One of the key technologies that inspired me to choose my degree at Oklahoma State University is animatronics. Animatronics are essentially mechatronic puppets controlled by computer programs, designed to move smoothly and lifelike, often mimicking human motions. A major source of my inspiration was the Ursula animatronic in the Little Mermaid ride at Disneyland. Seeing how seamlessly she moved, almost as if she had come straight out of the movie, was mesmerizing. That experience sparked my passion for understanding the world of Disney's creative process and that fueled my dream of becoming an Imagineer (an employee of Walt Disney Imagineering who designs and builds Disney theme parks, resorts, and attractions), dedicated to bringing magic to people just as Walt Disney did with his engineers when he opened the parks in the USA and Europe. With advancements in engineering and technology becoming more available in college, I am motivated to contribute as a young woman in the male-dominated STEM field to prove that women can do anything they put their minds to. My goal is not only to excel but also to inspire other young women to pursue careers in technology like me. When I graduate, I hope to encourage incoming freshmen, showing them the value of perseverance and reminding them of the trailblazing women of WWII who fought for their rights and made significant contributions. By proving that women, too, can excel in robotics and innovation, we can pave the way for a more inclusive and empowered future in technology.

As a freshman pursuing a STEAM degree in Engineering, I've been warned that the academic challenges will only become more intense over the next four years. Already, I find myself navigating classes where I either have little understanding of the material or feel lucky just to scrape by with a passing grade. This struggle isn't unique to me or even just to engineering students — academic pressure affects everyone as we strive to meet the requirement of earning a C or higher to advance in our courses. One of the biggest obstacles we face is the lack of accessible academic support. Finding tutors or guidance for engineering assignments is challenging, and students often have no choice but to rely solely on their professors' office hours. However, these office hours frequently conflict with other classes, forcing students to resort to sending emails and waiting for responses that often don't fully resolve their questions or confusion. Academic pressure is a widespread issue affecting students at all educational levels, with significant consequences for mental health and academic performance. Studies show that approximately 61% of college students experience anxiety related to academic demands, according to the American College Health Association. Moreover, a survey by the National College Health Assessment found that nearly 45% of students reported feeling overwhelmed by academic responsibilities. High levels of stress are not only linked to declines in grades but also increased rates of depression, with 30% of students seeking mental health counseling citing academic concerns as a contributing factor. In competitive fields such as engineering and STEM disciplines, the pressure is even more intense due to challenging coursework and limited access to effective tutoring and academic support. Research suggests that students facing chronic academic stress are more likely to experience burnout, leading to a decline in motivation and cognitive performance. Addressing academic pressure through peer mentorship programs, study groups, and expanded tutoring resources has proven to be an effective strategy for alleviating this growing concern. Given that we are living in the 21st century, it’s surprising that more effective and accessible solutions for academic support haven't been widely implemented. Recognizing this need, I recently joined the Cowboy Mechatronics and Robotics Association, which aims to build a network for engineering students to connect, collaborate, and support one another academically. Our goal is to foster study groups and create mentorship opportunities where juniors and seniors help freshmen and sophomores tackle foundational courses. Whether it's programming, SolidWorks CAD, or other key subjects, having upperclassmen guide underclassmen will significantly reduce the academic strain on undergraduate students. Looking ahead, we plan to collaborate with the LASSO Center at OSU to expand tutoring resources for STEM fields. By increasing the availability of knowledgeable tutors and creating more academic support opportunities, we aim to cultivate a stronger, more supportive learning environment for engineering students and beyond.

As an 18-year-old sophomore in college, I have thought long and hard about what degree I choose to educate myself in. Mechatronics and Robotics are not something you hear daily as someone selecting that as their degree, especially in Oklahoma. At Oklahoma State University, they created this degree for people like me who want to make an impact in the world with the use of robots. I chose this degree not to just impact the world with robots, but to impact the Disney universe lovers of the world by designing the next biggest, coolest animatronic to use in Disney Parks and Disney Movies. This degree wasn't my first choice, growing up I started dreaming of becoming a hip-hop dancer, then a geologist from Jurassic Park, to now becoming a robotic engineer. I don't recall how I changed from a dancer to a scientist but all I know is that my main influencer was my mother, a science teacher who has taught for over 20 years. Too many memories I could name that I would say were my spark to becoming who I am in college right now. But what I can say is how I plan to use my degree to make a positive impact on Disney viewers around the world. Over the decades, Walt Disney's inspiration has touched many Imagineers ( a person who devises and implements a new or highly imaginative concept or technology, in particular, one who devises the attractions in Walt Disney theme parks.) today in many ways. Disney illustrators, architects, engineers, lighting designers, show writers and graphic designers have all fallen in love with Disney just like how I did when I was a little girl. When I reached high school, I started diving deeper into what type of engineer I wanted to be in this world. I was a hands-on type of girl who liked to put pieces together to create something new and interesting. mechanical engineering was my top choice for a while, then two years later Oklahoma State University released a new type of engineering degree, Mechatronics and Robotics. Now what are Mechatronics and Robotics? Just take mechanical and robotics and put them together then BOOM! Mechatronics and Robotics. Why I chose to dream to work at Disney is because it was my childhood growing up, wouldn't you want to help add on to your childhood for the next generation? What I experienced as a child from the magical movies that Disney produced, I want the next generation to enjoy the way I did. No child should ever go without a magical childhood experience. And there was my spark, my beginning of where I feel I belong. When I earn my degree at OSU, I plan to make my impact on the world by bringing magic to life for the children of tomorrow. That sounds like a difficult task to do but was it impossible for Indiana Jones to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis did? Was it impossible for Walt Disney to preserve and create a lasting legacy in his entertainment industry? No, they both did not give up on their mission, so neither will I. Now I know that it will take me about 4 years to complete my journey but I know in the end this will be worth it.

"When pretty isn't pretty enough, what do you do?" I like to first start off how this lyric resonates with my teenage experience. I feel it first started in high school when I moved schools to further develop my education from learning in a small town rural school to adapting to a big city school. As I was beginning my experience, I became to notice that girls had so much makeup on and they were wearing expensive perfume that made the boys fall for them. I on the other hand was not big on makeup nor did I smell good enough to have boys like me either. This experience declined in not a good way because I developed a bad habit of drowning in sadness of looking at pretty people on social media as well, flexing off their pretty boyfriends and all of their compliments that they were receiving about how beautiful they looked. So over the years, I practiced and practiced on putting on makeup and became more confident in making friends. But in the end, I feel that something was missing from my experience. This thing that I was missing was the enjoyment of being pretty. Sure, when I look at the pictures of how pretty I looked after putting on pounds of makeup on my face and taking over two hours in the bathroom getting ready for prom that I had no date with my senior year. But I never felt fulfilled in the end. I feel that in my generation, I am not the only one in this position. In adolescence, you start to put on a little bit more here in there because that is what the upperclassmen are doing so you think that you should do the same and you hope to end up like them too. But as I stated in my paragraph above, I feel that how hard we try to make ourselves look prettier, we feel inside like we put on a mask to hide our insecurities in our life to show others that we are all that and we have it all together yet we don't. Some challenges that result from this lyric and reflects to the teenage years is that having pressure to maintain that prettiness that you developed, consequences can happen from partying and dating as considered as a pretty person can result in bad grades and college completion. The list goes on but those are the top two that I see in this world. Hopefully, this view can change one day because we should not do so much to make us feel that pretty to make us fit in to this messed up, confusing society.

I feel that the play "Wicked" does not tell the story of how a villain was born, I find that this play shows how two different people with different interests can become best friends in the end. When I first saw Wicked in Tulsa, Oklahoma when I was 12 years old with my mother, I was in love with the production that the creator Winnie Holzman put together. This play shows how my best friend Madison and I became friends 5 years ago. I was a new student at Will Rogers High School and I was trying to make friends but it was difficult because nobody wanted to be friends with a small town rural girl. When I was in middle school I was part of the music class so I joined the marching band here hoping to maybe find a friend in the community. Madison was already a sophomore in the band playing the snare drum and she was the life of the party. I represent Elphaba in this story because she was the girl who was new and quiet and Madison was Glinda in this story because she was the girl who was the person who took a chance on me and eventually we became best friends. I am blessed to have a friend like Madison in my life, she has been my top supporter/friend who I can be myself around with. I hope that our friendship lasts as long as possible. So when the move Wicked comes out on opening night on November 22, we plan to go together and enjoy our story on the screen.

One technology that has inspired me to choose my degree at Oklahoma State University is animatronics. Animatronics are like a mechatronic type puppet that is controlled by a computer program that is moved smoothly and clearly, that is almost human like. A great example that inspired me is the Ursula animatronic in the Little Mermaid ride in Disney Land. The moment I saw how she performed in the ride with how well she moved human-like and I felt like she came right out of the movie. From that day on, I have made it to my passion to understand Disney itself and what I need to do during my time in college to become an Imagineer and bring magic to the people just like how Walt Disney did with his engineers when he was opening the parks. With the technology being introduced into the engineering fields in college, I know that STEM girls like me want to add to the women population in the STEM field because technology is a male-dominated field and is not popular in the women's field. I feel that when I graduate, I hope to inspire incoming freshman women in the technology world influence them to keep going, and remind them how the women in WWII did not give up on having women's rights in the U.S. Overall, influencing technology into women will make the women's world a bigger and better place for us by proving that we women too can be smart and build robots.

From the 1989 (Taylor's Version) album, I would have to say that "Shake It Off" is a song for my year so far. As an incoming college freshman for the 2024 fall semester at Oklahoma State University, a new setting that I am still trying to adapt myself to has had an impact on my life (not in a good way). I've been told that freshman year is the hardest because you will be experiencing independence, managing responsibility, and social pressure when making friends in a school of 25,000 students, and financial issues. All of these experiences so far have worsened my anxiety and made me have doubts about whether or not I should continue this journey. But as the great Taylor Swift has said in her song, I just need to SHAKE IT OFF! Taylor Swift's music has been such an influence on me, I have been there since her country music era listening to "Our Song" on repeat with my mother since the age of 5. When Taylor first started playing at small events, I assumed that she had doubts about whether she was going to make it into the big music world. What I admire about Taylor is that she did not give up on her dream, she got stopped in her tracks along the way but she got back up and made it to where she is today. I dream of having Taylor's ambitions to get me through my next 4 years in college. I want to keep myself going without having doubts about giving up and looking at other options, I want to believe in myself that I can do this just like Taylor does in her music career. Another song that I would add to my soundtrack for the year is "Welcome to New York". The song is about moving to a new place and how it can impact your life. I would rename this song as "Welcome to OK State" for my soundtrack. As I stated in my previous paragraph stating how I am an incoming college freshman, I am experiencing a new setting/atmosphere as things start to change all around me like being more independent and learning to have fun/being active in my community. During my next four years here at my college, I hope to expand myself personally and physically in my new setting by trying new things and to help me start my dream career by working as an Imagineer at Walt Disney World Studios.

I have had anxiety since I was in my sophomore year in high school. I developed it from returning to in-person school and I was also placed in a new setting of students for my high school years. Before then, I was in a class of 30 students for my graduating class, then once I moved to my new school there were over 1,000. It was a whole new experience for me. Since then being in a new setting with academics, hobbies, and growth, I have built this anxiety inside of me where it has affected my testing skills, my social anxiety when trying to put myself out there and make new friends, and also doubting myself when I need the push to put myself together and know that I am going to be okay. When I first noticed that I had anxiety in my life my parents did not believe me and claimed that it was inside my head and I was just trying to fit in with people by applying this mental illness to my life. I say that anxiety goes through all of us at one point in our lives, since then my parents have now accepted my anxiety and have been a support system for when I need a hand to reach out for when I am at my lowest. Beginning my journey at Oklahoma State University by becoming a Mechatronics and Robotics engineer, I want to show that I can pursue my dream by putting my mind to it. I am grateful to receive all of the mental health support that my college has to provide for me as an incoming freshman. I have joined organizations on campus to help me be part of my community by planning events, and to meet people like me to where this will help me practice my social anxiety. My dream is to be an Imagineer at Walt Disney World Studios. I can not achieve that dream by sitting in my darkness and not taking action, I need to start my journey by making this come true. I have grown up with Disney movies, they have been my comfort for when I need a break from life to where I want to jump into a new setting where I feel I have nothing to worry about in life. You could say that Disney movies were my therapist. I grew up with Disney in my childhood, I feel that I have a deep connection with Disney I want to work for this corporation and help make people like me have a place to come to when we need a break from the world and be with people like us. So in conclusion, I am still fighting this mental issue but I know that I will get through this.