I have read plenty of books over the years, most avidly when I first encountered the written word and through elementary school. I remember receiving a trophy for logging the second-most pages read through my county library one summer. But that’s not what motivates me to pick up another book. Back then, I loved immersing myself in the fantasy worlds of Emily Windsnap, Magic Tree House, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Hunger Games, Shadowhunters, Wings of Fire, and countless others; I reveled in envisioning these characters and how I would live in their society. From these series I learned about imagining the unreal, the possibilities of evil and cruelty and rising above it, Greek and Roman mythology, names of angels, names of plants, vocabulary, fan culture, and countless other historical and scientific tidbits that I can’t attribute to a specific novel but increased my depth of knowledge nonetheless. Though those stories cultivated my passion for reading and knowledge, they didn’t really shape my goals. Two books in particular were responsible for that. Think Like a Monk by Jay Shetty contains so much wisdom centered on understanding oneself, how to find inner peace, and how to and live with purpose. It invited me to reflect on who and what I value. Being told “I am not what I am, I am not what you think I am, I am what I think you think I am” rang so true in my perception of myself; I realized my goals should not be merely to meet that imagined ideal of what I think others think I am. I learned to reflect on my goals before striving for them and separate what others want me to be from my values and wants for myself. I’ve looked more closely at how I spend my time and money to ensure it aligns with my long-term plan to live healthily and happily. And I’ve defined success for myself physically, financially, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually so that I know what I want and don’t compare myself to others as much. As a Christian, there are not enough words to express the impact of God’s Word in my life. The Bible (and the many speeches and discussions I have heard about it) contain many lessons that have shaped me as I follow Jesus. I do not live in fear, but rather trust in God to guide me as I “dream big and work bigger” (a mantra from my running coach) so that my pursuits align with His will. I’ve learned that my goals can (and should) go against the grain to care for my neighbor, so I look forward to a career in materials engineering that will move society forward and improve His creation. Inspired by Think Like a Monk and the Bible, I have specific goals relating to health, happiness, my running performance, finding a stable cooperative career, seeking excellence and joy and gratitude, growing my faith, and ultimately serving others to make a positive difference in the world. I hope to honor Barbara Cain as I continue to learn through books and dedicate myself to making a difference in the lives of anyone I encounter.

Hello, I am Dana Abbring. I am an introspective, intelligent, ambitious individual who works through God, my school, and community to make positive contributions to the world, doing everything with the intent to improve the lives of others (or improve my ability to improve the lives of others). I envision a future in which the lowly are lifted up and don't have to suffer, where we don't squander the Earth nor the limited time we have on it, and where we acknowledge all are loved. I can be quite stubborn in my pursuit of achievement and have never felt discouraged from trying something new, challenging my intellect, nor helping the world. Thus, I am determined to be a woman in STEM. With my mind for math, curiosity for science, and fascination with modern inventions and technological advancements, STEM piqued my interest and got me excited to be an engineer starting in elementary school. I have been inspired by Thomas Edison, Marie Curie, and Shark Tank entrepreneurs to be an inventor, and explored such instincts by participating in Camp Invention (a program sponsored by the National Inventors Hall of Fame to encourage innovative thinkers) during two summers and being a counselor for a third. Like Harry B Anderson, I love to travel with my family and have gone all over the United States. This past summer, I went to Europe for the first time; that opened my eyes to “normal” occurrences in America that, when viewed through an international lens, frame our United States as wasteful. Fast food chains serve plastic utensils, grocers bag 20 goods in 10 separate bags, and highways are littered. These are sad truths of my home country, and I want to change that through science, technology, engineering, and math. I plan to study materials engineering, which creates and studies materials, then utilizes and manipulates what currently exists in the world to make something new and meet a specific purpose. I believe this is the career that will allow me to pursue my passion to not waste the Earth, but instead invent something new (or apply something in a new way) to make a positive impact. I’m inspired by Harry B Anderson to use natural materials to create something homemade and sustainable. I love making do-it-yourself products that have a purpose and personal touch. In addition, I enjoy sharing what I know, and like Harry B Anderson I hope to spread my newfound chemical and material knowledge with the world so that others may make decisions that consider our limited resources and use them more efficiently and effectively. Inspired by great scientists, inventors, and people like Harry B Anderson, I aspire to become a materials engineer and use my career in the STEM field as a force for positive change in society. Thank you for the opportunity to alleviate monetary worries from the work required to pursue my dream.

Throughout my life, I have committed myself to love and service. I plan to leave a legacy of generosity and support personally and professionally, which would honor JT Lampert’s life of continuing care for others. As opportunities arise, I love to apply myself and participate in the good, supporting work of many organizations. I am a founding member of our school’s Tabletop Gaming Club (established 2018), which provides an outlet for those who otherwise declare themselves ‘antisocial’ to play games and share joy and laughter with one another. I play in the school’s band, which makes music to please others’ ears and hearts. I have also volunteered at various events through my school’s Student Council, Key Club, and Honor Society, in addition to my church. As the editor-in-chief of the school yearbook, I am putting a lot of time and effort guiding a dozen staff to make something that every student can use to fondly reminisce. I also participate in charitable service. Whenever a collection drive is held, I donate my possessions to the less fortunate. I’m passionate about food packing and find much joy in that work, whether partaking in the assembly line for meal packs sent across the world (Pack Away Hunger) or helping my cross country coach with the food pantry he runs for a small local church. I understand God is with me and everyone serving “the least of these” (Matthew 25:40). I will continue to “Dream Big and Work Bigger” (a mental theme from my running coach) to make a difference in the world and improve its quality. I want to find the solutions to problems and share my discoveries. I want to invent or innovate something and contribute to society with that product. As a materials engineer, I should be able to accomplish just that. I hope to be at the forefront of designing a way to use the resources we have to create something new and make the lives of others a little easier. But even beyond my career, I will dedicate time to volunteer and support others both in my local community and across the globe; whether through meal-packing, donations, or accompaniment, I will honor JT Lampert’s legacy of generosity and God’s love for the world through service. In ways big and small, working through God, my school, and wider community, I strive to make a positive difference in this world, doing everything with the intent to improve the lives of others (or improve my ability to improve the lives of others). I envision a future in which the lowly are lifted up and don't have to suffer, where we don't squander the Earth nor the limited time we have on it, and where we acknowledge all are loved. Thank you for supporting others in their work for a better, more connected world.

“Dream Big, Work Bigger.” Those four words, spoken by my running coach to mentally focus my team’s 2023 cross country season, have resonated far beyond that 5-month period of training and competition. “Dream Big, Work Bigger” speaks to my past, present, and future as I embody the values of ambition, dedication, and growth that this mental theme encapsulates in my athletic, academic, and personal life. I believe personal development is important in all of its expressions (physical, emotional, mental, spiritual) because one should embrace change, strive for growth, and hope to better oneself as a person and contributor to communities. Physically, I strive to be the best runner I can be. I run throughout the whole year as I train for team cross country and track meets. Thanks to an amazing coach and my you-can-do-it, give-it-everything mentality and dedication to the sports, I’m one of the fastest on my team and a respectable longer-distance runner in Indiana. I received the Newcomer Award for my cross country team as a freshman because my first 5-kilometer race took 23:45 and every meet I got faster, ending that season with a 20:15 personal record. Each season I strive for a faster time, trusting my training to better myself. Emotionally and mentally, I’ve struggled. Most recently I was handed a lesson in overconfidence. I went into my final track meet of the 2024 season with a big head. Just one week prior I won the 3200 meter run at sectionals and was 2 seconds away from breaking my school’s record. I hoped—no, expected—to run a personal record amidst the tougher competition and break the school record. That didn’t happen, not only because of the fierce wind but also my attitude about the race. I know now that I must stay humble. It’s not enough to dream big, I have to work for it with the right attitude. That was just the most recent landmark on my continuing, ongoing, never-ending journey of mental growth and learning. Spiritually, I feel proud of my journey so far and look forward to continuing growing my faith. I have worshiped at the same church all my life and was complacent in my Sunday school. Then in sixth grade, the Holy Spirit stirred me from placidness when a new youth director restructured the ministry to form a middle school “youth group” and invited every member to attend Quake. That weekend of “youth encountering the gospel” rocked my world, both literally with the contemporary Christian music, but also spiritually as I felt God’s presence and realized faith is in life now, not just a history Bible book. Since then, I’ve reaffirmed my Baptism and became quite active in the life of the church. As my band director once told me, “You strive for perfection, Dana, and you come darn well close to it.” Indeed, I continue to “Dream Big and Work Bigger.” My main goal is to live a life of love. I want to make a difference in the world and improve its quality. I want to find the solutions to problems and share my discoveries as an engineer. I want to invent or innovate something new and contribute to society with that product. I want to be healthy, happy, and live long to make the most of my time on Earth so that when I die I will be remembered for doing all of the above. Through the Urena Scholarship, my collegiate efforts can focus on personal growth via learning, running, and serving without monetary worries. Thank you for supporting student-athletes like myself who “Dream Big, Work Bigger.”

“Your will be done.” That line of the Lord’s Prayer goes through my head every day as I work to make this world a better place through everything I do. I want to make a difference by improving His creation’s quality. I want to find solutions to problems and share my discoveries. Similarly to John Young, I hope to earn a respectable degree in engineering and land a career with a creative company that builds innovative products to propel society into the future. Towards the end of elementary school I was exposed to engineering as a profession. I learned that engineers design prototypes for new inventions or innovations: products that make our world a better place. I love to solve problems, have a mind for math and a curiosity for science, and feel immense pride when thinking of ideas and creating projects. I believe that a career in engineering will allow me to express myself in all those ways. After conducting many research projects in middle school related to careers, I thought a robotics engineer was right for me. But as I progressed through high school I became deterred from this discipline as I heard about all of the hands-on opportunities others had to engage in this field before college (namely, robotics teams and competitions)—opportunities not offered at my small, rural high school. My dreams began to drift as I perused the list of potential engineering majors on the CollegeBoard website my sophomore year. Biomedical, chemical, mechanical…then I saw one I hadn’t heard before: materials engineering. A quick Google search informed me that engineers of this discipline create and study materials, utilizing and manipulating what currently exists in the world to make something new and meet a specific purpose. An incandescent (tungsten-filamented) lightbulb went off in my head: this is the career that will allow me to pursue my passion to not waste the Earth nor the time I have on it, but instead invent something new (or apply something in a new way) to make a positive impact. To achieve these dreams, I hope to attend Purdue University and participate in EPICS (their service-learning design program) and either a co-op or internship as I study to obtain a Bachelor’s of Science in Materials Engineering. After those four years I plan to walk away with not only a degree, but also experience in the field working with companies, beneficial contributions to the community, and high chances of getting hired soon after graduation to continue making a difference. I envision a future in which the lowly are lifted up and don't have to suffer, where we don't squander the Earth nor the time we have on it, where we acknowledge we are all loved. Motivated by God’s will and my own desire to achieve, I have dedicated and will continue dedicating myself to making this future a reality in our world through my education and profession. Thank you for the opportunity to help alleviate monetary worries from this pursuit of passion.

“Welcome to New York,” the opening track of 1989 (Taylor’s Version), has been the “new soundtrack” of my life since the summer of 2023. In June my family physically was “Welcome[d] to New York” during a vacation around the East Coast, but that only scratches the surface of this song’s application for me in 2023. For the first two weeks of July, I attended a pre-college program at Notre Dame. Joined with over 300 rising juniors and seniors just in time for the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), I was reintroduced to Swift and couldn’t stop jamming to that album as I ran around the campus each morning. Afterwards, I created a “Swiftie Wannabe” playlist and listened to every album, selecting my favorite songs. Quite literally, Taylor’s music has become the “new soundtrack” when I’m in the car, on a run, or want to get stuff done. And “I could dance to this beat, beat, forevermore,” since that song continued to resonate with my 2023 as junior year of high school “said Welcome” and has “been waiting for” me. I was “searchin’ for a sound [I] hadn’t heard before” and expected eleventh grade to be more difficult: it was the first year I was eligible for AP classes at my high school (I took three: Language and Composition, Pre-Calculus, and Chemistry) and the first year my guidance counselor permitted a study hall and a self-paced course to take during the school day.“The lights [were] so bright, but they never blind[ed] me.” I fell into a new rhythm with that schedule to which I could groove: I built study habits and had all but no homework despite missing the lab hour of AP Chemistry every day to lead the yearbook staff as its editor-in-chief. The end of eleventh grade echoes the collective yearning Swift sings in “Welcome to New York” as I eagerly await the future of my education. As a rising high school senior, I “want somethin’ more” and can’t wait to get out and start the next chapter of my life. I aspire to attend Purdue University. It boasts a large campus, dining halls with respectable variety, a pool, a football team, clubs for over 1,000 interests, and so much more that isn’t present where I currently learn. As I “search for a sound [I] hadn’t heard before,” I hope to move on to something bigger, something beyond my home and high school. Especially since at Purdue, I won’t just be learning; I will receive hands-on experience in engineering (which my high school does not offer) both through taking discipline-specific classes and through EPICS (their “service-learning design program in which teams of students partner with local and global community organizations to address human, community, and environmental needs”). I won’t just be in a classroom; rather, I will be in the lab, the field, the community. I won’t just conceptualize, I will create and test inventions. I will experience the freedom of adulthood--definitely “somethin’ more” that I look forward to as I continue my education. I love listening to all of the songs in Taylor Swift’s re-recorded 1989 album, yet the one that resonated with me the most in this past year is “Welcome to New York” because it speaks to my experience not only with the artist herself, but more importantly my educational journey: “Like any great love, it keeps you guessing / Like any real love, it's ever-changing / Like any true love, it drives you crazy / But you know you wouldn't change anything.”

“Well, sometimes I feel like I / don’t want to be where I am” I resonate fully with this lyric from Olivia Rodrigo’s “making the bed,” as do many undergoing the challenging transitions that are the essence of adolescence. Within the context of the song, these opening lines of the refrain speak to teenagers’ feelings of dislocation and regret for putting themselves in a bad situation. As budding adults who feel entitled (or pressured) to make their own decisions for their lives, teens are burdened with more responsibility navigating the physical and social minefield of this challenging time. For Olivia, this resulted in “push[ing] away all the people who know me the best” and opting instead for “gettin’ drunk at a club with my fair-weather friends.” Rodrigo laments her feelings about that before acknowledging that her decisions got her into the situation--she’s “been making the bed.” I experienced this in eighth grade when I significantly changed my diet and exercise in order to lose weight, get abs, and raise my metabolism after weighing myself and thinking 110 pounds was unnatural. I felt great--until I realized I stopped growing and making any progress toward puberty because of that decision. Sometimes I feel like I don’t want to be where I am--in this 5’4” frame that only has its menstrual cycle because of hormone pills. Other times, however, I’m content that I worked with this body to gain muscle, speed, and stamina to become a respectable runner and adopted a sustainable diet that I can carry into adulthood. But I continue to resonate with this lyric beyond that—not only when I am in a hole, but also as I eagerly anticipate the future. “Senioritis” has afflicted seventeen and eighteen year-olds across the nation who have lost interest in high school and want to move on with their lives. As a rising high school senior, I and many others attending the small, rural high school in Indiana that is Morgan Township “don’t want to be where I am” and can’t wait to get out and start the next chapter of my life. I aspire to attend Purdue University. It boasts a large campus, dining halls with respectable variety, a pool, a football team, clubs for over 1,000 interests, and so much more that isn’t present where I currently learn. As I sometimes “feel like I / don’t want to be where I am,” I hope to move on to something bigger, something beyond my home and high school. Especially since at Purdue, I won’t just be learning; I will receive hands-on experience in engineering (which Morgan does not offer) both through taking discipline-specific classes and through EPICS (their “service-learning design program in which teams of students partner with local and global community organizations to address human, community, and environmental needs”). I won’t just be in a classroom; rather, I will be in the lab, the field, the community. I won’t just conceptualize, I will create and test inventions. I will experience the freedom of adulthood--something adolescents across the globe yearn to have. “Well, sometimes I feel like I / don’t want to be where I am” In thirteen wonderfully strung-together words, Olivia Rodrigo effectively expresses teenagers’ emotions. When I first heard this song I was struck by how many lyrics echoed my own thoughts and gut feelings (proving this album was aptly named)--especially the first verse. But these thrice-repeated lyrics that begin the chorus strike a deeper chord that reverberates feelings of both regret for where someone is and hope for where they can go--feelings shared by adolescents around the world.