In the beginning of high school, I had no idea that cybersecurity was even a field let alone career. That was until I was introduced to a STEM related ad regarding the different types of fields you can encounter. Cybersecurity immediately drew my interest. I knew that there were many things happening out of my sight with the technology I used every day, however I did not know to the extent that technology was protecting us from danger. Once I learned how much cybersecurity played a role in my everyday life, I knew that it was what I wanted to pursue as a career. Pursuing a career in cybersecurity will not only satisfy my passion in technology but it will also be beneficial in our world revolving around technology. In the fall I will be attending St. John's University where I will have the opportunity to be in a five-year program to achieve a bachelor's and master's degree. Throughout my college careers I hope to able to participate in internships to deepen my foundation of cybersecurity thinking to help prepare myself for a job post-graduation. From the age of 16 I have been working as a brand representative at a children's clothing store. It was my mission to get a job as soon as possible because I had to start thinking financially how I will be able to make college work. I wanted to alleviate my parents from financial stress by being able to pay for some of my tuition and be able to pay for things such as a laptop and textbooks by myself. However, with my financial aid package from my school leaving me and my parents wondering over what the next five years will look financially, I should receive this scholarship to help look at the next five years with a clearer head. Though I am not even done with high school yet, I am already feeling the stress of college. Stress over how I will be able to work as much as I can while balancing schoolwork and the student organizations I hope to join. Though my parents tell me not to, I will not be able to enjoy college with the thought that they will have to give up much financially for me to be able to come to school. This scholarship with be a great help in allowing me to put in all my effort into classes without thinking whether or not my study session or if I can attend a group's meeting because I did not work enough hours that month yet to give myself some peace.

My name is Dianna Naula-Quiroz, and I am a high school senior. During the fall I will start my journey at St. John's University to achieve a bachelor's and master's degree in cybersecurity in 5 years. My career goal is too able to help make the online world a safer place against cyber threats. My high school experience is unique compared to my peers. I have been in four different high schools in two different states. I wasn't able to participate in many schools extracurricular activities in my four years for a multitude of reasons. I was diagnosed with Juvenile Arthritis during the summer before 9th grade. I was already struggling with depression and anxiety because I had to move yet again, and my diagnosis made it worse as my life became more unpredictable. Though I have been fortunate enough to be able to see my doctors regularly, I still struggle with relapses. This has it made it hard to participate in things such as sports since I never know whether or not my health will be able to withstand it. I have also had to focus on my job once I turned 16. I work as a brand representative at a children's clothing store and find myself working the max number of legal hours I can work most weeks. I got this job because I had to start thinking financially how I will be able to make college work. I wanted to able to help pay for my tuition and things such as laptops and textbooks in order to help alleviate the pressure from my parents. Though my main focuses are school and work, in my free time I enjoy reading and spending time with my cat, Shadow. I have had the community involvement experience as a camp counselor during the summer before my 11th grade school year. My official role was a REACH Camp Counselor in Hofstra Summer Camp. I had the opportunity to volunteer as a mentor with kids with disabilities. This was an incredible experience as I was able to have a one-on-one mentorship with my camper to guide them through their summer sessions where they chose specialty skills camp. I was able to help my camper have a more comfortable time through my own experience of having things being harder and taking more time for me. Last year, my family and I rescued a baby kitten from the streets. He was no more than two weeks old when we took him in and after emergency doctors visit, we came to find out he was severely underweight from being abandoned and had respirations issues. I found it shameful that he came so close to dying because of the lack of animal shelter resources available. This is why if I could start my own charity it would strive to donate to local animal shelters and hospitals to decrease the number of pets abandoned. The services charity will provide is funding towards animal shelter upkeep to have more beds available and towards hospitals to have funds available for any animals that are in need of attention. Volunteers would help through organizing fundraisers and working in these shelters and hospitals to save more funds towards helping animals.

1. My name is Dianna Naula-Quiroz and I am a first-generation Ecuadorian college student with rheumatoid arthritis. I moved around a lot, however for the most part I grew up in New York with my brother and parents. Growing up, being able to make my parents proud motivated me. Pursing college was always a goal I had. I wanted all the sacrifices my parents made for me to be worth it. My parent's inability to pursue their dreams - my mom's dream of being an accountant and my dad's of becoming a music teacher - fueled me to try my hardest in school to be able to go to a good college. My disability has also motivated me as I did not want to be held back by any effects that it has caused in my life. I wasn't sure what I wanted to study until I was in 10th grade. Through the power of a YouTube ad, I found out about cybersecurity and knew it was what I wanted to do in life. I am currently in the process of choosing between St. John's University or Purdue University. Nevertheless, I would like to pursue a master's degree after I complete my bachelors. If I could do anything with my life it would be to visit Iceland. There is so much beauty there with all of its gorgeous landscapes. With all of its contrasting features, black sand beaches and glaciers, it would be such a moving sight to see. I hope to be able to see it in person one day or live there. 2. The technology and mathematics aspect of STEM excites me. I used to have a hard time keeping up in math classes in elementary and middle school. Dreading the class, I did not want my future career to have any math aspects tied to it. However, during my 11th grade precalculus class, I realized that I actually did not hate math. I stopped looking at math as something I was forced to take, but instead a class that I could challenge myself in. I always wanted to be challenged in school and put all of my skills to use and so I noticed when in precalculus I had to start looking at things differently, I started to enjoy the class. I am currently taking AP Calculus AB and though there are many days I have to let what I just learned marinate in my head for a while, being able to go to that class is one of the favorite parts of my day. The rigorous curriculum is something I am fond of and makes me excited for the calculus classes I will take in college. Technology also excites me as well. My whole life has revolved around technology. From my family, personal, and school computers to all of the phones I had and the TV's, technology is something I use day to day. Though I know I am a little more attached to it then I should be, its access to the world sparks my interest. The problems technology has been able to solve from conveniency to safety, it has a lot of power and has brought many benefits towards my life in being able to excel in school and learn more about myself. Cybersecurity has an incredibly important role in the technology world. However, many people have never heard of the job before or understand how it has played a role in their lives. The craft that cybersecurists put into protecting sensitive information of people in their online activities is given much attention. Many people are affected by online crimes such as identity theft, financial harm, or loss of personal data. Being able to work in the cybersecurity field will let me be able to fight back against cyber-attacks and help make the online world a safer place. 3. I have always had a hard time asking for help. This mindset that I have had since I was young made me think of myself as a burden or vulnerable when I asked for assistance in anything. Whether it was for school or day to day things. Being diagnosed with Juvenile Arthritis made this worse. Though I am fortunate enough to go to my rheumatologist regularly and be on medications, I still relapse and wake up with morning stiffness and swelling that won’t go away for days at a time. I have special accommodations because of this but have a hard time allowing myself to use it. During tests, when my hand and/or fingers are swollen and it is uncomfortable to use a pencil, I easily give up. I resort to the bare minimum or even lower than that. It is not that I do not want to do well in school or that I am lazy. It is the conversation with my teacher at the end of class or the awkwardness when everyone else is handing in their tests except me that I dread, and having to say that it is again one of those days. My accommodations also made me feel that I had an unfair advantage over my peers, that my academic success will be seen by others as unproperly earned or undeserved. When I saw the difference in grades between assignments, I was able to complete compared to ones I wasn’t due to my writing ability being impaired, I realized that not allowing myself to feel comfortable letting it be known I needed extra time was holding me back. It was time for me to start asking for help. It was hard at first however with time I saw that admitting I needed help was not making me vulnerable but instead stronger. I had the courage to express my limitations to others and confess that with help, being able to complete things can become a little simpler. I no longer saw it as having an advantage I had over others but instead an opportunity to be on the same playing field.