The movie I, Robot, will forever have a predominant impact on my life. I was awe-struck as to how people could make robots, and then those robots could end up helping people. My dad would say to me, “One day, that will all be a reality.” As a child, all I wanted to talk about and see more of, was robots. Because my dad worked in the tech industry, he would go to business conferences like Artificial Intelligence (AI) World, Predictive Analytics World, and MicroStrategy World, where he would bring souvenirs and stories related to AI demos. This stimulated my curiosity and gave rise to thousands of questions as to how AI actually works and, ultimately, how it could positively serve people on a larger scale. The more I learned how AI revolutionized how we think, live, and interact, the more I wanted to see how I could be part of this movement. Visualizing very young what my own AI would look like, I quickly learned that to create my own AI, I would have to learn how to code. By eleven, I enrolled in beginner coding camps and then moved on to more challenging programming languages, such as Java and Python, and eventually an AI camp. When creating most software, a developer has to think about how it looks from the front end (what the user sees) and from the back end (how the code operates). When creating AI software, the developer has to create commands for collecting vast amounts of data and use skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving skills, sorting, analyzing, and ultimately making predictions. Because the camps were hands-on, I had a lot of brain exercises, such as the latter described, that opened up my critical thinking skills. For example, programming a Michael Scott chatbot took a lot of data processing from all The Office episodes to create his personality. Forging ahead, I excelled in all the STEM-related classes I could get my hands on in high school, which further solidified my foundation for an education in computer science. This coming school year, I plan on taking my coding skills to the next level by taking a C++ class where coding logic is taught in even more depth. A dream come true for me was being accepted into the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor because they have their own AI lab and extensive resources, a perfect environment to explore my passion for AI to create fruitful and innovative AI applications through strong collaborations with my teammates and professors. This will prepare me for an AI Engineer Master’s Program. I see myself thriving in groups with the utmost diversity, a community where people learn together, from each other, and have fun. I would also love to create an AI Mastermind club at U of M where anyone can discuss and learn about AI. This is how I envision creating my AI products that incorporate multiple perspectives that can appeal to anyone, just like a cell phone. Building a well-rounded programming portfolio from a young age is how I applied the habit of “beginning with an end in mind .”I trust that my steady investment in STEM education demonstrates my full commitment to this field and has proven that I am worthy of your scholarship. Winning this scholarship will contribute to my goal to put all my focus into studying and extracurricular activities and not dissipate my energy on working part-time to pay college tuition. I am grateful that I learned about your scholarship! Thank you so much for considering my application!

Rather than discussing toys as a child, my dad and I’s conversations revolved around the bigger picture: what the future holds regarding I.T. He would go to business conferences like AI World, Predictive Analytics World, and MicroStrategy World, where he would bring souvenirs and stories related to AI demos which stimulated my interest in all things STEM and its potential to serve people on a larger scale. Furthermore, it made me visualize what my own AI startup would look like and what products I could make. I quickly learned that to create my own AI, I would have to learn how to code. I started my programming journey when I was eleven with a Tkinter and Robotics camp with Sylvan. Before high school, I took a Java camp called ID Tech at the University of Michigan. In my sophomore year, I took AP Computer Science Principles that focused on JavaScript, and concomitantly I learned Python on my own. I also took AP Research my senior year, where I had the opportunity to write an official published scholarly paper. It also came with the option of creating your own project, whatever that may mean to the student. For example, I wrote about how AI has the potential to accurately predict the stock market. Besides the writing part, I went a step further and programmed my own software that attempts to accomplish this function. Building a well-rounded programming portfolio from a young age is how I applied the success habit “begin with an end in mind,” and for me that is to be a force of good in I.T. As a woman, I want to have the power to enact positive change in the world through AI. My vision is to advance my knowledge of AI and my programming/robotics skills. Ideally, I see myself working my way up by starting with an internship to getting a leading role at one of the bigger AI companies such as Google, Amazon, or Facebook or creating my own company that will become of a similar scale as those I aspire to. Winning this scholarship will contribute to my goal to put all my focus into studying and not dissipate my energy on working part-time to pay college tuition. In addition, because AI is advancing by the minute, it is critical that I get to apply my knowledge directly after I graduate because that is when the information will be most relevant. Rather than waiting a decade or two to pay student loans, with the Dynamic Edge scholarship, I will be one step closer to starting my innovations because all my job earnings will go to developing AI products and not student loans. With this, people can benefit from my AI softwares sooner before my knowledge and skills become obsolete. I am grateful that I learned about your scholarship! Thank you so much for considering my application!

The specialty Artificial Intelligence (AI) absolutely fascinates me because while it is a fast-expanding field of technology, it builds on itself and carries endless possibilities in the digital world, the medical, science, and education fields as well as becoming a game changer in our lifestyle. Because an AI program has the possibility to have most of the same functions of a human brain, it revolutionized the workplace as more and more automation is preferred by laborers in the last decade. Furthermore, AI has tremendous potential in the business world, specifically because it can help decision-makers predict and alert users on the most quantifiable decisions for their situation to, most importantly, using machine learning to learn on its own, yet again replacing the hard labor of humans making life easier and better for workers and business owners. Simplifying people's day-to-day tasks is not only a discipline and an art but it is becoming indispensable as we all get used to our daily comforts of our more relaxed lifestyle. Without being tied to tedious activities, society gains time to invest into living more consciously and enjoying activities of their liking rather than being consumed by mental and physical burdening tasks. These immense capabilities of AI are all awe-inspiring making our future in technology very promising. It is my vision to advance my knowledge of AI and my programming/robotics skills. Ideally, I see myself working my way up by starting with an internship to getting a leading role at one of the bigger AI companies such as IBM, Amazon, or Salesforce or creating my own company that will become of similar scale such as those I aspire to. I chose to apply to Elevate Women in Technology’s scholarship because you are passionate about empowering women in STEM and because you believe that women make excellent leaders. Because AI is advancing by the minute, it is critical that I get to apply my knowledge directly after I graduate because that is when my body of knowledge will be most relevant. Rather than waiting a decade or two to pay student loans, with the Elevate Women in Technology scholarship I will be one step closer to starting my own AI innovations and people can benefit sooner from the incredible benefits of AI. I am confident in my future innovations to make the world a better place. Thank you so much for considering my application!

The specialty Artificial Intelligence (AI) absolutely fascinates me because it is a fast-expanding field of technology. From writing a program that enables the AI to possibly have all the same functions as a human brain to bridging the gap between an analyst and data scientist to helping decision-makers predict and alert the user on the most quantifiable decisions for their situation to, most importantly, using machine learning to learn on its own, it's all awe-inspiring. These functions show that the possibilities are endless, something that can do anything and help anyone. Simplifying people's day-to-day tasks is not only a much-needed discipline but also an art made possible by the internet. All of this inspired me to study Computer Engineering with a minor in Robotics at the University of Michigan in the fall so that I may become an AI Engineer. I was fortunate enough to grow up with a father who works in the tech industry. For work, he would go to conferences like AI World, Predictive Analytics World, and more, where he would generously bring back souvenirs like books, pamphlets, information on AI startups, and stories of his own experiences related to AI. Our conversations revolved around the bigger picture, which stimulated my interest in AI and its potential to serve people on a large scale. Furthermore, it made me visualize what my own AI startup would look like and what products I could make. However, having all of this exposure didn't actually give me the steps I needed to take to create my own product, so when I was ten, I looked it up and found a STEM summer camp that was offered in my area with a local tutoring company. There, I learned how to code with blocks and robotics with Legos. The following summer, I moved on to a Java Programming Class at U of M. Soon after that I found an AI Camp! Here I got to be with more people like me, hungry to learn the exact steps to code in an efficient way. While many had been coding for much longer and had already created their own AI, this was my first time. Initially, their abundance of knowledge overwhelmed me, but this community is what ultimately sparked my dedication to the pursuit of my own AI products. Being in an environment with other AI passionate people where we bounced back ideas and techniques is what inspired and paved the way for my passion for AI. I am grateful that I learned about your scholarship! I chose to apply to Rho Brooks' scholarship because you are a woman promoting and supporting other women in the STEM workforce. I am also passionate about being of service; one day, I plan on walking in your footsteps to pay it forward to other young women in STEM in need of financial contribution as I am today from gracious supporters like you.