From a young age, I’ve been fascinated by the power of technology to transform lives. As I prepare to study Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at UC Berkeley, I’m driven by a vision to create a startup that bridges the gap for minorities in tech. I love working on projects that focuses on using emerging technologies like artificial intelligence to improve mental health while collaborating amongst other students. By being a female Pakistani engineer, I aim to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in all the work that I do and maintain the creative freedom to build unique ideas like using artificial intelligence for social good. My parents, who immigrated from Pakistan, have always taught me to give back to our underrepresented community while reaching for the stars. This value of advocacy for myself and others led to my first leadership position on my high school robotics team. With this valuable opportunity, my biggest goal was to reduce the gender gap. Even before climbing up the ladder, I made it my goal to seek continuous feedback from other female students. Many girls wanted to see more diversity in school flyers, and a more engaging curriculum for all. I implemented changes that made our robotics club more inclusive. We achieved a remarkable 50:50 gender ratio, and I saw the impact as these girls excelled in programming and building. Through these new initiatives I helped set in stone, girls felt more confident in their abilities to excel in a male-dominated field. Under my wing, they became one of the best programmers and builders on their respective teams. Being a leader is not only helping others, but breaking social barriers and reminding fellow girls that “if I can do it, so can you”. Even after graduating, I continue to mentor my robotics girls, witnessing their growth into confident, capable leaders in STEM. Through educating girls and minorities on robotics, I wanted to extend the impact outside of my school. A few friends and I started hosting hackathons nationwide in areas where girls don’t typically have access to STEM resources. Our weekend coding events were geared to teach girls how to build their first technical website or mobile app through interactive workshops. We faced numerous challenges in fundraising and organizing, but our persistence paid off as we raised almost $100,000, attracting support from the Elon Musk Foundation and top coding companies. We also featured inspirational female speakers and mentors that high school girls could look up to for guidance and support. As I pursue my undergraduate studies at UC Berkeley, I plan to join and take leadership roles in clubs like the Society of Women Engineers and Girls Who Code, driving efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. Whenever I join programming classes or clubs, I always feel like the odd one out, with only a handful of girls in my class that I can relate to and feel comfortable around. Through my journey at UC Berkeley and beyond, I am committed to breaking social barriers and inspiring the next generation of female and minority leaders in technology.

In the next four years of college, I will be studying Electrical Engineering and Computer Science with hopes of building my own startup. Through education, I aim to bridge the gap for minorities in technology. By being a female Pakistani engineer, I aim to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in all the work that I do and maintain creative freedom to build upon unique ideas by all. Coming from an immigrant Pakistani family, my parents have always taught me to give back to my underrepresented while reaching for the stars. They have raised me to be a woman that not only advocates for herself, but also for other fellow women and minorities. This embarked my first leadership position in my high school robotics team, where I was the only female to be promoted as the Director of Education. With this valuable opportunity, my biggest goal was to reduce the gender gap. After climbing up the ladder, I made it my duty to talk privately to female students and ask them what changes they would like to see in STEM-affiliated clubs. Many girls wanted to see more diversity in school flyers, and a more engaging curriculum for all. After implementing their changes, I helped make the robotics club a 50:50 gender ratio. I saw the visible impact I made on girls my age, girls who previously felt under confident in their abilities to excel in a male-dominated field. Under my wing, they became one of the best programmers and builders on their respective teams. Being a leader is not only helping others, but breaking social barriers and reminding fellow girls that “if I can do it, so can you”. Even after graduating from high school, I continue to be a mentor for my robotics girls. Through educating girls and minorities on robotics, I wanted to extend the impact outside of my school. A few friends and I became affiliated with a program that hosts hackathons nationwide for beginner girls in STEM. We fundraised almost $100,000 towards hosting coding events specifically geared to teach girls how to build their first website or mobile app. We hosted events featuring inspirational female speakers and mentors that high school girls could look up to for guidance and support. We got financial support from top organizations like the Elon Musk Foundation and the founders of top coding companies. While I’m studying towards my degree, I aim to be very involved on campus by taking leadership positions in clubs like the Society of Women Engineers and Girls Who Code. Whenever I join programming classes or clubs, I always feel like the odd one out, with only a handful of girls in my class that I can relate and feel comfortable around. During my time in college, I aim to focus on efforts that promote more diversity, equity, and inclusion for girls and minorities.

March 19, 2021. Sunday. 6:55 PM. My parents informed me that my aunt's cause of death was COVID-19, the virus that was killing everyone and destroying families at the time. I cannot physically put into words how much pain I felt when my aunt passed away. It was 3 years ago, yet I remember her glistening face that would light up a room like it was yesterday. I cried for months on end, and I realized I would never have the privilege of being held in her arms ever again. She lived in Pakistan, yet I lived on the opposite side of the world in California. Miles apart, but our spirits right next to each other. She died overweight and had underlying conditions such as asthma and high blood pressure. Her health vulnerabilities made her prone to diseases and viruses. Losing her felt like the lowest point of my life, and it taught me one of the most important lessons: health should never be taken for granted. She was a middle-aged woman with a husband and kids, with dreams and aspirations. I wanted to carry on her legacy as a caretaker and doctor and the strong role model she was in my life. Losing such a special woman in my life motivated me to prioritize my health and guide others to do the same. Since her death, I found myself attracted to more community-focused events. I volunteered at homeless shelters, at my local mosque, to help improve the livelihood of others. Through my volunteering, I realized that many young adults had difficulty improving their physical health due to their busy schedules and inaccessibility to gyms and personal trainers. It soon inspired me to work on my own project revolving around fitness. I spent months building an AI-powered application to help young adults and students improve their at-home workouts using computer vision. It was essentially a AI-powered personal fitness coach that corrected your form, counted your reps, and helped minimize injury and maximize gains throughout the process. I shared with my local community and my friends who all loved the idea and how it worked. The goal was to provide people with the perfect resource they needed to lead healthier lives. While working on this project, I often thought about my aunt’s unfulfilled dreams as COVID-19 took her away from this world too soon. It made me more determined to build this project into fruition, as I felt her cheering on for me from heaven above. I know she would be incredibly proud to see her niece uplift the lives of others, and I felt proud to carry on the legacy of my aunt. By helping others, I transformed my grief and tears into something positive for my community. Losing her was the hardest thing I have ever endured, but it helped me build something I am most proud of today. It made me focus on what truly matters-- health, community, and reaching for the stars. I will continue to fend for her values, honoring her memory by making a difference in the world.

Click. Buy 20 stocks at $10. Make profit of $100. Investing was my first venture into world of finance. During car rides, my father would always talk about the importance of building good financial knowledge. After much convincing, my father allowed me to use his Robinhood account to experiment with stocks and investing. Growing my investment portfolio and watching it grow and shrink provided a foundation in understanding stock market operations. The adrenaline from trading and investing in stocks motivated me to further my financial knowledge. One of my life goals is to be financially independent in college and beyond. Thus, I aimed to increase my knowledge about how finances work and how our nation’s economy runs. During high school, I participated in a financial literacy club where I learned about different financial concepts from fellow students. In our weekly meetings, we would do online investing competitions through college programs. Other days, I would improve my knowledge on saving, investing, budgeting, and managing debt. Although the club was only a year long, it instilled the importance of financial literacy for teenagers. Collaborating with my teachers and classmates greatly enriched my financial learning experiences. Principles demonstrated in the club taught me how to work with money smartly so my future self would be financially stable. On my 18th birthday, I made one of the biggest financial decisions a person could make, and opened my first credit card. I chose one that was ideal for college students, and I wanted to get experience handling my finances. I also knew how crucial a credit card will be during college, where I aim to take full financial responsibility for my tuition, living expenses, and extraneous funds. I used my own income from my jobs and internships to pay off my monthly balance. Looking back, it was one of the best financial decisions I had made, as it made me more attentive to how and where I was spending my hard-earned money. While doing my research, I learned the importance of building credit consistently and early. A good score can positively influence many major financial life decisions, and I wanted my future self to be ahead of the game. After graduating high school, I embarked on my own journey to set myself up for financial success in the future. I came across Roth IRAs, a place where my contributions can exponentially grow tax-free through compound interest, which I could utilize for retirement purposes. This also served as a stepping stone as a commitment to long-term financial planning. Looking ahead, I have a goal of spreading the importance of financial literacy to high schoolers specifically. When it comes to financially investing in yourself, I have realized that time is of the essence, so it’s vital to start early. I plan to start a financial education workshop, emphasizing money-saving and spending habits such as investing and managing credit. With the workshop, I aim to help fellow students increase their financial knowledge and have control over their financial future. From my Robinhood stock trading experience to self-learning important investment concepts like investing in a Roth IRA, each step has taught me a key method to properly handle my finances. I am truly confident that I can utilize my financial skills to help my local community make well-informed financial decisions through hosting workshops. I’m committed to using my knowledge to not only help my future self, but also guide other students to doing the same in college and beyond.

1. I’ve never left a door of opportunity unopened. All my life, I adore working and collaborating with bright minds about issues that local communities face. I love continuously learning about things that excite me, from perfecting my mom's Biryani recipe to learning about the intersection of artificial intelligence and fitness. Coming from an immigrant Pakistani family, I’ve witnessed my parents work long hours to build the best life for us here in America. I’ve inherited the values of hard work and big dreams. My mission has been to build a successful career where I can give back to my community, just like my parents have taught me. If there’s anything I could do, it would be to build new, cool products that serve my community. What has motivated me to give back to my community is seeing the work my students put out into the world. One of many examples: during the school year, I ran a iOS app development and youth entrepreneurship bootcamp to help middle-schoolers increase their technical and creative skills. For these students to garner real-life experience, I hosted children’s business fairs where the kids collaborated with each other, received feedback, and learned what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. It’s a proud moment to see the impact that I’m making truly help the lives of fellow students. It’s been my main goal to leave this world better than I found it, and I aim to continue down this enlightening path. 2. The opportunities for growth is what truly excites me about STEM. The opportunities to teach students how they can use their skills to help the world. In the past, I’ve collaborated to build AI algorithms that detects and prevents California wildfires. Currently, I’m building a product to improve at-home workouts using computer vision. I hope to continue building innovative solutions in collaborative settings. There is so much uncapped potential in the STEM field, and I’m a strong believer of using technology for social good. My long-term goal is to be building my own artificial intelligence-focused company centered around education, fitness, or women’s health. To get here, I’m planning on working at a small-scale technical startup to improve my communication and technical skills at rapid paces. One of my main passions is diversity and inclusion in STEM. Once accepted into my high school’s robotics club, I noticed the lack of diversity. Upset at the lack of familiar faces, I was determined to excel in robotics and promote gender inclusivity. I strived to be elected as the club’s first female director and spearheaded initiatives to improve female representation. Upon speaking out to fellow female classmates, many advocated for female representation on school flyers and emphasized inclusivity in our introduction meetings. Implementing these changes substantially improved gender acceptance rates, shifting from an initial 20:80 ratio to a promising 40:60. These initiatives also increased female involvement on the officer team, causing a positive cycle of diversity and inclusion. Outside of school, I work with a team of teen female engineers to host two-day hackathons that help girls build their first technical project. In partnership with Girl Scouts and Hack Club, we’ve hosted several events nationwide, impacting hundreds of girls. We also incorporate technical workshops and provide professional mentorship to motivate hundreds more girls to pursue STEM. It makes me proud to provide girls something I wish I had when I started off my STEM journey. But, I'm grateful to be have a platform where I can support and uplift my community. 3.Coming from an immigrant Pakistani family, I’ve witnessed my parents work tirelessly to give back to our community. It’s created a desire within me to defeat the status quo by journeying down the realm of entrepreneurship. I was forced to hit the reset button upon my move from Singapore to California. I was forced to develop my own friendships and build my own communities. Slowly yet surely, I found myself talking to new people, building a network, and having a support system. This helped me tremendously when promoting diversity at school. For instance, I hustled my way through achieving the first female director status at my male-dominated high school robotics club. Determined to promote equity and inclusion, I spearheaded initiatives to female involvement. It was scary being the only woman in the director team, as I felt like I was advocating for change that hadn’t been pursued before. Unconsciously, I became a strong speaker and improved my self-confidence through implementing new policies to increase female participation in robotics. After speaking to hundreds of girls at my school regarding club improvements, my team and I went to work. Implementing said diversity-driven changes substantially improved gender acceptance rates. Being a leader helped me bridge the STEM gender gap and give rightful opportunities to people who deserve it. It also taught me the importance of bringing forth important change. Having leadership positions in clubs and organizations guided me to enact policy that promotes equity and inclusion. My first introductions to STEM in California was overwhelming, and I wanted to make that experience smoother for women and minorities interested in pursuing STEM.

I’ve never left a door of opportunity unopened. All my life, I adore working and collaborating with bright minds about issues that local communities face. I love continuously learning about things that excite me, from perfecting my mom's Biryani recipe to learning about the intersection of artificial intelligence and fitness. Coming from an immigrant Pakistani family, I’ve witnessed my parents work long hours to build the best life for us here in America. Through second-hand experiences, I’ve inherited the values of hard work and big dreams. My mission has been to build a successful career where I can give back to my community, just like my parents have taught me. Throughout high school, I’ve learned the importance of education in pursuit of meaningful innovation. By being an engineer, I aim to maintain the creative freedom to work on my ideas while collaborating with intelligent minds in both the technical and creative space. With the resources an engineering degree from UC Berkeley provides, I’ll have the proper peer mentorship and funding opportunities. Throughout college, I’d build upon my engineering startup ideas and team up with creative people. I’m currently interested in the sector of fitness and AI, and the knowledge that comes with an engineering degree would significantly guide me in building out a unicorn company. Whatever I’m building, my vision of success is creating a net positive impact with my work. In the past, I’ve received recognition from President Biden through the Gold Presidential Service Award for completing 400 volunteer hours. During my web development position with the Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs, I worked directly under the president, bringing in 2000 attendees and the CEO of Khan Academy. I’ve built a YouTube channel, “2 Min Maths!”, to help my classmates understand math faster and easier. In my videos, I distilled complex math concepts into two-minute visual study guides. I’ve amassed 21,000 TikTok followers and 5,000 YouTube subscribers, with millions of views. My efforts paid off, as many of my friends’ grades improved. Throughout my time at UC Berkeley, I also aim to continue immersing more girls in STEM. Currently, I work with a team of girls at Hack Club and host Days of Service events across the nation (San Francisco, Georgia, Vermont, etc). The two-day hackathon events help girls write their first lines of code and build their first technical project. We partner up with organizations such as Girls Scouts to bridge the STEM gap, impacting hundreds of girls nationwide. I’ve also hosted countless coding workshops, from iOS development to project pitching to help girls start their STEM journey. I aim to continue reducing the gender gap and provide girls with more STEM-driven resources. Securing the Redefining Victory Scholarship will help me fund my further education and ensure that even in college, I’m working on building innovative solutions in collaborative settings. I’d allocate my time at UC Berkeley focused on my studies and extracurriculars, rather than worrying about when I have to pay my next semester’s tuition fees. Coming from an immigrant household, I’ve learned to visualize the struggles that my parents go through. Recently, my mom’s traumatic misdiagnosed surgery left her bedridden. This was a huge emotional setback for our family, and we incurred hefty healthcare costs we couldn’t afford. I’ve taken the responsibilities and roles of caring for my younger brother--cooking his meals, helping him with homework, and making his lunchboxes for school. My mom will soon be out of a job as her teaching contract has not been renewed. My dad has been working overtime due to layoffs. Currently, he does the job of three people with no extra pay. I’ve aimed to help manage our home, reducing the financial burden by contributing to my college costs. There are other financial stresses, including supporting our extended family in Pakistan to help them pay their bills. For these reasons, I don't believe the financial aid document accurately encapsulates my parents' financial hardships. Seeing my parents struggling to pay bills some months makes me extremely devastated and I wouldn’t want to add to their financial worries. Computer science allows me to hone my critical thinking skills mixed with my passion for problem-solving. During the next four years, I’ll maximize opportunities to the fullest. Being part of UC Berkeley's award-winning institutions and professors will give me a chance to keep making impact. Having an engineering degree will help me exercise vital skills and teach me to be capable of running a successful engineering business, solving some of the critical challenges humanity faces today. With the aid of this scholarship, I’ll be closer to my goal of revolutionizing communities and continuing my mission of bringing more women in STEM.