One memorable Sunday morning, my pastor delivered a sermon during church service where I was introduced to the mantra “blessed to be a blessing”. I personally understand being a blessing as being a positive influence on others through service. Ever since I was 11, I would dedicate my time to helping kids at my church with their reading or math assignments. I’m naturally able to provide insightful explanations and guide others through tricky concepts. These experiences from my church community and more have framed my value of commitment to serving others. Every year, my church conducts a 5-day program called Vacation Bible School(VBS) during the summer to create lasting memories for children inside and outside the church. For the past 4 years, I’ve guided children through arts and crafts activities and encouraged them to create authentic art during VBS. Through VBS, I've helped younger children come closer to God and devote themselves to spreading His love around the world. My work with children has allowed me to carry out my calling of being a blessing to others. I have advanced the spirit of giving in my church community by giving younger children my time and efforts to help them learn and create. I believe that direct involvement in local communities can make a huge difference in the lives of the people around us. In college, I plan to continue being a blessing to others in the computer science industry. I am eager to continue inspiring younger students to persevere through the subjects they struggle with. I plan on doing this by participating in organizations like Girls Who Code to encourage young women in my community to learn how to thrive in a male-dominated field like computer science. It has always been a dream of mine to create games that illuminate the stories of people who don’t have the opportunity to make their voices heard. I plan on studying coding and computer science to become a game developer. I hope to use my passion for innovation in the gaming industry to creatively represent the stories, experiences, and values of people from underrepresented communities. Diversity inspires me to persevere through difficult subjects and pursue my dreams. After my junior year of high school, I challenged myself to learn a coding language called Python over the summer in a virtual class. I am a Nigerian, and when I joined the first meeting of the summer Python program, I was surprised to see that the other students looked and spoke like me. My virtual classmates had common names written in Yoruba, my parents’ native tongue. Before then, I had rarely seen African coders mentioned in the news, so I thought Africans weren’t interested in computer science. When I joined the class that day, my assumptions disappeared and I felt encouraged to continue through the class. I want to make a positive impact on the technology industry by being an inspiration to women of color.

It has always been a dream of mine to create games that illuminate the stories of people who don’t have the opportunity to make their voices heard. I plan on studying coding and computer science to become a game developer, and I hope to use my passion for innovation in the gaming industry to creatively represent the stories, experiences, and values of people from underrepresented communities. I openly advocate for authentic representation in areas that lack diversity of thought because I value new ideas and distinct perspectives. Throughout high school, I’ve struggled with communication between my peers and teachers. I’m known to be reserved, which often unfortunately leads to my opinions being overshadowed by the louder person in the room. Similar situations occur in news media and workplace discussions where diverse opinions from people of color are overlooked by conventional opinions from white Americans. My experience of being overshadowed through high school prompted me to reflect on the importance of diversity in learning spaces. I took the initiative by having worthwhile conversations with other students and teachers about issues of representation. These discussions have encouraged me to bring an open mind and eagerness to listen beyond the classroom and into the gaming industry. My plans for my future as a game developer are rooted in my experience throughout my high school Psychology course. My high school Psychology course introduced me to different psychological approaches, but cognitive psychology piqued my interest the most. I felt fascinated by the concept of neuroplasticity because it challenged my previous notions about the brain. The idea that the brain never ceases development inspires me as it proves that learning and improvement never completely stop. Another significant aspect of my dream is inspired by Nick Joyce and Jake Harwood’s 2012 psychological experiment, which discovered that attitudes towards other people outside of one’s social identity can adapt through observational learning. I strongly believe that video games can stimulate observational learning, thus, I would like to become a catalyst to help eliminate unconscious biases through the video games I create. The hope that attitudes towards others can evolve fuels my dream of creating video games to increase this effect and promote compassion. In the future, I would love to conduct cognitive neuroscience research projects and utilize my findings to develop immersive experiences that foster empathy. I've conducted lengthy research before in developmental psychology, thus, I look forward to engaging in research projects after college as a game developer.