When I explain to people that I enjoy math, they always seem confused. With a subject so difficult, what is there to love. People like this see math as dreadful and challenging, but I see math as exciting and integral especially in the view of our society. First of all, math is great because the subject is like a puzzle and the formulas are my guide. In math, there is always that one solution, that key to encode, so I have to analyze to put the pieces together. As I write down my work, the cogs of my mind click together as I get closer and closer to my response. In math, my formula sheet is my key or guide to my work as they tell me which numbers and variables go in which spots. Sometimes I have a calculator on my side as well to help me solve other complex problems. Even though it may not be enjoyable to others, the feeling of satisfaction as the last pieces of lead hit my paper with my answer shows the efforts of my work. And even if I'm wrong, there is only one answer, so I can work backwards to find my mistake and understand. When I find that answer after retracing my steps and putting the pieces correctly in shape, my work is my proof of my answer. I do not have to write paragraph- long essays to prove what I know when my work on my paper shows my efforts of success. But outside of my love, math is so important because of the strong base it holds in our society. Every subject from calculations of rocket trajectories and concentrations of substances in science, to finding the percentage of population change for a social studies course, relies on math. This numerical language is used from basic addition in young children to running our consumer world and economy through marketing in large businesses. The universal language of math is utilized worldwide and the numbers and feelings of solving new discoveries can be a shared feeling throughout different cultures. From the discovery of the Pyhthagorean Theorem and the concept of 0 in ancient times to discovering a new 13 sided shape in geometry, the joy I have for the subject has fueled myself and others' passions to uplift the basic functioning of our society.

Ever since I have been young, I have always had an enormous curiosity about the world around me. Matched with my interest, I have always had a solid determination to reach my highest potential in areas that I am passionate about. If I was extremely interested in a topic, I would ask anyone I could or find my answers by reading, which is one of my main hobbies. But since I was young, I always enjoyed helping individuals feel better; consequently, this characteristic about myself fueled my dream career to venture into the science field to become a pediatrician. The reason why I possess a strong interest in earning a STEM degree is to use my skills from my education pathway in biochemistry to help me reach the medical field. Because my dream career involves working with concepts such as diseases and human anatomy/health, I am very interested in science-related topics such as biology and chemistry. Hopefully, I will get to pursue these interests deeper once I start the track to study in the biochemistry field. However, the main reason I want to earn a degree in the STEM field has a huge correlation with how I want to make an impact on the world. Once I obtain my degree as an undergraduate student and go through medical school afterward, I plan to become a pediatrician to help out kids and adolescents. Besides my passion for helping others, I mainly want to work with adolescents to teach and educate them on health information I wished I had when I was younger. When I was younger, I had an obesity issue that spiked rapidly in middle school. I knew it was a problem that was harming my physical and mental health but never did anything to resolve the issue. However once my doctors told me that I was at risk for obtaining Type-2 Diabetes, I knew I had to change my habits, which led me to change my lifestyle and end up losing 50 pounds. That small tangent above is the motivation for what I want to do once I earn my degree. In America, there are 1/3 of the children population is overweight or obese. A lot of these issues spring from the lack of knowledge and resources on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. When I become a pediatrician, I want to be one of those influencers who spread this important information to help children who could have been in the predicaments that I used to be in. Alongside healthy practices, I would like to help kids with their mental health as well in situations like self-esteem so this future generation can have the inspiration to understand that they are wonderful, regardless of what others tell them. Through these methods, I hope my degree can help me leave a positive impact on the world by spreading information to improve the mental, emotional, and physical health of the next generation through the field of biochemistry sciences.

My next step in life is soon approaching me. After the mental and rigorous strain of working countless hours with the minimum sleep darkening my eyes , it is about to be worth it as I walk across the stage in May. What's even more exciting is that not only will I graduate, but I will also have to do a speech since I'm the class salutatorian. I am ecstatic about this moment not only because of my future as a biochemistry undergrad, but the hard work that led me to this point after the thundering nightmare of my school ethic because of the pandemic's harsh years. During my sophomore year, I chose digital learning to decrease my risk of catching Covid-19. Almost immediately, I noticed the difference in learning from my past nine years of school. For example, if I did not write my notes in time, I had no classmates to help me catch up, leaving me helpless. My relationship with teachers was non-existent since our only connection was through a screen with many others. Because of my shy demeanor, asking questions became nerve-racking and anxiety-inducing. Luckily one of my biggest gifts was my determination for making straight A's. However, my digital year caused me to make barely passing grades in classes such as Pre-Calculus and AP Chemistry. My grades went from their standard A's to B's and even low C's. I was broken as they dipped every week, begging that my parents would not notice until I could salvage them. Nevertheless, my fears smuggled me when my parents confronted me about my alarming grades, which became the tipping point that broke me down. I had felt despair in my soul that school year because I felt my gift for making good grades ceded to exist anymore. My main thought was" what was I even good at anymore if I could not even achieve what I was known for", this gave me feelings of worthlessness . This ended up plunging me into a prolonged era of pain and depression. Despite this, I rose and persevered to formulate a game plan to get my grades back to their standards. After this incident, I refused to leave the Zoom calls until my answers were met. If they were available, I stayed for tutoring sessions to understand the material or search online for study materials to boost my grades to my potential. I decided to apply a growth mindset to my problems by acknowledging that failure was going to happen, but I could not let that control or ruin my life. I used the persistence I always had in academics and worked continuous hours after school until I understood the material. At the end of that challenging school year, I managed to maintain my 4.0 GPA while pulling my C average in AP Chemistry to a grade of 90. As I look back now, I still see my sophomore year as a beneficial experience. My failing grades opened my eyes and forced me to look failure in the face. As a result, I learned how to stay strong and overcome my weaknesses. So after I walk across that stage, I will use these lessons to get my undergraduate degree in biochemistry with honors. And after this new difficult challenge, I will keep on working until I get into med school, get my doctorate, and become a pediatrician after 12 extensive years. While my journey is uncertain and possibly rockier, I know that my strength and perseverance will lead me to be an exceptional student in school and in my future career!

Ever since I have been young, I have always had an enormous curiosity about the world around me. Matched with my interest, I have always had a solid determination to reach my highest potential in areas that I am passionate about. If I was extremely interested in a topic, I would ask anyone I could or find my answers by reading, which is one of my main hobbies. But since I was young, I always enjoyed helping individuals feel better; consequently, this characteristic about myself fueled my dream career to venture into the science field to become a pediatrician. The reason why I possess a strong interest in earning a STEM degree is to use my skills from my education pathway in biochemistry to help me reach the medical field. Because my dream career involves working with concepts such as diseases and human anatomy/health, I am very interested in science-related topics such as biology and chemistry. In biology subject, I was always curious about how living organisms functioned and how diseases like cancer and viruses can spread through disruptions in the cell signaling processes or genetic mutations. For the chemistry aspect, I have always been interested in how changing the basic structures of chemical structures can have different effects on the body through different types of medicines. So when I enroll in college next year, I hope to pursue these interests deeper once I start the track to study in the biochemistry field. However, the main reason I want to earn a degree in the STEM field has a huge correlation with how I want to make an impact on the world. Once I obtain my degree as an undergraduate student and go through medical school afterward, I plan to become a pediatrician to help out kids and adolescents. Besides my passion for helping others, I mainly want to work with adolescents to teach and educate them on health information I wished I had when I was younger. When I was younger, I had an obesity issue that spiked rapidly in middle school. I knew it was a problem that was causing a negative impact on my physical and mental health but never did anything to resolve the issue. However once my doctors told me that I was at risk for obtaining Type-2 Diabetes, I knew I had to change my habits, which led me to change my lifestyle and end up losing 50 pounds. That small tangent above is the motivation for what I want to do once I earn my degree. In America, there are 1/3 of the children population is overweight or obese. A lot of these issues spring from the lack of knowledge and resources on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. When I become a pediatrician, I want to be one of those influencers who spread this important information to help children who could have been in the predicaments that I used to be in. Alongside healthy practices, I would like to help kids with their mental health as well in situations like self-esteem so this future generation can have the inspiration to understand that they are wonderful, regardless of what others tell them. Through these methods, I hope my degree can help me leave a positive impact on the world by spreading information to improve the mental, emotional, and physical health of the next generation through the field of biochemistry sciences.