If you step into my room, be prepared to be met with the gaze of hundreds of apes. Plastered all over my bedroom walls are photos of primates torn from National Geographic magazines, cut from newsletters from conservation organizations, and on postcards sent by friends. This collage of carefully curated pictures is not merely a decoration; it’s a window into a world that has captivated my mind and heart. As I wake every morning and retire every night, I get a glimpse of the heart and soul of the creatures that humanity is most similar to. But these photos convey nothing compared to the few seconds of my life where the eyes of an orangutan met mine. On a crisp winter day, I visited the Smithsonian Zoo and spent hours sitting on the hard concrete floor of the ape house. During my visit, my eyes locked with those of an orangutan. Staring into her gentle and soulful umber eyes, I felt the primal connection between her species and mine. In late 2021, I took a bold step by reaching out to the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, the organization that owns the largest orangutan sanctuary in the world. I offered to help manage their TikTok account to extend their outreach. To my surprise, they entrusted me with the task. After lots of experimentation, we finally made headway with a video of the orangutan jungle school “babysitters'' training the orphaned baby orangutans to be afraid of venomous snakes, something they would be taught by their mothers had their mothers not been butchered by poachers and illegal loggers, the babies left to fend for themselves or sold into the illegal pet trade. The video reached over ten million people. It was a moment of great joy as I saw people genuinely captivated by what had started off as a personal obsession. I was delighted by the flood of thousands saying how adorable they found the orangutans, and thousands more that followed the account that had been a barren wasteland shortly before, with our viewership reaching over 70 thousand followers in under a year. I still make videos for the account, and I’ve had the opportunity to visit their office in Berlin. It has been amazing to see my coworkers’ enthusiasm and interest that heavily mirror mine and we have surely made a difference in the quality of life for orphaned orangutans. We are their last chance at survival, and they need the efforts and cooperation of our species in order for their population to make a recovery. I am reminded of the words of renowned primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall: "Only if we understand can we care. Only if we care will we help. Only if we help shall they be saved." The photos on my walls are more than decorations. They're a silent yet emphatic plea to preserve the wild, to ensure that future generations will also have the privilege of encountering the gaze of these incredible beings.

I've always loved orangutans. In fact, I have carefully collaged pictures of them all over my walls, a window into a world that has captivated my mind and heart. I find it fascinating how similar they are to us and I feel that we can learn many lessons from them. In late 2021, I took a bold step by reaching out to the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, the organization that owns the largest orangutan sanctuary in the world. I offered to help manage their TikTok account to extend their outreach. To my surprise, they entrusted me with the task. After lots of experimentation, we finally struck gold with a video of the orangutan jungle school “babysitters'' training the orphaned baby orangutans to be afraid of venomous snakes, something they would be taught by their mothers had they not been butchered by poachers and illegal loggers. The video reached millions. It was a moment of great joy as I saw people genuinely captivated by what had started as a personal obsession. I was delighted by the flood of thousands saying how adorable they found the orangutans, and thousands more that followed the account that had been a barren wasteland shortly before. I am reminded of the words of renowned primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall: "Only if we understand can we care. Only if we care will we help. Only if we help shall they be saved." The videos I make are not just videos. They're a silent yet emphatic plea to preserve the wild, to ensure that future generations will also have the privilege of encountering the gaze of these incredible beings. This is a mission I believe is mine to complete. My love for the creatures of the Earth is what inspires me to pursue science. I want to innovate ways to preserve the most vulnerable creatures on our planet. A degree in biotechnology would allow me to do this by opening the doors for a job in researching new ways to create solutions for climate change and extinction, such as alternative fuels, alternative construction materials, or new methods to improve recycling or composting. I ardently believe that I will find a way to improve the world for vulnerable species such as my beloved orangutans. Along this same page, I have been involved locally with my school's Youth Climate Institute, where I have been working on a project to increase the local bat population. A friend and I reached out to a local interfaith center and asked for permission to install bat houses and a native garden. They agreed, and after conducting a baseline study to show our future impact, we started planting native plants and trees. Soon, we will install the bat houses and measure our impact as compared to the baseline study. Bats are beautiful and incredible creatures, although they are unfortunately misunderstood by many people. I am also the president of the Model United Nations at my school. In this student-led club, I mentor students every week in preparation for model UN conferences. I love doing model UN because it helps improve your skills in public speaking, learn how to build concise arguments, and enhance your problem-solving skills, all while having fun, and thus helps prepare me and the students I mentor for college and jobs in politics and other jobs that require public speaking. In conclusion, I am committed to leadership and advocacy for the causes that are important to me, and I am excited to see how I can improve the world.