It should be no surprise that family farming is a dying field. Through rising costs and labor shortages, the homely heritage steads are urging one step closer to endangerment every day. The brilliance of rural life spread from generation to generation has been waning in recent times. Unfortunately, my family is not an exception to this pressing extinction. Our 50-year-old dairy cattle herd managed between the split hands of my grandfather and his sons, has faced numerous questions of its future, as the demands of current-day agriculture push upon it. In the initiative to continue the life of the farm, we dared into the world of innovation through the introduction of four Lely Astronaut A5 devices into our free stall barns. These feats of technology allow each cow to be milked with her freedom by simply walking into the robot and then exiting whenever she’d like, without any human intervention being necessary. This piece of technology not only transformed the lives of the cattle by reducing stress, yet it also changed our own human lives. Without the need for a body to be present hours upon hours for the milking of the 500-head herd, the costs of labor were shrunk significantly and managed to free much of our time to instead be spent together as a family. As I continue my educational career by attending Brown University in this upcoming fall, I plan to study Applied Mathematics within their esteemed program. Through these studies, I will continue to envelop myself in the world of innovation through problem-solving and analysis to see that the lives around me are bettered. Particularly, I would like to utilize my knowledge within the agricultural world in the aims of my future. To be able to create such an impact, as the automatic milkers did for my family, is truly outstanding. It would be my dream to continue developing technologies in order to protect the integrity of family-owned agriculture. By harnessing the potential within data and technologies, it is my hope to contribute to the new era of farming, marked by efficiency, sustainability, and resilience. The journey of innovation that first began with the Lely Astronaut A5 represents merely the start of this path. With the proper use of the right knowledge and tools, I believe that a renaissance can be sparked within family farms on a grand scale, allowing for their legacies to continue living on throughout the years.

After forgetting about the Premier League international break, I expected to abruptly turn the TV off when I saw that the green pitch of a football field had been replaced by the Circuit de Monaco. Instead, however, my weekend was then spent enchanted by the thrills of Formula 1 Racing, absorbing the daring laps, record-breaking pitstops, and battling overtakes that worked to answer the question: “Who is the fastest?” At Brown, my journey to change or confirm the response to that question would begin with a concentration in Mechanical Engineering. Implementing the various levels of calculus-based mathematics, data analytics, physics, chemistry, and engineering courses into my studies, I would explore the academic technical layers behind racing, while also gaining experience through being a member of the Brown Formula Racing Team. Brown will allow me to expand my pursuits to understanding the social workings that drive the ever-evolving science. Through Making Decisions, I will unearth the factors that are key to creating choices for a more apt analysis, further implemented in the Introduction to Game Theory, to produce efficient strategizing with the mechanical knowledge learned. Additionally, I will continue to deepen my knowledge of French and Spanish through advanced courses, so that I may invest myself within the environment that studying abroad opportunities may offer me, particularly in such a global field. My future endeavors in my career field will also be amplified by prior experiences both in and out of the classroom. The various scientific and mathematical classes that I have taken have prepared me mentally for my future, and the several organizations requiring teamwork such as Orchestra and Tennis have readied me with the necessary communication skills to achieve success. Lastly, my upbringing on a dairy farm has exposed me to the constant nature of innovation. Being introduced to such incredible feats of technology, from automatic calf-feeders to robot parlors, has formed a permanent state of curiosity and intention of constant improvement. As I move onto the next path of my life, I am willing to utilize every opportunity and instance to better myself for my future goals. Although a career in strategy in motorsports is certainly difficult to achieve, I will put in every step necessary to make my ambitions become realities.