I clicked on the video out of curiosity. Its title promised me a “TIMELAPSE OF THE FUTURE: A Journey to the End of Time.” It was full of concepts that I’d never heard of before: Hawking radiation, heat death, and dark energy. After watching, a flame ignited inside me; nothing had ever captured my desire to learn more so instantly. From that moment, I tried to incorporate astrophysics into my life wherever I could: in books, in conversations, everywhere. What drew me in was the ability to answer fundamental questions, such as "What are dark matter and dark energy?" or “Why is Earth the only planet with plate tectonics?” But we need to do more than just find answers to our current questions; we need to inspire the next generation that will answer the questions that come after. While research is my primary passion, I always wanted to be a teacher as a kid, and I still love teaching as much as I love discovery, which I have expressed through my roles as co-president of the Astronomy Club and as a volunteer at my local library. What motivates my desire to teach and mentor others stems from my identity and experiences in STEM. As a queer autistic woman in STEM, I am aware that I will likely face barriers on my journey. Already, I have dealt with underrepresentation and seen the misogyny that my female peers face. I know how isolating it can feel to have no one else like you. These experiences have made me passionate about creating a welcoming scientific community for everyone. I’ve tried to do so in Astronomy club by selecting equitable officer teams and encouraging younger girls to take leadership roles in science. In my roles as lead of my engineering team and external partnerships chair next semester, I will aim to help others feel included through my presence and actions, and I hope to lead initiatives that increase access to STEM for underrepresented students. But, to make a lasting social and scientific impact, I must build a strong academic foundation. I’m currently deciding between two specific fields within astrophysics: astrogeology, where I can explore the origins of life and planets, and cosmology, where I can investigate the nature of the universe itself. I’m equally excited about both fields and my continued exploration of them at UC Berkeley through my double major in astrophysics and geophysics. Whichever path I choose, I want to work as a lead scientific researcher and professor at a university or other research institution (such as NASA, CERN, or LIGO). As only a rising sophomore, I have three more years of undergrad to narrow down my interests and immerse myself in various topics. Afterward, I hope to earn my PhD in astrophysics, equipping me with the tools and education necessary for my field. Between astrophysics lectures, geology labs, CADing for my mechanical engineering team, and meetings for my gravitational microlensing research group, Berkeley has pushed me to embrace uncertainty and think deeply. The many times I’ve had to debug my code while running our machine learning model have shown me the power of perseverance, allowing us to successfully build and run it and eventually compare the accuracy of different methods. My first year has confirmed that I thrive when challenged by creative problem-solving, all conditions that mirror the kind of career I am working toward. I have no doubt that my past experiences and continued growth at Berkeley will enable me to spend my life answering unsolved questions about our universe while inspiring the next generation of scientists in my community.

I clicked on the video out of curiosity. Its title promised me a “Timelapse of the Future” and I wondered what that would look like. It started out slow with a narrator speaking of human advancement, but that wasn’t the best part. It was after. Trillions of billions of years into the future, where all that was left of the universe were stars slowly dying out or bursting into black holes. This is where it got interesting. The video spoke of multiple universes trapped within one another, dark energy pushing our expanding universe to expand faster, and of heat death, the predicted end of our universe. Many people might have found that terrifying, but not me. I was amazed. I had never heard of such things: black holes withering away, the death of heat itself, and a universe made of 97% mystery. It lit a spark within me that grew into a fire that continues to drive me. There was so much we didn’t know or understand, and I wanted to be a part of solving it. I want to discover the unknowns of the universe and answer our biggest questions about it. How did it begin? How is it evolving? What will become of it? I hope to contribute to our understanding of the Big Bang, planetary formation, dark energy, and cosmic expansion while bringing others along with me in that pursuit. After that video, I took up everything related to astrophysics that I could. I bought and read every book I could get my hands on. I took the highest-level physics classes that I could. I joined my school’s astronomy club and eventually became the president. I volunteered as a math tutor and at the library, helping kids read about science, too. In little moments, I saw the impact of the roles I took up. A kid’s grandfather pulling me aside after our astronomy demonstration and saying, “Thank you, he’s never had anyone to talk to about space before.” Reading feedback from people I tutored for the SAT: “You’ve made me a better test taker!!” Joining the library Zoom, seeing a little girl’s excited face, ready to read another book together. Messages in my yearbook from astronomy club officers telling me how much they had learned, and now, as they became co-presidents, they followed in my footsteps. While I do not plan to teach in a classroom, I hope to mentor, inspire, and make science accessible to others throughout my career as an astrophysicist. I want to help others discover their love and passion for STEM as I did. Through outreach programs for students worldwide, I hope to mentor others who, like me, once felt like there wasn’t a place for them in STEM. I wish to conduct research that not only explores the mysteries of the universe but also informs the public about my discoveries through outreach, making science more available to everyone. While the scientific community has made great strides in discovery and diversity, there is still much distance to cover, and I want to be a part of pushing our understanding further while including everyone. Because to truly understand the universe, we will need every outside-of-the-box idea we can get, and diversity in identity leads to diversity in thought. It all started with a time-lapse of the future. Now, I’m working to build a future where science belongs to everyone.

Yellow Group – Types of Crochet Stitches: double, single, slip, treble This group consists of different types of crochet stitches - something a bit tricky for non-fiber artists, but still recognizable through patterns (no pun intended). I have been crocheting since I was 8, meaning I’ve spent over half my life with a hook in hand. It is something I find great joy in, so much so that I started my own crochet small business on Etsy to share the stuff I make with people. Beyond that, I use my business as a small way to use what I have (lots of yarn) to make the world just a bit better by donating 25% of my revenue to charities supporting various causes. Green Group – Primitive Data Types: boolean, character, float, integer This group consists of different primitive data types – particularly those used in Java. While I once avoided all things computer science, everything changed when I learned Python as a part of my NASA internship last summer. Suddenly, I was obsessed. As a numbers-orientated person, I find coding to be quite satisfying (as long as there’s no debugging involved). I’ve since taken multiple courses in Java and integrated programming into my daily life. One of my favorite projects was using Python to spruce up my computer wallpaper, adding an auto-updating to-do list linked to my Notion page and a national day tracker (Fun fact: Today is “National Virtual Vacation Day.”) Blue Group – Single-Word Lady Gaga Songs: Americano, Monster, Starstruck, Telephone This group consists of a few of my favorite single-word Lady Gaga songs. I’ve been a Little Monster for as long as I can remember—my love for Gaga first sparked by car rides blasting ARTPOP with my dad. As a queer person, I’ve always admired how Gaga fully embraces here identity and encourages others to do the same. Her iconic music and fashion reject the idea of “normal,” which is something I deeply respect. If I had to pick a favorite? Telephone. Something about it hooked me; maybe it’s the Beyonce feature, maybe it’s the beat, or maybe it’s the nine-minute cinematic masterpiece of a music video. Purple Group - __ Star: binary, neutron, north, super This group consists of a few words that can come before star. This might be my favorite category because I want to be an astrophysicist. Next year, I’ll be majoring in Astrophysics at UC Berkeley, continuing my lifelong fascination with the cosmos. Binary and neutron stars are especially important to stellar evolution, relating back to my major, but I love that the last two words add a bit of a challenge to the puzzle. “Blank” categories are always the hardest for me, so I thought it would be fun to add one in here. At its core, “Connections” is about recognizing patterns, thinking creatively, and making sense of the seemingly unrelated. To me, that’s what problem-solving is all about—and why I find joy in everything from crocheting to coding and, of course, solving puzzles.