Around age 10 my mom began having me and my family volunteer about once a month, typically at a local food pantry. While I found it mundane then, I now understand the value of volunteer work. I have come to appreciate the sense of community that volunteer work fosters which has driven me to do more. I now find myself in more volunteering positions than I ever thought I would; running large scale food drives, being an active member in NHS, an assistant volleyball coach for my local middle school, and a tutor. These are just a few of the roles I have taken on within the past few years, but one of the most impactful events was the Football Frenzy Food Drive this past September. The Football Frenzy program is held by a local news channel where each week two high schools are challenged to a competition. Who can collect the most food in 3 days, with the event ending on Friday morning before the football game. Kalamazoo Central was nominated with very short notice, only getting a day to prepare and spread the word. While the NHS at my school is known for coordinating large events and food drives, expectations were low because of the lack of time. The record to beat was set the previous week by another local high school that gathered about 12,300 pounds of food. Our goal was to just edge them out, but personally, I was doubtful. I did not know if we could even do that. I thought it was going to be impossible to rally that much support and participation on such short notice, but over the next few days I was amazed by our school district and community. Boxes upon boxes of food were brought in each day, so much so that we had to move the food to the football stadium because there was not enough room to store it. The morning of the event, Wood TV8 set up at our school to show off our accomplishments. I don't know if I was more impressed by the amount of food we had collected or the fact that 300 students showed up at 6 am to organize, move food, and cheer each other on. We finished packing the food into trucks around 8 am and went to class feeling hopeful and nervous about the results of our work. After 2nd period I could tell something was different, the school was abuzz. Students were excitedly running around showing their phones to each other. When I looked for myself I understood what the “frenzy” was about. Kalamazoo Central had raised 27,386 lbs of food in three days, shattering all previous records. Last year, the program collected about 16,400 lbs over the entire course of the football season. We nearly doubled that in less than a week. I cannot express the sense of pride I felt for my school and classmates, but even better was the feeling I got from giving back to my community. I did not care that we would likely lose our football game that night against a tough opponent, nothing could beat this feeling.

CapitaSpring tower in Singapore; the building that piqued my interest and led to my discovery of sustainable architecture. While watching a documentary in an environmental science class that focused on sustainability, I became intrigued with green buildings. Learning how much of an impact architecture can have on the environment made me excited to think that I could have a career that helps enrich urban areas while incorporating environmentally conscious measures. My exposure to architecture over the past few years has only reinforced my feeling that this is the right career path for me. I participate in the ACE Mentorship Program where students work closely with mentors from different fields including Architecture, Engineering, and Construction. We work on design teams learning about career pathways through mock design projects culminating in original group design projects. I think the most influential experience I had was ArcStart, a 3 week residential camp at the University of Michigan. This built on the foundation of skills I had learned through ACE such as drawing and 2D/3D modeling, but also taught me how to navigate design software like Rhino and Adobe. We worked on original design proposals as a team, but also independently. I participated in “pin-ups” which were especially nerve wracking but a valuable process to receive feedback and refine designs. This opportunity gave me a small glimpse of life as an architecture student and left me with an eagerness to learn more. These organizations brought me a sense of community and fulfillment that I had not previously experienced and made me feel confident in my aspiration to become an Architect. I am passionate about environmental activism so when exploring architecture as a career, focusing on sustainable architecture seemed like the perfect combination. I have strived to learn as much as I can about climate change and make small but meaningful changes in my community. I am a leader of the environmental club at my high school where we have secured recycling containers for the school and completed activities leading to green school certification. I am also a member of a very active local youth climate coalition, Ardea. We have organized/participated in conferences, protests, workshops, rallies, and our most important accomplishment, helping get the Clean Energy Future Plan signed in Michigan. The relationships I formed through these organizations led to me being invited to the Citizens Climate Lobby Conference in Washington D.C. There I learned about climate policy, built communications skills, and met with members of Congress to lobby for legislation to combat climate change. Architects have the power to influence large issues like the global housing crisis and global warming. My ultimate goal is to design and create affordable, sustainable housing that can be used in communities around the world. Architecture makes a considerable contribution to our carbon footprint as humans, by making our buildings green we can attempt to counteract this effect. Developing methods through architecture to tackle these issues around the world is one of my biggest ambitions. In the end, I hope to have an educational experience that leaves me with the ability to make a difference in the world and people's lives.