When I think back to the not-too-far-away past (not future) when people had to mail each other and wait for horses or the mailman to arrive, I cannot imagine waiting for a message for days from my best friend. In the new era of technology, the ability to provide easy access to information is what inspires me the most: how the internet has revolutionized the way everyone communicates, works, and learns. Connecting with others due to the limited communication channels was very challenging before the Internet. And with its help, it has enabled people from all over the world to be able to share their interests and passions, no matter where they are. The abundance of information that is available now is not only inspiring but also provides opportunities for people. In addition, the internet has also created new job markets. While the tech industry has specific requirements, people moving into those industries will open up other opportunities in other areas. The internet has struck a balance in the job market, which is also why it is impressive. Before, access to information was limited to books or people who could afford formal education. Now, with just the help of a simple monitor, anyone with access can learn just about any subject. The internet has benefited people by providing educational resources that were previously not available. The internet’s ease of access makes it easier for everyone, not just limited to connections, work experience, or education. Of course, it is not perfect. Safety concerns such as blackmail and cyberbullying are still problems. However, that is why it ultimately inspires me because I am pursuing a degree in the tech field, and I know that it has the potential to make the world a better place, as it has already started doing so.

Hopefully, I'll be standing at the summit of a rollercoaster, gazing out towards the horizon, seeing my accomplishments, and ready for another round of adventure.

Words on paper seem so tedious in a textbook. Personally, for myself, as I grind out my physics textbook, I find the words to blur in my mind, but somehow, I still need to retain the information. Writing itself are words on paper, but to put meaning behind it, that is when writing becomes a form of expression. I love writing, perhaps that is why I am choosing to apply to this particular scholarship, but I will tell you, my intake. Writing has been a habit of mine for as long as I can remember. Journals have been a constant companion of mine, whether that be daily or weekly entries capturing the essence of my memories. To me, these little details are what make these memories so special, each moment pressed down through ink. While some may view personal thoughts as already a means of expression, the way I see it, it’s more of a way to time-travel back to my former self and relive those moments. Those captured expressions serve as a portal to my past self, to help me remember who I was and how I’ve grown. Writing is essential for preserving the past and understanding the events that have shaped the world around us. Most textbooks are dry and even may be hard to read since real expressions are found in handwritten journals of people who have lived through those exact moments. Without those fancy cursive lettering, the past would not exist, and history would be lost to the ages; it is through the written world that we can pass down stories, and not live to forget their non-existing permanency. As someone who has always kept journals, I understand the power of writing to preserve memories and emotions. In a world where everything is changing, words give an almost portal-like way to revisit the past. Not only is reading about other people’s stories interesting, but it can also change the way we perceive the world since it’s inherently subjective. Somebody else’s world allows a broadened understanding of everything around us and gives us another way to view the scenario. And this simply does not have to be limited to non-fiction books, even a fictional world, can transport us to another universe of creativity through someone else’s lenses. For myself, I have never stopped writing. This form of expression has always existed, and it has served me well in many ways. It helps me relieve stress, jot down daily moments that I don’t want to forget, and make more memory space for learning more physics, as a joke, since memory is unlimited. This way of expression has inspired me to write and publish a book. I still, to this day, value writing because I believe without it, no records, only the present, and the potential future exist. The past will simply fade away, and no one will ever remember. A scary thought, but a real one.

Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time. To combat climate change, we should take a multi-faceted approach that involves transitioning to renewable energy sources, protecting natural ecosystems, and promoting sustainable practices in all areas of life. To start, one of the impactful ways to combat climate change is to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and then, therefore, transition to renewable energy sources. Governments and businesses can invest in renewable energy and therefore incentivize the use of clean energy to direct away from fossil fuels, reducing pollution and giving us a safer environment to live in. Renewable energy such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power emits almost no greenhouse gases and is essential to lower areas of pollution. Another way to combat climate change is to protect natural ecosystems. Oceans and forests are vast examples of playing critical roles in regulating Earth’s climate. Both the sea and forests alike will absorb and store carbon dioxide, which that is the main harm in increasing climate. Communities can work to protect to restore these natural ecosystems by reducing the amount of human technological interfaces throughout natural habitats. Mother nature has its special ways to restore the habitat of locations without human interaction. Simple measures of not leaving trash on a hike, or being careful not to violate protected marine institutes by not fishing, will help battle climate change. Continuing off of taking small tasks to keep our environment a clean space, some educational implementation can also help in addressing climate change. Our future lies in the hand of our children and awareness is a main issue as to the climate change impacts being so great. However, to reduce our carbon footprint, we can also encourage others to do the same, and a very small step, can become a great one. In my own life, I strive to fight climate change through simple tasks to reduce carbon transmission. For instance, Metrolink, a train that I take was notified of a climate action plan, to make traveling “safe, clean, and on time”. And those are just the small steps that people are already taking to become more eco-friendly, which I fully support. As a college student, I cycle to most places around me, and rather, this action is good for my health and the climate. Combatting climate change requires collective action from all of us. Our future generations depend on us to protect the planet and create a safer, healthier environment for everyone. While reducing greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning to renewable energy sources are larger tasks for governments, we can already take small steps to protect natural ecosystems, which will lead to a healthier environment for us all to live in.

Somewhere in a video game: “Achoo!” The blue-hatted person looks up from the monitor. The noise, definitely a sneeze, in the middle of a bank. But he thought it was supposed to be well guarded and didn’t make any attempts to get his butt off of the chair it was already glued to. Holding his breath, dressed in white and black, it could not be any more obvious that this man was the robber, deciding he wanted to steal some money on a day in spring of pollen and blossoms…of allergies. He rolled his eyes, and tip-toed towards the front desk, feeling the snot rolling down his nostrils, but he dared not to inhale. A loud burp from behind him made him jump and scare himself. He must be in a cartoon right now, having this lazy, fat man behind him not even noticing he’s about to sneak some bucks out of here. He crawled around over to the side of the dusty desk and peeked over at the officer, his hand on a half-chewed donut as he munched loudly. The thief sees the opportunity as the officer bends down to pick up a pen on the other side he dropped and leaped behind a pot of plants. He held his breath, feeling his nostrils tickle with the upcoming sneeze. Shoot! He pinched his nose with his fingers, seeing across from him, a woman, standing there in her long red dress and her brightly colored puff lips gasp out loud. He waved at her back and forth to tell her to keep quiet, glaring before his eyes fluttered, looking upwards, and let the hail of sneezes out. Mission failed.

Misfortune is something that comes at you when you least expect it. Life’s cruel reality is not avoidable at times of hardship. Rather, “[b]etter a cruel truth, than a comfortable delusion.” – Edward Abbey. Ambition, determination, thrive for success; are all qualities of everyone, set in stone. To see them, use them, would be in the case of optimism. Seeing and believing in the positive side of things is what keeps me going. The light at the end of the tunnel is not what I aim for, but knowing that I can get to it, is the quality I admire most about myself. Many people think of positivity as an easy way to live life, what can go wrong when everything is just right? I view optimism as a way to not give up, to know that this is only one dip of the hill that I’m on, and after the seemingly endless tumbling down, I will have to climb again. In my first quarter at college, the classes were not very fast but challenging for me as well. I did not have the chance to give myself an easy, adjusting quarter since I am an electrical engineer with a hectic schedule. My first class gave me so much trouble that I mentally felt so drained and physically tired, feeling the mild symptoms of depression coming. This was especially new to me since I have always been a happy person, and I just piled up with negative emotions since it was an introductory class. I took it upon myself after two weeks of feeling this way, which was a long time in a quarter-system college. I placed my embarrassment aside and went to office hours, setting myself to succeed, knowing that these next four years are going to be difficult, and the first small step is what I have to take. I finished the class with a solid A at the end. Sports are an important aspect of my life; the dedication and ambition to continuously do something were what also helped me through my hard midterms in college life now. I started competitive swimming around the fifth grade, and always aimed towards higher goals. After quarantine, I lost my progress and backtracked two years in progress in time comparison. If I was not very disappointed when I started competing again, I was extremely annoyed with myself as well. However, it took me some time to realize that this is not the end of my swimming career, and I did not give up on swimming, because I know that I can get back into my prime shape. Just as I mentioned, the light of the tunnel may seem dimmed or barely a speckle, but only if I take one step at a time, I will reach it. This is my view of optimism, the futuristic view of success in long-term processes by making short-term goals. I know that there is no sugarcoating reality because really, fooling myself through candy-colored lenses is not how I can become successful. And the sooner I accept it, the better it will be for me to work towards it. I appreciate this opportunity given to me to help me succeed in my studies and career, so thank you.

Hardships seem like a word or an occurrence of an event that I am just wired to try to ignore. However, that is not something that could be done, as life is hard, and reality will hit no matter what. One hardship that I faced in my life was during quarantine, while I had my online classes, where all of my sports stopped, and I lost my determination to succeed. When quarantine started, my school told us it was going to just be two weeks of vacation. A couple of months later, I started my junior year of high school online. In the summer before my junior year of high school, I was slacking off on everything. Where I had practice and school every day before, I was left with nothing but Netflix and my phone. During that school year, my focus was elsewhere, having to have the class in my room, with many distractions that I did not make any effort to avoid. Additionally, I did not try to work out to stay in shape for swimming. By the time quarantine ended, one of the things it drained from me was my ambition. Before, I was a very competitive person, and I would do anything to try to be the best version of myself and compete to win. I was a sporty person, but also, I studied hard. When I went back to society, those qualities decreased tremendously. It took me a long time to get back into regular lifestyle. In my senior year of high school, I constantly felt the urge to be lazy and even though I got good grades in school, I felt that something was missing still. It was not until my freshman year of college, that I heard from a friend of mine on the swim team, whose story gave me a shock back to real reality. He mentioned how, taking swim as an example, the world record has been broken multiple times as soon as we came out of the pandemic. And I thought it was simply amazing; that determination, the drive, was what I lost, and what I wanted back. I realized that my swimming has not been its best shape, my studies have been barely mediocre, and I have been lazy when I told myself that I did not. So, I took the first step forward, better late than never, as I tell myself. With four STEM classes, I am also doing two club sports including another intramural one, with additional outdoor activities and a project-based engineering club. From what I've known, I have always been busy, and this would be the first step towards stopping laziness. This rollercoaster of uncertainty has given me new lens to view the world around me, and I realize that I can take control of my life and drive it towards success. I needed to work hard if I wanted back what I was before: ambitious, determined, and my motivation towards success.

I have always been drawn to math, ever since I was little. I found joy where others found pain in doing the homework problems I was given. I had a fascination with numbers and even shaped my life based off of them, using logic to form an understanding of the world. Very simple tasks can be paired with numbers and logic as applications to my life. To be logical, I am able to figure out the way signal lights work through driving. This way, I can be more fuel efficient and save money as a broke college student. I also have visualizations of projects I am making. For instance, one project that I had to build for physics class was a catapult. I searched up some examples to open up more ideas and came up with my own set up and used that to get first place to launch the egg the furthest in the class. Also, I plan out my day according to time, which should seem like what everyone already does, but I narrow it down with the numbers. I know myself the best, so I know when is the most efficient time of day for me to get the most things done, so I would work my schedule around that. Logic and numbers are a big part of my life, to see the formality of numbers gives me insight of how my day can go on to be the most efficient. It can come from simple learning styles of even a way to view the world. I love math because of its simple numbers but with the complex way of doing it.

Through logic, I can accomplish many things. I have always been drawn to math, ever since I was little, working on the addition problems I was given. But even then, I had a fascination with numbers. I like to shape my learning based off of numbers. Eventually, entering high school, I was given the opportunity to attend the CA Math League competition, where I found the problems rather entertaining. Learning can be done in many ways. I shaped my learning based off of numbers by making percentages for my classes. For instance, my chemistry class this year, there is a total of seven chapters that we had to learn and each chapter of mastery we do homework on weekly. To where I start off with a class with zero percent, which was also something I learned in physics class, I will build that up to one-hundred percent by the end of the school year. This will stand for the completion of that particular subject and mastery. To do a rough calculation of where I am in chemistry, as the example given, after I complete each topic, it is approximately fourteen percent of the class that I have learned, and perhaps will repeat until I have completed mastery. Simple tasks can also be paired with numbers and logic. One example of this in addition to my fascination of numbers is driving. While I am driving, I managed to figure out the simple works of signal lights where I can drive to be most fuel efficient. To put it simply, the light has a motion sensor where the car in front will activate if the light is red. I will be able to glide and not fully break and stop, due to static friction being greater than kinetic friction. Also, the left turn signal light turns green first, and if there are no left turn cars on the other end, as soon as the perpendicular lights turn red, I know it will be my turn to start moving or predict the timing of the lights so I will not have to stop. In my understanding of the world itself, logic and numbers are a big part of it. It can come from simple learning styles or a way to view the world. As technology emerges and more are being invented, there will be more math involved with the world around us. Simple logic can help us be more efficient with our times and save money.

I do not want to live in a dumpster of clothing, piled up to the ceiling. There is no breathing room or ability to simply do some activities that I would like. Living in such environment would also make it really hard to get up and not be lazy, therefore, living clean is very important and I choose to live a clean lifestyle. Throughout my daily life, I do the simple tasks to make my living space as comfortable and good looking as possible. Call me a neat freak but that is the way I like it. Every morning, I do the easy task to fold my bed, make it neat and nice to look at. Then, by doing the essentials, I clean up myself and have a sip of a drink nearby to go get breakfast. I feel ready to start the day after that, and usually, I can work relatively fast. After a day of school, it is rather exhausting. But I do take everything out of my backpack and hang it up at the destinated spot so I will be able to find it immediately later for another class I may have. I do not like it when my desk is a mess where I am constantly searching for things, which also gives me another reason to relax from the lecture for a bit to clean my desk and organize the items on it. Additionally, I have sports practices outside of school work, or late nights out for socials. When I am about to leave for either of those, I like to put everything back to where it is supposed to be. For instance, place my school work back into my backpack for my next class, or simply put it away for later usage. This is the most time efficient way to where if I want to relax later, I will not have to stress about not sleeping just to clean up for the next day since I will be tired when I come back, which is usually the case. Overall, living in clean spaces has helped me to be more time efficient and only doing the bare minimum. It does not tire me out in any way and I will be quick to leave for the next planned event on my calendar. It also motivates me to do my school work so I do not have to dwell on cleaning later and can focus better, not giving up to laziness.

Back to school time is can have a both positive and negative impact on a student. Positive where students can be happy to get back together with school friends and socialize, and negative because the summer is nearing an end. As a student myself, I'm about to go back to school, and starting off college too. Just thinking about all the final exams, I have to take and study, including other activities is scary. But as a tip for myself, I come across it this way, lazy during summer and work hard during the school year. Rest well and come back strong. I had a quote myself that I made somewhere around my middle school years, but I've stuck to it ever since. Having fun is everything, learning is eternity, dream big and live your style.

When I was younger, my parents has told me that girls may not be good at technology. Although living with this ideology in my head, throughout my middle school years, I was extremely inspired by one of my favorite characters in a TV show, who was a female hacker. Before even entering high school ninth grade, I knew I wanted to learn more about computer science. As I’m about to enter college, in my high school years, I’ve completed the PLTW pathway including an additional year in computer science. Although I am not majoring in Computer Science in college, I still want to keep pursuing in a field of technology so I am making my way to get my degree as an electrical engineer. During my high school years, I’ve had four years of practice with coding. For instance, one project that I had for a part of my AP test in Computer Science Principles, was to create a game on Scratch. The game I created was called Shark Chase, where the control character (fish) would try to run away by using the arrow keys from the predator (shark). And as the points go higher, the shark then ends up shooting items, which I usually just found tennis balls and baseballs to shoot at the fish; it was a survival game of time. While I’m navigating the Scratch website, there were many blocks that stopped my code from working. One example of that was how the score just exploded into millions after approximately three seconds in the game. Something to laugh about, but extremely frustrating. I didn’t give up after seeing this error but continued to work on it until I solved the problem. From my four years of computer science, coding is not fun. And I’m asking myself that’s a weird conclusion because I’m supposed to explain how it inspires me. But in fact, it very much did. Even though the debugging process was long and tedious, and technology just becomes increasingly frustrating because it does not work the way I wanted it to, I still wanted to deal with it. Just the mere imagination of my project being finished and working perfectly, after hours of hard work spent on it, it’s a very relaxing sensation. What I throughout was just a dream early on in my middle school years, I have a chance to pursue. It has inspired me enough to consider working in this area, recalling my EE major. I’ve come across a field that I was told girls might not be exceptionally at, but I will work my hardest because I believe the difficulties are worth dealing with, as the results will be worth it.