I've always been a number girl, exceeding in her math class since the 8th grade. I believe math is beautiful with the number of letters, equations, and all the ways to move around numbers to complete a question. Math is the only subject in school that gets me to think innovatively and strategically to get that one or second answer to the question being asked. Unlike other subjects, there could be a multitude of answers for just one question, which doesn't make me feel satisfied after leaving my math class. I feel good about myself when I can sit down, do the intricate work, and check with my peers to see if they got the same answer. Nothing is more satisfying than being in a group and getting the same answer to a problem. I love math because of its simplicity of it, and the way it brings students in a classroom together. Math is the only subject that is constant and doesn't flow with the wind of someone's imagination. It's in your face and after you finish a worksheet or a mind-wrecking problem, you are appreciative of numbers and the way they can be manipulated. I love math for that reason, the beauty of numbers and not words.

I view college as a route for me to gain the social experiences I was sheltered from throughout my teen years, get a higher education that neither of my immigrant parents could get, and discover who I am without any societal expectations from my current community. I believe that college will be the best place and time to explore myself, what I like or dislike, and have fun while also setting myself up for success in the future. I come from a home where I couldn’t express myself freely and was always belittled for sharing my emotions whenever I would mention them. Since I was raised on keeping everything to myself, I always felt like I could never explore new things like trying out for sports because I couldn’t express my insecurities or nervousness to anyone in my home. A passion I have outside of the normality for my family is entrepreneurship, and through this, I started a reselling mink eyelash business. My business was pretty successful in making profits when I first start but has become nonexistent since I haven’t been able to stay consistent. When I attend college, I intend to major in business administration and marketing to learn as much as possible so I can create a better plan to help flourish my business. I want to attend college for the freedom it allows me to have, and for how much it will make me grow up into a functioning adult. Throughout this experience, I'll be able to grow as a young adult/woman to understand the need in the world from ourselves. I want to use my business endeavors to create a way to donate my profits to my community, East Oakland. I come from a very small but mighty city, where there are hundreds of homeless people as well as hundreds of students in school who barely have enough to eat. With my higher education, I plan to help these students through schools to fund better foods outside of school lunch and breakfast. I want to do as much as possible little or big to help the community that has flourished me into the person I am today.

During the pandemic and the spread of Covid, I had to find ways to keep myself busy without interacting with people or going outside. Trapped in my room quarantining, scared to catch the disease for a year and a half, I did any and every activity at home, from puzzles to painting. As I tried to escape boredom, I found one of my passions: curating and sculpting my own acrylic nails. At first, I practiced on my own nails, and then I began to practice on fake mannequin hands until my friends convinced me to do others' nails as well. Eventually, I began to book appointments with family and friends. My very first client was my cousin, although we spent five hours together, it did not feel like a hassle to do. Although curating nails doesn't seem like a big issue in the beauty industry, it's important to keep the customer safe in a timely matter while making something beautiful for them to see for the next 2-3 weeks. By doing nails on someone other than myself, I learned how to be gentle and considerate of others’ sensitivity to nail tools. Having all the materials to do nails, I would change them every other week to keep myself entertained for a couple of hours. I practiced the latest trends with nail polish and gemstones to push my limits in creativity even further. I strategically came up with different methods of acrylic applications to make it easier and faster. I’m most artistic when creating hand-painted designs. Being able to create my own nails allowed me to disconnect from the world for that period of time. It forced me to slow down, breathe, and solely concentrate on the steps in front of me without overthinking my other responsibilities. Instead of thinking about what’s next on my to-do list, I’ve learned to actively participate in my craft. Expressing my creativity through nails has challenged me to be present in the moment and it has allowed me to be at ease and not in a constant cycle of stress. For that reason, having my own creative outlet has trained my mind tremendously into slowing down in a world that is always fast-paced. The issue with creating a full set of nails is the amount of time and human labor. It would be beneficial to have more customers to practice on to work faster and to also be efficient in my craft.