The suicide rate for Native Americans is up 139% since 1999. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people aged 10-24. Numbers like these can be so depressing. I have family and friends that have committed suicide or attempted to. There are about 5,000 people enrolled with my tribe - 3,627 people living on our reservation. This makes me a statistic and not necessarily a happy one. Out of 804 households, 330 have an income of less than $25,000. Native Americans also have methamphetamine abuse rates 3 times higher than any other ethnic group. Poverty, suicide, and drug abuse numbers should never have been able to climb that high. These numbers break my heart. Lots of different factors contribute to these statistics, including historical trauma that we all share, being disconnected from our culture, systematic racism, and high levels of violence. Although my schooling was never the greatest, I've always tried to get the most out of it. All I want to do is learn as much as I can and help my people in any way possible. Ever since I was in elementary school math has been my favorite subject. As I grew older I was able to learn more math and even some about computers. I know this is something I want to pursue in life. I find immense beauty in mathematics and computer science. Simply assuming a few things about something instantly sets countless truths in stone for eternity. Math is completely objective, opinions don’t matter when it comes to math - nothing does besides the assumptions made before. Sometimes when I'm able to find a solution after working for a long time it feels as if I’ve bumped into something so huge it's ridiculous I didn’t see it before. It is so very absolute and enormous it’s terrifying but so powerful all at the same time. Computers use binary code to “think”. This is such a simple thing - ones and zeros, yes and no, turn into something insanely complex. To think about how fast a computer can process billions of numbers in seconds is mind-blowing. I think that there are many ways in which we can use technology to assist our reservation and preserve our culture. Just by updating the technology we already have and teaching our children to use it we already have a good start. When we give our kids new and fun interactive learning methods they will enjoy learning more and retain it better. Also when we update what we already have and teach our community to use it to its full potential we can become more connected to the world outside of our reservation. One more big thing I’d like to see technology used for is preserving our culture. It's important to show everyone that we are still here and that we are important. I would love to help create programs for any or all of these reasons. We use numbers to measure everything in life, they can bring back emotions and old memories when they remind us of certain dates. They create accountability and help us stay organized. Seeing math in everything everywhere is another thing that is so fascinating to me. It feels like it sort of connects us to things we don’t understand yet in the universe. Sometimes I hate numbers, but I will always love math.