I am pursuing a degree in architecture because it has been my dream career since elementary school. I can thank my fifth-grade art teacher for introducing me to the subject I instantly loved. The Fountain Place skyscraper in Dallas was what piqued my interest when we had a lesson about one of the building’s architects I.M. Pei. In high school, I had the opportunity to take some architecture classes. These were very beneficial to me because they confirmed my interest in architecture. My school district has a career and technology center where I was able to take a college architecture class taught by a practicing architect. This was a great experience for me because the professor would give us insight into the process of his real projects. We were also taught a lot of architecture history content and how a college architecture studio would behave. The more I learn about architecture the more I want to study it and the more I want to peruse a career in the field. Architecture is a combination of creative problem-solving, design, and technology. I find it fascinating how architecture is constantly surrounding everyone and there continues to be new and innovative ideas created. Architects have the responsibility to design the spaces in which people live, work, and relax, creating a major impact on the everyday lives of people. Almost everyone experiences a variety of architectural works throughout their day-to-day life and the majority of people even start their life in something designed by an architect, a hospital, and if this is poorly designed the child and parents are put at risk. This highlights how design can either serve a positive or negative impact, causing designers to encompass a crucial role in society. These are aspects of the career that make me interested in taking part in this education and career path. I would treat this role as an honor, which is why I will approach my college education seriously, asking how I can make the most of my time in school. I will approach college as the time to learn and refine my skills without being afraid of mistakes. This is because making mistakes is not a bad thing, and if I am afraid of them I will not be pushing myself as hard as I should to reach my full potential. I also will have a creative perspective that allows me to find out-of-the-box solutions and designs. Practicing this mindset in college will lead to me continuing this mindset in my career after college. Always learning and creating new designs is the best way an architect can help the people around them with their work. Being able to have a major impact on people’s lives is a very exciting opportunity that I want to succeed in by using the education I would receive at Texas Tech. These are some of the many reasons that I am pursuing architecture as my dream career.

Mathematics, the subject of pure numbers, reflects the world we all live in. This subject highlights important aspects of human nature including perseverance, curiosity, and critical thinking. Math has always been one of my favorite subjects in school. Youtube was a great source for me because when I already understood everything in elementary school I was still able to challenge myself and learn something new about the subject. The aspect of math that keeps me interested is its rules and puzzle-like nature. Math is a subject full of rules that are not commonly broken like the rules in English. Unlike language rules, math has often made sense to me. Every math problem can be seen as a puzzle, figuring out which equation or law to use and which values need to be used to find a solution. This challenging journey to solve a problem is entertaining while finding the solution is rewarding. As I have grown older and reached more challenging mathematics it has become apparent that it is not uncommon to be wrong on the first attempt. This does not mean that I should give up but encourages me to keep trying until I discover the proper solving process. This is not a situation that is unique to math. This is a lesson that has taught me that in life when I fail or try something new and it does not immediately go how I expect to not quit. Failing in both the real world and math shows a way that does not work, encouraging me to try a new method. I am also drawn to math because every time I learn something new, I start wondering how this rule was discovered. For example, in Calculus almost every class, I would learn a new equation or rule and then think about what sparked the idea for Newton to come up with this rule and how much trial and error it took him. This reminds me to keep being curious about the world and work hard in the areas that interest me. Newton was very interested in mathematics and physics leading him to spend a great deal of time focused on these subjects and became very well-known in history due to his impact. My goal is to be able to positively impact people and the world with the results of my hard work. Math is a subject that forces me to use my brain efficiently by challenging myself and building skills that will continue to help me in other fields. The problem-solving skills I have learned in math have and will continue to help me become a better designer in Architecture because of how math influences my thought process. Math has been a large contributor to my understanding of how I learn and how to work with the world and its challenges.

Mathematics, the subject of pure numbers, reflects the world we all live in. This subject highlights important aspects of human nature including perseverance, curiosity, and critical thinking. Math has always been one of my favorite subjects in school. Youtube was a great source for me because when I already understood everything in elementary school I was still able to challenge myself and learn something new about the subject. The aspect of math that keeps me interested is its rules and puzzle-like nature. Math is a subject full of rules that are not commonly broken like the rules in English. Unlike language rules, math has often made sense to me. Every math problem can be seen as a puzzle, figuring out which equation or law to use and which values need to be used to find a solution. This challenging journey to solve a problem is entertaining while finding the solution is rewarding. As I have grown older and reached more challenging mathematics it has become apparent that it is not uncommon to be wrong on the first attempt. This does not mean that I should give up but encourages me to keep trying until I discover the proper solving process. This is not a situation that is unique to math. This is a lesson that has taught me that in life when I fail or try something new and it does not immediately go how I expect to not quit. Failing in both the real world and math shows a way that does not work, encouraging me to try a new method. I am also drawn to math because every time I learn something new, I start wondering how this rule was discovered. For example, in Calculus almost every class, I would learn a new equation or rule and then think about what sparked the idea for Newton to come up with this rule and how much trial and error it took him. This reminds me to keep being curious about the world and work hard in the areas that interest me. I love math because it forces me to use my brain efficiently by challenging myself and building skills that will continue to help me in other fields. The problem-solving skills I have learned in math have and will continue to help me become a better designer in Architecture because of how math influences my thought process.

Mathematics, the subject of pure numbers, reflects the world we all live in. This subject highlights important aspects of human nature including perseverance, curiosity, and critical thinking. Math has always been one of my favorite subjects in school. Youtube was a great source for me because when I already understood everything in elementary school I was still able to challenge myself and learn something new about the subject. The aspect of math that keeps me interested is its rules and puzzle-like nature. Math is a subject full of rules that are not commonly broken like the rules in English. Unlike language rules, math has often made sense to me. Every math problem can be seen as a puzzle, figuring out which equation or law to use and which values need to be used to find a solution. This challenging journey to solve a problem is entertaining while finding the solution is rewarding. As I have grown older and reached more challenging mathematics it has become apparent that it is not uncommon to be wrong on the first attempt. This does not mean that I should give up but encourages me to keep trying until I discover the proper solving process. This is not a situation that is unique to math. This is a lesson that has taught me that in life when I fail or try something new and it does not immediately go how I expect to not quit. Failing in both the real world and math shows a way that does not work, encouraging me to try a new method. I am also drawn to math because every time I learn something new, I start wondering how this rule was discovered. For example, in Calculus almost every class, I would learn a new equation or rule and then think about what sparked the idea for Newton to come up with this rule and how much trial and error it took him. This reminds me to keep being curious about the world and work hard in the areas that interest me. Newton was very interested in mathematics and physics leading him to spend a great deal of time focused on these subjects and became very well-known in history due to his impact. My goal is to be able to positively impact people and the world with the results of my hard work. Math is a subject that forces me to use my brain efficiently by challenging myself and building skills that will continue to help me in other fields. The problem-solving skills I have learned in math have and will continue to help me become a better designer in Architecture because of how math influences my thought process. Math has been a large contributor to my understanding of how I learn and how to work with the world and its challenges.

Sunlight can be good in small doses, but that doesn’t mean too much can't be harmful. The same can be said for the input of others. While it is good to get advice and have support, when their opinions become overwhelming, the focus should remain on what is best for oneself. I have had many high expectations from others about sports and academics placed on me, but they only caused harm. This and other challenging situations taught me to change my perspective and mindset when approaching new scenarios for the better. Growing up in a gifted and talented program placed high expectations on my future school years and created a reliance on academic validation. Due to this, I often overloaded myself with schoolwork because I believed that was what was expected of me. This caused periods of burnout. When I realized this habit of seeking validation from outside sources was not helpful for my mental health, I worked on switching my mindset. I started viewing my classes as a way to achieve what I wanted to accomplish instead of a way to meet the expectations of others. I now work hard to achieve my goals of getting into the schools I am interested in to pursue the career I desire. This perspective shift improved my mental health, therefore improving my academics, and breaking the burnout cycle. Altering my perspective and prioritizing focus on myself and what is best for me above all else allowed me to thrive in other areas of my life, including sports. Since I started, softball has become an important part of my life and something I love. After I began playing competitively I enjoyed the challenge of playing at a higher level and playing more often. When I was working and improving because I wanted to get better, I enjoyed the moments such as making a diving catch or hitting a line drive. Eventually, my perspective on softball shifted and these moments became less and less exciting due to the pressure on extremely accelerated progress, ruining the fun of the game. Instead of celebrating the small wins, I started focusing on the negative, like the one bad at-bat out of a tournament of quality at-bats. This was an unhealthy mindset that I had to recognize needed fixing. I changed my perspective by starting to acknowledge my mistakes and what I needed to fix, without dwelling on them. Seeing mistakes as learning opportunities instead of flaws in myself was vital. Focusing on bringing the excitement back into the game allowed me to improve at practice because I became more focused on the next play instead of previous errors. Making these adjustments helped me become my best self on and off the field. I stopped playing for others and started playing for myself and my team only, and became a better athlete for it. Knowing when to protect myself from dangerous sun rays has helped me become a better and healthier version of myself. The most effective way of keeping harmful mindsets, whether they were mine or others, from affecting me is by changing my viewpoint. Although changing my perspective can not change my surroundings, it has and will continue to improve my response to them.