At ten years old, my father passed away from pancreatic cancer. My family just moved a few months earlier to a new state, Massachusetts, in hopes of moving closer to family and getting better choices for college. Everything, however, clearly did not go as planned. When my dad left us, my mom had to learn to raise four children by herself, and she did. My mom is my biggest supporter, and she always will be. Although I worked hard, my mom emphasized the importance and value of education. She did not simply enforce it because it would make me money, but rather, she allowed me to understand the impact it would have on my life’s trajectory. My mom explained how my ability to reason and problem-solve would not reach its potential without education. Being raised alongside three brothers, I have always been independent, and the loss of my dad enforced this. This meant that I believed I was equally capable as anyone else. Others, however, thought differently. Being a woman, I have dealt with situations where people couldn’t take me seriously. People treated my younger brother more seriously than me. I needed the education to prove my value in a room where others may not believe in me. If anyone doubted me, I had the strength of my educational background and outside knowledge to back up my beliefs and opinions. My mother made sure I knew this because she too had faced prejudice at my age. She understood how prone females were to limit their capabilities. She taught me that my value does not depend on anyone other than myself. I make my future. As long as I do my best, she would be proud, and I should be too. Similarly, she taught me more about the real world. Schools often lack the ability to teach basic financing. Since my dad’s death, my mom emphasized understanding finances. It expanded my education more than I would have projected. Knowing a little finance at a young age supported me in understanding adult conversations, giving me the chance to learn wisdom from the older generation. In addition, it allowed me to meet and connect with a plethora of people I would not have been able to otherwise. Most importantly, my mom helped me by providing time. I never went to a private school or paid tuition, but at the Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science, students need to find their own transportation to the school. If my mom had not provided me with the time to take extracurriculars and arrive at school, the difficulty of going there would increase immensely. Being at the school was the best educational decision I made, and my mom encouraged me. I had trouble deciding if I wanted to go. Going meant I left friendships and a school where I could be ranked highly. I can only credit her for the chance to go here. Her time with me also provided mental support when school got difficult. There were weeks when I practically lived in homework. During those weeks, she made emphasis on making sure I ate and slept, taking care of me as any mother would. She did this all while taking care of my other three brothers. My mom is my biggest supporter, role model, and therapist. She has taught me and supported me when I couldn’t do it myself.

The STEM major I am pursuing is Computer Science (CS). Although hesitant, after my first experience in a computer science class, I fell in love. It was the only class I took in my junior year where I truly felt the time pass by. It was frustrating, but after finishing my assignments in Computer Science, I kept looking for more. I wished my teacher would give us more work to fulfill my pure curiosity. CS opens a world of possibility and thinking. The logic required to code goes beyond being a language, and it can do the seemingly impossible; CS' power is controlled by the hands of its user, and because of this, its prevalence in society continues to snowball. It is the future as the world continues to rely on, at an alarming rate some would say, technology. It is starting to overtake jobs, such as cashiers and waitresses, but with more necessity, work on criminology and cybersecurity. In addition, computer science is flexible. Its presence is slowly touching every part of the world, including the other sciences and businesses. I have always had an interest in a plethora of subjects, which CS provides the flexibility to explore. I grow increasingly interested in environmental science, and how humans can reach a sustainable planet. I believe Computer science has a part in it. From the increased use of technology to finding ways to minimize human effects on the planet, computer science provides increased productivity and a new set of solutions. I have time to do more than science while also thinking like a true scientist by pursuing computer science. I can devote myself to the job, but I can travel, spend time with family, and expose myself to the arts. Naturally, my love for computer science and its alignment with my lifestyle make it my perfect major.

As a child, I never really liked math. I was always okay with it. It wasn’t THAT fun. It wasn't hard, and sure, it made the time pass. Other than that, it never really did much for me. But this soon changed. I went to a school centered around math and science, where most students there had been exposed to math theories from a young age but not me. Compared to the surrounding high schools, my sending school was a year or two behind. While some of my peers had come in with some background in calculus, all I had was geometry and algebra 2, and I was already a year ahead of other students. As I learned, I realized math was more than formulas and more than applications. Most schools don’t teach number theory. They don’t explain amicable numbers or pascal’s triangle. Amicable numbers made me love math. I remember when my teacher introduced it to me, explaining its beauty, but after a while, I did. The two numbers were made for each other. It definitely could be random with no explanation for the phenomena, but there is beauty in that too. There is never a true purpose to amicable numbers, and like many other things in math, it is simply about finding the pattern. That’s what makes it even more special. It exists for pure beauty rather than purpose. That’s true art. As much as I didn’t believe it as a kid, I now know, Math is art.

It’s junior year. I was finishing assignments on their due date and dealing with a neverending to-do list. Everything felt heavy. There was only one class, where I always seemed to finish the assignments earlier. I excitedly waited for our next–Computer Science. Before junior year, I had never known what I wanted to be, and after realizing how excited I got to code, I decided that was my path. I have had the wonderful opportunity to take college classes as a senior in high school. This has only opened my eyes to the possibilities of science. Computer science (CS) opens a world of possibility and thinking. The logic required to code goes beyond being a language, and it can do the seemingly impossible; CS' power is controlled by the hands of its user, and because of this, its prevalence in society continues to snowball. It is the future as the world continues to rely on, at an alarming rate some would say, technology. It is starting to overtake jobs, such as cashiers and waitresses, but with more necessity, work on criminology and cybersecurity. Science goes far beyond that. It dictates society. No part of society is left untouched. From Food Science to material science, science pushes society to be the way it is. It is undeniably important to society, and every issue, moral or not, ties in with science. In my opinion, the real question lies in how it can change our society. Every science tackles a different problem. Environmental science brings attention to the dying planet. Finding sustainable solutions to human mass consumption is vital to the survival of mankind. Thus, the field advocates for society’s future. Computer science allows people to spend more time on either entertainment or handling tedious tasks, which similar to the agricultural revolution, brings more time to focus on other advancements in society. Another reason science is important lies in its ability to bring questions of morality. Questions of animal testing bring to attention human-centric views, which have dictated society since the creation of mythology. Artificial intelligence and CRISPR questions the aspects of society that humans should change, and brings focus to the beauty and talent standards expected from humans. With aerospace, the question of human rights to colonize other planets cannot be ignored. Most importantly, does science bring more good or bad? Science awakens parts of society that would remain hidden otherwise. Every new discovery changes views and shapes the way humans interact with their surrounding world. There is nothing in the world known to humans that science does not affect. Although some scientific evidence is still just theories, they change the way the world is viewed, bringing morality with its growth.

Growing up with three brothers, I believed I was less affected by gender norms because I understood my brothers. They were smarter in some areas, but I also had my areas where I excelled. Thus, it was pretty easy to assume others would treat us the same. As I have grown older, I realize this is false. Discrimination, bias, and prejudice are so deeply woven in society that they are often hard to recognize at first glance. There was a time in high school when I believed that my race and gender never affected me, but after taking a step back, I realize that this is false. I have normalized the ways others have treated me, and I let their opinions take over subconsciously. I want to change that. Until this summer, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to go into some STEM subject or business. After much thought, I settled upon computer science. Hesitancy would not come close to describing my indecisiveness. My biggest doubt was that I would not able to do it; others thought I was crazy. I had worked hard getting into a STEM school that they had no idea where my doubt came from, but I knew. I grew afraid because no one seemed to suggest the idea to me. My brothers were always told since reaching high school, that they could do computer science. It was not forceful but a suggestion. Somehow, since no one had told me the same, I thought I could not make it. Doing the club Cyberpatriots this year, I faced gender bias. All the other groups were male-dominated besides mine. My group had 3 females out of 5 members. The other groups in my class always felt the need to beat us and would never admit that my group could beat them in any category (even though we did). In a way, everyone is still surprised I picked computer science. I never played many computer games as a kid. I got my first laptop a year ago. At the same time, my love for it has grown since taking my first computer science class. No one correctly explains what computer science is. It is more than sitting in front of a computer. It changes the way you see the world, and it paves the path for the future. After deciding I wanted to go into computer science, my passion for it burns with more intensity. Diversity is of utmost importance to me. Diversity provides a variety of perspectives and experiences, which would allow for optimized consideration and analysis when finding a solution. Even though this is valuable, in my opinion, the hope diversity gives is more important. In a male-dominated field like computer science, seeing that a woman can succeed encourages others to feel the same I am lucky because my mother was a computer scientist who has always told me I could make it. Others are not as lucky. Seeing people from similar backgrounds succeeding fuels children with hope. They can do whatever they wish.