Required: My name is Ella Hamer. I am a senior at BASIS Scottsdale High School, a full-time Policy and Advocacy Intern at the Texas Association of Business, and an Ambassador Girl Scout after twelve years in the program. Through my college education studying mechanical engineering, I intend to improve the world by finding sustainable solutions to challenging problems, empowering girls to pursue STEM, and collaborating on a global scale to develop helpful technology. Technology offers incredible potential for solving pressing environmental problems. Potable water is central to economic, social, and educational stability. Committed to helping others access this necessity, I was introduced to engineering when I partnered with the inspiring nonprofit Innovation Africa, raising over $7000 to bring clean water to a Malawian village through solar technology. Today, Arizona, my home state, faces the first federally declared water shortage. In other words, I am no stranger to the urgency of protecting limited resources. It would be an honor to collaborate with peers during college, engineering solutions to water scarcity through research initiatives. I am also dedicated to closing the gender gap in STEM through empowering young women to pursue their scientific interests. Through Girl Scouts, I taught STEM to girls in an untraditional manner, focusing on educational activities and hands-on, artistic projects that encouraged immediately applying concepts. For example, while teaching chemistry at a local summer camp, I created a forensic science workshop centered on solving a mystery. In order to interpret evidence, girls applied concepts like chromatography and acid-base reactions and then drew conclusions. Additionally, I led multiple Girl Scout Robotics Badge workshops, allowing girls to fall in love with technology in a comfortable setting. By joining a campus chapter of the Society of Women Engineers, I would have the opportunity to connect with like-minded women during college. As an engineer, I plan to continue working directly with girls, teaching them STEM skills, and serving as a female role model. Finally, by combining entrepreneurial thinking with engineering on a global level, I intend to help people across the world. The changes that I want to influence– increasing access to clean water and closing the gender gap in STEM– reflect problems that exist worldwide. My Israeli-American dual citizenship motivates me to maintain a global perspective. Moreover, as a member of the “Start Up Nation,” my Israeli mindset pushes me to find the root of problems, develop creative solutions, and act quickly. Currently proficient in Hebrew and Spanish, I plan to speak fluently by the time I graduate college so that I can collaborate internationally to create the changes that I want to see. I especially hope to intern with Innovation Africa’s team of engineers. Studying abroad during college, I would love to experience the powerful combination of technology and entrepreneurship at Israel’s Technion or to explore the connections between environmental solutions and technology at la Universidad de Costa Rica. Even within my college campus, I will likely be exposed to a variety of valuable and diverse perspectives that will help me become a thoughtful engineer. Ultimately, I aim to be part of the change towards a sustainable world with gender parity in STEM. Majoring in mechanical engineering in college will allow me to immediately combat these global issues. I plan to use my education to improve the world, and college is the path towards that goal. 1) STEM and art are both forms of self-expression that I love to share. By combining these disciplines, I have helped girls develop confidence and hands-on skills. My Girl Scout troop organizes an annual day camp for our service unit. The camp involves a series of fun rotations, ranging from Sports to Mystery to Theater. During my first year, I immediately gravitated towards Science. I created a week of multi-level, exciting science demonstrations that allowed students to participate in experiments and work in teams. My campers were outstanding and clever, and many of them told me that Science was their favorite camp rotation. Nevertheless, I felt that I could do more to connect girls with STEM. The next year, a conversation with my Troop Leader convinced me to branch out of science. She revealed that no one had volunteered to teach Art, appealing to me as "the troop's artist" to take the lead. Being called artistic surprised me. Despite drawing, dabbling in special effects makeup, and decorating cakes, I never considered myself as an artist. I viewed myself as a future scientist or mathematician, so those activities– no matter how much I loved them– felt of little significance to my identity. However, excited to push myself, I agreed to lead Art. Planning the curriculum was a fun challenge. I needed to plan activities themed on distinct cultural mythologies that would interest a hundred kindergarteners to fifth graders. From helping girls fold origami to painting countless leaves gold, I realized what my previous Science classes were missing: constant, hands-on experiences and a flexible learning curve. Additionally, art– especially watercolor painting and charcoal sketching– developed into a cherished passion. Art provided the perfect avenue to allow girls to truly delve into STEM because of the affordable and safe materials. I combined my experience leading Art and Science to pioneer a new rotation, Robotics, which I led for Kindergarteners to eighth graders. Robotics blended technology and design. In addition to working with circuits and code, girls used their artistic skills to design robots, and they learned about biomimicry after taking artistic inspiration from nature. Depending on age level, girls constructed a prototype with recycled materials, built and decorated a walking pet “bristlebot," created and coded moving lego robots, or assembled a chassis using First Tech Challenge materials. In all classes, art made STEM accessible, allowing girls across experience and comfort levels to accomplish exciting feats, developing crucial confidence in their STEM skills. Through these STEM and art, I gained an appreciation for hands-on learning, inspiring me to major in mechanical engineering. I believe this field will satisfy my love for STEM and art.

When I was in preschool, my mother told me about her experience moving from Israel to the US in sixth grade. To catch up with peers, she memorized every word in the English dictionary. Her story molded my understanding of the pursuit of knowledge as a challenge well worth overcoming barriers and instilled in me the personal characteristic I value most: commitment to helping others receive the education that they deserve. Before the pandemic, I dedicated myself to increasing educational opportunities. For example, after noticing peers struggling with money management, I turned to advocacy to modify the education requirements for Arizona high schoolers. I learned of and testified for Senate Bill 1184, successfully establishing Financial Literacy and Personal Finance Management as mandatory units within the Economics half-credit high school graduation requirements. To help Arizonans across age groups, I testified on behalf of Senate Bill 1292, affording the Treasurer the responsibility and resources necessary to promote financial literacy. By the time that this bill passed in June 2020, the US was months into a global pandemic. COVID-19 made public service– previously a certainty in my life– a complicated challenge. Despite desiring to improve education, I needed to social-distance to protect my immunocompromised sister, meaning that my in-person efforts were paused indefinitely. Nevertheless, my education-centered mission did not waver. I realized that with the pandemic shifting many schools to the virtual realm, academic support was more important than ever, and the disproportionate effect of COVID-19 on vulnerable communities inspired me to focus on supporting underserved and underrepresented groups. Namely, a close friend grew up in the foster system and persisted in receiving a strong education despite instability in her living circumstances and other barriers. Committed to providing foster students with academic support, I began meeting with another peer to discuss solutions. Tutoring since my freshman year, I recommended creating a virtual tutoring program. Soon, I joined the founding team behind Foster Futures Together, a nonprofit that connects K-8th grade Arizona youth in foster care with free, online tutoring from high schoolers. Additionally, I combatted the gender gap in STEM by empowering girls in their science and technology skills. In the summer of 2020, I led a three-day, virtual forensics workshop for 2nd and 3rd grade girls centered on solving a mystery. To interpret evidence, girls applied concepts like chromatography and acid-base reactions before drawing conclusions. During the academic year, I collaborated with a Robotics team to lead virtual Robotics Badge Workshops for Girl Scout troops, and by the next summer, I prepared a week-long, social-distanced Robotics camp for K-8th girls, varying activities based on age and experience. I even moderated a booth at the Girl Scouts virtual STEM Festival. My work expanding educational opportunities is far from complete. I recently began a Girl Scout Gold Award Project developing STEM programs for girls, and in college I plan to continue increasing access to education. My most valued characteristic– my dedication to education– means that, in the future, I will continue securing exciting academic opportunities for all who desire to learn. This characteristic will also help me personally in college as I study mechanical engineering, a challenging and important field which requires genuine passion for applying knowledge. Whether I have to learn another language like my mother or work around a global pandemic, education warrants perseverance, so I am proud of my academic tenacity.