I am trying to pursue a computer science and physics major for one reason... why not? That's not the whole reason, but it's one part of it. The part I want to focus on today is just how genuinely interested I am in these two subjects. I love computer science for maybe the reason most people would like computer science - being fascinated by seeing how what we code can translate into real life. Artificial Intelligence is one aspect that I wish to delve into further in my secondary education, and hopefully would be able to put it to use when I'm working on my real goal of achieving a semi/fully autonomous flying car. Physics is a subject I love just because of how it's all around us, affecting our daily lives, and by learning what is going on around us, and even how to manipulate it, to put it plain and simple - it's cool. The reason I wish to study physics later is in conjunction with my ultimate goal of achieving said flying car, as learning how drag and other stuff play a role in the flight of the car or just some other factors influencing the vehicle. Now I know that being in 10th grade and making some bold claims of how interested I am in blah is about expected, but how I can differentiate myself is that I have the transcripts to prove it. I've gotten a 5 on AP Computer Science A, and plan on taking Post AP Computer Science next year (the class was dropped this year) and got caught a bit off guard for Physics 1, and still managed to pull in a decent 4, and am currently taking Physics 2, aiming for that 5. Hopefully, I was able to give a good understanding of who I am to you in this short prompt I've written but thank you for the opportunity!

One day, I was standing in front of the mirror, and a thought flew across my mind: what if the person I see looking back at me had a life of its own, one that was different from the one I was leading, and it got me to thinking. There are many different theories about the universe, some talk about the fact that the one we are living in is not the only one, but one in a multiverse, other theories threaten our very understanding of how our universe came to be. I've watched plenty of Kurzgesagt and Infographic show videos on theories proposed to understand this universe, and just how massive our "home" really is. As I've gotten older over the past couple of years, I've watched myself as I became more and more fascinated by the way the universe was and how it worked. One of my biggest desires to achieve in my life here on Earth is to create a different mode of transportation - the flying car. Now, you may be wondering, how does create an electrically powered flying car have anything to do with understanding our universe? The answer is absolutely everything. A flying car by its very function would be going against forces of gravity and would have to be designed in such a way that it would have to be able to reduce drag to as minimal of an amount as possible, while simultaneously having enough drag so that the car doesn't flip over on the road when it is driving at high speeds - two things that directly contradict each other yet can still coexist with each other. Yet creating the vehicle by itself is meaningless if it isn't efficient enough for neither the environment nor the consumer. And this is where the quest begins, to understand the materials that our world can give us, create a powerplant that can make the vehicle run longer than any other, and create something similar to a rocket engine, but in electric form, sized down to be able to fit a vehicle, without ever need to go to a gas station or get some special sorts of fuel from an airport just to run their engines. With an electric engine as such, it would not only improve our lives on earth, but aid space travel and research as well, as the engines can be paired with natural sources of energy such as solar panels able to capture sunlight and generate power for the engines, which would help propel rockets and other objects at greater speeds, and would allow us to cover greater amounts of space - further than we had ever thought we could go.

My favorite scientific discovery is electricity. Nikola Tesla, perhaps one of the greatest, if not the greatest contributor to harnessing electricity, once said, "The day which we shall know what electricity is will chronicle an event probably greater, more important than any other recorded in the history of the human race." With electricity running all around us, in fact, being used to type this very essay, Tesla wasn't wrong, and I can foresee a future where electricity will be used to an even greater extent than where it is right now. Electricity seems simple, a battery, a few wires, and something that needs to be powered up, so some may wonder, how does it become even more advanced, and evolved than where it is today. In the fields of study that I've been interested in working in my whole life - Computer Science and Engineering, long gone are the days when large rolls of blue paper were a necessity in every office, as people head online, running an advanced program to do whatever that program is meant to be doing, all thanks to a battery, a few wires, a thing that needs to be powered up, and a few other "minor" components. My personal goal for using electricity is to achieve my lifelong dream of creating the world's first flying car, so computer simulations would be running 24/7 and as electricity is the future of this planet, using a sustainable electric battery would be beneficial to all of us, and hopefully, technology would one day advance to the point where I would be able to one day make that a reality.

"If you take the first steps, and they are the right ones, everyone else will soon follow." The first day of high school - I've been to this school for the past four years, but something about today was different. Everyone was wearing masks, putting on a seemingly expressionless face, yet everyone was also able to tell what each other were feeling - uncertainty - no one was sure that after we had all been separated for a year and a half if our friends were still really our friends, or if the people we once knew were the same. When the school day began, we all headed to our lockers, and I saw a few of my friends stop off at separate intervals, some a few lockers to my left and right, and others were over 20 to either side. Some people began the initiative to start talking to some of their friends and asking questions such as what they did over the summer etc. and I was one of them. I started by talking to one of my friends about a few lockers down and I knew I wasn't going to spend the entire school year in the seemingly boring silence, and as the few of us started talking, more and more people started opening up and sharing what they did during all this time we were apart. By taking the steps of going out to people and asking them about themselves, the entire school year became so much more fun, and I couldn't have imagined the year it had been in complete silence.

My main goal for the future, no matter how many times people may have heard it or not, is to work on and create my own flying car with the technology to back that up, and I would start by creating multiple designs and models on software, and alongside start working on the AI that would make flying safe and easy, and as it is a car, it also should be able to drive, so I'd be able to work on multiple different fronts all at once, and none of the goals I have can trump my desire to actually begin working on this. When I do get to join a university's program, I'd be able to work with many different peers and staff there who may be willing to help me, and make these dreams into a reality, so that there really is a flying car in this world, and will make children and parents alike, all smile, as their hopes and dreams will one day come true.

Pomodoro, cramming, eating the spiciest food before you begin studying for hours long, I don't use any of these, as for me, I've always found a strict schedule, like 45 minutes in, 15-minute break, I simply don't work that way, especially as for some reason, in the very last minute of those 45 minutes, I come across the most interesting and fascinating bit, but as I have a 15-minute break, I need to take it, otherwise I'm not following the schedule, and being so-called "unproductive." I see people going ahead and planning what they are going to do on a certain day, days, or even weeks ahead, and it somehow miraculously works for them, yet I'm not like them. I like the freedom of being able to just choose what I want to do throughout the day, still getting all my tasks done, just in the most flexible manner possible, and here's how it works. I wake up, and I tend to know the first thing I'm supposed to do, and it seems pretty simple, now if I were most people I would be told to eat breakfast or start studying something else, but say I'm not hungry or I don't want to study right then and there, so what I do when I'm doing my first task is think of what are the next 2 things, not 5 or 10, just 2, what are the next 2 things I'm going to do, and then I work on them. When I do my second task, I think about my next task and think if I really want to do that or do that in a later slot in my day, and I continue down the process of 2 at a time, seeing which path my day flows down through.

I was doing a math problem one day for a homework assignment and it wanted me to calculate the total amount that would have to have been paid back with interest on top of that for a long-term loan. As I worked down the math problem, the person who had taken the loan had chosen the longest loan option that had been presented to them in order to pay less for every payment than if the loan were more short-term. For the math problem, I had to calculate the interest for both the short-term loan and the longer-term loan, and the difference was startling, in both cases. The first thing that stood out to me was how much more the person had to pay when they took the longer loan than the shorter-term loan as the interest was slowly accumulating in a snowball effect, which lead to the shorter-term loan being paid off with less money. However, this was not my main takeaway from when I did this seemingly innocent math problem. When I saw the initial loan amount and started comparing it to the amounts that had been paid in order to fulfill the loan and pay it fully off, the amount was also massive, and it taught me that if you need to take a loan, fully consider and weigh all your options, and if there even is the slightest possibility that you don't need to take a loan, don't take it, the loan will end up doing more harm than good. And if the item or object you are taking the loan for is not an immediate necessity, save up in order to buy that item so you don't end up paying off an expensive loan that could be avoided.

How I've stayed optimistic through tough times is by knowing that everything has a start and an end, and life is long enough for us to see many things start and end as we live our lives. Covid to me feels like one such thing, and knowing this to be one such thing, I know that there is an end and that I'd have gotten to see all my friends again and get to play and do the same things with them and my family which previously I wasn't. Nowadays, it is easy to meet up with them and I get to talk to most of them on a daily basis and that makes me even more optimistic that these tough times are not forever, and that there will be an end to the mess that this pandemic has caused us, and even though many will leave different because of it, it still taught us the value of things such as friendship and family and will make us cherish the rest of our lives more closely.

The personal finance lesson that I've found the most important to me is to not always buy the first thing you see whether or not it is that new pair of kicks that's on sale or jumping to buy the luxury car you've dreamed about buying, and trading in your still somewhat new Prius. Reckless spending is steadily growing, or at least it seems like it, even though prices are still rising and inflation is reaching all-time highs, online shopping, even more so than in-person shopping is finding more and more ways to exploit the buyer to either buy more than what they initially wanted, or bringing items in from other companies, and marking their prices up, sometimes double or even triple what they'd have been selling for at other stores, yet people buy them anyway because they feel like if they wait too long or check other stores, they feel as if that item would be gone by the time they return back, which if they were to go to other stores with cheaper prices, I doubt they'd be returning back in the first place. Being financially aware of knowing that you may not always be getting the best price compared to items in other stores, and being aware this would reduce reckless spending, and is something I implement whenever I scroll websites for items and even use browser extensions to quickly compare prices so I know where to go for the best price. Oh and to add on to selling that Prius for that luxury car, if it still drives, and it seems to be in good condition, sometimes sticking to what you have right now is better than getting loans to buy that luxury car, which at times may not be the best option.

I love being outdoors and would want to be outdoors all day if it weren't for the scorching Arizona heat that we get here, however, what this heat takes away from me, makes me value nature all that more. Walking is one of my favorite things to do, and in fact, I took a morning walk today and hearing the birds chirping, and the nice and calm breeze blowing, it almost felt like the world had entered heaven... until I heard truck horns blowing and cars driving by reminding me that nature's strength is slowly diminishing. However, as it slowly goes away, it makes me want to appreciate it all that more and care for it so much more as enjoying that nice breeze and clean air, along with the birds chirping upon their trees, as I take a walk makes me want to make the most of what I have right now. This is why I love nature, and all I do to try my best to appreciate what I have.

It was the day before Spring Break and in my physics classroom, everyone was choosing their groupmates for the project we were assigned that would be due a week after Spring Break. I found some people whom I could work with, and I knew them fairly well, but I never worked with them before, so I thought it would be an interesting experience. Since it was Spring Break and it was one of our last big breaks before the end of the year, filled with finals and APs, I decided to create the google slides, and share it with everyone, so that if they did want to work on it over the break, they would have been able to work on it. As Spring Break was coming to a close, I opened up the google slides, and I saw that it was left the same way as the break started, just with the addition of a slide that I added over the break. Knowing that we still have a week, and school was approaching fast, I would be able to work with them in class. In class, I was able to create an organization slide with everyone just to make the process flow better, and it seemed to be working. As the weekend of that week started to approach, as well as the deadline, I opened up the slides again and saw that not all too many slides were added by them. So I persisted and asked all of them for their numbers/emails so that we could work on it over the weekend, and lo and behold, that was the factor that made the project all come together, as I could share my insights with them right then and there, without waiting for school to come.

What generosity means to me is entering a room and helping someone out without thinking of whether or not what you are helping them in is too hard or not. I have this one friend who gets stuck on a few physics questions or doesn't really know how to get the correct answer. She often throws at me some of the hardest questions, which could confuse a lot of people if they didn't read the question carefully enough. Knowing this though, I don't shy away from helping her out as trying your hardest in being the most generous version of yourself is the best you can offer at any time. That's what I do when I tackle each individual physics problem, and most of the time, I end up with the solution in my hands as I've worked through all the possible solutions. Now I know this may not be the standard definition of generosity that everyone expects, which would be something more like donating tons of money to charity, which indeed is very generous, however, to me generosity is giving your best even when you don't have much to give, as in the end, everyone is left feeling happy if there is a generous person around, and this is what I've always strived to be.

I practice bravery by interacting with many different people in my school and community on a daily basis, and I don't shy away from communication. I'm a member of many different honor societies and an official peer tutor at our school, which by default requires you to speak to many different people as you help them in the areas in which they are struggling or need help. Another way that I practice bravery is that I stand up for my peers and friends when they are being targeted by someone or are not in the best spot at that current point in their lives, and I don't hesitate to confront whoever is harming them or making them feel the way they are, and I'll let teachers or admin know if I see a student who doesn't feel safe or comfortable in the shoes they are currently in. These are the ways I practice bravery and live boldly, respectfully boldly, in my school and community.

As a high school student, I don't know much about the debt-free degree portion, as college prices slowly keep rising, and acceptance rates keep diminishing, the colleges I want to go to, have prices over 70k, and acceptance rates of basically 0%, so if I were to get in, so money ought to be nice! My career goal is to create new software for the AI in self-driving cars to make it a more expansive and closely-knit network, than if it were to be each network so it is a bit more extrovertive in a sense, and with this new software, I would start work on creating my vehicle, and learn a few other things along the way, and aim to create a flying car. A time I overcame an obstacle was when the pandemic first started, and I was on spring break. On the last day of break, our school sent a message saying that we would not be returning to school for a while. On Spring Break, I thought that was great, so I kept acting like spring break was going on, even though I had homework. Eventually, my grades started going downward, and I snapped out of the fact that spring break is over.

Recently, I volunteered at the Creighton Community Foundation in my state, and what we did that day really changed how I viewed people all for the better. Our objective that day was to collect, pack, and distribute as many food boxes as we could have possibly done during the day, so we started by dividing the collecting and packing into separate roles, and I was assigned to start packing the boxes that were being made off to the side with food and supplies. I started by distributing rice and beans, then some microwavable foods, spinach, and the list go on and on until midday came, and we got a small break. I could still see some people working on finishing up certain tasks, and it showed me how dedicated people are to helping others, and by being there, I realized I could be like those people to others, which makes me always try my hardest when I get assigned a task. But this was only the first part of the day. For the second part of the day, we had to distribute the hundred or more boxes we made, and I could see a long line of cars already forming, so in order to be able to make things flow more smoothly, I was assigned the role, "Data-collector." The job was simple, collect people's info such as how many families are they bringing food to, so we know how many boxes to give them, and their zip codes so that we have a better understanding of where most people were coming from. When collecting people's zipcodes, I was shocked at how some people traveled really far just to get and bring back some food and supplies for their families, which showed me the lengths that people may go for the ones they care about or who they are working with. While collecting data, a large majority of the people who I got data from and who were in the line were Hispanics, who didn't know the English language all too well or just felt more comfortable speaking in Spanish. Luckily, with my experience learning Spanish for the past 3 years, I was able to easily navigate conversations with them, and keep the line moving, which taught me how the things you learn in school, even if they don't seem useful or you think you are not going to use them later on, are still good to know, especially if there is that off-chance that you might use it. Overall, that day was one of the most memorable volunteering experiences I've had so far, and seeing and learning all these different things plays a big role in who I am as a person today.

The area of tech that most interests me is how AI can connect with the human environment better when driving. As AI becomes more and more prominent in today's vehicles, if AI were to take a more human point of view when they do the functions assigned within their vehicles, they would be better able to react and adapt to every experience they see on the road. For example, say an automated car was to see a deer crossing in the middle of the street, a human would notice that is a deer and slow down, however, if AI were programmed to be cruder, with basic 1's and 0's such as 0 being press brakes, the obstacle is too big, and 1 being, continue onward, the object won't pose a major risk. Say if the deer were a small fawn, instead of a full-grown adult, AI could potentially make the mistake of thinking the fawn doesn't pose a severe risk and would make the car continue onward, whereas if a human were at the helms, they would be able to better assess the situation. So making AI be able to better assess the situation and environment is one area that I would be interested in. Another area of AI that interests me is when AI between cars can communicate with each other. One famous example where this would help is on a three-lane highway, and the truck in front of you suddenly stops, and you don't have enough room to break, and you could move to the left lane where there is a car with more people, or the right, where there is a single motorist. Where communicative AI would help is if both cars were equipped with it, they would be able to move parallelly off the highway and into a safer place quickly than having the middle car just simply crash into them.