I moved to West Texas from Florida with my parents when I was only four years old. Even though I was not born in this great state, Texas will always be my home, and West Texas will be my heart. Like everyone growing up in the Permian Basin, I learned about the oil field early in life. As I write this essay, I can see the steady motion of a pump jack extracting oil beneath sorghum fields outside my small 1A high school window. Although I am intrigued by the work of Petroleum Engineering, I’ve witnessed the ups and downs of the oil industry, and I feel, Mechanical Engineering offers a broader range of future career opportunities. For as long as I can remember, I have been inspired more by an imaginative mindset than an analytical and methodical thought process. As a child, I loved to create. I could be found building sandcastles, painting canvases, decorating cupcakes, or designing an impenetrable Lego fortress that could only be breached by a Knight arriving to rescue me, the Princess. Unfortunately for the Knight, my fortress was always too well designed. My creative thinking process has allowed me to grow into a young woman able to adapt to situations and find solutions to obstacles. During the 2022 Miss West Texas Teen USA Pageant, I had to split my time between preparing for the Regional Lincoln-Douglas Debate competition and my pageant interview. My pageant coach was 45 minutes away, taking 90 minutes three days per week of just driving. I decided to set my pageant coach up with Zoom to eliminate the drive time, and I gained four and a half hours weekly to study. Without finding an efficient solution, I likely would not have gone to State for Lincoln-Douglas Debate or received fourth Runner Up Miss West Texas Teen and the People Choice Award. My parents have always taught me that “you must learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable.” The first time I heard that quote from my dad was during the last 400-meter run during a CrossFit class when I was 12. I remember this quote each time I step on the basketball court, getting ready to throw the disc at track, or when I am standing in front of a panel of judges preparing to give a speech. It’s a simple reminder that this pain or fear will not last, and that it is up to me to find the determination and competitive drive to make me successful. I know math and science competencies are essential in engineering, but imagination and creativity, are the skills necessary to push beyond the boundaries of what is possible today. I believe my competitive drive, problem-solving ability, and imagination will help me harness my creative thinking skills to become a successful Mechanical Engineer.

Having an eating disorder is not always considered a mental illness; however, from my experience, it is a grasping and crippling condition that changes a person's life. From 2019-2021 I suffered from anorexia. I had distorted my mind into believing my self-confidence and worth were represented by my body. Although this was one of the darkest times of my life, I am now grateful for recovering and having the opportunity to change lives, including my own. In 2019 when I started my journey down a disordered way of thinking, I began to avoid eating in public and became anxious and stressed that I would have to force a meal down to appease the eyes of my family and peers. I was terrified of not being thinner than my friends; this idea became mentally decaying and affected every aspect of my life. I lost my starting position on the varsity team because I became "too fragile"; I became depressed and felt alone. The little food I ate lacked nutrition and variety, only continuing my health's downward spiral. It was evident that I needed help, I rejected the idea, and my body began to deteriorate along with my mental health. It was about this time when I realized the importance of mental health, and how it impacts every part of my life and others as well. What I consider to be my light in this tunnel of shrinking my body and self-worth was my mother in 2020. She came to me with concern and began to rebuild my relationship with food in a new way that I had never imagined being successful. I had always been interested in science and nutrition, and we studied hours on hours about fueling bodies with proper nutrients. As a unit, my family switched their lifestyle to become more active and eat a healthier plant-based diet. I began to feel better. I felt energized and decided to start working out. For once in my life, I used fitness as a way to build muscle and rebuild my confidence. My family got into it. Also, we did everything from CrossFit and yoga in our tiny garage gym during quarantine. Gradually my mindset on my body and food changed with those blossomed relationships I had lost due to the disorder and those that followed it. Today I am still fascinated with science as well as nutrition. I plan to continue my education in college and gain new knowledge in nutrition, specializing in plant-based lifestyle changes. I have become a local advocate for eating disorder awareness and hosted an Eating Disorder Awareness Week at my high school as part of the Student Council. I have also created a cookbook through the Gifted and Talented Program, enticing plant-based recipes to fuel bodies. The relationships I have now are supportive and regained, and I have found the true meaning of love, including self-love. I plan to continue my passions and advocate for fueling bodies in college, creating supportive and diverse connections. Mental health is something I used to take for granted. Now, every morning when I devour my pumpkin oatmeal and almond milk for breakfast, I appreciate my body and all it allows me to do. Keeping this mindset and maintaining these new lifestyle changes allows me to be the best version of myself.

I moved to West Texas from Florida with my parents when I was only four years old. Even though I was not born in this great state, Texas will always be my home, and West Texas will be my heart. Like everyone growing up in the Permian Basin, I learned about the oil field early in life. As I write this essay, I can see the steady motion of a pump jack extracting oil beneath sorghum fields outside my small 1A high school window. Although I am intrigued by the work of Petroleum Engineering, I’ve witnessed the ups and downs of the oil industry, and I feel, Mechanical Engineering offers a broader range of future career opportunities. For as long as I can remember, I have been inspired more by an imaginative mindset than an analytical and methodical thought process. As a child, I loved to create. I could be found building sandcastles, painting canvases, decorating cupcakes, or designing an impenetrable Lego fortress that could only be breached by a Knight arriving to rescue me, the Princess. Unfortunately for the Knight, my fortress was always too well designed. My creative thinking process has allowed me to grow into a young woman able to adapt to situations and find solutions to obstacles. During the 2022 Miss West Texas Teen USA Pageant, I had to split my time between preparing for the Regional Lincoln-Douglas Debate competition and my pageant interview. My pageant coach was 45 minutes away, taking 90 minutes three days per week of just driving. I decided to set my pageant coach up with Zoom to eliminate the drive time, and I gained four and a half hours weekly to study. Without finding an efficient solution, I likely would not have gone to State for Lincoln-Douglas Debate or received fourth Runner Up Miss West Texas Teen and the People Choice Award. My parents have always taught me that “you must learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable.” The first time I heard that quote from my dad was during the last 400-meter run during a CrossFit class when I was 12. I remember this quote each time I step on the basketball court, getting ready to throw the disc at track, or when I am standing in front of a panel of judges preparing to give a speech. It’s a simple reminder that this pain or fear will not last, and that it is up to me to find the determination and competitive drive to make me successful. I know math and science competencies are essential in engineering, but imagination and creativity, are the skills necessary to push beyond the boundaries of what is possible today. I believe my competitive drive, problem-solving ability, and imagination will help me harness my creative thinking skills to become a successful Mechanical Engineer.

I moved to West Texas from Florida with my parents when I was only four years old. Even though I was not born in this great state, Texas will always be my home, and West Texas will be my heart. Like everyone growing up in the Permian Basin, I learned about the oil field early in life. As I write this essay, I can see the steady motion of a pump jack extracting oil beneath sorghum fields outside my small 1A high school window. Although I am intrigued by the work of Petroleum Engineering, I’ve witnessed the ups and downs of the oil industry, and I feel, Mechanical Engineering offers a broader range of future career opportunities. Math, science, and technology have changed my life. For as long as I can remember, I have been inspired more by an imaginative mindset than an analytical and methodical thought process. As a child, I loved to create. I could be found building sandcastles, painting canvases, decorating cupcakes, or designing an impenetrable Lego fortress that could only be breached by a Knight arriving to rescue me, the Princess. Unfortunately for the Knight, my fortress was always too well designed. My creative thinking process has allowed me to grow into a young woman able to adapt to situations and find solutions to obstacles. During the 2022 Miss West Texas Teen USA Pageant, I had to split my time between preparing for the Regional Lincoln-Douglas Debate competition and my pageant interview. My pageant coach was 45 minutes away, taking 90 minutes three days per week of just driving. I decided to set my pageant coach up with Zoom to eliminate the drive time, and I gained four and a half hours weekly to study. Without finding an efficient solution, I likely would not have gone to State for Lincoln-Douglas Debate or received fourth Runner Up Miss West Texas Teen and the People Choice Award. My parents have always taught me that “you must learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable.” The first time I heard that quote from my dad was during the last 400-meter run during a CrossFit class when I was 12. I remember this quote each time I step on the basketball court, getting ready to throw the disc at track, or when I am standing in front of a panel of judges preparing to give a speech. It’s a simple reminder that this pain or fear will not last, and that it is up to me to find the determination and competitive drive to make me successful. I know math and science competencies are essential in engineering, but imagination and creativity, are the skills necessary to push beyond the boundaries of what is possible today. I believe my competitive drive, problem-solving ability, and imagination will help me harness my creative thinking skills to become a successful Mechanical Engineer.

"It is time to apply to college!" as I see these words flood into my email, I start to feel a blast of excitement and fear. The college has always been something I have been thrilled to attend, learning new things, meeting new people, and getting a fresh start; it all just seems so refreshing. However, as excitement broils, so does my fear. I am aware of my education's financial burden, so when I was accepted into my dream college, my first thought was, "scholarships!". Applying for scholarships has taught me organizational skills and time management, which I know has prepared me for college in the long run. When I started my adventure of applying for scholarships, I created a plethora of accounts on various websites in an attempt to find a few that used me. It did not take long to realize that I would need to keep track of these emails, accounts, usernames, and complex passwords. I thought of ways to stay organized and remembered my parents telling me of their organization at work and how they used spreadsheets. I decided I would do the same, and to my success, it worked! Every column and row of the spreadsheet represents a particular piece of information and is color-coded with related scholarships. Organization quickly saved me valuable time, and I used this time to write essays for these scholarships. My newfound problem became that I needed more time to gather hundreds of words and put them into a piece good enough to apply against hundreds of competitors. I thought about my dilemma as I lay in my bed watching TikTok'; that was my issue. I knew at that moment that it was now that I needed to use my time efficiently and effectively. Instead of scrolling mindlessly on my cell phone, I typed purposeful essays. I prioritized what was important to me instead of wasting time. Managing my time on top of extracurricular activities such as student council, congressional debate, varsity sports, and other time-consuming events seemed impossible. Discovering that I just needed to manage my time and make healthy time swaps has created a positive habit I will continue for the rest of my life. Scholarships may seem overwhelming and maybe even scary, but what I have learned is to stay organized and on the right track time-wise. I created new habits that will be carried with me throughout my scholarship application days and onto college and later life. I have learned that to conquer worries, you must face them head-on and use your problem-solving skills.

Having an eating disorder is not always considered a mental illness; however, from my experience, it is a grasping and crippling condition that changes a person's life. From 2019-2021 I suffered from anorexia. I had distorted my mind into believing my self-confidence and worth were represented by my body. Although this was one of the darkest times of my life, I am now grateful for recovering and having the opportunity to change lives, including my own. In 2019 when I started my journey down a disordered way of thinking, I began to avoid eating in public and became anxious and stressed that I would have to force a meal down to appease the eyes of my family and peers. I was terrified of not being thinner than my friends; this idea became mentally decaying and affected every aspect of my life. I lost my starting position on the varsity team because I became "too fragile"; I became depressed and felt alone. The little food I ate lacked nutrition and variety, only continuing my health's downward spiral. It was evident that I needed help, I rejected the idea, and my body began to deteriorate along with my mental health. It was about this time when I realized the importance of mental health, and how it impacts every part of my life and others as well. What I consider to be my light in this tunnel of shrinking my body and self-worth was my mother in 2020. She came to me with concern and began to rebuild my relationship with food in a new way that I had never imagined being successful. I had always been interested in science and nutrition, and we studied hours on hours about fueling bodies with proper nutrients. As a unit, my family switched their lifestyle to become more active and eat a healthier plant-based diet. I began to feel better. I felt energized and decided to start working out. For once in my life, I used fitness as a way to build muscle and rebuild my confidence. My family got into it. Also, we did everything from CrossFit and yoga in our tiny garage gym during quarantine. Gradually my mindset on my body and food changed with those blossomed relationships I had lost due to the disorder and those that followed it. Today I am still fascinated with science as well as nutrition. I plan to continue my education in college and gain new knowledge in nutrition, specializing in plant-based lifestyle changes. I have become a local advocate for eating disorder awareness and hosted an Eating Disorder Awareness Week at my high school as part of the Student Council. I have also created a cookbook through the Gifted and Talented Program, enticing plant-based recipes to fuel bodies. The relationships I have now are supportive and regained, and I have found the true meaning of love, including self-love. I plan to continue my passions and advocate for fueling bodies in college, creating supportive and diverse connections. Mental health is something I used to take for granted. Now, every morning when I devour my pumpkin oatmeal and almond milk for breakfast, I appreciate my body and all it allows me to do. Keeping this mindset and maintaining these new lifestyle changes allows me to be the best version of myself.

Having an eating disorder is not always considered a mental illness; however, from my experience, it is a grasping and crippling condition that changes a person's life. From 2019-2021 I suffered from anorexia. I had distorted my mind into believing my self-confidence and worth were represented by my body. Although this was one of the darkest times of my life, I am now grateful for recovering and having the opportunity to change lives, including my own. In 2019 when I started my journey down a disordered way of thinking, I began to avoid eating in public and became anxious and stressed that I would have to force a meal down to appease the eyes of my family and peers. I was terrified of not being thinner than my friends; this idea became mentally decaying and affected every aspect of my life. I lost my starting position on the varsity team because I became "too fragile"; I became depressed and felt alone. The little food I ate lacked nutrition and variety, only continuing my health's downward spiral. It was evident that I needed help, I rejected the idea, and my body began to deteriorate along with my mental health. What I consider to be my light in this tunnel of shrinking my body and self-worth was my mother in 2020. She came to me with concern and began to rebuild my relationship with food in a new way that I had never imagined being successful. I had always been interested in science and nutrition, and we studied hours on hours about fueling bodies with proper nutrients. As a unit, my family switched their lifestyle to become more active and eat a healthier plant-based diet. I began to feel better. I felt energized and decided to start working out. For once in my life, I used fitness as a way to build muscle and rebuild my confidence. My family got into it. Also, we did everything from CrossFit and yoga in our tiny garage gym during quarantine. Gradually my mindset on my body and food changed with that blossomed relationships I had lost due to the disorder and those that followed it. Today I am still fascinated with science as well as nutrition. I plan to continue my education in college and gain new knowledge in nutrition, specializing in plant-based lifestyle changes. I have become a local advocate for eating disorder awareness and hosted an Eating Disorder Awareness Week at my high school as part of the Student Council. I have also created a cookbook through the Gifted and Talented Program, enticing plant-based recipes to fuel bodies. The relationships I have now are supportive and regained, and I have found the true meaning of love, including self-love. I plan to continue my passions and advocate for fueling bodies in college, creating supportive and diverse connections. Mental health is something I used to take for granted. Now, every morning when I devour my pumpkin oatmeal and almond milk for breakfast, I appreciate my body and all it allows me to do.

I moved to West Texas from Florida with my parents when I was only four years old. Even though I was not born in this great state, Texas will always be my home, and West Texas will be my heart. Like everyone growing up in the Permian Basin, I learned about the oil field early in life. As I write this essay, I can see the steady motion of a pump jack extracting oil beneath sorghum fields outside my small 1A high school window. Although I am intrigued by the work of Petroleum Engineering, I’ve witnessed the ups and downs of the oil industry, and I feel, Mechanical Engineering offers a broader range of future career opportunities. For as long as I can remember, I have been inspired more by an imaginative mindset than an analytical and methodical thought process. As a child, I loved to create. I could be found building sandcastles, painting canvases, decorating cupcakes, or designing an impenetrable Lego fortress that could only be breached by a Knight arriving to rescue me, the Princess. Unfortunately for the Knight, my fortress was always too well designed. My creative thinking process has allowed me to grow into a young woman able to adapt to situations and find solutions to obstacles. During the 2022 Miss West Texas Teen USA Pageant, I had to split my time between preparing for the Regional Lincoln-Douglas Debate competition and my pageant interview. My pageant coach was 45 minutes away, taking 90 minutes three days per week of just driving. I decided to set my pageant coach up with Zoom to eliminate the drive time, and I gained four and a half hours weekly to study. Without finding an efficient solution, I likely would not have gone to State for Lincoln-Douglas Debate or received fourth Runner Up Miss West Texas Teen and the People Choice Award. My parents have always taught me that “you must learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable.” The first time I heard that quote from my dad was during the last 400-meter run during a CrossFit class when I was 12. I remember this quote each time I step on the basketball court, getting ready to throw the disc at track, or when I am standing in front of a panel of judges preparing to give a speech. It’s a simple reminder that this pain or fear will not last, and that it is up to me to find the determination and competitive drive to make me successful. Advocacy is one of my passions as well. Having a mother who is in a STEM based field is what inspired me to take this career path. I want to create a workplace that is diverse so that other young girls like me do not shy away from their passions and instead pursue them. Representation is essential to encouraging others like myself to go into these occupations. Diversity in the workplace creates a more comfortable environment where ideas can be shared from different perspectives. I know math and science competencies are essential in engineering, but imagination and creativity, are the skills necessary to push beyond the boundaries of what is possible today. I believe my competitive drive, problem-solving ability, and imagination will help me harness my creative thinking skills to become a successful Mechanical Engineer and encourage others like me to go into STEM occupations.

As a woman striving to succeed in a STEAM-related occupation, I am not significantly represented. With that representation is close to none for those who identify as a gay woman on this career path. This is a rapidly growing and changing world; the change I would like to see is the representation of women and those in the LGBTQ+ community in these STEAM jobs. Representation starts when you are young; for me, this meant skinny hot pink Barbie dolls who were princesses waiting to be saved by their bold princes. The thing for me was I never wanted to be a dainty princess. I tried to be strong and intelligent, creating the most intricate designs my young mind could imagine, And I was not waiting for my "Prince Charming" to save me. As I grew up, I longed for an accurate role model and inspiration, but I soon learned that I would not seek this person in my small country school, surrounded by miles and miles of cotton fields. Once this brutal realization hit me, I decided I wanted to be the representation for others similar to myself. I am hopeful that young children will see me pursuing my dreams and do the same regardless of their circumstances. Change starts with a singular person, and I have decided to be that person in my K-12 school, hoping that I may ignite a spark in my peers to follow their dreams. I believe the change we need to make is applying and representing diversity in every aspect of our lives. LGBTQ+ visibility means youth could create more connections and allies. Those who don't identify with this specific community learn to collaborate with a diverse group of people. Still, most importantly, they can help end a negative stigma and erase discrimination toward this community. All it takes is an open mind and fondness to encourage those around you. Studies have shown that STEAM-based careers typically lack women and queer representation due to the lack of encouragement and discrimination. Our genders and identities must not become a barrier to keep us from living our dreams and fulfilling our heart's desires. In STEAM especially, there is a lack of representation; if we changed this, it might encourage more to engage with their skills and passions. We need to become the light we want to see and create a change within our communities. Who we are and who we love should not prevent us from loving our dreams and professions.

I understand the importance of good health and a clean lifestyle because I have seen the opposite end of the scale. My father suffered from extremely high cholesterol and heart disease throughout my childhood. He was put on heart attack watch several times before my family, as a whole, decided to make a huge lifestyle change. These changes we implemented in our lives showed us how essential clean and healthy living is and how it improves lives tremendously. With the support of my family I have been able to make and maintain healthy lifestyle change. In 2019 after a heart attack scare, my family of four chose to switch to a clean vegan diet and begin working out consistently. We started with meatless Mondays, cutting out dairy, and attending classes at our local gyms. Doing this eased us into this new change, creating new healthy habits. My brother and I also started making our own lunches, the night before to take to school. My family and I saw changes not only in our physical health but our mental health as well. By 2020 we had transitioned entirely to eating clean, working out, and remaining on a vegan diet. When Covid-19 hit our small town, gyms began to close, and we were quick to adapt. We created a garage gym, and we began to add to it with weights. I learned to love working out and became more confident in myself. Adding weights to my gym routine gave me new value to pushing my body to the limits and being proud of what I could accomplish. My family picked up CrossFit as an activity we did together once or even twice a day. I will cherish the moments we had together in that gym and the connection we gained from it. Now that we are no longer in quarantine my younger brother and I attend spin classes before driving to school. What I never expected to come from this clean lifestyle was that it would bring my family together—gathering in the kitchen to try new foods and exotic spices and working out together as a family became one of my favorite things to do. It created a bond I never knew was missing. With the support of my family I believe I can do anything. This includes maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I have already made plans on how I am going to continue this in college with budgets, time management, and meal prepping. I will make a clean living for the rest of my life. It has created a new appreciation for my body and what it can do. This lifestyle allows me to thrive and become the best version of myself, setting me up for a world of success. I see how critical your health is, and having a support system around you increases your likelihood of staying with it. I aim to continue on this healthy path, all while encouraging and supporting others to do so themselves.

I understand the importance of good health and a clean lifestyle because I have seen the opposite end of the scale. My father suffered from extremely high cholesterol and heart disease throughout my childhood. He was put on heart attack watch several times before my family, as a whole, decided to make a huge lifestyle change. These changes we implemented in our lives showed us how essential clean and healthy living is and how it improves lives tremendously. With the support of my family I have been able to make and maintain healthy lifestyle change. In 2019 after a heart attack scare, my family of four chose to switch to a clean vegan diet and begin working out consistently. We started with meatless Mondays, cutting out dairy, and attending classes at our local gyms. Doing this eased us into this new change, creating new healthy habits. My brother and I also started making our own lunches, the night before to take to school. My family and I saw changes not only in our physical health but our mental health as well. By 2020 we had transitioned entirely to eating clean, working out, and remaining on a vegan diet. When Covid-19 hit our small town, gyms began to close, and we were quick to adapt. We created a garage gym, and we began to add to it with weights. I learned to love working out and became more confident in myself. Adding weights to my gym routine gave me new value to pushing my body to the limits and being proud of what I could accomplish. My family picked up CrossFit as an activity we did together once or even twice a day. I will cherish the moments we had together in that gym and the connection we gained from it. Now that we are no longer in quarantine my younger brother and I attend spin classes before driving to school. What I never expected to come from this clean lifestyle was that it would bring my family together—gathering in the kitchen to try new foods and exotic spices and working out together as a family became one of my favorite things to do. It created a bond I never knew was missing. With the support of my family I believe I can do anything. This includes maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I have already made plans on how I am going to continue this in college with budgets, time management, and meal prepping. I will make a clean living for the rest of my life. It has created a new appreciation for my body and what it can do. This lifestyle allows me to thrive and become the best version of myself, setting me up for a world of success. I see how critical your health is, and having a support system around you increases your likelihood of staying with it. I aim to continue on this healthy path, all while encouraging and supporting others to do so themselves.

I understand the importance of health eating and a clean lifestyle because I have seen the opposite end of the scale. My father suffered from extremely high cholesterol and heart disease throughout my childhood. He was put on heart attack watch several times before my family, as a whole, decided to make a huge lifestyle and diet change. These changes we implemented in our lives showed us how essential clean and healthy living is and how it improves lives tremendously. In 2019 after a heart attack scare, my family of four chose to switch to a clean vegan diet and begin working out consistently. We started with meatless Mondays, cutting out dairy, and attending classes at our local gyms. Doing this eased us into this new change, creating new healthy habits. My family and I saw changes not only in our physical health but our mental health as well. By 2020 we had transitioned entirely to eating clean, working out, and remaining on a vegan diet. When Covid-19 hit our small town, gyms began to close, and we were quick to adapt. We created a garage gym, and we began to add to it with weights. I learned to love working out and became more confident in myself. Adding weights to my gym routine gave me new value to pushing my body to the limits, fueling it with proper nutrition, and being proud of what I could accomplish. My family picked up CrossFit as an activity we did together once or even twice a day. I will cherish the moments we had together in that gym and the connection we gained from it. What I never expected to come from this clean lifestyle was that it would bring my family together—gathering in the kitchen to try new foods and exotic spices and working out together as a family became one of my favorite things to do. It created a bond I never knew was missing. I will make a clean living for the rest of my life. It has created a new appreciation for my body and what it can do. This lifestyle allows me to thrive and become the best version of myself, setting me up for a world of success. I see how critical your health is, and having a support system around you increases your likelihood of staying with it. I aim to continue on this healthy path, all while encouraging and supporting others to do so themselves.

I understand the importance of good health and a clean lifestyle because I have seen the opposite end of the scale. My father suffered from extremely high cholesterol and heart disease throughout my childhood. He was put on heart attack watch several times before my family, as a whole, decided to make a huge lifestyle change. These changes we implemented in our lives showed us how essential clean and healthy living is and how it improves lives tremendously. In 2019 after a heart attack scare, my family of four chose to switch to a clean vegan diet and begin working out consistently. We started with meatless Mondays, cutting out dairy, and attending classes at our local gyms. Doing this eased us into this new change, creating new healthy habits. My family and I saw changes not only in our physical health but our mental health as well. By 2020 we had transitioned entirely to eating clean, working out, and remaining on a vegan diet. When Covid-19 hit our small town, gyms began to close, and we were quick to adapt. We created a garage gym, and we began to add to it with weights. I learned to love working out and became more confident in myself. Adding weights to my gym routine gave me new value to pushing my body to the limits and being proud of what I could accomplish. My family picked up CrossFit as an activity we did together once or even twice a day. I will cherish the moments we had together in that gym and the connection we gained from it. What I never expected to come from this clean lifestyle was that it would bring my family together—gathering in the kitchen to try new foods and exotic spices and working out together as a family became one of my favorite things to do. It created a bond I never knew was missing. I will make a clean living for the rest of my life. It has created a new appreciation for my body and what it can do. This lifestyle allows me to thrive and become the best version of myself, setting me up for a world of success. I see how critical your health is, and having a support system around you increases your likelihood of staying with it. I aim to continue on this healthy path, all while encouraging and supporting others to do so themselves.

I moved to West Texas from Florida with my parents when I was only four years old. Even though I was not born in the great state, Texas will always be my home, and West Texas will be my heart. Like everyone growing up in the Permian Basin, I learned about the oil field early in life. As I write this essay, I can see the steady motion of a pump jack extracting oil beneath sorghum fields outside my small 1A high school window. Although I am intrigued by the work of Petroleum Engineering, I’ve witnessed the ups and downs of the oil industry, and I feel, Mechanical engineering offers a broader range of future career opportunities, that I can incorporate my skills to push beyond the limits. For as long as I can remember, I have been inspired more by an imaginative mindset than an analytical and methodical thought process. As a child, I loved to create. I could be found building sandcastles, painting canvases, decorating cupcakes, or designing an impenetrable Lego fortress that could only be breached by a Knight arriving to rescue me, the Princess. Unfortunately for the Knight, my fortress was always too well designed. Leading to the fact that I am passionate when it comes to involving women with STEM related occupations. I want to be like my mother who introduced me to technology and engineering at a young age. She sparked my interest and inspired me to lead young girls to careers such as engineering. I believe many girls feel they do not have role models that represent their interests, do not feel empowered to pursue specific careers, and lack exposure to science, technology, engineering, and or mathematical jobs. I strive to be a young woman that can promote change and inspire others. I know math and science competencies are essential in engineering, but imagination and creativity, are the skills necessary to push beyond the boundaries of what is possible today. I believe my competitive drive, problem-solving ability, and imagination will help me harness my creative thinking skills to become a successful Mechanical Engineer. With a rapidly changing and growing world, I have a drive to understand the ways processes work and furthermore improve them. I am fervid about creating efficiency, and using my creative thinking skills, I know engineering is a passion of mine because of the attributes it take to be successful.

1,2,3,4,5… In the last five seconds, approximately 20 babies were born. It may seem unimaginable; however, we have a fast-paced world, and with that comes growth and change. This Earth carries nearly 8 billion people, which means 8 billion hungry mouths to feed. To keep up with this rapid growth of people, engineers have used smart farming to take huge leaps in developing food security. As a vegan and involved with technology, this motivates me to jump into the STEM-related world. I became vegan in 2019 because of the environmental benefits; smart farming fits right into that category. This somewhat new type of farming has low emissions, reducing the ecological footprint compared to traditional agriculture. Smart farming is being called “the future of farming” because of its ability to compute data concerning water supply, growth, and so much more. My life’s ambition is to be a great engineer one day. After countless years of interactions with engineers in different fields, they all seem to see the need for one thing: efficiency. That is what I hope to apply to creations such as intelligent farming. Smart farming has come a long way in a short period, and I hope that when continuing my education through school, I learn new skills to advance processes and make them more efficient. Smart farming has shown how I can convert my passion into my occupation, combining technology and the environment. With drive and ambition, I hope to involve myself in creating inspiring technology such as smart agriculture.

Owning a singular dog is one thing. However, owning three dogs and fostering eight is another! I have had dogs all of my youth, nine dogs to be exact; I cannot remember when my house was not filled with wagging tails and wet noses. Growing up with what my mom calls “fur babies” has created a sense of responsibility and gratefulness I never knew I needed. Having dogs with me throughout my life has given me a unique perspective and outlook on life. Every day before I make my breakfast, I will scoop a lump sum of kibble into my dog’s, Mojo’s, Fergie’s, and Murphy’s bowls. It was not until my family began fostering dogs that this became a little more hectic. We had eight puppies from our local animal rescue, on top of our usual three at one point. At some points, this seemed overwhelming. However, I knew I had an essential job to provide for my pets. Before making the 45-minute drive to school out of town, I clean up after the puppies and older dogs and collectively take them out to do their business. It seems pretty straightforward, but doing this every day has taught me the responsibility of taking care of the needs of other beings before my own. Bringing me to the conclusion that it is one of the most selfless things a person can do, and I do it on an incredibly minor scale. These little things added up and made me realize that this is what my parents do for my brother and me every day, plus the extra mile, providing physical needs and emotional and physiological as well. After school, the job does not end, much like my parents. I come home and take care of them. Make sure they are fed, groomed, warm, and feel loved. In return, they give me nothing but the unconditional love I know will remain loyal and unwavering to my family and me. When you adopt a dog, you are always told you will have light-hearted and fun times playing catch or tug-of-war. However, no one tells you that these loyal creatures teach you life lessons you will carry with you and ongoing graciousness. Having “fur babies” highlighted a new perspective of my love and gratuity for my parents, giving their all to take care of us. For my dogs and the fosters, I will be forever grateful.

I moved to West Texas from Florida with my parents when I was only four years old. Even though I was not born in this great state, Texas will always be my home, and West Texas will be my heart. Like everyone growing up in the Permian Basin, I learned about the oil field early in life. As I write this essay, I can see the steady motion of a pump jack extracting oil beneath sorghum fields outside my small 1A high school window. Although I am intrigued by the work of Petroleum Engineering, I’ve witnessed the ups and downs of the oil industry, and I feel, Mechanical Engineering offers a broader range of future career opportunities. For as long as I can remember, I have been inspired more by an imaginative mindset than an analytical and methodical thought process. As a child, I loved to create. I could be found building sandcastles, painting canvases, decorating cupcakes, or designing an impenetrable Lego fortress that could only be breached by a Knight arriving to rescue me, the Princess. Unfortunately for the Knight, my fortress was always too well designed. My creative thinking process has allowed me to grow into a young woman able to adapt to situations and find solutions to obstacles. During the 2022 Miss West Texas Teen USA Pageant, I had to split my time between preparing for the Regional Lincoln-Douglas Debate competition and my pageant interview. My pageant coach was 45 minutes away, taking 90 minutes three days per week of just driving. I decided to set my pageant coach up with Zoom to eliminate the drive time, and I gained four and a half hours weekly to study. Without finding an efficient solution, I likely would not have gone to State for Lincoln-Douglas Debate or received fourth Runner Up Miss West Texas Teen and the People Choice Award. My parents have always taught me that “you must learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable.” The first time I heard that quote from my dad was during the last 400-meter run during a CrossFit class when I was 12. I remember this quote each time I step on the basketball court, getting ready to throw the disc at track, or when I am standing in front of a panel of judges preparing to give a speech. It’s a simple reminder that this pain or fear will not last, and that it is up to me to find the determination and competitive drive to make me successful. I know math and science competencies are essential in engineering, but imagination and creativity, are the skills necessary to push beyond the boundaries of what is possible today. I believe my competitive drive, problem-solving ability, and imagination will help me harness my creative thinking skills to become a successful Mechanical Engineer.

In 2019 I made one of the best decisions and guided my entire family into a new vegan lifestyle. My father had suffered from severely high cholesterol and was put on heart attack watch several times before I researched and found that not eating animal products could transform lives. Within two months, my father came off his heart medications, and our family's health improved. It was then that, as a family, we developed a new compassion towards animals, and it launched my advocacy for vegan lifestyles. Being vegan represents empathy for myself and my family. It means being able to feel the connection between our bodies, spirit, earth, and other beings. I want to attend a more prominent university where I can become an even better advocate for veganism. I am driven to show people the way veganism can benefit us as a whole. It is not something to shy away from, and being vegan brings true enlightenment to more lives than your own, and that's what I want people to understand. I have experience advocating for animal rights, animal welfare, and veganism on the state level and speaking in the Texas State Capitol building in Austin, Texas. If I were able to attend my dream college of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, I would have the opportunity to change lives for the better in an area where not sacrificing animals for your stomach is simply a minority. This would only strengthen me as I strive to make consuming animal flesh and secretions a thing of the past. From experience, I have seen that people feel disconnected from the food on their plates. They do not understand an animal's life is brutally and selfishly taken for nothing more than a tasting palette. In the past, allowing people to feel eased into this lifestyle and not go cold turkey, or as my family says, "cold-tofu," creates a higher success rate of sticking with veganism. I have created a vegan cookbook that has helped people develop meals that soon take over their diets and replace animal products. I feel as though this approach is my best-learned technique for transforming people's lives and I hope to continue doing so. Education is essential in any movement, especially the vegan movement. Obtaining a college degree means I have the opportunity to educate myself and others. I am meeting new people and spreading the good word about veganism, like honey-less peanut butter. I want to continue my education and continue the climb in the vegan movement.