Ever since I was a kid, I've been passionate about figuring out how things worked. I would spend hours taking apart pens during class and figuring out what each component did to make the pen click and retract. While I wasn't always sure what I wanted to do, deep down inside, I've always known that it is my destiny to be an engineer, from the love I've always had for math and science to my fascination with understanding how everything around me works. In my mind, there is no better feeling than figuring out what I don't know. Whether it be solving for "x" in math class or figuring out how to apply Newton's laws on my physics homework, the opportunity these unknowns create to problem solve is what draws me into engineering. Problem-solving is something I not just enjoy but also something that I excel in. Another fascination I've had since I was young is outer space. I was (and still am) blown away by the fact that there is no end to space, and I have spent many hours trying to wrap my head around this. Fast forward a few years and cut to my bedroom filled with a galaxy projector light, a surplus of space-themed t-shirts, and over four-dozen rocket postcards on my wall, and it is clear my passion for space has not dwindled a bit. My biggest curiosity has turned into a discovery of my dream of becoming an aerospace engineer. While the ability to make rocket science jokes is a definite plus regarding my desired major as an aerospace engineer, combining my interests in outer space and engineering is very meaningful to me. The ability to learn more about my interests at a high level and create a career through them is amazing. Hours of research online and a few physics and astronomy courses have assisted me in exploring what I want to do further. Having a passion for space, I love visiting space museums when possible, and I love dragging my family along to them while on vacation. Teaching my family about the rockets on display and pointing out specific rocket parts helped me further realize my dream of being an aerospace engineer. I pictured myself in a blazer and heels, walking down the halls at NASA headquarters, and for once, everything about my future seemed to click, and I finally felt like I knew where I wanted to be later in life. All four aspects of STEM are crucial in our lives. However, science plays a prominent role in each other core of STEM. Through science, we can learn about the world around us. Biology, one of the most well-known science topics, teaches about the human body. Knowing this, we can create a baseline for optimal life by understanding what foods we should eat and the best exercises to stay healthy. It tells us what to eat, and through science, we can also determine how to produce the best and grow food to consume. On top of this, science is beneficial to children. By learning science at a young age, kids are exposed to STEM concepts and ideas, including problem-solving and collaboration, which encourages being inquisitive. These traits benefit these kids throughout life and allow them to contribute better to society. Without science, society would struggle. We would have no doctors or nurses and lack understanding of how our bodies function, not to mention the struggle it would be to have the other STEM topics. STEM-based ideas and creations surround us, and they all play a significant role in our society.

Everyone has a reason to pursue next-level education. Many do it strictly because it is what others expect from them, or maybe their parents force them into a career. However, some students, including myself, do it for an entirely different reason. I want to pursue a degree not only to be an independent adult and provide for myself and, hopefully, someday, my family but also to achieve my dream of becoming an aerospace engineer. While I won't mind the ability to make jokes regarding rocket science, going into this field is something I feel incredibly passionate about pursuing. Since I was a kid, I've been fascinated with figuring out how things worked, taking apart pens during class, and figuring out what each component did to make the pen click and retract. On top of my curiosity about knowing how things work, I am very passionate about problem-solving, which leads to my desire to be an engineer. Along with this, all throughout my life, I've had a fascination for space; I have always been blown away by the fact that space has no end. Fast forward a few years and cut to my bedroom filled with a galaxy projector light, a surplus of space-themed t-shirts, and over four-dozen rocket postcards on my wall, and it is clear that I have a passion for outer space. Combine these two topics and get my dream career: aerospace engineering. The content and concepts I will need to know in this career is something that I will not develop overnight. I will need extensive schooling and, unsurprisingly, a diploma. Graduating from school with my desired degree will help me take the first step toward achieving my dream. My family visited the Kennedy Space Center a few years ago while on vacation. While there, I played the role of a tour guide, pointing out different parts of the rockets and what they did. I couldn't help but feel like designing rockets similar to the ones I was staring at was the direction my life was destined to go towards and what I was meant to be doing in my future. Pursuing a college degree brings me one step closer to pursuing my dream. My degree will give me the knowledge and understanding of how to dominate in my desired field and give me the credibility to enter this field. My degree is for myself and my achievements and desires. While I appreciate the people who have and will help me to achieve my degree, I am ultimately pushing myself to pursue my degree.

Everyone has a reason to pursue next-level education. Many do it strictly because it is what others expect from them, or maybe their parents force them into a career. However, some students, including myself, do it for an entirely different reason. I want to pursue a degree not only to be an independent adult and provide for myself and, hopefully, someday, my family but also to achieve my dream of becoming an aerospace engineer. While I won't mind the ability to make jokes regarding rocket science, going into this field is something I feel incredibly passionate about pursuing. Since I was a kid, I've been fascinated with figuring out how things worked, taking apart pens during class, and figuring out what each component did to make the pen click and retract. On top of my curiosity about knowing how things work, I am very passionate about problem-solving, which leads to my desire to be an engineer. Along with this, all throughout my life, I've had a fascination for space; I have always been blown away by the fact that space has no end. Fast forward a few years and cut to my bedroom filled with a galaxy projector light, a surplus of space-themed t-shirts, and over four-dozen rocket postcards on my wall, and it is clear that I have a passion for outer space. Combine these two topics and get my dream career: aerospace engineering. The content and concepts I will need to know in this career is something that I will not develop overnight. I will need extensive schooling and, unsurprisingly, a diploma. Graduating from school with my desired degree will help me take the first step toward achieving my dream. My family visited the Kennedy Space Center a few years ago while on vacation. While there, I played the role of a tour guide, pointing out different parts of the rockets and what they did. I couldn't help but feel like designing rockets similar to the ones I was staring at was the direction my life was destined to go towards and what I was meant to be doing in my future. Pursuing a college degree brings me one step closer to pursuing my dream. My degree will give me the knowledge and understanding of how to dominate in my desired field and give me the credibility to enter this field. My degree is for myself and my achievements and desires. While I appreciate the people who have and will help me to achieve my degree, I am ultimately pushing myself to pursue my degree.

Math is everywhere around us. It is a crucial skill for people and is used anywhere from counting and spacing; understanding math is very beneficial for people to have. Students start learning math at a very young age and generally take math courses throughout their school years. Some may groan while walking to math class, but I always show up to my lessons with a small smile, excited to further my understanding. I love math for countless reasons. Not only is it a subject that I consider myself decent at, but many of my favorite teachers throughout the year have been my math teachers. The connections I've made through math have made me love it even more. While incredible math teachers throughout the year have fueled my passion for math, the ability to problem solve is another thing that makes me love math. I love having the opportunity to think through problems, and math uniquely requires you to problem-solve. Also, the feeling of a concept clicking is so satisfying to feel. The ability to master all these skills and concepts is impressive, especially considering there are some extremely tough and confusing topics in math. Overall, math is crucial in my life and something I feel passionately about because of previously stated reasons. Math allows me to exercise my brain and feel proud of myself for understanding concepts. So as I finish my essay, I have one final thought for you: I LOVE MATH!

While there are a few songs that I hold close to my heart because of their meaning, one that has a very important message is "The Night We Met" by Lord Huron. This song has lyrics like "I had all and then most of you/ some and now none of you," which represents how easy it is to lose people. Later the song states, "I don't know what I'm supposed to do/ haunted by the ghost of you," which describes the feeling after losing someone you care about. The phrase "the night we met" is frequently used to display the desire for the singer to go back to when their relationship had first started with another person, wanting a do-over. While this song is one that I consider to be more somber, I find its message very important and something I apply in my day-to-day life. The song shows the desire to go back to the time when the two people in the song first met to have more time in the relationship. This song represents the need to make the most of every minute with people because you never know when things will change between you or if something will happen to others. Losing a close friend a few years back has made this message in the song stand out even more to me, knowing that you can't get time back, so you must do your best to make the most of the time you have received. I deeply appreciate this song because of the music and the moving lyrics that tell a story and display an important message to its listeners.

Ever since I was a kid, I've been passionate about figuring out how things worked. I would spend hours taking apart pens during class and figuring out what each component did to make the pen click and retract. While I wasn't always sure what I wanted to do, deep down inside, I've always known that it is my destiny to be an engineer, from the love I've always had for math and science to my fascination with understanding how everything around me works. In my mind, there is no better feeling than figuring out what I don't know. Whether it be solving for "x" in math class or figuring out how to apply Newton's laws on my physics homework, the opportunity these unknowns create to problem solve is what draws me into engineering. Problem-solving is something I not just enjoy but also something that I excel in. Another fascination I've had since I was young is outer space. I was (and still am) blown away by the fact that there is no end to space, and I have spent many hours trying to wrap my head around this. Fast forward a few years and cut to my bedroom filled with a galaxy projector light, a surplus of space-themed t-shirts, and over four-dozen rocket postcards on my wall, and it is clear my passion for space has not dwindled a bit. My biggest curiosity has turned into a discovery of my dream of becoming an aerospace engineer. While the ability to make rocket science jokes is a definite plus regarding my desired major as an aerospace engineer, combining my interests in outer space and engineering is very meaningful to me. The ability to learn more about my interests at a high level and create a career through them is amazing. Hours of research online and a few physics and astronomy courses have assisted me in exploring what I want to do further. Having a passion for space, I love visiting space museums when possible, and I love dragging my family along to them while on vacation. Teaching my family about the rockets on display and pointing out specific rocket parts helped me further realize my dream of being an aerospace engineer. I pictured myself in a blazer and heels, walking down the halls at NASA headquarters, and for once, everything about my future seemed to click, and I finally felt like I knew where I wanted to be later in life. All four aspects of STEM are crucial in our lives. However, science plays a prominent role in each other core of STEM. Through science, we can learn about the world around us. Biology, one of the most well-known science topics, teaches about the human body. Knowing this, we can create a baseline for optimal life by understanding what foods we should eat and the best exercises to stay healthy. It tells us what to eat, and through science, we can also determine how to produce the best and grow food to consume. On top of this, science is beneficial to children. By learning science at a young age, kids are exposed to STEM concepts and ideas, including problem-solving and collaboration, which encourages being inquisitive. These traits benefit these kids throughout life and allow them to contribute better to society. Without science, society would struggle. We would have no doctors or nurses and lack understanding of how our bodies function, not to mention the struggle it would be to have the other STEM topics. STEM-based ideas and creations surround us, and they all play a significant role in our society.

Ever since I was a kid, I've been passionate about figuring out how things worked. I would spend hours taking apart pens during class and figuring out what each component did to make the pen click and retract. While I wasn't always sure what I wanted to do, deep down inside, I've always known that it is my destiny to be an engineer, from the love I've always had for math and science to my fascination with understanding how everything around me works. In my mind, there is no better feeling than figuring out what I don't know. Whether it be solving for "x" in math class or figuring out how to apply Newton's laws on my physics homework, the opportunity these unknowns create to problem solve is what draws me into engineering. Problem-solving is something I not just enjoy but also something that I excel in. Another fascination I've had since I was young is outer space. I was (and still am) blown away by the fact that there is no end to space, and I have spent many hours trying to wrap my head around this. Fast forward a few years and cut to my bedroom filled with a galaxy projector light, a surplus of space-themed t-shirts, and over four-dozen rocket postcards on my wall, and it is clear my passion for space has not dwindled a bit. My biggest curiosity has turned into a discovery of my dream of becoming an aerospace engineer. While the ability to make rocket science jokes is a definite plus regarding my desired major as an aerospace engineer, combining my interests in outer space and engineering is very exciting and meaningful to me. The ability to learn more about my interests at a high level and create a life through them is amazing. Not only this, but having a passion and interest in what I am learning will help me to be motivated to learn more and deepen my understanding of things. Any STEM major will be challenging, but having a passion for what I'm learning will help make it easier and help me to be a motivated student. Hours of research online and a few physics and astronomy courses have assisted me in exploring what I want to do further. Having a passion for space, I love visiting space museums when possible, and I love dragging my family along to them while on vacation. Leading my family through the Kennedy Space Center a few years back made me realize that being an aerospace engineer is what I want to do. Teaching my family about the rockets on display and pointing out what specific parts of the rocket helped me realize that my dream was achievable and what I wanted to do. I pictured myself in a blazer and heels, walking down the halls at NASA headquarters, and for once, everything about my future seemed to click, and I finally felt like I knew where I wanted to be later in life.

Ever since I was a kid, I've had a passion for figuring out how things worked. I would spend hours taking apart pens and figuring out what each component did to make the pen click and retract. While I wasn't always sure what I wanted to do, deep down inside, I always knew I was meant to be an engineer, from the love I've always had for math and science to my fascination with understanding how everything around me works. Add a few years to my life and a passion for outer space, I've finally figured out my desire to become an aerospace engineer. But I've also figured out the underrepresentation in not just this specific field, but all STEM fields. According to the US Census Bureau, women represent only 27% of all STEM workers. This underrepresentation is a problem. As a kid, I was always perceived as a tomboy, or often "odd" simply because I enjoyed subjects like math, I enjoyed hands-on learning and was excited for dissection day in biology. All of the boys who enjoyed the same thing were never frowned upon, so why was I? Having such a lack of diversity in this field causes unfamiliarity with different people pursuing their dreams in this field. Having a more diverse field allows for more familiarity with different people being in STEM, and opens the door for the next generation to have equality in the field. To me, there was no greater disappointment in my childhood than being told I couldn't do something simply because I was a girl. And I'm sure this is the case for many different people, whether it be gender, sexuality, or race. Overall diversity in the workplace is important. Kids having people to look up to that look similar to them makes them feel like they can achieve the incredible things that those they look up to also achieved. Working with a variety of different people with different backgrounds is also beneficial because it allows for more diverse ideas to form. The differing backgrounds cause people to have different ideas and different ways of thinking, so it is more productive to work in a diverse group than a non-diverse group. People with different backgrounds will not only have different experiences but different knowledge and understanding that can be beneficial to the group. Think of it this way: when sending astronauts to the International Space Station, they send a group of people with varying degrees and past experiences because it would be unproductive to send up only electrical engineers. After all, electrical engineers can only do electrical work. So, overall it is crucial to have diversity in any workplace. But with the STEM field growing, it is also growing in importance to having a diversity of people in this field.

Ever since I was a kid, I have had an evident passion for learning how things work. I would spend class periods taking apart each part of a pen to figure out each function of a pen and why it worked. It is incredible to think that all these useless parts, when put together, make a pen that can retract. Engineering is more than just knowing how a pen works. As I've grown older, I've realized my constant interest in understanding why everything around me works; between the computer I am typing this on to what causes a window open and close easily, I always want to know how things work. Another thing is I adore the problem-solving opportunities a career in engineering would create for me. There is no better feeling than the feeling that comes when you figure something out, whether it be a math problem or a solution to fix a whiteboard that won't stand up; I love being able to problem solve. Engineers create everything around us. Without engineers, the world would not be what it is today because we would have no one to solve the world's problems or create things that do this. My problem-solving ability and the potential to make things that people will benefit from are very valuable.

With college only a year away, my most recent pastime has been sitting at my computer and either filling out college applications or applying for various scholarships. College is expensive, so I am trying to alleviate the cost of it as much as I can. I learned from filling out all these scholarship applications that working toward what you want is only sometimes pleasant or exciting. Filling out all these scholarships is nothing but tedious. Putting in my name, birthday, and address to way more websites than I can count. I have filled out endless essays to the point where my google drive is flooded with documents I've made to write all these essays and short answers. Even though it's only October, I've already put in a lot of time applying to as many scholarships as possible. I want to receive a decent amount of scholarship money to cover my college tuition, and I have been actively pursuing this goal. Speaking of putting in the work, another thing I have learned from applying for these scholarships is it is a lot of work for little reward. Sure, every year, some lucky winners receive a significant scholarship. Of course, I will aspire to be one of the lucky ones. Still, statistically, how many students are applying for scholarships is unlikely to get a considerable amount of scholarship money. I could spend every free moment I have doing everything possible to receive a scholarship and still not get a single penny. While this is frustrating, I also understand that if they gave out scholarships to everyone, there would be no point in giving any out, so it is fair that I can't win them all. As a high school senior athlete, I don't have a surplus of free time. Although I'm all for making the most of my free time, applying for scholarships differs from what I had in mind. Time management is something else that I've learned is very important when applying for scholarships due to having to squeeze it into my hectic schedule. Trying to balance school, sports, college applications, scholarships, sleep, and still trying to squeeze in time to see my friends and family has been challenging. Along with this, I've also learned the importance of knowing and checking deadlines. If I don't know the deadlines for scholarships, I am trying to target it can make it complicated to submit for these scholarships on time. While scholarships are a bit of a pain and can be very frustrating, they also teach students things applicable to real-life situations. These applications have shown me to persevere even when hopes may be low and how to get something you have to take action.