In November of 2021, my grandmother left the world. She passed away through a physician-assisted death with her husband and children surrounding her deathbed, and I have tried to suppress my memory of this since then. Her death tore up my general morale, extending to all facets of my life. There was a period in which my academic performance and motivation slumped as I was simply out of it. Her absence shook up my mind; her food, her voice, and her love all went with her and I would never experience any of it again. Nevertheless, I was able to overcome this through reconciliation with her death and with my grandfather, her husband. A week after her death, my grandfather met with me in private. He told me that my grief would have only hurt her more and that one of her wishes before she passed, was for her grandchildren to not have to struggle like she did when she fled her homeland and had to stake out a new living in the United States; me failing in this regard would have meant that her efforts and aspirations would have been in vain. Along with this, strengthening my relationship with my grandfather and attending my grandmother’s funeral provided some much-needed closure for my conscience. With these and time’s healing effects, my spirit was rejuvenated and the oppressive melancholy that her absence left was lessened. After weeks of mourning, I forced myself to restart my studying habits, vigorously reminding myself to move onwards with my grandmother’s message whenever the thought of the sorrow of missing my grandmother started to creep back into my head. As I write this, her passing still weighs down on me, but the knowledge of her struggle and legacy are what strengthen my resolve to push forward. In doing so, I know that I can complete her dream.

I stayed optimistic through the passing of my grandmother. The day that she passed, I still remember holding her right hand and telling her goodbye, for the final time ever before my parents took me home; they did not want me to see her pass away. My mom stayed with her siblings for the night so that my grandmother would be surrounded by her children for her last moments. The following day, my mom called my dad and I to tell us that she had passed away. It felt as if the sky had fallen on my chest. My grandmother had helped my mom raise me since I was taken home from the hospital, and now she was gone. Nevertheless, I had to continue. My grades started to slump as I no longer felt the drive to complete my work. Even when I wasn't actively thinking about her death, the constant gut feeling that something horrible happened still hurt me. Two weeks after her death, my grandfather told me that my grief would have only hurt her more and that one of her wishes, before she passed, was for her grandchildren to not have to struggle like she did when she fled Vietnam to stake out a new living in the United States. This, along with the closure that attending her funeral brought, helped to alleviate the oppressive melancholy that her absence left on me. With a refreshed mindset, my academic drive slowly started to come back to me. Though this wasn't the be-all-end-all cure, whenever my emotions began to damper again, I reminded myself of her sacrifice. Through all this, my struggle taught me that while life is short, their legacy can give someone the drive to push forward for them.

From 4th grade, I had a fascination with technology, programming specifically. My elementary school's Hour of Code programs was what introduced me to coding and it stuck with and influenced me since then, from elementary to middle school to my concluding year of high school. My academic goals are to obtain a tech internship and graduate magna cum laude in my graduating class in college. Through my future college programs, I hope to be able to obtain an internship that will teach me about both practical applications of programming alongside what it's like to work in the tech industry. This way I will be better suited to a tech job post-college and have experience in the field that can help me qualify for more jobs. Additionally, graduating magna cum laude would be a wonderful achievement; an achievement to seal off well over a decade's worth of academic effort. I believe that the completion of these two achievements, along with the paths that I will take to complete them, will help me to both look back at college as a time of growth and success and secure a job in the tech industry fresh out of college. I have excelled in years prior in high school, often completing semesters with me placed among the top-performing students, and look forward to continuing this performance into college and beyond, such as in my career. Unfortunately, the largest barrier between my goals and I is finances, or rather the lack of them. My lower-middle-class upbringing taught me austerity and appreciation for what I have and while valuable, these traits will only go so far. With this scholarship, I will be able to pay off at least some of my college tuition. This will make it possible for me to be able to even afford to go to college in the first place, which will be a mandatory prerequisite for my academic goals. Furthermore, rather than having to work a part-time job in retail or hospitality to accrue money to help pay off my expenses, I will be able to afford to do unpaid tech internships that will allow me to gain college credit, workplace experience, and computer science knowledge that I will need to both graduate and secure future job offers. Similarly, I can devote more time to my studies if I do not have to work a part-time job to pay for my tuition.

Something that I learned that changed my perspective on my self-worth is that imposter syndrome is a real phenomenon. Starting in 8th grade when I started to take school more seriously and focus on maintaining my straight A's, I started to compare myself more to my overachieving peers. I noticed that they would always seem to have an edge over me; on tests where I would have to study days in advance to get an A, they would put in less than half the effort and get the same results as I did. This self-critical mindset of mine still stays with me as I still have peers that do better academically than I do. 2 months ago while searching for tips on finding and applying for jobs, I came across a specific tip that mentioned imposter syndrome and how self-defeating it is. I did not know what this syndrome was so I googled it and found out that this phenomenon almost perfectly described what I felt for the past few years. I often felt that I was the odd one out in a class of overachieving students, and would try to improve myself by putting in more work or taking more advanced classes, just to find out that other kids were already a mile ahead. Finding out about imposter syndrome assuaged these thoughts that I was a weak performer in my advanced classes and boosted my self-confidence immensely. Now, while I still do mind my grades and performance relative to my classmates, being inferior to them isn't something that constantly occupies my mind whenever grades come out. I also apply this new way of thinking to other facets of my life, from my hobbies to my internship, and find that I can be more skilled than I realize.

I volunteer through school clubs and perform little actions to enact positive change for my community. I am specifically passionate about my culture, animal welfare, and the environment. I am a part of a club that does volunteer service that is called "Alpha Leo". In this club, I have participated in events such as writing letters to veterans, a canned food drive for the local food bank and helping with teacher appreciation week activities. On top of this, I am a part of my school's Vietnamese Student Association in which I participate in charity events and set up the school's annual Tet festival. In addition to this, I provide donations to the club. However, I believe that helping the community should go further than simply helping the people and that I should help all the residents, human or not. As such, I ran for and became the treasurer of our animal welfare club, officially called the "Promoting Animal Welfare Society" (PAWS). Since freshman year, I have participated in events in PAWS ranging from making blankets for dogs to overseeing the planning, execution, and cleanup of charity events for animal rescue groups. I will be continuing to volunteer with these groups, and join other school groups with a similar focus on community action in the 2022-2023 school year to end off my senior year on a high note.