Electrodes strapped to my skull, doctors murmurs behind me, I synchronized my heartbeat with the tapping of my cerulean-colored pencil. As my parents discussed the proper treatment plans for my severe concussion, I drew pages of eyes and sunflowers, unconcerned. Being diagnosed with brain damage was never something you prepare for as a seven-year-old, so instead of worrying about it, you draw pictures and learn to paint. I spent the entire year of school that I missed creating a world in which I was healthy, my parents let me eat ice cream for dinner, and I only had to go to school when I wanted to. I generated inventions and ideas that are only plausible in a child's mind, but they were just that- the pictures of my mind. Upon returning to school, I struggled, but art was still my escape from the perceived intensity of elementary and then middle school. Upon reaching high school, I felt pressured to be "good" at art or use my love for creating to create a job. My dream is to teach people that there is no need to be "good" at art. What is the magic of the destination without the journey? As the president of the National Art Honor Society and a teacher at a painting studio, I learned the value of "devaluing" art. Students that experience critiques and exhibits often felt deflated by the end of our meetings, but when I implemented quick sketch days and painting lessons into the curriculum, students became mesmerized by the practice. When we compare art it loses its value. By forcing people to view the practice instead of the product, it becomes much more enjoyable, even therapeutic. By advocating for art education, I release the pressure that students face as creators. I encourage my students to enjoy innovation and design as I once did, just without the electrodes. Art is a world for exploration and discovery that should not be limited by rules and constraints. Borderless art education stimulates creativity, communication skills, and self-awareness as they learn to be more observant of the world around them. In my future classroom, with walls lined with student work and painted canvases, I will force my students to follow one rule: create the world in which you wish you lived.

1. How can Art and STEM make the world a better place together? Everyone got off the school bus at the landfill with their hands clasped to their noses or hoodies pulled over their faces. My classmates and I stood at the apex of the hill and gazed over the valley of garbage. We watched bulldozers mow aimlessly through the ocean of milk cartons, mattresses, and most prevalently: food. Food waste is the most critical component to reversing climate change and the central problem that plagues my mind. By utilizing the interdisciplinary opportunities of STEAM, I will combine my afflictions with food waste and design to help prevent climate change. By teaching art principles as a painting instructor at work and designing composting bins for my school as environmental club president, I learned how to transform the world using a combination of tools and ideologies. Instead of choosing a singular perspective, STEAM experts explore a dissection of all of the inclinations of problems and conceive strategic, creative methods to institute change. Instead of approaching a problem from a singular angle, STEAM leaders can use both creativity and logic to generate and design concepts that combat or minimize international issues. By reimagining current tools and processes, we can generate new ideas that will shape the future of the nation, let alone the world. Leonardo Da Vinci represents the spirit of the STEAM principles, as he exemplifies new concepts and inventions while scientifically observing the laws of the universe. His ideas created some of the lasting dogmas and creations implemented today such as the helicopter, the scuba suit, and parachute. Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man inspired artists for centuries to focus on the shapes of the human form and scientists to study anatomical structures and the human body. Leonardo Da Vinci made people question the universe, while also creating devices of change. Innovators, engineers, and mathematicians of the future reimagine the concepts of Leonardo and past inventors to design new ideas to stimulate inquisition and change in our society. I embody Da Vinci each day as I face the problems of tomorrow. 2. Tell us a little about who you are and why you wish to pursue a college education? I was born in Pittsburgh, Pensavlina to a family of five, between two boys as the only girl. That unique family dynamic generated an adaptable, creative, and determined little girl who grew up into a young adult who is driven to improve herself and the world around her. My mother jokes I was born with a crayon, creating art and "Sun in the corner" landscapes practically out of the womb. Driven by my creative personality and passion for the arts, I dedicated all of my free time to challenging art projects and leadership positions with the National Art Honor Society. But after taking challenging art courses and pushing myself at a young age, my passion for art school began to deplete. My once dream of pursuing art forever crashed around me in a fluorescent cloud of teen angst and existentialism. My once dream is gone. But the challenging course work presented a new challenge, AP Environmental Science. I began to notice how despite my exhaustion in art, I could design and conquer world problems using my art, but not draining myself. I fell in love with solving problems using my metaphorical crayons, messy and waxy- but unique and definitive. Once I began to win design competitions and improve my test scores, I knew that my once passion for just the arts had transformed into a passion for solving puzzles using my crayons. In college, I want to continue this pattern of creative problem solving as an environmental scientist and eventually evolve into an educator. I hope to follow in the footsteps of the teachers that inspired me and changed my life. They challenged my beliefs and put my passions to the test, I look forward to doing that with my students as I help them conquer the hurdles of their life- either with or without crayons