As individuals, we constantly think of ways to improve and become the best version. To achieve my dreams as an individual, I dedicate myself to being the best version of myself that can aid and inspire others. In my academics, personal life, and personal aspirations, I am most dedicated to becoming a person who helps to bring change and improvement to the world. At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, I had an epiphanic moment that changed my dream of living a mediocre life. When the pandemic hit, schools in the United States closed out, and after a few months, school districts received funds to buy Chromebooks that would allow every student to have a way of learning and meeting with teachers online while staying at home. The Wayne Westland Community School District gave four Chromebooks to my three younger siblings and me. I was very thankful for this chance to learn while keeping safe, but I was also aware that not every student had this luxury to use school or district-provided Chromebooks. It was particularly evident when I read an article about teachers in Africa driving trucks with chairs and a table around the town to teach their students. During this time, I extensively talked to my friends from Ghana and tried to know how they were coping with the quarantine period. They read and reread the notes they had taken before the pandemic and could not receive the assistance of their teachers. Most of them had no phones; however, I have a phone and take it for granted. Although the world increased its technology usage by 70%, it seemed as if this statistical approximation did not apply to Ghana. Now, fast-forward from the beginning of Covid-19 to 2021, I read another article about Ghana's growing cases of juju killings. Juju killings are a practice where individuals visit juju priests who task them with killing an individual and taking their body parts to offer as a sacrifice to gods. After offering the body parts, an individual is granted what they want by the gods. Usually, individuals in Ghana who engage in this activity do it for sika duro or money rituals. I was angered when I read the news of two teenagers murdering a ten-year-old for sika duro. For a long time, I thought about why these teenagers would believe that murdering another teenager for money rituals was the only way to earn money. As a Ghanaian by birth, it pains me to admit that numerous individuals in my country are illiterate and ignorant enough to believe in money rituals; however, the only way to solve a problem is by acknowledging it. To aid in helping eradicate this problem, I am now dedicated to learning and becoming a computer scientist to educate teenagers and provide them with better prospects. I want to educate the teenagers in Ghana, and my dedication has led me to create the City of Love project that is in development to increase awareness and prospects. CITY OF LOVE is a game design and programming project under Code with Love's outreach program to the youth and children of developing and underdeveloped countries. I hope to spread awareness about the situation of the youth and children in developing countries. But above all, I would love to provide jobs and interests for these youth and children by introducing them to the endless possibilities of computer and information technology. In the future, I hope my dedication leads me to realize these dreams, as I believe is my most valuable characteristic.

I come from Ghana, a country in West Africa. Ghana used to be called Gold Coast, and the population is about 30.42 million. I used to wake up each day at 5 am: I would sweep a huge compound; get ready for school, and return home from school around 6 pm. We children always devoted ourselves to school and nothing else. I was in a good household; I did not have to sleep on the streets or worry about what I would eat when I came back home from school. Other kids my age, however, slept on the streets and had nothing to eat. Most of these kids are orphans outcasted by society and have nowhere to go. When I was still back in my country, I would sometimes give a loaf of bread or a pack of biscuits to these kids. I felt guilt towards them because I lived in comfort while they struggled to live past every day. Afterward, my mom and dad got approved to have my younger brother and me join them in the United States. Being able to come to the United States has been the biggest blessing in my life. I have been lucky enough to have this world full of possibilities open to me; again, I felt guilty because not all children were fortunate like I was to have parents in the United States. I have been here for almost four years now: my goal is to go back and help these children. I got introduced to Computer Science and coding during my first year in the United States. I learned more about how it aids our daily lives as my interest developed. Last year, I launched my own company- Infinite Love; Infinite Love has five divisions- Make and Create with Love; Code with Love; Star with Love; Entrepreneur with Love; and Love You, Too. Recently, I have been working on initiating Code with Love. Code with Love is a project under Infinite Love. What I aim to do with Code with Love is educate these children in Computer Science. I hope I can help them have better prospects. Getting this grant will help me further my education and also launch the project. I will be able to approach more companies for funding for these children. Though I know about Computer Science, I am yet to become a licensed programmer. I hope to further my studies in Computer Science and teach these children the knowledge I learn. The future programmers and Computer Scientists who may build the next big thing could come from Ghana.

Hello Nervo, My name is Ida Akoto-Wiafe. I am a high school senior who is an aspiring entrepreneur and artist. When asked what my biggest ambition is, I always answer LOVE. My love for art, nature, and diversity has shaped my understanding of the word "LOVE" in many ways. I spend a lot of time in nature because I feel peaceful and motivated when I see the world's beauty around me. I aim to help people learn about the world's beauty through my art also teach individuals how to love the earth and all it encompasses. I spent the first thirteen years of my life in a country where I believe to be the most beautiful country on earth-Ghana. I succumbed to single stories about how life was in North America and Europe before moving to the United States. However, after experiencing how life is to the stereotypes that these single stories created, I realized there was so much more that I could learn. I got busy after coming to the United States; I learned as much as I could about the different countries in the world. Through my four years in the United States, I have witnessed protests against racism, police brutality, and segregation. I realized that most of the culprits of these atrocities any better. They learn to hate other cultures because they are different from their culture. They also tend to hate these cultures because the single stories they hear are often negative, and they do not try to find other accounts. This realization drove me to learn Chinese, Korean, and Filipino. While learning these languages, I also watched documentaries to learn about the culture of these countries and educate myself about their lifestyle from different perspectives. My unquenchable thirst for knowledge and itch to teach others this knowledge gave me the drive to launch Infinite Love, begin writing songs, scripts and also lay down the idea for my "World of Love" project. The 'World of Love" project is a project that will consist of building the different countries in the world around a globe. The project can then use technology to take visitors through a virtual ride where they can see how the lifestyle and culture of each country is. By learning about what and how a country is, people can then learn to love that country. I hope to travel to different countries while communicating in the language locally spoken in that country, even if it is just a phrase or sentence. I believe the only way to eradicate hate is to teach love and acceptance of the world and all it encompasses. And in the future, I hope to be part of a group that teaches individuals how to love.

A lot of the time, I like to think of myself as someone with many origins. I am an African American with light-toned skin. I was born in Ghana and raised there till I moved to the United States at thirteen years old. Diversity is my all. When I was back in Ghana, the only music genre I was familiar with was Afrobeats, Azonto, Hiplife, and Highlife. After coming to the United States, I got exposed to more things and learned of other music genres such as Jazz, Pop, R&B, Country, Hip-hop, to mention but a few. I learned even more about Mandopop, Bollywood, and Kpop. Being exposed to these diverse music genres and cultures they hailed from broadened my horizons and broke down my artistic barriers. I was able to learn the language while enjoying the music from these different countries. We are usually told in school that Math is a universal language. Now, I have started to believe that music is the only universal language that teaches love, acceptance, and healing. Through diversity, I can listen to music in more than one language, watch movies in more than one language, and understand cultures in more ways than one. The impact of diversity is more than we can imagine. If there was only one color for all matter known, how boring would it be to look at the same color all day, year, and lifetime? Sometimes, unnecessary hate blinds us to prosecute anything or anyone different from the "normal." However, what we never realize is that because of this difference, we can promote creativity. To me, diversity is the very essence of our being. The different systems in our body are diverse; they work together to provide us with life because of this diversity. For me, diversity is that indispensable existence in each of our lives.

What if we could have a place where we could know all there is to know about the seven continents on earth? The world has so many countries and sights that are unheard of by many. I want to make these countries and sights easily accessible to everyone without having to visit those places. What I to create is a place where art and technology intersect to create an adaptation of earth. I call it the "World Love Museum." There are many types of museums: however, there is no museum that tells people what they can find in every country in the world. This museum that I hope to create will be powered by technology and art. In the middle of seven buildings will be a sphere. Inside the sphere-like-structure will be flags of all the different countries in the world-including defacto sovereign states, sovereign states, and partially recognized countries. The outside of the sphere-like-structure will be a projection of the earth's continents and waters. The seven different buildings that surround this sphere will each be a continent. The buildings will have as many rooms as there are countries on each continent. Each room will have the country's shape on one side of its squared walls and a flat-screen on another side. The flat-screen will show what that country looks like with live footage of the country, facts about that country, and its different attractions in five minutes. The best technology will provide museum-goers an experience that is equal to visiting that country. I want to give every person the chance to learn about the culture and life of every country. I hope my creation can teach about loving countries and, most importantly, the people in them. The world needs to see this creation to stay educated about places they have not been to and love those places. One can hate for no reason, so I believe a museum with countries that one hates for no reason can teach them to love those places without ignorance of what they are.

My definition of music is "soul." I view music as a way to connect intimately with nature, humans, and art. There is music in all that is around us. A good song does not need to be in a language you can understand; as long as you can feel its meaning in your soul, you will naturally know its meaning. I have two favorite songs that hold deep meaning and importance to me. The first song is "Daisies" by the award-winning American singer Katy Perry. "Daisies" is a song I found inspirational because I was born in April. Daisies are associated with innocence, purity, and death. When I first listened to "Daisies," I understood it as a declaration Perry was making. "They tell me that I'm crazy, but I'll never let 'em change me: 'Til they cover me in daisies, daisies, daisies." This line stood out the most because she declared to all who doubted her dream to succeed that she was not giving up, not until she is dead. When designing the logo for my company, Infinite Love, I incorporated daisies into the logo. It symbolized my dream to make my company successful and not give up- not until death, and even then, I will make sure that others can achieve my vision in my stead. The second song is "Still that girl/依然睡公主" by the award-winning Chinese singer Deng Ziqi- known widely as G.E.M. The literal translation of the song's Chinese title in English is "still sleeping princess." I am a very diverse person who has a talent for languages. Chinese is one of the languages I speak, so I naturally listen to Chinese songs and music. What inspired me the most about this song is that G.E.M. wrote this song when she was thirteen years old. She states this fact in the first line of the song which says, "当年我十三岁 写的这首歌." This line translates to, "I wrote this song when I was thirteen years old." G.E.M. talks about the pressures of living in a society where one needs to conform to societal norms: her heroine decides to stay in a dream but wakes up to reality's harshness. "如果生活必须让我变成被困住的兽, 为何不能让我永远都被困在一个梦." This line translates to, "If life must turn me into a trapped beast, why can't I be stuck in a dream forever." G.E.M. speaks true to how one might feel better to die than to be a living dead. I was motivated by this song to be who I want to be and never conform to societal norms. Songs to me are a healing light: they can lead the way when you are lost and give you strength when you are weak. My passion for music and singing has guided me to write fifteen original songs: I wrote in both Chinese and English. I hope to move souls and heal with my music someday; only then can I call myself a singer and musician.

Hello! My name is Ida Akoto-Wiafe. I am a sixteen-year-old high school junior at John Glenn High School in Michigan. I was born in Ghana and lived there till I joined my parents in the United States when I was thirteen. I love doing a large variety of activities; however, I am most passionate about coding, dancing, learning new languages, and making art- my definition of art includes singing, songwriting, drawing, creating, and designing. Before coming to the United States, I believed rumors that said the United States had gold-lined streets. After coming here, I naturally knew that they were rumors somehow; but again, they weren't. The United States does have gold-lined pathways, but to find them, you need to search. These gold-lined pathways are opportunities. There are countless opportunities in the United States that you need to search for to find: you need to want a gold-lined street to get one. I looked for such a pathway, and I found one. Last year, right before the pandemic hit, my mom talked to me about selling the bracelets I made. I love making bracelets, and my mom thought it would benefit me if I made them and sold them to my classmates. I thought about this and decided to create a company. I named my company Infinite Love: I chose this name because I hope my company can spread love to children in third-world countries. I have seen many children in Ghana end up as criminals because they did not get the opportunity to have better prospects. I divided Infinite Love into five divisions: each division is responsible for a goal and role in fulfilling Infinite Love's vision to "Do it all together with and for love." These five divisions are: -Make and Create with Love This division is to advocate the proper disposal of plastic. We support using plastic to make beads, which we use to make jewelry. We also advocate for African print clothing and hope to spread the beauty it brings. -Code with Love This division promotes coding and Computer Science. We hope to provide better prospects for children in third-world countries by giving them the chance to find a passion for Information, Communication, Technology (ICT). -Star with Love This division is for the arts. A lot of the time, children in third-world countries are not able to chase their passion for dancing, acting, and singing. This division aims to help them enter into the entertainment circle smoothly. -Entrepreneur with Love This division is to train others like me. It is to guide them and help them become the very best entrepreneurs they can be. It is also to teach them to give back to the community when they become successful. -Love You, Too This division is for those who love to bring beauty through makeup. This division also aims to give helpful skincare tips that can help make skins glow and teach about loving your skin. I hope to be able to give back to society by initiating each of the divisions. Make and Create with Love was the first division to launch: it launched on April 1st, 2020. I am currently planning on launching Code with Love by finding a tech company to cooperate with because I will not be able to afford the computers the kids will need for learning computer science. The development of Make and Create with Love has been slow due to Covid restrictions: since the launch till now, I have been able to sell three bracelets, which earned $31. To receive this scholarship will mean putting my website, business logo, and advertisements in progress: I can also get a much better computer for my business. I hope you and your team can see the potential of Infinite Love.

I come from Ghana, a country in West Africa. Ghana used to be called Gold Coast, and the population is about 30.42 million. I used to wake up each day at 5 am: I would sweep a huge compound; get ready for school, and return home from school around 6 pm. We children always devoted ourselves to school and nothing else. I was in a good household; I did not have to sleep on the streets or worry about what I would eat when I came back home from school. Other kids my age, however, slept on the streets and had nothing to eat. Most of these kids are orphans who are outcasted by society and have nowhere to go. When I was still back in my country, I would sometimes give a loaf of bread or a pack of biscuits to these kids. I felt guilt towards them because I lived in comfort while they struggled to live past every day. Afterward, my mom and dad got approved to have my younger brother and me join them in the United States. Being able to come to the United States has been the biggest blessing in my life. I have been lucky enough to have this world full of possibilities open to me; again, I felt guilty because not all children were fortunate like I was to have parents in the United States. I have been here for almost four years now: my goal is to go back and help these children. I got introduced to Computer Science and coding during my first year in the United States. I became interested in all it encompassed and learned more about how it aids our daily lives. Last year, I launched my own company- Infinite Love; Infinite Love has five divisions- Make and Create with Love; Code with Love; Star with Love; Entrepreneur with Love; and Love You, Too. Recently, I have been working on initiating Code with Love. Code with Love is a project under Infinite Love. What I aim to do with Code with Love is educate these children in Computer Science. I hope I can help them have better prospects. Getting this grant will help me further my education and also launch the project. I will be able to approach more companies for funding for these children. Though I know about Computer Science, I am yet to become a licensed programmer. I hope to further my studies in Computer Science and teach these children the knowledge I learn. The future programmers and Computer Scientists who may build the next big thing could come from Ghana.

When I was little, I had difficulty communicating; I started to talk when I was five years old. After growing up, I can speak clearly with others and have no speech impairment issues, but I sometimes choose not to talk because I always go by the rule that; "empty barrels make the most noise." For years this has been a saying which I held dear to heart until I came to the United States three years ago. After arriving, I thought everything was normal at my house. My mom was here, so was my dad and my three siblings, who I had not seen face to face before and was coming into contact with for the first time. My younger brother, who was four years at that time, had autism. He was often left alone at home, with nothing but the tablet and TV to keep him company. He had no communication skills whatsoever and cried for everything he needed and wanted. It was hard seeing him like he was every day: he sat by himself and would not talk; he was particular about the time and would throw a fit if it went wrong. So, I started spending hours with him, studying him, and trying to understand how he operated. I had never thought about what would happen to me if I lost my ability to speak and communicate with others someday, but I was able to see what would happen through my brother. I felt guilty because I could engage verbally with others clearly, but he couldn't. I felt guilty because I had taken for granted something he could not afford. My little brother changed my perspective on communication. Not only have I changed my perspective in this aspect, but I have started to appreciate every single action I able to perform each day. I see others every day who have amputated legs and arms; they would surely do not wish to be amputated, but they are. The only thing they can do is keep looking at the bright side of things, appreciate what they have, and learn to adapt to that way of living. A lot of the time, we feel overly entitled and take things for granted. We never stop to think, " What will happen if we no longer have what we have?" We never stop to think, " How are the lives of those without what we have like?" After seeing my younger brother struggle with a luxury that most of us have, I have a newfound appreciation for all that I can do. I work daily on being empathetic, being able to understand the hardships that others go through has empowered me to create my company called Infinite Love. I hope to be able to help people in third-world countries, especially the kids in these countries. I am hoping to be able to provide them with better prospects to help funnel their hopes and dreams into reality: I want to teach them to believe they can achieve what they perceive, and when they learn all of these, I want them to be able to communicate and teach it to others.

My inspirational playlist consists of sixteen songs, five of which the singers sing in Korean or Chinese. That is who I am. I work hard every day at being diverse, understanding, and tolerant towards other cultures and people. Music is soul; an inspirational song will inspire you no matter what language singers use. Through music, I can embrace people of different cultures with love and tolerance. I hope I can unite nations and move hearts with songs someday. I hope I can tell others that being broken is beautiful and only when covered in daisies do we stop rising up.

My grandma always say that one can be the wealthiest person on earth but have that wealth taken away and spent by others when they die, but the knowledge we learn in the world is something that is going to stay with us forever; there is no way someone can steal our knowledge from our heads. These wise words are words that I have listened to and taken to heart since little. I live by these words and focus more on the knowledge I gain from education rather than the comfortable life I can live someday if I take my education seriously. Education is life. I can't live without learning; that is why I read every text I come across. I feel the constant need to know something new and keep my brain fed just as I keep my body fed with food. I learn because knowing can save me from life and death situations. Not knowing how to deal with someone who has asthma can cost that person's life; not knowing CPR can cost another person's life; not knowing how to help others by leading them can also cost them a lifetime of knowledge that is critical to their growth as a responsible and respectable person. My greatest dream and passion is to be able to help others become who they want to be. I love being taught and love it, even more, when I can pass on what I have learned to others. To me, the impact education has on my life is more than I can explain. Through education, I can learn how to be a better person; teaching is the most valuable profession society has. My knowledge remains my knowledge--the only concrete possession a person can completely own. I can choose to pass it on to others--which is holy--or keep it to myself--which is greedy--knowledge is power; the more a person knows, the more power they possess. I value education because the knowledge learned can completely change the life and fate of a person forever.

People always say, "the more, the merrier,"; I never believed in that saying because I am introverted and too much socialization drains me. However, I do know and understand that it does not take a single person to build a company up. No matter how smart or outstanding that person is, there is going to be a point where this person is going to need the succor of others. I knew that to reach the goals set for Infinite Love, I was going to need the succor of peers who had the same thinking and objectives I had. Infinite Love is a company I launched on Instagram on April 1st, 2020. I choose April Fool's Day because I love the beginning of spring and the day is a day to be lighthearted. There are five divisions to Infinite Love; our objective is to give back to communities-struggling communities-each division has a designated goal. Make and Create with Love-the role and goal is taking plastic and turning them into beads with technology to reduce plastic waste and advocate for African print clothing. Code with Love-the role and goal is to help disadvantaged children and people find their passion in computer science and also research how computer science aids in finding a cure for cancer. Star with Love-the role and goal is helping talented people who want to but can't enter the entertainment field enter successfully. Entrepreneur with Love-the role and goal is to advocate for students with aspirations to own a business have a relatively easy journey. Love You, Too-the role and goal is to make people more beautiful with simple tips about caring for your body and face. Infinite Love's objective is summed up in the phrase, "Do it all with and for love." What we aim to do is to spread the love for arts, computer science, and helping others. I have recently started to build up a team to be able to make the management of all these divisions efficient. The group, including me, will comprise six people-three boys, three girls-each one of five of the members will be in charge of managing a division and I will oversee all the work they do. Let's face it. Sixteen-year-old adolescents aim to develop their own identities to prepare for turning eighteen and becoming adults. This phase is when we care more about what we think and what we want; we experiment, rebel, have personal fables, have imaginary audiences, and become "self" -ish. After mastering up a lot of courage, I began to advocate for Infinite Love and talk about it to my classmates every single chance I got. There has been a lot of admiration and respect from my peers. My close friends have supported me very much in this cause. But so far, my Instagram followers are only over seventy. I started the recruiting process three weeks ago, asking classmates and peers who are responsible if they would like to join me in this mission. They were all full of praises and encouraging words, but in the end, they said no. They were overwhelmed by my ideas. I get it; talking to me about these ideas wouldn't exactly be pleasant because I give out specific rules which they would have to follow upon becoming a member of Infinite Love. I have asked three boys so far-they all said no-and two girls-one said no, and the other is still unsure. This rejection has led me to doubt myself and almost give up on my dream; the only thing that kept me from giving up was seeing peers younger than me, my age, and older than me present their ideas during the National Honor Society of High School Scholars'-(NSHSS)-annual Be-More-A-Thon. NSHSS is an organization that is co-founded by the great-nephew of Alfred Nobel, Cleas Nobel; the organization supports high school scholars into becoming leaders. Seeing the ideas of the ten finalists made me inspired to keep on with my journey. I have contacted several of the finalists; I am working with one of the finalists and winners of the $10,000 scholarship grant to provide computer science education to orphans in Ghana. Ghana is the country I am originally from so this has become a passion project for me to help these children through initiating Code with Love. This rejection by my classmates redirected me to find others as motivated as I am to be able to share my ideas with. Without being rejected, I would have worked with people who did not quite understand my need to help others whenever, however, and wherever I could.

I am a high schooler, the quiet nonsocial type, the bookworm type, the type that is labeled as a "good student." I have never been someone who wants to be a high achiever in the social circle; talking to me is a chore. I have never seen the need or importance of being social; to me, having a few good friends is enough. I started to see what was wrong with this viewpoint after an encounter with failure. That's right; the cause of my failure was none other than my outlook on being social. I like to think that I have a lot of business acumen, but when faced with questions like how do you get the word across to people about your business? I become abysmal. I launched a business called Infinite Love on my Instagram page on April 1st, 2020. It must sound like goods news except that it wasn't because I had under fifty followers at the time I launched. The goal of Infinite Love is simple; to "do it all with and for love." There are five parts to Infinite Love; each part has a designated role and goal in helping to make daily lives fulfilling. Make and Create with Love-the role and goal is taking plastic and turning them into beads with technology to reduce plastic waste and advocate for African print clothing. Code with Love-the role and goal is helping disadvantaged children and people find their passion in computer science and also research how computer science aids to cure cancer. Star with Love-the role and goal is helping talented people who want to but can't enter the entertainment field enter successfully. Entrepreneur with Love-the role and goal is to advocate for students with aspirations to own a business have a relatively easy journey. Love You, Too-the role and goal is to make people more beautiful with simple tips about caring for your body and face. What went wrong? The plan is perfect, but the execution was not well planned; I ended up with only seven likes on the launch post. After that, I sat down and thought about what I had done wrong. The answer was that I know too few people and I am not social; no one would know about what I am trying to do. I knew if I wanted Infinite Love to work, I would have to do some work, starting with me. It has not been easy trying to connect with people in the middle of the pandemic. I have learned that being academically educated is just as important as being socially educated. This failure has empowered me to learn how to be socially educated; it has not been without complications, but I have been able to reach seventy-nine followers; I am sure there is more to come. I am currently working hard to advertise and advocate for Infinite Love and this scholarship could be a key decider in another failure or success.

I am someone who has to have a 99.9% success rate before taking a risk. However, my proudest and the boldest moment was when I launched Infinite Love on my Instagram page with less than fifty followers and Covid-19 in tow on April 1st, 2020. Infinite Love is a business I created with inspiration drawn from my artistic interests and passion for being able to develop a cure for cancer with computer science. Taking this significant leap has been hard for me because I am not social. I am hoping to get this scholarship to reach out to more people.