@kola__k

As a second-generation Asian young woman, I know there are societal expectations on what I should do with the rest of my life. I'm Asian, so I should live with my parents and take care of them. I'm Chinese, so I should become a doctor or lawyer. I'm Vietnamese, so I should become a nail technician. My parents are first-generation immigrants who went to school for cosmetology. My father became a barber, and my mother a nail tech. My grandfather worked as a carpenter until retirement. I hope to pursue further education in the field of law enforcement, major in criminal justice, and become an investigator. Unlike police officers, investigative careers often require a bachelor's degree and at least a year's experience in investigative work. I hope that, with the help of financial aid and scholarships, I can achieve my dream of becoming a District Attorney's investigator. I plan to go to college at San Francisco State University and major in criminal justice, which means my bachelor's degree will cost just under $30,000 for tuition. During my college years, I want to intern at the District Attorney's Office of San Francisco to understand how the judicial system works and gain hands-on experience. After college, I want to intern with a private investigator to gain the career experience in investigation required for further advancement in my investigative career. In the next stage in my career, I want to work with the Public Defender's office as a Public Defender's investigator. Finally, my career goal is to become a District Attorney's investigator. I'm angered by people who commit crimes and get away scot-free. I live in a low-income area of San Francisco, and I know how it feels to be afraid to be robbed or attacked while walking down the street. Recently, someone broke into my father's car, stealing his disabled parking placard and car equipment. I feel morally obligated to work with people who will help prevent these crimes. I recently talked with a family friend who told me that as an Asian woman, I would have a tough time working in law enforcement and be a target of harassment. I was told that I'd be infantilized and treated horribly. I know that as a woman, and especially as an Asian woman, I will have a harder time being taken seriously in a law enforcement career. I'll be part of a very small minority of Asian women in law enforcement. As a half-Vietnamese youth, I rarely see Southeast Asian people in the media, and even fewer who are Vietnamese like me. People don't take my heritage seriously because I'm half Chinese and half Vietnamese, some flat-out saying I must be one or the other. I want to show that I can belong to both cultures. I want to be that strong Chinese-Vietnamese figure for the people of my community who don't feel represented or feel trapped in societal expectations. I want to prove that I can be a valuable member of law enforcement and be strong in the face of adversity. Winning this scholarship money would allow me to pursue my dream and begin my career path by going to college. I will be able to focus on my coursework and internships during college and have to worry less about my student loan debt further into my career. As an investigator, I will be able to give back to the community and city that has already given me so much. I know I will be able to use this scholarship money to not only benefit myself but my community as well.

As a second-generation Asian young woman, I know there are societal expectations on what I should do with the rest of my life. I'm Asian, so I should live with my parents and take care of them. I'm Chinese, so I should become a doctor or lawyer. I'm Vietnamese, so I should become a nail technician. My parents are first-generation immigrants who went to school for cosmetology. My father became a barber, and my mother a nail tech. My grandfather worked as a carpenter until retirement. I hope to pursue further education in the field of law enforcement, major in criminal justice, and become an investigator. Unlike police officers, investigative careers often require a bachelor's degree and at least a year's experience in investigative work. I hope that, with the help of financial aid and scholarships, I can achieve my dream of becoming a District Attorney's investigator. I plan to go to college at San Francisco State University and major in criminal justice, which means my bachelor's degree will cost just under $30,000 for tuition. During my college years, I want to intern at the District Attorney's Office of San Francisco to understand how the judicial system works and gain hands-on experience. After college, I want to intern with a private investigator to gain the career experience in investigation required for further advancement in my investigative career. In the next stage in my career, I want to work with the Public Defender's office as a Public Defender's investigator. Finally, my career goal is to become a District Attorney's investigator. I'm angered by people who commit crimes and get away scot-free. I live in a low-income area of San Francisco, and I know how it feels to be afraid to be robbed or attacked while walking down the street. Recently, someone broke into my father's car, stealing his disabled parking placard and car equipment. I feel morally obligated to work with people who will help prevent these crimes. I recently talked with a family friend who told me that as an Asian woman, I would have a tough time working in law enforcement and be a target of harassment. I was told that I'd be infantilized and treated horribly. I know that as a woman, and especially as an Asian woman, I will have a harder time being taken seriously in a law enforcement career. I'll be part of a very small minority of Asian women in law enforcement. As a half-Vietnamese youth, I rarely see Southeast Asian people in the media, and even fewer who are Vietnamese like me. People don't take my heritage seriously because I'm half Chinese and half Vietnamese, some flat-out saying I must be one or the other. I want to show that I can belong to both cultures. I want to be that strong Chinese-Vietnamese figure for the people of my community who don't feel represented or feel trapped in societal expectations. I want to prove that I can be a valuable member of law enforcement and be strong in the face of adversity. Winning this scholarship money would allow me to pursue my dream and begin my career path by going to college. I will be able to focus on my coursework and internships during college and have to worry less about my student loan debt further into my career. As an investigator, I will be able to give back to the community and city that has already given me so much.

When I first read the Harry Potter series, I knew immediately that I was a Ravenclaw. Intelligence, creativity, cleverness, wisdom, and wit all seemed like traits that described me. I was one of the most academically focused students, had some of the highest grades, and was eager to learn anything about everything. To me, learning is one of the most important and fun things to do. Some people hate school, which is understandable because school forces you to learn about things you might not be interested in. I love school, though. I'm competitive, which drives me to get high grades and do extra credit in class. I love to dive deep into things that interest me, and I can spend hours reading website after website on a subject. I recently received an old Minolta AL-F camera and spent about two hours researching everything I needed to know about film photography. I think learning about anything at all is beneficial to everyday life. You never know when something mundane you learned a year ago may become relevant or valuable. For example, I was recently painting one of my shirts when I realized that the geometry skills I learned over the summer in an intensive geometry course would help me create evenly spaced angled lines in my pattern. Sometimes, skills you learn in one subject may apply to unrelated subjects. Creativity also comes up in one of my interests: art. I've loved making art since before I could remember. My classmates described me as a great artist, and I've been happy to draw them anything they wanted. I've usually been the designated artist for most group projects, and sometimes I go overboard on art assignments. Art is a way to show off my personality, and I also like to infuse my sense of humor into a piece. I prefer making 3D art pieces like miniature models and dioramas, and it's always gratifying to see hours of work turn into a beautiful piece of artwork. The Harry Potter character I resonate most with is Hermione Granger, even though she's a Gryffindor. The Harry Potter books reveal that Hermione was seriously considered for Ravenclaw due to her intelligence and academic prowess but was put into Gryffindor instead. I believe the Sorting Hat put her into Gryffindor because she's brave and was shown in the books to have the courage to put herself in danger to stand up for her friends and what they believed in. Hermione also was single-minded, as shown when she disregarded Divination's credibility or Luna's beliefs in magical creatures. She didn't demonstrate the creativity that Ravenclaws value. However, I value creativity and imagination and prefer to stay behind the scenes rather than putting myself on the front lines as Hermione did in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. My chosen career path reflects this. I want to be an investigator, collecting the information and evidence that attorneys and courts use to serve justice. Investigators must be wise, clever, and intelligent to interrogate witnesses, know where and how to collect evidence, and write detailed reports. My Ravenclaw traits would be extremely useful for this career. If I were a child in a wizarding family who'd just received a letter of acceptance from Hogwarts, I'd be elated to know I would have a place in Ravenclaw House.

A few months ago, in June, I found a YouTube channel featuring a criminal lawyer reacting to criminal interrogations. As I watched a video of an interrogation, something clicked in my head. I realized that what I saw on the screen was what I wanted to be. I wanted to be an investigator, coaxing critical information out of a witness or suspect for attorneys to use in their cases. Before then, I'd always thought I wanted to be a lawyer. Since the third grade, people have told me I'd be a great lawyer because of my natural argumentative nature. I reveled in the thought of arguing for a client, using information in my favor to get my client acquitted. I played mock trial games online and watched videos of people explaining interesting sections of criminal law. Even then, I was more interested in criminal law as a whole. Once I started researching the investigator career more in-depth, I realized there was more to law enforcement than I'd initially believed. I looked into everything I could find on police work and other law enforcement careers and realized just how much training went into becoming an officer of the law. I researched as much as I could about peace officer training and how to take the training and gain the experience I needed to become an investigator. My research helped me realize how much work was required to become an investigator, but I know it will be worth it. I want to become an investigator because nobody is above the law, and those who break it must be brought to justice. It's unfair that someone can hurt someone, physically or emotionally, and get away unscathed. The investigation of a crime is the first step taken to serve justice to those who deserve it. A proper investigation provides attorneys and juries with the most information possible to give relief to victims of crimes and punish those who deserve it. An investigator is unbiased, and their sole purpose is to collect information and evidence without interpreting it. My strong sense of morality and ethical responsibility also drew me to become an investigator because of this. I know I can positively impact victims of crime and my community as a whole as an investigator. Attorneys provided with thorough information would be able to properly serve justice, whether that means a defendant is found guilty or not. A thorough investigation prevents an innocent defendant from being locked away or a guilty one from getting away with a crime. I can benefit the criminal justice system by doing my job with impartiality and thorough investigation. There have been too many reports of corruption in the criminal justice system, and the first step I can take to help reform the system is to do my job properly first. I want to start by doing my job well before advocating for reform peacefully and constructively. The criminal justice system isn't perfect, but I want to do my part to improve it and benefit the community and city I love.

If I could have everyone in the world read just one book, I would choose They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera because it is a beautiful representation of youth, love, and mortality. They Both Die at the End is set in a near-future New York where a company, Death-Cast, calls you the day you will die. The call tells you that you will die within the next 24 hours, but not exactly when, where, or how. The book follows two main characters, Mateo and Rufus. Mateo is a shy, introverted 18-year-old who stays at home with little interaction with others until he receives a Death-Cast call and decides to sign up for an app called Last Friend made to connect people who receive Death-Cast calls, called Deckers, with other people or other Deckers so that they can have a fulfilling last day alive. He connects with a bisexual 17-year-old named Rufus, who is also a Decker. Rufus is an orphan who lives in a group home. As the story progresses, the two explore New York, fall in love, and pour their souls out to each other. The story ends as the title bluntly states: they both die at the end. The book is written in a way I have never seen before. The chapters are timestamped, highlighting how little time the characters have to live. The book is written entirely in first-person, mostly rotating between the two main characters. The book introduces other characters’ perspectives as well. Some chapters depict a character experiencing an event that seems unrelated to the central plot until the perspective switches and Mateo and Rufus must deal with the consequences of the character’s actions. The book resonated with me particularly because of its themes of mortality and letting go. Mateo’s father is in a coma, and he grapples with the thought that he won't see him wake before he dies. Rufus deals with guilt due to the deaths of his parents and sister. The boys know they will die in a matter of hours and must accept whatever happens. Personally, I have spent a lot of time worrying about my death, and the book helped me come to terms with my mortality. The message I want everyone to take away from this book is to live each day to its fullest like it’s your last day on Earth.