Exploration has always been my greatest teacher. My family has spent countless summers exploring the United States, sparking ideas, thoughts, and goals that have had a lasting impact on my life more than any other experience. Through our adventures into nature, I developed a deep awareness of the environmental challenges we face, and through my experiences within my own community and an interest in environmental equity, I grew my compassion for accessibility among all our modern daily needs for all people. My interest in the natural world evolved into a passion for renewable energy. I have always loved science and math because they challenge me to think creatively about solving real-world problems. Over time, I realized that renewable energy stands at the intersection of technology, environmental preservation, and human accessibility, a perfect balance of innovation, sustainability, and equity. In high school, I translated that passion into action. I secured an engineering internship, where I helped create a navigation system in an old hospital turned start-up incubator and collaborated with mentors and entrepreneurs on the project. That experience solidified my love for engineering. It showed me how technical skills could directly impact people’s lives and communities. Through an Entrepreneurship program at my school, a small team and I developed a clothing line for people who had lost limbs, focusing on comfort, affordability, and style. The project won multiple region-wide pitch competitions and placed tenth in a state-wide event. Working on the project taught us all the importance of empathy and all the business decisions that go into making a product accessible. Outside the classroom, my extracurricular activities have shaped my leadership and service. As a Girl Scout, my interest in ecological conservation influenced my Gold Award, as I led a project based on converting local lawn into flourishing areas of native wildlife and nature. The project combined teamwork, creativity, and community engagement that reached 100+ community members through community events and social media outreach. Currently, I attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, majoring in Electrical Engineering, focusing on power systems. My goal is to work on designing and improving renewable energy technologies that make power more sustainable, efficient, and accessible. I want to apply my education towards making urban spaces cleaner and more energy efficient, and increasing the accessibility of renewable energies in less privileged areas. I also want to create a surplus of energy that can aid in making research more sustainable and innovative, especially with the increase in energy use in research sectors such as deep-tech and AI. On campus, I have started to work on these goals by being an active member of the Student Sustainability Task Force and Engineering Without Borders, where I aid in making the institution more accountable in state-wide ecological goals, including energy use, and I help increase the accessibility of engineering solutions by working on international and local projects. To me, renewable energy represents more than technology. It represents hope. It’s a path toward communities that thrive together, where sustainability, innovation, and equity walk hand in hand. I want to be part of that progress—to use my skills not just to build systems, but to build a better world. Every experience, from hiking through national parks to building projects in my community, has guided me toward this goal. The journey ahead may be challenging, but I know that through curiosity, collaboration, and care, I can help create the positive change our world needs.

The biggest life lesson I’ve learned through golf is how to handle tough situations by staying calm, thinking clearly, and pushing through, in other words, mental resillence. The concept might sound simple, but it’s something that’s stuck with me, on and off the course. I’ve been part of the First Tee Golf program for as long as I can remember. I grew up with it, practicing golf skills, building friendships, and learning from coaches who always encouraged us to improve, not just as golfers but as people. The lessons I learned from all my years there show up when things are not going smoothly, in stressful, uncomfortable, and awkward situations. One such moment in my life was a round of golf with my dad’s friend and his son. It was a perfect day for golf, sunny with just a little breeze. But I was stressed. I felt out of place, my game was off, and I wanted to be anywhere but there. I was walking up to my next shot, frustrated and stuck in my head, knowing that I needed to do something different. I used what First Tee taught me, methods like STAR and the four R's, and slowly shifted my mindset. I went from feeling defeated to just neutral. It wasn’t instant confidence, but it was a step up the mental ladder. I lined up my next shot, went through my preswing routine, and swung. The shot was great, almost exactly as I invisioned it. That one clean swing, felt as if it transformed not just my game, but my entire mindset. That one good hit gave me the push I needed to enjoy the round. My attitude improved, and I relaxed. The rest of the game felt different after that. That experience has stuck with me because it wasn’t just about golf. It showed me how mindset matters, especially when things get uncomfortable and frustrating. I have used this same approach many other times on the golf course, be it a tricky putt, a difficult lay, or a bad day, as I described in the story. But it is also an approach I use in school and life, situations such as difficult tests and homework problems, or frustrating group efforts. Pausing, thinking it through, and finding a way forward even when I’d rather give up is the basis of the huge life lesson of mental resilience. This lesson worms its way into all elements of life, and that’s how I plan to keep using it far into the future, as a tool to face future challenges with a clearer head and stronger mindset.