For me, the best kind of "hacking" doesn't involve breaking into a system; it involves breaking down a barrier. The greatest delight I’ve ever found in my tinkering skills came not from a line of code, but from the whir of a small electric motor and the pure, unfiltered laughter of a child. This happened during my junior year when I led a "Go Baby Go!" project. Our team of twelve students was given a seemingly simple task: take a dozen off-the-shelf electric toy cars and modify them for children with limited mobility. The reality was a deep dive into creative problem-solving. We weren't just assembling toys; we were re-engineering freedom. Our workshop buzzed with energy as we tore into the cars, spreading wires, circuits, and plastic shells across our workbenches. My favorite challenge was hacking the control system. These cars were designed for a foot pedal, an impossible barrier for our recipients. My solution was to move the entire acceleration mechanism to the steering wheel. This was true tinkering. It meant reverse-engineering the simple circuit, desoldering the pedal switch, and designing a new, large, easy-to-press button that could be mounted right under a child's hand. We spent hours prototyping, testing different switches, and running wires through the steering column to make it feel like it was part of the original car. Simultaneously, we addressed safety by designing and building custom roll cages out of PVC pipes, wrapping them in colorful foam padding. We wanted the cars to be safe, but we also wanted them to be magical. We went beyond the functional requirements and began personalizing each vehicle. We installed small MP3 players pre-loaded with Disney songs, added custom vinyl decals with each child's name, and even mounted bubble machines to the back of one car. This was the "delight" phase of our tinkering, where we added features whose only purpose was to create joy. The day we delivered the cars was the ultimate payoff. I'll never forget kneeling beside a little girl as her parents carefully placed her in a bright pink car. Her face was a mix of curiosity and shyness. I showed her the big green button on the steering wheel, and her small finger reached out and pushed it. The car hummed to life and lurched forward. Her initial shock melted into a beaming smile, which erupted into a peal of laughter that echoed through the entire room. In that moment, she wasn't a patient; she was just a kid, giggling as she drove on her own for the very first time. Witnessing that pure, uninhibited delight—a joy we had unlocked with circuit diagrams, soldering irons, and a bit of creative hacking—was the most rewarding experience of my life. It taught me that tinkering isn't just about making things work; it's about making things work for people, and finding incredible happiness in the process.

I am a builder, a problem-solver, and a firm believer that technology's greatest purpose is to serve humanity. As a Computer Science and Data Science major and a proud Toyota/APIA Scholar, my identity has been shaped by two core passions: a deep curiosity for cutting-edge technology and an unwavering commitment to using my skills for the public good. This dual passion is not just what I study; it is the blueprint for the future I hope to build. My professional goal is to become an engineer and leader in the field of Responsible AI. I am fascinated by the immense challenge of creating intelligent systems that are both powerful and principled. Although progress is important, at the forefront our privacy as individuals must also be retained. My research into Fully Homomorphic Encryption, where I built a system to perform AI analysis on fully encrypted data, solidified this ambition. I want to spend my career on the front lines of this challenge, developing the privacy-preserving technologies that will earn user trust by design, not as an afterthought. Whether as an applied scientist at a major tech company or by eventually founding my own startup, my objective is to help shape a future where technology is safer and more trustworthy for everyone. However, I know that true impact is not just measured in lines of code; it is measured in lives changed. The most formative experience of my life was leading the "Go Baby Go!" project, where my team engineered accessible electric cars for children with disabilities. The process of taking a community need, assembling a team, and delivering a tangible solution that brought joy and mobility to a child taught me a lesson that no classroom could. It showed me that my skills have a direct application in bridging gaps in accessibility and improving lives in my immediate community. This is how I plan to make a positive impact. I will use my professional career to build privacy and ethics into the core of our digital infrastructure. At the same time, I will continue to seek out and lead hands-on, community-focused projects like Go Baby Go!. I want to be the kind of person who can architect a complex, secure algorithm during the day and use a soldering iron to help a neighbor at night. By combining my passion for high-tech, ethical innovation with a commitment to direct, local service, I hope to make a meaningful and lasting impact on my community and beyond.

I am a builder, a problem-solver, and a firm believer that technology's greatest purpose is to serve humanity. As a Computer Science and Data Science major and a proud Toyota/APIA Scholar, my identity has been shaped by two core passions: a deep curiosity for cutting-edge technology and an unwavering commitment to using my skills for the public good. This dual passion is not just what I study; it is the blueprint for the future I hope to build. My professional goal is to become an engineer and leader in the field of Responsible AI. I am fascinated by the immense challenge of creating intelligent systems that are both powerful and principled. Although progress is important. The forefront of our insight should be into our own privacy. My research into Fully Homomorphic Encryption, where I built a system to perform AI analysis on fully encrypted data, solidified this ambition. I want to spend my career on the front lines of this challenge, developing the privacy-preserving technologies that will earn user trust by design, not as an afterthought. Whether as an applied scientist at a major tech company or by eventually founding my own startup, my objective is to help shape a future where technology is safer and more trustworthy for everyone. However, I know that true impact is not just measured in lines of code; it is measured in lives changed. The most formative experience of my life was leading the "Go Baby Go!" project, where my team engineered accessible electric cars for children with disabilities. The process of taking a community need, assembling a team, and delivering a tangible solution that brought joy and mobility to a child taught me a lesson that no classroom could. It showed me that my skills have a direct application in bridging gaps in accessibility and improving lives in my immediate community. This is how I plan to make a positive impact. I will use my professional career to build privacy and ethics into the core of our digital infrastructure. At the same time, I will continue to seek out and lead hands-on, community-focused projects like Go Baby Go!. I want to be the kind of person who can architect a complex, secure algorithm during the day and use a soldering iron to help a neighbor at night. By combining my passion for high-tech, ethical innovation with a commitment to direct, local service, I hope to make a meaningful and lasting impact on my community and beyond.

I used to think of community as a passive thing, just a group of people you happen to belong to. My most meaningful experiences have shown me that real community is an active force. It is a network we build through a shared purpose, and I believe it is the most powerful engine for hope. This became crystal clear when I had the privilege of leading a "Go Baby Go!" project in high school. Our mission was to modify electric toy cars for children with limited mobility. We wanted to bridge the gap between their desire to play and their physical challenges. For weeks, our team of twelve students created our own small community in the workshop. The air smelled of solder and sawdust while we huddled over tangled wires and PVC pipes, all united by a single goal. We were not just completing a task. We were pouring our collective energy, late nights, and problem solving skills into creating a blueprint for kindness. The day we delivered the cars to the hospital was when I understood the true meaning of connection. I watched as one little girl, hesitant at first, was placed in a bright pink car we had customized just for her. Her parents looked on with a mixture of hope and apprehension. I knelt down and showed her the new, large button we had installed on the steering wheel. Her small finger reached out and pressed it. The car jolted forward, then slowly began to move. A tiny gasp was followed by a smile that lit up the entire room. Soon, there was just pure, uninhibited laughter. In that moment, all our technical work, from the wiring to the safety frames, transformed into something else entirely. It became the currency of connection. It linked our team’s effort directly to a family’s joy. We were not just engineers; we were partners in her newfound independence. I saw the incredible resilience in her determination to move, and also in her parents’ unwavering support. That experience fundamentally shaped my sense of hope for the future. My hope does not rest in some abstract technological breakthrough. It rests in the proven power of a community, no matter how small, to create meaningful change. It is in the knowledge that a team of determined students, a group of caring families, and a resilient child can come together to create a moment of pure freedom. That is the future I am committed to building, one connection at a time.

My journey into computer science didn't begin with a screen, but with a problem. In high school, when I learned about children who couldn't get access to functional prosthetics, I saw a clear injustice—a physical challenge creating a massive barrier to a full life. This inspired me to start a project to design and 3D print prosthetic hands. That experience was a revelation; it was the moment I saw a direct bridge between a technical design on a computer and a tangible improvement in someone’s life. This passion for building human-centric technology grew when I led the "Go Baby Go!" project, where my team re-engineered electric cars for children with disabilities. The process of leading a team, solving mechanical and electrical challenges, and finally seeing a child gain mobility for the first time solidified my path. These experiences are the foundation of my interest in computer science—not just for the elegance of an algorithm, but for its power to solve real-world problems. That same drive has since evolved, leading me from hands-on engineering to the frontiers of digital privacy. My research in Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) was born from a conviction that we shouldn't have to trade our privacy for intelligent systems. I successfully architected an end-to-end AI framework that could perform facial recognition on fully encrypted data, proving that we can build technology that is both smart and secure. This project demonstrates my ability to tackle cutting-edge technical challenges and my commitment to developing ethical AI. These experiences have solidified my professional goals. I aim to become a leader in the field of Responsible AI, building privacy-preserving systems as an applied scientist or security-focused engineer. I believe I am the ideal candidate for this scholarship because my record shows a unique and proven combination of hands-on leadership, a deep commitment to community service, and the technical vision to work on the future of trustworthy technology. As a Toyota/APIA Scholar and National Merit Scholar, I have already been recognized for my potential. I am confident that I will not only excel with the support of this scholarship but will also serve as a strong ambassador for its mission, using my skills to build a future where technology serves all of humanity.