The American Dream to me is being able to lessen my parents’ financial burden in hopes of pursuing my dreams. I hope to allow my hardworking and selfless parents a chance to rest. In turn, I intend to use the scholarship money for advancing my own education to give those that don’t have the blessing of getting an education, a chance to learn. I grew up sheltered. My parents always wanted to provide me with the best of the best, never knowing their struggles. My childhood was filled with love and prosperity. Never having to know when my next meal would be or if I would be warm at night. Often I would forget that for me to have no worries, my parents worked 7 days a week while juggling house chores, school events, and spending time with us. As I got older, I slowly began to appreciate the hard work they had put into me and my brother. So I worked hard to keep my grades up and attend a prestigious university. However, I was rejected by the said university. At first, I was at a dead end, as all of my teenage life had been leading up to this moment. And in just a couple of minutes, it was shattered. However, I looked to my parents as role models and realized that despite the outcome, it is never the end. Their perseverance from my mom working at a job where she had no engineering background, to my dad tirelessly working on learning English to get good pay as a taxi driver. They taught me to stand strong and never be taken down by lessons given to me in life. And so I learned my lesson and strive to continue to work hard. To have a life that they could never have imagined growing up. Having opportunities they never got. And this is one of them. This scholarship is an opportunity. An opportunity to help in my path of pursuing an education. An opportunity of lessening the financial burden on myself and them. An opportunity to slowly step away from this sheltering life I’ve had and work hard to achieve my goals and dreams on my own. By applying for this scholarship, I am utilizing my chances of gaining a higher education. In turn, my end goal is to use my higher education to help those in my homeland of the Kachin state. I plan to earn a degree in the science field. Not the most useful degree for volunteering in another country, however, I can use my education in English and Mathematics in America to give kids like me a chance at something that I took for granted. That in itself is another opportunity to learn and help others learn. With this scholarship, I hope to achieve something greater. For my parents, and for my people.

AAPI culture to me means home. I haven't always thought of it as home though. Being the first generation Asian American played into that reason. Growing up in two different cultures made me feel a disconnect with both sides, however, it hit hard the most on my Kachin side. As a kid in America, there was always a sense of shame when speaking your language outside of your home or eating traditional foods for lunch that American kids would call "gross" or "smelly". Factors such as those really wanted me to disconnect from my culture growing up. And it was costly doing so. I regret feeling this way because now more than ever in my teen years I wished I was able to speak Kachin more fluently or knew how to cook Kachin food. It's difficult to communicate with my grandma or people in my community in general. But I have been making an effort to feel closer, whether it be talking in broken Kachin with my mom or learning how to cook simple dishes. Over time my culture became less of a stranger to being home again. I attend church weekly, something that is deeply ingrained in my community. It was the single day in the week where I wasn't somewhere that was Americanized. Somewhere I could connect with my Kachin side while living in America. While going to church I am the pianist of my community and play piano for them every week. I also am part of the praise and worship team and lead my community in worship as well. It's something I am proud to say I am a part of to showcase service excellence in my community.

I am a first-generation Asian American so it's not set in stone what I want to pursue with my career. What I do know is that I hope to be able to use my career to find criminals and make sure that they are put behind bars. I have always been fascinated with crime shows and the idea of working in a lab. The people who work behind the scenes to analyze evidence for police officers was something that stayed with me throughout high school. The turning point was when someone I knew personally was brutally attacked and ended up in a vegetative state. He had to go through intensive physical therapy, but his life will never be the same. Watching the life go out of the eyes of a loved one is one thing, but knowing that whoever had done it hasn't been caught yet is another. This solidified my career choice of wanting to be a forensic scientist. I hope to pursue this career using this scholarship to help with my college expenses so that I may one day help those who may have not received the justice they deserve. Whether it be by analyzing the evidence or speaking in court, this career is something I hope will leave a long-lasting impact on the world. Over 6,000 murders go unsolved in the United States and I hope to work and reduce those numbers. I know what it felt to know the criminals who did that to my cousins haven't been caught yet, so being able to be part of the process and doing everything in my power to bring justice and deliver peace.

Math is easy. I never understood grammar rules in English or memorizing pathways in Science. Math was where I found my solace. The one class in high school where I didn't see the need to take notes and would still ace the quizzes. I always thought that was the reason I loved math. After finishing up my first year in college I couldn't just sit around in my math classes anymore. I wouldn't get straight A's on my quizzes and a result didn't enjoy it as much. It was finals week and I needed above 85% on my final to keep my A- in Calculus. And I did it. I realized then that I didn't love math because it was easy, I loved math because it made sense to me. Math required practice and application, something that other subjects don't quite offer. You either get it or you don't, and Math was the subject I got. You could hand me an equation to solve and I would be able to solve it with so many different variations and techniques. Even if it wasn't something I had learned yet, math only evolves from the basics so it wouldn't be impossible to somehow get to an answer. Math showed me that you shouldn't be afraid of trying. It brought out a sense of adventure and curiosity in me. Because everything you have learned up to that point somehow in some way will help you get there. Math made sense to me and taught me to never give up.

Over the course of 2020, there were so many life events that happened to me. To break ups or rekindling old friendships, I came up with this song to tell the story of my quarantine. The feeling of being stuck behind a screen all school year really hit hard and the making of this song was a stress reliever. Showing that while it was an unfamiliar road, it wasn't all bad. I love to sing and play music for fun so while it isn't the best, I hope you enjoy! <3