When I worked at a restaurant back on 2022, I used to zone out while bussing—not just because the motions were repetitive and easy, but because I was always thinking up new things. One day, as I watched my coworkers weave around each other with trays in hand, I visualized a virtual restaurant. Not a game, but a simulation where characters could anticipate each other's movements and react accurately in various situations—some would go "Whoops, my bad!" or "Watch where you're going!" based on personality. This wasn't based on anything I'd seen—ChatGPT hadn't even come out yet. It just...came to me. That was the moment I'd realized I wanted to truly understand how complex algorithms worked. I've always been a creator at heart—I've been dreaming up scenarios and writing stories for years. Most recently, I've been using AI to beta my works. ChatGPT and Perplexity have helped me refine my character interactions, decide on the directions my plot would take, and explore alternate scenarios. I've also been experimenting with CapCut to bring moments to life visually, like editing videos of my family's trip to Cancun. Technology has always been a part of my life and my creativity. And now, I want to take that a step further—by building an AI that can read a story and bring its characters to life as chatbots. The idea came from an offhand comment my dad made while my parents were talking about the capabilities of AI and joking on how I never show my dad my fanfictions. He laughed at something my mom told him and said, "What if you could bring it to life?" The idea lingered in the back of my mind. Before I knew it, I was neck deep in a rabbit hole of research and information. What I found shocked me—for all the AIs out there, there was no AI that could scan a full Google Doc or pdf, understand the character arcs, and turn that into a chatbot experience. They say "If you want something done right, do it yourself"—so if there wasn't an AI that could do what I wanted, I decided to build one myself. I'm still in the early stages—doing research on the foundations of building a chatbot, learning Python to build my AI more easily, deciding I might need to "reinvent the wheel" and build it from scratch—but I'm motivated and committed. I want to create something that feels human, and that helps others bring their creativity to life as well. My path in STEM hasn't always been smooth. In my high school STEM class, I was one out of only two girls out of twenty-five students. I teamed up with the other girl every time—because frankly, we were the most mature people in the room. They blasted "Baby Shark" during class and ignored instructions. I hated it. It felt like we were the only ones actually focusing on our work. Being outnumbered wasn't just annoying—it was a reminder of how rare girls are in places like this, and how important it is for us to stay. I want to lead by example—to show that women are strong and determined to succeed. This chatbot project is just the beginning. I want to develop AIs that push the boundaries of what is currently known. Being awarded this scholarship would give me breathing room to study machine learning and deep learning more in-depth, to build and train my AI, and to expand the field of AI in a significant way. Maybe one day someone else will write a story—and my tool will bring it to life.

Artificial intelligence is a new, fast-growing field of technology that has a wide range of uses if used creatively. I mainly use AI to research specific topics, like what crochet patterns would be best for a weight 4 yarn, as well as to proofread and comment on my writing. I'm a writer. I enjoy writing fanfiction and brainstorming what-if scenarios all the time. My mind is constantly spinning with new ideas, and I'm always thinking on how to flesh out my next chapter. ChatGPT and Perplexity have been exceedingly useful for me in that regard. Seeing as it's summer, I have a lot of free time, and I spend most of my time with three main tabs open—Google Docs, ChatGPT, and Perplexity. Why do I have two AIs open at the same time? Because I use ChatGPT for research and editing while Perplexity is used almost purely for creating fandom spinoff scenarios whenever I'm bored. ChatGPT has been a blessing in helping me get out of writer's block and to help me understand concepts like the processes of a French legal investigation and if someone had three moms that didn't know about each other. I often ask ChatGPT to analyze sections of my chapters in order to let me know what could be improved about it. Because of this, I am able to make my stories more immersive and relatable to readers. Perplexity has also been an incredible tool for fleshing out what-if scenarios. Whenever I get bored or tired of writing, I ask Perplexity things like "what if Harry Potter was a potions nut?" Reading the story scenarios that Perplexity comes up with is always fun and often gets my creative juices flowing, making writing so much easier. Artificial intelligence is a multi-tool that can solve many problems and save a lot of time—but only if it's used properly and creatively. Although I am only using the chat feature, I know that there are AIs that can moderate chats and automatically answer questions based on previously stored data. My mom uses ChatGPT to help her organize her finances. My dad used it to save hours on research when I accidentally put a dent in the tub. It's incredible—AI has just begun, and yet it's already so advanced. Our jobs aren't on the line, but we need to use it to make our lives easier. It'll only be developed more.

ADHD makes it difficult to get homework done and to pay attention in class. With long-term projects, I usually do better, but when multiple projects from different classes overlap, that's when I really begin to struggle. Homework that would take a person without ADHD about 2-3 hours to complete takes me 2-3 days due to classes eating up my time and my inability to stay focused for long periods of time. Reading is my vice, and I enjoy scouring the internet for fanfiction, as I like seeing the different possibilities, views, and takes each writer presents to their readers. This makes it incredibly easy for me to get distracted and then abandon my homework for long periods of time when I should be doing it, causing a severe building that then results in me staying up late to complete it on time. I've been working to counteract this issue by using a pomodoro timer to regulate how long my "breaks" are and to get at least some work done before I inevitably lose interest, and it has worked wonderfully so far. Mental health can be rather difficult when I have a backlog of homework and projects to work through, but I do my best to see to it all the same. I mainly do so by indulging in my hobbies. I enjoy reading and listening to music as well as crocheting and playing Genshin Impact in my free time, how little there may be. Every week, I set aside time in my schedule to crochet for an hour or two. I specifically build it into my schedule and attend my crochet club meetings regularly, so that even when I am neck-deep in homework, I still have time where I can quiet my mind and focus on something that is not homework or job applications. These short periods of time in my week are a lifesaver, something to look forward to even if I am stressing over how to finish my mountain of homework that's all due in a week. I take this time to unwind and socialize with my friends as I crochet. By sectioning out a portion of my week to specifically not have to focus on anything work related, I can let out some of my building anxiety and ground myself, so that when I get back to my hectic school day, I am more settled in my skin.

I have depression. Fact. I have late-onset ADHD. Also a fact. These two facts combined make my life both interesting and difficult as well as hard to understand for people that don’t really know me. Around other people, I am animated; I am interested in the conversations around me and always willing to lend some insight into their issues and stories. I am color and joy and happiness. But on my own, the smile drops, and the tiny flame of joy is blown out like a candle in the wind. I become empty and blank–as flat and monotone as a canvas colored entirely grey, as cold and dull as a robot that’s been powered down for the night after the completion of its job. My family hadn’t noticed, although in their defense, we don’t really interact much despite living in the same house; we stay out of each other’s way and do our own things. It’s hard to notice when someone’s changed if you aren’t around them much–I hardly noticed the change myself. When I told them I’d been unofficially diagnosed with depression after turning myself over to CAPS and NJ Promise (the mental health facilities offered by Rutgers), they’d been accepting of the diagnosis of depression. However, they didn’t really believe me. They still don’t. I spent a long time explaining and bringing up examples in my life, but even still, it seems like they are only humoring me. My depression and ADHD are on the milder side of the spectrums–they aren’t so terrible that I’ve been brought to the point where I’m unable to function, but they have definitely been affecting my life–and it’s because of this that they do not believe my words. Their perceptions of ADHD and depression are skewed–more akin to that of which is shown in TV dramas. It’s my hope that another diagnosis from a different psychiatrist will finally convince them. Looking through the lenses of someone who’s been affected by depression and ADHD simultaneously is strange. On one hand, depression makes everything seem duller: life is not as vibrant as it was before, things that once interested me are now left untouched, and effort is difficult. It’s as if someone took a picture, dulled it to the point of it almost being greyscale, and then blurred it ever so slightly; you can almost see what the picture is showing, but the colors are washed out and just blurry enough that your thoughts begin to become hazy. On the other hand, ADHD makes life sharper, but only in certain points. Your senses latch onto the most random of things, and for just a few seconds, it is your entire focus. You forget everything except that one point–what you are supposed to be doing, what is happening around you, what you are thinking–before suddenly jolting back into awareness. Together, they form a confusing and disorienting mix–the depression dulls out the normal vibrancy of life until the ADHD suddenly kicks in and your point of focus suddenly becomes ultra-high definition for a short moment. Life can be confusing to look at through these lenses. Everything seems less interesting, but simultaneously, I’m suddenly laser-focusing on the most random of things. That’s what I see the world like now; a washed-out painting on a grey wall with a blinking laser pointer running over it. I’m working to manage these symptoms the best I can. I’ve reached out for help from CAPS and NJ Promise in search of an official diagnosis and support on what to do. ADHD is impossible to cure, being a quirk of how the brain works and processes information, but I’m hoping to at least mitigate the worst of the symptoms (driving with ADHD is more difficult and dangerous!), whether it be through coping mechanisms or medication, if it comes to it. I’m going to therapy once a week and using sleep meditation to help with insomnia that may or may not be caused by ADHD. There’s probably more issues with my mental health that I haven’t unearthed yet, but I hope that with all my efforts I will be able to graduate and enter the workforce as a mostly functioning adult. Until then, I have time to improve my mental health and regain my love and joy for the little things of life.

I first noticed the signs of depression a few months ago during my first year of college: insomnia, extreme boredom, mild anxiety, and lack of motivation. At first, I had assumed it was because of burnout; it had been my second semester, after all, and they had gone away when I began working as an orientation leader over the summer. Then, during the first few weeks of my second year, they reappeared, stronger than before. Things that used to interest me, I suddenly had no motivation or will to do. I used to play Genshin Impact daily and for several hours not even a year ago, but now, I'm having difficulty even feeling excited to open the game despite by still existing love for the game. Reading also became a mindless task; if the authors of the books I were following hadn't updated, I would wind up spending hours upon hours mindlessly doom-scrolling through YouTube shorts. My crochet projects laid unfinished in my bag and my personal mobile app development project remained an idea. I could not bring myself to do anything more than the bare minimum required of me, and even that was becoming difficult. When the signs had reappeared, I had assumed it had been a holdover from the bad habits I had picked up from virtual learning during the COVID-19 lockdown as well as my already existing issues with focus. Procrastination had been a habit I had picked up from the lockdown as well as being unable to focus very long, being easily distracted by reading stories online. My insomnia had been an existing issue for as long as I had known, and I have had a habit of pacing around my room whenever I got excited while daydreaming or had a burst of energy I needed to burn. Conversely, I have also had a habit--and ability--to just sit quietly when I wasn't doing anything, sometimes for hours on end. It was because of time that I realized that these symptoms were unusual and not just me in a funk or being stuck in bad habits: my insomnia kept me up longer than usual, I spent longer periods of time not doing anything, and most damning of all, my "bad days" and "unproductive days" kept getting increasingly frequent. Last month, I had decided to go to CAPS--Rutgers' mental health program--to get diagnosed and to find help. My depressive episode, as I had been unofficially diagnosed with--had been only affecting my hobbies at first, but I had seen signs of it beginning to affect my schoolwork as well. I'll admit that I had got mainly out of concern for how the current state of my mental health would tarnish the things I loved rather if it kept degrading at the rate it was rather than out of concern of how my schoolwork might have been affected; I had been doing fairly well with keeping my grades up in the past. I want to be able to keep enjoying the things I love and be able to pick up my hobbies any time I had a few hours free because I want to, not because I have to force myself to. At CAPS, I hope to find a long-term solution to my depression. I've been having weekly therapy sessions that I believe have been quite helpful in fighting my depression. I've been able to pick up the personal projects I've been working on and play Genshin for short periods of time, which I think is good progress. I wish deep in my heart that I'll be able to find a working long-term solution by the end of my four years at Rutgers so that I may be able to go into my working life confident that I can enjoy the things I love while still getting what needs to be done finished. Hopefully, my mental health will improve enough that I can work on my projects with better focus and determination, and I will be able to graduate from Rutgers a proud student with my completed projects adorning my resume.

I plan to expand my knowledge in Java and learn Python while in college. As a computer science major, I need to have a solid grasp on the programming languages I already know while also learning new programming languages to keep up with the market. The computer science industry is constantly evolving, and with the recent addition of artificial intelligence, I need to have as many resources available as possible in order to prove my worth. I also hope to make friends and form connections while at college. Not only would making friends give me people to hang out and discuss my interests with, and if they are also computer science majors, I would be able to exchange tips with them and ask for help when I need it. Not only that, but connections are extremely important in society, allowing access to hard-to-find information and resources. Otherwise, I hope to enjoy my college life thoroughly, having fun and making new friends while also learning new things and excelling in my studies. I plan to combine these goals by taking more coding related courses as well as attending hackathons and similar computer science related events. As a computer science major, I strongly believe that attending multiple hackathons will not only give me more experience in building apps, websites, and other types of programs, but will also allow me to network and form connections. There will undoubtedly be people with much more experience there than I have, so I will be able to learn many different things from them as well as learn to see problems from different perspectives. I will also be able to learn different tips and tricks from the more experienced members, allowing me to improve my programming skills. I believe I will also be able to make more friends at a hackathon due to our common interest in programming and computer science. We would be able to help each other code and debug each other’s programs as well as teach each other different tricks to help improve our programming skills. I have attended one hackathon so far, and it was a very unique experience for me. I have never gone to a hackathon before, nor have I been faced with a task that had such vague parameters that more or less amounted to “do whatever you want and we’ll decide if we like the results”. This required me to think outside the (nonexistent) box and create my own program from complete scratch that would at least be interesting enough to be considered for a prize–my team ended up creating a choose-your-own-adventure story program based on the life of a squirrel. We did not win any prizes, but I feel rather proud of myself for getting through my first hackathon. I hope to learn how to use and build GUIs at my next hackathon. Learning how to build a GUI would most certainly improve my programming skills, especially since every app needs a good GUI to attract users. Once I have the basic ideas down, I hope that I will be able to build my own app. If my app could be put on the Google Play app store, that would be incredible.

My favorite anime of all time is Naruto. It's a classic and has a lot of filler episodes, but the storyline and the characters are incredible. The backstory of many characters is well-made, and the development of these characters is good. There were many scenes that made me cry (such as Itachi's death), laugh (such as Team 7 trying to see Kakashi's face (and failing), and cheer (such as Naruto's fight against Shukaku). It's a rollercoaster of emotions with many hidden seeds as well as a lot of potential for my imagination to feed off of in creating What If...? scenarios. Kakashi, my favorite character of the series, has a deep and tragic backstory and still manages to pull through--if only by the skin of his teeth. There are many things I wonder and often daydream about: What if Kakashi had someone to anchor and support him even after the deaths of his family and team? What if he trained Team 7 to become powerhouses before they went their own ways? What if Minato had arrived in time to save Obito from being crushed? There are so many What If...?s that my mind can create scenarios from--and I often do. I dream up scenarios where there is a fourth member of Team Minato, one that survives, that stays with Kakashi throughout everything, so that he will always have someone to come home to. Naruto is a fandom with a lot of potential for not just its characters, but also the jutsu and seals that can be created. Imagine the possibilities that involve just space-time seals or storage seals! Dreaming of Sunshine by Silver Queen on fanfiction.net (and the fandom that this story has created on AO3) has opened my mind to the infinite possibilities involving sealing and has also made me reconsider the concept of time, space, and the multiverse many times. There is so much potential for fanfiction ideas in the Naruto fandom. Barring the very real (and likely) possibility of death and permanent disfigurement of being in that universe, I would definitely love to visit if only to learn more about how jutsus work (I'm not crazy enough to poke at the traumas of paranoid ninjas, no matter how much I love them!).

Artificial intelligence has always been fascinating to me. Ever since I was young, I've always been fascinated with computers and technology, but I've been especially enamoured with AIs. Tony Stark was (and still is!) one of my favorite characters, along with Batman, both of whom have AIs that help them save the world. I've always fancied the idea of creating my own version of JARVIS which I would call IRIS. The idea of creating advanced technology for the common people to use to make their lives better was exciting and always sent my mind spinning with ideas on different ways AIs and computer programs could be created, used, and modified to serve different purposes. On the other hand, the fact that we do not know the limits of artificial intelligence is worrying, and the process to learn those limits is risky, as we do not know if there is a tipping point that would cause the AI to decide to disobey its basic commands and cause possible harm to other human beings. I hope to use this scholarship to pay for college in order to further study artificial intelligence and understand the limits of this new type of technology. College is expensive, so being able to lighten the financial burden even by a little bit will allow me to dedicate more time and effort to my studies so I have less to worry about after receiving my Bachelor's degree, as I am planning to get a Master's degree soon after.

Thanks to my Tae Kwon Do lessons, I am more disciplined, focused, and confident. Before I started Tae Kwon Do, I was quieter and shyer. I was less likely to approach people for conversation out of my own violation. My Tae Kwon Do lessons brought me out of my shell and gave me the confidence to reach out to other people for conversation rather than simply listening in and hoping for a pause so I could contribute my thoughts on the topic. I feel that I am more outgoing in class and more eager to share my thoughts with the entire class instead of just with my class partner or the groups I may be assigned to. Tae Kwon Do was the main factor in my transformation into who I am today because it allowed me to be more expressive of who I am and my thoughts and beliefs. If not for my Tae Kwon Do classes, I believe it would have been much harder for me to escape my previous shyness.

Writing gives me an outlet for me to pour out my imagination and feelings into my stories. Inspiration usually comes to me randomly, whether it is while listening to music or when I am two seconds away from falling asleep. I always take time to write my spontaneous ideas down and usually go back to my collection of prompts whenever I have the time to try and flesh out a proper story. Writing allows me to step away from the real world and build a unique world and adventure just from my imagination. Using different words or phrases can cause people to imagine scenarios slightly differently--using the word "splash" would bring to mind a child playing in a puddle while "splatter" would bring to mind either paint droplets hitting a canvas or a spray of blood, depending on the context--which I find fascinating, so I always take my time to search for the right words to evoke the exact image and feelings I feel and imagine while creating my story. My mind often runs wild, drawing up "what-if" scenarios from what I read, hear, and think about. I've always been good at connecting different ideas, and the creation of a new idea often comes from the distant connection of one idea to the next. I could go from connecting thinking about cars and then connecting them to carriages, then the medieval era and royalty, to a clash between the Imperial Palace and the Church, before beginning to weave a story about a character planning to tear down both the Imperial Palace and the Church after constantly facing the contempt of nobles and the indifference of the priests of the Church for the majority of their younger years. This ability to connect different ideas has not only served me well when writing stories but has also helped me in academics and in understanding a wide variety of topics, ranging from Physics to College Writing. I strongly believe that my ability will continue to serve me well throughout college and into my adult years. I hope to use this scholarship to help save money during my time in college. College is an expensive journey, but with the help of scholarship money along with internships and part-time jobs, I am hoping to be able to save money so I have a stronger foothold when I leave college. If I can save more money, I would not need to worry as much about how I would be able to repay student loans while working toward my Master's degree. The amount of money I would have to repay from student loans would be greatly reduced, and I would be able to focus more on my studies and my work because it would be easier to repay my loans. I want my time in college to be memorable and enjoyable, and with the help of this scholarship, it would be even more so.

Ever since I was young, I've always been fascinated with computers and technology. Tony Stark was (and still is!) one of my favorite characters, along with Batman. I've always fancied the idea of creating my own version of JARVIS, which I would affectionately call IRIS. The idea of creating advanced technology for the common people to use to make their lives better was exciting and always sent my mind spinning with ideas on different ways AIs and computer programs could be created, used, and modified to serve different purposes. I always imagined having a robotic friend that could converse like a human but would still be able to retain the innocence of a programmed robot while holding the intelligence of an AI. An innocent but cute AI with a human-like personality would be just adorable! My dream job is to work as a data scientist or an AI programmer at Google. Google has one of the most advanced computer algorithms in the world, so working at Google would be an incredible opportunity for me to learn more about how artificial intelligence works and how it handles big data, allowing me to gain a better understanding of how I should design my AI. This would allow me to make my future AI more stable and more accurate as well as less dangerous and prone to going evil. M3GAN's trailer was terrifying, so I never watched it, but AIs and technology in general becoming dangerous to mankind is one of my worst fears (despite my love for AIs), so I would like to take the opportunity to design my AI to be as human-like as possible, but with an unwavering personality that would never betray mankind or have dark thoughts. The innocence of a child is something I dearly hope to emulate in artificial intelligence. I believe that I am the best candidate for receiving the Chris Jackson Computer Science Education scholarship because I greatly enjoy programming and artificial intelligence, so by receiving this scholarship, I will be able to focus more on my studies and my future goals without having to worry as much about my financial situation. Additionally, with the help of this scholarship, I will be able to save more money for after I graduate college, allowing me to have better prospects when leaving college and entering the life of a true adult. I will have less student loan debt to pay off as well as more money available to use to sort out my future living situation and to pay for necessities, such as groceries or bills.

Pinky-Promise by Katherine Lau Make me a promise, One you won't forget. Promise me we'll meet again Whether it's a year from now Or a decade into the future. We'll meet each other at a café in Peru Or in a subway station somewhere across the world. We'll grab a coffee and laugh at the past. We'll laugh at the time I spilled juice all over my clothes Or the time you tripped while walking down the hall. We'll make fun of that one kid, The kid that always was a jerk. We'll talk about our careers and our families. We'll talk about the future and our dreams of greatness. We'll trade gossip and jokes that only we understand. And maybe when we're done And we've gone our separate ways, We'll promise to meet again Somewhere under a blanket of stars. So hook your pinky around mine As the caps and tassels fly And the people cheer and wave their diplomas That we'll meet again My Dear Friend.

Feminism is gender equality. It is not creating a female-dominant society, but rather making men and women true equals in society and life. It is about erasing boundaries and gender roles and not designating what men and women "can" and "can't" do. It is about resetting the system that controls us to make a fairer society. The world needs more feminists. I am a proud feminist, and I am helping to contribute to the feminist movement in my community by learning about the unfairness of the world to become a public intellectual and expose the unfairness of society. I strongly desire to open the eyes of the people and guide people to use logic and common sense to realize that society needs correcting and that gender equality should replace gender inequality to make the world a better place. Natasha Romanoff of the Avengers from Marvel is my absolute favorite female character of all. She is a logical and brave person capable enough to fight on equal footing with the other Avengers and is generally an all-around badass. She was brave enough to follow what she believed was right and admit to her mistakes. I aspire to be as strong-willed and bold as she is and to help society change and expose the wrongness around us just as she had exposed the secrets of HYDRA--a secret evil organization--to the world. I hope to make people understand that society can always be better and can always be improved. Gender inequality is one of the first things that need to be corrected to allow for a more unified and peaceful world where everyone can stand on equal footing. Once that is achieved, society will be able to move forwards with ease to help correct the other major problems--such as global warming and poverty--as a united front. All problems can be easily solved when society unites as one, and for that to be possible, gender inequality must go. I am determined to help drive this change as a young woman emerging in the business and technology world and spread the mission to stop gender inequality to everyone I can reach. Attending college and university will allow me to gain the necessary skills to prosper and allow me to prove that women are just as incredible and resourceful as men. Small, continuous actions can cause big changes, and I want to help make those changes possible.

Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, is my most favorite female character of all. She is strong, clever, resilient, and brave. Natasha as endured numerous hardships throughout her life, but they have made her stronger and have molded her to work towards becoming a better person. Natasha is an incredible assassin and Avenger. Her intelligence and combat abilities are nothing to scoff at, and despite being one of the only Avengers without superpowers or extremely advanced technology to back them up, she is able to stand on even footing with the rest of her team. She is known as the star pupil of the Red Room, where she had trained to become an assassin, which shows how much work she put into training to become the best, as only 1 out of roughly 20 girls graduated from the program. In the movie "Avengers", Natasha once said, "I've got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out" while talking to Loki, meaning that she has done bad things in the past, but she is working towards making up for those mistakes. She could have just forgotten about what she had done, but instead she works towards making amends. This shows she is a responsible person with a strong moral code. In "Endgame", Natasha sacrificed her life so her partner and best friend Clint Barton could obtain the Soul Stone by throwing herself of a cliff so he wouldn't have to sacrifice himself and so he could get back his family. This shows how she knows what has to be done and is willing to give her life to make sure that the end goal is reached. Throughout her life, Natasha has been faced with endless trial and hardship, but she has never once backed down nor faltered. I admire her for her resilience in the face of difficulty and her drive to do what is needed and what is right. Despite leading a life of pain and tragedy, Natasha continued to move forwards, which I find admirable and inspiring. I want to be able to overcome any difficulty as she had during college and in my future career. Natasha Romanoff inspires me to become a stronger and better person through her story. She is the kind of person I want to be as an adult, and I want to learn from her and her mistakes to become as confident and resilient of a person as she was.

Enough is Enough Eva Williams was a Hufflepuff through and through. She was kind, loyal, determined, and patient. Very patient. Now, Eva was a very tolerant person, but even she had her limits, which finally snapped when she caught her boyfriend James Potter hexing her Slytherin friend for the fourth time that week with his trio of friends laughing behind him. "Stop it!" Eva yelled, shoving James away from the fallen form of Severus Snape. "Enough! What is wrong with you two?! Why the hell do you hate each other so much that you can't stop trying to hex each other every time you are in the same area?!" James' friends immediately quieted. "Eva...." Severus said, getting slowly to his feet. "Enough! Explain now, the both of you!" Eva glared at the two boys. "He's trying to take you away from me!" James burst out. "He just wants you to himself, even though he knows it's impossible, being the greasy-haired slime ball he is!" Severus blinked in shock. "Wait, that's why you were picking on me?" "Yes! Why else would I?" "Oh my Salazar! I don't even like Eva that way! You seriously thought that?! I like Lily, for Merlin's sake! Besides, do you even think I want to be a grease ball? I care about my hair almost as much as your friend Black does!" Severus groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "Me?" Behind James, Sirius Black pointed at himself in surprise. "Yes, you! Besides, it's not my fault anyway! Some idiot in my dorm keeps stealing my shampoo, and by the time I get it back, it's almost all gone!" "Oh, James looked embarrassed. "Now, I kind of feel bad." "As you should," Eva huffed, crossing her arms. "You shouldn't make assumptions, you know." "Sorry, love." "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." "Right," James grimaced. He turned to Severus, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm...really sorry for hexing you. And for assuming things without finding the truth." Eva nodded in approval. "It's...alright, I suppose. It'll take a bit for me to fully forgive you, but I suppose this is alright as long as you promise me not to do it again," Severus said uncomfortably. "Well," James said, searching his mind for ideas. "How about I make it up to you? I'll help get you and Lily together and help you catch whoever's stealing your shampoo, alright? Deal?" Severus considered it for a moment. "Deal." The two boys shook hands. Eva beamed. "So we're all good now?" James smiled down at the Hufflepuff. "Yeah." She threw her arms around them and brought them in for a hug. "I'm so proud of the two of you." The girl released the boys and turned to her boyfriend. "You can go hang out with Sirius, Remus, and Peter. I'll be with Severus. Just don't forget to meet me by the Black Lake for our date, alright?" James grinned. "Wouldn't miss it for the world, love." He ran off towards his waving friends. "Come on, lads! We've got a shampoo thief to catch!"

Mulan was and is my favorite Disney character of all time. I find her extremely admirable and see her as a strong, confident, and independent woman despite the norms of ancient chinese society. I see a lot of similarities between the two of us and see her as someone I would want to learn from and be like. Mulan lived in a society where everyone was expected to conform to gender norms and meet societal expectations. However, Mulan wasn't very good at being the obedient bride that people wanted her to be, similar to myself. I also like Mulan because we are both Chinese and understand the importance of family. She dropped everything and ran off to join the army under disguise when she found out a man from each family had to fight in the war and she realized that her father was too old and sick to fight. Although her true gender was eventually discovered, Mulan continued to fight despite orders for her to return home in order to save the soldiers and the emperor. Her efforts were not in vain, and she arrived just in time to turn the tides of battle. She was rewarded for her efforts and was thanked by the emperor and the entire country for saving them. What I admire most about Mulan are her tenacity and quick wits, which allowed her to help win the war and defeat the Huns. She used her brains to save the emperor and her country, proving that brawn does not always win. Mulan is someone I admire; she is a woman that is brave, clever, loyal, and unafraid to defy societal norms. I aspire to be someone as strong-willed and as confident as her. I may not be saving countries or fighting battles like Mulan, but I want to use my talents to help change the world.

My current favorite song is "Thumbs" by Sabrina Carpenter. The song contains a serious message about how the world works, which I find extremely true. The song talks about how people are trapped in a cycle created by themselves. People keep marrying and multiplying, bringing more people into the cycle. It mentions how people work for others, and when someone else works for them, they think they are in power and in control of their lives, but they are all just getting "paid the very same". They keep tricking themselves and are never able to break out of the cycle. This song keeps me grounded to reality and makes me think more deeply about how our society works. It gives me ideas for different stories, such as "What if this happened?" or "What if that didn't happen?". I like this song for its realism and truthfulness about our society and our world. It also has a really nice rhythm and vibe.

Math is extremely straightforward. Compared to subjects like philosophy or English, there is no need to search for hidden meanings or subtle hints towards vague concepts. Math follows strict sets of rules, which is easy to understand once to learn the method to read each formula or graph. Math allows my brain to relax as I factor algebraic equations or analyze graphs to find the points of inflection because they are easily solved by following certain methods. Math is repetitive but relaxing, allowing me to clear my mind as I focus on finding the correct solutions for each problem. Math is both simple and complicated; it is simple in the fact that the same method can be used to solve a wide variety of problems and equations, but it is complicated due to the many different variables, equations, and formulas there are. I enjoy this kind of polarity because it is similar to the polarity of the universe. There is always an opposite for everything (light and dark, life and death, fire and water, reality and illusion, etc.), which makes me think that math is the core of the universe. Math is logical and rigid, but there is still a degree of flexibility, and I believe that the universe matches these characteristics. Math parallels the universe and completing math problems makes me feel almost like I am understanding the universe we are in a little better. That is why I enjoy math so much.

YouTube surveys its users to gather information on what they like to find content for users to watch. I chose a data science major because I'm interested in creating some sort of YouTube algorithm. I want to analyze data to create new perspectives to optimize strategies for connecting users to video content. Analyzing large amounts of data using mathematics, statistics, and artificial intelligence which is something I want to do in the future. It would be a dream come true if I get to work for Google and create my own AI thanks to the knowledge I gain during college.

The Earth is a giant trash heap. Garbage fills the oceans and the soil, creating toxic fumes and killing animals left and right. If the trash in the soil was disposed of in a way that would not endanger animals and the oceans were cleaned up, the planet would be cleaner and a better place for everyone and everything. On April 24, 2022, members of the Formosa Association of Student Cultural Ambassadors (FASCA) and I were invited to the annual Edison Earth Day Celebration. There, FASCA and I worked to help clean up a lake by picking up litter. A group of members went with me around half of the lake filling up plastic bags with miscellaneous pieces of litter, ranging from plastic cup lids to wrappers and even a rusted metal U-channel signpost. After we returned to our starting point to drop off the bags of trash we had collected, I went off on my own to circle the lake once more, armed with a new bag for litter. This time, I circled the entire lake, and when I returned, I had collected over a dozen beer bottles (a majority coming from the undergrowth by the railroad running past the lake), several toothbrushes, a large number of plastic bags, and a few miscellaneous pieces of litter. I returned to the FASCA booth satisfied with my efforts. I may have helped clean up one area, but the world is a large place, and it is impossible for a single person to make a large impact in cleaning up litter without help. If more people helped, humanity will be en route to a cleaner planet. Solutions need to be found to help our planet. We need to join hands to make a difference. Let's all work for a cleaner planet.