As a civil engineering student, leader of three executive boards of on campus organizations, part time employee, mentor, and big sister I have many tasks and responsibilities that cause stress, anxiety, and seasonal depression. While I tend to struggle with superhero syndrome, "when a person takes on or assumes responsibility for doing everything because they are afraid to let others down", I am trying to lessen that mindset and prioritize myself and not put too much on my task list. I have a lot of the same mental health tips as Shawn, but I will list some of my own below. Kennedy's "Mental Health Tips": -Daily Workouts I feel like I am at my best when I am healthy and strong. I make time for five workouts or active days a week, and when I am consistent to that routine it benefits my mental health. Daily exercise is proven to help ease depression and anxiety by releasing endorphins that make you happy naturally along with other natural brain chemicals that can enhance your sense of well-being. Also, it makes me happy to see my progression in the gym. -Connect With Your Loved Ones Friends, family, pets, or any friendly face can help my mental state, help fight off depression and anxiety, and give a support system that will help you through a tough time. Focusing on quality friendships and the number of people around is important to me. It gives me so much relief and joy to know that I have family and friends that will support, love, and help me in any situation. -Prayer I am currently growing a stronger relationship with God, and I try to turn to prayer whenever I am having a hard time. I am choosing to put faith in him, and believe that I am on the right path and I am destined for greatness if I work hard and do everything in his power and glory. -Better My Diet A healthy and balanced diet is also proven to improve your mental health. Focus on eating plenty of fruits and vegetables along with foods rich in omega-3 to boost your mental health. Also, I have added the following food types to my diet as “brain foods”: fatty acids (i.e. salmon), dark green leafy vegetables, nuts, seeds, and legumes. -Ask For Help I have to remind myself that I do not always have to take on burdens alone. If I am overwhelmed with tasks and responsibilities its more beneficial for my mental health to express how I am feeling and ask for help. When you surround yourself with a strong support system/team they will help you with your work and be compassionate about what you are going through. Thank you for allowing me to express myself through this scholarship essay. I hope these tips helps others as they have helped me.

The environment in which I was raised including my family, home, neighborhood, and community, have been truly a blessing as together they have shaped and framed my personal, college, and career goals. I am an environmental engineering student. My goal is within a field where I can maximize my personal and academic strengths to be a problem solver to address issues related to energy conservation and the global environment. My career will help to bridge the gap from engineering to real world application and learn more about resource preservation. This choice is very fond to my heart because my career will be a direct affect to the sustainability of the planet. Environmental engineers protect the people and overall health of the planet by focusing on lessening the environment’s waste and pollution. The field is devoted to helping improve the environmental conditions of the Earth. I chose this career field because of my personal characteristics. I am caring, giving, and a forward thinker. These are all necessary personal traits of an environmental engineer. An environmental engineer not only cares about the health of planet for the current civilians, but also for the generations to come. An environmental engineer must donate time into studying the many different factors of the Earth. For example, they should know about soil, pollution, oil and gas extraction, etc. An environmental engineer should lastly be able to predict how our current actions will impact our community in the long run. I feel that I fall under these traits and I will be most effective in this career field. The environmental engineering field is solely about the community and improving and conserving what we have. That will be apart of my legacy, and how I will break the cycle.

The environment in which I was raised including my family, home, neighborhood, and community, have been truly a blessing as together they have shaped and framed my personal, college, and career goals. I am an environmental engineering student.I have selected this academic pathway because of the real world experiences that I have had with individuals and summer engineering programs. After undergrad I plan on pursuing a master’s degree in Environmental Studies to bridge the gap from engineering to real world application and learn more about resource preservation. My ultimate goal is to have a career in oil and gas extraction where I can maximize my personal and academic strengths to be an original problem solver to address issues related to energy conservation and the global environment. I was fortunate enough to be from an area of Houston that is filled with opportunity, diversity, and great people. Texas Southern University is a block away from my home therefore most of my neighbors are alumni or college students. My neighborhood has granted me with several interactions and opportunities that have taken my growth and development to the next level. My love for the S.T.E.M. field sproute at an opportunity that I took advantage of at Texas Southern. I participated in an aerospace camp there started by the late Dr. Ronald E. McNair Foundation. It allowed me to engage with professors, current STEM college students and engage in hands-on science projects with peers. It was an experience that changed my life and set me on the path to become an engineer. While low income areas are often affected by crime, poverty, and apathy, there are bright spots, and the camp at Texas Southern was mine. Being from this neighborhood, but knowing that opportunities like the ones I was exposed to exist, inspires me to be the best person I can be, to then be able to give back like Dr. McNair, who is a huge inspiration of mine. My goal is within a field where I can maximize my personal and academic strengths to be a problem solver to address issues related to energy conservation and the global environment. My career will help to bridge the gap from engineering to real world application and learn more about resource preservation. This choice is very fond to my heart because my career will be a direct affect to the sustainability of the planet. Environmental engineers protect the people and overall health of the planet by focusing on lessening the environment’s waste and pollution. The field is devoted to helping improve the environmental conditions of the Earth. I chose this career field because of my personal characteristics. I am caring, giving, and a forward thinker. These are all necessary personal traits of an environmental engineer. An environmental engineer not only cares about the health of planet for the current civilians, but also for the generations to come. An environmental engineer must donate time into studying the many different factors of the Earth. For example, they should know about soil, pollution, oil and gas extraction, etc. An environmental engineer should lastly be able to predict how our current actions will impact our community in the long run. I feel that I fall under these traits and I will be most effective in this career field. The environmental engineering field is solely about the community and improving and conserving what we have. That will be apart of my legacy, and how I will break the cycle.

Ronald McNair was an American NASA physicist and astronaut that died during the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger on January 1986. He means a lot to me because his contributions have directly affected my life. There is an engineering/STEM camp in his honor at the illustrious Texas Southern University that helped blossom most love for environmental engineering. Ronald McNair also earned a scholarship to attend my university, North Carolina A&T State University in 1967.

I am a civil engineering student with a concentration in environmental sciences. I have selected this academic pathway because of the real world experiences that I have had with individuals and summer engineering programs. After undergrad I plan on pursuing a master’s degree in Environmental Studies to bridge the gap from engineering to real world application and learn more about resource preservation. My ultimate goal is to have a career in oil and gas extraction where I can maximize my personal and academic strengths to be an original problem solver to address issues related to energy conservation and the global environment. I was also fortunate enough to have an externship experience with Schlumberger the summer after my senior year of high school. The whole summer I worked under an environmental engineer. I was so interested and very quickly became passionate about the tasks that I played a role in. The environmental engineer that I was working with was on multiple projects and his job was to give knowledge about anything that would help reduce the carbon footprint or protect all environmental aspects of the projects. I did a lot of research about oil and gas, soil, foundation setting, carbon foot prints, etc. All of this research informed me about the work that needs to be done to reduce the carbon foot print of the entire world. I would feel fulfilled to accept a full time environmental career after my collegiate education because I know that the work that I would be doing is directly helping the entire world. As humans we must all be considerate of what we are leaving behind for the future generations. My dream career would be playing a large role in bettering that.

I was fortunate enough to participate in my university's , North Carolina A&T State University, annual coronation. Coronation is a crowning ceremony for the royal court and all campus organization's mister and misses. I was crowned as Miss Society of Women Engineers. I was so happy and honored to be representing an organization that empowers women to succeed and advance in their future careers in STEM(science technology engineering and math). The ceremony was so beautiful, and we were able to safely hold it in an event space that followed COVID protocol. It was great to be honored and recognized.

The environment in which I was raised including my family, home, neighborhood, and community, have been truly a blessing as together they have shaped and framed my personal, college, and career goals. I was fortunate enough to be from an area of Houston that is filled with opportunity, diversity, and great people. Texas Southern University is a block away from my home therefore most of my neighbors are alumni or college students. My neighborhood has granted me with several interactions and opportunities that have taken my growth and development to the next level. My love for the S.T.E.M. field sprouted at an eye opening opportunity that I took place at Texas Southern University. I participated in an aerospace camp there started by the late Dr. Ronald E. McNair Foundation. It allowed me to engage with professors, current STEM college students and engage in hands-on science projects with peers. It was an experience that changed my life and set me on the path to become an engineer. While low income areas are often affected by crime, poverty, and apathy, there are bright spots, and the camp at Texas Southern was mine. Being from this neighborhood, but knowing that opportunities like the ones I was exposed to exist, inspires me to be the best person I can be, to then be able to give back like Dr. McNair, who is a huge inspiration of mine. I am a civil engineering student with a concentration in environmental sciences. I have selected this academic pathway because of the real world experiences that I have had with individuals and summer engineering programs. After undergrad I plan on pursuing a master’s degree in Environmental Studies to bridge the gap from engineering to real world application and learn more about resource preservation. My ultimate goal is to have a career in oil and gas extraction where I can maximize my personal and academic strengths to be an original problem solver to address issues related to energy conservation and the global environment. I was also fortunate enough to have an externship experience with Schlumberger the summer after my senior year of high school. The whole summer I worked under an environmental engineer. I was so interested and very quickly became passionate about the tasks that I played a role in. The environmental engineer that I was working with was on multiple projects and his job was to give knowledge about anything that would help reduce the carbon footprint or protect all environmental aspects of the projects. I did a lot of research about oil and gas, soil, foundation setting, carbon foot prints, etc. All of this research informed me about the work that needs to be done to reduce the carbon foot print of the entire world. I would feel fulfilled to accept a full time environmental career after my collegiate education because I know that the work that I would be doing is directly helping the entire world. As humans we must all be considerate of what we are leaving behind for the future generations. My dream career would be playing a large role in bettering that.