My most cherished skill is my ability to acclimate myself to new environments. In eighth grade, when I received the award for Best Student in English, my teacher remarked that I had already become part of the classroom culture, even though I had only attended the school for around two and a half months. Since then, I have become experienced in adapting to new and diverse situations. I have attended ten schools throughout my educational career. On one occasion, I attended three schools in a single school year. As a result, my need to belong led me to immerse myself in each new environment as quickly as possible. When I attend UCSD in the fall, it will be the first time I have attended the same school for four consecutive years, a development accompanied by both anticipation and excitement. I do not intend to flounder during my first quarter. I plan to hit the ground running. My drive to adapt has given me an important trait: proactivity. This is strengthened by my status as a first generation college student. My parents were not able to graduate from college with degrees, and one of my grandmothers was unable to graduate from high school. I carry the dreams of my parents, grandparents, and the generations before me. Instead of draining me, that responsibility motivates me to succeed. I have largely been navigating the college process on my own. I have searched for scholarships, tracked deadlines, and chosen which colleges to apply to. These experiences have instilled in me a sense of resilience. I have been told no more times than I can count throughout the college application process. However, I have bounced back every single time. I experienced setbacks that I thought would end my college dreams, but I am still here applying for scholarships and pursuing my goals. With this scholarship, I hope to honor Thomas Griffin Wilson's memory by helping secure my transition to college. I was recently informed that I will not receive a Cal Grant A this school year, despite my school submitting my GPA twice. As a result, I now face the challenge of paying for college without one of my largest sources of financial aid. This scholarship would allow me to continue pursuing my dreams with less financial uncertainty. At UCSD, I do not just want to adapt to the existing culture. I want to enrich it. I have the opportunity to join the IDEA Scholars program, which provides engineering students with mentoring and support. I hope to mentor others during college and offer the encouragement that can make a new environment feel like home. With my degree in Structural Engineering, I will have the resources and education to give back to my family, support future students, and contribute to the communities that helped shape me.

Churches are meant to be one of the pillars of the community, a fixture. Nonbelievers should be able to think positively about the church even though they do not attend. I believe the main way to ensure this is to show them the love of God by helping in the community. I have served with the church of my childhood by feeding those at homeless shelters. I have helped give them gloves, beanies, and scarves while also praying for them. Most of them did not end up attending on Sunday morning, but we planted seeds in their hearts that might eventually lead them to Christ. Now, with my family’s current church plant, we are preparing to host a community event at the park where we will give people food, fun, and prayer. However, as I grow into adulthood, I do not want my service to the community to be limited to the church I attend. During college, I hope to participate in the California College Corps program to help pay some of the costs. As a member, I hope to make the most of the 250 hours I will spend serving. I am excited to plant trees, tutor students, and make a positive impact while helping pay for college. Outside of that, I hope to join community service organizations at University of California San Diego, which I will be attending in the fall. Furthermore, I want to connect with UC San Diego’s Christian organizations to meet other like minded servants. After college, when I begin my career as a structural engineer, I plan to continue my service through designing and consulting on buildings in the public sector. The private sector may pay more; however, I want the buildings I design to be used mainly by the public. As a structural engineer, I will be able to design schools, bridges, libraries, and structures that matter to people. Furthermore, I could even design new church buildings and community centers. Designing buildings will be my act of love toward the world and the community I live in. The term servant leader epitomizes what I want to be in my life. Like Christ, I do not want to come to college, the workforce, or adulthood to be served. I want to come to serve. In my walk as a believer, I want to serve in a way that encourages others to do the same. I do not want to become a servant leader by simply being placed in a position of power. Instead, I want to gain the trust of those around me. The best way to do so, as I have learned, is to help others, whether by helping a classmate with an assignment or offering emotional support during a difficult time. I want to serve others simply because it is the right thing to do.

I will be studying Structural Engineering at UCSD in the fall, which is a selective major. Since enrollment in this major is capped, it is highly likely that the mere 3.5% of UCSD students who are African American are rarely represented in this field of study. As a result, I will be one of the few Black students in the learning environment. Unfortunately, it won't be the first time. However, as always, I refuse to let that deter me from pursuing my goals. ​When I was in the 8th grade, I switched from my regular charter school to a more rigorous preparatory school. At this time, I was living in a majority-white town, and unsurprisingly, the already meager Black population was generous compared to the school I switched to. At my new school, I was one of only two fully Black students in the 8th grade. Whenever I saw another person with even a hint of Black heritage, it felt like a holiday. When I went to my one and only Science Bowl meeting, I was the only Black person there. For fun in US History, four other mixed friends and I stood together and told the class we represented "three full Americans." ​The effects of being in such a homogenous environment were only evident after I had left it for a year. Several seemingly innocent interactions held racist undertones. A perceived friend asked me repeatedly if I wanted to join the "Kit Kat Krazies" with him. I was once asked to leave an area during a dance because I was "threatening" another boy and his date. After I made a remark during a group discussion, I was met with statements like, "It's time to start shooting n-words again" and "Let’s go back to picking cotton." These instances and others like them I overlooked then, but in hindsight, I've realized just how negative they were. ​This experience isn't unique to me. In spaces where we are underrepresented, our issues are minimized, even by ourselves. As I take advanced math classes and participate in internships, I will most likely be the only Black person in the room, which is a problem. Who knows what I and others will end up enduring and whether we will even register it; that is just one danger of a lack of diversity. ​There are a plethora of instances illustrating the dangers of homogeneity in thought. When there are too many of the same voices with the same backgrounds, other perspectives are not taken into account. Additionally, when most of a group is the same, it is easier for smaller voices to be drowned out. Potentially inaccurate or wrong ideas can be accepted as the norm because minority opinions are unconsciously muffled. If I am in a team where I am the only black person, I am not going to want to speak up when the head honcho presents a flawed schematic, because I want to avoid the conflict thst comes with challenging groupthink. Diversity of background leads to diversity of ideas, which is essential to discovering solutions for the world’s most complex problems. ​Furthermore, diversity is needed in STEM because, honestly, the idea of entering a field where only 9% of workers are Black is daunting—even though I have been planning to enter STEM since I was three years old. For those who may just be learning about STEM, a lack of representation will likely discourage many fellow Black students who have the potential to contribute groundbreaking ideas. So many perspectives are missing from the STEM world, which is exactly why diversity is so vital.

​From 2018 to 2020, my family lost our house, a sister, and our income. By the end of 2018, seven members of my family were living in the living room of my grandmother’s two-bedroom apartment. We slept on cots, couches, and an air mattress. There were 11 people living in that space, with 19 people constantly coming and going. By 2019, eight of us had moved to a family friend’s apartment and finally to my uncle’s two-bedroom, low-income apartment. Like Mr. Terry, I know that growing up is not always sunshine and rainbows. His story resonates with me because he made an impact with his life despite his early hardships. With this scholarship, I hope to embody the same truth Mr. Terry did: the past does not define your future. ​All that I endured during this time was worsened by the pandemic. Not only was I living in cramped conditions, but I could hardly leave them. I still consider myself lucky, however. Even though I went through those trials, I adjusted and continued to work hard. I did not lose any family members to the pandemic, and my father was still able to provide, albeit on a lesser income. ​ I am certain Mr. Terry thought of himself as lucky as well, which is why his story inspired me. He did not have to work hard; he could have used his rough upbringing to justify a difficult future. Instead, he persevered in spite of his challenges and made an impact on his community. ​I will be the first in my family to graduate from a four-year college. As the oldest of six, the trail I blaze will set the foundation for all of my siblings to follow. I want to show them through my own life that their future is not solely dependent on their past. ​I plan to study civil engineering in college to impact the community I live in through my work. As a civil engineer working in the public sector, the projects I complete will directly benefit my neighbors. I will design repairs and updates for old infrastructure and oversee the development of new buildings. ​I am very fortunate. That was a dark period in my life, but since then, my situation has improved drastically. Through my career as a civil engineer, I hope to embody a part of Mr. Terry’s legacy. While my life has not been as difficult as Mr. Terry’s or many others across the world, I want my actions to inspire them nonetheless. My childhood was not all sunshine and rainbows, but I will ensure that my future and the future of those around me will be.

My name is Le'Roi Davis Jr. I am a senior at Taylion High Desert Academy graduating early. After high school, I plan to earn a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. I have already been accepted to ten colleges, including CSU Long Beach and Cal Poly Pomona. I have a voracious appetite for knowledge that extends beyond the classroom. As a child, I attended adult Sunday School classes. This was partly because my father was a minister, but also because I had grown to love reading the Bible. In the church, service is expected from all members. This is why I have no misgivings about serving others in any environment. At my previous church, I set up chairs and tables, cleaned the sanctuary, and watched younger children. I also worked as a junior usher and sang in the children's choir. At various other events, I continue to clean up trash and supervise children even when I do not know them personally. I no longer attend that specific church because God called my father to pastor a new congregation. As the oldest child in the house, I am a primary supporter for my father. I now sing in the adult choir, clean the sanctuary located in our front room, and care for the children. While the physical labor is easy, the hardest part is inviting people to a new church plant. I smile and distribute fliers, though not everyone follows through. However, I continue to invite people because I want to see the spiritually stagnant grow and the spiritually dead come to life. This purpose allows me to serve others without needing their thanks. If I were to start a charity, I would center it on literacy because I love to read and want to share that passion. Volunteers would read exciting, engaging, and informative books at preschools and elementary schools. They would also partner with school libraries to increase attendance and speak to students to help them gain a deeper appreciation for literature. On our campus, volunteers would provide Bible readings and theological studies for different age levels. Additionally, my charity would provide literacy classes for those who cannot read English or those who wish to learn languages like Spanish, French, and Mandarin. My charity would primarily serve disadvantaged groups and the impoverished of all races. I recently attended a school board meeting in my low-income neighborhood and learned that reading proficiency for Hispanic and Black students is currently abysmal. My organization would serve these students as well as adults like Ms. Hill, who were unable to finish school due to hardships. I would lead these activities myself because serving is not just something I think about; it is something I do.