The epitome of technology in today’s world is ChatGPT, an AI which has learned endless information about our society. But have you ever stopped to wonder if you could create a model just like it? That was the very question facing me during the winter before my 17th birthday. I was quite intimidated, but even still I decided to try my hand at building a machine capable of learning from scratch. Through an AI mentorship program, I was grouped with five other students, all just as passionate as I was. Together, we set out on making a bot which could dominate Connect 4. The first several weeks were quite fun – after all, recreating the game was quite easy. There were a few issues with the code we wrote at first, but after some debugging the errors were gone. Afterwards, we created an agent that would play off of a set of heuristics, choosing moves if their prospects were better in the long term. I stepped up to write the main algorithm, and with help from everyone else added optimization. Then we transitioned into implementing the AI, and it was at this point that my uncertainty kicked in. All of the mentees were just as confused as I was, but we needed to create the model fast so that we could give it enough time to train. I doubled down on spending more hours of my free time learning about the algorithm we were using and, slowly but surely, the code was coming together. Weeks turned to months, and after many rounds of continuously adding and changing code, it was finally complete. The reason that I was able to get as far as I did was because of my mentor, a sophomore with a background in machine learning. He was the one who helped me uncover many insights about the inner workings of the AI, and we spent many days working one-on-one to debug code. Like him, my hope is to inspire those who come after me. I want them to feel the same enthusiasm that I did when I learned my own worth as a coder. If I am able to pass on my passion to them the same way my mentor passed it on to me, then I will feel that I have been a successful person. In achieving this goal, the first step is, of course, to earn my bachelor’s degree. Unfortunately, I am still staring down $50,000 of student debt. Even worse, my family doesn’t qualify for traditional financial aid. However, that hasn’t stopped me – in the past year, I’ve applied for hundreds of scholarships and searched for jobs to help pay for my degree. I’m proud to say that thanks to my efforts in the past semester, I have been selected for part-time work in UTD’s Peer-Led Team Learning program. My hope is to take this chance to refine my skills in teaching (while paying for my education along the way) so that when the time comes for me to take leadership in software organizations, I will have the necessary skills to make my peers’ entry into the world of professional coding development as enjoyable and fulfilling as mine was. By granting me the Career Test Scholarship, you will not just be helping me complete my degree; you will be a stepping stone for many others in their ambitions, whether it’s finishing coursework or navigating today’s world of technology. This is the future that I wish to create with your help. Thank you for considering me for this opportunity.

If you told a younger version of myself that one day he would travel to learn another country’s culture, he would laugh at you and tell you that it was impossible. Yet here I am now: passport in hand, I’m about to embark on a journey that will take me deep into the heart of a culture I’ve never been in before. As I prepare to explore new landscapes and immerse myself in unfamiliar customs, I realize that this adventure will transform not only my perspective but also my understanding of the world and my place within it. But first, let’s go back two years in time to when it all started. My first experience with Japanese culture was what you’d expect – anime. After getting hooked into the fantasy world of Fairy Tail (a popular shonen during the 2010s), I knew deep down that I wanted to learn the language. I spent many months studying during my final year of high school, going through textbooks, reviewing digital flashcards, and learning to write several hundreds of characters. But even though I had made great progress in a year, I felt something was missing. So I turned to Fairy Tail, and I realized that the answer was right in front of me all along. What I needed most were friends. Luckily for me, my first year of college gave me just that. Though it was difficult to adjust to the new challenges I was facing, I found a community of Japanese learners that were on the same journey as me. The weekly meetings also introduced me to various aspects of Japanese culture through fun activities and games. For instance, one week, we were doing song translations: everyone would submit their requests, then the most popular songs would get picked. During the meeting, we took turns translating line-by-line to uncover the imagery hidden within the lyrics. We also had events where we would go by carpool to a local ramen bistro and enjoy a late dinner. These were Japanese-only, and by going to a few I managed to improve my speaking skills quite a bit. I’ve decided that one day in the near future, I’m going to visit Japan and experience for myself the entirety of its culture. I know that it will take a while before I’ll feel comfortable with my speaking abilities, but I’m really excited to truly see what it’s like. After all, Japanese gave me a newfound direction and lifelong friends. It’s time that I take my passport in hand and embark on this journey.

The epitome of technology in today’s world is ChatGPT, an AI which has learned endless information about our society. But have you ever stopped to wonder if you could create a model just like it? That was the very question facing me during the winter before my 17th birthday. I was quite intimidated, but even still I decided to try my hand at building a machine capable of learning from scratch. Through an AI mentorship program, I was grouped with five other students, all just as passionate as I was. Together, we set out on making a bot which could dominate Connect 4. The first several weeks were quite fun – after all, recreating the game was quite easy. There were a few issues with the code we wrote at first, but after some debugging the errors were gone. Afterwards, we created an agent that would play off of a set of heuristics, choosing moves if their prospects were better in the long term. I stepped up to write the main algorithm, and with help from everyone else added optimization. Then we transitioned into implementing the AI, and it was at this point that my uncertainty kicked in. All of the mentees were just as confused as I was, but we needed to create the model fast so that we could give it enough time to train. I doubled down on spending more hours of my free time learning about the algorithm we were using and, slowly but surely, the code was coming together. Weeks turned to months, and after many rounds of continuously adding and changing code, it was finally complete. The reason that I was able to get as far as I did was because of my mentor, a sophomore with a background in machine learning. He was the one who helped me uncover many insights about the inner workings of the AI, and we spent many days working one-on-one to debug code. Like him, my hope is to inspire those who come after me. I want them to feel the same enthusiasm that I did when I learned my own worth as a coder. If I am able to pass on my passion to them the same way my mentor passed it on to me, then I will feel that I have been a successful person. In achieving this goal, the first step is, of course, to earn my bachelor’s degree. Unfortunately, I am still staring down $50,000 of student debt. Even worse, my family doesn’t qualify for traditional financial aid. However, that hasn’t stopped me – in the past year, I’ve applied for hundreds of scholarships and searched for jobs to help pay for my degree. I’m proud to say that thanks to my efforts in the past semester, I have been selected for part-time work in UTD’s Peer-Led Team Learning program. My hope is to take this chance to refine my skills in teaching (while paying for my education along the way) so that when the time comes for me to take leadership in software organizations, I will have the necessary skills to make my peers’ entry into the world of professional coding development as enjoyable and fulfilling as mine was. By granting me the Whiddon Memorial Scholarship, you will not just be helping me complete my degree; you will be a stepping stone for many others in their ambitions, whether it’s finishing coursework or navigating today’s world of technology. This is the future that I wish to create with your help. Thank you for considering me for this opportunity.

The epitome of technology in today’s world is ChatGPT, an AI which has learned endless information about our society. But have you ever stopped to wonder if you could create a model just like it? That was the very question facing me during the winter before my 17th birthday. I was quite intimidated, but even still I decided to try my hand at building a machine capable of learning from scratch. Through an AI mentorship program, I was grouped with five other students, all just as passionate as I was. Together, we set out on making a bot which could dominate Connect 4. The first several weeks were quite fun – after all, recreating the game was quite easy. There were a few issues with the code we wrote at first, but after some debugging the errors were gone. Afterwards, we created an agent that would play off of a set of heuristics, choosing moves if their prospects were better in the long term. I stepped up to write the main algorithm, and with help from everyone else added optimization. Then we transitioned into implementing the AI, and it was at this point that my uncertainty kicked in. All of the mentees were just as confused as I was, but we needed to create the model fast so that we could give it enough time to train. I doubled down on spending more hours of my free time learning about the algorithm we were using and, slowly but surely, the code was coming together. Weeks turned to months, and after many rounds of continuously adding and changing code, it was finally complete. The reason that I was able to get as far as I did was because of my mentor, a sophomore with a background in machine learning. He was the one who helped me uncover many insights about the inner workings of the AI, and we spent many days working one-on-one to debug code. Like him, my hope is to inspire those who come after me. I want them to feel the same enthusiasm that I did when I learned my own worth as a coder. If I am able to pass on my passion to them the same way my mentor passed it on to me, then I will feel that I have been a successful person. Despite being labeled as a minority student in my own community, I’ve never thought about those who wonder what will become of me. I haven’t been outright made fun of, but I could tell that there were always those who’d give me a sideways glance, a weird look, or something else. No matter to them – all I do is put my own goals first, and what I envision is what I make true, no matter how many years it may take. Of course, the first step in achieving my biggest goal is to earn my bachelor’s degree. Unfortunately, I can’t quite pay for all of my education. Even with help from my family, I’m still going to be $50,000 in student debt by the time I graduate. That’s why I’m looking for those who would give me a helping hand. By granting me the SigaLa Education Scholarship, you will not just be helping me complete my degree; you will be a stepping stone for many others in their ambitions, whether it’s finishing coursework or navigating today’s world of technology. This is the future that I wish to create with your help. Thank you for considering me for this opportunity.

It’s my firm belief that IT is, more than anything else, a collaborative field. The world is constantly creating applications, many of which wouldn’t be possible without the efforts of teams of people. In my personal experience, working with my peers on different projects led to some of my best memories. In my first semester of college, I was able to try my hand at front-end development through a club called Nebula Labs. It had been established a few years prior and already had a few websites, some finished but most of which were still being worked on. Since I didn’t have any of the requisite knowledge at the start, I spent most of my time learning about different languages such as Tailwind CSS or Typescript. In addition, I made an effort to come to weekly meetings and listen to status updates about the project, despite the fact that my contributions were limited. Slowly but surely, I became familiar with my project’s main framework (React) and decided that I was ready for my first ticket. It had the tag ‘Good First Issue’, so I thought, “Surely it can’t be too difficult, right?” The ticket was about implementing a smoother transition upon opening or closing a specific element. It should have been as simple as adding a couple of attributes to a few elements and letting the website take care of the rest… but no, it’s never that simple. The inner elements transitioned nicely, but the outer box snapped both ways. I was at my wit’s end, so I asked for help from several other members. One of them helped me with troubleshooting for half an hour before telling me that I would need to hardcode the transition in Javascript. And here I thought I could knock out this ticket in a day or two – I was weeks in at this point! Though I had my frustrations at times, I did enjoy coding with the other members from the club. Several of them became my mentors, and I aspired to have the same coding abilities as they did. Eventually, after a lot of experimenting, I finally managed to implement the transition and complete the ticket! This is exactly why I enjoy IT – working with others makes the problem solving process a lot more fun. Sharing this experience with others is what got me through the repeated failures until I finally was able to solve the issue. Not to mention, it was the people who I worked with that taught me the most. I’m sure that in the future, I’ll be able to help out many others in coding in the same way that my mentors were there for me.

In the vast tapestry of my future, a single thread which runs throughout and within stands out brightly among the others. It is none other than my father, a man who built his life upon discipline. His continual support, manifesting in a myriad of ways, has been instrumental in my life, from teaching me my most important life lessons to helping me obtain my largest achievements. My father was originally from India. He told me many stories of his childhood days, from playing games with his friends in the warm summer heat to piling up blankets in the harsh winters. As he was close to finishing 10th grade, however, he said that he was taught by one of the best teachers he had known. Over the course of a summer, this man had given my father a new purpose through his various teachings. As such, my father decided to pursue a bachelor’s and master’s degree before being offered a chance to come to the US. Likewise, he instilled in me a sense of discipline. If I was to accomplish something, he never wanted it to be done half-heartedly. He always urged me to do everything to the fullest extent that I could, to be determined to achieve my mind’s aim. Furthermore, every single day he encouraged me to keep studying – after all, for him, an education was the key that unlocked a journey to a new world. He taught me lessons that he himself wished he had learned as a child. Empowered by my father’s words, a new passion was ignited in me – I wished to become the best that I could ever be. I wished to learn everything and anything so that I could be at the very top. Though I wasn’t being challenged by the curriculum I was learning, he helped me discover many extra resources that I could use beyond the classroom. As such, throughout the years I went on to achieve many of my ambitious goals. Two of the most notable of them were skipping 5th and 8th grade by passing extremely difficult sets of exams. Again, my father’s aid was invaluable – he bought textbooks, planned several study sessions, and assisted me in actively reviewing the material. Without his help, I don’t believe I could have skipped either grade. And, as a direct result of his help, I am proud to say that I was the youngest member of my graduating class at just 16 years old. If there is someone whose shoes I would walk in for a day, it’s my father. In addition to enhancing my studies, one of the many things I have obtained from him is his passion for coding. As a software engineer, it’s his job every day to work on cutting-edge technologies, and I would love to learn more about the project he’s working on right now, even if only for a day. Though I won’t be exactly in his shoes, I’ll be able to follow in his footsteps and pursue a career which combines a field which I love, mathematics, with the field in which he currently works in. Its name is data science, and it’s my major for my bachelor’s degree. One day, just like my father, I will obtain my master’s as well. My achievements, past and future, are a testament to his dedication and love, and I am forever indebted to him, as he is the brightest thread woven into the vast tapestry of my future.

I was furiously scribbling figures every second. With no time to pause, I had to just trust the numbers swirling in my head and go as fast as I could. Time kept ticking. I kept panicking. The math wasn’t getting easier. “Pencils down,” I heard them say. That was the end of it. The 10 minute mental math exam had ended, and I couldn’t help but feel disappointed in myself. In practice, it was so easy to just crush problems, one after another. Why was it that when the day of the regional competition came, I wasted precious seconds looking at the clock? My friends told me not to worry about it, but I knew that I most likely had cost my team quite a bit. And I was right – though our team placed 2nd in the region, another region’s 2nd place team beat our total score, knocking us out of contention for the wildcard spot at the state level. Looking back, though, I was able to see where I went wrong. Solving problems in practice and in competition are both completely different. By settling for getting high scores in practice, I gave myself a false sense of security. What I should have done was trained ruthlessly to cut down errors and increase my speed by 50%. If I had done this, I would have been able to reach a similar level to that of my higher-scoring friends. Since I didn’t try to add an extra buffer, my competition score suffered significantly. Now a college student, I use this principle for every exam that I take. In practice, I simply don’t settle for less than a perfect score. Silly errors were something I used to be okay with, since it’s “just another mistake” that “won’t happen on the real thing”, but not anymore. I triple-check my math no matter how simple so that I know that I’m fully prepared. Case in point, my first midterm in advanced vector calculus. Never mind that it was one of the hardest undergraduate math classes at my college and NOT meant to be taken freshman year; I still aimed for a perfect exam score. I spent a week revisiting every topic covered in class and took a practice test to see where I stood. When it became clear that I had a weakness in a particular concept, I grinded practice problems until I was confident that I had it down. Though I’m not completely perfect – I missed one point on my exam for mistaking ‘indefinite’ with ‘nondefinite’ – this level of preparation is what I know will give me a score that I’m satisfied with. It turns out that that was the only point I missed, giving me a 119 / 120 score. For reference, the class average was 78 points, which is 65%. Perfection may not always be in my reach, but as long as it’s my goal, I will never let it go.

The hardest part about life is deciding what your end goal is, what it is you truly want to achieve. It felt especially hard for me – going into high school, I didn’t know what I wanted to pursue. I felt like I was a wanderer, capable of exploring many paths yet incapable of starting a journey. As such, I dove head-first into a variety of fields in the hopes of finding one that I truly enjoyed. In 12th grade, I got the chance to reignite an old passion – coding. Although I learned HTML and CSS in my free time during middle school, I didn’t study any further than that. Now that I was in a class full of my peers, I felt like I was back in my element. Everything seemed to “click” – the way computers handled memory, logical decision-making, sorting and searching algorithms, …it felt like I had finally found the missing piece of the puzzle. As an added bonus, the problem-solving skills that I acquired in math exams carried over quite nicely to coding contests. Despite the fact that I had less experience than my peers, I crushed competitions, placing 3rd in a schoolwide one and 11th out of hundreds in UTD’s Battle of the Brains, a statewide battle royale. After just a year, coding became my everything. College wouldn’t go easy on me, though. Within only a few weeks, it became clear that I was outclassed by many experienced coders. As a result, I decided that I should hold off on competing in HackUTD (the main yearly hackathon) until I built meaningful experience. The first software development club I joined, Nebula Labs, was a rollercoaster of challenges. I spent two months melting my mind in six different coding languages and along the way worked on coding a solution to my first ticket. Some days I made large strides of progress, while some days I banged my head on my desk, racking it for possible solutions. Eventually, though, in late November I finally put all of the parts together and resolved the issue! The reason that I was able to get as far as I did was because of my mentors. They were the ones who helped me gain knowledge and gave me the first push to pursue coding. My AP CSA teacher didn’t just teach me Java; he made it enjoyable for me. My peer advisor – the vice president of Nebula Labs – was the one who helped me become an official member. As such, my hope is to inspire those who come after me. I want them to feel the same enthusiasm that I did when I learned my own worth as a coder. If I am able to pass on my passion to them the same way my mentors passed it on to me, then I will feel that I have been a successful person. In achieving this goal, the first step is, of course, to earn my bachelor’s degree. By earning the Reginald Kelley Scholarship, I will be able to continue my education and help my peers as they navigate the challenges of coding in their college days and beyond. This is the future that I will create with your help. Thank you for considering me.

The hardest part about life is deciding what your end goal is, what it is you truly want to achieve. It felt especially hard for me – going into high school, I didn’t know what I wanted to pursue. I felt like I was a wanderer, capable of exploring many paths yet incapable of starting a journey. As such, I dove head-first into a variety of fields in the hopes of finding one that I truly enjoyed. In 12th grade, I got the chance to reignite an old passion – coding. Although I learned HTML and CSS in my free time during middle school, I didn’t study any further than that. Now that I was in a class full of my peers, I felt like I was back in my element. Everything seemed to “click” – the way computers handled memory, logical decision-making, sorting and searching algorithms, …it felt like I had finally found the missing piece of the puzzle. As an added bonus, the problem-solving skills that I acquired in math exams carried over quite nicely to coding contests. Despite the fact that I had less experience than my peers, I crushed competitions, placing 3rd in a schoolwide one and 11th out of hundreds in UTD’s Battle of the Brains, a statewide battle royale. After just a year, coding became my everything. College wouldn’t go easy on me, though. Within only a few weeks, it became clear that I was outclassed by many experienced coders. As a result, I decided that I should hold off on competing in HackUTD (the main yearly hackathon) until I built meaningful experience. The first software development club I joined, Nebula Labs, was a rollercoaster of challenges. I spent two months melting my mind in six different coding languages and along the way worked on coding a solution to my first ticket. Some days I made large strides of progress, while some days I banged my head on my desk, racking it for possible solutions. Eventually, though, in late November I finally put all of the parts together and resolved the issue! The reason that I was able to get as far as I did was because of my mentors. They were the ones who helped me gain knowledge and gave me the first push to pursue coding. My AP CSA teacher didn’t just teach me Java; he made it enjoyable for me. My peer advisor – the vice president of Nebula Labs – was the one who helped me become an official member. As such, my hope is to inspire those who come after me. I want them to feel the same enthusiasm that I did when I learned my own worth as a coder. If I am able to pass on my passion to them the same way my mentors passed it on to me, then I will feel that I have been a successful person. In achieving this goal, the first step is, of course, to earn my bachelor’s degree. By earning the Zamora Borose Goodwill Scholarship, I will be able to continue my education and help my peers as they navigate the challenges of coding in their college days and beyond. This is the future that I will create with your help. Thank you for considering me.

In the vast tapestry of my future, a single thread which runs throughout and within stands out brightly among the others. It is none other than my father, a man who built his life upon discipline. His continual support, manifesting in a myriad of ways, has been instrumental in my life, from teaching me my most important life lessons to helping me obtain my largest achievements. From my earliest memories, my father has been a beacon of hope. After the unfortunate passing of my mother when I was only 9 years old, our family mourned for many months, but the first one to help me adjust was my father. Though my world was shattered, every time I broke down, he hugged me, let me cry a little into his shirt, and told me that I would be okay. “Remember – a tear is worth a million dollars, so don’t cry.” Though still with watery eyes, I cried a little less every time he said it to me. As time passed and seared my wounded heart, he instilled in me a sense of discipline. If I was to accomplish something, he never wanted it to be done half-heartedly. He always urged me to do everything to the fullest extent that I could, to be determined to achieve my mind’s aim. Furthermore, every single day he encouraged me to keep studying – for him, an education was the key that unlocked a journey to a new world. He taught me lessons that he himself wished he had learned as a child. Empowered by my father’s words, a new passion was ignited in me – I wished to become the best that I could ever be. I wished to learn everything and anything so that I could be at the very top. Though I wasn’t being challenged by the curriculum I was learning, he helped me discover many extra resources that I could use beyond the classroom. As such, throughout the years I went on to achieve many of my ambitious goals. Two of the most notable of them were skipping 5th and 8th grade by passing extremely difficult sets of exams. Again, my father’s aid was invaluable – he bought textbooks, planned several study sessions, and assisted me in actively reviewing the material. Without his help, I don’t believe I could have skipped either grade. And, as a direct result of his help, I am proud to say that I was the youngest member of my graduating class at just 16 years old. In reflecting on my education, it is clear that my father has been the most significant source of support. His teachings in discipline and his unwavering support have not only helped me reach my largest goals but has also shaped me into a person who values knowledge and strives for excellence. My achievements are a testament to his dedication and love, and I am forever indebted to him, as he is the brightest thread woven into the vast tapestry of my future.

If there was one movie that I had to watch over and over again, I would undoubtedly grow bored of whatever plotline it chose. That’s why I’m picking a recent watch which gave me chills – The Garden of Sinners, Chapter 5: Paradox Spiral. Originally starting as a series of Japanese light novels before getting movie adaptations, The Garden of Sinners is known for its paranormal themes and serious topics. I’ll be honest – watching this was hard at first. With secret murders, unexplained deaths, and an element of magic and supernatural used much more so for harm than good, there is quite literally no telling when to brace yourself. One moment you’ll see a character on screen waiting for an enemy attack, and the next they’ll already have a slash through their body, blood flying out and all. Paradox Spiral is perhaps the most notorious of all of the movies in the series. This movie follows a new character, Enjou Tomoe, and describes his traumatic experiences living in a recently-built hotel whose owner has sinister intentions. Between the many contradictions and unexplained events, it keeps you on the edge of your seat waiting for some kind of resolution. Instead, you don’t get one! More deaths mysteriously occur, a beheading takes place towards the end of the film, and a character pulls a revival out of nowhere to confront the main villain. This movie also messes with your perception of time as it features both protagonists from previous movies each going through their own separate (yet intertwined) experiences before joining them in the finale. It would likely take a few rewatches just to understand the chronological order of events, let alone get comfortable enough to not be fazed by everything else! So why this movie? I think everyone interpreted “would watch over and over for the rest of a lifetime” to mean a film so enjoyable that it would never grow old. But I don’t think such a film exists for anyone, not even me. A lifetime is a long time, and picking a movie that remains fresh after tens of thousands of rewatches is impossible. That’s why my choice goes to this film. Its brutality is simply unmatched in any other movie that I’ve watched, and the fact that it forces me to pay attention just to make it through the waves of paradoxes and time jumps will be what keeps me able to watch this movie for as long as possible.

In 12th grade, I took a break from math to reignite an old passion – coding. Although I learned HTML and CSS in my free time during middle school, I didn’t study any further than that. Now that I was in a class full of my peers, I felt like I was back in my element. Everything seemed to “click” – the way computers handled memory, logical decision-making, sorting and searching algorithms, …it felt like I had finally found the missing piece of the puzzle. As an added bonus, the problem-solving skills that I acquired in math exams carried over quite nicely to coding contests. Despite the fact that I had less experience than my peers, I crushed competitions, placing 3rd in a schoolwide one and 11th out of hundreds in UTD’s Battle of the Brains, a statewide battle royale. After just a year, coding became my everything. College wouldn’t go easy on me, though. Within only a few weeks, it became clear that I was outclassed by many experienced coders. As a result, I decided that I should hold off on competing in HackUTD (the main yearly hackathon) until I built meaningful experience. The first software development club I joined, Nebula Labs, was a rollercoaster of challenges. I spent two months melting my mind in six different coding languages and along the way worked on coding a solution to my first ticket. Some days I made large strides of progress, while some days I banged my head on my desk, racking it for possible solutions. Eventually, though, in late November I finally put all of the parts together and resolved the issue! The reason that I was able to get as far as I did was because of my mentors. They were the ones who helped me gain knowledge and gave me the first push to pursue coding. As such, my hope is to inspire those who come after me. I want them to feel the same enthusiasm that I did when I learned my own worth as a coder. If I am able to pass on my passion to them the same way my mentors passed it on to me, then I will feel that I have been a successful person. In achieving this goal, the first step is, of course, to earn my bachelor’s degree. Unfortunately, I am still staring down almost a hundred thousand dollars of student debt. Even worse, my family doesn’t qualify for traditional financial aid. However, that hasn’t stopped me – in the past year, I’ve applied for hundreds of scholarships and searched for jobs to help pay for my degree. I’m proud to say that thanks to my efforts in the past semester, I have been selected for part-time work in UTD’s Peer-Led Team Learning program. My hope is to take this chance to refine my skills in teaching (while paying for my education along the way) so that when the time comes for me to take leadership in software organizations, I will have the necessary skills to make my peers’ entry into the world of professional coding development as enjoyable and fulfilling as mine was. By granting me the TEAM ROX Scholarship, you will not just be helping me complete my degree; you will be a stepping stone for many others in their ambitions, whether it’s finishing coursework or navigating today’s world of technology. This is the future that I wish to create with your help. Thank you for considering me for this opportunity.

The hardest part about life is deciding what your end goal is, what it is you truly want to achieve. It felt especially hard for me – going into high school, I didn’t know what I wanted to pursue. I felt like I was a wanderer, capable of exploring many paths yet incapable of starting a journey. As such, I dove head-first into a variety of fields in the hopes of finding one that I truly enjoyed. I started with my strongest subject in school, mathematics. I was already quite good, but that was only on a schoolwide level, certainly not on a national level. After years of grinding, I did well enough to qualify for a prestigious competition, the American Invitational Mathematics Exam (AIME). I was ecstatic as I’d never done so before! However, I was ambitious – I wanted to take the next step, making it to the national olympiad (USAMO). Unfortunately, even after several years of making it to the AIME, I was never able to secure a good enough score to qualify for the next level up. In 12th grade, I took a break from math to reignite an old passion – coding. Although I learned HTML and CSS in my free time during middle school, I didn’t study any further than that. Now that I was in a class full of my peers, I felt like I was back in my element. Everything seemed to “click” – the way computers handled memory, logical decision-making, sorting and searching algorithms, …it felt like I had finally found the missing piece of the puzzle. As an added bonus, the problem-solving skills that I acquired in math exams carried over quite nicely to coding contests. Despite the fact that I had less experience than my peers, I crushed competitions, placing 3rd in a schoolwide one and 11th out of hundreds in UTD’s Battle of the Brains, a statewide battle royale. After just a year, coding became my everything. College wouldn’t go easy on me, though. Within only a few weeks, it became clear that I was outclassed by many experienced coders. As a result, I decided that I should hold off on competing in HackUTD (the main yearly hackathon) until I built meaningful experience. The first software development club I joined, Nebula Labs, was a rollercoaster of challenges. I spent two months melting my mind in six different coding languages and along the way worked on coding a solution to my first ticket. Some days I made large strides of progress, while some days I banged my head on my desk, racking it for possible solutions. Eventually, though, in late November I finally put all of the parts together and resolved the issue! The reason that I was able to get as far as I did was because of my mentors. They were the ones who helped me gain knowledge and gave me the first push to pursue coding. As such, my hope is to inspire those who come after me. I want them to feel the same enthusiasm that I did when I learned my own worth as a coder. If I am able to pass on my passion to them the same way my mentors passed it on to me, then I will feel that I have been a successful person. In achieving this goal, the first step is, of course, to earn my bachelor’s degree. Unfortunately, I am still staring down almost a hundred thousand dollars of student debt. Even worse, my family doesn’t qualify for traditional financial aid. However, that hasn’t stopped me – in the past year, I’ve applied for hundreds of scholarships and searched for jobs to help pay for my degree. I’m proud to say that thanks to my efforts in the past semester, I have been selected for part-time work in UTD’s Peer-Led Team Learning program. My hope is to take this chance to refine my skills in teaching (while paying for my education along the way) so that when the time comes for me to take leadership in software organizations, I will have the necessary skills to make my peers’ entry into the world of professional coding development as enjoyable and fulfilling as mine was. By granting me the Redefining Victory Scholarship, you will not just be helping me complete my degree; you will be a stepping stone for many others in their ambitions, whether it’s finishing coursework or navigating today’s world of technology. This is the future that I wish to create with your help. Thank you for considering me for this opportunity.

In 12th grade, I took a break from math to reignite an old passion – coding. Although I learned HTML and CSS in my free time during middle school, I didn’t study any further than that. Now that I was in a class full of my peers, I felt like I was back in my element. Everything seemed to “click” – the way computers handled memory, logical decision-making, sorting and searching algorithms, …it felt like I had finally found the missing piece of the puzzle. As an added bonus, the problem-solving skills that I acquired in math exams carried over quite nicely to coding contests. Despite the fact that I had less experience than my peers, I crushed competitions, placing 3rd in a schoolwide one and 11th out of hundreds in UTD’s Battle of the Brains, a statewide battle royale. After just a year, coding became my everything. College wouldn’t go easy on me, though. Within only a few weeks, it became clear that I was outclassed by many experienced coders. As a result, I decided that I should hold off on competing in HackUTD (the main yearly hackathon) until I built meaningful experience. The first software development club I joined, Nebula Labs, was a rollercoaster of challenges. I spent two months melting my mind in six different coding languages and along the way worked on coding a solution to my first ticket. Some days I made large strides of progress, while some days I banged my head on my desk, racking it for possible solutions. Eventually, though, in late November I finally put all of the parts together and resolved the issue! The reason that I was able to get as far as I did was because of my mentors. They were the ones who helped me gain knowledge and gave me the first push to pursue coding. As such, my hope is to inspire those who come after me. I want them to feel the same enthusiasm that I did when I learned my own worth as a coder. If I am able to pass on my passion to them the same way my mentors passed it on to me, then I will feel that I have been a successful person. In achieving this goal, the first step is, of course, to earn my bachelor’s degree. Unfortunately, I am still staring down almost a hundred thousand dollars of student debt. Even worse, my family doesn’t qualify for traditional financial aid. However, that hasn’t stopped me – in the past year, I’ve applied for hundreds of scholarships and searched for jobs to help pay for my degree. I’m proud to say that thanks to my efforts in the past semester, I have been selected for part-time work in UTD’s Peer-Led Team Learning program. My hope is to take this chance to refine my skills in teaching (while paying for my education along the way) so that when the time comes for me to take leadership in software organizations, I will have the necessary skills to make my peers’ entry into the world of professional coding development as enjoyable and fulfilling as mine was. By granting me the Ratan Lal Mundada Memorial Scholarship, you will not just be helping me complete my degree; you will be a stepping stone for many others in their ambitions, whether it’s finishing coursework or navigating today’s world of technology. This is the future that I wish to create with your help. Thank you for considering me for this opportunity.

In 12th grade, I took a break from math to reignite an old passion – coding. Although I learned HTML and CSS in my free time during middle school, I didn’t study any further than that. Now that I was in a class full of my peers, I felt like I was back in my element. Everything seemed to “click” – the way computers handled memory, logical decision-making, sorting and searching algorithms, …it felt like I had finally found the missing piece of the puzzle. As an added bonus, the problem-solving skills that I acquired in math exams carried over quite nicely to coding contests. Despite the fact that I had less experience than my peers, I crushed competitions, placing 3rd in a schoolwide one and 11th out of hundreds in UTD’s Battle of the Brains, a statewide battle royale. After just a year, coding became my everything. College wouldn’t go easy on me, though. Within only a few weeks, it became clear that I was outclassed by many experienced coders. As a result, I decided that I should hold off on competing in HackUTD (the main yearly hackathon) until I built meaningful experience. The first software development club I joined, Nebula Labs, was a rollercoaster of challenges. I spent two months melting my mind in six different coding languages and along the way worked on coding a solution to my first ticket. Some days I made large strides of progress, while some days I banged my head on my desk, racking it for possible solutions. Eventually, though, in late November I finally put all of the parts together and resolved the issue! The reason that I was able to get as far as I did was because of my mentors. They were the ones who helped me gain knowledge and gave me the first push to pursue coding. As such, my hope is to inspire those who come after me. I want them to feel the same enthusiasm that I did when I learned my own worth as a coder. If I am able to pass on my passion to them the same way my mentors passed it on to me, then I will feel that I have been a successful person. In achieving this goal, the first step is, of course, to earn my bachelor’s degree. Unfortunately, I am still staring down almost a hundred thousand dollars of student debt. Even worse, my family doesn’t qualify for traditional financial aid. However, that hasn’t stopped me – in the past year, I’ve applied for hundreds of scholarships and searched for jobs to help pay for my degree. I’m proud to say that thanks to my efforts in the past semester, I have been selected for part-time work in UTD’s Peer-Led Team Learning program. My hope is to take this chance to refine my skills in teaching (while paying for my education along the way) so that when the time comes for me to take leadership in software organizations, I will have the necessary skills to make my peers’ entry into the world of professional coding development as enjoyable and fulfilling as mine was. By granting me the Friends of Ohm Labs Scholarship, you will not just be helping me complete my degree; you will be a stepping stone for many others in their ambitions, whether it’s finishing coursework or navigating today’s world of technology. This is the future that I wish to create with your help. Thank you for considering me for this opportunity.

It was supposed to be a normal Monday. I was just nine years old, and after coming back from school, I was watching YouTube videos waiting for my dad to come back from work. When he did, he noticed water droplets coming from the ceiling and immediately went to check on Mom. She was found unresponsive in the shower, water puddling on the floor. Minutes turned to hours, and before I knew it, an ambulance was outside the front door, ready to take her to the hospital. The realization that I might not ever see my mother again broke me. Tears could not be stopped. My world was swept right from under me in just a single night. Still, I clung to the tiny hope that I might get the chance to see her again. Maybe… she would get better. Just maybe… But fate would have it differently. Two days later, she passed away. To say that my nine-year-old self would overcome an event like this would be a lie. My world was shattered to pieces, and I was unable to bring myself together. The first day I went back to school, my math teacher consoled me and told me it was going to be alright. Just having some reassurance was enough to get me to stop crying. My friends let me know that they would be there for me, and they made sure that I could enjoy my time at school. Slowly, they helped me pick up the pieces of my life and put them back together. At the end of the day, if there is anything that I am, it’s a student. I loved my mother because she was the one who taught me how to write. She instilled determination in me and praised me when I scored well. Even if I made mistakes, she would be patient with me and ask me to try again. Without her, learning was difficult, but I didn’t give up. All of my friends reminded me that I was one of the brightest minds in the classroom and that they looked up to me. They wanted me to succeed, and with their help I was able to continue the semester and earn 1st place out of my school in a mathematics competition. It’s now about seven years later. Time has seared the wound in my heart, but even still I think about my mom. With the determination she has given me, I’ve accomplished many things over these years and I have no intention of stopping. I know that she would be proud of me for what I’ve done, but I’m nowhere near finished. I still have many years to go before I complete my bachelor’s degree. Awarding me this scholarship would help me put money towards finishing my education. Thank you for considering me for this opportunity.

The hardest part about life is deciding what your end goal is, what it is you truly want to achieve. It felt especially hard for me – going into high school, I didn’t know what I wanted to pursue. I felt like I was a wanderer, capable of exploring many paths yet incapable of starting a journey. As such, I dove head-first into a variety of fields in the hopes of finding one that I truly enjoyed. In 12th grade, I got the chance to reignite an old passion – coding. Although I learned HTML and CSS in my free time during middle school, I didn’t study any further than that. Now that I was in a class full of my peers, I felt like I was back in my element. Everything seemed to “click” – the way computers handled memory, logical decision-making, sorting and searching algorithms, …it felt like I had finally found the missing piece of the puzzle. As an added bonus, the problem-solving skills that I acquired in math exams carried over quite nicely to coding contests. Despite the fact that I had less experience than my peers, I crushed competitions, placing 3rd in a schoolwide one and 11th out of hundreds in UTD’s Battle of the Brains, a statewide battle royale. After just a year, coding became my everything. College wouldn’t go easy on me, though. Within only a few weeks, it became clear that I was outclassed by many experienced coders. As a result, I decided that I should hold off on competing in HackUTD (the main yearly hackathon) until I built meaningful experience. The first software development club I joined, Nebula Labs, was a rollercoaster of challenges. I spent two months melting my mind in six different coding languages and along the way worked on coding a solution to my first ticket. Some days I made large strides of progress, while some days I banged my head on my desk, racking it for possible solutions. Eventually, though, in late November I finally put all of the parts together and resolved the issue! The reason that I was able to get as far as I did was because of my mentors. They were the ones who helped me gain knowledge and gave me the first push to pursue coding. My AP CSA teacher didn’t just teach me Java; he made it enjoyable for me. My peer advisor – the vice president of Nebula Labs – was the one who helped me become an official member. As such, my hope is to inspire those who come after me. I want them to feel the same enthusiasm that I did when I learned my own worth as a coder. If I am able to pass on my passion to them the same way my mentors passed it on to me, then I will feel that I have been a successful person. In achieving this goal, the first step is, of course, to earn my bachelor’s degree. By earning the Janean D. Watkins Overcoming Adversity Scholarship, I will be able to continue my education and help my peers as they navigate the challenges of coding in their college days and beyond. This is the future that I will create with your help. Thank you for considering me.

It was supposed to be a normal Monday. I was just nine years old, and after coming back from school, I was watching YouTube videos waiting for my dad to come back from work. When he did, he noticed water droplets coming from the ceiling and immediately went to check on Mom. She was found unresponsive in the shower, water puddling on the floor. Minutes turned to hours, and before I knew it, an ambulance was outside the front door, ready to take her to the hospital. The realization that I might not ever see my mother again broke me. Tears could not be stopped. My world was swept right from under me in just a single night. Still, I clung to the tiny hope that I might get the chance to see her again. Maybe… she would get better. Just maybe… But fate would have it differently. Two days later, she passed away. To say that my nine-year-old self would overcome an event like this would be a lie. My world was shattered to pieces, and I was unable to bring myself together. The first day I went back to school, my math teacher consoled me and told me it was going to be alright. Just having some reassurance was enough to get me to stop crying. My friends let me know that they would be there for me, and they made sure that I could enjoy my time at school. Slowly, they helped me pick up the pieces of my life and put them back together. At the end of the day, if there is anything that I am, it’s a student. I loved my mother because she was the one who taught me how to write. She instilled determination in me and praised me when I scored well. Even if I made mistakes, she would be patient with me and ask me to try again. Without her, learning was difficult, but I didn’t give up. All of my friends reminded me that I was one of the brightest minds in the classroom and that they looked up to me. They wanted me to succeed, and with their help I was able to continue the semester and earn 1st place out of my school in a mathematics competition. It’s now about seven years later. Time has seared the wound in my heart, but even still I think about my mom occasionally. With the determination she has given me, I’ve accomplished many things over these years and I have no intention of stopping. I know that she would be proud of me for what I’ve done, but I’m nowhere near finished. I still have many years to go before I complete my bachelor’s degree. Awarding me this scholarship would help me put money towards finishing my education. Thank you for considering me for this opportunity.

What I love the most about being a part of the data science field is the amazing community. Everywhere I go, I’m surrounded by extremely intelligent people, and I always strive to make it to their level. For instance, this semester one of my friends (who is in CS) founded the Quantitative Finance Club and assigned me as the director of games. I’m just as grateful for the opportunity to be in a founding leadership position as I am for the incredible people I’ve met. The current vice president and head of interview prep has years of experience in quant trading and has used his own algorithms to fund his education. The director of education has been involved in competition math for many years and has participated in national camps – in fact, he was the one to get me back into preparations for math after I took a break in the fall of 2023. And, of course, the founder and president of the club used his connections with several prominent organizations both on campus and in the industry to help in founding this club in the first place. In fact, we’re having a guest lecturer from Jane Street in just a few days! All of these amazing people that I get to surround myself with is why I’m excited to continue my education.

The hardest part about life is deciding what your end goal is, what it is you truly want to achieve. It felt especially hard for me – going into high school, I didn’t know what I wanted to pursue. I felt like I was a wanderer, capable of exploring many paths yet incapable of starting a journey. As such, I dove head-first into a variety of fields in the hopes of finding one that I truly enjoyed. In 12th grade, I got the chance to reignite an old passion – coding. Although I learned HTML and CSS in my free time during middle school, I didn’t study any further than that. Now that I was in a class full of my peers, I felt like I was back in my element. Everything seemed to “click” – the way computers handled memory, logical decision-making, sorting and searching algorithms, …it felt like I had finally found the missing piece of the puzzle. As an added bonus, the problem-solving skills that I acquired in math exams carried over quite nicely to coding contests. Despite the fact that I had less experience than my peers, I crushed competitions, placing 3rd in a schoolwide one and 11th out of hundreds in UTD’s Battle of the Brains, a statewide battle royale. After just a year, coding became my everything. College wouldn’t go easy on me, though. Within only a few weeks, it became clear that I was outclassed by many experienced coders. As a result, I decided that I should hold off on competing in HackUTD (the main yearly hackathon) until I built meaningful experience. The first software development club I joined, Nebula Labs, was a rollercoaster of challenges. I spent two months melting my mind in six different coding languages and along the way worked on coding a solution to my first ticket. Some days I made large strides of progress, while some days I banged my head on my desk, racking it for possible solutions. Eventually, though, in late November I finally put all of the parts together and resolved the issue! The reason that I was able to get as far as I did was because of my mentors. They were the ones who helped me gain knowledge and gave me the first push to pursue coding. My AP CSA teacher didn’t just teach me Java; he made it enjoyable for me. My peer advisor – the vice president of Nebula Labs – was the one who helped me become an official member. As such, my hope is to inspire those who come after me. I want them to feel the same enthusiasm that I did when I learned my own worth as a coder. If I am able to pass on my passion to them the same way my mentors passed it on to me, then I will feel that I have been a successful person. In achieving this goal, the first step is, of course, to earn my bachelor’s degree. By earning the William A Stuart Dream Scholarship, I will be able to continue my education and help my peers as they navigate the challenges of coding in their college days and beyond. This is the future that I will create with your help. Thank you for considering me.

It was supposed to be a normal Monday. I was just nine years old, and after coming back from school, I was watching YouTube videos waiting for my dad to come back from work. When he did, he noticed water droplets coming from the ceiling and immediately went to check on Mom. She was found unresponsive in the shower, water puddling on the floor. Minutes turned to hours, and before I knew it, an ambulance was outside the front door, ready to take her to the hospital. The realization that I might not ever see my mother again broke me. Tears could not be stopped. My world was swept right from under me in just a single night. Still, I clung to the tiny hope that I might get the chance to see her again. Maybe… she would get better. Just maybe… But fate would have it differently. Two days later, she passed away. To say that my nine-year-old self would overcome an event like this would be a lie. My world was shattered to pieces, and I was unable to bring myself together. The first day I went back to school, my math teacher consoled me and told me it was going to be alright. Just having some reassurance was enough to get me to stop crying. My friends let me know that they would be there for me, and they made sure that I could enjoy my time at school. Slowly, they helped me pick up the pieces of my life and put them back together. At the end of the day, if there is anything that I am, it’s a student. I loved my mother because she was the one who taught me how to write. She instilled determination in me and praised me when I scored well. Even if I made mistakes, she would be patient with me and ask me to try again. Without her, learning was difficult, but I didn’t give up. All of my friends reminded me that I was one of the brightest minds in the classroom and that they looked up to me. They wanted me to succeed, and with their help I was able to continue the semester and earn 1st place out of my school in a mathematics competition. It’s now about seven years later. Time has seared the wound in my heart, but even still I think about my mom occasionally. With the determination she has given me, I’ve accomplished many things over these years and I have no intention of stopping. I know that she would be proud of me for what I’ve done, but I’m nowhere near finished. I still have many years to go before I complete my bachelor’s degree. Awarding me this scholarship would help me put money towards finishing my education. Thank you for considering me for this opportunity.

My first semester in college was hectic. Though I excelled in high school, it was quite difficult to adjust to learning how to manage myself. Suddenly I had to balance doing homework for my classes, coding for extracurriculars, and finding time to socialize with friends. One week early in September, I just couldn't handle it. No matter how much work I finished, more kept piling up in front of me. I was extremely frustrated and wanted to just throw all of my responsibilities in the trash. That’s when my friend invited me to Starbucks on a Saturday afternoon. It was perfect. The strong smell of cinnamon filled the air as I sat on a bench with my friends. They all had a rough week as well, but unlike me, they knew when it was time to take a break and relax. For me, it was bliss. After a nice, long hour sipping the drink in my hand, I returned back to my dorm. All I needed that day was a fresh mind. Within minutes, I reorganized my tasks and made a fresh list, being careful not to overload myself. The rest of the semester was, in fact, much busier than before, but one day had made all the difference for me. I went out with my friends many times throughout the following months, and even as the weather became chillier, I always enjoyed the same, cold drink every time we came together to chat. During Thanksgiving break, I visited back home and spent time with my brother and father. Though I loved playing cards with them, I felt that it was a bit lonely – after all, there were only three of us. I decided that I’d try my hand at making my favorite drink back at home. One hour and many spilled ingredients later, I’d finally finished. Though my creation was delicious, it really wasn’t the same: it felt a bit hollow. I sighed as I realized that even with the drink in my hand, my friends weren’t here by my side. Half a month later, the last week of the semester arrived. I grinded for finals, ready to savor that sweet satisfaction after my last exam. It was a long week, and I had finally finished all of my homework. Day in and day out, I would always tell myself that my favorite drink awaited me. As the last test finished, I texted my friends and told them that it was the perfect time to grab a drink. With the scent of pumpkin filling the air and whipped cream on my nose, I felt like I was a little kid again. The drink I chose – the Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino – was truly perfect.

I glanced at the time and took a small sigh of relief. The battle would continue for much longer, so I had a moment to rest. My brain flashed a vision before my eyes, and I wondered – “Does that work?” Sending my knight to die in enemy territory seemed foolish, but I foresaw that his infantry was immobilized. By taking a leap of faith forward, I could crush the base of his army. I laughed to myself and played the beautiful tactic to finish my opponent off. They resigned after losing their most prized possession: their queen. But this isn’t a war played in real life, nor is it just a game. This is chess, a game pitting two armies against each other on an eight-by-eight grid. Even though many associate this game with mental strength, creativity still plays a role, often lurking from the shadows in seemingly equal positions to give one player a crushing advantage. It’s the reason games such as the Immortal Game and the Gold Coins Game have solidified their place in history. And although I will likely never fully master chess, I have my days of brilliance from time to time. If I had an extra 24 hours every day, I would devote a good number of those hours to playing and improving at chess. I’m already at an advanced level, but I would love to put more time into this game in order to earn titles such as the International Master or Grandmaster titles. In addition, I would spend time teaching others about chess and how to improve at it. No one said that this game is easy, so with the extra time every day, I would set up training camps for less-experienced students to learn and tournaments so that everyone can compete. If you think you know how tense these chess games can get, think again! Often, master-level games hang on a knife’s edge, forcing accurate play by both sides. In addition, classical games last for hours on end, requiring both players to deal with mental fatigue while calculating endless combinations. But that kind of stress isn’t why I’ve continued to play chess. I usually enjoy playing casual online games where there’s no pressure to make the best moves all the time. Sometimes, I slip up and that’s okay, too. In fact, it’s often in the morning or early afternoon when I’m most relaxed when playing games. And sometimes, clearing my head is exactly what allows me to find a brilliant tactic.

One day, my AP CSA teacher presented me with a small challenge. Both of us loved coding, so I asked what he had in mind. It turned out to be a difficult puzzle from a coding website, Hackerrank. The puzzle featured a board game, in which there were safe tiles (0s) and unsafe tiles (1s). The player had three kinds of moves – hop back, hop forward, and leap a fixed number of spaces. The challenge was to take a random board configuration and determine whether or not it could be traversed on only safe tiles. Simple premise, right? Wrong. Although my teacher’s solution worked for small boards, some were hundreds upon thousands of tiles, meaning that his code would often “timeout” – that is, it would fail to finish executing in the time limit. He asked me in the hopes of finding a more efficient solution. I told him I’d give it a think over as the class period ended. The truth is though, I obsess over code. I couldn’t focus on my remaining classes that day because I was trying to warp my head around the mechanics of a solution. “Could a 2D array work? Maybe it would make checking leaping conditions easier, but I’d have to check the boundary columns… How about a 1D array iterator that traverses through the game?… How do I prevent it from going -1 / +1 when it can’t make progress?… Same goes for leaping and falling backward in a loop, too…” All of these thoughts swirled in my head, and I had to snap out of it. After I went back home and found the same challenge my teacher tried on Hackerrank, I spent hours throwing absolutely everything I could in my code in the hopes something would work. Heaps of failed attempts didn’t faze me. I worked at it for long into the night… and then realized it was time to sleep. Even then, I was still obsessed. Such a simple problem, yet I couldn’t solve it efficiently. I kept trying to think of solutions, day in and day out. I shared a lot of my approaches with my teacher, and both he and I agreed on the general idea. A recursive function was needed to test out every possible set of actions, and it more importantly needed a valid stop condition so that it didn’t go in circles and use up all of the memory. (I remember laughing at myself when the compiler crashed on that one!) We talked about this puzzle for many days, until eventually we found an idea: what if the player was forcibly prevented from backtracking? One added line of code made all of the difference: now the algorithm passed all of the test cases and solved the puzzle in its entirety. I think this puzzle really shows the value of the hacker spirit. Although there is satisfaction in finding a working solution, it’s much more fun to contemplate and discuss ideas with others, even if they hilariously fail. Despite the fact that the puzzle was extremely simple in nature, it was quite difficult to put together an algorithm that wouldn’t trip over itself or crash and burn. In the end, both my teacher and I created more effective solutions and learned a lot from this simple puzzle. This spirit of continuously looking for a solution and not worrying about pitfalls along the way is what solves the world’s biggest (and smallest) problems, one step at a time.

Legacy is a profound word. Defined as something passed down from ancestors, legacy means many things to me. It means being proud of my upbringing. It means being proud of the work my family did to raise me. And, most importantly of all, it means paying back my family by showing them that I, too, am capable of achieving great things. Before I was born, my family was already quite accomplished. Many of those in my close family had already received master’s degrees, including my aunts, uncles, and parents. All of them put in dedicated work for years to receive these degrees. My father, in particular, told me about his experiences as a child. Contrary to what you might think, before 10th grade, he wasn’t too interested in studying. He loved hanging out with his friends and while he was able to pass his classes, he didn’t think too much about higher education. But after being taught by an excellent teacher, he reconsidered what his values were and realized that he wanted to excel. That’s why my father worked his way up to a master’s degree. From a young age, he instilled this value in me. He shared this story many years ago in the hopes that I would be like him and grow up to become an accomplished man. He didn’t pick a path for me, but he said that no matter what subject I would be interested in, he would help me pursue it to the greatest extent possible. In my eyes, this was the legacy he wanted to pass down to me, and I was eager to take it. I, too, wanted to live a fulfilling life and knew that hard work would help me get to where I wanted to be. That’s why I studied as hard as I did when I was a child. In high school, I felt that it was finally time for me to pick a path, a field of study to pursue. However, it was quite difficult because I had many ideas for what I could do later in life. Over the course of four years, I explored many different interests in the hopes that one or two would stand out to me. My father continued to help me in this process, helping me find resources for the topics I wanted to study. By 12th grade, I managed to find my own path: a combination of math (which I chose because it was my strongest subject) and computer science (which I chose because of the influence of my peers). A local university had already created a major called data science that integrated both of these fields, so I selected it and was ready to pursue it for many years to come. With the most important choice of my life made, I started working towards my bachelor’s degree. In all honesty, learning to manage my entire life was a bit daunting at first, but I created a few systems to keep track of everything that I needed to do. During my data science degree, I’m planning to pursue a role in software and AI development. Although the path I’ve taken is different than the paths taken before me, I still firmly believe that this is my first step to fulfilling the legacy handed down by my previous generation.

Ever since I watched my first show, anime has been a massive part of my life. Though life has kept me busy, that hasn’t stopped me from finding time to keep exploring anime. But the true reason I still watch is because of my favorite anime – Fairy Tail. When I first started watching anime, I tried looking for not just the most popular shows, but rather the ones that would keep me intrigued. I wasn’t interested in endless sagas like One Piece – I knew for sure that they would bore me to death. What I really wanted was an unforgettable journey in a world of fantasy. One day, while browsing through a catalog, I thought the cover art of Fairy Tail looked interesting, and so I decided to try it out. From the first episode, I fell in love with the guild. Every night, I dreamed of having adventures like Natsu and Lucy’s, fighting huge monsters and casting ridiculously powerful spells. Every day, I fantasized what I could do with magic powers of my own. I truly saw myself as a member of the wizard guild, chatting and sharing drinks with everyone. It felt like I’d found a home in this world of magic. Fairy Tail wasn’t just a fantasy, though – I wanted it to become my reality. The big step that this anime made me take was something I never thought I could do: learn Japanese. Since I watched the subbed version, I felt like language was the first barrier between me and the cast of the show. As a result, I spent months and years learning endless kanji and grammar, just so that one day I would be able to come back to this show and feel like I was truly right there, able to talk with my best friends. In learning Japanese, I also made many friends of my own in the real world. Together, all of my friends felt like a second guild for me, and I couldn’t be happier. No matter how hard the journey became, the power of friendship would remind me why I started on this journey, and I would always persevere. Fairy Tail has molded me into a different person, and no matter how many anime I watch, I will always have a special place in my heart for the guild. I could watch this show every single day for the rest of my life and still enjoy it like I did the first time. It’s given me a new life, and for that I will always be thankful.

I love learning math for a very surprising reason – I view it as creative. I swear, I can explain! Math is the furthest thing from creativity than anyone expects. With its orderly rules and basis in rigor, it doesn’t seem to have any correlation to the freedom of expression seen in creativity. However, as I’ve explored math throughout my life, I’ve come to discover that simply learning math by itself is quite lacking. Math has many uses, and finding clever applications has led me to interests in other fields. For instance, in music, math connects different notes to form melodies that guide the emotions. Where other musicians see notes as dots, lines, and slashes on a sheet of paper, I see the intervals between each of the pitches as a number of semitones. A major third is always four semitones, as is a minor third three semitones. Stacking three notes with the major third on the bottom and the minor third on the top creates a pleasant-sounding major chord, whereas reversing the numbers creates a darker-sounding minor chord. It is in this way that intervals can be manipulated to establish lines of harmony. Music isn’t the only place where numbers can lead to creativity – further in the same rabbit hole as mathematics is a subject reliant on logic and order, computer science. It seems outright crazy, but even in coding, I find clever ways to solve tricky problems. The key is to realize the fundamentals of a problem and then apply smaller algorithms to extract relevant information. As a simple example, how would you calculate the 100th Fibonacci number using a computer? One idea that comes to mind is recursion – calculate the 99th and 98th numbers first, then add them. To find these, we keep looking to break the problem into smaller steps (F97, F96, …) until we reach the first two (F1 = 1 and F2 = 1), then cascade results upward. It works, but there’s a catch – this algorithm is terribly inefficient! That’s because the computer has to recompute prior values billions upon billions of times. This is where you might get a bright idea: what if the computer stored these prior values and accessed them instead of doing an entire calculation each time? This modified algorithm now works quite well – the computer has to do only a hundred steps instead of quintillions. As you can see, math is not just a pile of formulas and memorization – it’s like a toolbox. Different fields that use math require different tools, but these tools don't limit me from using them in clever ways. Even though I have mastered the tools in my toolbox, I know that there are still a few that I have yet to learn to use. I’ll discover what they do when I pursue my degree in data science in college.