As a high school senior, the thought of higher education is terrifying... enough to make me pee myself a little. There has been an obvious path in my education; the next grade will always follow, and my coursework is predetermined. Faced with dooming adulthood, choosing a career isn't so easy. Engineering seems like the logical next step. I've taken high school courses about it; I enjoy it. But spending the rest of my life sitting at an office desk seems like a waste of my life. Not everyone has the privilege of one. Thus, I plan to work with commercial aircraft to make a larger impact on the world. My interest in aircraft started during the summer of 6th grade. I would spend hours upon hours watching plane crash documentaries and reconstructions of such events. It was less of a morbid curiosity and more of an interest in the plane's mechanics. Failure is the best teacher; unfortunately, most plane failures are too massive to save those on board. The influx of plane crashes in the past year has solidified my interest. Aircraft is the safest mode of transportation with a one in eleven million chance of a crash, but I want to help make these odds even better. Still, I have doubts. A lot of plane crashes from mechanical error are due to a lack of regulation by airlines. Proper maintenance and communication with an engineer (hopefully me) could prevent tragedies. However, who am I to stand up to corporations and demand these regulations? Well, I'll tell you how: I'll learn everything I can. Despite my existential dread, I am completely set on going to college and pursuing a degree related to aeronautical engineering. With a degree, I hope to know how to prevent plane crashes. Those who design planes have the most accurate opinion on how to maintain them. With the right education, I can elevate my voice from just one voice to an informed one. Costs, unfortunately, stand in my way. No one in my immediate family has had the opportunity to go out of state for college. Very few in my extended family have gone to college at all. I vow to be the first. I am incredibly grateful for my parents' sacrifices to give me opportunities they didn't have. However, living in a middle-class family is quite odd; I have always had a roof over my head, food, and clothes. However, affording college tuition is out of reach. With this scholarship, I hope to make progress towards affording a college tuition. It would bring me one step closer to changing air travel for the better.

My parents lacked a background in STEAM, growing up in a developing Las Vegas battling racial stereotypes from outside of their community, the Westside. The westside’s opportunities were few. Some people felt that shoving all of the black people in the city into one area would limit their opportunities. But with the opportunities I have, I vow to do better, achieving more than my parents before me. Curiosity in my childhood was first facilitated by my father, who after long days of working for the detention center came home and read with me. We read books of all types from fantasy to nonfiction. Though I don’t have the same love of reading as I did as a kid, my creativity and imagination have stayed with me. I find myself even in my high school classes daydreaming about dancing with Pinkalicious or finding truly where the wild things are. This creativity has manifested itself in practical ways, especially in middle schools where I had the opportunity to try out architectural classes. I particularly enjoyed my 8th-grade engineering class with Mr. Romzek. He was a great teacher who (through tons of sarcasm) introduced me to my first drafting program Revit. Though Revit is now my least favorite drafting program, the creativity and technical skills I had the chance to exhibit in that classroom will stick with me forever. So when I had the chance to go to a Career and Technical high school I seized the chance. Attending my current high school I have been able to cultivate my STEAM skills. Specifically, I am enrolled in the engineering program and take 1-2 program classes each year. One specific project that I remember and cherish is my sophomore year vex robot. For a semester final, I had the opportunity to work with a group and create a robot car using vex parts and coding. It was my first time working with VEX and implementing coding into physical designs. I remember feeling frustrated when my car wouldn’t drive in the course correctly and tinkering with the code to make it work properly. The satisfaction I felt once the car was properly worked is the thing that I most cherish. I’ve found that the design process is my favorite thing about STEAM. So whether I use the process to solve a calculus problem, create a poster for the student council, or design a bridge, the research, frustration, then satisfaction excite me every time. With this scholarship, I hope to continue my love of learning and the design process in college and create designs that improve the quality of the world. Additionally, I desire to achieve more than my parents did, making them proud. Because of my lack of a college fund, I could greatly benefit from this scholarship and hope I am considered.

The destigmatization of mental health saved my life. My mental health struggles started in middle school. I experienced a "shift" – a change from my usually bubbly personality to something comparable to an angsty teen. I had known middle school would be more difficult than elementary school because of my elementary school counselor’s warnings, “Don’t smoke, don’t join a gang, and don’t be peer pressured.” In retrospect, my counselor was wrong; the worry about middle school isn't about the kids, teachers, or even the drugs, but yourself. Undoubtedly, middle school is a time of exploration; whether one tries dating, a new hobby, or a clothing style. Amid exploration, I felt lost. I didn't know who I was, what style to choose, or even who to surround myself with. Anxiety about having the answers as others did around me developed eventually leading me into a deep depressive episode. I started falling behind on my work and surrounding myself with people who fed into the insecurities I had in myself and assisted me in fueling my internal hatred towards others. After school, I would come home and stare at a blank wall, wondering my purpose. I would never find the answer, eventually settling for crying myself to sleep every night. This pessimism transformed me, finding little purpose in activities that used to make me happy. At some point, my parents and others around me noticed my shift. Because of my parents' roots in the south and older values, mental health was a sensitive topic in the home. My older sister had experienced mental health issues, but she wasn’t able to break the stigma of “children can not struggle from mental health issues.” Amid my parent’s refusal to allow me to seek treatment, I planned to end my life. My constant existential crises reminded me that my life had no meaning and I felt the best way to address that was to end it. Fortunately, my parents discovered my plan. Horrified, they discovered how serious maintaining mental health is. Somehow I had broken the stigma in my home. Because of my parents’ open-mindedness, my relationship with them has improved. Past words or actions that had been inflicted on me, I can discuss with them because I had broken the barrier in my home. Although my words weren’t expected initially, they were open to learning how to communicate with me and that is all I can ask for. Though I still struggle with mental health issues currently, because of the destigmatization in my home, I feel more open to talking about it. I now have access to therapy and medication to assist. Within treatment, I found that life has meaning through my relationships and experiences. Happiness can be found by living my life to the fullest and experiencing everything life has to offer. To other children who are struggling with depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts, speak to a trusted adult. Recognizing your struggle is the first step to addressing it. Looking back, I am proud of my resilience for life and I am happy that I am here today because of the people I’ve met who have made my life so meaningful. I hope to be an engineer and spread my innovation and optimism to the world.

As a child, I've always asked my parents, "How was that building made?" which they never had the answer to. I would go home and research these things, watching YouTube videos of construction videos, handiwork, and even plumbing. My love and curiosity of "how things work" even contributed to my obsession with watching Minecraft playthroughs. The essence of building and enjoying creations took all of my time in my youth. When provided the opportunity to go to a STEM magnet middle school and high school, I jumped at the chance. At my current high school, I am enrolled in an engineering program where my creativity has been cultivated. For example, in my drafting class, we are using CAD to make a fireplace. It's very frustrating to create, but within the process of trial and error, I have learned so many new commands! My desire to create change is fostered by my role in my school's student council and in my school's peer leader club. I am a Student Body Officer and the chair of the staff appreciation. I take my job seriously, as I find it is important to facilitate communication between staff and students effectively. Often as students, our voices aren't heard. Because of this, I always make sure to advocate for my peers' opinions in decisions regarding school events. Peer Leaders is a club where we facilitate relationships between upperclassmen and freshmen by providing high school advice to them once a month in their classes. I have been a peer leader for two years and it has been an incredibly transformative experience. Freshman year, I found it hard to fit in. I feel that I could have flourished with a role model. Because of my experience, I had dedicated myself to mentoring freshmen and being there for them when no one else is. I hope that my dedication to them will help them be a better person and promote change in my school after I graduate. Though Peer Leaders and Student Council are inherently different from engineering I find that their principles are very similar: to promote change. Engineering is all about innovation ensuring a better, sustainable future which I am dedicated to. In the same way, I dedicate myself to the social aspects of my school and promote innovation in my school's policies and events. In all, I find myself dedicated to change in all aspects of my life and will continue in my future career as an engineer.