I have always loved tinkering and messing with objects, as it has always been the easiest way for me to learn something new. Just like Kyle, finding a new way to solve a problem has always been something that piqued my interest. My favorite memory of this was learning how to tie my shoes. My motor skills were often behind my peers, with me learning them at a much slower pace than everyone else. My mother still recounts the story of how I began walking right before my first birthday party, compared to my sisters who had begun walking just before the eleven-month mark. As I would get older, my motor skills would slowly improve in various areas, but tying my shoes was a challenging task for me. The way that my neurologist, school therapist and even my mother taught me how to tie my shoes was very confusing for me. What might’ve been a simple task for other children my age was something that would lead me to cry out of frustration after a while, due to the fear of my peers seeing me being unable to tie my shoes. By the time second grade had rolled around, my mother had made it a goal for me to start tying my shoes, starting by no longer buying me Velcro shoes. Velcro shoes were my safety net, as not only did my routine flow at a much smoother pace when I wore them, but they also pushed my inability to tie my shoelaces to the back of my mind. My mother giving me brand new sneakers that required me to tie my laces was like having my worst nightmare become a reality. I really did not want to step out of my comfort zone, especially with the fact that the way that everyone tied their shoes was difficult for me. Despite these thoughts racing through my mind, something in me told me to go along with it, which is what I did. I thanked her for the shoes and began trying to tie my laces. It was extremely overwhelming at first, seeing my fingers begin to slowly be wrapped in my laces, but eventually I tied my first shoe. I called my mother over to show her my right foot that had laces, tied in my very own unique way. I then demonstrated on the second shoe, smiling right after. My mother smiled and congratulated me, telling me to mention this the next time I saw my neurologist. Despite this being a small achievement for some, this was a major step that pushed me to begin tinkering with various objects in my life. While my shoes were one of my earliest instances of this, this habit of tinkering with various objects would focus on technology and the arts. As I enter my second semester of university, I still do apply this mindset of tinkering everywhere, carrying the “hacker spirit” on.

My first exposure to computer science was when my father explained pseudocode to me. I was around eight and half years old and was sitting in his office as he tried to explain to me his actual code. When he saw that I was confused, he took out a piece of paper and began writing words and arrows all over the place. Three minutes later, he finished. It was his code, but in paper and simplified for a third grader to understand it. After finishing with him, I went to sit at my family computer and think about how cool it was and made the decision that from that day onwards I wanted to study computer science. My first lines of code were a few weeks later, when my father had showed me code.org and made me attempt the Flappy Bird exercise. I found it incredibly challenging at first, but with enough perseverance, I did it. After attempting to leave, my father made me sit and start experimenting with the code, saying that it would help me long term. As I began changing various variables of how it ran, I started to find some enjoyment in this, not really seeing this as a career, but rather as a passion I could expand on. As the years went by, I began spending most of my summers at various programs in my county related to computer science, since I enjoyed the subject. I also began messing with my own computer, from the operating system itself to games I’d play. During my computer science classes, I also would spend most of my time in computer science class doing as many exercises as possible, simply because I found the process enjoyable. Making the code and running it was something tedious, but it kept me busy and entertained. By the end of high school, I had obtained over four thousand hours of experience working with various tools related to computer science, specifically concentrating on cybersecurity and I had earned two certifications related to the subject. As I enter my second semester at the University of Maryland-College Park, my goals related to computer science are to obtain my degree in computer science, with a concentration in cybersecurity, via the combined bachelors/master’s program, along with a minor in data science. Afterwards, I plan to work as a software engineer. One topic that’s not computer science related that has always intrigued me is fashion, specifically how the trends are always forever changing and the associations between certain topics. My goal is to begin doing more personal research related to this topic and analyzing the data to be able to explain the changes in a proper manner. The way I plan to combine my goals is by creating a program that will help make the connection between computer science and various fashion trends, specifically relating to search engines and how the searches themselves often correlate with current trends. To conclude, my plans are to combine my two passions in life to help better analyze both for various companies and to help predict fashion trends more accurately. Using my skills from my computer science major, keeping in mind the ethics relating to the data shown, the goal is to help various companies predict trends more accurately. With this scholarship, I will be able to help enhance my skill set even more and make the connection between the two even stronger.

My first exposure to xenophobia was during fourth grade when my classmates were talking about the ebola virus. I, being the sole African in my class, asked what was going on and proceed to be the victim of the ebola touch, with barely anyone wanting to play with me due to everyone believing that I had ebola, despite not even being in Africa. This would only worsen when a female classmate added to the claims of me having ebola because I was Congolese-American. From that point on, only four people out of my entire grade were willing to play with me or even talk to me during class. It was so bad, that one time during indoor recess, I tried to join a game of Jenga with four people and they all proceeded to leave me alone. I still remember how lonely I felt that day, holding back tears as I tried to hold the Jenga together, despite it falling apart similar to my life. During this time, I was at one of the lowest points of my life. My days consisted of waking up, realizing I had school, trying to push through the days, crying into my pillow for three hours when I got home and going to sleep. Eventually, I fell into a deep depression and I began to consider suicide as a way to avoid all this harassment. Despite the ebola virus not being shown on the news for weeks, I still was being harassed for my identity. The summer before fifth grade was spent with me not only trying to break the cycle of crying myself to sleep but also finding love for my identity. Instead of letting people break me down, I figured that from this point on, I was going to make being Congolese part of my identity, even if it annoyed everyone. It started with me just sharing small tidbits from my culture, even if people found it annoying. I did not care, since my goal was to annoy everyone with my identity, just like people harassed me about it the year prior. Eventually, I began making all my projects somewhat connected to my identity, even if it slightly annoyed my peers. I knew that it was a risky bet, with some people using it as an excuse to be even more xenophobic, but for others, it taught them a lot about Africans. I would be lying if I said my insecurities about my ethnicity disappeared because they didn't. They still come around from time to time, but with my learned resilience, my relationship with my identity has served as an inspiration for fellow Africans around me. Many people view me as someone to go to when talking about this subject, and just a shoulder to lean on, as they saw me when I went through that. That is how I demostrated resilience to inspire those around me.