I am the result of an overcrowded city. My childhood memories are filled with the frustrations of standstill traffic, always seeming to be stuck on the first floor during a hurricane, and every story accumulated from having to walk to school where there are no real sidewalks. Most of my childhood has also been filled with piñata beatdowns, jumping off the trees, and the million games of tag I have played. As I continued to grow older, it was through these untroubled moments, juxtaposed by enduring obstacles, that I realized the impact infrastructure has on our daily lives, especially those who reside within the low-income neighborhoods of the inner city. If I could have chosen where I was born, however, I would not have picked anywhere else. My early exposure to these common urban challenges allowed me to garner an appreciation for the role civil engineers play in improving the quality of infrastructure, and thus, the environment. Civil engineering offers an opportunity to engage in all aspects of planning and constructing an infrastructure project to meet goals of development. Rising from the frustrations of my childhood, I am eager to contribute to projects like these, which tackle real-world issues such as traffic congestion, flood-prone areas, and poor walkability. Though I relate to the interdisciplinary approach of STEM through the environment of my upbringing, the field of STEM often negates key fundamentals of an interdisciplinary approach by overlooking the need to consider all different points of view–most notably the woman’s perspective. Whether directly or indirectly, women are excluded from the STEM field. In fact, according to a 2022 report from Data USA, only 17.1% of the over 400,000 civil engineers in the workforce are females. This study reflects persisting gender stereotypes, a work-life imbalance between career goals and societal expectations to handle family responsibilities, and, most significantly, the lack of female mentors present in the field. Under this concern, I am already making an impact on the STEM field by existing as an outlier in an engineering ecosystem dominated by men. Yet, there is still a significant need for greater influence toward young girls who wish to accomplish careers in STEM. I intend to give back to my community in this regard by implementing a summer internship program for high school girls in the Greater Houston area to work alongside engineers and medical professionals from various subfields. My goal is to eventually expand the program to assist at least 750 girls per year, all of whom nominated by a female educator or counselor at their high school. By pursuing civil engineering, I hope to not only provide solutions that resolve the immediate problems faced by my community and similar others, but also provide a long-lasting urban development that young girls will be influenced by. This blend of problem-solving, creativity, and advanced math skills needed for pursuit of this career aligns perfectly with my strengths and qualities. It is not in spite, but in virtue of a disadvantaged upbringing that I have learned the value of self-discipline and setting goals that will change the begotten circumstances of another. Consequently, it is my hope that these interdisciplinary principles of STEM, along with the inclusion of all perspectives in the society affected, will be evenly employed throughout the field in the fullness of time.

I am the result of an overcrowded city. My childhood memories are filled with the frustrations of standstill traffic, always seeming to be stuck on the first floor during a hurricane, and every story accumulated from having to walk to school where there are no real sidewalks. Most of my childhood has also been filled with piñata beatdowns, jumping off the trees, and the million games of tag I have played. As I continued to grow older, it was through these untroubled moments, juxtaposed by enduring obstacles, that I realized the impact infrastructure has on our daily lives, especially those who reside within the low-income neighborhoods of the inner city. If I could have chosen where I was born, however, I would not have picked anywhere else. My early exposure to these common urban challenges allowed me to garner an appreciation for the role civil engineers play in improving the quality of infrastructure, and thus, the environment. Civil engineering offers an opportunity to engage in all aspects of planning and constructing an infrastructure project to meet goals of development. Rising from the frustrations of my childhood, I am eager to contribute to projects like these, which tackle real-world issues such as traffic congestion, flood-prone areas, and poor walkability. Though I relate to the interdisciplinary approach of STEM through the environment of my upbringing, the field of STEM often negates key fundamentals of an interdisciplinary approach by overlooking the need to consider all different points of view–most notably the woman’s perspective. Whether directly or indirectly, women are excluded from the STEM field. In fact, according to a 2022 report from Data USA, only 17.1% of the over 400,000 civil engineers in the workforce are females. This study reflects persisting gender stereotypes, a work-life imbalance between career goals and societal expectations to handle family responsibilities, and, most significantly, the lack of female mentors present in the field. Under this concern, I am already making an impact on the STEM field by existing as an outlier in an engineering ecosystem dominated by men. Yet, there is still a significant need for greater influence toward young girls who wish to accomplish careers in STEM. I intend to give back to my community in this regard by implementing a summer internship program for high school girls in the Greater Houston area to work alongside engineers and medical professionals from various subfields. My goal is to eventually expand the program to assist at least 750 girls per year, all of whom nominated by a female educator or counselor at their high school. By pursuing civil engineering, I hope to not only provide solutions that resolve the immediate problems faced by my community and similar others, but also provide a long-lasting urban development that young girls will be influenced by. This blend of problem-solving, creativity, and advanced math skills needed for pursuit of this career aligns perfectly with my strengths and qualities. It is not in spite, but in virtue of a disadvantaged upbringing that I have learned the value of self-discipline and setting goals that will change the begotten circumstances of another. Consequently, it is my hope that these interdisciplinary principles of STEM, along with the inclusion of all perspectives in the society affected, will be evenly employed throughout the field in the fullness of time.

It would seem that children contain a special affinity for dismantling whatever they can pry their unfledged, vernal hands on. From a pen stolen off the ground to wall clocks to Mr. Potato Head toys, children become readily curious over the most forgotten objects in human life. The youngest minds alive take the strongest interest in understanding the world, yet we often negate these early tell-tale signs of intrinsic curiosity as the erraticisms of a toddler too indisciplined to practice self-control. By this thought process of our collective society, billions of us lose the opportunity to cohesively understand the nature of our universe in favor of rallying against the minds that first question its importance. Curiosity is the driving force behind human progress to understand the nature of the universe, and by investing in research and development and fostering collaboration across disciplines, we can deepen our understanding of the universe while inspiring future generations to explore the mysteries of our existence. The innate nature of children to question even the ordinary demonstrates how curiosity is fundamental to the human psyche. For children, the compulsion to reverse engineer all that is available can be tied to their unique perspective: a burgeoning new world. After all, who else but a kindergartener on their first school field trip will find the spotted fur of a leopard or the arms of a gorilla as the most fascinating phenomenon since the all-elusive refrigerator light? As the length of time diminishes the novelty of new stimuli like meeting zoo animals for the first time, having not yet experienced time in this manner is what prompts children to react so fervently to new ideas and the new questions they arouse—such as the universal thought of “Why do we exist?” that we can all remember keeping us up on dark, isolated nights. But childhood has never been known to be the death of all curiosity. As early as human records date back to, there has always been a collective interest in the mysteries of the cosmic beyond. Determining the truth behind these universal questions is, thus, what pushes a generational drive to exceed the knowledge available to the prior generation. As for all generations of the human race, we have always been able to enjoy the view of a starry night since our modern race actualized in the Cenozoic Era. However, the scale by which these little lights in the grander midnight sky truly took up in comparison to our Earth was never understood until the invention of the telescope. In a series of understatements: the size of stars is colossal, their brilliance enough to blind tens of thousands of men at once, their energy over 40,000 degrees Celsius, and their age within the universe far exceeds the dawn of the Earth in the Archean Eon. Yet, it is amusing to think that there had once been an age in human history when seemingly common knowledge was just as amusing to think true. One avid practitioner of the telescope was Galileo Galilei. In addition to discovering the stars constructing the constellations Orion and Taurus, Galileo is most notable for proving the heliocentric model to be correct in 1610. Before the early seventeenth century, a geocentric model supported by the Catholic Church prevailed in which the Earth is at the center of the universe and all else revolves around our planet. For the “father of modern astronomy,” his rebellious drive to validate the earlier theory that the Earth instead revolves around a greater body—the Sun—allowed later scientists to accurately estimate the position of other celestial bodies. After the establishment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the midst of the Cold War, physicists used advanced propulsion systems to launch the first artificial Earth satellite Sputnik, send Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the moon, and create conventional spacecraft for future explorations of outer space. This technology has since been refined to use more efficient energies such as solar arrays and nuclear reactors to create the exosphere-breaking thrust. Through each of these well-known historical events, not only has new general knowledge been added into the core curriculum of schoolchildren across the globe, but fuel to ignite the minds of the next technological giants has also been dispersed to those yet-to-be-known names. It is significant to note here that curiosity has spurred every one of these listed innovations and more. Interestingly, modern research in the field of neuroscience has discovered that curiosity is not an entirely fixed attribute but rather can be nurtured and developed. This indicates that we should not merely rely on the genius of a single individual to goad the rest into accepting fundamental truths of the nature of the universe, but that the human race should collectively participate in driving the enkindling curiosity of others. Furthermore, it would be nearly impossible to find a single person on this Earth who disagrees that the inventions and ideas mentioned above have not advanced modern society. Alas, there appears to be an ongoing brain drain in progressive innovations such as these. For subsequent generations to likewise realize an inherent goal to continue advancing human understanding of the universe, game-changing technologies and information of new discoveries needs to be abundant. A key player in this pursuit for a legitimate legacy will be research and development—otherwise referred to as R&D. R&D is the set of expenses and innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or projects. Without it, there would be no guidance as to how to successfully implement realistic and efficient goals into the global community. Before undertaking a more productive R&D sector, the value we must first understand is that of scarcity; we will never have enough to innovate everything we want. Some limits may be tied to restraints proven by the field of theoretical physics, such as the infinite amount of energy required to thrust an object into light speed, but some limits are simply determined by a defined monetary base, one which will never parallel the infinite number of ideas we wish to explore. To expand on the finite opportunities we do have, however, we turn to grants from the R&D sector. For this to happen, there needs to be a clearly defined federal budget in each industrialized and developing nation. Strong research proposals that are widely available to the general public will also be of key importance in creating a global atmosphere in which everyone feels a democratic responsibility to comprehend the extent and influence of the universe. These strands of a new concept found in research proposals can thus be petitioned in favor of to the government and other authoritative institutions to show that there is public interest in creating the new common knowledge—even if only to hearken back to the early years of one’s life when the discovery of those small cylindrical sticks hidden beneath the eraser of a mechanical pencil could make one’s whole day. By this use of the freedom of speech, our society would be able to easily acknowledge a profound dream in determining the “Why?” in addition to actualizing more fields of research than ever before. While technological progress often arises from isolated genius, history repeatedly shows that the greatest achievements come from collaborative efforts spanning diverse perspectives and expertise, including both science and the arts. This principle is most notably seen in the operation of the International Space Station (ISS). In stark contrast to the Cold War ideologies that once divided nations, the ISS represents a monumental triumph of international unity—bound by gravity or not. Through joint projects ranging from biological studies in microgravity to advanced radiocommunications. teams consisting of over a dozen countries highlight the shared human desire to understand the cosmos. Philosophy, too, plays a vital role in these efforts. By understanding questions like “Why do we seek to know more?” or “What responsibilities do we bear in our explorations?” philosophers guide the direction of innovation to ensure it remains aligned with humanistic values. Thinkers like Jules Verne and Carl Sagan inspired generations to dream beyond Earth, while films such as Interstellar and The Martian have grounded these dreams in plausible futures. Cooperation among the talents above as well as many others will be crucial to forming an ecosystem of creativity and inquiry that fuels discovery. From Galileo’s telescope to the modern-day International Space Station, collaboration across disciplines—science, philosophy, art, and engineering—has shown us the immense power of collective ingenuity in understanding our universe. We must nurture curiosity as a dynamic and transformative force, emphasizing the need for research and development and interdisciplinary engagement. By doing so, we not only advance technological frontiers but also enrich our understanding of what it means to exist in a vast, interconnected cosmos. So, if we have the ability to manifest the minds of children who seek to understand all that surrounds them, then we also contain the ability to unravel the unbounded mysteries of the universe.

The ability to sleep for hours on end. Neglecting exercise. Coming to understand each new day as solely a routine. These are just some memories that many can relate to. For me, I experienced many of these derivative habits as I was struggling to succeed in my college calculus class. I had always been a math-oriented person, yet, for the first time in my life, there evolved a particular dread to simple activities like opening a calculator or talking about my classes with friends. Even the sight of someone I recognized from that class felt like a reminder of my growing anxiety and frustration with falling behind. To stay awake, I drank coffee with far too many spoonfuls of Folgers than my mom recommended. I took math early in the morning, and though the caffeine helped me to stay physically present in class, my mind often drifted into a haze of worry, not unlike a dream sequence one hardly remembers once they’ve woken up. Three courses of calculus are required to graduate with a Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering—I knew that—and there was nothing that would change my career path. But even my own friends at the time called me Type A for taking the class, being one of only four girls in the class, and being an outcast before I even stepped foot inside the classroom. To keep my energy, I drank even more coffee after school and forced myself to go on a mile run. I thought pushing myself physically would clear my mind. (After all, that is what all my friends who like to run said.) I thought keeping myself active in this simple way would uncover my optimism for life. I thought I was making up for the past eight hours of sitting up and down. (After all, any difference I make in my community will only be augmented by the education I receive while in school.) But to renew my mindset, there was no amount of coffee that could truly address what I was facing: burnout. I needed to find balance—not just force myself through the motions that might find balance. While I found ways to give myself temporary relief from school, I learned that no amount of caffeine or exercise could substitute for genuine rest and recovery. There are not many other circumstances, if any, that can inhibit academic performance and personal life more than a lack of motivation. Being in poor mental health does not mean casting a nihilistic outlook on all areas of life; it means failing to acknowledge when something needs to change. It means falling into a loophole—much like that of the everyday caffeine addict, drinking coffee as a way of functioning rather than as a method of enjoyment. That’s when I started focusing on small, deliberate habits to support my mental health. I made sleep non-negotiable and oversleeping a swear word. I set realistic bedtimes, between six and eight hours, even when exams loomed the next day or when I still felt the energy to complete more homework. By doing so, I felt confident enough to skip coffee some mornings in favor of other breakfast drinks. Instead of running outside, I moved my exercise indoors, running in place for five minutes when I felt that I needed the movement. Waking up to my dream career years from now, when it’s my priority to construct the schools that young girls like me will attend, I want for life to be different in little ways like this everyday—maybe even slipping hot cocoa in my coffee one day, and just enjoying the taste.

I have always been an urban resident in the overcrowded city of Houston, Texas. Many of my childhood memories are filled with the inconveniences of standstill traffic, always seeming to be stuck on the first floor during a hurricane, and the stories I have accumulated from walking through unsafe conditions. Most of my childhood has also been a collage of piñata beatdowns, jumping off the highest branches of trees, and the million games of tag I have played. As I continued to grow older, it was through these untroubled moments juxtaposed by enduring obstacles that I began to realize the impact infrastructure has on our daily lives, which has only fueled my desire to be part of the solution. My dream is to major in civil engineering at the University of Texas at Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering. But while I can be confident that I meet certain requirements such as calculus readiness, a submitted high school transcript, and an overall academic excellence, I still remain uncertain whether I will have enough to pay for the university experience. My ambition to learn at the #8 U.S. ranked undergraduate program for civil engineers will not dissipate, however, so it has become my personal responsibility as a student to relieve the financial anxieties felt by myself and my family. One way students like me can ease this burden is by receiving scholarships, and it is that reward to having earned a scholarship that infallibly yields the connection toward a greater world outside of one's own, the freedom to focus entirely on learning, and the confidence to pursue dreams fearlessly. Receiving the Bright Lights scholarship serves as a stepping stone toward surpassing one obstacle on the rocky path toward my long-term endeavor of serving my community as a sustainable civil engineer. That path includes securing an entry-level position with firms specializing in urban infrastructure, passing the Fundamentals of Engineering exam to become licensed, and ultimately building a stronger public transit system within my community and others. The achievement of this scholarship, in turn, creates opportunities for me to connect with other recipients for the chance to expand my social network. Through the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), I plan to expand this professional network even further. As a matter of fact, my ambitions do not whittle out at the matriculation into the University of Texas, but ignite. My early exposure to common urban challenges allowed me to garner an appreciation for the role civil engineers play in improving the quality of infrastructure, and thus, the environment. Civil engineering offers an opportunity to engage in all aspects of planning, designing, and constructing an infrastructure project within feasible limits, and I am eager to contribute to projects like these, which tackle real-world issues such as traffic congestion, flood-prone areas, and poor walkability. The blend of problem-solving, thermodynamics and mechanical physics, and advanced math skills needed for pursuit of this career aligns perfectly with my strengths and qualities, and I truly believe I can make a lasting impact by improving the very environment that shapes our everyday lives. But I cannot achieve this goal solely on my own. The Bright Lights scholarship would not only provide monetary relief toward achieving my goals, but the expanded opportunity to fully immerse myself at the school of my choice and the growth to achieve my dream career.

I have always been an urban resident in the overcrowded city of Houston, Texas. Many of my childhood memories are filled with the inconveniences of standstill traffic, always seeming to be stuck on the first floor during a hurricane, and the stories I have accumulated from walking through unsafe conditions. Most of my childhood has also been a collage of piñata beatdowns, jumping off the highest branches of trees, and the million games of tag I have played. As I continued to grow older, it was through these untroubled moments juxtaposed by enduring obstacles that I began to realize the impact infrastructure has on our daily lives, which has only fueled my desire to be part of the solution. My dream is to major in civil engineering at the University of Texas at Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering. But while I can be confident that I meet certain requirements such as calculus readiness, a submitted high school transcript, and an overall academic excellence, I still remain uncertain whether I will have enough to pay for the university experience. My ambition to learn at the #8 U.S. ranked undergraduate program for civil engineers will not dissipate, however, so it has become my personal responsibility as a student to relieve the financial anxieties felt by myself and my family. One way students like me can ease this burden is by receiving scholarships, and it is that reward to having earned a scholarship that infallibly yields the connection toward a greater world outside of one's own, the freedom to focus entirely on learning, and the confidence to pursue dreams fearlessly. Receiving a scholarship from the Kumar Family serves as a stepping stone toward surpassing one obstacle on the rocky path toward my long-term endeavor of serving my community as a sustainable civil engineer. That path includes securing an entry-level position with firms specializing in urban infrastructure, passing the Fundamentals of Engineering exam to become licensed, and ultimately building a stronger public transit system within my community and others. The achievement of this scholarship, in turn, creates opportunities for me to connect with other recipients for the chance to expand my social network. Through the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), I plan to expand this professional network even further. As a matter of fact, my ambitions do not whittle out at the matriculation into the University of Texas, but ignite. My early exposure to common urban challenges allowed me to garner an appreciation for the role civil engineers play in improving the quality of infrastructure, and thus, the environment. Civil engineering offers an opportunity to engage in all aspects of planning, designing, and constructing an infrastructure project within feasible limits, and I am eager to contribute to projects like these, which tackle real-world issues such as traffic congestion, flood-prone areas, and poor walkability. The blend of problem-solving, thermodynamics and mechanical physics, and advanced math skills needed for pursuit of this career aligns perfectly with my strengths and qualities, and I truly believe I can make a lasting impact by improving the very environment that shapes our everyday lives. But I cannot achieve this goal solely on my own. The Kumar Family scholarship would not only provide monetary relief toward achieving my goals, but the expanded opportunity to fully immerse myself at the school of my choice and the growth to achieve my dream career.

I have always been an urban resident in the overcrowded city of Houston, Texas. Many of my childhood memories are filled with the inconveniences of standstill traffic, always seeming to be stuck on the first floor during a hurricane, and the stories I have accumulated from walking through unsafe conditions. Most of my childhood has also been a collage of piñata beatdowns, jumping off the highest branches of trees, and the million games of tag I have played. As I continued to grow older, it was through these untroubled moments juxtaposed by enduring obstacles that I began to realize the impact infrastructure has on our daily lives, which has only fueled my desire to be part of the solution. My dream is to major in civil engineering at the University of Texas at Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering. But while I can be confident that I meet certain requirements such as calculus readiness, a submitted high school transcript, and an overall academic excellence, I still remain uncertain whether I will have enough to pay for the university experience. My ambition to learn at the #8 U.S. ranked undergraduate program for civil engineers will not dissipate, however, so it has become my personal responsibility as a student to relieve the financial anxieties felt by myself and my family. One way students like me can ease this burden is by receiving scholarships, and it is that reward to having earned a scholarship that infallibly yields the connection toward a greater world outside of one's own, the freedom to focus entirely on learning, and the confidence to pursue dreams fearlessly. Receiving a scholarship from the Kalia D. Davis Memorial serves as a stepping stone toward surpassing one obstacle on the rocky path toward my long-term endeavor of serving my community as a sustainable civil engineer. That path includes securing an entry-level position with firms specializing in urban infrastructure, passing the Fundamentals of Engineering exam to become licensed, and ultimately building a stronger public transit system within my community and others. The achievement of this scholarship, in turn, creates opportunities for me to connect with other recipients for the chance to expand my social network. Through the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), I plan to expand this professional network even further. As a matter of fact, my ambitions do not whittle out at the matriculation into the University of Texas, but ignite. My early exposure to common urban challenges allowed me to garner an appreciation for the role civil engineers play in improving the quality of infrastructure, and thus, the environment. Civil engineering offers an opportunity to engage in all aspects of planning, designing, and constructing an infrastructure project within feasible limits, and I am eager to contribute to projects like these, which tackle real-world issues such as traffic congestion, flood-prone areas, and poor walkability. The blend of problem-solving, thermodynamics and mechanical physics, and advanced math skills needed for pursuit of this career aligns perfectly with my strengths and qualities, and I truly believe I can make a lasting impact by improving the very environment that shapes our everyday lives. But I cannot achieve this goal solely on my own. The Kalia D. Davis Memorial scholarship would not only provide monetary relief toward achieving my goals, but the expanded opportunity to fully immerse myself at the school of my choice and the growth to achieve my dream career.

I have always been an urban resident in the overcrowded city of Houston, Texas. Many of my childhood memories are filled with the inconveniences of standstill traffic, always seeming to be stuck on the first floor during a hurricane, and the stories I have accumulated from walking through unsafe conditions. Most of my childhood has also been a collage of piñata beatdowns, jumping off the highest trees, and the million games of tag I have played. As I continued to grow older, it was through these untroubled moments juxtaposed by enduring obstacles that I realized the impact infrastructure has on our daily lives, which only fueled my desire to be part of the solution. If I could have chosen where I was born, however, I would not have picked a different hometown than Houston. My early exposure to these common urban challenges allowed me to garner an appreciation for the role civil engineers play in improving the quality of infrastructure, and thus, the environment. Civil engineering offers an opportunity to engage in all aspects of planning, designing, and constructing an infrastructure project within feasible limits. I am eager to contribute to projects like these, which tackle real-world issues such as traffic congestion, flood-prone areas, and poor walkability. Though I relate to the interdisciplinary approach of STEM because of my unconscious reliance on calculus, mechanical physics, and spatial awareness in my everyday world, the field of STEM often negates key fundamentals of an interdisciplinary approach by overlooking the need to consider all different points of view–most notably the woman’s perspective. Whether directly or indirectly, women are excluded from the STEM field. In fact, according to a 2022 report from Data USA, only 17.1% of the over 400,000 civil engineers in the workforce are females. This study reflects persisting gender stereotypes, a work-life imbalance between career goals and societal expectations to handle family responsibilities, and, most significantly, the lack of female mentors present in the field. Under this concern, I am already making an impact on the STEM field by existing as an outlier in an engineering ecosystem dominated by men. Yet, there is still a significant need to contribute a greater influence toward young girls to feel confident pursuing careers in the STEM field because the lack of female leaders yields a continuing lack of girls who pursue careers in the STEM field, which leads to the chronic loop of critically few females occupying STEM leadership positions. I intend to give back to my community in this regard by implementing a summer internship program for high school girls in the Greater Houston area to work alongside engineers and medical professionals from various subfields. My goal is to eventually expand the program to assist at least 250 girls per year, all of whom nominated by a female educator or counselor at their high school. By pursuing civil engineering, I hope to not only provide solutions that resolve the immediate problems faced by my community and similar others, but also provide a long-lasting urban development that young girls will be influenced by. This blend of problem-solving, creativity, and advanced math skills needed for pursuit of this career aligns perfectly with my strengths and qualities. It is my hope that these interdisciplinary principles of STEM, along with the inclusion of all perspectives in the society affected, will be evenly employed throughout the field in the fullness of time.

I have always been an urban resident in the overcrowded city of Houston, Texas. Many of my childhood memories are filled with the inconveniences of standstill traffic, always seeming to be stuck on the first floor during a hurricane, and the stories I have accumulated from walking through unsafe conditions. Most of my childhood has also been a collage of piñata beatdowns, jumping off the highest branches of trees, and the million games of tag I have played. As I continued to grow older, it was through these untroubled moments juxtaposed by enduring obstacles that I began to realize the impact infrastructure has on our daily lives, which has only fueled my desire to be part of the solution. My dream is to major in civil engineering at the University of Texas at Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering. But while I can be confident that I meet certain requirements such as calculus readiness, a submitted high school transcript, and an overall academic excellence, I still remain uncertain whether I will have enough to pay for the university experience. My ambition to learn at the #8 U.S. ranked undergraduate program for civil engineers will not dissipate, however, so it has become my personal responsibility as a student to relieve the financial anxieties felt by myself and my family. One way students like me can ease this burden is by receiving scholarships, and it is that reward to having earned a scholarship that infallibly yields the connection toward a greater world outside of one's own, the freedom to focus entirely on learning, and the confidence to pursue dreams fearlessly. Receiving the One Chance scholarship serves as a stepping stone toward surpassing one obstacle on the rocky path toward my long-term endeavor of serving my community as a sustainable civil engineer. That path includes securing an entry-level position with firms specializing in urban infrastructure, passing the Fundamentals of Engineering exam to become licensed, and ultimately building a stronger public transit system within my community and others. The achievement of this scholarship, in turn, creates opportunities for me to connect with other recipients for the chance to expand my social network. Through the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), I plan to expand this professional network even further. As a matter of fact, my ambitions do not whittle out at the matriculation into the University of Texas, but ignite. My early exposure to common urban challenges allowed me to garner an appreciation for the role civil engineers play in improving the quality of infrastructure, and thus, the environment. Civil engineering offers an opportunity to engage in all aspects of planning, designing, and constructing an infrastructure project within feasible limits, and I am eager to contribute to projects like these, which tackle real-world issues such as traffic congestion, flood-prone areas, and poor walkability. The blend of problem-solving, thermodynamics and mechanical physics, and advanced math skills needed for pursuit of this career aligns perfectly with my strengths and qualities, and I truly believe I can make a lasting impact by improving the very environment that shapes our everyday lives. But I cannot achieve this goal solely on my own. The One Chance scholarship would not only provide monetary relief toward achieving my goals, but the expanded opportunity to fully immerse myself at the school of my choice and the growth to achieve my dream career.

I have always been an urban resident in the overcrowded city of Houston, Texas. Many of my childhood memories are filled with the inconveniences of standstill traffic, always seeming to be stuck on the first floor during a hurricane, and the stories I have accumulated from walking through unsafe conditions. Most of my childhood has also been a collage of piñata beatdowns, jumping off the highest branches of trees, and the million games of tag I have played. As I continued to grow older, it was through these untroubled moments juxtaposed by enduring obstacles that I began to realize the impact infrastructure has on our daily lives, which has only fueled my desire to be part of the solution. My dream is to major in civil engineering at the University of Texas at Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering. But while I can be confident that I meet certain requirements such as calculus readiness, a submitted high school transcript, and an overall academic excellence, I still remain uncertain whether I will have enough to pay for the university experience. My ambition to learn at the #8 U.S. ranked undergraduate program for civil engineers will not dissipate, however, so it has become my personal responsibility as a student to relieve the financial anxieties felt by myself and my family. One way students like me can ease this burden is by receiving scholarships, and it is that reward to having earned a scholarship that infallibly yields the connection toward a greater world outside of one's own, the freedom to focus entirely on learning, and the confidence to pursue dreams fearlessly. Receiving the Anthony B. Davis Scholarship serves as a stepping stone toward surpassing one obstacle on the rocky path toward my long-term endeavor of serving my community as a sustainable civil engineer. That path includes securing an entry-level position with firms specializing in urban infrastructure, passing the Fundamentals of Engineering exam to become licensed, and ultimately building a stronger public transit system within my community and others. The achievement of this scholarship, in turn, creates opportunities for me to connect with other recipients for the chance to expand my social network. Through the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), I plan to expand this professional network even further. As a matter of fact, my ambitions do not whittle out at the matriculation into the University of Texas, but ignite. My early exposure to common urban challenges allowed me to garner an appreciation for the role civil engineers play in improving the quality of infrastructure, and thus, the environment. Civil engineering offers an opportunity to engage in all aspects of planning, designing, and constructing an infrastructure project within feasible limits, and I am eager to contribute to projects like these, which tackle real-world issues such as traffic congestion, flood-prone areas, and poor walkability. The blend of problem-solving, thermodynamics and mechanical physics, and advanced math skills needed for pursuit of this career aligns perfectly with my strengths and qualities, and I truly believe I can make a lasting impact by improving the very environment that shapes our everyday lives. But I cannot achieve this goal solely on my own. The Anthony B. Davis scholarship would not only provide monetary relief toward achieving my goals, but the expanded opportunity to fully immerse myself at the school of my choice and the growth to achieve my dream career.

I have always been an urban resident in the overcrowded city of Houston, Texas. Many of my childhood memories are filled with the inconveniences of standstill traffic, always seeming to be stuck on the first floor during a hurricane, and the stories I have accumulated from walking through unsafe conditions. Most of my childhood has also been a collage of piñata beatdowns, jumping off the highest trees, and the million games of tag I have played. As I continued to grow older, it was through these untroubled moments juxtaposed by enduring obstacles that I realized the impact infrastructure has on our daily lives, which only fueled my desire to be part of the solution. If I could have chosen where I was born, however, I would not have picked a different hometown than Houston. My early exposure to these common urban challenges allowed me to garner an appreciation for the role civil engineers play in improving the quality of infrastructure, and thus, the environment. Civil engineering offers an opportunity to engage in all aspects of planning, designing, and constructing an infrastructure project within feasible limits. I am eager to contribute to projects like these, which tackle real-world issues such as traffic congestion, flood-prone areas, and poor walkability. Though I relate to the interdisciplinary approach of STEM because of my unconscious reliance on calculus, mechanical physics, and spatial awareness in my everyday world, the field of STEM often negates key fundamentals of an interdisciplinary approach by overlooking the need to consider all different points of view–most notably the woman’s perspective. Whether directly or indirectly, women are excluded from the STEM field. In fact, according to a 2022 report from Data USA, only 17.1% of the over 400,000 civil engineers in the workforce are females. This study reflects persisting gender stereotypes, a work-life imbalance between career goals and societal expectations to handle family responsibilities, and, most significantly, the lack of female mentors present in the field. Under this concern, I am already making an impact on the STEM field by existing as an outlier in an engineering ecosystem dominated by men. Yet, there is still a significant need to contribute a greater influence toward young girls to feel confident pursuing careers in the STEM field because the lack of female leaders yields a continuing lack of girls who pursue careers in the STEM field, which leads to the chronic loop of critically few females occupying STEM leadership positions. I intend to give back to my community in this regard by implementing a summer internship program for high school girls in the Greater Houston area to work alongside engineers and medical professionals from various subfields. My goal is to eventually expand the program to assist at least 250 girls per year, all of whom nominated by a female educator or counselor at their high school. By pursuing civil engineering, I hope to not only provide solutions that resolve the immediate problems faced by my community and similar others, but also provide a long-lasting urban development that young girls will be influenced by. This blend of problem-solving, creativity, and advanced math skills needed for pursuit of this career aligns perfectly with my strengths and qualities. It is my hope that these interdisciplinary principles of STEM, along with the inclusion of all perspectives in the society affected, will be evenly employed throughout the field in the fullness of time.

I have always been an urban resident in the overcrowded city of Houston, Texas. Many of my childhood memories are filled with the inconveniences of standstill traffic, always seeming to be stuck on the first floor during a hurricane, and the stories I have accumulated from walking through unsafe conditions. Most of my childhood has also been a collage of piñata beatdowns, jumping off the highest trees, and the million games of tag I have played. As I continued to grow older, it was through these untroubled moments juxtaposed by enduring obstacles that I realized the impact infrastructure has on our daily lives, which only fueled my desire to be part of the solution. If I could have chosen where I was born, however, I would not have picked a different hometown than Houston. My early exposure to these common urban challenges allowed me to garner an appreciation for the role civil engineers play in improving the quality of infrastructure, and thus, the environment. Civil engineering offers an opportunity to engage in all aspects of planning, designing, and constructing an infrastructure project within feasible limits. I am eager to contribute to projects like these, which tackle real-world issues such as traffic congestion, flood-prone areas, and poor walkability. Though I relate to the interdisciplinary approach of STEM because of my unconscious reliance on calculus, mechanical physics, and spatial awareness in my everyday world, the field of STEM often negates key fundamentals of an interdisciplinary approach by overlooking the need to consider all different points of view–most notably the woman’s perspective. Whether directly or indirectly, women are excluded from the STEM field. In fact, according to a 2022 report from Data USA, only 17.1% of the over 400,000 civil engineers in the workforce are females. This study reflects persisting gender stereotypes, a work-life imbalance between career goals and societal expectations to handle family responsibilities, and, most significantly, the lack of female mentors present in the field. Under this concern, I am already making an impact on the STEM field by existing as an outlier in an engineering ecosystem dominated by men. Yet, there is still a significant need to contribute a greater influence toward young girls to feel confident pursuing careers in the STEM field because the lack of female leaders yields a continuing lack of girls who pursue careers in the STEM field, which leads to the chronic loop of critically few females occupying STEM leadership positions. I intend to give back to my community in this regard by implementing a summer internship program for high school girls in the Greater Houston area to work alongside engineers and medical professionals from various subfields. My goal is to eventually expand the program to assist at least 250 girls per year, all of whom nominated by a female educator or counselor at their high school. By pursuing civil engineering, I hope to not only provide solutions that resolve the immediate problems faced by my community and similar others, but also provide a long-lasting urban development that young girls will be influenced by. This blend of problem-solving, creativity, and advanced math skills needed for pursuit of this career aligns perfectly with my strengths and qualities. It is my hope that these interdisciplinary principles of STEM, along with the inclusion of all perspectives in the society affected, will be evenly employed throughout the field in the fullness of time.

When I turn eighteen, I can vote, apply for credit cards, and rent an apartment, among other civic and legal rights. Another piece of young adulthood commonly tied to the new responsibilities of an eighteen-year-old is the step from a high school graduation ceremony to the first day of college. My dream is to major in Civil Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, and the ability to attend this college means learning real-world skills in a specialized field and gaining a maturing experience that I could not have received while in high school. Going to college serves as a stepping stone toward achieving my long-term endeavor of serving my community as a sustainable civil engineer. This path includes securing an entry-level position with firms that specialize in urban infrastructure, passing the Fundamentals of Engineering exam to become licensed, and ultimately building a stronger public transit system within my community and similar others. The achievement of graduating from an accredited university, consequently, creates opportunities for me to connect with other aspiring engineers for the chance to expand my social network. Through the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), I plan to expand this professional network even further. As a matter of fact, my ambitions do not whittle out at the matriculation into the University of Texas, but ignite. Despite the greater wealth of knowledge intrinsic to the college experience, a common misconception concerning the values of a college education is that all the education one will need in life ends at accumulating a certain number of credit hours and a diploma. This bleak understanding often leads some to believe that college is not worthwhile. And while shifting perspectives in the twenty-first century have highlighted a greater number of alternatives beyond the traditional route toward a college degree, such as attending a trade school or launching a start-up, there is nothing more unique than an environment that leads one to understand education as a never-ending journey. College is a maturing environment in this respect, one that signifies interactions with individuals who share similar passions, acquiring the discipline to work hard independently, and finally overcoming procrastination in life, whether inside or outside the classroom. Civil engineering offers an opportunity to engage in all aspects of planning, designing, and constructing an infrastructure project within feasible limits. I am eager to contribute to projects like these, which tackle real-world issues such as traffic congestion, flood-prone areas, and poor walkability. The blend of problem-solving, mechanical physics, and advanced math skills needed for the pursuit of this career aligns perfectly with my strengths and qualities, but I cannot achieve this goal solely on my own. I will need to earn an education at a post-secondary institution to develop many of the necessary skills necessary for success in my career field. Yet, despite the challenging barriers like the financial block necessary to achieve a college education, I believe I can accomplish a lasting impact in urban communities by improving the very environment that shapes our everyday lives.

I have always been an urban resident in the overcrowded city of Houston, Texas. Many of my childhood memories are filled with the inconveniences of standstill traffic, always seeming to be stuck on the first floor during a hurricane, and the stories I have accumulated from walking through unsafe conditions. Most of my childhood has also been a collage of piñata beatdowns, jumping off the highest branches of trees, and the million games of tag I have played. As I continued to grow older, it was through these untroubled moments juxtaposed by enduring obstacles that I began to realize the impact infrastructure and physics has on our daily lives, which has only fueled my desire to be part of the solution by pursuing an education in science and mathematics. My dream is to major in civil engineering at the University of Texas at Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering. But while I can be confident that I meet certain requirements such as calculus readiness, a submitted high school transcript, and an overall academic excellence, I still remain uncertain whether I will have enough to pay for the university experience. My ambition to learn at the #8 U.S. ranked undergraduate program for civil engineers will not dissipate, however, so it has become my personal responsibility as a student to relieve the financial anxieties felt by myself and my family. One way students like me can ease this burden is by receiving scholarships, and it is that reward to having earned a scholarship that infallibly yields the connection toward a greater world outside of one's own, the freedom to focus entirely on learning, and the confidence to pursue dreams fearlessly. Receiving a scholarship from the Hilliard L. “Tack” Gibbs Jr. Memorial serves as a stepping stone toward surpassing one obstacle on the rocky path toward my long-term endeavor of serving my community as a sustainable civil engineer. That path includes securing an entry-level position with firms that specialize in urban infrastructure, passing the Fundamentals of Engineering exam to become licensed, and ultimately building a stronger public transit system within my community and similar others. The achievement of this scholarship, in turn, creates opportunities for me to connect with other recipients for the chance to expand my social network. Through the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), I plan to expand this professional network even further. As a matter of fact, my ambitions do not whittle out at the matriculation into the University of Texas, but ignite. My early exposure to common urban challenges allowed me to garner an appreciation for the role civil engineers play in improving the quality of infrastructure, and thus, the environment. Civil engineering offers an opportunity to engage in all aspects of planning, designing, and constructing an infrastructure project within feasible limits, and I am eager to contribute to projects like these, which tackle real-world issues such as traffic congestion, flood-prone areas, and poor walkability. The blend of problem-solving, thermodynamics and mechanical physics, and advanced math skills needed for pursuit of this career aligns perfectly with my strengths and qualities, and I truly believe I can make a lasting impact by improving the very environment that shapes our everyday lives. But I cannot achieve this goal solely on my own. The Gibbs Jr. scholarship would not only provide monetary relief toward achieving my goals, but the expanded opportunity to fully immerse myself at the school of my choice and the growth to achieve my dream career.

I have always been an urban resident in the overcrowded city of Houston, Texas. Many of my childhood memories are filled with the inconveniences of standstill traffic, always seeming to be stuck on the first floor during a hurricane, and the stories I have accumulated from walking through unsafe conditions. Most of my childhood has also been a collage of piñata beatdowns, jumping off the highest trees, and the million games of tag I have played. As I continued to grow older, it was through these untroubled moments juxtaposed by enduring obstacles that I began to realize the impact infrastructure has on our daily lives, which only fueled my desire to be part of the solution. If I could have chosen where I was born, however, I would not have picked a different hometown than Houston. My early exposure to these common urban challenges allowed me to garner an appreciation for the role civil engineers play in improving the quality of infrastructure, and thus, the environment. Civil engineering offers an opportunity to engage in all aspects of planning, designing, and constructing an infrastructure project within feasible limits. I am eager to contribute to projects like these, which tackle real-world issues such as traffic congestion, flood-prone areas, and poor walkability. By pursuing civil engineering, I hope to not only provide solutions that resolve the immediate problems faced by my community and similar others, but also provide more equitable and long-lasting urban development. The blend of problem-solving, creativity, and advanced math skills needed for pursuit of this career aligns perfectly with my strengths and qualities, and I believe I can make a lasting impact on others today and in the next generation by improving the very environment that shapes our everyday lives.

My childhood is filled with the memories of birthday parties adorned by comically large piñatas, watching the streetlights from my mom's car at night as if they were stars within our atmosphere, and the ever-existing construction projects I never saw finished. When I was in elementary school, I spent a daily commute of forty-five minutes in standstill traffic on the I-45 highway because of a $9 billion project, which kept two major lanes closed for a total of five years. I made my mom play word games with me those mornings when the sun rose; I read words I couldn't pronounce off the billboards that never zoomed past us on the road with a 60 mile per hour speed limit, and she found license plates with the same letters. Sometimes I would draw the downtown Houston skyline, and eventually I became more fixated on my blue and purple crayons than the billboard ads for accident attorneys. I have always loved my city, but I will never forget the years of inconvenience that fostered my adoration for the urban environment. After starting middle school, the bus dropped me off at the busiest four-way intersection, not far from the frontage road outside my neighborhood, where there were no sidewalks on either side. This was around the time in my life when I became obsessed with long rock ballads like "Hotel California" and "American Pie," learning all the lyrics so that I could recite them while trekking home on the only small slip of grass I felt safe to walk on. I skipped a grade of math and took the Algebra STAAR before I made it to high school. I fixed up a bike that I found off the street, so I could belch more out-of-tune rock songs along the busy streets where no one would hear me. But most importantly, the years of middle school are when I decided what I wanted to be when I grew up. I can't imagine another kid like me having to grow up in the monotony of commuter traffic or needing to rely on an inconsistent school bus to get to the places that every kid must go. I learned to value these memories of my childhood because routine is easy to appreciate, but I don't treasure knowing now that I did not have to grow up in an environment as car-centric as the gray downtown of one of the most diverse cities in the United States. I know that Houston, among other major cities like my own, can do better. I was never any good at drawing, but I have taken much time and study to advance my upper level math skills. For this reason, among many other of my childhood memories formed by the overly-polluted city I call home, I aspire to become a civil engineer and to finally do something about those memories. I don't believe that the modern day needs to cast its eyes down on public transportation or simpler methods of moving from one point to another, such as walking and biking. As a civil engineer, I would make definite that construction projects in my area have a purpose in reducing Houston's carbon footprint on the Earth and strain on its traffic-taxed citizens. The number of pedestrian accidents and deaths can be lowered through accessible sidewalks and a sustained overall walkability. Train and Metro schedules can be publicized to a greater degree, and I know that all of this is possible should I take the opportunity to educate myself in the how-to. Should I decide that I will make a change.