I am someone who has big goals when it comes to academics. One of my favorite teachers growing up said that he considered me a perfect student but that I should branch out a lot more socially. For as long as I can remember I have always struggled with social anxiety. I always had ambitions to thrive in life but I always felt like I was being held back by my fear of socializing. The lack of not being able to communicate properly with those around me made me feel like I was an outcast. I had a few friends who I knew since elementary school, but I had I hard time making new friends. I do not really know when I was specifically diagnosed, I have been like this since my early years of elementary school. Whenever I had to do a group project or do get to know you activities, I never went out of my shell and I felt like people would judge me or did not like me because of how I was. Most of my time in school consisted of me trying to prove myself academically in order to make up for how I was not the extroverted perfect student that most teachers preferred in classes. There was always this feeling deep down I had that no matter how much I tried to prove how good of a student I could be, that I would always be looked at differently because I was not a student who loved talking and was outgoing. I envied students who talked to everyone with ease and were able to present to the class with ease and they were often the most likable to teachers and students. Even though I feel proud of a lot of my accomplishments academically, I feel like people care more about how I am socially than my actual accomplishments. When I graduated high school, I graduated with majority of my college generals completed, A magna cum laude cord, 2 CTE pathways in Business and graphic design, and a Seal Of Biliteracy for being fluent in English and Spanish. I decided to pursue a Computer Science degree with a Game Development emphasis and it is important to me to enjoy the college experience and try to work on myself as the journey goes. I want to be able to prove myself as successful and be able to be proud of myself as well as have others be proud of me. I know that I have this lifelong struggle and I should work on it. There are struggles that I will face and have faced but I know that even with the affects of my issue, I will be able to overcome it if I keep working with myself even if it is not easy.

I have always felt like I was set on going to college as my main goal since my parents always encouraged it. I was born and raised in Provo, Utah but both of my parents are from Mexico. When I started getting older, my parents always said that they wanted me to get a degree since they did not have the opportunity to do so. They constantly made it clear that the best decision I could make was going to college. While I do not have anyone to help me understand the experience of being in college or of getting a major or degree, I feel like I have always had supportive parents and they always encouraged me in pursuing a degree of my choice. When I had recently graduated from high school, I had already applied to attend the University Of Utah and I am currently pursuing a Computer Science degree with an emphasis in Game Development. I just started my freshmen year and it has been challenging but I am passionate in pursuing this degree. I always knew that my experience would be different from those who have past family members who already went through the college experience. I come from a background of hardworking parents, even if they did not attend college they always worked hard in making sure to provide for both me and my sister. My parents moved the United States and worked hard to make sure I was provided with everything I needed as well as my sister. I am grateful that I have the opportunity to work towards getting my degree with help and encouragement of my family. The environment I grew up in was always positive in terms of my academics. I completed majority of my college generals while being in high school and I took AP classes as well. I graduated with a magna cum laude cord, 2 CTE pathway cords in Business and Graphic design, and a cord and diploma for the Seal Of Biliteracy for being fluent in both English and Spanish. I would say I always liked academics and I chose a major that is considered academically challenging. There is so much I want to be able to achieve during my time in college. I hope to achieve not just my major but also possibly explore other areas as well like Business certification or data science even. I may not have parents or close family members that attended college, but I am glad that I will be able to be the first and I am grateful to have the opportunity to be able to attend and be in the career field I want to be in.

I initially never thought of pursuing a STEM career when I first started thinking about career paths. I was on the path to pursue STEM as I was a year ahead in math and finished college algebra during Junior year of High School, but I never thought about doing anything in STEM. I had an interest initially in an Animation or Game development career, but during my last two years of high school, I gained interest in the tech field overall and decided to pursue a STEM major. Senior year of high school was a time I felt pressured not only academically but on choosing the right career path for me. I had gone into a concurrent enrollment plan my high school offered and I completed almost all my college generals in my last two years of high school. I gained an interest in a tech career after seeing the rapid evolution of Artificial Intelligence(AI). I watched a video on the new software being developed called "AI Sora" and I thought it was absolutely incredible the kind of things we were developing in the AI industry. From this moment I gained an interest in wanting to get the opportunity to work with AI. There are multiple things in the tech field that interest me. I have in an interest in learning about video game development, Software development, AI development, etc. I applied for the University Of Utah and talked to an advisor about my interests and she said that I could try the Computer Science program. I decided to pursue the Computer Science major in order to learn about all the aspects of technology and I also took on an emphasis in Video Game development since I have a love for video games and playing video games is one of my free time hobbies. I graduated High school and I have just recently started my career journey at the University Of Utah. I am a freshmen and even though the classes are challenging, I still enjoy the idea of knowing the aftermath of when I finish my career. I hope to be able to show others that had doubt in me those who are skeptical of going into STEM, that it is possible as long as you have the right mentality. I was born and raised in the United States, however both of my parents are from Mexico. I am the first in my family to be able to attend college. I have big aspirations and I hope to graduate and be able to work as a Software Engineer or AI Engineer. I hope that other people of color as well as woman of color specifically, get the opportunity to take risk and pursue a career in STEM. It has its challenges of course and there is a lot of struggles and frustration that comes with it, but the end goal is what should really inspire you to keep going no matter what anyone tells you.

"I started to skip lunch, stop eating cake on birthdays". This line is from the song "Pretty isn't Pretty" on the GUTS album and this line as well as the entire song itself impacted me in a way. I am someone who has always struggled with my self image. I always felt like I was constantly judged by everyone around me and I think while being a teenager we all go through something like that. I am currently 18 years old and I feel like I spent too much of my teenage years feeling insecure about how I looked and why I did not look to other people. This lyric specifically struck me because I am someone who had issues with my weight almost all my life. When I got older I wanted to look like the celebrities I loved and I always compared my own body to other girls at school. I loved clothing and fashion but since I was overweight I had this insecurity that I could not wear anything I wanted so I always felt insecure in my own clothing and with myself. I would even eat way less or barely eat anything on some days because I wanted to lose weight so badly. I developed an extremely unhealthy image of myself and I feel like anyone in their teenage years has felt this way. I think during our teenage years a lot of us feel like we are not enough and we compare ourselves to this high unrealistic standards. We feel like we cannot explain anything to an adult or other people because they try to invalidate our feelings. I think I have always had issues I could never talk about with anyone and being a teenager is one of the hardest stages of our lives even though many do not see it. I was 14 when the Sour album came out and I relate to so much of it and I related to the Guts album as well. I would say Olivia's music definitely helped me throughout a lot of my teenage years. I related to her songs and I felt like she was able to write what it really felt like being a teenager and the song like "Pretty isn't Pretty" really shows what it feels like to see other girls get attention and praise for how they look but no matter what you do to try to change yourself, you will never feel as pretty or seen like those girls. It is a real issue we all feel at some point and I am glad we have an artist who was able to talk about these experiences we all have been wanting to say but were to scared to talk about. I enjoy Olivias music and I love how her music has inspired and made many girls in their teenage years feel heard and seen and have songs we can relate to.

I am someone who never had an idea of what I wanted to do with my future. I always heard talk about college and having to choose a career path that I would be doing for the rest of my life but I could not imagine myself in a specific career path. In elementary school we were always asked by teachers "What do you want to be when you grow up?" and my answer was constantly changing. I remember wanting to be a Doctor, Veterinarian, lawyer, and even a Brain surgeon. I did not put any thought into college or a set career goal until my senior year of High School. I decided to complete college credit during my senior year in order to save both time and money when I went to college. I knew I had interest in Game development but was not too set on the career path. I applied to the University Of Utah and I eventually decided that I wanted to pursue Computer Science with a Game development emphasis. I am currently attending the University and so far it has been a great experience. I am someone who loves to learn. I always liked to be an over achiever academically and I enjoyed a lot of the subjects taught in school. I decided to choose the computer science path because I am someone who has always loved learning about technology and I also have a love for video games. I want to learn how to create not only technology like softwares but I also want to learn about the development of video games. As of now this is the passion I have and I want to achieve a lot with it. My main goals are graduated college and being able to work as a Software Engineer. I also have recently had an interest and potentially building my own software or app with my degree and knowledge. I plan on working hard academically and learning about coding and development outside of class so I can really get the proper knowledge. I also want to be well prepared and work on projects for a portfolio outside of school. As of now these are my goals and passions and I want to be able to achieve them and I know that with the right motivation I will be able to get there. Growing up I was always witnessing my parents working hard in order to provide for both me and my sister. They have worked hard all of their lives and they always wanted to see me attend college. My family has been in severe debt at times and we are a bit better off right now. I want to be able to make them proud and be able to provide for both of them so they no longer have to work so hard. I hope to be able to achieve what I want in life and as of now this is the path I want and I hope that no matter what I end up achieving, that I tried my best.

Growing up my parents always told me that they dreamed of me going to college and getting a degree. As I was progressing through elementary school I did not know what I wanted to pursue as a career yet but I would always tell my parents that I was going to go to college, get my degree, and make them proud as if it was something so simple and easy. My parents are immigrants who moved to Provo, Utah for a better life. I was born and raised in Provo and I have lived in the same apartment for all the 18 years of life. I grew up with financial struggles but I was to naive to be appreciative of what I had. My parents struggled to make enough money and they have spent a lot of their lives constantly working in order to provide me the things I need. Growing up there were times where I would think "why?". I had peers who's families were doing great financially and whose family would be considered rich even. I kept asking myself every day "why was I not fortunate enough to be financially stable?", "why do I have to struggle while others have the privilege to live so comfortably?". I was kid who wanted more, as I grew older I realized that I should not be complaining about what I do not have. I should not be complaining when I have a family who tries their best for me and I have a family who is willing to sacrifice their comfort so I can thrive. While I grew up with those struggles, I also faced issues with my weight and social anxiety at school. I grew up overweight and it is something I always struggled with. This insecurity led me into developing social anxiety. At school, I had a few friends but I always struggled to talk to anyone outside of my group. I was always so afraid to be myself because I thought people would judge me for my looks. I went all of elementary and middle school struggling to make new friends. When I was assigned group projects, I would stand in the corner and would always be the one left without a group. By the time I got to my Senior year of High School, I lost weight and decided to change for the better. I would say that while I went through a lot of struggles, I also tried my hardest to be better. I worked hard academically and completed 46 college credits while being in high school. I challenged myself and I think growing up with such hard working parents, inspired me to work hard and overcome obstacles in order to pursue my education further. My dad currently works at Dennys and my mom no longer works due to her high blood pressure so income is rather hard as of now. I think going through these kinds of struggles helped me grow as a person. I am more appreciative of things I have and I am someone who is more on the ambitious side because of how I was raised. I am currently admitted into the University Of Utah and I plan on pursuing computer Science and being successful enough to live comfortably along with my parents. Growing up with being the first in my family with the opportunity of college education, I would say I am extremely grateful and I hope to be able to prove myself and be able to help others in my situation in the future.

An overlooked and underrated philosophy book called "The Philosophy Of Andy Warhol!" is a book that emphasizes Pop Culture in the United States. I particular section in his book that stood out to me was the following paragraph. "What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it.". On the surface level, it seems like the idea of this paragraph is that he is someone who is emphasizing the greatness of America and the equality in this country by using a can of Coke as an example of how anyone of any social status has access to it and loves it. However, my interpretation behind the message of this paragraph is that is mocks the idea of idolizing the rich and feeding into the ideas of consumerism and Pop culture. By looking at the following first sentence of paragraph, "What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest.", this is disguised as a phrase as a Nationalist who is proud of this country would say to reference how we all have access and the ability to get a product we all love. In my view this Sentence has a specific meaning which is seen throughout the whole paragraph. The concept of consumerism is essentially saying that someone who is poor can have something that someone who is rich has but in a more unfair way. As consumers, we see someone important have something so we want it to feel better about ourselves and this sentence captures the reality of those feelings. This introduction says that essentially a rich consumer buys what the poor is consuming which shows this message of how insignificant the upper class is compared to how we view them in our heads. This introduction is subtly hinting at the humanization of the rich by mocking the mind of a consumerist. The phrase stating "You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too." is the general mindset of consumerism and essentially a founding building block of Pop Culture. We see a product and think "these important famous upper class people use this so if I use this I am gonna be just like them". Pop culture essentially is Important upper class people we admired and put on a pedestal for something the achieved. The following sentences Warhol wrote stating, "A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it." , Warhol shows the subtly harsh reality. Someone who is homeless on the street is consuming that exact same product yet we glorify it when someone of importance is drinking it. These final sentences to the paragraph shows us that even if we deny it, in the back of our heads we know that a lower class person we look down upon drinks the exact same thing, just like the person you saw on TV that you want to be like so badly. The essential theme of this paragraph as well as the entire book, is mocking the obsession Americans have with idolizing the rich. Warhol uses a simple can of coke to symbolize how consuming what is advertised to us works and how it is a culture made of lies. This book was published in 1975 yet it is a topic that can be heavily applied to America today. Just because you saw Taylor Swift using a $150 shampoo bottle, does not mean you are going to be like her when someone who is working a regular 9-5 and struggles to pay their bills probably bought the same thing for the same reasoning. Pop culture is not essentially all that bad, we can admire art, music, entertainment , etc. without being blinded. In the end, we are all just regular human beings with distinct backgrounds and lives. We can admire who want and buy things we like without becoming overly obsessed. The message behind this paragraph simply states the reality behind being a consumer. The coke you purchased may be the same as the President's, but do not forget that your coke is also the same as the man outside the the gas station who is begging for some money.

Imagine being in a classroom full of brand new people you have never seen before. Everyone in this classroom has common interests and are really close friends with one another and you are sitting in the corner feeling excluded from the rest of the class. That feeling is exactly what I felt for the majority of my life. I was born and raised in Provo, Utah and I always had this feeling that I had to change everything about me in order to fit in with everyone else. My parents are both immigrants from Mexico and my cultural background is very different from the majority of people I grew up around. When I was in school I always felt like I did not belong at all. My neighborhood was predominantly white as well as the schools I attended and they all knew each other or instantly clicked because they shared the same background. I always struggled to make friends and talk to new people and while a lot of it was because of my social anxiety, a large part of it was because I knew I was different. Most people do not see cultural backgrounds as a big deal which it should not be. However, I always felt like an outsider almost anywhere I went. This kind of experience gave me the proper motivation academically. If I thrived academically and develop an ambitious mindset, I could achieve anything I wanted. I did of course have fears of the struggles I would face trying to pursue a degree like financial aid, transportation, etc. While I am a US Citizen, I come from a family with no high educational background. It can be nerve wrecking being the first one in my family trying to pursue a career. I had no one to give me advice on the college experience and I felt like I would face too many hardships trying to attend college. I eventually ended up developing the courage to apply for college and I applied to the University Of Utah. I completed 46 college credits while I was High School and almost all the generals for my degree in specific are completed. My goals developed into wanting to get my degree in Computer Science with A Game development emphasis as well as a Engineering Entrepreneurship Certificate as the University Of Utah, get the opportunity to study abroad and even do an internship abroad, and get a Job at a big tech company as a Software Engineer, Game Developer, or AI engineer. I ended up aspiring to achieve these goals because I have this ambitious drive to work hard and get a great job that pays me fairly. I think that no matter what kind of background or experiences you have had, you should always try to go after what you want in life. I am just about to start my freshmen year in college, however I know that with the right motivation I can achieve my goals and push forward for a better life.

Watching Disney Channel is a core memory I look back on because my entire childhood consisted of mainly Disney channel shows all day. I remember vividly watching Girl meets world and that was my semi introduction to Sabrina since I knew who she was but I was not really a fan in that time. A few years later I did end up loving the song she made called "Paris" and it was one of my Go-To playlist songs. I really did not get into Sabrina that much until I listened to "Feather" and "Nonsense". I loved both of those as well as "Read Your Mind" and I ended up becoming a casual listener of her music. When "Espresso" released I think that solidified me being one of her fans. I ended up loving the song and when she released "Please Please Please I absolutely loved it. I would consider myself a casual listener for a while then I became fan of hers recently. She just announced her tour and I plan on going in November when she comes to Salt Lake City, Utah. I was impacted by her music because her music to me is the definition of the Pop genre. When I listen to Sabrina her music is that vibe of music that I think we should be seeing more of in the industry and every song she releases has this magical like feeling to it. I was really inspired by her music and I know listen to her on a daily and I think that she is one of the top artists in this generation without a doubt.

Coding was something that was always frustrating for me to understand. I did not have any interest in Computers until my sister showed me how she built a website. My sister owned a website for Selena Gomez when she was a teenager and ended up selling it after losing motivation to continue running it. She showed me how she created everything from scratch and I was impressed to say the least. When I was in my Freshmen year of High School, I decided to take a Computer Programming class online since it was during the times of the pandemic I took this course I felt like I was not getting anything at all. I barely was passing the class and when I would get help from the instructor, it just felt like he was speaking a different language. I managed to pass the class but I had a bad experience. In Sophmore year I was back in the classroom instead of being online and I worked up the courage to try a programming class again. In this class, we all individually had to build a website about the top 10 places we wanted to visit around the world with reasoning, for our big project. This was the very first time I actually was sort of getting the hang of coding. It took about almost a month since the classes were only about an hour long but I actually enjoyed working through it. At the very end of the project I was actually amazed with myself on how well I did when building the site. My instructor told me that I should be proud of what I made and she ended up giving me an A on the project. I think that project was really the only time I actually enjoyed learning about programming. After that project I started gaining an interest in pursuing computer science because not only did I have a better understanding of programming I also enjoyed it. I just graduated High school and I still have stored somewhere in one of my storage spaces the hard drive of different coding exercises I did while I was in that class and the website I built as well. I am inspired in being able to help develop softwares for things like video games, Artificial intelligence, etc. I want to be able to work for a big tech company and help develop new technology. I hope to be able to work hard and achieve my goals.

Growing up I was always someone who loved doing hobbies that involved technology. I love video games, creating digital art, watching videos, animation, etc. I was always infatuated with Science Fiction movies like Star Wars and Tron as well. However, At the time I did not really think about pursuing Computer Science as a career. When I was in my Senior of High School, I had so many kinds of interests that I did not comprehend how I was going to be able to choose a specific career. I was interested in Software Engineering but I also wanted to pursue a career in the Video Game field. When OpenAI revealed their latest project AI Sora, I was so intrigued by it that I gained an interest in wanted to do something in the Artificial intelligence field. When I was admitted to the University of Utah, I talked to an advisor who told me that I could learn about all 3 of my interested fields if I pursued a Computer Science degree. From that point I decided that Computer Science seemed like the best option for me. When I graduate from the University, I want to be able to work for a big tech company like Playstation, Adobe, Apple, OpenAI, etc. I want to work in Software with the use of AI in it as well. I hope to be able to maybe even have the opportunity to work in developing Gaming Softwares with the use of Artificial intelligence. Anything in those 3 areas fascinate me and I would be content with working in any of those areas when I graduate. I am someone who has always worked hard. I completed 46 college credits while being in high school in order to be able to save time and money for my family when I go to college. I think I deserve to have the opportunity to be rewarded this scholarship because I am someone who has big dreams but I just need help achieving them. I would use this scholarship for my dorm expenses since I can not afford to live on campus at the moment and when I start my first year at the University, I have to do a 2 hour commute on the way there and back. I am grateful to have the opportunity to be eligible for this scholarship and I hope I have what it takes to earn it.

I was born and raised in small town called Provo in the state of Utah. Both of my parents are immigrants from Mexico and I have one older sister who was born in Mexico but was raised here in Utah as well. Growing up I actually enjoyed going to school and coming back home excited to tell my family what I had learned. I also developed a a love for drawing, playing piano and I enjoyed learning how to cook. I just graduated from Provo High School back in May and I am currently admitted into the University Of Utah under a Computer Science Major with a Game emphasis. I was raised with the mindset that going to college and getting my degree would be the best pathway I could take. My parents told me that I could decide to do whatever I wanted to with my life but it would mean a lot to them if I took the opportunity to get my degree in the future. As I got older I myself decided that I did actually want to get a degree in something I loved. I wanted to get ahead and plan out my goals for college and it was a lot easier with the support of my counselors and parents. I got help from my High School counselor on completing college credit while being in high School through concurrent enrollment classes and I ended up completing 46 college credits. I really dove into the mindset of wanting to attend a University because I wanted to be able to do something I love and I genuinely enjoy learning. I choice Computer Science with a Game Emphasis because I have strong interests in the Software Engineering field, the Game Development field, and The Artificial Intelligence field. Getting this degree would allow me to be skilled in all of these areas and more. By the time I graduate University, I want to get a Job at a big tech company like Playstation, Tesla, Adobe, Apple, and maybe even OpenAI. I want to work on creating or developing new softwares whether thats in Video games or AI. I want to get a good position and be able to do something I am actually interested in while also being able to live comfortably. I hope to be able to have the opportunity to complete my goals because my main reasoning for all of this is to be able to over achieve since I know I can do it with the right attitude.

I was born and Raised in Provo, Utah along with my older sister who was born in Mexico. Both of my parents are immigrants from Mexico who came to the United States for a better life. I grew up with the mindset that going to college is one of the best choices I could ever make and I should take the opportunity to be able to attend a University. My parents always encouraged me to work hard in school and to choose whatever career I wanted. Throughout all my school years I had a hard time figuring out what I wanted to do with my life. Being a teenager and having the responsibility of having to choose so early what I wanted to do for the rest of my life was a hard task. In my junior year of high school I thought that the career path I would be set on taking was an animation major. I love doing digital art as a hobby and I wanted to incorporate it into my career field. However, as I started transitioning into my senior I realized that I had so many other interests in careers than just animation. I wanted to learn Game development because I am obsessed with video games, Artificial intelligence because of how extraordinary it is at generating images and videos, and I had an interest in software development as well because of the amazing softwares used in things like the Apple VR and in video game consoles. I came to the realization that the best choice for me was Computer Science. I am currently admitted into the University Of Utah and I decided to enroll as a Computer Science Major with a Game emphasis. After talking with my advisor at the University, I learned about how the Computer Science major offers me a chance to explore all of my interests and how I can do a emphasis in Game development along with special tracks to Artificial intelligence and even fields like cybersecurity. I developed the interests and goals into exploring all these fields and I was offered the chance to. My career goals are to obtain my degree in Computer Science at the University Of Utah, to get a job at big tech company where I can work with either AI, Software, or developing games or preferably all three possibly, and get the opportunity to create a game or software that will be used by many around the world. I want to be someone known in the tech field and have the reputation of being good at what I do. By choosing the Computer Science Major I have the opportunity to understand every single field I am interested in dominating. My first goal is already on its way of being achieved. I am now admitted into the University Of Utah and I am about to start my freshmen year in August. I am confident and hopeful in being able to pass all my classes and get my degree. For my second goal, I hope that with the right choices I can become a really good candidate for hire and I can work at a big tech company. Some of my top choices are Playstation, Apple, OpenAi, Adobe, Tesla, and even NASA. I would consider myself an ambitious person and I think that with the right mindset I can end up getting a good position at one of these companies and I hope to be able to have the opportunity to explore working in developing Software and games and being able to explore AI as well. When it comes to my third goal, I feel like their can be multiple meanings to wanting to impact the field I am in. What I think of this goal as is very open ended in possibilities. I have many ways I want to make a name for myself in the industry. I want to have the opportunity to develop a video game myself that well be well known for years. I also want to have the opportunity to use AI in a game project or maybe even be able to help develop AI softwares. I have a wide variety of many things I would be interested in doing and If I can just help create something that would make people feel joy or benefited by it then I would be satisfied. There are so many popular games like Minecraft, Mario kart, Jedi Survivor, Call Of Duty, etc. that are just video games to many but I think it is a big impact to be apart of a timeless project loved by many. There are also revolutionary softwares that are used in Spaceships, Security for government websites, delivery apps, etc. that really do protect people and can also make their lives easier. I hop to be able to have an impact and be able to enjoy what I do. I know that if I have the proper mindset and a positive attitude, I will graduate with my degree and be able to achieve my dreams.

I myself struggled with mental health for a majority of my life. Growing up I had insecurities about myself, I was overweight, had severe social anxiety, and I always felt like I was hated by everyone around me. I was at such a low point in my life in middle school and high school, but with the right motivation I was able to get out of that. I felt out of place almost all my life. In school I always felt like no one wanted to be friends with me and I was always left out in group and partner projects. Whenever someone actually talked to me it felt like they were doing it out of pity and it made me feel insecure about myself. I had always struggled with being over weight so it felt like I was an outcast because of my weight. I developed social anxiety because I was afraid to talk to anyone because of my past experiences, I struggled with these issues for almost all of Middle school and High school until I finally decided to do something about it in my senior year. I started going to the gym daily and eating healthier during the summer before my senior year. When the school year started I tried to still maintain the same routine even with the pressure of school. I started figuring out how to better organize myself with school work so I would not feel so stressed all the time. By January of 2024, I had lost over 30 pounds and was doing better than ever. From this point on my life took almost quite a turn. I am now feel just overall like a much better person. Mental health overall has impacted me because I went through a long journey of restoring my mental wellbeing and being confident in who I am as a person. I think it is important that we all understand our selves and what is good for our mental health. I was able to go from such a low point to a much happier point in my life. I hope to be able to help others around me get the proper help that they need in order to go through the same positive development. Mental Health is extremely important. I think that with the right mindset we can all shape ourselves to become who we want to be and be able to live a happier life.

One of my all time favorite movies that has shaped my standard in movies and my life as well, is Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith. This movie is just a basic Sci-Fi movie thats part of a movie franchise to other people but for me it is one of the best pieces of fiction I have ever watched. This movie has such a different outcome and lesson to it than the basic movie that it is hard to break it down in simple terms. This movie impacted me because it was so different. Instead of the good guys winning, the bad guys win in this one, and the main character who is the hero, turns into a complete villain by the end of the film. The main character sacrifices himself to try to save the woman he loves, but instead ends up becoming blinded by the power and kills her in the process. This movie I have rewatched it so many times and I feel like this movie was sort of my introduction to Star Wars becoming such a big part of my life. I grew up with the typical ideology of if you are a girl you play with "girl toys" and watch movies "for girls" and vise versa for the boys. I had boy friends growing up and they introduced me to Star Wars and I started the movies out of order so the first movie I saw was Revenge Of the Sith. Since that point on I started loving star wars and would watch any project that came out and would collect action figures and even to this day I watch all the new movies and shows that release. I am someone who has multiple hobbies and obsessions and Star Wars is one of the main aspects in my life that I enjoy still even after years so without that movie I probably would not have ben introduced at all the same way. I think even though it is just a simple hobby of mine, to me that movie has impact on the the kind of person that I am. We are all unique in our own way and what is unique to me is my love for Star Wars. I think that this movie introduced me into embracing a love for something that is seen as a thing for boys. I continue to absolute love Star Wars and even though it is something so simple, it really did change my life in a very unexpected way.

I am someone who has experienced really poor mental health at some point in my life. I think we all have struggled with something related to our mental health and it is important that we always find a way to improve ourselves for the better. I have struggled with body image, being overweight, severe social anxiety, and a large amount of stress during the time I was in High school. Growing up I struggled with my weight a lot. I always felt out of place and I felt like I could not wear the clothing I wanted to and I would resort to eating as a form of stress relief from school work. During this time I developed severe social anxiety, I got nervous talking to people around me, I felt constantly judged, and whenever I was assigned a group project I was always left without a group. This was my lowest point and I after years of feeling like this I decided to change for the better. I started to realize that I should not be letting these kinds of issues control my life. I started working out and eating a lot healthier. Whenever I wanted to eat out of stress I would eat less and replace what I ate with a healthier alternative. It has been over a year and I am about to enter college and have lost over 30 pounds and now I work out for enjoyment. I started learning how to better organize my homework so I would not feel so pressured. I felt a lot better being productive and I now I do not feel that insecurity I had for so many years. I think at this point my mental health is the best it has ever been. I think that no matter what kind of obstacles you are facing, you should always put your mental wellness first. It is perfectly okay to take a break or give yourself some space away from work. I learned to be more organized and productive and I am a lot more confident with myself. I really do think that mental wellness is one of the most important things we should maintain. If you struggle with mental health always make sure to put yourself first. My goal is to continue my path to maintaining my well being and hope more and more people realize that mental health is important and we should all be helping each other out whenever we struggle mentally.

My desired career path is to pursue a Computer Science major. I am currently admitted into the University Of Utah and I will be doing my Computer Science major with a Game emphasis. When I graduate with my degree, I want to get either a job as a Software Engineer, an AI engineer, or a Game developer for a big tech company. I want to help develop our technology regardless of what area of technology I decide to work in. My interests and skills throughout my life have always aligned with technology. I love creating digital art and I enjoy watching videos of the process of creating Video game and movie animations during my free time. I also have always loved playing video games and the game Jedi: Survivor peaked my interest in learning more about Game development. Any kind of career I decide to pursue with my Computer Science degree requires a hefty amount of math as well. During my entire school career, math was always my strongest subject. I was a year ahead in math and finished my math credits in my Junior year of high school. There is this thought that I always have about how I think I was destined into pursing a degree in Computer Science because of how much it aligns with what I love and what I am good at. When I started high school, I decided to get ahead in order to make my path into getting a degree a lot easier. I started taking concurrent enrollment classes as well as AP classes in order to earn college credit. I completed 46 college credits during the time I was in high school. I was part of a TRIO program in my high school that helped me get ready to fill out university admissions on time as well as the FAFSA form. At the very end of my of my senior year in high school, I took a Bilingual test in order to receive the Seal of Biliteracy. I took the spanish test and passed and received the seal. I also completed over 4 credits in Business and in technology in high school and received 2 CTE Path ways certifications because of it. When I graduated, I had received 4 different cords, a magna cum laude cord, a double CTE pathway cord, a Seal of Biliteracy cord, and a concurrent enrollment double cord for completing college credit. I wanted to make sure I had certain achievements in order to make my application look a lot better as well as being able to save money and time at University. Almost all my generals are done and both the CTE Pathways and Seal will appear on my transcripts when I apply for a Job in the future. I am someone who likes to work hard and I enjoy studying. I am passionate about the Computer Science field and I hope to be able to help progress our advancement in technology and be able to do something that I love while also being able to contribute greatly to our society.

I myself have always loved hobbies that were associated with technology. I love making digital art during free time and I always had an interest in both movie and video game animation. Growing up I always was drawn into doing some kind of career that had to do with technology. During the time I was in High school, I did a few different classes in the technology area to experiment like Graphic design, computer programming, and screen printing. During my last year in high school, I really started to learn about the use of Artificial intelligence and how it works in different areas. I was interested in the concept of Artificial intelligence as well as Software Engineering and I was even interested in pursuing something in the Video Game field. I am currently admitted into the University Of Utah and I decided to pursue a career in Computer Science with a Game Emphasis. I enjoy every aspect technology and I hope to be able to explore the different fields I can work in with my major. I am a woman who comes from a hispanic background. Both of my parents are immigrants from Mexico who came to the United States for a better life and I was born in Provo, Utah. I want to have an impact on helping advance our technology. There is definitely a lack of both women and especially women of color in the STEM degree. I hope I can inspire those around me who are BIPOC to pursue a STEM career and to achieve whatever they want to achieve. I have a passion for technology and I have the motivation to be able to get my degree and work as a Software or AI engineer or maybe even a Game developer. I think we need more people of color in the STEM field. I myself decided to take on the challenge of pursing such a complex and limitless career. I do not think anyone should feel like they can not achieve a career in STEM just for being a minority. I have goals and dreams that I want to accomplish and I hope to be able to have a long lasting impact and be able to help those around me. I would love to have the opportunity to earn this scholarship and I am thankful for just even having the opportunity to be eligible for this scholarship.

I grew up with immigrant parents from Mexico who came to the United States for a better life. I was born and raised in Provo, Utah and I have 1 older sister. My parents since I was a kid always told me that pursuing a college degree is extremely important for my future. I always grew up with the expectation of being a good student and with the expectation of going to college. As the years went by and I was transitioning from Middle School to High school, I knew that these last few years were crucial to my future as an adult. I started taking college credit classes while being in High school so I could complete my generals and save on funding for college as well as save time. It felt stressful to take those kinds of classes at time but I always had the drive to go to college and graduate with the degree I want. I recently graduated at the end of May from Provo High School and I graduated with a Seal of Biliteracy, two CTE pathway certifications, 46 college general credits, and a magnaa cum laude cord. I am currently admitted to the University of Utah and I plan on pursuing a degree in Software Development with a Game Emphasis as well as a certification in Artificial intelligence. I want to be able to get a good paying Job as a Software engineer for a big company like Playstation, Adobe, OpenAI, Apple, etc. and be able to afford my own house and have my parents live with me so my dad can stop working. My dad currently works at Dennys and my mom has now stopped working due to her High Blood Pressure. I want to be able to pursue hobbies I have always wanted to do like traveling the world. I have the mindset that college is the best choice for my future and I have a drive to help develop our technology with a good company. For the past year I have been wanting to get a degree in the technology field as it isa major part of our society and will continue to be for years to come. Earning the opportunity to get this scholarship would help me so much in covering tuition and housing expenses for my school. I am someone who likes to work hard and I like to achieve what I want and I hope to earn the honor of getting this kind of scholarship.

I was born and raised my entire life in Provo, Utah. I have one older sister from Mexico who was raised in Provo as well and both of my parents are immigrants from Mexico. I grew up with the mindset that I would always do well in school, complete a college degree, and live a comfortable life doing whatever I was passionate about. I attended Provo High School and just graduated on May2 2nd of 2024. I completed 46 college credits in order to save time and money for college. I completed 2 CTE pathways, one in business and one in technology. I am also bilingual and achieved a Seal of Biliteracy for being fluent in both english and spanish. I graduated with a magna cum laude cord, a double CTE Pathway cord, a double concurrent enrollment college credit cord, and a Seal of Biliteracy cord. I started becoming interested in pursuing STEM because a lot of my hobbies and interests revolve around technology. I love doing digital art for fun as well as playing video games. I was even interested in learning animation for movies and video games. I decided to pursue a career in Computer Science because I am interested in learning how to operate and work with softwares in different areas like Artificial intelligence as well as video games. I am currently admitted into the University Of Utah and start in the fall. I will be doing a Computer Science Major with a game emphasis. I want to be able to work in a big tech company when I graduate and I want to be experienced in working fields that involve Software engineering, Game development, and even AI engineering. Since technology has been rapidly developing I love learning and seeing how it works and how it was created. I have interests in multiple fields so I decided Computer Science is the best option for me because I can learn about all the different technology branches like Cybersecurity, Game development, Software development, and Artificial Intelligence. I hope to be able to help advance our technology in any of these fields and I am actually excited to start University with my generals almost done and I can start doing classes for the major itself. I myself enjoy math and I am excited that I can put my skills into use as well as my hobby interests. I hope to be able to complete my goals and be able to move forward with my education.

YOUR APPLICATION I feel like I can relate with a good chunk of the songs on the GUTS album however, one lyric that really caught my attention is the song "Teenage dream" and it goes " They all say that it gets better it gets better but what if I don't?". I feel like this was a lyric that I felt like I have related to in almost my entire Teenage experience. I am currently 17 years old and I have been listening to Olivia Rodrigo's music since back when she released the SOUR album. I love how her music perfectly describes what it is like to be a teenager and how adults do not understand you because they have this idea that you are young and naive and do not understand. I think the specific lyric of Teenage dream is relatable because any time I struggle with something, adults always dismiss it or say "it will get better" and in the back of my mind I always think " well what if I can not overcome it?". I have struggled a lot with my identity. Who I am and what I am suppose to do with my life is so stressful to me because I feel like I am not ready for the world at all as I transition into being 18. I feel like everyone assumes I am being "dramatic" or "overreacting" but I feel like I have struggled a lot. I struggled with my body image for years and I struggled with Social anxiety since late elementary school. I think the lyrics capture the essence of a common struggle every teenager goes through where we struggle and adults around us simply say we are young and have our whole lives ahead of us and it will get better but in the back of our heads those worries are still present and we have this fear that maybe we will never resolve these issues. I think that every teenager has struggled and I love that we have an artist in this generation that writes music about the struggles of being a teenager and being surrounded by people who do not understand. I myself love Olivia Rodrigos Music and I even hope on attending one of her concerts. I truly think that we all struggle with anxiety, body dysmorphia, fear of judgement, etc. The best we can do is help each other out since we are the ones who truly understand each others struggles and we can help each other out.

I grew up with a lot of the Disney Channel shows from my sisters era of Disney as well as shows of my own era. I think If I were to have two shows do a crossover I would do a crossover of Kim Possible with Phineas and Ferb. The episode would be titled "Whats the Sitch in Danville?" as a hybrid of Kim Possible's catchphrase "Whats the Sitch?" and the name of the town from Phineas and Ferb, Danville. The plot for the episode would be where Phineas and Ferb build a type of Portal to cross dimensions. When they finish building the Portal and Activate it, the Portal opens up in the Universe of Kim Possible. While Kim Possible is in the middle of a typical fight with Shego, the Portal opens without either of them noticing and Kim accidentally falls into the Portal. She falls into the Phineas and Ferb Universe outside of their backyard. The portal closes shortly after leaving both Kim and Phineas and Ferb confused on the situation. Phineas explains to Kim how they built the portal and Kim explains what had happened to her and the Universe from where she is from. Phineas and Ferb take Kim inside their house to discuss a solution to the situation and Candace starts bickering them Phineas and Ferb threatening that she will tell their mom about what they had done. While they are all inside, the Portal randomly opens up again and Shego falls into the backyard as well. She immediately manages to escape without anyone noticing from the back yard. For the rest of the episode we see that Phineas and Ferb start to notice that there is chaos being caused in the city and Kim Possible immediately realized that it is Shego and they do not understand how she possibly had gotten through if the portal had closed. They come up with a plan for Kim possible to capture Shego while Phineas and Ferb with the Reluctant help of Candace try to find a while to get the portal to open up again. There is a big battle between Shego and Kim towards the end of the episode and Kim succeeds in capturing Shego while Phineas and Ferb manage to open up the portal again. Kim Possible bids her last goodbye and gratitude for Phineas and Ferb before leaving with Shego in handcuffs. The episode ends with Phineas and Ferb reflecting on what had happened and Shego escapes when her and Kim Possible arrive back to their dimension and Kim Possible explains to Ron everything that had happened to her.

I would have to say my favorite Nintendo game is the classic Super Mario Kart game. The reason I love the game is because of how competitive and entertaining it can get when playing with other people. When I play Mario Kart by myself it is a fun experience but it is not the same when you are playing with other people. I love that you can choose the character you want to play as, the kart is customizable, and you can choose where you want the race to be. I could play with my family or a group of friends for hours and not get tired. Another thing I personally enjoy is how you can buy actual remote control wheels for the Mario Kart game to make the game more interactive. My favorite memory of this game in multiplayer was when I had played it for the first time. I think I was around ten years old and my brother in law brought a Wii to my house to play games with me and my sister. We played a few games and he asked if I had ever played Mario Kart and I had told him no since I had never taken the interest to play. He had the wheels and we started playing and we were playing for hours. I think that is my most memorable moment because it was my first time ever playing Mario Kart and it led me into buying myself a Nintendo Switch in the future and now I play Mario Kart during my free time.

I think my favorite Starbucks fall drink is still To this day the Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew. I genuinely love coffee so much, I started drinking coffee when I was in middle school and I am a college freshmen now and I still love to drink coffee a couple times a week. I personally love to try around different coffees but Starbucks is a classic coffee place that I can not go wrong with. I personally love the drinks that release around Christmas time but I do really enjoy the fall drinks. I personally love the Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew for 2 reasons, I love cold brews and I love pumpkin. Whenever we are entering fall I immediately think of anything pumpkin flavored. I love pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, really anything sweet with Pumpkin. When I saw that there was coffee with Pumpkin flavor I of course had to try it. I would say that when it comes to coffee i like mine either really sweet or really bitter. I enjoy iced lattes the most but I do like to get a good cold brew every once in a while because I love the taste and also because it wakes me up in the mornings when I get really tired. I think the combination of the cold brew with the sweet pumpkin cream really hits the spot. I myself tried the pumpkin cream cold brew barely last year when I went to Starbucks with my dad. I tried a small one and I really enjoyed the taste of it. I would a few times a week stop by in the mornings before school to get a pumpkin cold brew. I personally have never been a fan of the hot coffees. I love cold drink but I hate the idea of hot coffee even when it is cold like in the fall or in the winter. I always stick with iced coffee throughout all the seasons so this coffee is definitely my go-to whenever we enter fall. I really do enjoy Starbucks coffee a lot. Their drinks are always varying and I love trying different seasonal drinks. I love coffee and being able to try different kinds of coffees and Starbucks is definitely one of my. favorite places for coffees and snacks. The Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew will always have a special place in my heart and I hope to be able to try other new drinks as well.

I just recently graduated from Provo High School. I currently plan on attending the University Of Utah and I am planning on pursuing a career in Computer Science with Emphasis in Game development and Artificial Intelligence. Once I graduate I plan on getting a Job as a Software engineer in a big tech company. I also am opened to possibilities of working in the AI engineering field or in the cybersecurity field. This scholarship will help me be able to pay for my housing. I am currently going to commute from Provo to Salt Lake City through the Frontrunner and TRAX system for my first year of University so I can save up for my dorm. This money would help me out a lot since Tuition and Housing together is expensive. I currently work at Texas Roadhouse and I plan on saving up for my dorm room next year and my parents are trying to help me the best that they can. My dad current works at Dennys and my mom no longer works because she now suffers from High Blood Pressure. My parents helping me financially is hard but they are trying their best. This scholarship would truly mean a lot to me. I can use for my Tuition and Housing expenses so I can attend my dream school comfortably and be able to get my degree. I really do want to make a difference in the Technology industry and work hard to get to where I want to be. I want to maybe in the future be able to provide scholarships myself for students who are in the same situation as me. I also hope to be able to afford my own house one day as well as help my parents out. I really am a hard worker and I want to be able to help others. I have always been interested in pursuing a career in the technology field and I am grateful that I have the opportunity to attend the school I wanted to go to. I hope to earn this scholarship because it would help greatly, I also hope I can make a difference in the Computer Science field and be able to have enough money to help not just my family but also others in need of financial aid as well. I hope I get the opportunity to earn this scholarship and be able to move foward even with obstacles.

Receiving this scholarship would absolutely help me a lot to pay for my Schooling expenses. I just recently graduated in May from Provo High school and I am currently admitted into the University Of Utah and I plan on pursuing a career in Computer Science with a Game Emphasis. I want to be able to work as a software engineer in the future for a big company. I want to be able to have enough funds to pay for my school. This scholarship would be meaningful to me because it will put a weight off my shoulders on paying for school. I currently work at Texas Roadhouse and plan on saving up to be able to live in a dorm next year since I do not have the money now and I live in Provo while the school is in Salt Lake City. Any sort of help I can find or get is really meaningful to me. My dad works at Dennys and my mom no longer works since she suffers from High blood pressure so money is tight in paying for tuition and housing. I think that whenever someone does a good deed for you, you should also help out to to others. I hope to be able to receive any help I can get. I have always found the idea of scholarships meaningful as it helps people in need achieve their dreams without going through a lot of difficulties. I hope that when I graduate and receive a job, I get paid well enough to be able to also provide scholarships to those who need it. I want to be able to give students help who are in a similar situation as me. I want to help high achieving students who are having a hard time paying for school. This is my way of paying it forward in the future. I received opportunities to apply and be able to be eligible for scholarships so I want to make sure I give others the opportunity as well. I feel like I have had some hardships like any other student. I am working hard to be able to pay as much of my schooling as I can, My parents are thoughtful and are trying to help me and encourage me in the best way that they can, and I am pushing hard to be able to study the career I want. I hope to be able to have the opportunity to earn this scholarship. I am a hard worker and I hope to be recognized for my hardwork.

I have always loved how different it feels listening to your favorite songs in person with the speakers booming in your ears compared to listening to it on a small phone or tv. My first ever concert was on April 9th of 2022, It was a BTS concert in Las Vegas at Allegiant Stadium that was part of their Permission To Dance Tour, It was their very last tour before heading to mandatory military service in South Korea. I went with my sister and brother in Law and we stayed at a hotel that was a good walking distance from the Stadium. When we got there the entire stadium was completely filled and there was almost 70 thousand people in that stadium. I remember how awestruck I was to see such a big place filled with so many people with the same common interest as me there. When the group first appeared on stage I was so excited and took dozens of videos. I got to hear my favorite songs live and I was able to see them at a good distance since I was in the floor area of the venue. By the end of the night I had lost my voice and I had a small feeling of sadness walking back to the hotel since It felt like the concert had gone too fast for me to process anything. That was my first ever concert and as of now I only have 2 concert experiences. My second concert that was my favorite was also in 2022 but on October 31st, It was the Blackpink Concert in Houston, Texas that was part of their Born Pink Tour. This Venue was a lot smaller than the BTS one I had gone to. It was the Toyota center which fits about 20 thousand people. I again went with my sister and brother in law since they like the same artists I do and our hotel was at a small walking distance from the stadium as well and we could see the top of the stadium from our window. We walked to the concert and it was a very different environment from the BTS concert. I have noticed that the type of people and clothing they where and the colors were completely different. In this concert there was a lot more teenagers and young adults while BTS ranged from kids to elders. I remember being so excited when they came out as well and I had a really good view of the group. I loved the concert and loved the environment of the audience. I feel like the Blackpink concert was my favorite because although I like BTS more as artists and they really put in a lot into giving a really good show with amazing choreography and singing, Blackpinks felt a lot more intimate. I do not know if it was because it was at a smaller venue, but while I loved the performances Blackpink gave they also interacted a lot with the audience and were having fun and doing random dances on stage while talking to us. It felt very personal and I really liked that. I am currently about to turn 18 soon and I plan on attending a lot more concerts since I have only been to 2 so far. I live in Provo, Utah so Hopefully I can go see Olivia Rodrigo in July as well as Sabrina Carpenter in November. I love live music and I love sharing my experiences with others who share the same love of concerts as me.

My name is Jesslyn Dominguez, I was born and raised in Provo, Utah. Both of my parents are immigrants from Mexico who came to the United States for a better life. I just graduated at the end of May from Provo High School with 46 college credits completed and I plan on pursuing a Software development major with a Game emphasis and a Certification of Artificial intelligence at the University of Utah. I think something unique I like to tell is the Journey I had of being very overweight my entire life. During this time I had a decline in mental health while balancing my school life and I eventually got back up on my feet and made a change for the better. I grew up overweight all my life, I was always uncomfortable with myself since elementary school, I always felt big compared to the other girls in my classes. It was not that big of a deal to me since I was a kid but as I transitioned to middle school I really started feeling insecure with myself. I have always had trouble making friends. I still have same friend group from elementary school and I have met new people now but I still have a hard time. I always felt like people avoided me or did not want to talk to me. I felt even more insecure because I felt like I could not fit into any of the clothes I liked and I had a hard time socializing in classes. Whenever we had group projects, I was always one of the students who did not have a partner or group. The teacher would always have to put me into a group. When the pandemic happened my weight and Social anxiety had gotten worse. I was taking online classes and had a hard time with them and the classes felt really hard to keep up with and I barely passed my freshmen year online. I started in person school in my second year and it was the exact same experience as middle school. I had a hard time making new friends, doing partner work in classes as well as presentations, and I was still overweight. During this time I decided to do AP classes as well as college credit courses and I would resort to binge eating to get rid of the stress. This was a pattern that kept going on until the end of my Junior year. When my Junior year was ending, I got motivation from my mom to finally start going to the Gym. I got a gym membership and started going 5 days a week as well as developing a better diet. It was hard for the first few months as there was no results but I eventually started losing. I lost 40 pounds and I currently weigh 130 pounds. I feel better about myself, I finally wear the kinda clothes I like without feeling insecure, and I do not feel like I am being judged by others around me. Although I have other things to work on like fixing my social anxiety, I think I came a long way. I like to share this story because It a journey that was very significant to me. I like to tell this story because it makes me proud and I hope I can achieve and grow from that experience. I hope to receive this scholarship because I am a hard worker and when I want to achieve something I do it no matter what it takes to get there.

My name is Jesslyn Dominguez, I was born and raised in Provo, Utah and I have 1 older sister. I have both of my parents who are immigrants from Mexico that came to the United States for a better life. Since I was a kid I was always on the ambitious side. I wanna have a good career and be financially stable and live a comfortable life. I just recently graduated from Provo High school and I did 46 college credits while being in High school. I am currently admitted into the University of Utah and I plan on studying Software Development with a Game Emphasis as well as a certification in Artificial Intelligence. My idea of success is being able to graduate from University with my degree and be able to get a well paying Job with my Major and live comfortably with my own home and being able to make sure my parents live comfortably as well. I have always worked to be a good student and get a good education. I come from a low come family, my dad works at Dennys and my mom no longer works but she suffers from High blood pressure. Earning the opportunity to obtain this Scholarship would help me fund my education. I plan on eventually living on campus since I live far from the University of Utah and the transportation is rather long and difficult. This scholarship could help me with school expenses like covering part of my tuition or part of my housing. My parents are trying to help me in any way they can to be able to afford my tuition since the University Of Utah was the school I had my heart set on for the past few years. Being able to earn this scholarship would mean a lot to me and my parents. I have the drive and passion to study and work hard on my education and any funding is amazing help. I like accomplishing things and I like learning, I graduated with a seal of Biliteracy, two CTE pathway certifications, A Magna Cum Laude cord, and a concurrent enrollment cord for completing college credit. I plan on working hard in my transition to University as well and even after I finish school and go on into adult life and get a Job and work in my career field, I want to be able to be an over achiever and work hard in my career field as well. I have my own set of goals that in my head will not be impossible to achieve if I have the right motivation and plans. I hope to be able to get this opportunity and I will continue to work hard and use this scholarship appropriately. I have the hope that I will achieve my goal and my mom always says that if I have the mindset of "I am going to do it and I will achieve what I want" then it will happen if I repeat that to myself over and over again.

There is no specific reasoning for why I enjoy math I just do. I was always naturally good at math, I was one year ahead in math and I was doing a University math class by the time I was in my Junior year of high school. Math has always been the easiest subject to me, even easier than english. I had always struggled in literacy but when it came to numbers I automatically understood with the right teaching. I feel this sense of enjoyment when I solve a polynomial or have to solving systems of equations. That sense of problem solving is enjoyable to me. I know other people around me who absolutely hate math because they say it is too complex or difficult. However, to me it is the best general subject at school. When I start University, I want to major in Software engineering. I always knew that my future career path would be heavily math based since I actually like the subject. Pursuing a career with math honestly makes me happy. Math follows me even into my career and it feels like I was sort of destined to keep doing math. I hope the interest and love I have always had for math never changes.

The Universe and the origin of it is something complex that I think that we as humans will never understand fully how we came to be. The Universe has been around for billions of years and the theories and also proven facts of how it was formed is just something so extraordinary that I can not even imagine what exactly created it. Understanding our origin is something important as we can finally uncover the mystery as to why and how we were created. Over the course of history we have had many religions that were created to justify and explain the complexity of how our world works. Although even now we have all kinds of religions with different belief systems and interpretations of a God or a Deity, we still do not know the actual origin of our Universe or the creator. I think that none of us truly know the exact story of how we were created and I think it is something so complex that us as humans will never understand it and I think we were not meant to understand it. To be able to understand a lot more of our Universe I think that us progressing our technology to be able to explore space is something that I think will impact us for the better and maybe in a couple of decades we can explore planets and galaxies like something out of a Sci-Fi movie. I have always been interested in the origin of space and I believe in the theory that we are not alone and there is other forms of life across the Universe. I also believe in the Multi Verse theory of the possibility that maybe there are multiple versions of our Universe but our Universe is so big that we will never know and if we do it will not be for a very long time. I think it is important that advance Technologically. We should be able to explore our Universe and learn about the Nature of our galaxy and our existence. I think what we see in Sci-Fi movies is not exactly impossible. I can see a future hundred of years from now where we will be able to adapt to other planets and learn about other civilizations across the Universe. I myself want to pursue a career in Software Engineering and maybe even get the chance to work with SpaceX or NASA to be able to help the progression of our study of the Universe. I hope one day we can finally uncover the secret and be able to understand what exactly is our purpose.

I think my favorite spider man is the one portrayed by Andrew Garfield in the Amazing Spider-Man Movies. I have watched different kinds of Spider-man movies but I specifically loved the kind of vibe that The Amazing Spider-Man movies brought. When I was around 8-9 years old when my dad took my to go see The Amazing Spider-man 2 and I recently rewatched it on Netflix after years with my mom because I absolutely love the movie. I love the story and the visual effects but I also love how it technically was not an all happy ending. It was more angsty than the other Spider-man movies and those are the kind of movies that I love. When Andrew Garfield portrays Spider-man, you can feel the emotions of his character through the mask without seeing his facial expression. I personally have loved all the Spider-man movies and love watching any new one that comes out. As we have gotten more Spider-man content recently with the MCU movies, I still feel like the best adaption of Spider-man has been in the Amazing Spider-man movies. The Amazing Spider-man 2 is definitely one of my favorite movies in general and I hope that one day even though it is only a rumor for now, we can get another Spider-man movie with Andrew Garfield.

My Name Is Jesslyn Dominguez, I was born and raised in Provo, Utah and I have one older sister who was born in Mexico but raised in Provo as well. Both of my parents are immigrants from Mexico that came to the US for a better life. I have suffered with Social Anxiety for almost my entire School career. It it something I struggle with and I still have trouble overcoming I remember having Social anxiety since early elementary. I have always felt like I have had bad experiences socially while growing up. I have always felt like teachers even when I was a kid, would specifically pick on me simply because I had trouble speaking out in class. It always felt this way even in middle school and high school as well. I only ever had one teacher in elementary school who was my favorite and I would love to see him and thank him for being a good teacher. However, my other experiences have all been bad. I struggle when teachers tell the class to find a partner or get into a group because I struggle a lot with making friends. I always have a feeling in classrooms that teachers do not like me because I struggle with speaking. I always felt like growing up teachers preferred the talkative outgoing students and even though I did well academically, they would always point out that I was too quiet. I feel affected by these experiences and I feel like I can not really communicate or talk to someone about this. I think that my image to others is also hard on me. I get a feeling that because I respond in a dry manner or bluntly, that people automatically assume I am just rude or have no manners and they avoid me. I do not know why but I just always have a feeling that I get judged for every small thing I do and that everyone is always watching me. I have struggled with my body image for a very long time, however I recently feel a lot more confident in myself but I still haves these worries and fears of people. I sometimes get judged that I do not respond hi back when I do I say it in a shaky voice. It has gotten better but I can not help but be scared and overthink on how to respond to others that I end up not being able to respond. I want to be able to pursue a college degree because I want to be successful and I always grew up with the ideology of getting a degree and getting a good job and having a good future. There is a part of me that also wants to be successful because I want to prove that I am more than capable even with my struggles. I want to prove that I can overcome this and that I will be successful. I want to pursue a career in software engineering and be able to show what I am really worth. I hope that I can move forward and be able to get rid of this image of me that I did not want for something that I can not control.

My name is Jesslyn Dominguez and I am currently a Senior at Provo High School and I am about to graduate. I was born and raised in Provo, Utah and I have one older sister from Mexico who was also raised in Provo. My parents are both immigrants from Mexico who came to the US for a better life. I have completed around 46 College credits while being In High school in order to save time and Money for my degree. I grew up seeing my parents always work hard and encourage me to do my best in school so I can get a degree and get a good Job and Have a stable future. I always grew up with that ideology of going to college. I started taking College credit High school classes in order to save thousands on my tuition for University. It was hard and stressful at times but I always had the mindset of pushing through and being able to study the major that I wanted. I want to be able to get a degree in Software Engineering as well as a certification in Artificial intelligence however my family is on a lower income. My dad works at Dennys and my mom no longer works because she suffers from High blood pressure. I work at Texas roadhouse but only for a few hours in order to focus on school. I am planning on attending Utah Valley University to finish my generals, and during this time save up for tuition and housing at The University of Utah so I can transfer. I want to be able to pursue a career in the STEM field because in this recent year I have become interested do to the evolution of AI. I have seen the latest developments of Artificial Intelligence like the OpenAI Software called Sora as well as Image generators and AI that analyzes data. I would love to be able to work with softwares and AI myself and maybe even develop new softwares. I want to be able to work with this kind of technology and even be able to contribute to our society. It has been only about a year that I have been interested in a STEM career. I think that with the right hard work and motivation I can make my goals and dreams come true and be able to contribute to our society through technology and be able to attned the University I want and be able to purse the career I want.

My name Is Jesslyn Dominguez, I was born and raised in Provo Utah and I have one older sister who was born in Mexico but also raised in Provo. Both of my parents are immigrants from Mexico who came to the US for a better life. I am 17 years old and I am a High school senior at Provo high and I am about to graduate. I have completed 46 college credits through Utah Valley University during high school. For the past year my family has been on the lower income side. I work at Texas Roadhouse but only a few hours since I want to focus more on school. My dad works at Dennys and my mom now stays home because she suffers from High blood pressure. I am currently planning on attending Utah Valley University when I have my heart set on The University of Utah because of financial issues. I cannot afford the housing since the school is far from where I live and even with government school aid I cannot pay the entire tuition. I am planning on doing generals at Utah Valley and save money during the time I am there to be able to pay for housing and Tuition at The University of Utah. I am applying for multiple scholarships as well as planning on saving money myself from working. I aspire to be able to pursue a career in the Tech industry. I want to pursue Software engineering and a certification in Artificial Intelligence. When I graduate from University, I want to be able to work for a big tech company as either a Software or AI engineer like Apple, adobe, OpenAI, Google, etc. I want to be able to contribute to society and help improve and create new technology to help people in the country and In our society. I have been interested most recently in the past year in developing Softwares because of the growing interest in Artificial Intelligence. I think it is a complex and revolutionary technology that can truly help make our lives a lot easier. I have the interest in being able to help develop Artificial Intelligence. I have big goals and dreams. I want to be financially stable and help out my parents who have worked hard to get me to where I am now. I hope I can really contribute to the advancement of todays technology and be able to make my education as well as career goals possible.

My name is Jesslyn Dominguez, I was born and raised in Provo, Utah but both of my parents are immigrants from Mexico. I have one olde sister who is married and she was born in Mexico but also raised in Provo. I am currently a Senior at Provo High school and I am about to graduate. I have completed 46 college credits through Utah Valley University while being in high school in order to finish my majority of my generals and a couple of thousands in My tuition. I want to be able to attend the University Of Utah and get a degree in Software Engineering as well a certificate in Artificial Intelligence. When I graduate I want to be able to pursue my career and work as either A software Or AI Engineer for big tech company like Adobe, Apple, OpenAI, Google, etc. my interest in computer science is a recent thing as I was really inspired and caught interest in Artificial intelligence as well as softwares for things like the Apple VR and AI Sora. I want to be able to contribute to society and help evolve and expand these advanced Softwares and be able to contribute into evolving our technology and helping society. I come from a hardworking family and parents who have worked for years to give me a better life here in the US. I have always been someone who’s all for women empowerment as a woman myself. I am a Hispanic woman who is trying to enter a male dominated industry. I do think that it is important to help raise awareness in disadvantages women have in our society. I always think it is important to stand up for injustices in general and all injustice towards women that we still see even in today’s society. My family is of a low income background. I currently work at Texas Roadhouse a few hours only since I want to mainly Focus on school and my dad works at Dennys. My mom no longer works because she suffers from High blood pressure. It has been like this for the past year so I am currently facing financial struggles for University. I want to attend the University of Utah but when with Financial Aid I Cannot afford the entire tuition. It is also far from Provo and I do not have the money to be able to afford housing. I came to the conclusion that I want to be able to apply for scholarships as well as save my own money to be able to pay for tuition and housing. I will complete my generals at Utah Valley University and then I will try to transfer to The University Of Utah. I do really want to accomplish my goals and be able to study at the university I have been wanting to go to for years. I hope I can move forward and be able to pull through with my education.

My Name is Jesslyn Dominguez, I was born and raised in Provo, Utah however, both of my parents are immigrants from Mexico. I have an older sister who is married and was also raised in Provo but was born in Mexico. I am 17 years old and a Senior at Provo high who is about to graduate. I have 46 college credits completed for generals through Utah Valley University as well. My goals for education are being able to pursue a career in Computer Science in Software Engineering as well as Artificial intelligence and be able to work for a big tech company like Adobe, Apple, OpenAI, etc. I have my heart set on being able to contribute to society through the technology industry. I want to be able to help develop and improve softwares for computers and phones and be able to develop effective helpful technology. I think computer science is such a helpful kind of science especially in todays society and age of technology. I have heart set on attending the University Of Utah. However, I have many obstacles in order to be able to attend. I financially even with applying for government aid cannot afford the complete annual tuition for the University Of Utah. I also currently live in Provo so the distance between Provo and the University is unfortunately is a long one so I wanted to plan on living over there while I attend the school. I had already been admitted but I have come to the conclusion that Financially I cannot afford it. I work a few hours at Texas Roadhouse and My dad works at Dennys. My mom can no longer work because she suffers from High blood pressure. It has been like this for the past year. I have planned on attended Utah Valley University for my first year and then work and save to move to the University of Utah. I still cannot really accept the fact that I cannot attend the school I wanted to go to due to financial situations. I really do want to contribute and help make a difference in the Tech industry. I want to be able to accomplish my goals and be able to achieve the career that I have been wanting. I hope I can keep pushing forward and get the chance to finish my career in the school that I have been wanting to go to for a long time.

My Name is Jesslyn Dominguez and I am currently a Senior at Provo High school who is about to graduate. I was born and raised in Provo, Utah and both of my parents are immigrants from Mexico. I have one older sister who is currently married and she came to the US when she was 5 years old. I have completed around 46 college credits through Utah Valley University while being in High School. I want to be able to attend the University of Utah and graduate with a degree in Software engineering and work for a big Tech company. I want to be able to help our society through Technology. In this day and age Technology is such a big part of our society and we use it everyday. I would absolutely love to be able to help contribute into creating Softwares for things that can help make others lives easier. We now have apps and softwares that help us with easier transportation and delivery and I would love to be apart of that. We are in an age of rapidly evolving technology and I have the ambition of being able to get a really good position at a company and help contribute my ideas and help be really involved in the progress of developing our technology. I come from a low income family, for the past year my dad has been working at Denny's and my mom no longer works because she suffers from High Blood pressure. I am planning on going to Utah Valley University for at least a year and then transferring to the University of Utah do to low come and being unable to afford the tuition for The University Of Utah. I have been non-stop applying for any kind of scholarship so I can use it to cover tuition and living expenses for when I go to the University of Utah. I have applied for financial aid and it is still being processed but even the max number will not cover tuition for the University of Utah. I work at Texas Roadhouse and I plan on being able to save for tuition and housing for the University of Utah. I really do feel passionate about attending the University I want to go to and being able to pursue my goals in the technology field. I hope that I can accomplish everything I want to accomplish and I can push through this situation and be able to pay for my education.

My Name Is Jesslyn Dominguez, I was born and raised In Provo, Utah however, both of my parents are Immigrants from Mexico and I have one older sister who was born in Mexico but came to the US when she was 5. I am 17 years old and I turn 18 in august. I am Senior at Provo High school and I am about to graduate. I have completed 46 college credit hours through Utah Valley University while being in High school in order to get my generals done. I am currently admitted into both the University of Utah and Utah Valley University. I want to be able to pursue a career in Software engineering and also something along the lines of Artificial intelligence. My Goal is to be able to graduate from the University of Utah and be able to work for a big tech company as a software or AI engineer like Apple, Adobe, OpenAI, Tesla, etc. I want to be able to be successful and help contribute to creating and developing advanced softwares that will change and help our society. I want to be able to give my parents a house and a good living when they're older for helping me get through school and working hard to give me an opportunity at a better life. I have recently started facing Financial limitations to my Education goals. I have my heart set on attending the University of Utah however, it is far from Provo and I do not have enough money for housing over there and even with Financial aid from the government, I may not be able to afford the entire tuition for the school. I have been applying for multiple scholarships for the past month in order to save money to cover tuition and housing expenses. It has come to the conclusion that I will be attending Utah Valley University for at least a year so I can save enough money to cover Housing and tuition. I work at Texas Roadhouse and have started working more in the summer in order to save the money. I truly do want to make a difference in the Tech industry. I have worked hard to push through school and even did college credits in High school to save myself time and money. I really do want to accomplish my goals and contribute into the development of our future technology. I hope that I get the opportunity to do what I am passionate about and be able to attend the school I want and get through these obstacles.

My Name Is Jesslyn Dominguez, I was born and raised in Provo, Utah and my parents are both immigrants from Mexico who came to the US along with my sister so they could have a better life. I am 17 years old and I turn 18 in August. I am High school Senior at Provo High School and I am about to graduate. I have completed around 46 college credits through Utah Valley University while being in High school in order to get my generals done. I think that I have yet to full overcome adversity in my life. While I am doing a lot better and becoming more accepting of my situation it is still hard for me. I came from a hardworking family and for the past year my Dad has been working at Dennys and my mom can no longer work due to her suffering from High Blood pressure. I am currently facing the challenge of not being able to go to the school I have been wanting to go to Which is The University of Utah due to low income and transportation issues. It is very far from Provo and I currently can not afford housing and I need to come up with the money for tuition. I have applied for government aid but it is still in process and I could not pay the remainder because the University of Utah is around 9k a year. I have accepted the fact that I need to save up money for housing and the rest of tuition in order to go. I am going to be attending Utah Valley University for at least a year in order to live at home and save in the meantime for The University of Utah. I have recently accepted this and I still have a sense of sadness and frustration because I can not attend the school that I want to attend. I have this mindset that I will be able to attend the University that I want and I can accomplish my goals to get there. It is hard but I have started to learn to accept the fact that eventually I will be able to make it and I will be able to have enough money to pay for my housing as well as tuition so I can attend teh school I want. I hope that I can achieve my dreams. I think that with my families help and as well as maintaining a positive attitude, I will be able to go and hopefully I can get the support and help I need to make it happen.

My name Is Jesslyn Dominguez, I was born and Raised in Provo, Utah. My parents are both from Mexico and they're immigrants who came here for a better life for me and my sister who is also from Mexico but she got to Utah when she was around five years old. My parents for the past 20 years have been working non stop to be able to afford a life for me and my sister. My sister is now 28 and married and I am currently 17 and a Senior in High School. For the past year my dad has been the only one Providing. He works at Denny's and my mom stays at home and has stopped working because she suffers from High Blood pressure so for the past year income has been low. I completed about 46 college credits through Utah Valley University while being in High school so I have saved myself both in time and in money about almost a year in University. It was stressful at times but it has finally paid off as I have completed a significant amount of University while being in High school. I am admitted in Utah Valley University because of the college credit I did through the school but I am also admitted into the University Of Utah because it is the school I want to attend. However, I have been faced with obstacles that stand in the way of me being able to attend the University of Utah this year. Transportation is about 1-2 hours through car or TRAX trains and it gets more difficult during the winter. I have applied recently for Government aid however, Tuition for thee University of Utah is around 9k and my family can not afford whatever financial aid does not cover. I have come to the conclusion that Utah Valley University is cheaper and I most attend for a year there and save money for my housing to live At the University of Utah as well as look for Financial aid to be able to pay for Tuition. I want to pursue a career in the tech industry because It is a recent interest of mine and I want to be able to help society and improve and evolve technology. I want to be specifically a Software engineer and also pursue Artificial intelligence and be able to work for a Big company after graduating like Apple, Adobe, OpenAI, etc. This Scholarship would help significantly and I would be able to use it to cover a large chunk of my tuition to be able to attend the school that I want to be able to attend. I hope I can pursue and accomplish my goals and be able to get through this situation.

1. My Name Is Jesslyn Dominguez, I was born in Provo, Utah but both of my parents are Mexico and I have one older sister who is from Mexico as well. Having a good life and successful career is what motivates me to keep going. I have clear goals and mindsets in my head of how I want my future to be. I am currently a High school senior at Provo High school who is about to graduate. I have done around 46 college credits and have almost all my generals done for the Software engineering Major. My mindset of my ideal life is being graduated from University with a degree in Software engineering. I want to be able to work for a big tech company like Adobe, Apple, Microsoft, OpenAI, etc. I want to be able to get a good position within a big tech company and be able to work in my career field and have a stable financial life and be successful. I want to be successful enough to be able to grant scholarships myself to other students who will be in the same position I am now and I want to give my parents who worked so hard to get me through my education a house and car and proper care for how much they have worked for the past years to give me a better life. I definitely see myself with a future life of traveling and having a really good job and being able to help others around me. 2. What excites me about STEM is being able to pursue a complex career that is becoming one of those most important careers in our age and for years to come. I want to be able to work with Softwares as well as get the chance to work with Artificial intelligence. I think that technology especially now is such an effective way to help society and the world. During COVID we relied so much on technology by doing Online School, watching videos, online delivery, and much more. The big reason I want to be able to work in the Technology field is because not only am I passionate and interested in learning more about the field, but we are in the age where technology is evolving significantly and we can use it to improve others lives. I want to be able to have the opportunity to create useful softwares for others. There are apps like Uber that help people get easy transportation and also apps like amazon where you can find things online and get it delivered to you. If I have the chance to improve and help create more of these helpful softwares and apps, I will take it and I want to be able to help others if I can in my interested career field. I think that even though my interest in being in a STEM career is recent, I am one hundred percent set on this career path and I have high hopes and aspirations for the future and helping others. 3. I think that my greatest challenge has definitely been a recent event that has happened to me related to University. I am admitted into Utah valley University because I took all my College classes through the University. However, the school I have my heart set on going to The University of Utah In Salt Lake City. I applied and was admitted however as time gets closer to registration I suffer with both Financial and transportation Obstacles in order to go. Transporting through TRAX takes 2 hours going and coming back and with car it is about an hour however it gets really difficult during Winter. I can not afford housing over there nor can I afford all of tuition even with Government Financial aid for school. My dad works at Dennys and my mom does not work due to her High blood pressure. I work only a few hours at Texas Roadhouse since I prioritize school more. It has come to the conclusion that since I am also admitted into Utah Valley University, I will go there for my first year to finish my generals and get a head start one the beginning courses for Software Engineering and then finish my last 2-3 years at The University of Utah. I am planning that during the year I am at Utah Valley, I will be saving up money for my housing. This situation is pretty recent and I have not really overcome it all the way but I have started to accept the fact that that is my easiest option because it is less money and I have enough time to save and be able to find scholarships. It is a hardship because I want to be able to go to the school that I want but there are many obstacles in the way. I hope that I can get through this and just keep moving foward and be able to get into my dream school someday.

Although it may be controversial, I think a new revolutionary technology that has potential to change society for the better is AI(Artificial Intelligence). I think AI is more dominant now and it is being incorporated more and more into different aspects of our Society like music videos, movies, writing essays, analyzing data, and more. Artificial Intelligence completes easy repetitive tasks in companies and makes video editing a lot easier and faster. I have seen many people concerned about how our society is doomed with such an advanced technology. However, many do not realize that with AI if used properly, can aid us into an easier future. AI inspires me because it is a technology that is currently evolving into many different ways by many different engineers and it is creating new careers and jobs like AI Engineering for example. I myself want to become a software engineer and also pursue a certificate in AI so I can also work with Artificial intelligence and be able to helo develop with technology with new AI companies like Open AI. I want to be able to help improve this technology and be able to pursue a career where I get to work with AI. I plan on being able to help our society and help people. I want to be able to accomplish this through the technology field and I see potential in this new technology and my goal is to be able to have an opportunity to work with others pursing this same field and be able to create something revolutionary for our society.

My name Is Jesslyn Dominguez, I am High School Senior who is about to graduate and I attend Provo High School. I was born In Provo, Utah but both of my parents are Immigrants from Mexico. I am currently admitted into both the University of Utah and Utah Valley University. I think my greatest achievement has been completing 46 General College credits while being In High school. I grew up with the mindset of me getting my education and graduating from University and being able to have a better life. I think this achievement made me feel a sort of relief that I can finish my education faster and be able to make University more affordable for myself since I saved almost a year in generals. I took throughout all of High School concurrent enrollment classes and for my Senior Year I took all Distance Education classes taught by Professors from Utah Valley University. While I was doing AP and Concurrent enrollment classes, it was stressful at times and I even had a decline in mental health at one point. It was hard at times but now that I am at the very end of my four years of High school I see now that all that hard work did pay off and my years in University will be easier, shorter, and cheaper. I grew up with Parents who have always worked hard to make sure I have better life. When my counselor had brought up concurrent enrollment they had encouraged me to be able to take this opportunity of getting a head start in University. My mom currently stays at home due to her high blood pressure and my Dad works at dennys and it has been like this for the past year. I currently work at Texas Roadhouse and I have been trying to recently start saving up to help pay for my housing for University. I want to be able to pursue a career in Software Engineering. I want to be able to work for a bigger company like Adobe or Apple. I had my heart set on going to the University of Utah. I applied and was admitted but because I took concurrent enrollment I am automatically admitted to Utah Valley University as well. I ran into troubles because transporting from provo to University of Utah took about 2 hours on Trax and takes about an hour in car but it will be even more of an obstacle in the snow. I currently can not afford housing over there and the tuition is about 9k a year which I currently can not afford even with financial aid. I plan on doing a year at Utah Valley University and then save up for housing and the rest of the tuition for the University of Utah. I really do want to graduate from the University I have been wanting to go to and I still have my heart set on going over there. I want to be able to graduate and focus on my career. I put in the effort into doing College credit in High school and I want to be able to go to the University I want. Getting this Scholarship would genuinely help me and my family financially and be able to save the money for the Tuition. I am passionate about school and I want to work hard and be able to accomplish my goals.

I think although this may sound like the typical or basic answer, my favorite group is still to this day BTS. I got into K-pop in 2017 through BTS when they made their debut in the US with the song DNA. They are the reason why I am now a Kpop Stan and they opened the gates to me getting into Kpop. I started with BTS then started liking Blackpink a little bit after. I Stan multiple groups besides BTS and Blackpink like Aespa, IVE, New Jeans and listen to a few others as well. Although BTS is currently in military service, I have not loved any other group at the same level that I do them. When I first started getting into BTS in 2017-2018, I was excited to wake up for their new songs any time they would release new ones. I was only in 6th grade when I got into BTS and I am now a High School Senior. I think they impacted my life in a way that I got introduced to a brand new genre of music and was able to be familiarized with a completely different genre of music and industry. I definitely think that they made an impact on my life because they were a main source of distraction and happiness. I loved collecting albums and I even had the chance to go the PTD Las Vegas concert. I had never been so inspired and into an artist. I definitely did get into other things like K-Dramas and other K-pop groups but the root was BTS. I think without BTS I would Never have never been as into K-pop as I am now. Without them I probably would have eventually loved K-pop but probably in most recent times. I got to experience 3rd gen K-pop and the golden era of K-pop. I definitely love a lot of the groups out there now however, 3rd gen groups like BTS, Blackpink, and Twice have been my most favorites. I think my music taste is definitely more mixed in genres because of the different types of songs you hear in K-pop. Most of my clothes and how I dress now is in some inspiration to how K-pop idols dress. BTS is still the most impactful artist of my life. They are in the military as of now but I have never lost interest in them. I think that they inspired me a lot and the era where they were constantly releasing music was the best era of my life and I hope I get to experience it again when they return.

My name Is Jesslyn Dominguez and I am a High school senior who is about to graduate at Provo High. I myself never really had a struggle mentally until we entered the pandemic lockdown. I was transitioning from middle school to high school during this time and I had to start my first year of high school online. During this time period I struggled extremely because I was spending 7-8 hours on my laptop doing homework almost everyday for a year. I barely ended up passing and I think this is where everything really started to get hard for me. I have always had issues with Social anxiety but during this year of online school it felt like it had gotten way worse. When I had started my second year of high school, I felt like I was at my lowest point. I could barely get through presentations or group projects without shaking or stuttering, I was starting to take concurrent enrollment classes to get my generals done for university and I felt constantly pressured and stressed to keep up with the homework, and I developed a really bad binge eating habit during this time due to stress. I had gained an unhealthy amount of weight due to stress and I had horrific social anxiety. This went on throughout my Sophomore and Junior year and I felt really insecure about myself and how I looked while struggling to pass my classes. During the end of my Junior year back in April of 2023, I had decided to start going to the gym. I started going 5-6 days a week. When I entered my senior year, I had finished all of my High school classes and was only doing University classes. I had less classes and was doing less class work and had a more open schedule. I had already been going to the gym for about almost 5 months and had barely lost any weight but still kept up with the routine. I had started losing a very noticeable amount of weight in November and I had all my school work under control. I had a small group of friends that I would hang out with during lunch and everything started getting better. I had lost around 31 pounds by february and I was a lot more confident in myself. I had boughten new clothes and could fit in clothes more my style and clothes I had always wanted to wear. I think this is definitely the best I have ever been mentally. I started having the goal to pursue a career in software Engineering and get a certification in artificial intelligence as well. I feel a lot better about myself and I feel like I am finally free after being able to complete all my classes as well as most of my college generals. I think I now look back and think that I sort of needed a moment in my life like that to be able to grow more. I think now I am definitely more considerate of people who struggle in school and I feel like I have sort of a dislike towards to school system and I always try to state my opinion on how I think we could definitely improve the system. I try to be more nice to others. I think that we never know what people go through and we can never judge others simply because of how they dress or look. This was definitely a hard experience and I hope that I can continue forwards in the right direction and be able to thrive and accomplish my goals.

My all time favorite anime that will forever be unbeatable for me is Attack on Titan. I have been watching Attack on Titan since I was in 6th grade and it is to this day one of my all time favorite shows in general and I am planning on rewatching the entire series since it just ended. I think what makes Attack on Titan so interesting to me is how in season 1 we start off with just the plot that it is about killing these creatures called titans that just appeared one day outside of theses walls where humanity is and the goal is to kill them all. By the time that we get to season 4 it is such complex and in depth plot. This show has so many characters besides the main three that are so likable and each have an in-depth backstory of their own. Anytime we got a new season I would be so excited and even started reading the manga. This show is one of those with. such a unique individual plot of its own that I do not think that any other anime will ever top it for me. I am a casual anime enjoyer. I love watching animes and I have a list of a few I want to watch. I enjoy them and enjoy the animation and I even got interested in a career in animation because of Anime. I think Attack on Titans is the one show that cannot be beat.

I love how openly creative Minecraft is. I have been playing Minecraft since I was in elementary school and it is still to this day one of my favorite games. I love that you can build whatever your heart desires in this game. I have built quite a few things over the years like mansions, a few castles, a rocket, even a McDonalds. In my old xbox 360 I had a server of all kinds of different random things I wanted to build. This game can be used to build replicas of movie structures, real life buildings, and more. I love creating new things. I love making art so Minecraft is a type of a game where it is almost like making art in a way. I can build anything I want and I put my time and effort into it. I recently started building another city and I started building a castle on top of water. I have always loved video games but I get over them very quickly. I rarely ever get attached to a game but Minecraft is one of those games where I will probably never get sick of it. I love getting on it after school and building new things and even looking up reference photos of things to build. Minecraft is definitely a game that will probably never be outdated. I love this game and I love how much freewill and creativity we have as players.

I myself mainly love Netflix for its Korean shows. I have a long list of Korean shows that I have watched from Netflix and I always get excited when a new one comes out. I recently started about a month or two ago this brand new Korean drama that's a Netflix series called "Queen of Tears" and as someone who has a hard time getting into Shows I absolutely loved it. It is 16 episodes and it just recently ended. Queen of tears is about A married couple who have been married for 3 years and they have really bad communication and cannot stand each other anymore, The main characters names are Hyunwoo and Haein. Hyunwoo is the director of a company called Queens and his wife hae-in is the daughter of the owner of the Queens company. Haein tells Hyunwoo that she has been diagnosed with a rare brain tumor and she only has 3 months to live. This causes their marriage to completely take a turn. This show at first sounded boring to me and it felt kind of empty and dragged when I started it but by episode 4 It started building really well. There are so many important characters and storylines in this show, there are characters who seem unimportant but they end up having bad intentions or being antagonists as the show progresses. I think something that was also impactful about this show is that it is so different from the typical Korean shows I watch. The plot is no where near generic, it has action, plot twists, romance, and angst. This show is one of the only shows that has genuinely made me tear up. It gets more and more sad as you watch and every time Hyunwoo and Haein start fixing their relationship, something happens that ends up ruining their reconciliation. This show also gives the leads a massive character development, Hyunwoo goes from absolutely hating his wife to being willing to do anything for her to make sure she survives. Haein is very much blunt and rude in the beginning of the serious but ends up realizing that she was in the wrong and her pride was in the way. This is one of those shows where you really cannot pass on watching it. It looks like a simple Rom-com of a struggling Married couple but it has so much more depth and plot twists than the poster and synopsis gives off. If you want a show that makes you feel happy, angry, sad, and shocked in the course of just one episode, this is the kind of show I recommend. I am glad that I am seeing lot more people talk about it on social media. I definitely planning on rewatching it sometime soon.

I myself have had to deal and still do deal with Mental health issues. When covid hit I started high school online in 9th grade and had such a hard time keeping up. I had homework every single day for hours from morning to evening and even on weekends and barely passed. I feel like 10th and 11th grade were also extremely stressful. I always did not mind school but high school made me feel a sort of resentful to a lot of previous teachers and the environment as well. I had Concurrent Enrollment classes as well as AP classes and a lot of my teachers were harsh in some form. I had multiple teachers get angry at me for asking them about my grades and many teachers would force me out of comfort zone. I had to deal with a lot of pressure and anxiety during my entire high school experience. While they say it is a point in your life that is suppose to be some of your happiest, I always felt so drained from school to the point that I did not even wanna go anymore. I managed to be able to now have very few classes in my senior year and all of my Classes are Distance Education so I can complete a lot of my generals for college. I think I am mentally in a lot better of state than I was in all of my years in high school. I managed to start working out and be a lot more organized with my life. I managed to start getting rid of some of my old stress relief habits like binge eating and nail biting. I definitely think that how mentally drained I was impacted me in a way as a person. I look back and think about how I never want to be in that position again. I sort of have this worry towards heavy homework. I feel like having multiple classes with loads of homework that will take me hours to do will take me back to how I was before. I do not really do well at all under too much pressure. I can get my homework and work done on time when it is a reasonable amount, However a lot of my experience has been that majority of my teachers give me loads of homework and strict deadlines and expect me to follow them without the consideration of my life out of the classroom. I am someone who definitely disagrees with how the school system operates because of my experience and I am very considerate of a lot of people in school because of my own experience before. I would say mentally I am a lot better, and I hope to be able to have a positive mindset and to thrive in my future career and to never be in that same position again.

I've been drawing ever since I was a toddler. My mom told me a story about how I used to draw people and animals on the walls and how it took forever to get the ink off the walls. I would always make small drawings all over my notebooks whenever I was bored during my years in elementary school. During my free time, I would always take pieces of paper and look up photos online of different characters I wanted to draw and I would draw them. Over the years I have always loved to draw, In middle school I took Art 1. I started finding my love for art during Art 1 since I did multiple different projects and worked with materials like paint, oil pastels, and just simple colored pencils, and just sketching with a pencil. I realized that I really liked to draw and specifically I liked to sketch with just a piece of paper, a pencil, and an eraser. I started drawing a lot more during this time but I didn't exactly think of it as a career option yet. I had a lot of fun doing different art projects during a commercial Arts 1 class I took in my Sophmore year. I did multiple projects in that class and at this point, It was my favorite class and I genuinely enjoyed the projects we were assigned to do. I eventually bought myself an iPad with an Apple pencil to start learning about digital art and I have drawn a few things on there, I have drawn Moon Knight, Mandalorian, Darth Revan, Powerpuff Girl, Boba Fett, etc. Drawing is currently one of my main passions and hobbies that I love. I became interested in pursuing a career in the arts when I met with my counselor as well as with a TRIO advisor to help me figure out a few good career path options for me. I took a careers quiz and it said I was mostly Artistic and it offered me a few options for a career in that category. I decided to try to learn more about a career in Animation. I have always loved Animation but have never thought of it as a Career option for myself. I have watched shows like Star Wars the Clone Wars, Rebels, Arcane, Attack on Titan, etc. and I always thought to myself how incredible it was that they could make the characters do all those movements during battles and combat scenes just by drawing it or using 3D rendering. I also was interested in learning about Video Game Animation. I play Halo, Jedi: Survivor, Minecraft, Call of Duty, and a few other video games as well. I have always been interested in how the graphics are made and the process of making it. I decided that I wanted to get a Degree in the Science of Video games with an Emphasis or Minor On Animation. After watching Animated Story mode scenes and graphics of Video games and the love I have for Playing Video games I realized that I want to pursue a Career in it while learning how to do Animation. I plan on Helping create Video games by helping with the Animation aspect of it. My dream is to be able to be part of creating A Star Wars video game. I want to pursue a career in these fields and I want to be able to do something I have wanted to do for quite some time now and something I have always loved since I was a kid.