I met Dr. Brubeck in the fall of freshman year, during the big crossroads that is starting high school. I signed up as a violin player for the chamber music group he leads. I'd been playing since a young age, but he was the first teacher who turned practicing from a chore into something fun. He improved my phrasing and helped me make notes on a page come alive, but his contribution to my life has extended far beyond music. The way Dr. Brubeck teaches is something that has helped me become closer with the people around me. When he corrects, he never accuses. Recently, there was a section of a piece I played that had an odd combination of notes. Instead of pointing at me, he asked everyone to check their C-sharps and F-naturals. I quickly realized the problem was me and corrected myself. Through this method, he manages to admonish without bringing shame. This method of teaching, which accuses the error but not the person, has helped me form really good connections in formal settings, whether academic or work related. In group projects, this way has brought me closer to colleagues by helping the group solve problems at hand in a more objective way instead of turning to finger-pointing. At my former job at Code Ninjas, an after-school program where I taught younger kids how to code, this approach helped me bond with the kids. By removing the focus from the number of times they failed to do an exercise and instead putting it on the problem at hand, the child was often able to solve the problem more objectively. The kid felt like I was on their side against the problem, not on the side of the problem against them. Dr. Brubeck's example is an objective approach that addresses the problem, not the person. Patience is something I think is really essential to strong and healthy relationships. Because we are human, I believe we need the other person to understand our weak points and bear them. Dr. Brubeck has given me an example of enormous patience in the manner in which he treats people. For example, a certain girl would always interrupt the start of class with wacky, nonsensical stories about others — i.e., her mom got eaten by a tiger shark, her dad is under a volcano, etc. Every time, Dr. Brubeck listened to the child's story in full without cutting her off, and then proceeded to the lesson. In the same manner in which Dr. Brubeck bore the girl's oddness, I was inspired to pursue a better relationship with my siblings by bearing theirs. Oftentimes, I had found my siblings' ways a little weird. For example, my sister used to separate the chocolate chips one by one from the granola grains in a granola bar before eating the chocolate chips SEPARATE from the grains. Every time I saw her do it, it infuriated me and I moved to another table. However, with this example, I was motivated to bear this and try to accept that my sister was going to do some things differently. In the long run, this has allowed my sister and me to become a little closer. Recently, I began to follow more and more people that are going to my college through the class page on Instagram. Scrolling through the profiles of all the new people in my class excites me because of the possibility of meeting some of them. In fact, I have really enjoyed some of the conversations I have already had with some of my classmates online. I’ve found a lot of classmates who have similar interests, like track and guitar, and we plan to join similar organizations together at the start of the school year. I believe that with the relationship skills I have learned from Dr. Brubeck, many of the conversations that I have recently had will become long-lasting friendships.

I immigrated to the United States when I was seven from Brazil, and my lived experience here as a bilingual American has really changed who I am as a person and how I see the world. I am pursuing a degree in Electrical Engineering with the hope of entering the semiconductor industry. The disadvantage to being bilingual is that you have this tension between the tongue you know intimately, and the tongue you were educated in. I believe this makes it harder to express yourself. For example, when I want to talk about myself, I’ll naturally want to use Portuguese. However, I find myself having to use English words for concepts I never learned to express in Portuguese. The train of thought in my head becomes more like a car driving down a highway that can’t pick a lane. The language that is close to my heart is hard for me to express myself in, and the language I know to express myself in is not as close to my heart. The benefit in it however, is the gain of a different perspective. English is an amazing language because of its very diverse vocabulary. Through its extensive borrowing from other languages, I find that when speaking I can be creative in word choice and derive a lot of meaning from it. For example, to say ‘she stepped through the dark hallway’ has a different meaning than ‘she traversed via the obscure corridor’. The former has a foreboding, ominous tone to it, and the latter sounds almost robotic. On the other hand, what I enjoy about Portuguese is the brevity of the language - it is easier to say more with less. The words and concepts feel more condensed. For example, I can express the concept ‘I will get to know’ in a single word - conhecerei. It changes your thinking. There is more weight to each syllable and you end up saying more with less. At Michigan I hope to complement my degree in Electrical Engineering with a minor in the Chinese Language. Semiconductors are one of the most global fields - machinery is produced in the Netherlands, fabrication is made in Taiwan, and design happens in the United States. I hope to use this skill to work with global partners to push new advances in semiconductors, and see old problems through yet another lens. Mandarin takes the more with less idea to the extreme - there are only 1500 unique syllables in the language! Each word is delicately woven into context to produce speech that is rich with poetry. I hope that I will not only learn the grammar and vocabulary behind the language, but also the unique way that the speakers of the language think.

I remember walking into my AP Chemistry class the first day of my sophomore year. Glancing at the board and past my teacher, I found my assigned seat at the back of the class and pulled out my school iPad. I had no clue that the person who I passed over would teach me more than chemistry. As the year went on, I learned who Mr.Caprio was through his actions. He started every class with a breathing exercise. Sophomore year was difficult for me due to the increased workload I was taking, tripling the number of Advanced Placement classes I had. Just the experience of closing my eyes and breathing for five seconds was enough to reset me and allow me to focus on that difficult class - a quick way I still reset myself before a difficult presentation. Later in the year, before we reached the hardest unit, Thermochemistry, he held an entire class on study habits. With it, we learned the techniques and skills to be successful not just throughout the year, but also in my future classes. He also showed us his generosity. Before the AP Exam, he held one final breakfast for us to help us calm down before the big exam. All my friends passed. However, that was not the end of my interaction with Mr. Caprio. The following year, my friends organized to go on one of my school's religious retreats. Unbeknownst to me, Mr. Caprio was one of the main people who organized it. What marked me the most out of anything was a talk that a student gave on the difficulties of life and how we need people around us to help us get through tough times. It moved me to help lead the next one that the school offered so that I could be that person for someone else — just like how Mr. Caprio had been for me. Leading the retreat was the best experience I had in high school. I met a lot of new people, made a lot of friends and made great memories. One of the most life changing parts of it was learning about my Chemistry teacher’s unique career path: doing real estate investing while teaching and helping to organize the retreats at my school. Adults around me had always reduced my role in life to the major I got, but his story introduced me to the idea of having several roles in a community. He was able to balance providing for his family while making a difference in the lives of kids on his retreat and in his class. From this, I realized that I didn't have to limit my career to a single role. Through his example, I realized I can act on my belief and affect positive change in my environment without having to let go of an exciting career in Engineering. Mr.Caprio, to me, was so much more than a chemistry teacher. He was someone who taught me silence, patience, and faith. He taught me life.

When I moved here from Brazil at the age of seven, there was little I knew about the country except that it was a shorthand for big. Large portion sizes, large roads, and large amusement parks were my first introductions to America. After living here ten years, it seems that beyond just having large things, what is truly great about America is the quality of our dreams. The process of assimilating was difficult. Chief among the challenges I had to face, I found that I had a lot of difficulty expressing myself and speaking to other people. It was really challenging to relate to others. In response, for the first half of my childhood, I mostly stayed to myself. I played games, I drew, and I created stories in my head. From this phase of my early childhood came many of the interests that define my career paths and goals. In that solitude, I became curious about how the video games I played were made, and I wondered if I could create my own. Soon, I downloaded a video game engine — a platform to make games — and started to create my own. After spending hours coding, I realized that I liked computers and programming. To confirm my interest in engineering, I tried the robotics team at my school, and realized that working in a group towards a higher goal was the kind of work environment I thrived in. In retrospect, I can truly see that it was a blessing to have been free enough to pursue what I found interesting by myself. Now, I am pursuing a degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Michigan to fulfill that childhood curiosity of knowing what is under the hood. Specifically, I hope to work in the Michigan Integrated Circuits Lab as a researcher to help scientists at the cutting edge uncover new designs and manufacturing processes for the circuits that make our hardware possible. For a time, being alone was enough for me. Eventually, though, as I grew older, I found that I needed more connection with others. I sought out people, and although I was shy and awkward, I found that people were more than willing to include me. Slowly, over time, I began to unfold. Moved by the interactions and experiences I had with my colleagues, I began to change into a new person. It happened so slowly that I couldn't notice the change day by day, but when I looked back over the years, I realized that I had truly assimilated. Though I did struggle with growing up in a foreign culture, I never felt rejected. My immigrant experience was acceptance. To repay the thanks I owe, I want to give back to this country by working diligently with scientists to help expand its frontiers of knowledge.

Interstellar is a movie that is sadly known today more for its audio, which trends on TikTok and Instagram, than for its story. To me, this is a disappointment. I watched this movie when I was seven, and since then it has had a really large impact on my life. Not only has it inspired in me a love for space and science, but it has also taught me a valuable lesson through its exploration of the theme of the passage of time. The movie's exploration of science and technology helped create in me an interest for space that has profoundly influenced my life. My only previous exposure to space was Star Wars. I loved Star Wars as a story, but wookies and the Force put it strictly in the category of fiction. This movie, however, was different. Although it took creative liberties at times, it was based on real physics (it even had an astrophysicist helping render the scenes with the black holes). This more grounded science fiction helped me see space as a real thing to be explored, and not a distant fantasy created by an author. The movie made me want to see a rocket launch at the Kennedy Space Center. On my way to the observation field, I was able to see the Saturn V. After looking at all the intricacy, I fell in love with the machine. From then, I realized I wanted to explore engineering, so I applied to the robotics club at my school. From there, I discerned that I wanted to do it for a career, so I applied as an engineer. More than that, however, its exploration of the passage of time has given me a lot of comfort. The central premise of the film involves a father on a mission in space, and a daughter stuck on Earth. To the father in space, however, time passes by more quickly than it does for the daughter on Earth. By the end, the father arrives back home just as the daughter is on her deathbed. The image of a father seeing his daughter die on her deathbed is not just emotional, but tragic, and although I was young, I still remember the scene clearly. Why does time have to march on so relentlessly? I don't know, and I don't think the film's writers or directors do either. Why does the father not arrive any sooner to see his daughter? I don't know. But the daughter's reaction always stays with me. Instead of lashing out at her father, she forgives him. In her last moments, she gives him peace and tells him to move on. It is tempting to be bitter and resentful at the passage of time, but this movie taught me since very young that we can take away the harshness of time by choosing to meet it with peace.

Are people's goals shaped by the education they receive, or is there something inherent to a person that determines what they will pursue? Although answers to this question may differ, I can say with confidence that my education has introduced me to new ideas and people that have shaped me as a person. It has given me opportunities and shown me people that have changed my outlook on life and on what I should pursue. Through the obstacles it has provided for me, it has made me capable of achieving those goals, which serve myself and others. Growing up is difficult. The new expectations placed upon a person are difficult to meet if they have not been pushed out of their comfort zone. My education pushed me out of my comfort zone in many ways, but mainly through Group Projects, Tests, and Presentations. Each one challenged me in their own way. Group Projects pushed me out of my comfort zone because they made me hold people accountable - it was difficult to hold people to the deadlines and report them when they fell short. Tests were challenging because I had to learn grit - it was hard to learn to study for longer and longer sessions. Presentations, by far, were the largest challenge. I had a lot of difficulty expressing myself in front of the class and the teacher because I would get anxiety about speaking in public. My voice would be monotone and my speech was rapid. One time, when I had to present a topic for my history class, my legs shook! However, I am thankful that I passed through all of these obstacles. Without them, I would find it even more difficult to do the things I want to do. For example, how could I pursue a career if I were not able to hold people accountable, work long hours, or speak in front of people? Throughout my journey in my education, I have been fortunate to be exposed to new fields and ideas which have changed my goals. For example, doing robotics in high school exposed me to a career in engineering. This caused me to seek other programs related to engineering and it influenced me to apply to colleges as an electrical engineer. It also exposed me to creative and original people, such as my instructor for the peer ministry club at my school, who happened to be my chemistry teacher. My instructor's unique career path, doing real estate investing as well as helping organize clubs at my school, introduced me to the idea of having several roles in a community. He was able to balance providing for his family as well as making a difference in the lives of kids on his retreat. I realized that I didn't have to limit myself to a single role, rather, I could pursue my job in electrical engineering and be active in my community. Through my education, I was introduced to good examples that showed me that my goals did not have to serve myself, but could be shaped in ways to benefit those around me. Reflecting on my own interests, I look to serve my community through advocacy for public policy reform, specifically in the area of urban planning. I really care about urban planning because I believe that building places that center around people helps build good societies, creating healthier populations and reducing emissions. Through his example, I realized I can act on my belief and effect positive change in my environment without having to let go of an exciting career in tech with a bachelor's in Electrical Engineering. I will never know the kind of goals I would have if I didn't receive the education I had. I might have, by serendipity or chance, met interesting people who would have pushed me further and shown me exciting places. However, I can say with certainty this path has given me unique and ambitious goals: I want to work in a booming tech sector surrounded by smart and ambitious people while also becoming an active citizen and a contributing member of my community. I am enormously thankful for the education I have been able to receive so far, and I look forward to the next chapter as a freshman at the University of Michigan. There, I not only seek to advance my education as an electrical engineer, but also to meet new and original people who will help me shape my goals to better serve others.