If I were lucky, while behaving, I would be rewarded with a gumball. It wasn't the artificial unknown chemical deemed safe for human consumption that turned your lips bright pink that I wanted. I wanted to witness the magic of the machinery. I would insert the quarter and turn the lever slowly, listening to the gears turn. I would imagine what it looked like inside. A rotating spiral connected to the tank with a stop that's turned away after inserting the quarter? Release mechanism, gears, cranks? With mismatched Lego parts, a discombobulated gumball machine came alive. Eager with her phone, my mom recorded an enthusiastic kid seeing his creation come to life. Like an advertisement, I showcased each intricate part since I was so intrigued by its functionality. Wondering how things work, quickly turned into how I can make this work. LEGO sets I lost track of time tinkering with, transformed into the virtual realm of Minecraft and eventually evolved into building robots for competition. I've discovered my hands-on enthusiasm for mechanical engineering. My curiosity for designing and building is rooted in my passion for mechanics. Becoming a mechanical engineer will allow me to channel my innovation for impact. My current educational goal allows me to fabricate almost anything that comes to my imagination. The luxury of having the skills and knowledge to do this, would be the fact that I would be able to create anything that I dream about, something from a simple moving sword, to huge cogs in machines. This ability would not only benefit myself, but also benefit my future self who has kids. These kids will have dreams too, from fast moving cars, to soaring rocket ships. My goal is to give them an experience that I only could have wished of having, with my creative mind and expertise in the future. I would build and inspire them to become engineers too, to pass on the torch. My objective would be to have technological breakthroughs for the betterment of people, so that individuals are able to enjoy their lifes just a bit more. Instead of losing their time to the useless feeds of social media.

I turn back to see my grandma and mom crying as we stuff boxes filled with childhood memories in our car. While my mom, my little sister, my step-father, and I moved to the Big Island. We abandoned my grandma, my fathers, my cousins, and my life on Oahu. With this move, came the rude awakening of how I will need to make brand new friends and learn in a brand new environment. However, this got postponed because of COVID-19, and instead, I had to be fully online. Isolated, I sat in my chair day by day not seeing a single real face besides my family. I had no friends and barely any communication with the school. The only communication that I would have would just be letting us know that grades are due soon, and when the tests were. Nothing was ever individualized, as if you were talking to robots. I knew how easy these classes were, but I never had the opportunity to push for more difficult classes. I didn’t have any knowledge of anything since it felt as if I was on an island by myself and occasionally I would use my landline to call the school. However, I did have difficulty with a certain class and when I asked about it, they responded “Oh, we are sorry about that, that class is mainly for juniors and seniors.” It was replaced with a class counting shapes. Thus, I begged to be brought into the Semi-virtual classes. Almost a year in, I finally saw other students who go to my school. On the first day, I had stayed 3 hours extra to fully grasp the class I was in and understand the material being taught. This eventually led me to be enrolled in the STEM program which I still had little knowledge about. Sophomore year came, the first year in person when I could finally see other students in person, however, this came with a dreadful predicament. I had to talk to strangers. And make them into my friends to escape the isolation. Very shy, and timid, this was a big hurdle for me to conquer, however, while I was drawing, another student noticed and the rest is history. Slowly but surely my little circle of people began to grow. Especially in my sophomore year, because one of the main concepts that we were learning, multiple people had struggled. I was able to provide assistance which led to getting to know more people. Now, I surround myself with amazing people who push me in ways my freshman self could never believe. My current group of friends and the STEM academy have allowed me to do some phenomenal opportunities academically, and socially, like visiting colleges on a robotics trip while going to an amusement park. I have grown to be someone who can reliably be there for my friends, whether it’s homework from math class or a shoulder to cry on. The Scorenavigator Scholarship will allow me the opportunity to further push my boundaries and break through my limits by eliminating the concern of the cost of my future education to solely focus on maintaining a superb education and relationship with others. I hope to branch out further with my community and demonstrate what I have learned from Kealakehe to others out in the world. I plan to spread “Aloha” wherever I end up going to college, and will ensure to value my relationships with my peers.

Both my parents are self-employed. My dad does yard maintenance, and my mom does house cleaning for Airbnbs. My family doesn't make much money, and I'm on the free and reduced lunch program here at school. During the last two years, there were recent disputes between family members, which caused rent complications, and living expenses have become a larger financial burden on my parents. In addition, my grandmother in Oahu has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer, so my mother has been flying back and forth to assist with the chemotherapy and take care of some of her expenses. My family works incredibly hard to support our entire family, especially myself and my younger sister. I have been diligent in applying for numerous scholarships for low-income students. I hope to relieve my parents' financial burden while obtaining a college degree. If I were lucky, while behaving, I would be rewarded with a gumball. It wasn't the artificial unknown chemical deemed safe for human consumption that turned your lips bright pink that I wanted. I wanted to witness the magic of the machinery. I would insert the quarter and turn the lever slowly, listening to the gears turn. I would imagine what it looked like inside. A rotating spiral connected to the tank with a stop that's turned away after inserting the quarter? Release mechanism, gears, cranks? With mismatched Lego parts, a discombobulated gumball machine came alive. Eager with her phone, my mom recorded an enthusiastic kid seeing his creation come to life. Like an advertisement, I showcased each intricate part since I was so intrigued by its functionality. Wondering how things work, quickly turned into how I can make this work. LEGO sets I lost track of time tinkering with, transformed into the virtual realm of Minecraft and eventually evolved into building robots for competition. At Kealakehe High School, our STEM program and robotics program have given me the tools and opportunities to continue building beyond gumball machines. The program is rigorous, and I have not only taken fundamental engineering classes but also explored digital electronics, traveled to California to race robots, built rockets, traveled to California for robotics, and inspired young kids to pursue engineering careers. It is here at the STEM academy where I discovered my hands-on enthusiasm for mechanical engineering. My curiosity for designing and building is rooted in my passion for mechanics. Becoming a mechanical engineer will allow me to channel my innovation for impact.

I turn back to see my grandma and mom crying as we stuff boxes filled with childhood memories in our car. While my mom, my little sister, my step-father, and I moved to the Big Island. We abandoned my grandma, my fathers, my cousins, and my life on Oahu. With this move, came the rude awakening of how I will need to make brand new friends and learn in a brand new environment. However, this got postponed because of COVID-19, and instead, I had to be fully online. Isolated, I sat in my chair day by day not seeing a single real face besides my family. I had no friends and barely any communication with the school. The only communication that I would have would just be letting us know that grades are due soon, and when the tests were. Nothing was ever individualized, as if you were talking to robots. I knew how easy these classes were, but I never had the opportunity to push for more difficult classes. I didn’t have any knowledge of anything since it felt as if I was on an island by myself and occasionally I would use my landline to call the school. However, I did have difficulty with a certain class and when I asked about it, they responded “Oh, we are sorry about that, that class is mainly for juniors and seniors.” It was replaced with a class counting shapes. Thus, I begged to be brought into the Semi-virtual classes. Almost a year in, I finally saw other students who go to my school. On the first day, I had stayed 3 hours extra to fully grasp the class I was in and understand the material being taught. This eventually led me to be enrolled in the STEM program which I still had little knowledge about. Sophomore year came, the first year in person when I could finally see other students in person, however, this came with a dreadful predicament. I had to talk to strangers. And make them into my friends to escape the isolation. Very shy, and timid, this was a big hurdle for me to conquer, however, while I was drawing, another student noticed and the rest is history. Slowly but surely my little circle of people began to grow. Especially in my sophomore year, because one of the main concepts that we were learning, multiple people had struggled. I was able to provide assistance which led to getting to know more people. Now, I surround myself with amazing people who push me in ways my freshman self could never believe. My current group of friends and the STEM academy have allowed me to do some phenomenal opportunities academically, and socially, like visiting colleges on a robotics trip while going to an amusement park. I have grown to be someone who can reliably be there for my friends, whether it’s homework from math class or a shoulder to cry on. In our STEM program, the teachers continuously run a program where, as a freshman, you are assigned a mentor, and you get mentored by them until they graduate, and when they graduate, it’s your turn to become the leader. Every week we discuss how school is going, and whenever they like, I provide senior advice on life, relationships, or even just some simple homework. The Morgan STEM Scholarship will allow me the opportunity to further push my boundaries and break through my limits by eliminating the concern of the cost of my future education to solely focus on maintaining a superb education and relationship with others.

I turn back to see my grandma and mom crying as we stuff boxes filled with childhood memories in our car. While my mom, my little sister, my step-father, and I moved to the Big Island. We abandoned my grandma, my fathers, my cousins, and my life on Oahu. With this move, came the rude awakening of how I will need to make brand new friends and learn in a brand new environment. However, this got postponed because of COVID-19, and instead, I had to be fully online. Isolated, I sat in my chair day by day not seeing a single real face besides my family. I had no friends and barely any communication with the school. The only communication that I would have would just be letting us know that grades are due soon, and when the tests were. Nothing was ever individualized, as if you were talking to robots. I knew how easy these classes were, but I never had the opportunity to push for more difficult classes. I didn’t have any knowledge of anything since it felt as if I was on an island by myself and occasionally I would use my landline to call the school. However, I did have difficulty with a certain class and when I asked about it, they responded “Oh, we are sorry about that, that class is mainly for juniors and seniors.” It was replaced with a class counting shapes. Thus, I begged to be brought into the Semi-virtual classes. Almost a year in, I finally saw other students who go to my school. On the first day, I had stayed 3 hours extra to fully grasp the class I was in and understand the material being taught. This eventually led me to be enrolled in the STEM program which I still had little knowledge about. Sophomore year came, the first year in person when I could finally see other students in person, however, this came with a dreadful predicament. I had to talk to strangers. And make them into my friends to escape the isolation. Very shy, and timid, this was a big hurdle for me to conquer, however, while I was drawing, another student noticed and the rest is history. Slowly but surely my little circle of people began to grow. Especially in my sophomore year, because one of the main concepts that we were learning, multiple people had struggled. I was able to provide assistance which led to getting to know more people. Now, I surround myself with amazing people who push me in ways my freshman self could never believe. My current group of friends and the STEM academy have allowed me to do some phenomenal opportunities academically, and socially, like visiting colleges on a robotics trip while going to an amusement park. I have grown to be someone who can reliably be there for my friends, whether it’s homework from math class or a shoulder to cry on. This Scholarship will allow me the opportunity to further push my boundaries and break through my limits by eliminating the concern of the cost of my future education to solely focus on maintaining a superb education and relationship with others. I hope to branch out further with my community and demonstrate what I have learned from Kealakehe to others out in the world. I plan to spread “Aloha” wherever I end up going to college, and will ensure to value my relationships with my peers.