I am pursuing Statistics in my undergraduate (Data Science concentration). During my three years here at Truman State University, I have changed my major 5 times; from Physics, to Business Administration, to Psychology, to Computer Science, and then to Statistics. While I was pursuing these majors, it was only Statistics that I felt passionate about. I love analyzing businesses. I aim to start a social business of my own someday. I love reading through market analysis reports and annual reports by the companies I follow, and Statistics has made it possible for me to understand the data in these reports. I would spend hours trying to make sense of various visualizations I saw in these reports before I was a Statistics student. Now, it only takes me a few seconds to understand what a particular visualization represents. It saves me a lot of time and makes research even more interesting. I have come to understand that when Business and Statistics come together, it is possible to tell any business story effectively and to understand and implement the knowledge from any source that can be valuable. Besides being a student I also enjoy making timely investments in the stock market, and occasionally carrying out options trade. With Statistics, I am able to calculate my moves more effectively and with more confidence. Being a statistics student makes me feel invincible. I am able to make sense of trends that I see around; from trends in the stock market to even trends in day-to-day activities. My love for Statistics has only increased with time because of all the independent projects that I get to do in my classroom activities and my internship. The project that I have enjoyed the most till this day was when I analyzed trends in the cryptocurrency and the nft market and presented the findings on a website. Being an enthusiast of crypto assets, it was a very interesting and worthwhile project. I am currently working as a Data Analyst Intern for A T Still University. During this internship, I have had the opportunity to make multiple visualizations for different departments across the university to help them present the findings in their annual fiscal reports. I have been able to help these departments formulate strategies to potentially make their important numbers better in the future. Being able to make a difference in the way a company functions as a result of what I have found in collected data with the hope for the company to operate more efficiently in the future has made me both proud and humble. I am so grateful that I have the most knowledgeable professors who guide me through every step of my career. The presence of numerous opportunities in the field of Data Science makes it even more exciting to pursue a career in this field. I am glad that I took the time to explore what it is that I enjoy and that I decided to pursue Statistics.

Ever since my freshman semester here at Truman State University, I have been working with multiple offices on campus. I first started as a Student Caller at the university call center (I am now the Project Coordinator for the same) after which I joined the portfolio team as their Student Assistant. As a Student Assistant for the Portfolio Project, I worked under my supervisor to give presentations in classes all across campus educating students about their portfolio, what they need for their submissions, and why their portfolio is a significant part of their college experience. After checking everything is proper, I approve their portfolios once students submit them. Additionally, I work as a Career Advisor and Mock Interviewer for the University Career Center. I am also an Office Assistant for the Learning Technologies Team. Lastly, I serve as the Student Representative to the Foundation Board of Directors, for which we meet timely to discuss issues relating to improving students' experiences here on campus. All of these jobs have little to no supervision, hence I am responsible for any action and its consequences. These positions have made me more responsible, professional, and humble. Excel and Google Calendar have become my best friends through all this. I love to build my semester's schedule at the beginning of each semester on a spreadsheet. I then keep a photo of it as well just so I can see what I have planned for the day in case I have issues with the internet. Additionally, I like to keep reminders for important events, especially meetings. My positions require me to attend multiple meetings on the same day sometimes. Hence, having reminders helps me stay on top of my schedule. While planning for the day, I prioritize my tasks based on urgency and importance. If something is urgent and important, I do it first, followed by a task that is urgent, and then followed by a task that is important but not urgent. I like to color code these accordingly while keeping track. Another habit that I have is I open a sticky note on my laptop every time so that I can jot down anything important that comes across during the day. Later, I add it to my schedule as needed. Every semester, I have a long-term goal which I write in Notes on my phone and laptop. Last semester, my long-term goal was to finish an independent project in Data Science, which I did get done before the end of the semester. To be able to check it off at the end of every semester is the best feeling. Moreover, my GPA is very important to me. I make sure that I have enough time to prepare for my classes. Even though I have taken maximum credits every semester here, I have been able to maintain my GPA with my professors' help and with the help of my advisor. Besides these, I have various health conditions that need me to take proper care of my diet and exercise. Hence, I always make time to take care of myself through meal preps and workouts. Mealpreps save me the time I would need to prepare my food every day. All of these techniques have helped me manage my time and reduce my stress while still being involved with the major offices on campus. [I want to thank you for creating this scholarship. It is by the thoughtfulness and the efforts of people like you that we, the students with low income, can dream of completing our education successfully. Thank you very much.]