Upon arrival to the Saguaro National Park for the first time, I was met with the towering saguaro cactus, which was at least 150 feet tall. Older than my family’s generational lineage, it sparked a curiosity about the resilience of the cacti, how it withstands and adapts to extreme heat, drought conditions, and time. Its formidable resilience inspired me to understand how people interact with the environment, such as the healing properties of space, spatial design, and overall effects on the quality of both human and non-human life. This is what inspired me to enroll in the Master of Landscape Architecture at the University of Arizona. In the past two years, I’ve immersed myself in my graduate studies, becoming heavily involved in not only design but also research for urban planning and green infrastructure implementation in urban contexts. Understanding the weight of policies, zoning, and decisions have on shaping our communities was eye-opening: tree equity scores are proportional to income and socioeconomic status, redlining practices continue to negatively affect under-resourced communities, and design thinking continues to evolve. Over time, I grew a deep sense of interest in applying landscape architecture design principles towards homelessness and universal design. While many professionals often view homelessness as a separate issue from the landscape, I believe my profession bridges the house with the exterior world, creating a buffer of some sort to help disenfranchised populations find meaningful transitions. It’s a topic of interest that goes under the radar, and given my past educational background in psychology and work experience in housing case management services, I want to spend more time and effort to synthesize these interests. I’m extremely driven and passionate, and at any given point throughout my academic career, I’ve worked in numerous jobs to support myself. At the University of Arizona, I’ve worked in three research assistant positions and do freelance design work on the side. It is a privilege to study while working but it presents unique challenges as I must create a strict workflow and structure to help me sustain. And while the work has been challenging, I’m excited to share that I will be co-authored in two research studies, which resulted from collective hard work. My efforts don’t stop here, as I’ve been admitted to the Rhode Island School of Design’s MFA in Graphic Design, which I’ve successfully deferred admission to fall 2026, so I can finish my current degree. To me, academics allow me to innovate and push thinking forward. With both the Master in Landscape Architecture, I wish to forge a unique path that blends art, design, and technology, using storytelling and applied research methods to help re-envision the various possibilities of the future, hopefully positively affecting policies. This scholarship would mean the world in helping me pursue my education passion.