I am so excited about college, but I am also a little anxious. There is so much big change and so much that I am going to be leaving behind. I have always been good at protecting my body- eating healthy and exercising, but sometimes it has been harder to protect my mind and soul. Mental health impacts every aspect of our daily life. It is in the way we interact with our friends, our family, and most importantly ourselves. Along with the stereotypes of teenage girls, I feel a lot of emotion and that’s okay but I do need to know how to deal with it and how to protect myself. To protect my mental wellness I like to reflect, I’m a big ‘journaler’ and while I’ve tried to do it every day, I can’t commit to that, but I can commit to journaling when I get overwhelmed. While it may look sad to look through my journal and see pages and pages of me feeling sad, anxious, or overwhelmed, for me, it shows growth. At one point in my life, I would bottle it up. I would be confused, I would be sad, and I would cry because there was so much going on and I didn’t know how to let it out. But now I can write it. I can make a plan, I can think about it, I can cry, I can take a different perspective and then once I’ve written it all I can shut the journal I can put it away, I can take a deep breath and I can keep moving. I don’t have to be stuck in the struggles from the past day from the past week from the past month from the past year I can grow. I’m going away to college in a couple months and I’m nervous. I’m going to miss my family and my friends so much. But I’m going to take my journal and I’m going to be able to write when I feel sad, and when I feel anxious, and when I feel overwhelmed, and I’m going to have a part of me from home in those pages and that is special. A couple years ago I read somewhere that a good way to see how much you’ve grown is to look at the struggles you were facing earlier, so whenever I’m feeling doubtful of myself I look back on my journal and what I was writing a month ago or a year ago or even two years ago, I see the struggles I had in my sophomore year math class, and I was worried about failing and certain friendship, struggles, and anxiety about a certain thing and I look at myself now and I’ve still got the same friends and our friendship is stronger than it ever was and I didn’t fail that class and now I’m going to an amazing college and I don’t even remember what that anxious moment I was talking about is. I have grown so much and it is all documented in about four little notebooks. My journals are my mental health and they are my mental wellness and they are what guide and protect me through my life.

A good leader does not tell people what to do; they inspire confidence, independence and give people a sense of autonomy. I learned this last summer when my grandmother broke her hip and was temporarily moved into assisted living. During my school break I flew across the country to help her rehabilitate and transition back home. I had little experience with serious injuries or how they could impact mobility and independence. Before leaving I read all I could to better understand the issues she might face and figure out strategies to address them. I learned that it was critical to help my grandmother safely regain a sense of control. Some of these efforts were mundane: furniture needed to be moved to allow her walker to navigate unencumbered throughout the house. Chairs needed to be reorganized to allow her opportunities to rest as she moved around. Clothes needed to be easily accessible. Food and supplies needed to be organized in spaces where she could sit, as opposed to stand. I learned when people face mobility issues, it increases their mental distress. Ways to manage distress include eating healthy food, exercising in a manner conducive to mobility, and spending time with others. I prepared nutritious food that was easily accessible in my grandmother’s fridge and freezer, did her physical therapy alongside her each morning, and watched comedies with her each evening to distract her from the pain she experienced. Sometimes I just listened to her express her discomfort and concern of not regaining her independence. I was determined to not let that happen and set goals for how far she would walk each day. She joked that I was a taskmaster but four months later, she is living independently and I am back at home. Even now, I continue to hold her accountable; each day she texts me after her walk. I am proud of what we both achieved – my grandmother is a fighter who literally keeps putting one foot in front of the other and I am proud that I played a small role in making that happen. Through my grandmother, I learned that the leader is not necessarily the one yelling the instructions, but the leader can be the person quietly supporting and guiding the people around them. My granny has always been a leader to me, and I am honored to believe that she looks at me as a leader too.

My dream version of my future self is to become someone who makes a positive change in our society, I would like to work on legislation to create a more equal and enriching educational experience for every child.

Throughout high school I have taken many challenging math courses, including Honors Elementary Functions, Honors Pre-Calculus, AP Calculus AB, and this year AP Statistics. During this time I learned that math was not just fascinating, it could also be empowering. In fact, math proved to be fulfilling for me in many ways–with my first job at Mathnasium as a math tutor, I found economic freedom while also discovering how rewarding it was to help others who needed it. But it was also clear to me that not everyone shared my experience of fulfillment with math. For some math was a burden, a challenge, or an area of embarrassment. I am dedicated to increasing children’s math and reading proficiency in my community. Through coursework and my research assistantships, I have learned that students’ performance can improve with a growth mindset: the belief that one can develop their abilities with a positive attitude, confidence and hard work. For the past three years, I have applied this theory as a volunteer at Vamos, a non-profit tutoring organization focused on helping first-generation Americans and international students adjust to their classes. During my work there, I met Zoe, who always arrived grumpy or in tears. It was clear that she hated math, and coming to Vamos was a harsh reminder that it was difficult for her. I was committed to improving her outlook. Each week I worked on boosting her confidence with math tricks and providing positive reinforcement. As Zoe’s attitude improved, she noticed that the work became easier. Her transformation was obvious and it prompted me to apply growth mindset exercises to other students who lacked confidence. As a tutor, it is rewarding to see children come out of their shells and laugh as they notice their skills improve. I eventually convinced other tutors to adopt these tools and also began to utilize them at my tutoring job at Mathnasium. Research shows that fostering an inclusive environment is another important way to increase student confidence and performance in the classroom. Unfortunately, many students, from underrepresented groups in particular, dropout of college because they do not feel like they belong. As co-president of Vamos, I have worked hard to foster an inclusive environment where we know each student and cater to their likes and dislikes. Each tutoring session we play games with prizes for both the tutors and students. The goal is to foster a community where each member feels heard and known. I am proud that the research I have conducted has real application and can be put into action to improve my community.

My intended major is Industrial Labor Relations (ILR) because I am interested in the intersection between organizational behavior, social justice, and education. I first became passionate about equity in the educational system when I took part in a social change fellowship that taught me about sexism in STEM. I learned that due to societal bias, many women drop out of STEM programs, impacting their future earnings and society as a whole. I would like to study the impact that stereotypes have on society and examine the long-term ramifications of institutional sexism. For this reason, I am receiving a degree in Industrial Labor Relations because I admire how ILR promotes the value of taking academic research and applying it to solving real-world problems. During a summer class examining global inequities, I learned that a common reason women leave STEM is because they do not feel that they belong. Beyond the stereotype that women are less capable at math than men, women also experience “stereotype threat,” where their concern that they will confirm a stereotype actually causes them to perform worse. As I read more, I came across Professor Dr. Devon Proudfoot’s research on gender stereotypes where she finds that women are perceived as less creative than men for the same ideas. Of course, it is not enough to understand why inequity exists, we must also develop remedies to these problems. My research assistantship with Dr. Alia Crum gave me ideas on how to address this inequity. Her work focuses on using growth and stress mindsets to help people manage challenging situations. This research inspired me to examine how mindsets deal with gender stereotypes in STEM. My research finds that when women perceive stress to be beneficial, they are less susceptible to stereotypes and their math performance improves. Just as ILR promotes the importance of applying theory to the real world, I have applied this theory to my work as a math tutor. The results have been encouraging – when I raise confidence in my students to improve their mindset, their math scores increase. I am proud of the work I have done, but I know I am only scratching the surface. There is no question that an ILR degree can offer me many opportunities to learn and the interdisciplinary nature will allow me to examine inequities in the workplace from various perspectives, and will teach me to examine important issues and empower me to solve societal challenges related to equity.

When I moved from England to Washington, DC my new fifth-grade class threw me a welcome party at a local pizzeria. I was eager to meet my American peers but nervous of the setting because I have Celiac Disease plus life-threatening allergies to over seventeen different foods. These include wheat, oats, eggs, mushrooms, most nuts, seeds, and shellfish, making dining experiences incredibly challenging. Sitting at the large communal table I watched sheepishly as the other kids surveyed the less appetizing allergen-free pizza on my plate. I was eager to fit in but it was clear to them and me that I was different. No matter the celebration, parties use food to bring people together. These gatherings are meant to create bonds, foster traditions and build long-lasting memories, but for me they are complicated. As a child, every birthday party that I attended was a reminder that I couldn’t eat the birthday cake because I was different. The symbol of the cake as a unifier was salient and I grew up feeling that I was on the outside looking in. By high school, I had made every attempt to not let my allergies define who I am or draw unnecessary attention to myself, but sometimes due to accidents or mishaps, avoiding that has been hard. It was around this time that I became a research assistant for Dr. Alia Crum, a psychology professor at Stanford University studying the growth mindset. For three years I have researched and have been inspired by this mindset as well as by Post Traumatic Growth, the idea that positive change can be achieved by addressing challenging experiences. It taught me that with effort and a positive outlook I can make things better not just for myself, but for others. I decided to apply these theories to my life by learning to bake with alternative ingredients. It was challenging at first, but now I actively participate in the celebrations with my family and friends by giving them delicious allergen-free treats that I too can enjoy. Inventing these new recipes helped me find a way to belong. I realized that we all have individual reasons for feeling isolated. But I could apply the growth mindset to help others in my community. In my research, I learned that girls often lose confidence in their math abilities as they move into adolescence, affecting the rates that women go into STEM. Oftentimes young women are made to feel that they don’t belong in the sciences. I wondered how a growth mindset could improve math performance for women who lacked confidence in their math abilities. I got human subject approval to run three studies examining this question and found that a growth mindset can significantly improve their performance. Beyond my research, I’ve also seen the practical implications of the growth mindset. Every Saturday morning I tutor students in math and English as President of the Vamos Tutoring club and three evenings a week I work as a math tutor at Mathnasium. Helping kids learn provides more than basic skills, it gives them confidence and inspires them to dream. Initially, my allergies left me fragile and isolated but as I’ve grown I have used them to think differently and to innovate. I have learned that differences, instead of pushing people apart, can unite them. My allergies have taught me to be resilient. When I get sick, I learn from it. When I feel left out, I figure out a solution. In the face of hardship, I don’t give up. I want my life and career to focus on providing that feeling for others.