"Are you ready?" my teammate asks. "Yeah," I reply, as my brain freezes. "Rock, paper, scissors!", we say in unison. She throws rock; I throw scissors. After my defeat, she reveals her trick: asking a question beforehand makes opponents throw scissors. Later, I tried it on teachers, coaches, and classmates, and everyone threw scissors. Curious, I researched a study, The Effects of Priming on Rock, Paper, Scissors. Although scissors was used the most, there were confounding variables—like participants witnessing previous games and no variation of questions—making the results statistically insignificant. It made me wonder how different variables might change results. That initial, simple observation—the predictable glitch in human randomness—is what still fuels my pursuit of STEM. My fascination with psychology began in middle school after falling into a "rabbit hole" of research about human thought and behavior. It deepened in AP Psychology, where I learned about the human mind and actions. I especially enjoyed learning about experiments like The Stanford Prison Experiment and how environments shape behavior. Later, AP Biology expanded my interest to the biological roots of thought and emotion. These experiences have inspired me to pursue neuroscience from my drive to understand how the mind and body mold who we are, seeking to map the complex, real-world variables that govern our decisions. My goals have been fundamentally shaped by literary landmarks that bridge the gap between hard science and individual human experience. Reading Susan Cain’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking provided a critical lens on psychological diversity. The book uses research to explore how the brains of introverts and extroverts process stimuli differently, linking measurable neurological traits to visible behavioral outcomes—like a strong preference for environment and stimulation levels. This showed me that behavior isn't just about the environment (as I studied in the Stanford Prison Experiment), but about the underlying neural architecture that filters and reacts to that environment. Quiet transformed my abstract interest into a concrete, ethical directive: to study the spectrum of human mental architectures, ensuring that my future work in neuroscience recognizes and supports individual neural diversity, rather than seeking a singular "normal" human mind. My blueprint for impact centers on translational research for mental health. I aim to move beyond traditional pharmacology and develop accessible, evidence-based behavioral interventions rooted in neuroplasticity. Specifically, I intend to study the mechanisms behind anxiety and depression with the goal of creating digital therapeutics—software-based treatments that use cognitive and behavioral training, monitored by biofeedback—to rewire the brain's circuitry. I want my STEM career to democratize mental healthcare, making sophisticated, personalized neurological support available to underserved populations globally, thus using science to improve the most fundamental variable of all: quality of life. Achieving this dream requires intensive study, laboratory access, and the freedom to focus completely on academic and research pursuits. This generous scholarship will be the crucial support system for my educational roadmap. It will alleviate the need for extensive part-time work, allowing me to dedicate the time necessary for demanding upper-division neuroscience courses and, critically, secure a position in a longitudinal research lab. The scholarship will allow me to attend specialized conferences and workshops focused on computational neuroscience and neural imaging, accelerating my development from a student with curiosity to a scientist ready to make a tangible, global impact.

Throughout high school, my journey with mental health shaped who I am today and the person I hope to become. I want to become a psychiatrist to help children and adults navigate their mental health journey through understanding and compassion. Through my own experience with severe depression, I learned the importance of empathy and putting in the effort to understand someone regardless of circumstances. This life experience drives my personal, academic, and professional goals. For three years of high school, I struggled with debilitating depression that affected every aspect of my life. I often felt like my mind was spiraling, trapping me in thoughts that convinced me that my life was hopeless and meaningless. I was unable to function and focus in school, and I withdrew from the people and activities that I loved. All I remember was always being in a fog, and it felt as if no one around me cared. I was on the swim team at the time, and instead of finding support from my teammates, I was met with judgment. Some teammates would say things like, "She's doing it for attention," or "Things aren't that bad for her." Those words cut me deeply and made me feel more isolated and ashamed for struggling. I started to believe that they were right and that I did not deserve the help that I needed. What hurt the most was the lack of empathy. It felt as though people were looking at me from the outside, deciding if I was worth it. Eventually, during the end of my junior year, I was able to reach out for help and began to see a therapist, and started to take medication. I learned new ways to manage my emotions and to destress. I learned the importance of mindfulness and to become more in touch with my feelings to better myself. I practiced stress-relieving activities that would help build my mental resiliency. I began to build a support system for myself through friends and my water polo teammates and slowly began my healing journey. Through recovery, I learned that healing is not a straight line and it is a process of understanding and caring for yourself. I learned that asking for help is not a weakness but a sign of strength. Most importantly, I realized that no one should ever feel as alone as I once did. This realization motivated me to pursue psychiatry. I want to help others find hope and stability in their darkest times, and that every person I work with feels heard, understood, and valued - because empathy, though simple, can be life-changing. Academically, my goal is to attend Bucknell University because of its reputable neuroscience program and its connected small community which I enjoyed when I visited. I have always been fascinated by how the brain and mind work together, and I want to understand them better to continue my professional career in psychiatry. After completing my undergraduate studies, I plan to attend medical school to specialize in psychiatry. My goal is to work with children, adolescents, and adults to help them navigate their emotions and develop healthy coping mechanisms. As I continue my journey of recovery, I plan to prioritize my self-care. I've learned that maintaining my mental health requires constant effort, as it is a roller coaster that has its ups and downs. I also intent to stay involved with mental health advocacy organizations and research opportunities that will deepen my understanding and continue contributing to the conversation around mental health. I also hope to be a voice for those who feel silenced by the stigma around mental health. I never want anyone to feel how I did due to fear of judgment and shame. I want to change that by promoting openness and education about mental health. My experience with depression has been one of the most difficult yet transformative chapters of my life, and it has left me with many lessons and goals for the future. It gave me a purpose - to help others find hope when they cannot see it themselves. As I continue this journey, I am committed to understanding, helping, and healing others.

I want to be a psychiatrist and help kids and adults through their mental health journey. For me empathy means to put in the effort to completely understand someone regardless of the circumstances. Personally, I struggled with severe depression for three years of high school until I eventually reached out for help my senior year. I felt as if no one cared for me and that my life was hopeless. My brain spiraled so much that it impaired my ability to function in my everyday life as I was constantly thinking about how I should not been alive. For me personally I feel that I would have been able to get help earlier if I was not constantly shamed for not being mentally well. I was on the swim team and my fellow teammates would constantly criticize me, saying "She's doing it for attention", or "Thing aren't that bad for her she just wants to cry". For me this made me feel isolated and that I should not be allowed to reach out for help. To me I felt like outsiders were looking in at me and deciding my worth and needs. Although I should not have let those words effect me, it took a massive toll on my mental health, making it more difficult for me to reach out. It was difficult to find a support system or to reach out when I was constantly being criticized with no empathy for me from other's who barely knew me. This is why I think it is very important for this to be an emphasized quality in mental health work. Also, empathy is a very simple but effective quality that can help many. This is also why I want to work in psychiatry when I am older. I never want anyone to feel how I did, as thinking back on how I was a few years ago is such a low mental point I cannot even imagine someone feeling as I did. I want to prevent people from feeling as if there's no hope or love for them because that is not true for anyone. I want to make sure everyone I work with and many people in the future are always understood and heard by me and others around them. I want to aim to increase education on mental health, advocating for those who feel alone. I also want to rid of the stigma against mental health as many struggle and feel alone due to it not being talked about enough. This is why I think empathy is a very important quality to have when it comes to psychiatry or just being a person.