Growing up, I watched shows with heroes that I looked up to—heroes like T’challa, Spider-man, and Goku. While I liked Peter Parker’s web-slinging and Goku’s power-ups during his fights, T’challa resonated with me the most. I was an African child interested in technology, and T’challa was the only mainstream African character who used his natural ability and technology for the greater good. But, much like the superheroes, I aspired to be, I had to overcome some obstacles first. Neither of my parents went to college nor had the ability to finance STEM programs for me. So, I did the next best thing and joined my elementary school’s robotics team. Even though I participated in robotics, it would soon not be enough. During middle school, I started to receive offers to go to highly selective summer STEM programs. I was excited, but my parents could not afford to pay for the programs as my parents had to take care of our extended family in Ghana. I aimlessly went through my summer with nothing to do. With nothing to feed my hunger to do something more with STEM, I began to feel like I was in an intellectual prison. Growing up in South Fulton has been hard on my intellectual development, especially due to the lack of resources available in my community. I felt frustrated, but I decided to change how I felt by taking action when I started high school. I started a robotics team after hearing there was not one available. I thought it would be easy because of all the stories you hear about professionals giving back to their communities or always being eager to help young people with their dreams. I was thinking, “I’m just a kid and nobody will actually take me seriously.” But things changed for me when I visited Georgia Tech and met my future mentor, Dr. Dennis Yancey. Dr. Yancey approached me and asked what I wanted to do, and he offered to help me. In my life, I have never met another person who looked like me achieving the things he has done-- graduating from Ivy League STEM schools and starting his own technology company with a global presence. After meeting Dr.Yancey, my progress with rebuilding Robotics improved. I was able to attend STEM programs and events that challenged me. I realize why I have been struggling with STEM for so long. I never had someone to properly guide me. While I admired T’challa when I was little, I look up to Dr. Yancey now. I want to lead in my community. I want to be a role model and inspiration to whoever is watching me. I fought to bring improvements to Creekside through STEM, hoping to help students with similar aspirations. I realized I am not aspiring to build the Iron Man suit like Tony Stark. Instead, I want to strive to become a real-life Black Panther to bring hope to the African diaspora, just like Dr. Yancey.

Growing up, I watched shows with heroes that I looked up to—heroes like T’challa, Spider-man, and Goku. While I liked Peter Parker’s web-slinging and Goku’s power-ups during his fights, T’challa resonated with me the most. I was an African child interested in technology, and T’challa was the only mainstream African character who used his natural ability and technology for the greater good. But, much like the superheroes I aspired to be, I had to overcome some obstacles first. Neither of my parents went to college nor had the ability to finance STEM programs for me. So, I did the next best thing and joined my elementary school’s robotics team. Even though I participated in robotics, it would soon not be enough. During middle school, I started to receive offers to go to highly selective summer STEM programs. I was excited, but my parents could not afford to pay for the programs as my parents had to take care of our extended family in Ghana. I aimlessly went through my summer with nothing to do. With nothing to feed my hunger to do something more with STEM, I began to feel like I was in an intellectual prison. Growing up in South Fulton has been hard on my intellectual development, especially due to the lack of resources available in my community. I felt frustrated, but I decided to change how I felt by taking action when I started high school. I started a robotics team after hearing there was not one available. I thought it would be easy because of all the stories you hear about professionals giving back to their communities or always being eager to help young people with their dreams. I was thinking, “I’m just a kid and nobody will actually take me seriously.” But things changed for me when I visited Georgia Tech and met my future mentor, Dr. Dennis Yancey. Dr. Yancey approached me and asked what I wanted to do, and he offered to help me. In my life, I have never met another person who looked like me achieving the things he has done-- graduating from Ivy League STEM schools and starting his own technology company with a global presence. After meeting Dr.Yancey, my progress with rebuilding Robotics improved. I was able to attend STEM programs and events that challenged me. I realize why I have been struggling with STEM for so long. I never had someone to properly guide me. While I admired T’challa when I was little, I look up to Dr. Yancey now. I want to lead in my community. I want to be a role model and inspiration to whoever is watching me. I fought to bring improvements to Creekside through STEM, hoping to help students with similar aspirations. I realized I am not aspiring to build the Iron Man suit like Tony Stark. Instead I want to strive to become a real life Black Panther to bring hope to the African-diaspora, just as Dr. Yancey.

Growing up, I watched shows with heroes that I looked up to—heroes like T’challa, Spider-man, and Goku. While I liked Peter Parker’s web-slinging and Goku’s power-ups during his fights, T’challa resonated with me the most. I was an African child interested in technology, and T’challa was the only mainstream African character who used his natural ability and technology for the greater good. But, much like the superheroes I aspired to be, I had to overcome some obstacles first. Neither of my parents went to college nor had the ability to finance STEM programs for me. So, I did the next best thing and joined my elementary school’s robotics team. Even though I participated in robotics, it would soon not be enough. During middle school, I started to receive offers to go to highly selective summer STEM programs. I was excited, but my parents could not afford to pay for the programs as my parents had to take care of our extended family in Ghana. I aimlessly went through my summer with nothing to do. With nothing to feed my hunger to do something more with STEM, I began to feel like I was in an intellectual prison. Growing up in South Fulton has been hard on my intellectual development, especially due to the lack of resources available in my community. I felt frustrated, but I decided to change how I felt by taking action when I started high school. I started a robotics team after hearing there was not one available. I thought it would be easy because of all the stories you hear about professionals giving back to their communities or always being eager to help young people with their dreams. I was thinking, “I’m just a kid and nobody will actually take me seriously.” But things changed for me when I visited Georgia Tech and met my future mentor, Dr. Dennis Yancey. Dr. Yancey approached me and asked what I wanted to do, and he offered to help me. In my life, I have never met another person who looked like me achieving the things he has done-- graduating from Ivy League STEM schools and starting his own technology company with a global presence. After meeting Dr.Yancey, my progress with rebuilding Robotics improved. I was able to attend STEM programs and events that challenged me. I realize why I have been struggling with STEM for so long. I never had someone to properly guide me. While I admired T’challa when I was little, I look up to Dr. Yancey now. I want to lead in my community. I want to be a role model and inspiration to whoever is watching me. I fought to bring improvements to Creekside through STEM, hoping to help students with similar aspirations. I realized I am not aspiring to build the Iron Man suit like Tony Stark. Instead I want to strive to become a real life Black Panther to bring hope to the African-diaspora, just as Dr. Yancey.

From a young age, I understood my family’s financial struggles. I realized it was real when I never saw presents under the Christmas tree. I was somewhat aware of how my parents lived back in Ghana when I was young, so I heeded their advice about what I needed to do for my life. Neither of my parents attended college, so they have always struggled to support me and my brothers. Because neither of my parents went to college, they could only get a small pool of jobs to support me and my brothers. My dad never finished college as he had to take care of my grandmother, and my mom was only able to go to middle school since she was the second oldest and the oldest girl in her family of 8 in Ghana. So when they came to the US, my dad supported us, and my mom later got certified as a nursing assistant. However, my mom suffers from lupus, which is an autoimmune disease that attacks your joints, which is very common in women of color. My mom is only certified to work in nursing homes, so she does hospice care. Because her job is labor-intensive, her lupus causes severe pain in the joints in her hands to the point where they swell up. She also has asthma, so she is always on medication for her condition. My younger brothers were both born premature and identify as special needs children, and my youngest brother was born with heart complications. There have been times where his health has declined because of his heart issues on top of having a weak immune system as a premature child. My parents could not afford to pay for any tutoring services or to send me to expensive STEM camps, but I learned that grit can overcome even the worst circumstances. I got the same experience as my peers through self-studying, forming study groups, and looking online for free STEM programs that are offered for students my age. I worked hard to be at the top of my class, get good grades, and put myself in a position to succeed in life and at school. As a result, I became committed to setting myself up to become successful. I am working to become more financially literate to break the poverty cycle with my education. I have decided to major in Computer Science (CS) at Georgia Tech, whose program is ranked in the top ten nationally. I am interested in pursuing Intelligence and Media concentrations. I am also intrigued by using Psychology as a discipline to supplement my studies in Computer Science, as it would improve my purview of the user experience while making applications. By studying these fields, I will create revolutionary apps and concepts that the world has yet to know. I am also interested in minoring in Robotics. I want to develop a background in A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) and automation for future business projects. I believe my area of study will help me become a better tech entrepreneur and inventor, as it will align with my future projects. My ultimate goal is to start an app development company. I plan on launching my first company with an app that I made during my sophomore year, my first product. I based my app concept around improving virtual education since I was taking Algebra II online. I was able to absorb the concepts, but I thought I could make learning online more engaging and fun like in a normal classroom. I want to utilize things such as A. I to enhance the user experience for online students. However, I expect that starting my company will take some time. I plan to gain experience from doing CS internships with some heavy hitters in the tech world like Google, Apple, or Amazon. While I’m at these companies, I want to learn their processes and products, their brainstorming processes, their management systems, and other development skills critical for a tech company. I also want to pursue doing research with A. I. to gain experience in researching new technology.

From a young age, I understood my family’s financial struggles. I realized it was real when I never saw presents under the Christmas tree. I was somewhat aware of how my parents lived back in Ghana when I was young, so I heeded their advice about what I needed to do for my life. Neither of my parents attended college, so they have always struggled to support me and my brothers. Because neither of my parents went to college, they could only get a small pool of jobs to support me and my brothers. My dad never finished college as he had to take care of my grandmother, and my mom was only able to go to middle school since she was the second oldest and the oldest girl in her family of 8 in Ghana. So when they came to the US, my dad supported us, and my mom later got certified as a nursing assistant. However, my mom suffers from lupus, which is an autoimmune disease that attacks your joints, which is very common in women of color. My mom is only certified to work in nursing homes, so she does hospice care. Because her job is labor-intensive, her lupus causes severe pain in the joints in her hands to the point where they swell up. She also has asthma, so she is always on medication for her condition. My younger brothers were both born premature and identify as special needs children, and my youngest brother was born with heart complications. There have been times where his health has declined because of his heart issues on top of having a weak immune system as a premature child. My parents could not afford to pay for any tutoring services or to send me to expensive STEM camps, but I learned that grit can overcome even the worst circumstances. I got the same experience as my peers through self-studying, forming study groups, and looking online for free STEM programs that are offered for students my age. I worked hard to be at the top of my class, get good grades, and put myself in a position to succeed in life and at school. As a result, I became committed to setting myself up to become successful. I am working to become more financially literate to break the poverty cycle with my education. I have decided to major in Computer Science (CS) at Georgia Tech, whose program is ranked in the top ten nationally. I am interested in pursuing Intelligence and Media concentrations. I am also intrigued by using Psychology as a discipline to supplement my studies in Computer Science, as it would improve my purview of the user experience while making applications. By studying these fields, I will create revolutionary apps and concepts that the world has yet to know. I am also interested in minoring in Robotics. I want to develop a background in A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) and automation for future business projects. I believe my area of study will help me become a better tech entrepreneur and inventor, as it will align with my future projects. My ultimate goal is to start an app development company. I plan on launching my first company with an app that I made during my sophomore year, my first product. I based my app concept around improving virtual education since I was taking Algebra II online. I was able to absorb the concepts, but I thought I could make learning online more engaging and fun like in a normal classroom. I want to utilize things such as A. I to enhance the user experience for online students. However, I expect that starting my company will take some time. I plan to gain experience from doing CS internships with some heavy hitters in the tech world like Google, Apple, or Amazon. While I’m at these companies, I want to learn their processes and products, their brainstorming processes, their management systems, and other development skills critical for a tech company. I also want to pursue doing research with A. I. to gain experience in researching new technology.

Growing up, I watched shows with heroes that I looked up to—heroes like T’challa, Spider-man, and Goku. While I liked Peter Parker’s web-slinging and Goku’s power-ups during his fights, T’challa resonated with me the most. I was an African child interested in technology, and T’challa was the only mainstream African character who used his natural ability and technology for the greater good. But, much like the superheroes, I aspired to be, I had to overcome some obstacles first. Neither of my parents went to college nor had the ability to finance STEM programs for me. So, I did the next best thing and joined my elementary school’s robotics team. Even though I participated in robotics, it would soon not be enough. During middle school, I started to receive offers to go to highly selective summer STEM programs. I was excited, but my parents could not afford to pay for the programs as my parents had to take care of our extended family in Ghana. I aimlessly went through my summer with nothing to do. With nothing to feed my hunger to do something more with STEM, I began to feel like I was in an intellectual prison. Growing up in South Fulton has been hard on my intellectual development, especially due to the lack of resources available in my community. I felt frustrated, but I decided to change how I felt by taking action when I started high school. I started a robotics team after hearing there was not one available. I thought it would be easy because of all the stories you hear about professionals giving back to their communities or always being eager to help young people with their dreams. I was thinking, “I’m just a kid and nobody will actually take me seriously.” But things changed for me when I visited Georgia Tech and met my future mentor, Dr. Dennis Yancey. Dr. Yancey approached me and asked what I wanted to do, and he offered to help me. In my life, I have never met another person who looked like me achieving the things he has done-- graduating from Ivy League STEM schools and starting his own technology company with a global presence. After meeting Dr.Yancey, my progress with rebuilding Robotics improved. I was able to attend STEM programs and events that challenged me. I realize why I have been struggling with STEM for so long. I never had someone to properly guide me. While I admired T’challa when I was little, I look up to Dr. Yancey now. I want to lead in my community. I want to be a role model and inspiration to whoever is watching me. I fought to bring improvements to Creekside through STEM, hoping to help students with similar aspirations. I realized I am not aspiring to build the Iron Man suit like Tony Stark. Instead, I want to strive to become a real-life Black Panther to bring hope to the African-diaspora, just as Dr. Yancey.

Growing up, I watched shows with heroes that I looked up to—heroes like T’challa, Spider-man, and Goku. While I liked Peter Parker’s web-slinging and Goku’s power-ups during his fights, T’challa resonated with me the most. I was an African child interested in technology, and T’challa was the only mainstream African character who used his natural ability and technology for the greater good. But, much like the superheroes I aspired to be, I had to overcome some obstacles first. Neither of my parents went to college nor had the ability to finance STEM programs for me. So, I did the next best thing and joined my elementary school’s robotics team. Even though I participated in robotics, it would soon not be enough. During middle school, I started to receive offers to go to highly selective summer STEM programs. I was excited, but my parents could not afford to pay for the programs as my parents had to take care of our extended family in Ghana. I aimlessly went through my summer with nothing to do. With nothing to feed my hunger to do something more with STEM, I began to feel like I was in an intellectual prison. Growing up in South Fulton has been hard on my intellectual development, especially due to the lack of resources available in my community. I felt frustrated, but I decided to change how I felt by taking action when I started high school. I started a robotics team after hearing there was not one available. I thought it would be easy because of all the stories you hear about professionals giving back to their communities or always being eager to help young people with their dreams. I was thinking, “I’m just a kid and nobody will actually take me seriously.” But things changed for me when I visited Georgia Tech and met my future mentor, Dr. Dennis Yancey. Dr. Yancey approached me and asked what I wanted to do, and he offered to help me. In my life, I have never met another person who looked like me achieving the things he has done-- graduating from Ivy League STEM schools and starting his own technology company with a global presence. After meeting Dr.Yancey, my progress with rebuilding Robotics improved. I was able to attend STEM programs and events that challenged me. I realize why I have been struggling with STEM for so long. I never had someone to properly guide me. While I admired T’challa when I was little, I look up to Dr. Yancey now. I want to lead in my community. I want to be a role model and inspiration to whoever is watching me. I fought to bring improvements to Creekside through STEM, hoping to help students with similar aspirations. I realized I am not aspiring to build the Iron Man suit like Tony Stark. Instead I want to strive to become a real life Black Panther to bring hope to the African-diaspora, just as Dr. Yancey.

Growing up, I watched shows with heroes that I looked up to—heroes like T’challa, Spider-man, and Goku. While I liked Peter Parker’s web-slinging and Goku’s power-ups during his fights, T’challa resonated with me the most. I was an African child interested in technology, and T’challa was the only mainstream African character who used his natural ability and technology for the greater good. But, much like the superheroes I aspired to be, I had to overcome some obstacles first. Neither of my parents went to college nor had the ability to finance any STEM programs for me. So, I did the next best thing and joined my elementary school’s robotics team. The team rejected me in 3rd grade, which devastated me. It was something I had been eager to try. I ended up being accepted in 4th and 5th grade, which were my elementary school highlights. During my time on the team, I would build my first robot, which was exciting since I had never coded or designed a robot before. When I was done with a building, I found it mesmerizing to see my robot turning right and left, and grabbing a small blue ball just as I programmed it to do. Even though I participated in robotics, it would soon not be enough. I joined robotics in 4th grade, and have participated every year since, yet I have never participated in any competitions for Robotics. I joined some STEM activities in school, but that did not sustain me. During middle school, I started to receive offers to go to highly selective STEM programs over the summer. I was so excited, but my parents could not afford to pay for the programs as my parents had to take care of our extended family in Ghana. Sometimes my parents had to leave my siblings and me with relatives to attend to family matters in Ghana. During these times in the summer, I would feel empty as I would aimlessly go through my summer with nothing to do. With nothing to feed my hunger to do something more with STEM, I began to feel like I was in an intellectual prison. As robotics went stale, my summers went stale, and there was not anything I could do because I had no money, no local resources or programs, and no connections. Growing up in a marginalized area of South Fulton has been hard on my intellectual development, especially due to the lack of resources available in my community to continue my passions outside of school. I felt frustrated about everything in my life and wanted to change everything, but I understood that most things were out of my control. However, I decided to change how I felt by taking more action when I started high school. I decided to start a robotics team after hearing there was not one available. I found the old sponsor, Mr. Hill, and I communicated that we needed to restructure STEM at Creekside. I stayed after school until 6:00 pm sending proposals, going to meetings, creating and researching STEM activities, and contacting potential professionals to help us with STEM. I had so many people criticize my effort, thinking I was wasting my time saying, “Why are you staying after school so late?” I started to ask myself, “why am I staying after school so late?” Things were tough. I had a lot of people ghost me. In the beginning, I thought it would be easy because of all the stories you hear about different professionals giving back to their communities or always being eager to help young people with their dreams. I was so close to giving up. I was thinking, “I’m just a kid and nobody would actually take me seriously.” Things changed for me when I visited Georgia Tech and met my future mentor, Dr. Dennis Yancey. Dr. Yancey came up to me and my group of friends and just talked to us about what we wanted to do, and he offered to help us with reaching our dreams. So far in my life, I have never met another person who looked like me achieving the things he has done--like graduating from Ivy League STEM schools and starting his own technology company that has a global presence. After meeting Dr.Yancey, my progress with building up Robotics at my high school improved. I was also able to go to different STEM programs and events that taught me new things and challenged me. I soon began to realize why I have been struggling with STEM for so long. I never had anyone to properly guide me. While I admired T’challa when I was little, I look up to Dr. Yancey now. I want to do more than just being a captain in my school. I want to lead in my community. I want to be a role model and inspiration to whoever is watching me. I fought to bring many improvements and activities to Creekside through STEM, hoping to help the next kid who may want to pursue STEM just like me. As I reflected on my childhood, I realized that most of my inspiration came from watching cartoons that dealt with robots, engineering, and heroes. I am not aspiring to build the Iron Man suit like Tony Stark. I want to use technology to bring hope to the African-diaspora, just as T’challa did. I will strive to become a real-life Black Panther, just like Dr. Yancey.

I decided to major in Computer Science(CS) at Georgia Tech, which has a program ranked in the top ten nationally. Then I’m interested in pursuing Intelligence and Media concentrations. I’m also intrigued by using Psychology as a discipline to supplement my studies in Computer Science, as it would improve my purview of the user experience while making applications. I believe by studying these fields, then I will create revolutionary apps and concepts that the world has yet to know. I’m also thinking about minoring in Robotics. I want to develop a background in A.I (Artificial Intelligence) and automation for future business projects. I believe my area of study will help me become a better tech entrepreneur and inventor, as it will align with my future projects. One of my goals is to start an app development company. I plan on launching my first company with an app that I made during my sophomore year, my first product. I base my app concept around improving virtual education since I was taking Algebra II online. I was able to absorb the concepts, but I thought I could make learning online more engaging and fun like in a normal classroom. I want to utilize things such as A. I to enhance the user experience for online students. However, I expect that starting my company will take some time. I plan to gain experience from doing CS internships with some heavy hitters in the tech world like Google, Apple, or Amazon. While I’m at these companies, I want to learn their processes and products, their brainstorming processes, their management systems, and other development skills critical for a tech company. I also want to pursue doing research with A. I. to gain experience in researching new technology. Ultimately the skills, knowledge, and relationships I’ll be gaining at a top 10 universities for Computer Science will aid me the most. I believe that going through rigorous coursework and challenging myself with monstrous side projects will help me to establish myself as the Fortune 500 CEO that I aspire to be. Alongside the relationships that I’ll be cultivating during my time in college, I’ll be able to find lifelong partners and friends who could help me achieve my dreams of changing lives for the better.

Growing up, I watched shows with heroes that I looked up to—heroes like T’challa, Spider-man, and Goku. While I liked Peter Parker’s web-slinging and Goku’s power-ups during his fights, T’challa resonated with me the most. I was an African child interested in technology, and T’challa was the only mainstream African character who used his natural ability and technology for the greater good. But, much like the superheroes I aspired to be, I had to overcome some obstacles first. Neither of my parents went to college nor had the ability to finance any STEM programs for me. So, I did the next best thing and joined my elementary school’s robotics team. The team rejected me in 3rd grade, which devastated me. It was something I had been eager to try. I ended up being accepted in 4th and 5th grade, which were my elementary school highlights. During my time on the team, I would build my first robot, which was exciting since I had never coded or designed a robot before. When I was done with a building, I found it mesmerizing to see my robot turning right and left, and grabbing a small blue ball just as I programmed it to do. Even though I participated in robotics, it would soon not be enough. I joined robotics in 4th grade, and have participated every year since, yet I have never participated in any competitions for Robotics. I joined some STEM activities in school, but that did not sustain me. During middle school, I started to receive offers to go to highly selective STEM programs over the summer. I was so excited, but my parents could not afford to pay for the programs as my parents had to take care of our extended family in Ghana. Sometimes my parents had to leave my siblings and me with relatives to attend to family matters in Ghana. During these times in the summer, I would feel empty as I would aimlessly go through my summer with nothing to do. With nothing to feed my hunger to do something more with STEM, I began to feel like I was in an intellectual prison. As robotics went stale, my summers went stale, and there was not anything I could do because I had no money, no local resources or programs, and no connections. Growing up in a marginalized area of South Fulton has been hard on my intellectual development, especially due to the lack of resources available in my community to continue my passions outside of school. I felt frustrated about everything in my life and wanted to change everything, but I understood that most things were out of my control. However, I decided to change how I felt by taking more action when I started high school. I decided to start a robotics team after hearing there was not one available. I found the old sponsor, Mr. Hill, and I communicated that we needed to restructure STEM at Creekside. I stayed after school until 6:00 pm sending proposals, going to meetings, creating and researching STEM activities, and contacting potential professionals to help us with STEM. I had so many people criticize my effort, thinking I was wasting my time saying, “Why are you staying after school so late?” I started to ask myself, “why am I staying after school so late?” Things were tough. I had a lot of people ghost me. In the beginning, I thought it would be easy because of all the stories you hear about different professionals giving back to their communities or always being eager to help young people with their dreams. I was so close to giving up. I was thinking, “I’m just a kid and nobody would actually take me seriously.” Things changed for me when I visited Georgia Tech and met my future mentor, Dr. Dennis Yancey. Dr. Yancey came up to me and my group of friends and just talked to us about what we wanted to do, and he offered to help us with reaching our dreams. So far in my life, I have never met another person who looked like me achieving the things he has done--like graduating from Ivy League STEM schools and starting his own technology company that has a global presence. After meeting Dr.Yancey, my progress with building up Robotics at my high school improved. I was also able to go to different STEM programs and events that taught me new things and challenged me. I soon began to realize why I have been struggling with STEM for so long. I never had anyone to properly guide me. While I admired T’challa when I was little, I look up to Dr. Yancey now. I want to do more than just being a captain in my school. I want to lead in my community. I want to be a role model and inspiration to whoever is watching me. I fought to bring many improvements and activities to Creekside through STEM, hoping to help the next kid who may want to pursue STEM just like me. As I reflected on my childhood, I realized that most of my inspiration came from watching cartoons that dealt with robots, engineering, and heroes. I am not aspiring to build the Iron Man suit like Tony Stark. I want to use technology to bring hope to the African-diaspora, just as T’challa did. I will strive to become a real-life Black Panther, just like Dr. Yancey.

I decided to major in Computer Science(CS) at Georgia Tech, which has a program ranked in the top ten nationally. Then I’m interested in pursuing Intelligence and Media concentrations. I’m also intrigued by using Psychology as a discipline to supplement my studies in Computer Science, as it would improve my purview of the user experience while making applications. I believe by studying these fields, then I will create revolutionary apps and concepts that the world has yet to know. I’m also thinking about minoring in Robotics. I want to develop a background in A.I (Artificial Intelligence) and automation for future business projects. I believe my area of study will help me become a better tech entrepreneur and inventor, as it will align with my future projects. One of my goals is to start an app development company. I plan on launching my first company with an app that I made during my sophomore year, my first product. I base my app concept around improving virtual education since I was taking Algebra II online. I was able to absorb the concepts, but I thought I could make learning online more engaging and fun like in a normal classroom. I want to utilize things such as A. I to enhance the user experience for online students. However, I expect that starting my company will take some time. I plan to gain experience from doing CS internships with some heavy hitters in the tech world like Google, Apple, or Amazon. While I’m at these companies, I want to learn their processes and products, their brainstorming processes, their management systems, and other development skills critical for a tech company. I also want to pursue doing research with A. I. to gain experience in researching new technology. Ultimately the skills, knowledge, and relationships I’ll be gaining at a top 10 universities for Computer Science will aid me the most. I believe that going through rigorous coursework and challenging myself with monstrous side projects will help me to establish myself as the Fortune 500 CEO that I aspire to be. Alongside the relationships that I’ll be cultivating during my time in college, I’ll be able to find lifelong partners and friends who could help me achieve my dreams of changing lives for the better.

Growing up, I watched shows with heroes that I looked up to—heroes like T’challa, Spider-man, and Goku. While I liked Peter Parker’s web-slinging and Goku’s power-ups during his fights, T’challa resonated with me the most. I was an African child interested in technology, and T’challa was the only mainstream African character who used his natural ability and technology for the greater good. But, much like the superheroes I aspired to be, I had to overcome some obstacles first. Neither of my parents went to college nor had the ability to finance STEM programs for me. So, I did the next best thing and joined my elementary school’s robotics team. Even though I participated in robotics, it would soon not be enough. During middle school, I started to receive offers to go to highly selective summer STEM programs. I was excited, but my parents could not afford to pay for the programs as my parents had to take care of our extended family in Ghana. I aimlessly went through my summer with nothing to do. With nothing to feed my hunger to do something more with STEM, I began to feel like I was in an intellectual prison. Growing up in a marginalized area of South Fulton has been hard on my intellectual development, especially due to the lack of resources available in my community to continue my passions outside of school. I felt frustrated about everything in my life and wanted to change everything, but I understood that most things were out of my control. However, I decided to change how I felt by taking more action when I started high school. I decided to start a robotics team after hearing there was not one available. I found the old sponsor, Mr. Hill, and I communicated that we needed to restructure STEM at Creekside. I stayed after school until 6:00 pm sending proposals, going to meetings, creating and researching STEM activities, and contacting potential professionals to help us with STEM. I had so many people criticize my effort, thinking I was wasting my time saying, “Why are you staying after school so late?” I started to ask myself, “why am I staying after school so late?” Things were tough. I had a lot of people ghost me. In the beginning, I thought it would be easy because of all the stories you hear about different professionals giving back to their communities or always being eager to help young people with their dreams. I was so close to giving up. I was thinking, “I’m just a kid and nobody would actually take me seriously.” Things changed for me when I visited Georgia Tech and met my future mentor, Dr. Dennis Yancey. Dr. Yancey approached me and asked what I wanted to do, and he offered to help me. In my life, I have never met another person who looked like me achieving the things he has done-- graduating from Ivy League STEM schools and starting his own technology company with a global presence. After meeting Dr.Yancey, my progress with rebuilding Robotics improved. I was able to attend STEM programs and events that challenged me. I realize why I have been struggling with STEM for so long. I never had someone to properly guide me. While I admired T’challa when I was little, I look up to Dr. Yancey now. I want to lead in my community. I want to be a role model and inspiration to whoever is watching me. I fought to bring improvements to Creekside through STEM, hoping to help students with similar aspirations. I realized I am not aspiring to build the Iron Man suit like Tony Stark. Instead, I want to strive to become a real-life Black Panther to bring hope to the African-diaspora, just as Dr. Yancey.

Growing up, I watched shows with heroes that I looked up to—heroes like T’challa, Spider-man, and Goku. While I liked Peter Parker’s web-slinging and Goku’s power-ups during his fights, T’challa resonated with me the most. I was an African child interested in technology, and T’challa was the only mainstream African character who used his natural ability and technology for the greater good. But, much like the superheroes I aspired to be, I had to overcome some obstacles first. Neither of my parents went to college nor had the ability to finance any STEM programs for me. So, I did the next best thing and joined my elementary school’s robotics team. The team rejected me in 3rd grade, which devastated me. It was something I had been eager to try. I ended up being accepted in 4th and 5th grade, which were my elementary school highlights. During my time on the team, I would build my first robot, which was exciting since I had never coded or designed a robot before. When I was done with a building, I found it mesmerizing to see my robot turning right and left, and grabbing a small blue ball just as I programmed it to do. Even though I participated in robotics, it would soon not be enough. I joined robotics in 4th grade, and have participated every year since, yet I have never participated in any competitions for Robotics. I joined some STEM activities in school, but that did not sustain me. During middle school, I started to receive offers to go to highly selective STEM programs over the summer. I was so excited, but my parents could not afford to pay for the programs as my parents had to take care of our extended family in Ghana. Sometimes my parents had to leave my siblings and me with relatives to attend to family matters in Ghana. During these times in the summer, I would feel empty as I would aimlessly go through my summer with nothing to do. With nothing to feed my hunger to do something more with STEM, I began to feel like I was in an intellectual prison. As robotics went stale, my summers went stale, and there was not anything I could do because I had no money, no local resources or programs, and no connections. Growing up in a marginalized area of South Fulton has been hard on my intellectual development, especially due to the lack of resources available in my community to continue my passions outside of school. I felt frustrated about everything in my life and wanted to change everything, but I understood that most things were out of my control. However, I decided to change how I felt by taking more action when I started high school. I decided to start a robotics team after hearing there was not one available. I found the old sponsor, Mr. Hill, and I communicated that we needed to restructure STEM at Creekside. I stayed after school until 6:00 pm sending proposals, going to meetings, creating and researching STEM activities, and contacting potential professionals to help us with STEM. I had so many people criticize my effort, thinking I was wasting my time saying, “Why are you staying after school so late?” I started to ask myself, “why am I staying after school so late?” Things were tough. I had a lot of people ghost me. In the beginning, I thought it would be easy because of all the stories you hear about different professionals giving back to their communities or always being eager to help young people with their dreams. I was so close to giving up. I was thinking, “I’m just a kid and nobody would actually take me seriously.” Things changed for me when I visited Georgia Tech and met my future mentor, Dr. Dennis Yancey. Dr. Yancey came up to me and my group of friends and just talked to us about what we wanted to do, and he offered to help us with reaching our dreams. So far in my life, I have never met another person who looked like me achieving the things he has done--like graduating from Ivy League STEM schools and starting his own technology company that has a global presence. After meeting Dr.Yancey, my progress with building up Robotics at my high school improved. I was also able to go to different STEM programs and events that taught me new things and challenged me. I soon began to realize why I have been struggling with STEM for so long. I never had anyone to properly guide me. While I admired T’challa when I was little, I look up to Dr. Yancey now. I want to do more than just being a captain in my school. I want to lead in my community. I want to be a role model and inspiration to whoever is watching me. I fought to bring many improvements and activities to Creekside through STEM, hoping to help the next kid who may want to pursue STEM just like me. As I reflected on my childhood, I realized that most of my inspiration came from watching cartoons that dealt with robots, engineering, and heroes. I am not aspiring to build the Iron Man suit like Tony Stark. I want to use technology to bring hope to the African-diaspora, just as T’challa did. I will strive to become a real-life Black Panther, just like Dr. Yancey.

Growing up, I watched shows with heroes that I looked up to—heroes like T’challa, Spider-man, and Goku. While I liked Peter Parker’s web-slinging and Goku’s power-ups during his fights, T’challa resonated with me the most. I was an African child interested in technology, and T’challa was the only mainstream African character who used his natural ability and technology for the greater good. But, much like the superheroes I aspired to be, I had to overcome some obstacles first. Neither of my parents went to college nor had the ability to finance STEM programs for me. So, I did the next best thing and joined my elementary school’s robotics team. Even though I participated in robotics, it would soon not be enough. During middle school, I started to receive offers to go to highly selective summer STEM programs. I was excited, but my parents could not afford to pay for the programs as my parents had to take care of our extended family in Ghana. I aimlessly went through my summer with nothing to do. With nothing to feed my hunger to do something more with STEM, I began to feel like I was in an intellectual prison. Growing up in South Fulton has been hard on my intellectual development, especially due to the lack of resources available in my community. I felt frustrated, but I decided to change how I felt by taking action when I started high school. I started a robotics team after hearing there was not one available. I found the old sponsor, Mr. Hill, and I communicated that we needed to restructure STEM at Creekside. I stayed after school until 6:00 pm sending proposals, going to meetings, creating and researching STEM activities, and contacting potential professionals to help us with STEM. I had so many people criticize my effort, thinking I was wasting my time saying, “Why are you staying after school so late?” I started to ask myself, “why am I staying after school so late?” Things were tough. I had a lot of people ghost me. I thought it would be easy because of all the stories you hear about professionals giving back to their communities or always being eager to help young people with their dreams. I was thinking, “I’m just a kid and nobody will actually take me seriously.” But things changed for me when I visited Georgia Tech and met my future mentor, Dr. Dennis Yancey. Dr. Yancey approached me and asked what I wanted to do, and he offered to help me. In my life, I have never met another person who looked like me achieving the things he has done-- graduating from Ivy League STEM schools and starting his own technology company with a global presence. After meeting Dr.Yancey, my progress with rebuilding Robotics improved. I was able to attend STEM programs and events that challenged me. I realize why I have been struggling with STEM for so long. I never had someone to properly guide me. While I admired T’challa when I was little, I look up to Dr. Yancey now. I want to lead in my community. I want to be a role model and inspiration to whoever is watching me. I fought to bring improvements to Creekside through STEM, hoping to help students with similar aspirations. I realized I am not aspiring to build the Iron Man suit like Tony Stark. Instead, I want to strive to become a real-life Black Panther to bring hope to the African-diaspora, just as Dr. Yancey.

Growing up, I watched shows with heroes that I looked up to—heroes like T’challa, Spider-man, and Goku. While I liked Peter Parker’s web-slinging and Goku’s power-ups during his fights, T’challa resonated with me the most. I was an African child interested in technology, and T’challa was the only mainstream African character who used his natural ability and technology for the greater good. But, much like the superheroes I aspired to be, I had to overcome some obstacles first. Neither of my parents went to college nor had the ability to finance any STEM programs for me. So, I did the next best thing and joined my elementary school’s robotics team. The team rejected me in 3rd grade, which devastated me. It was something I had been eager to try. I ended up being accepted in 4th and 5th grade, which were my elementary school highlights. During my time on the team, I would build my first robot, which was exciting since I had never coded or designed a robot before. When I was done with a building, I found it mesmerizing to see my robot turning right and left, and grabbing a small blue ball just as I programmed it to do. Even though I participated in robotics, it would soon not be enough. I joined robotics in 4th grade, and have participated every year since, yet I have never participated in any competitions for Robotics. I joined some STEM activities in school, but that did not sustain me. During middle school, I started to receive offers to go to highly selective STEM programs over the summer. I was so excited, but my parents could not afford to pay for the programs as my parents had to take care of our extended family in Ghana. Sometimes my parents had to leave my siblings and me with relatives to attend to family matters in Ghana. During these times in the summer, I would feel empty as I would aimlessly go through my summer with nothing to do. With nothing to feed my hunger to do something more with STEM, I began to feel like I was in an intellectual prison. As robotics went stale, my summers went stale, and there was not anything I could do because I had no money, no local resources or programs, and no connections. Growing up in a marginalized area of South Fulton has been hard on my intellectual development, especially due to the lack of resources available in my community to continue my passions outside of school. I felt frustrated about everything in my life and wanted to change everything, but I understood that most things were out of my control. However, I decided to change how I felt by taking more action when I started high school. I decided to start a robotics team after hearing there was not one available. I found the old sponsor, Mr. Hill, and I communicated that we needed to restructure STEM at Creekside. I stayed after school until 6:00 pm sending proposals, going to meetings, creating and researching STEM activities, and contacting potential professionals to help us with STEM. I had so many people criticize my effort, thinking I was wasting my time saying, “Why are you staying after school so late?” I started to ask myself, “why am I staying after school so late?” Things were tough. I had a lot of people ghost me. In the beginning, I thought it would be easy because of all the stories you hear about different professionals giving back to their communities or always being eager to help young people with their dreams. I was so close to giving up. I was thinking, “I’m just a kid and nobody would actually take me seriously.” Things changed for me when I visited Georgia Tech and met my future mentor, Dr. Dennis Yancey. Dr. Yancey came up to me and my group of friends and just talked to us about what we wanted to do, and he offered to help us with reaching our dreams. So far in my life, I have never met another person who looked like me achieving the things he has done--like graduating from Ivy League STEM schools and starting his own technology company that has a global presence. After meeting Dr.Yancey, my progress with building up Robotics at my high school improved. I was also able to go to different STEM programs and events that taught me new things and challenged me. I soon began to realize why I have been struggling with STEM for so long. I never had anyone to properly guide me. While I admired T’challa when I was little, I look up to Dr. Yancey now. I want to do more than just being a captain in my school. I want to lead in my community. I want to be a role model and inspiration to whoever is watching me. I fought to bring many improvements and activities to Creekside through STEM, hoping to help the next kid who may want to pursue STEM just like me. As I reflected on my childhood, I realized that most of my inspiration came from watching cartoons that dealt with robots, engineering, and heroes. I am not aspiring to build the Iron Man suit like Tony Stark. I want to use technology to bring hope to the African-diaspora, just as T’challa did. I will strive to become a real-life Black Panther, just like Dr. Yancey.

I decided to major in Computer Science(CS) at Georgia Tech, which has a program ranked in the top ten nationally. Then I’m interested in pursuing Intelligence and Media concentrations. I’m also intrigued by using Psychology as a discipline to supplement my studies in Computer Science, as it would improve my purview of the user experience while making applications. I believe by studying these fields, then I will create revolutionary apps and concepts that the world has yet to know. I’m also thinking about minoring in Robotics. I want to develop a background in A. I (Artificial Intelligence) and automation for future business projects. I believe my area of study will help me become a better tech entrepreneur and inventor, as it will align with my future projects. One of my goals is to start an app development company. I plan on launching my first company with an app that I made during my sophomore year, my first product. I base my app concept around improving virtual education since I was taking Algebra II online. I was able to absorb the concepts, but I thought I could make learning online more engaging and fun like in a normal classroom. I want to utilize things such as A. I to enhance the user experience for online students. However, I expect that starting my company will take some time. I plan to gain experience from doing CS internships with some heavy hitters in the tech world like Google, Apple, or Amazon. While I’m at these companies, I want to learn their processes and products, their brainstorming processes, their management systems, and other development skills critical for a tech company. I also want to pursue doing research with A. I. to gain experience in researching new technology. Ultimately the skills, knowledge, and relationships I’ll be gaining at a top 10 universities for Computer Science will aid me the most. I believe that going through rigorous coursework and challenging myself with monstrous side projects will help me to establish myself as the Fortune 500 CEO that I aspire to be. Alongside the relationships that I’ll be cultivating during my time in college, I’ll be able to find lifelong partners and friends who could help me achieve my dreams of changing lives for the better.