When I was younger and slipped on my first pair of glasses I recall walking around the school mindlessly tapping them, pretending that they had technological powers. If I swiped the temple, shoe roller-blades would "activate." If I tapped the hinges music would come on. Now, none of these cool tricks that were communicated from my glasses ever actually happened, but now, in a modern era where everything is digital, they can be (minus the roller-blades). A newer piece of tech that has entered mainstream media is Meta's "Ray-Band Smart Glasses," glasses that take voice commands to call, answer questions, and even stream music. This piece of technology may not be as revolutionary as AI, the internet, or cars; however, it helps limit a fairly common and fatal issue: pedestrian deaths due to cell phones. A study done by the GHSA stated that over the last 10 years "pedestrian deaths are up 53%... Most of [these accidents] started happening about the time smartphones came about." With these new hands-free glasses, people have no need to look down at their phones to change a song or pick up a call. They can use their senses to be alert when walking and driving while still carrying out important tasks that would otherwise take their attention off the road. This technological advancement may seem like a silly gadget, but it has the potential to save numerous lives. The more people that utilize this innovation, the more deaths we can limit in our already scary world. This piece of technology is something fun that can still help save people, which truly inspires me about the way tech can help our society, inching us toward a better future. I've been enrolled in numerous STEM classes, most of which are male-dominated. My AP CSP course had 30 kids in the class, with only 5 being female. Seeing this disparity I attempted to mend it by applying to start a chapter of GirlsinSTEM at my school. I wanted to make an impact in a way that would help future female generations become upright on their feet. With this scholarship, I would be one step closer to achieving my goal of pursuing a higher education in cyber security and showing younger and older girls alike, that no matter how little traversed the field or path is, it is doable and we are capable. Thank you for your consideration.

@shmaddsthecat

"𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙣 𝙤𝙧 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙜𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙨— 𝙚𝙭𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙜𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙨, 𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛-𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚— 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙣𝙚𝙬. 𝙉𝙤𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙚𝙨, 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙚𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙢𝙚." ― Kyrie McCauley, 𝘞𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘉𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘦𝘴 One of my all-time favorite novels "We Can Be Heroes" by Kyrie McCauley is focused on a young group of friends fresh out of high school recovering from the death of their best friend who was murdered in a school shooting. This book centered around a controversial topic: gun violence in schools. This book focuses on the two best friends of Cassandra Queen who was killed by her ex-boyfriend (the son of the largest gun shop owner in their town of Bell) in a school shooting. Her two friends, Beck and Vivian are trying to bring justice for Cassie by getting the Bell Gun corporation to admit its faults. They paint murals around the town that resemble Greek myths and then post them on Instagram to get attention to Cassie's case. This book dives head-first into gun violence at schools and in the public. It has a lot of points of feminism as well, how women are trying to survive in a world made by men and then get criticized in the long run. The reason everyone in the world should read this specific novel is because it really makes you think and wonder: "What can I do? What can I do in this one life that will impact others so deeply?" Just because you make money from something does not mean it is bringing more peace than harm and that point is mirrored in this novel. After reading this book I felt this feeling of inspiration. Like I could do something. I could stand up for my rights and beliefs and I could succeed in lobbying for them. Everyone deserves the feeling of hope and reading this book will give you just that because after all, we can be heroes too.

The Oxford Dictionary defines Selflessness as being more "concerned with the needs and wishes of others than with our own." Selflessness is a trait that I believe is learned rather than embedded. My mom worked at the Salvation Army and I used to help out as a little girl, I joined Student Council and became an officer as soon as I could, I would help theater set up for performances even though I wasn't even a part of the club. Being able to help others before helping yourself is something I've grown up with. Getting to see people's faces light up when they have something they haven't had in a long while: hope, is simply captivating. Back in September of last year, my Girl Scout troop finished working on what is called the silver award. When you’re in Girl Scouts there are three major “projects” that involve community service, creative thinking, teamwork, and making an impact that addresses an issue. We were running close to the deadline for this award to be turned in and approved by the council and around mid-July I realized this was not going to get anywhere unless someone stood up and pushed it a little to make it go somewhere. After some prodding, we met up and decided on doing a children's book with a patch that goes with it to boost Girl Scout involvement and enrollment within schools. Girl Scouts is an area where girls can be themselves, make friends, and most importantly see the benefits of helping others. After we got our idea I decided to put people in groups based on their strengths and weaknesses. We ended up with me being in all three groups to oversee work and then some people in the groups of writing/editing (my main group), illustration, and patch design. After months of delegating and writing the deadline started approaching faster and faster. Now it was around early September and we had all of our components ready. All that was left was our Take Action step, the best one of them all. The reason we wanted to go through with this plan was because we wanted young girls to have what we have had through Girl Scouts. This activity has been so much to me through the past years and I want it to affect someone else in the way it affected me. I have learned so much through Girl Scouts in a way that can only be learned through the club. For our take action, we went to elementary schools during Girl Scout recruitment night and read our story out loud to the girls. They all loved our story and WE ended up getting to lead the recruitment night. Seeing those girls' faces when we read them our book was a joy that can only be obtained through helping others. Even though these girls don't seem like they're in need because they aren't on the sidewalk begging or in a store stealing to survive they still can have other issues going on inside them or at home that they need a way to cope with. Getting other girls involved in this activity can prove as a safe haven for them and a learning space like it was for me. Being in need can be interpreted differently by everyone and on that recruitment night I saw a bunch of little girls in need of a place to belong. Thank you for reviewing this application, as it would be an honor to receive it.

When someone asks the question in school or at home of why I like math my first answer is: "Because it is always definite." Math mainly has one answer and one answer only. In English class you have to write essays over your opinion and your thoughts but in math you're just using a simple age old formula that produces the correct answer. But upon review of my theory that math is so definite, I realized that I really love it because it is all around us. I look up at the sun and there is a formula to calculate the distance of it from Earth. I march on the field for marching band and notice that I have to march 5 feet forward and 4 feet to the left to reach my spot. I prepare breakfast for my family and have to calculate the ounces of milk required to make the perfect chocolate chip pancakes. Math is everywhere when English and words might not be. Math surrounds us, unlike the skills we learn in gym class about volleyball. When you ask a math teacher in class: "When am I going to need this in the real world?" their response can vary from "You'll need it to file your taxes!" to "Maybe you'll be the CEO one day and have to figure out how much to pay everyone." and no matter the response to the question the answer will always be some variation of how you will definitely use it in the real world. Which is the beauty of math. No matter what, it will always be around us.