Loneliness is a plague that can truly destroy someone. Even in a room full of people, one may still feel lonely. This is how many minorities feel being the only one of their race or gender in the room. STEAM is dramatically white and male-dominated; excluding minority groups and heavily discouraging them from joining and accomplishing their dreams over the fear of persecution and loneliness. My goal, as an aspiring Computer Science major, is to push through and join the STEAM field despite being a black woman, simultaneously aiding in closing the gender and race gap one person at a time. Alongside this, I want to speak to others about my experience and show them that they shouldn't allow setbacks to stop them from their dreams. Not being able to accomplish your dream due to these setbacks is highly damaging. One may join and invest in a career they are unhappy with if they chose to leave STEAM in fear of exclusion. In reality, it is an unfortunate situation for them either way – joining a career that is not their first choice, or pursuing their dream at the cost of potential exclusion due to being a minority. No one deserves to feel like this and make such a depressing choice. I understand how it feels to be lonely in a room full of people. In my recent Computer Science classes, I noticed there was a large gap in gender with there being few women in proportion to men. This gap was even greater for race, with there being a very scarce amount of Black students including myself in the room. I questioned whether I would be prepared to face an environment like this daily in the future. In situations like these, I feel less included than the others, at times fearing funny looks. I don't want this to hinder me in my path. If I give up, I am only encouraging the problem and helping the gap expand. I can only help if I push through and accomplish my dream. The gap cannot close if all minorities leave STEAM out of fear. In the Summer of 2021, I took part in a 2-week coding program hosted by Girls Who Code - a program dedicated to educating girls around the nation about coding and women’s influence in the field. Within this environment, surrounded by other girls, I felt included and respected, with no fear of being judged for my gender or excluded. All women deserve to feel this same way. It is not equality if men have the privilege of not feeling this type of exclusion while women do not. Everyone deserves to feel satisfaction and happiness in a career that they have chosen to invest decades of their life in. If a gender and race gap is the setback that makes one uncomfortable in their field, it is an absolute necessity to fix it. The first step in making the world equal is by allowing everyone to feel equally included and wanted – joining the STEAM field to show others like me that it is possible and worth it will be my contribution to achieving this equality.

Growing up in a rather close-knit family, moving away to college was very tough at first. Even though my family is still close by and I can see them on an almost daily basis, it was still very hard to cope with being on my own and handling an influx of responsibility. Despite these changes, I feel the struggle I went through when going to college helped me tremendously in understanding and embracing autonomy. Before leaving home, I relied heavily on my parents to aid me in creating my schedule. Although I had some self-reliance, I ultimately always had my parents there to remind or aid me. At college, I am solely responsible for the time I wake up - if I should stay home if feeling sick, where I should go to get breakfast, all things my parents aided me in beforehand. Although I do rely on them for support in multiple ways, particularly emotionally and financially, I feel the drive to do more things on my own since I am an "adult" now. Without this dorm experience that I cried so heavily over, without this massive step into adulthood, I couldn't have easily adjusted to college life and how it feels to be a young adult. I realize now how good it feels to be independent and not rely on others for everything. Now that I know how it feels to rule myself, I could never go back to needing my hand held each step of the way. I want to do things myself when I feel I can. Despite my newfound independence, I recognize that my family’s love and support for me will never change and that I will never stop needing it. Independence is blissful and a necessity for me, but I understand that I won’t be able to do everything on my own, and am grateful that I don’t have to. Needing help and support sometimes is not something to be ashamed or scared of. Humans need socialization and thrive best together. Throughout my journey of testing out young adulthood, I have recognized that growing up is not as scary as it seems on paper. Though independence and freedom come with infinite responsibilities, it is not shameful to ask for help and support if they can’t be completed alone. Throughout this journey, I have grown a better understanding of what is feasible for me to do on my own, but also for the things I may need help with. Though I feel most comfortable doing things solo, as I am still young and barely understand the complexities of the world. I have learned that I still need guidance in some ways and am not ashamed to accept it.

My area of tech is computer science, specifically as I reach my goal of becoming a video game designer. Video games, specifically real-world simulator ones, were what sparked my interest in tech. I remember spending hours on games, immersing myself in the unique gameplay of each one. As a young child, I was unable to truly comprehend the immense amount of work that went into producing something like that. As I grew older, and games have become increasingly more advanced with hyper-realistic graphics, or large open worlds, my curiosity about how these came to be skyrocketed. I desired to know more about how things like these could be developed with coding and wanted to know how I could be a part of the team who makes them. Alongside my dream of becoming a video game designer, I had noticed in my more recent Computer Science courses how there were noticeably fewer women and people of color. Although I don't let it discourage me, I at times feel lonely or out of place if there aren't many around like me in gender or race. No one deserves to feel strange or discouraged not seeing others like them, nor should the industry remain like this. I hope that once I join the field, I can share my experience as a Black woman with others and encourage them to join the industry, closing that noticeable gap. In the summer of 2021, I partook in Girls Who Code's 2-week Summer Immersion Program: a community dedicated to educating girls around the nation about code, and the impact of women's coding through history. As thanks to them, I feel obligated to carry out their mission: to help lower the gender gap, by becoming a coder myself. Within the program, I felt included and was able to forget that the coding industry is male-dominated for a time. To ensure women feel equally included and equally valued, it is crucial to encourage them to participate and allow male dominance to hold them back. After I complete my 4-year Computer Science program with the University of Alabama at Huntsville, I hope to work my way up to becoming a video game designer who aids in the creation of games that can shape children's childhoods and fascinate them in the art of technology, much alike the impact games had on me. As a Black woman in the industry, I know it is a strong possibility that I may not see many others like me in race and gender, but I hope that one day there will no longer be a gap in the industry at all. My contribution to that goal will be by joining it myself.

What STEM means to me is the freedom to do and be whatever you want without the setbacks of the world. With technology, we have been able to push far past our limits with each generation, and can only go up from here. My wish, as a Computer Science major, is to be a part of that journey and say I had an impact on it. With video games, you are given a unique, artificial universe, independent of the real world. You might be able to fly, teleport, or even have magical powers - Things all considered impossible in real life. The limits of this fictional universe reside with the creators’ and gamers' imagination, not the real worldly limits. Alike how in games one can do the impossible by worldly standards, in STEM, with each new creation, invention, or discovery, the previously impossible is not done effortlessly. Even the existence of digital games was at once impossible until someone broke the past limits and made it come to fruition. They decided they had the freedom to test the limits. With each code I am given in my Computer Science classes, my passion only multiplies. “What can I do with this code?” I ask myself. “What are its limits?”. To me, STEM encourages us to not think of limits, but of opportunities. We can't achieve progress if we don't push our limits. We cage ourselves if we don’t have faith in our abilities to do great. With each of the 4 fields of STEM, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, the impossible is explored, deciphered, and the world is changed before our eyes. All because someone acknowledged their freedom to try, ignoring the world’s current limits for a moment. With each accomplishment, a past limit is broken. That is what STEM is about. In pursuit of my goal of freedom, I am a freshman at the University of Alabama at Huntsville as a full-time student. In the summer of 2021, I took, part in the Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program, a free 2-week program dedicated to educating girls around the nation about coding and teaching them the powerful accomplishments of women throughout history in the coding industry. As a thank you to this establishment, I feel obligated to carry out their mission as a Black female to bring more diversity into the STEM industry. My goal is to share my experience as a young Black woman in STEM with others to encourage them to become a part of it, closing the gap between race and gender in the field. Everyone deserves the freedom to pursue their goals without fear, isolation or judgment. Bringing diversity to the STEM workforce is just the first step in this goal. With the Clifford T. Wofford Scholarship, I will be allowed to better push past my limits and reach the level of freedom of work that I’ve always hoped for. My current limit is low, but with help, I can push it past my imagination. With this scholarship, I will be able to continue my goal in the STEM field and push the world past its limits through my coding as a game designer, and encourage other people of color to follow suit through my experiences. All change starts with that first step.

I have always enjoyed solving complex and challenging problems. Whether it be a difficult quest in a video game, or it be a challenging coding assignment from my Computer Science major. I enjoy the sense of satisfaction I get from finally accomplishing the task after a long struggle. Math provides me numerous opportunities to be challenged, with many problems requiring multiple steps or difficult formulas. The more advanced the math gets, the more steps one needs to take to solve the problem. This challenge can be compared to a story quest in a video game. Instead of being able to rush the final boss and reap the benefits right then and there, there may be other side quests that need to be completed to unlock the boss. The same can be applied to math. With complex problems, I need to use formulas or multiple equations to solve one problem. If every problem only had one step, like 1+1=2 or 5x2=10, math would simply be repetitive and boring. Similarly, in a video game where the final boss is readily available from the start, the game ends quickly and leaves players without satisfaction from defeating it if they did not get to endure the challenge of getting there. I enjoy being able to use my creativity in the things I do. There is no definite way to solve math problems. Although some may have particular formulas that are typically followed, alternative solutions can often be found. Math lets me use my creative aspect to get things done in my preferred way over being forced to succumb to one particular strategy. Similarly, in some video games, the player is given full ability to build their characters by selecting which pieces of equipment they should arm themselves with. Should you go with the piece with higher defense or the one with higher strength? Being given options like this allows the player to feel immersed and in control. In math, the same type of options are available for the user with there being no definitive right answer. Should I use the longer formula, but easier method or the shorter, but complex method? Should I solve this problem by graphing or writing out an equation? More active methods such as these helps keep math entertaining and allows the sense of accomplishment that makes it, alike video games, entertaining.

My interest in a Computer Science degree arose from my love and interest in gaming. I became infatuated with how complex and beautiful games have become. With each game that is created, the technologies grow ever the more advance and impressive. Such as the beautiful open world of Zelda Breath of the Wild, or the insane graphics of Horizon Zero Dawn. I wished to know more about how these amazing games were made and what I could to to have the skills to aid in creating games enjoyed by millions, such as these. After taking an introductory Computer Science course my Sophomore year in high school, I learned that I loved to code and would like to do something like this as a full-time career in the future. My dream job is to become a video game developer. I want to help create games that people around the world will love and enjoy, just as the producers of my favorite games made media that helped shape my childhood. Jobs usually are often considered to simply be necessities for people to make money to survive off of, not things people do for their own entertainment. I believe making video games, however, wouldn't feel like a job at all for me with how much I would enjoy it. I believe I am the best candidate for this scholarship due to my passion with Computer Science. The amount of money I'd make from the career is more of an afterthought. The reason I aspire to major in computer science is that I feel true joy from it. I enjoy seeing people laughing and joyful, so seeing people enjoy games that I aided in creating is my goal. I believe that not an interest, but a passion in a major is an absolute necessity to enjoy spending the rest of one's working years in career related to that major. My passion will ensure not only that I enjoy my work, but that I put in the effort to ensure that my work is enjoyable by others.

The best back to school tip is actually to buy a whiteboard! White boards are fun, creative, and multifunctional. Instead of having to worry about buying a schedule planner to put your plans for the week on, you can just write it on the whiteboard, and erase it easily each week. You can even pin it to your wall so your to do list is right in front of you! They also don’t only have to be used for writing homework assignments, but can be used for general to do lists as well during summer months when you’re not in school.