I was born with a pencil in my grip and a computer for a brain. Being a curious child, I would always ask my parents about how every little thing worked. ‘Why’ is an intrinsic part of my vocabulary. When the time came, I was placed in front of the computer and shown the wonders of the world wide web, and I haven’t stopped exploring it since. With a wealth of knowledge at my fingertips, It’s only logical that my curiosity eventually extended to the mechanics of the device itself. In Freshman year, I had the fun idea to create shoes that play a note of my favorite song for every step taken using buzzers. I like to believe anything imaginable can be created, improved, and optimized, no matter how seemingly ridiculous. I have learned how to create the programs I admire so much in my free time, often integrating my other interests; so ideas like this one weren’t out of the ordinary. As time progressed, so did my little side project. I made a prototype with rudimentary code using an Arduino. Since I already had the concept and the logic behind how it worked, all I had to do was learn how to put it together. What started as a fun little project gained a new life after my experience volunteering in a daycare for deaf kids. One of the kids had a birthday, and the teacher brought a speaker. As I was questioning the logic behind playing music to deaf kids, she let the kids hold it. I saw how happy it made them to feel the vibrations of the music, and it made me realize something: I was thinking too small. If the vibrations of the buzzers were amplified and my shoes were fitted to their size, this project could make light-up shoes both more fun and accessible to disabled kids. Prior to this, I didn’t realize exactly how much what I love to do could help others. I plan to create the finished model during my Senior year. Along with my love of computers came an interest in painting. I found much in common between the two, and training my mind to think outside of the box enhanced my budding skill. The art of coding programs, building inventions, and troubleshooting circuitry is essentially an exercise of creativity inside a mathematical setting. The artistic skill I cultivated greatly contributes to my ability to generate technological ideas, letting me come up with innovative ideas with ease. My passion for technology was cemented after it got me through the hardest period of my life. I had to leave all my after-school activities, hobbies, and friends when I got diagnosed with cancer. It was stuck in a hospital room that I turned to the only two things that could never be taken away from me: my computer and sketchbook. They gave me a sense of control I desperately wanted. It was through the digital world that I came to express myself. Throughout the years of occasional hospital trips, computer science has given me the drive to excel academically to the best of my abilities. It will be an honor to study a field so critical to modern life: I plan to revolutionize the technology industry using my creative inclinations and the skills I will learn at university.

I was born with a pencil in my grip and a computer for a brain. Being a curious child, I would always ask my parents about how every little thing worked. ‘Why’ is an intrinsic part of my vocabulary. When the time came, I was placed in front of the computer and shown the wonders of the world wide web, and I haven’t stopped exploring it since. With a wealth of knowledge at my fingertips, It’s only logical that my curiosity eventually extended to the mechanics of the device itself. In Freshman year, I had the fun idea to create shoes that play a note of my favorite song for every step taken using buzzers. I like to believe anything imaginable can be created, improved, and optimized, no matter how seemingly ridiculous. I have learned how to create the programs I admire so much in my free time, often integrating my other interests; so ideas like this one weren’t out of the ordinary. As time progressed, so did my little side project. I made a prototype with rudimentary code using an Arduino. Since I already had the concept and the logic behind how it worked, all I had to do was learn how to put it together. What started as a fun little project gained a new life after my experience volunteering in a daycare for deaf kids. One of the kids had a birthday, and the teacher brought a speaker. As I was questioning the logic behind playing music to deaf kids, she let the kids hold it. I saw how happy it made them to feel the vibrations of the music, and it made me realize something: I was thinking too small. If the vibrations of the buzzers were amplified and my shoes were fitted to their size, this project could make light-up shoes both more fun and accessible to disabled kids. Prior to this, I didn’t realize exactly how much what I love to do could help others. I plan to create the finished model during my Senior year. Along with my love of computers came an interest in painting. I found much in common between the two, and training my mind to think outside of the box enhanced my budding skill. The art of coding programs, building inventions, and troubleshooting circuitry is essentially an exercise of creativity inside a mathematical setting. The artistic skill I cultivated greatly contributes to my ability to generate technological ideas, letting me come up with innovative ideas with ease. My passion for technology was cemented after it got me through the hardest period of my life. I had to leave all my after-school activities, hobbies, and friends when I got diagnosed with cancer. It was stuck in a hospital room that I turned to the only two things that could never be taken away from me: my computer and sketchbook. They gave me a sense of control I desperately wanted. It was through the digital world that I came to express myself. Throughout the years of occasional hospital trips, computer science has given me the drive to excel academically to the best of my abilities. It will be an honor to study a field so critical to modern life: I plan to revolutionize the technology industry using my creative inclinations and the skills I will learn at university.