I love calculus; conceptually, it's my favorite class I took in high school. It was the easiest out of all the math I did in high school, and it helped that all the topics fascinated me. I enjoyed all the derivatives, integrals, vectors, and Euler's method, but I didn't know the point of calculus. I enjoyed my time in AP Calculus BC but kept asking myself, "What's the point of me learning all these funky integral rules?" Now that I am switching from pre-medicine to architecture and engineering, from no more math in college to going beyond Calculus, I had to find the answer. When you do a simple search, Google tells you Calculus can model where there is change. Simple answer, right? But it goes into so much more than that. While most people, including one of my closest friends, think calculus is "loser math for math losers," that definition fascinated me—an objective way to show change. I've always perceived the facts over feelings when choosing things. Before watching one, I thoroughly read movie reviews. Interstellar is one of my favorite movies, in which the character Murph tries to find an objective answer to Professor Brand's equation and save Earth. I love objectivity, and Calculus IS objectivity for something that can be hard to put into direct terms. While calculus tends to be only found in the engineering field, it can go so far beyond it. One of my favorite YouTube videos is by Math the World, in which he uses Calculus to make a hypothetical "best" Mario Kart 8 Deluxe character combo. Having a way to quantify change is incredibly useful in practically any field of STEM; as someone who took Calculus in high school, it baffled me when I saw that the major I'm pursuing only goes up to Pre-Calculus when architecture is a field that heavily utilizes Calculus. Even if I wasn't going into a civil engineering minor, I considered taking Calculus III because it would be helpful and fun for my major, but I don't think my advisor would take that. I did an apprenticeship in July at an architecture company, and they kept describing the maximum force and pressure specific structures would take, which you need Calculus to find out; last time I checked, no one wants a structure to collapse on them. Calculus is also incredibly useful outside of engineering; before architecture, I was planning to go into medicine, yet again, it only required Pre-Calculus. Quantifying change can prove helpful in any aspect of medicine, whether finding out how much of a drug to use on somebody, seeing the growth rate of a cancerous tumor, and finding when to take appropriate action. Change is scary, inevitable, and unpredictable, but Calculus can help two of those three out. Having a way to objectify and predict change can be crucial in any field of STEM, and that's why it's so important. Whether designing a structure, fighting cancer, or predicting the events of a historical storm system, Calculus can help people prepare for the worst, work towards the best, or hit the objective fastest and most efficiently.

What comes to mind when you think of a school’s publications staff member? I’m assuming you think of a chipper, social butterfly who will talk to and photograph everyone they can. Not someone like me, an introvert with horrible overthinking problems and even worse anxiety. Throughout my high school career, I barely made any friends. I can count the number of friends I have right now on my finger. A rough middle school experience crushed any social confidence I had, which took me from being the most extroverted person in elementary school to the most introverted and anxious person in my graduating class. Although I never got diagnosed due to my mother saying, “I don’t see it in you,” when asking about getting diagnosed, there’s no denying I suffer from anxiety. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic certainly didn’t help me; I was practically a hermit for a year and a half. When I finally returned to in-person school my sophomore year, I had only two friends and hopes of making more. I was scared to make friends; when I saw people I wanted to talk to, rather than going up and introducing myself to them, I’d freeze. I would start shaking and practically freeze. Returning to yearbook, my advisor and peers scolded me for not completing my interviews. Problem was I tried, but every time I tried, this would happen. I knew I could go and talk to them, but when I tried to get up and move, I just couldn’t. Nothing physical was stopping me; it was all in my head. But at the same time, I felt stuck, like I was in quicksand or some deep sludge. Eventually, I would get up, but it was to walk away, and then that regret would sink into my head. I did end up making friends, but except for two, they all approached me rather than me going up to them. I am forever grateful for them, but I wish I could’ve done more of the social part. Once I made these friends I was super close with, I would stick to them. I feel like sometimes I can’t do anything for myself because of my anxiety. I always feel like I need a shoulder to lean on, and that’s something I want to change in college. I–unintentionally–ended up being the only person from my high school to go to my college. All of my college-level friends moved away, far away. While they are one to two hours away, that’s no longer hanging out every weekend and no more being coworkers together. Heck, they are in a different time zone. My first week was tough because I felt like such an outcast, knowing nobody, and I wanted to use the next four years to push myself. I want to try reaching out and making friends that can last me a lifetime. I want to start networking with people on my own without any support and land internships. I want to attempt to break free from the pressure of six years of anxiety. Going to college is super important to me, not just for getting a degree, getting a good job, and making money, but also for the challenges it pushes me through. I am away from everyone I know and love, except my cousin, who works 12-hour shifts. I want to see myself become who I know I am, without any burdens or restraints I impose on myself.

My childhood memories are of playing video games with my older cousin. Most were multiplayer Nintendo games: Mario Party, Mario Kart, Super Mario 3D World, and Super Smash Brothers. Out of all of these, Smash was my favorite. The high energy and competitive atmosphere is something I love, and I rarely play it with other people since I don’t have any friends to play with and I am an only child. Despite my love for Smash, I suck at it. I only played at family events, and the rare times I played alone, I could only win against level 6 computers and never played online. When I played Smash against my cousin, I never won. I got close occasionally but never took home any wins… Until July 20, 2024, my 18th birthday. My family has always met up on my birthday, including my cousin. We started playing Smash after dinner, and I lost the first few rounds as usual. I was playing as Joker, and while I got close, I was never successful. Fueled by my resume of 18 years of losses and spite, I changed my character to Daisy in the next round, the echo fighter of my childhood main, Peach. The round started; it was a three-stock battle on Peach’s Castle Melee in the Battlefield layout. I expected to lose when my cousin suddenly self-destructed, and I was up one stock. I thought nothing of it because he could easily make a comeback, and he took out one of my stocks just for me to immediately take his 2nd one after respawning. Now it was 2-1; after more fighting, he managed to get it to 1-1. We were close in percentage, both over 100% damage, when I closed out the game with my favorite special move in Smash: Daisy’s Side B. Something I had never dreamed of happening in a million years happened: I beat my cousin in a smash. I won. While it might’ve just been another typical round of smash to anyone else, to me, it was years of spite, frustration, and disappointment relieved. My cousin knew it too, he wasn’t salty he lost, he was happy. Amid my loud and show-offy celebration, my parents pulled me to eat my birthday cake while the Smash victory screen was on. Once we went through with the cake, we went back to Smash. And I did it again. I returned to Joker since I love the Persona series and want to main him. He did not self-destruct this time, so it was a more fair fight. But, the 18-year-loser-underdog managed to win while only losing one stock. While it is only the beginning of trying to clean up the years of losses I have under my belt, knowing I can beat him now meant a lot to me. Playing Smash against him, especially as a kid, felt super intimidating since I thought he was an expert, and I would always lose to him no matter what. Beating him made me realize I was getting close to his level, and the fights would become much more fair. Now more than ever, I am motivated to play Smash, potentially try my hands online, and learn some competitive techniques. Maybe I can make the years where I am 18-36 years old the years where I always win and he loses.