Thank you for the scholarship opportunity in honor of Mrs. Vivian Srouji. I have been accepted to both UCLA and UC Berkeley. I plan to attend UC Berkeley majoring in Electric Engineering and Computer Science (EECS). As a high school senior, I’ve been reflecting on the people and places that shaped who I am. I’m grateful for a lot—my parents, my teachers, my friends—but if I had to choose one or two things I’m most thankful for, it would be my hometown and my high school: Danville and San Ramon Valley High School. Growing up in Danville meant being surrounded by community parades, tree-lined streets, and familiar faces. It’s not the kind of place where tech is front and center, like Silicon Valley just 30 miles away. But I think that’s what made all the difference for me. Danville gave me the space to be curious, and SRVHS gave me the support to turn that curiosity into real growth. I still remember the first time I tried to code a game in fifth grade—a Pac-Man-style project I built using Unity. At the time, it was just me, a laptop, and an idea. My parents didn’t really know what I was doing, but they let me explore anyway. A few weeks later, I had a working game, and classmates crowded around to play it. That small win sparked something big in me. At San Ramon Valley High, I kept pushing that passion further. Even though our school isn’t known as a “tech hub,” I found teachers who supported me, classmates who inspired me, and a community that encouraged exploration. I attended hackathons, cold-emailed professors, and eventually landed a summer internship at the Computational Nano Lab at UC Berkeley. It was hard—I was working with neural networks and advanced math I hadn’t seen before—but the resilience I’d built at SRVHS helped me push through. I’m also deeply thankful for my cross-country team. Our coach, a former Olympian, pushed us with brutal early morning runs and intense workouts. But through that, I learned how to keep going even when things get tough. That same mindset helped me power through late-night coding bugs and confusing AI concepts like Large Language Models—especially as I explored how they might help students with dyslexia. Looking back, I’m grateful for the entire SRVHS experience—not just academics, but the friendships, challenges, and small-town values that shaped me. Danville taught me how to slow down and connect with people. My high school taught me how to dream big and work hard for it. While I hope to one day work in Silicon Valley, I carry my roots with me. I don’t want to just build cool technology—I want to build things that make a difference, grounded in the human connections that shaped me.