All STEM pathways take patience, durability, and the need for universal solutions. The world of a person of color needs action, grace, and to question what is right. Our actions need patience to forge results. Our grace needs durability to drive through our hardships. Finally, our questions about morality need answers to ensure our place in this world. STEM pathways complement the needs of the person of color and can finally solidify what we know to be true: We are important. We are not a trope. We are here to stay. For too long I would focus solely on what society would tell me I am while appeasing the fragile state of who I wanted to be. That appeal seemed like the path to peace. It seemed like a radical action to take. In a world where we see war and hatred and bigotry (including the internalized bias that is under the guise of mistaken ignorance), to accept what was socially assumed about someone like me was truly radical peace. It was the absence of war. It was radical love for the one who didn't love me yet. It was all out of mistaken ignorance. However, to pursue things that seemed to be taking up space in a place that didn't seem to belong to me was almost an act of war or terror. It didn't feel as though I would be accepting a place that would come truly naturally to me. After all, how could it? Role models play a huge part in our identity. Being put into artistic endeavors from an early age made sense. As a community, we have finally found the strength to claim what we know to be true about art. People of color have laid the framework for so much of the art we see in today's world. That's a huge step. To be saturated with a singularity of representation, from artists that haven't looked like us for so long, all the while, their records came from small songwriters in a jazz or rock and roll club in the 'bad part of town'; that is war. When you realize the only role models you've had have been at war with you, you no longer wish to be like them. Unfortunately the same cannot be said about the person of color claiming their stake in the STEM field. Yet, that is. In my current chemistry class, we start every week, by being presented with a minority that has made waves in the field. We then must do a recap on them. Talk about who they were and what they did. This week it was Dr. Marie Maynard Daly, A black woman who recognized the correlation between cholesterol and heart health. My professor started doing this when he recognized that his students all thought chemists looked one way. He would have his students draw a scientist. Nearly all of their depictions were not colored in on the skin and had unruly white hair. There is a major singularity in the image of STEM. I still do not care to take the stage or have this widespread recognition for my achievements. The recognition doesn't change the fact that Dr. Daly is to be credited for her findings. Her findings made waves of difference in the health field that potentially saved millions of lives. However, I do hope to be a physicist that a professor like Peter Ritson would choose to show in a breaking-the-stereotype presentation. I hope some aspiring, 20-something Dominican physicist can see me in that presentation and hope for the same.

I have, if nothing else, deemed myself an innovator of setbacks. whether that be choosing a career path I ultimately would find myself miserable in or abandoning a promising path under the guise of helping a friend. I could sit here and write all day about the misfortunes of the life of an underprivileged minority, set in the scene of a single-mother household. However, Those setbacks are hardly the worst setback one could have. in the words of a physicist who would describe himself as nothing more than "merely curious": "Time is relative; it's only worth depends upon what we do as it is passing". What's interesting is the author's seemingly non-inflated sense of self-worth. Albert Einstein was one of the greatest if not the most renowned physicists of the modern age. All achievements aside, one couldn't find a single moment in which he merely attempted to appease an ego of his own. if nothing else he was humble in his self-image. I've heard tales about him being so caught up in his thinking that he would at times forget to put his pants on. Whether these tales are true is neither here nor there. It's quite unclear to most what exactly could have been going on in his mind all the time. To imagine a theory such as time relativity is beyond the comprehension of most. one thing is certain. His mind was consistent in the sense of being at work. His mind yearned for universal answers. It needed them. consistency is one missing factor when it comes to failure. I have had a life of inconsistencies and instabilities. My first career idea was in the performing arts. Although I had spent most of my childhood consistently working on my skills and knowledge in music, theatre, and dance; it was something that ultimately had been more thrust upon me than I desired. The arts didn't fill my mind with wonder as other things did. It didn't provide me with a sense of wanting or needing. Thus, I would jump back and forth between the three and not focus on one. The relativity of our wants is based on the time that we need them. The time that we do what is needed is based on the wanting of that which is needed. I think this thought may have been a similar birthing canal for the theory of time relativity. Physics is the baseline of science and can be proved by mathematics. I, as I'm sure is common with the reader, have heard of the idea that we are in a computer simulation. what this would mean is that our very reality is based on a binary numeric series of 1 and 0, inputs and outputs. I don't necessarily look at the theory as anything more than a fantastical science fiction. But, I would be lying if I were to say that deciding to turn on one path that didn't bring me yearning and curiosity, led me to zero output regarding longevity and consistency. Now as a physics major, I've found that my input of 1 has led me to 11. through the therapy that ultimately led me down the path of wanting to find my true place in the world, I came to understand a few things about myself. My need for validation enforced this want for a path that didn't provoke me to curiosity. The need for what I want, however, aligned me with a path I will consistently be needing.

Justice begets justice which begets justice. This is the bottom line. Americans live in a country that claims the slogan "Justice for all". In some ways “we the people” have seen justice. We see shows like CSI and True Crime with life-like stories and even some true stories where justice prevails. However, the entertainment industry has a way of exciting the details in a way that makes the "true stories" more 'based' on true stories. Some might say this excitement of the truth isn’t true justice. I disagree. The television show makes a depiction of a story (real or not) and entertains us with something we so dearly seek. The network makes a profit and that money goes into people’s pockets. This is what we call ecological justice. Three forms of justice band together to make what is called "The bottom line". Ecologic Justice pertains to the actions that preserve financial freedoms. Environmental Justice pertains to the actions which preserve a place to have freedom. Social justice Pertains to the actions which preserve one’s right to freedom. By stating that "justice Begets justice which begets justice, it is made clear that each form of justice makes the others possible. With that said, the opposite is true. Without one form of justice, the others are not sustainable. Social justice is not just about Personal freedoms, It is about Sustainability. I'm sure there is someone or someones out in the world that would take what I've said and say something along the lines of "you don’t need social justice to preserve financial freedoms". Looking back on American history, there were plenty of incomes that lacked social justice. However, the horrific actions, one could assume they're referring to, we're not sustainable. Had they been, people like myself, as well as many in the position of reading this essay, wouldn't have had the education to be writing or reading what is being written now. Justice remains a prevalent part of our existence. And even more so, regarding those with fewer ties to a clean and safe environment. The way I see it, true financial equity comes from social equality. Social equality is based on environmental quality. This can be supported by the idea that racism is mentally associated with the status or quality of life of another race. That worldview is all but disproven when the environment associated with one community is statistically more polluted by approximation to things such as power plants, waste facilities, and low-quality resources. When you mix the low-quality environment with a lack of access to well-maintained natural beauties, such as parks and clean water sources, the entirety of justice is placed in the hands of an unbalanced social-power dynamic. Fair, integrated, affordable, diverse housing with access to natural resources is just one example of a solution to the imbalanced social structure. The city where I live, Portland, is one example of how an extreme and growing housing crisis has affected the overall quality of living and financial opportunity. I've worked personally with organizations that support houseless and misplaced people and youths. Many times, I have seen individuals’ lives completely turn around when afforded the opportunity to live in a safe and clean environment. Social justice is not justice all on its own. One’s environment begets one’s social liberties which begets their economic freedom, in that order.

Academia is not an area that was thrust upon me in life. Failing grades didn't go punished or entirely looked down upon at home. Not to say that my mother didn't want those things for me but being a single mother, she truly did have to pick her battles. We moved a lot. So much so that by the time I reached 8th grade I had been enrolled in 9 varying schools back-to-back. In my early education, I was in TAG (talented and gifted) programs. As I got into Middle school it was apparent, that I understood the content. I had been in advanced STEM classes and the in-class work came easy. During my 8th grade year, I started to fall behind in class. I tested well, but I had a problem in the homework department. I wasn't doing it. As we all know, homework plays a vital role in the grading system. My lack of attention to homework ultimately led to my removal from the advanced courses and put into intermediate classrooms. This didn't affect my grades much, it just left me sitting in class bored, finished early with the in-class work, and uninterested in my education. Growing up I was involved in a lot of extracurricular activities. I danced competitively as well as was involved in music groups and theatre. This led me to believe the life of an entertainer might be more suited for me. At the time I received a lot of validation for my endeavors in the arts. I was placed in groups that were afforded great opportunities. As to so many children and teenagers, that validation meant more than the activity itself. At the age of about 9 or 10, I started to get more major roles that involved independent performance. It was also at that age that I started to recognize how much I hated public attention and it led to severe social anxieties and distress. At that point, I had voiced how much I didn't want to do it anymore. It also had become almost expected that I would be involved; so, I kept my dislike for performing to myself. The arts did give me an excuse when I was asked about my homework. it had more or less become an easy out when homework time came around. I similarly went through high school. The only difference with high school was: I had been enrolled in the same school for more than a consecutive year. I spent all 4 years at one school, and I was finally able to make and sustain friends for the first time. I was placed by chance in the choir department (it was the only elective left available and I was enrolled late). Most of the friends I met were artistic and performing students. It was easy to stay involved in those areas. Finally, graduation came around and I managed to graduate on time. I immediately started working and between friends and work, I didn't look too much to the future beyond that. fast forward to where I am now, I've gone through therapy and spent time searching for my real interests. They happen to sit in science and mathematics primarily. Thus, I am now enrolled as a physics major with aspirations to progress the exploration of space and hopefully put my previous medical industry experiences to use in the field. It can take time to come to understand your place in the world. However, it has been said that "time is relative; it's only worth depends on what we do as it is passing"

When I was a young kid, I spent a lot of time with my cousin Joe. As a family, we were all very close. From the outside looking in, the Borden family is your simple, southern, Church of Christ, Texas-raised family living in Rural Oregon. We have Ralph and Sharon, the Monarch of the family. Underneath them there are (from oldest to youngest): Lisa, Kathi, Leona and Janie. Janie is my mother; Lisa is Joe’s. For lack of kinder words, Joe found himself needing to stay with us a few times in childhood. Joe is almost 2 years older than me and I looked up to him immensely. Anything I liked I wanted to make sure Joe approved of. I don’t mean this with any sort of negative context. He’s funny, and kind, looked out for me, and introduced me to all his friends. In many ways, Joe was the older brother I never got. The fondest memory I have of my childhood with Joe was singing along to ‘Tribute’ by Ten-D. While listening to that style of music wasn’t the families’ cup of tea, that song was because of how entertaining our performance was. Getting older and gaining my own experiences, I've come to realize certain aspects of myself that (at no fault of anyone) were not thought of as being reality. I grew up being praised for artistic endeavors and while I enjoyed it for a time, it didn't truly highlight my greatest strengths. It didn't exercise my mind in the ways that I find my adult self-craving. My father is an immigrant from the Dominican Republic who works in radio, my mother is a (now physically disabled) beautician. To obtain the level of education I am looking forward to would mean a generational change for the hard-working, but less fortunate individuals that have created me. I am pursuing a Doctorate in Physics, particularly in Aerospace and Astronomy. I am currently still in my undergraduate, so it is a long road ahead of me. However, if there is one thing my education will attempt to give life to, it is that "time is relative; it's only worth depends on what we do as it is passing". During my technical education, I plan to continue my lifelong work as a humanitarian. Volunteer work is something I have long been and plan to be involved in while attending and beyond. I've joined my school's International Student Life program as well as applied for a senator position in our women’s resource center. As a high school student, I was involved in a group called the 'Satyagraha Project'. My top favorite experience was a week-long trip to Seattle where we volunteered in the city. There was this non-profit organization I can’t remember the name of, but it supplied state-of-the-art equipment for underprivileged youth to learn how to record music, take technical steps in visual arts, and overall perfect their artistic craft. I would love to be a part of starting a space program and scientific funding for the same demographic. Space programs and licensing required for a career in such a field is a luxury that many cannot afford. What would happen to them should we need to evacuate the earth? In today’s world and climate, it is our future. I see a future where the underfunded and displaced are not left behind but given a place to improve our outcome as a species.

Previously in my years of education, I have made it a point to be involved. I find meeting people and outreach to be exciting and educational. From the time I was 4 years old, I have been involved in the performing arts in everything from competitive level dance to touring jazz choirs. In Highschool I was a part of many clubs including Leadership, Key, International, and GSA. My favorite outreach experience lasted from my freshman to senior year of high school. I was a member of a social justice group called 'The Satyagraha Project'. While all of us in the group were friends from middle school, the group quickly bonded us much closer. We were able to gain first-hand experience preparing food at soup kitchens in both Seattle and San Francisco. We found ourselves amid so many educational experiences: visiting Buddhist monasteries and LGBTQIA centers. Best of all we partnered with Amnesty International for fundraisers. The two most notable were: 'The 30 Hour Famine', An event where members found sponsors to devote money per hour, for 30 hours in which we would not eat in solidarity with the many millions of women and children that go hungry every day, all around the world. All proceeds went directly (we brought it to them) to women's shelters in Ghana. The other was an event we named "Soul Sister". It was a talent-based show, where performances were separated by informational speeches, regarding the horrific sex trafficking happening to Congolese women and children. Hosted in our high school auditorium, by way of admission sales, donations, art sales, program advertisement sales, etc we were afforded the opportunity to raise thousands of dollars that directly benefited the front-line fight against the trafficking of these women and children as well as the education of young girls. These experiences taught me many skills. While skills are a wonderful thing to have, there is something much bigger and more important than skills. That is empathy. At a time in our lives when the world seems so unfair and pinned against us (as we all have experienced in our adolescence), empathy is a skill that is not learned but earned. Empathy is earned through understanding how it feels to know that you will go more than a day without food. Empathy is earned when you see how prepared food, that you take for granted every day, brings tears to a new friend’s eyes. Empathy is earned when you learn about very real atrocities; atrocities that happen every minute to someone who has no avenue for the education you question you need. Above all skills and abilities that you, myself, or anyone else could hold, empathy is the greatest asset.

As an undergraduate Physics major, I hear a lot that excites me about time. Time, in all relativity, is neither linear nor obscure, but perceived. As a child, time couldn't go by quickly enough. I remember hearing this country song called 'Don't Blink' in which Kenny Chesney sings about growing up too quickly. My mom would always tell me "When you get to be my age, it'll feel like your life went by in a blink of an eye". Some quick blink later In the year 2020, I had come to the start of something I never thought I’d achieve. By this time, I had over 4 years of vocal jazz training, 6 years of symphonic training, and had moved to audio production. When a family friend (Phi Yen) came to me and offered to pay me to perform at a lunch with her clients, I hadn’t had enough originals written and politely declined. After thinking about it for a while I came up with an idea. She had the space and loved music, I had friends in the underground Portland music scene who needed a place to play. I brought the idea to Phi Yen to start what would become a major underground PDX music venue. I started a record label called 50 Records and organized shows. To my surprise, a DIY punk show at a covered area on some PDX residential property brought in over 250 people- the first show. After about a month or two of 8 to 9 shows a month I received a DM on Instagram from the ‘Willamette Weekly’. They wanted to interview me about the shows. We met at a coffee shop called ‘Honey Latte” and a week later, we were all anyone from the PDX punk, drag, and hip-hop communities cared about. By the time I turned over my involvement to stabilize my mental health (I had just been diagnosed as having bipolar) and pursue a physical science education/career, we had easily 500-600 showgoers per show. Now as a physics major with eyes toward space, I have every intention to recreate that excitement, but for space travel and our effects on the global and interplanetary environment. That being said, becoming an astronomer isn’t cheap. Ideally, graduate school is in the cards as well as some sort of space training program. Most programs require multiple licenses that can amount to over 8,000 USD. All of this is possible, but not easy to manage. Like the energy and the forces that power the universe, I’m not one to give up easily, regardless of how long I perceive the time to take.

When I was a young kid, I spent a lot of time with my cousin Joe. As a family, we were all very close. From the outside looking in, the Borden family is your simple, southern, Church of Christ, Texas-raised family living in Rural Oregon. We have Ralph and Sharon, the Monarch of the family. Underneath them there are (from oldest to youngest): Lisa, Kathi, Leona and Janie. Janie is my mother; Lisa is Joe’s. For lack of kinder words, Joe found himself needing to stay with us a few times in childhood. Joe is almost 2 years older than me and I looked up to him immensely. Anything I liked I wanted to make sure Joe approved of. I don’t mean this with any sort of negative context. He’s funny, and kind, looked out for me, and introduced me to all his friends. In many ways, Joe was the older brother I never got. The fondest memory I have of my childhood with Joe was singing along to ‘Tribute’ by Ten-D. While listening to that style of music wasn’t the families’ cup of tea, that song was because of how entertaining our performance was. Without knowing it, that one song opened me up to appreciate more than ‘Kenny Chesney’ and ‘Little Big Town’. A crazy train ride to the year 2020 brings us to the start of something I never thought I’d achieve. By this time, I had over 4 years of vocal jazz training, 6 years of symphonic training, and had moved to audio production. When a family friend (Phi Yen) came to me and offered to pay me to perform at a lunch with her clients, I hadn’t had enough originals written and politely declined. After thinking about it for a while I came up with an idea. She had the space and loved music, I had friends in the underground Portland music scene who needed a place to play. I brought the idea to Phi Yen to start what would become a major underground PDX music venue. I started a record label called 50 Records and organized shows. To my surprise, a DIY punk show at a covered area on some PDX residential property brought in over 250 people- the first show. After about a month or two of 8 to 9 shows a month I received a DM on Instagram from the ‘Willamette Weekly’. They wanted to interview me about the shows. We met at a coffee shop called ‘Honey Latte” and a week later we were all anyone from the PDX punk, drag, and hip-hop communities cared about. By the time I turned over my involvement to stabilize my mental health (I had just been diagnosed as having bipolar) and pursue a physical science education/career, we had easily 5-600 showgoers per show. Now as a physics major with eyes toward space, I have every intention to recreate that excitement, but for space travel and our effects on the global and interplanetary environment. That being said, becoming an astronomer isn’t cheap. Ideally, graduate school is in the cards as well as some sort of space training program. Most programs require multiple licenses that can amount to over 8,000 USD. Currently, I have financial aid, drive for Doordash when possible, and am involved with work-study programs. All of this is possible, but not easy to manage. Like the energy and the forces that power the universe, I’m not one to give up easily. To me Heavy Metal is energy. It can have a BPM of 98 or it can remind us of when ‘Planets Collide’. Luckily for us, the only thing colliding with our plant anytime soon is a manageably-sized meteorite in December.