Mental illness is known to take lives. Up to 90% of individuals who die by suicide have experienced a mental disorder. My mental disorder almost made me part of that 90%. Since sophomore year of high school up until now, I have been in a mentally abusive relationship. This altered my brain chemistry and led to me getting diagnosed with BPD. This was heartbreaking news to me and my family. My mother had to experience my grandma with BPD and schizophrenia so my mom was already prepared for what could come, but she knew the challenges I would face. Not only did I have BPD, but I also got diagnosed with PTSD. Since I was nine years old, I have faced countless accounts of sexual assault which has caused many nightmares and traumatic responses. High school was very challenging for me as I became discouraged and unmotivated. I had many episodes and was battling finding a psychiatrist that was right for me. My teachers could tell that I had a lot going on and my chemistry teacher knew what was going on in my relationship. They tried to be there for me as much as possible and tried to bring my motivation for school back. I was encouraged to take an AP course my junior year with my chemistry teacher. He helped me pass the class and get a passing score on my AP exam. I ended up taking another AP course my senior year but ended up dropping out of it. My senior year of high school was one of the hardest times of my life so far. My BPD got really bad because I was getting manipulated by the boy I was with. It felt like one big storm of emotions that I couldn't control. BPD was taking over my life quicker than I could have ever imagined. My relationship with my mother started reminding her of my grandma. I would yell at her, push her away, and tell her that she was ruining my life. I ran away multiple times because I thought that by running away, I would escape my problems. I hurt my family members with harsh words and treated them like they were my enemies. It was upsetting to them to see me in such a bad mental state. It tore my family apart for a year or two and I deeply regret it. I thought that I was not going to graduate high school and that my goal of going to college was diminished. The phrase “we’re going to send you to a mental hospital” was said to me multiple times. My life felt like it was completely ruined. I didn’t want to live any second longer and dreaded waking up every day. I lost many friends in the process which also took a toll on my mental health. I finally met a good psychiatrist and got put on medication that was right for me. Even finding the right medication was a struggle but we eventually got there. Dealing with BPD and PTSD taught me not to take life for granted. It made me understand why so many people take their life due to their mental disorder. It is very overwhelming and can make someone feel hopeless. I now feel empathetic, more than I already was. I make sure to check on any individual I meet and make sure that they are okay or if they just need to talk for a minute. I will understand more than they know.

As a little girl growing up in a household where no one in my family went to college, it was hard finding someone to look up to that would encourage my educational goals. It became even harder during high school due to mental challenges I faced. These challenges caused my motivation for school to plummet. I felt like there was no hope for me to go to college, even graduating high school seemed impossible. I did not know if I would make it to college, but I did know one thing, I wanted to make an impact on people through my education. Education to me means making an enduring impact. In high school, I had a chemistry teacher that saw my potential but knew I was going through hardships. He encouraged me to continue my schoolwork and take his AP course to prepare for college. He believed in me to accomplish my goals and get my bachelor's degree. To this day, I still appreciate his encouragement and for not giving up on me. He gave me hope for my future. During my freshman year of college, I had a professor that saw that same potential in me. As a freshman, I felt a lot of pressure since I wanted to make my family proud as a first-generation student. My professor realized how smart I was and she encouraged me every day I came to class. She would check on me throughout the class period and encouraged me to meet with her if I was struggling with the course work. This gave me hope that college would not be that bad and that I had the courage to follow through for me, my family, and others around me. My chemistry teacher and professor both made an important impact on me. They saw my potential and believed I could do something with my education. I started to think about my long-term goals and I knew that I wanted to make an impact on every person I meet whether it be through my career or just life in general. I knew that I could make an impact on other first-generation girls by getting over my obstacles and pursuing a higher education. I wanted to show other young women and men that whatever they set their mind to, they could achieve. My long-term goals now include going to college for electrical engineering and continuing my education at graduate school to pursue a degree in robotic engineering. I want other first-generation students, especially women, to believe in themselves that they can get through college and they can get that career that they want. Education offers many opportunities for growth: growth in knowledge, skills, individuality, and a growing impact. When I hear the word education, it reminds me of who I am and what I’ve overcome to be where I am now. Education gives me the opportunity to make an impact on people through my future career. I plan to be a robotic engineer that creates space rovers for NASA. I can make an impact on the world through research that wouldn’t be possible without education. Overall education is an important aspect in my life. I want to make an impact on others through my education, and I want others to see that pursuing education will give them more opportunities and help them reach their life goals.

I plan to make a positive impact on the world through my technical career in electrical engineering by aiding in the design and creation of robotics. Robotics has positively impacted society because it has aided in the quality of life, efficiency, healthcare and agriculture, exploration and much more. Electrical engineering is the core foundation for robotics. Mechanical engineers design the robotics and put them together, but electrical engineers wire and create intricate circuits that power the robot to actually come to life. As an electrical engineer, I would help power the motors and sensors that mechanical engineers create for robotics. I would aid in precision motor control and allow the motors and sensors to properly and effectively run. I would also work to create proper communication systems to allow robots to communicate wirelessly. This would impact society positively because robotics is used greatly in healthcare. There are robotics systems that help assist in minimally invasive surgeries and procedures that most doctors cannot perform without robotic aid. Lots of lives have been saved and improved because of robotics in healthcare. As an electrical engineer I would also aid in exploration through robotics. NASA has sent rockets to space and have sent probes that collect information that would impact society. Without electrical engineers, people would not have been able to discover environments that are too hostile and distant for humans to go. Robotic rovers and landers have been able to discover many places including Mars due to engineering. As an electrical engineer, I would help wire the rockets and land rovers to be able to operate and function. I would help them run properly and allow them to communicate information back to the people at NASA through wireless communication. Exploration would positively impact the development of society and globalization. I would also make a positive impact on society through my technical career by aiding in robotics in the workplace. Robotics has allowed for more efficient and effective work procedures to be in place. Robots allow precise and repetitive movements to continue for a long period of time without breaks. This reduces human error and takes away dangerous jobs for humans. Robots can perform dangerous tasks that pose a safety risk towards humans which save them from enduring any form of pain or discomfort. I strive to make an impact on others whether it's through my career or daily life. Studying electrical engineering is very important to me as I know I can make an impact on the world and people around me through continuous improvement with robotics. My goal is to make an impact on the world by working closely with NASA or any related company to aid in the exploration provided by robotics. I hope to make an impact on the improvement and efficiency of society through my technical career as an electrical engineer.

Most children my age grew up watching Blue's Clues or Dora the Explorer, but I grew up watching the Science Discovery Channel. My fascination with science grew from the countless days sitting in the living room with my father watching the latest scientific discovery. The facts that I learned inspired me to create my own ‘scientific notebook’ where I wrote information about our Solar System that I learned from the television documentaries. I knew from the very beginning that I wanted to grow up and seek a career in the STEM field. My heart only grew fonder of learning as I got older. My father began building PC’s when I was in 5th grade and it immediately caught my eye. I watched as my father worked with ease to construct a working computer with his bare hands. I looked up to my father, and I decided that I wanted to do what he was doing. Instead of computer parts, I worked with Legos. I would sit at the table with him and create intricate Lego designs as he sat across the table building his computer. It was pleasing to my brain to see that I was able to create something from the ground up using my imagination. At that point, I aspired to broaden my knowledge in figuring out how machines, not Legos, function. The parts of a machine are technical and unique. Every running machine has its own complex structure that allows it to function. That fact intrigued me to explore the different complex structures of technology. During middle school, I started to find interest in taking things apart. I snuck into my parents’ room and took old phones and tablets that were no longer in use and brought them to my room to deconstruct them. I took the phones and tablets apart to see what parts were allowing those machines to function. I discovered many circuit boards and wires that were all unalike one another. The urge to completely take the electronics apart was pestering. My brain wanted to deconstruct the electronics and put them back together, but I knew I did not have the skills to do so. It was just my luck for a new class to arise in my middle school, Robotics. The Robotics class revolved around working with a partner to design and code a robot to complete specific tasks. My excitement for that class was unmatched. I was finally able to build something, have it function, and then take it apart. I took the class from 7th grade until 8th grade, which was long enough to broaden my interest. I became extremely satisfied anytime I had the opportunity to build a new creation with my own hands, just as my dad did. The class created the foundation of what I wanted to pursue in the future: Robotic Engineering. My first step in my pursuit of Robotic Engineering was taking an engineering class in high school. I learned how to properly design something to fix a problem. This inspired me to learn more about how I can create with purpose. This step increased my excitement and knowledge in my desired major: Electrical Engineering. Since my goals include designing and wiring machines, Electrical Engineering felt like the natural choice. I plan to use my electrical engineering degree to make an impact on the world since technology is taking over. I want to create machines that impact exploration that will beneficially improve society. I want people to count on technology to save them not hurt them.

Robotics is a growing advancement in society that has continued to develop from the 1950s, until present time. Amidst these transformations, questions have risen about whether or not robotics will take over the world. Movies like iRobot have influenced people to consider these questions and investigate whether or not the advancement of robotics is beneficial to the growth of society. While many believe robots might take over the world, it is unlikely that this will occur. Furthermore, there are other prevalent issues that are most likely to occur, which are beginning in present time, today. Robotics has started to bring challenges to society, including an increase in unemployment for humans and decrease in control of robots. The presence of robotics in the workforce has increased the rate of productivity by 0.8%, according to the International Trade Administration under the article Robots and the Economy: The Role of Automation in Productivity Growth. While there has been an increase in productivity, unemployment rates have increased throughout industries. This has raised concern throughout the United States about how people are supposed to work and provide for themselves and their families, if they are losing their jobs due to robotics. On the MIT Sloan website, an article called A New Study Measures the Actual Impact of Robots on Jobs. It’s Significant mentions that a researcher from MIT, Daron Acemoglu, and a researcher from Boston University, Pascual Restrepo, found that for every robot added per 1,000 workers in the U.S., wages declined by 0.42% and the unemployment-to-population ratio dropped down by 0.2%, creating a loss of about 40,000 jobs. This negative impact of robots challenges the advancement of robotics for years to come. In order for robotics to continue to affect society positively, there must be something done to create a compromise between robots and humans in the workforce, to effectively combat current unemployment rates in the United States. As a result of unemployment rates increasing throughout the United States, there has been wide speculation/apprehension about the use of robots that, without a doubt, affects the lives of humans. On the Springer website, an article called How Ethical Issues Raised by Human-Robot Interaction can Impact the Intention to Use the Robot states, “robots are coded by human engineers and often consist of millions of lines of code, errors can occur”. Whether it is in robotics or any other engineering discipline, mistakes are likely to happen, which can cause problems to occur; this poses valid concern about robotics affecting society negatively. In addition to this, the article How Ethical Issues Raised by Human-Robot Interaction can Impact the Intention to Use the Robot also references an example of a robotic error occurring in 2010, when the U.S. Military lost control of a drone for more than 30 minutes. This error created panic throughout the U.S. because they had zero control over the drone; it was acting on its own accord, therefore causing a threat to society. Another concern that robotics poses is the idea of individuals hacking a robot for irresponsible purposes. These challenges must be further researched, in order to create a positive implementation of robotics in society. As a continuous advancement in the United States, robotics is prone to cause challenges that must be overcome, in order to bring positive impacts to society. The enforcement of robotics in the workplace brings challenges to those who lose their jobs and causes an increase in poverty. A compromise between humans and robots in the workplace must be made in order to have a balance between the two, without increasing unemployment rates. The usage of robotics throughout the United States must also be carefully implemented with effective safety regulations, to create less of a threat to society. Robotics will continue to bring benefits and challenges to the world that must be further researched to provide the best outcome for society.

I have had dreams of pursuing a higher education ever since middle school. I have worked hard to keep my grades up and do good in school since the beginning. My parents supported my decision in wanting to pursue a higher education, they even pushed for it. Neither one of my parents went to college and the highest education they both have is a high school diploma. They knew how smart I was, and they wanted me to do something great with my knowledge. I wanted to make my parents proud and follow through with my word that I would attend college after I graduated high school. I applied to Clemson University and a variety of other colleges and universities. I decided to attend Clemson University, and I began the financial process. Unfortunately, even after so many years of my parent's encouragement to attend college, they were not going to support me financially for college. This confused me as I thought they would help me financially due to the major expense of attending college. It caused major conflict, and I thought that attending college was going to turn into a dream rather than a reality. With being the first generation to attend college in my family, my parents were unprepared and did not understand the process of actually going to college. I realized that in order to go to college, I needed a lot of help to make this goal into a reality. I tried to prepare myself by getting in touch with one of my aunts who had two kids in college. She helped me understand the process of applying and going to college. The weight on my shoulders finally felt lifted off. I looked into different programs at Clemson University that would help me transition easily and I decided to take part in a community for STEM majors that provides additional support for transitioning. After reaching out to additional resources and doing research, I felt better prepared in attending college as a first-generation student. My parents decided to try and understand the process and they tried their best to support me in any way possible. The support system that I had grew stronger which built my confidence back up that I would be able to make my dream a reality. The process of attending college was challenging and nerve-racking, but I do not regret any of it. I am now in my first semester of college, and I am so happy to be here. To say that trying to go to college as a first-generation student is hard, is an understatement, but I am grateful that I was able to get past these obstacles and make a name for myself and my family.

Growing up in a household surrounded by different mental health diagnoses truly affected my brain. At the age of nine, my twin sister was diagnosed with ADHD and ADD. At the time, my parents did not know how to handle my sister’s developmental struggles and properly help her with these diagnoses. Watching in the background how my sister was treated affected my perspective of my sister and it truly made me hate her. This hate came from the way it tore my parent's relationship apart and my dislike for that change. Additionally, I was forced to grow up quickly to be there for my mother because my sister’s episodes made my mother so stressed and depressed. I would watch my mother cry all the time to me and I would always try to empathize with her. I was ignorant of these impacts on my sister’s mental health and well-being until I experienced the same reaction–debilitating mental health. COVID-19 had a major impact on teenagers' mental health, especially mine. Quarantine began during my 8th-grade year of middle school and continued into my freshman year of high school. The separation from my peers and the activities I participated in brought on a major depression for me. I lost total motivation for everything I once had great interest in; I found myself lying in bed all day, not getting up. At the time, at the age of thirteen, I was also in a sexually abusive relationship that took a toll on my mental health. These two major factors created a horrible depression that I could not get myself out of. I was put on medication for the first time as I transitioned to in-person learning during my second semester of freshman year. After taking the medication for almost a year, I felt better than ever. Throughout high school, my mental health was stable–or at least I thought it was. I decided to get off my medication in the middle of my sophomore year, since I felt so much better mentally. I came to find that this ended up being a bad decision on my part. After I completed my sophomore year, I began to get into a depressive slump again. This affected my education tremendously, as I would skip school a lot. Before and during my depressive episodes, I was an all-A student, making me fourth in my graduating class; sadly, even that did not fuel enough motivation for me to attend school. During my second semester of junior year, my mental health continued to deteriorate. I was becoming extremely irritable, which created problems with my family and friends, ruining my relationships and friendships. During this change, my parents reacted similarly as they did to when my sister first got her diagnoses. I started to finally understand how my sister felt during that time and how unheard and alone she felt. My parents still did not know what to do and my mother began crying more, again. I did not like hurting the people I loved; I just wanted to feel happy again, without my mood changing instantly between emotions. I started to research my behaviors to figure out what could be causing me to feel this way. I discovered bipolar disorder, and I mentally checked off all the symptoms. This made sense in my brain because my grandmother and my aunt also have bipolar disorder. I concluded that I had bipolar disorder, and I wanted to find a psychiatrist to officially diagnose me–so it could stop taking over my life. Unfortunately, I struggled to find a psychiatrist who would diagnose me with bipolar disorder because I was only 17 years old at the time. It was not until my second semester of senior year that I found a psychiatrist who properly diagnosed me and put me on medication that helped with my disorder. Ever since then, I have stayed on that medication; it has helped me keep my motivation to not give up on school or college, while making my relationships with others closer than ever. The entirety of my experience with mental health has helped me realize how mental health can really affect someone and their life. It has helped shape my relationships because it made me see how important it is to have a support system of people who will be there for you no matter what. I do not know where I would be right now if I did not have the support system I did. My mental health pushed these people away, yet they still decided to stay, and I am forever grateful for that. This mental obstacle has led to me having closer relationships with my family and friends and I now appreciate them and the little things more. I have had goals of becoming an engineer and being the first to graduate out of the people in my family. When my mental health changed in middle school, I thought those goals would be unreachable. I felt as though my mental health was going to take over my life to the point that graduating high school and going to college was impossible. I decided that I did not want my mental health to define me, and I wanted to push through my mental health and achieve those goals. I wanted to show other people experiencing mental health challenges that things will get better and that they can accomplish what they set their mind to even if their mind tells them otherwise. The world is filled with billions of people and the majority of these people experience mental health obstacles that they allow to define them. After experiencing my own mental health obstacles, I now understand how hard it is to not let it define you. Mental health is the most challenging thing a human can experience in their lifetime, and I have learned that in order to overcome it, you must allow yourself to be vulnerable and allow others to help you.

Growing up in a household surrounded by different mental health diagnoses truly affected my brain. At the age of nine, my twin sister was diagnosed with ADHD and ADD. At the time, my parents did not know how to handle my sister’s developmental struggles and properly help her with these diagnoses. Watching in the background how my sister was treated affected my perspective of my sister and it truly made me hate her. This hate came from the way it tore my parent's relationship apart and my dislike for that change. Additionally, I was forced to grow up quickly to be there for my mother because my sister’s episodes made her cry all the time. I was ignorant of these impacts on my sister’s mental health and well-being until I experienced the same reaction–debilitating mental health. COVID-19 had a major impact on teenagers' mental health, especially mine. Quarantine began during my 8th-grade year of middle school and continued into my freshman year of high school. The separation from my peers and the activities I participated in brought on a major depression for me. I lost total motivation for everything I once had great interest in; I found myself lying in bed all day, not getting up. At the time, at the age of thirteen, I was also in a sexually abusive relationship that took a toll on my mental health. These two major factors created a horrible depression that I could not get myself out of. I was put on medication for the first time as I transitioned to in-person learning during my second semester of freshman year. After taking the medication for almost a year, I felt better than ever. Throughout high school, my mental health was stable–or at least I thought it was. I decided to get off my medication in the middle of my sophomore year, since I felt so much better mentally. I came to find that this ended up being a bad decision on my part. After I completed my sophomore year, I began to get into a depressive slump again. This affected my education tremendously, as I would skip school a lot. Before and during my depressive episodes, I was an all-A student, making me fourth in my graduating class; sadly, even that did not fuel enough motivation for me to attend school. During my second semester of junior year, my mental health continued to deteriorate. I was becoming extremely irritable, which created problems with my family and friends, ruining my relationships and friendships. During this change, my parents reacted similarly as they did to when my sister first got her diagnoses. I started to finally understand how my sister felt during that time and how unheard and alone she felt. My parents still did not know what to do and my mother began crying more, again. I did not like hurting the people I loved; I just wanted to feel happy again, without my mood changing instantly between emotions. I started to research my behaviors to figure out what could be causing me to feel this way. I discovered bipolar disorder, and I mentally checked off all the symptoms. This made sense in my brain because my grandmother and my aunt also have bipolar disorder. I concluded that I had bipolar disorder, and I wanted to find a psychiatrist to officially diagnose me–so it could stop taking over my life. Unfortunately, I struggled to find a psychiatrist who would diagnose me with bipolar disorder because I was only 17 years old at the time. It was not until my second semester of senior year that I found a psychiatrist who properly diagnosed me and put me on medication that helped with my disorder. Ever since then, I have stayed on that medication; it has helped me keep my motivation to not give up on school or college, while making my relationships with others closer than ever. The entirety of my experience with mental health has truly opened my eyes to the power mental health has to affect someone, those around them, and their life. It has influenced my relationships by making me realize how important it is to have a support system of people who will be there for you–no matter what. Frankly, I do not know where I would be right now if I did not have the support system that I did. My mental health pushed people away, yet they still decided to stay; I am forever grateful for that. I have had goals of becoming an engineer ever since middle school and being the first of my family members to graduate college. When my mental health took a turn for the worse in middle school, I thought these goals would be unreachable. I felt that my worsening mental health was going to take over my life, to the point that graduating high school and going to college was impossible. In high school, I realized that I did not want to give my mental health the power to control my life. I wanted to push through my mental struggles and achieve these goals to prove to myself that I can accomplish what I set my mind to, even if my mind tells me otherwise. My experience with mental health has changed my beliefs about myself. I no longer believe that my mental health can take over my life; instead, I believe that if I reach out to the people around me for support, I will be okay. I know that I have the power to accomplish my goals. Now, I am in college and pursuing my dreams, all because I did not let my mental health take control. My overall experience with my mental health has been nothing short of challenging, but I have overcome these struggles in ways that I never would have imagined. I am so grateful to write this and say that I am finally pursuing those unreachable goals that my 8th-grade self did not see as possible.

Robotics is a growing advancement in society that has continued to develop from the 1950s, until the present time. Amidst these transformations, questions have risen about whether or not robotics will take over the world. Movies like iRobot have influenced people to consider these questions and investigate whether or not the advancement of robotics is beneficial to the growth of society. While many believe robots might take over the world, it is unlikely that this will occur. Furthermore, other prevalent issues are most likely to occur, which are beginning in the present time, today. Robotics has started to bring challenges to society, including an increase in unemployment for humans and a decrease in control of robots. The presence of robotics in the workforce has increased the rate of productivity by 0.8%, according to the International Trade Administration under the article "Robots and the Economy: The Role of Automation in Productivity Growth". While there has been an increase in productivity, unemployment rates have increased throughout industries. This has raised concern throughout the United States about how people are supposed to work and provide for themselves and their families if they are losing their jobs due to robotics. On the MIT Sloan website, an article called "A New Study Measures the Actual Impact of Robots on Jobs. It’s Significant" mentions that a researcher from MIT, Daron Acemoglu, and a researcher from Boston University, Pascual Restrepo, found that for every robot added per 1,000 workers in the U.S., wages declined by 0.42% and the unemployment-to-population ratio dropped down by 0.2%, creating a loss of about 40,000 jobs. This negative impact of robots challenges the advancement of robotics for years to come. In order for robotics to continue to affect society positively, there must be something done to create a compromise between robots and humans in the workforce, to effectively combat current unemployment rates in the United States. As a result of unemployment rates increasing throughout the United States, there has been wide speculation/apprehension about the use of robots that, without a doubt, affects the lives of humans. On the Springer website, an article called "How Ethical Issues Raised by Human-Robot Interaction can Impact the Intention to Use the Robot" states, “Robots are coded by human engineers and often consist of millions of lines of code, errors can occur”. Whether it is in robotics or any other engineering discipline, mistakes are likely to happen, which can cause problems to occur; this poses a valid concern about robotics affecting society negatively. In addition to this, the article "How Ethical Issues Raised by Human-Robot Interaction Can Impact the Intention to Use the Robot" also references an example of a robotic error occurring in 2010, when the U.S. Military lost control of a drone for more than 30 minutes. This error created panic throughout the U.S. because they had zero control over the drone; it was acting on its own accord, therefore causing a threat to society. Another concern that robotics poses is the idea of individuals hacking a robot for irresponsible purposes. These challenges must be further researched, to create a positive implementation of robotics in society. As a continuous advancement in the United States, robotics is prone to cause challenges that must be overcome, in order to bring positive impacts to society. The enforcement of robotics in the workplace brings challenges to those who lose their jobs and causes an increase in poverty. A compromise between humans and robots in the workplace must be made to have a balance between the two, without increasing unemployment rates. The usage of robotics throughout the United States must also be carefully implemented with effective safety regulations, to create less of a threat to society. Robotics will continue to bring benefits and challenges to the world that must be further researched to provide the best outcome for society.