When I was young, my family enjoyed visiting displays and museums showing off art or scientific discoveries. I remember visiting a museum exhibit that presented the top 100 greatest inventions ever invented. As we shuffled through the museum, my young mind began to notice something. There was little to no female representation. I looked up at my mother and asked her why there were not more women displayed at this exhibit. She looked at me for a moment, thinking, and gave me a confused look, responding with, "I really don't know,". She then added, "That doesn't mean you couldn't be one of the only females on display at an exhibit like this though," and from that moment on, I had a goal in mind to make a difference in this world through STEM. I began taking an interest in my science and math courses in middle and high school, and I excelled in them. I loved taking AP science courses and I gained a lot from them. I loved the hands-on aspect, or, in my math courses, the satisfaction of finishing a long and challenging math problem. My teachers inspired me to try my best and had faith in my abilities, further expanding my love and interest in the subjects they taught. I have also had the opportunity to work at an education facility on an Air Force base as a STEM instructor. I get to create lessons and hands-on activities for students who take field trips on base. I get to show them my passion for STEM and hopefully ignite a fire in them to pursue or at least gain respect for STEM careers and subjects. As a current undergraduate student, I am pursuing a degree in data science to expand my analytical abilities. I intend to move on to graduate school to obtain a master's degree. This career field has a vast amount of jobs one can go into. Data science is an exciting and growing field in which businesses can greatly benefit from hiring data scientists on their teams. As a data scientist, I would be able to get reports on how a business is operating day-to-day, and what present what changes could be made based on the numbers I would evaluate. I would be able to contribute to the STEM field in the study of artificial intelligence, as well as making advancements in new technology, such as hardware or software. I believe I deserve this scholarship because I am passionate about making a difference in the world using STEM. I want to be an advocate and representative for women moving forward who grew up like me with an interest in STEM.

When I was young, my family enjoyed visiting displays and museums showing off art or scientific discoveries. I remember visiting a museum exhibit that presented the top 100 greatest inventions ever invented. As we shuffled through the museum, my young mind began to notice something. There was little to no female representation. I looked up to my mother and asked her why there were not more woman displayed at this exhibit. She look at me for a moment, thinking, and gave me a confused look, responding with, "I really don't know,". She then added, "That doesn't mean you couldn't be one of the only females on display at an exhibit like this though," and from that moment on, I had a goal in mind to make a difference in this world through STEM. I began taking an interest in my science and math courses in middle and high school, and I excelled in them. I loved taking AP science courses and I gained a lot from them. I loved the hands on aspect, or, in my math courses, the satisfaction of finishing a long and challenging math problem. My teachers inspired me to try my best and had faith in my abilities, further expanding my love and interest for the subjects they taught. I have also had the opportunity to work at an education facility on an air force base as a STEM instructor. I get to create lessons and hands-on activities for students who take field trips on base. I get to show them my passion for STEM and hopefully ignite a fire in them to pursue or at least gain respect for STEM careers and subjects. As a current undergraduate student, I am pursuing a degree in mathematics and statistics to greater expand on my analytical abilities. I intend on moving on to graduate school studying research-based pharmacy. I would love to work in a team and develop vaccines and other medications to help prevent the spread of future disease or reduce the severity of other various conditions. I would like my work to most benefit third world countries who do not have as much access as other countries do to healthcare. I would love to be able to visit the countries and personally introduce my discoveries myself. I intend on making the most of the time I have now in learning about my field of study by participating in research opportunities. An opportunity I am looking into right now is the opportunity to do cancer research this summer. STEM has shaped a good portion of my life and I am very excited to make a difference in the world through STEM as a woman.