their respective fields. I think the best way to ensure young girls are shown their own power is to not let people ignore the women of the past. So many women's accomplishments are swept under the rug in favor of a male collogue who took all the credit, and we, both as individuals and as a society, need to put a stop to this. We can do this in our everyday lives just by teaching young kids (both boys and girls) about the amazing women that have accomplished great things. As much as we should focus on teaching girls what they can do, we should also focus on teaching boys how to interact with and respect the women in their lives. We should also encourage girl's interests, and call out people who try to do otherwise. We should teach parents how to do better and encourage their rebellious little girls. The more we can educate people, both kids and parents, the more we can empower women of the future. We also shouldn't be afraid to point out sexism or problematic behavior, no matter how small it may see. We should teach our kids, and those around them that this behavior is never ok. The more people learn that sexism isn't ok, the more we can learn to overcome society's worst tendencies, and make a better world for the women of the future.

For as long as I can remember, I've looked to the stars as my biggest dream in life. I'm fascinated and amazed by the wonder of space, and for years I've wanted nothing more than to pursue that dream by being a part of our modern version of the space race. I don't necessarily hope to become a well known astronaut or famous inventor, but I would like to know that my efforts have advanced humanity towards the stars in some small way. This is why I plan to pursue a degree in Aerospace Engineering at Virginia Tech. After that, I plan to go to work in the field of Aerospace, in the hopes that I'll get to work directly with spacecraft design in some way. In my personal life, I want to leave behind a legacy of change, hope, and love. I've had a pretty good family life overall, but over the last few years, I've met a lot of people that were a lot worse off than me. I'm now very close with several people that grew up in rough households, who didn't have the love and support that I've enjoyed. I really care about them as individuals, and knowing that people as loving and kind as them have been treated so poorly makes me want to do something to fix it. If I could do one thing my personal life, I hope that it is to help people who've been treated poorly to get the love and support they deserve. If that means just offering support to those around me, donating, volunteering, fighting to try and educate parents, or just give their kids better opportunities, I'm happy to do whatever it takes to help people who need it. Lots of things about the world right now me excite me. In the world today, everything feels like a new discovery waiting to happen. We're constantly learning new things about even the most mundane parts of our lives, making it a truly fascinating and exciting time to be alive. There are dozens of different fields with thousands of scientists working tirelessly to better understand what life is, how it actually works, and how we fit in with all this. We are in an age of discovery, and that's really exciting to me. We're on the verge of medical, scientific, and technological breakthroughs that could change our world forever, and I'm thrilled and honored to be able to be a part of this time period. I just hope that I can contribute something to our exciting future and knowledge of the world around us. I want to give back to my community by helping to make a better future. Currently, while on the precipice of greatness, the world is also on the brink of destruction. Climate change threatens life as we know it, just as social issues are tearing our communities apart. I don't know if we can fix what is broken or achieve unity at this point, but I want to at least help the next generation do better than we have. That's why I want to volunteer to work with and help kids wherever and whenever I can. I'm hoping to find a good tutoring program to sign up for (if I can find the time around my own schooling) that helps kids that are having issues in school, particularly those that might not get the help otherwise. If I can make a difference for even one kid that's struggling, then I feel like I've changed our world for the better.

I've always struggled with not feeling enough. I have a family history of depression, and sometimes it just feels like I can't really connect with the world. I can go through long periods of feeling sad or feeling nothing at all. The only thing that helps sometimes is my art. Whenever I feel too sad or like the world is too much, I can sit down and try to draw out how I feel. Some of my best artwork has come out of my most hopeless times. Though I can't always express how I feel, I can almost always draw it. I've used art to process my emotions for as long as I can remember. When I was a little kid and my family's cat died, for months afterwards I would draw pictures of him and the memories I had of him. Most of the pictures were stick figure drawings in orange marker, but they helped me deal with the loss. As the years went by, I practiced my artwork a lot. I liked drawing things I could see, because until recently I was pretty bad at drawing from the imagination. My drawings would tend to vary a lot based on my mood, but no matter what, I loved to draw. A few years ago when my family lost another cat, I drew dozens of pictures of him too. This time they were more than just stick figures, they were in-depth charcoal sketches. The quality was better, but the underlying expression of grief had not changed. Every time I make a drawing, every time I sit down to create a piece of artwork, I share a part of myself. It's hard to describe, but a part of who I am and how I'm feeling when I create a drawing is in that work. To give someone a piece of my artwork is almost like giving them a piece of myself, showing them a part of who I am. I've seen many artists that I believe will make a better future for the world. I've seen artists that create meaningful reflections on what life is like or who we are. My art is honestly a lot more simplistic. It's just my interpretation of what the world is and how that makes me feel. But there is one way I do hope to reach out to future generations. A couple of years ago, my family found a bunch of my great-grandmother's art. Because I knew the most about art, I was tasked with preserving it. I carefully sorted through every piece of artwork in the collection, put them in time order, and a picture began to emerge. I was seeing my great grandmother through her artwork. I barely met her when she was alive, but going through her paintings was like reading her journal. With each new painting, I knew her a little better. I felt like I really knew her, like we'd actually bonded. If I could give anything to the world, I hope it's that feeling. I want for someone to see my art and see what I felt. I want anyone who's had a rough time in life to see my struggle and realize they're not alone in their pain. I want to reach out, across the generations, and comfort someone that's grieving, help someone that feels hopeless. Maybe my art won't change the world, but if it could reach out to a single person and tell them they're not alone, I would be happy with myself as an artist.

To me, math just makes sense. I've always had a hard time with reading and writing. I love to read now, but language has always been a bit confusing to me. The rules are inconsistent, there are always special cases you have to keep track of, and it just never sit well with my brain. On the other hand, math has always made sense. The rules are simple and logical. They're always the same, and most of the time, mathematical symbols are used consistently. I love that math is actually consist, or at least the major changes are few and far between. Additionally, math is fundamental to our understanding of the world around us. Neil deGrasse Tyson once said that "Math is the language of the universe". This quote used to confuse me. Back when I was learning algebra and trigonometry, using math to understand the universe seemed far fetched to me. However, the more math I learned, the more that quote started to make sense. As I began to learn how calculus worked, I realized that the universe really can be modeled by mathematical equations. Though creating anything complex involves a lot of math, if you reduce most things down, the equations are actually pretty simple. That has made me realize that our universe, while complex and beautiful, is also beautiful in its simplicity. The fact that complicated processes can be broken down into simple mathematical equations amazes me. It means that we can really, truly understand our world. We can model how wind functions, we can study the consistent angle flower petals grow at and why, we can mathematically track waves and oceanic patterns. If you understand some basic mathematical principles, you can look at the world around us and break it down into easy to understand the equations. And this has driven me to try and understand the math. I want to know the world around me though the beautiful equations that drive it. I want to truly understand the mathematical processes that lay under everything that goes on around me. I think the thing that amazes me most about our mathematical understanding of the universe is that we are still learning. All of the math we know and understand now will likely look ineffective and clunky to future generations. In a hundred years, the way we understand the universe will most likely change drastically, and the equations we use to map that understanding of the universe will change too. Our fundamental understanding of that math will probably change as well. It took a very long time for mathematicians to connect the ideas that now make up calculus. When the discovery was made, it changed math as we know it forever. What math might we invent in the future? Will it change the way we look at math forever? Will it change everything we know about the universe? Or do we have a good understanding as is? I can't say for certain, and that thrills me. I don't know what the future will hold for math, or how our usage and perception of it will change. All of this makes the universe exciting for me, because I can look at it and know that no matter how much we think we know, we could easily be wrong, and everything about what we think we know could change in a single discovery.

For years, I've been inspired by the men and women that have gone to space, and those that helped get them there. I've always been fascinated by the stars, and the way in which humanity has looked to them for answers. I absolutely love seeing the beauty of space, and contemplating the mysteries that await us there. To me, space has always felt like the next unexplored expanse, similar to how the ocean once was for ancient peoples that were just setting sail. To me, watching the Star Trek crew fumble their way through space felt the same as watching an ancient sailing ship delving into a great, exciting unknown. For as long as I can remember I've wanted nothing more than to be a part of this mission of exploration. My love of space and a desire to understand things fueled my interests for most of my childhood. I loved shows like Mythbusters that seemed to show me how the world really worked and how movies created their crazy stunts. I also loved the new Cosmos series, and Neil deGrasse Tyson became one of my personal heroes. To me, both in their own way seemed to say that anyone could become what they wanted to, we could all do whatever we set our minds to, become great scientists, live out our childhood dreams, or maybe even reach the stars. Another major influence for me was my father. He shared his passion for programing and science with me. He taught me to love the idea of building something to advance an industry. He looked up to people like Alan Turing and Margaret Hamilton, and he taught me about how great their contributions to their respective fields were. I learned to look up to these people too, and many others that worked largely behind the scenes to create and build the world we know today. Though my love of space and passion for the idea of creating something made me want to get involved in the aerospace industry, for most of my life doubt held me back. I always knew that I wanted to work towards going to space, but I worried that I wasn't smart enough. For a while, all the engineers I saw in the media felt like super geniuses, and those around me all seemed smarter or more knowledgeable in most ways. Additionally, as a child I really struggled with math, particularly algebra. I honestly didn't think that anybody who wasn't insanely intelligent could even think about being involved in the space industry. Though I had a lot of doubts, my parents were always super helpful and encouraging, and they're the main reason I am where I am today. No matter how much I struggled in math, my dad was always there to help and encourage me to work through my issues. After years of doubt and fighting with myself, I slowly discovered that I was better at math than I thought. As I improved, it boosted my self confidence enough to realize I didn't need to be a super genius, and that I was actually smart enough to reach for the stars. Now that I'm looking at what I want to do in the world, what I want to leave the world with, I have decided to pursue Aerospace engineering. I would like nothing more than to contribute to getting to getting humanity into space, however I can manage.