My grandfather was a Holocaust survivor. He was one of those people that would always leave a mark. He was the most optimistic person on earth, and anyone who met him remembered the aura that surrounded him. At the age of 79, he would attend lectures in the open university, as "there is something new to learn every day." When my parents relocated to the U.S., I had the privilege to live under his roof while serving as a lone soldier. At that time, I was a crime investigator in the military police. It was rough, but my grandfather would always help me see the good side of life. Born in 1941 in Budapest, he was the only survivor of his family. When he was in the fifth grade, his science teacher asked him, "Is your name Shmuel Geza Deutsch?" After he nodded, the teacher said, "I gave you my potato peels on the train to Switzerland when you were just three years old." The last time I saw him was December 2019; he made me promise that in Passover when he will come to visit, we will write the story about his life. But then the pandemic happened, and in August, he was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. The last time we spoke was in November 2020; he was so optimistic that he said that he wanted us all to go on a cruise in the Caribbean for his eightieth birthday. He also said how proud I make him and that he knows that whatever I will want to do in life, I will accomplish. Two days later, he passed away after having a stroke. My biggest regret is that I never had the chance to write his life story, as the love and appreciation for my culture, tradition, and history as a Jewish person were passed to me by him. He made me the person I am today, and I will never have the chance to keep my promise. I worked on an honors contract this semester in my intermediate theatre directing class. I translated a play about World War II from Hebrew to English, and today, after two months of rehearsals, the 15-minute version of the play was performed, which I directed. That is what paying forward means to me. My grandfather planted in me the pride of being Jewish. He used to say that we, the next generations, are the sweetest revenge for those who tried to annihilate us less than a century ago. After hearing the audience clap for my play, I can finally say: he was right, life is beautiful, and we are still here. Thus, I will be paying it forward by telling those stories. So many of us will never know our family's story, but we all share the same history. I want to be the first to tell the stories we never see on the big screen because soon, there will be no one else to tell them. I know that I was born to become a film director and that nothing in life would stop me from accomplishing my goal. After all, my grandfather is always right.

My dream is to change the face of the film industry. I want to tell real stories, things our society has forgotten or is too afraid to discuss openly, thus making the film industry more inclusive of body types and beauty standards, more transparent about mental health and social norms, and more ethnically diverse. I am tired of watching a beautiful actress crying pretty; instead of idolizing a false version of humanity, I want to create films that would make people feel proud of who they are because, finally, they could see a version of themselves on screen.

My partner and I call Bamba our hairy daughter. Bamba is more emotionally intelligent than any human being I know. Even on the darkest and most hopeless days, my tiny ball of fur always knows how to cheer me up, as she is the brightest star in my universe. As an immigrant, I was struggling to converse with strangers. Nevertheless, quarantining and the lack of social interactions during the Covid-19 pandemic made me suffer from social anxiety, something I have never experienced before. Bamba is a miniature Shih Tzu. Her puppy face makes her a social attraction anywhere she goes, and her unusual name always sparks people’s curiosity. Bamba is named after an Israeli snack: peanut butter puffs that are sweet and salty, just like her personality. I often add a fun fact about the snack: since many Israeli children consume Bamba in infancy, they are ten times less likely to suffer from a peanut allergy compared to children in other countries. Bamba’s uniqueness forced my introverted self to go out of my comfort zone and socialize. Unintentionally, she gradually helped me overcome my social phobia. My definition of depression is the sneakiest and most deadly emotion of the human soul. Following my car accident, depression made my days and nights indistinguishable, my pain unbearable, and my goals unachievable. No one could understand the hole I felt in my heart, nor was I able to explain why everything felt dull and pointless. My psychologist recommended creating a list of people or things around me that make me feel good. I could not think of anything to add to the list, but then Bamba jumped on the sofa and put her head on my lap. I believe that Bamba can read minds because she is always there for me. She can sense it when I am saddened, even before a tear leaves my eyelid or even if she is in the other room. There were times when I felt so alone that I could not breathe. Then I would hear Bamba's tiny squeak as if she was reminding me that I was not alone. She would never force herself on me, letting me relax before she would approach. Petting Bamba would remind me that I am important, I am her mother, and I cannot leave her alone. Thus, once a thought about ending my life crossed my mind, I would call her name, and she would let me pet her until I could breathe again. Thankfully, my passion for art helped me recover from depression, but Bamba was there for me when no one else could. We call Bamba our hairy daughter because she has a well-defined personality like a child. She is spoiled, jealous, and even naughty, but she is also the most joyful, calming, and loving being I know. She is truly my guardian angel, and I do not know what I would do without her.

Since my symptoms started in August 2020, I have seen more than two dozen medical providers. My symptoms were bizarre and inconsistent; I was tossed around between doctors, each saying my case was outside their area of expertise. Half said in some way or another that my symptoms were psychological. Yet, I did not lose faith as I was determined to prove them wrong. In July 2022, a skin biopsy revealed a rare finding for someone my age: deposits of phosphorylated alpha-synucleins at the end of my peripheral nerves - an early sign of Parkinson's Disease [PD]. However, since no one in my family had PD, I was diagnosed with dysautonomia, an umbrella term for a group of medical conditions affecting the autonomic nervous system (such as PD, Muscular Sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Sarcoidosis, and Lupus, to name a few). Unfortunately, it seems that I suffer from secondary dysautonomia, and my medical team is yet to uncover the underlying medical condition nor specify the type of the autonomic nervous dysfunction I have. Although I was diagnosed only recently, the road until the diagnosis and accepting its meaning had significantly impacted the way I see myself and my perspective on life as a whole. There was a time when I believed I belonged in a psychiatric ward, and after being injured in a car accident, I thought there was no chance of finding my disease. When many medical tests returned negative, my parents started doubting if my symptoms were real. I lost all trust in my medical team, I doubted the intentions of everyone around me, and the pain became so unbearable and inconsistent, which made me believe that there was no point in keeping on living. However, once I rediscovered my passion, the pain became more bearable. In fact, I decided to stop all pain medications since I understood that the symptoms would never disappear. I believed that I should start dealing with the symptoms instead of continuously damaging my organs for the rest of my life. When my neurologist said that currently there are no medications or knowledge of an effective treatment to help prevent more nerve deterioration, my mother broke into tears. However, having a diagnosis in hand was one of the happiest moments of my life because I finally had proof that I did not imagine my symptoms after all. I looked at the bright side: either way, I know I can handle the pain, fatigue, and all other symptoms without medications. Then my mother apologized for doubting me and said she is proud to be the mother of such a strong woman. The diagnosis helped me affirm what I felt all along: people would always be blind to see and understand what I feel, no matter the intensity, the bizarreness, and the frequency of my symptoms. As one of my providers put it, dysautonomia is so poorly understood that medical providers are rarely familiar with the condition, and no one could ever fully comprehend the suffering I go through on a daily basis. After making significant changes in my daily routine (starting with cutting off caffeine completely), I now see any hardship as just another part of my journey. I try my best to share this perspective with others - anything in life is neither good nor bad; you decide how to react to it. I stopped concentrating on things that are not up to me and accusing them as the roots of my problems. Instead, I find ways that ease how I experience those things and see them as lessons that make me stronger.

I love math because of its limitlessness. I am grateful for my grandmother, who sparked my love for mathematics at the age of nine when she taught me how to play sudoku for the first time. Since then, I have solved countless sudokus, nonograms, magic squares, and even mine sweeper games. I never get bored because each game is different, and I enjoy the challenge each game holds. According to the calculations of the mathematician Claude Shannon, each chess game holds around 10 to the power of 120 possible games, as each pair of moves create 1000 more possibilities on average. After years of playing chess, I learned that the most fun games are those in which my opponent or I choose the most unexpected moves, as it forces us to be creative. Mathematics has countless routes and possibilities. Take any number, and you can write it in numerous ways - standard form, expanded form, word form, or with binary, octal, or hexadecimal bases, to name a few. There are many ways to solve a function, so many techniques one can use, and all give the correct answer. My favorite mathematical concept is chaos theory, according to which there is a single outcome for any given initial condition, meaning nothing is random. Any chaotic deterministic system has attractors, and unlike statistics that provide the probability for something to happen, the attractors provide one possible way things would turn out. Hence, we should have been able to predict the pandemic. Still, not even the wisest mathematician could accurately predict the pandemic, even when it was not the first pandemic in human history. Additionally, I was determined that my future lies in the high-tech industry as a computer engineer. Yet, here I am, following my dream to become a film director who would integrate science into her narratives. Another way to think about our world is by saying that there is no larger number than infinity, but infinity plus one is bigger than infinity, and infinity plus two is bigger than the latter. Mathematics helps put things into proportions - we are a tiny speck of time in a world of boundless possibilities. Instead of taking everything too harshly, we should live in the moment, respect others and ourselves, and enjoy each moment to the fullest because everything is temporary and uncertain either way.

When was the last time you heard about a film director with a Data Science BS? I decided to pursue my bachelor's in Data Science because first, I love mathematics. Second, it would give me knowledge and tools to help me create thoughtful screenplays, sets, and themes fitting my unconventional directing style. Two months ago, I realized that I do not enjoy coding as much as I should for a future career in the high-tech industry. I was torn between my love for science and my passion for directing and was considering a BFA in film. However, I felt that by doing so, I would be giving up on a significant part of my personality, and my knowledge would never be enough to understand scientific articles to make my stories convincing. After a long inner debate, I changed my major from computer science to data science. A Data Science BS would help me analyze complex data sets, learn patterns and predict behaviors such that I could create convincing worlds on screen. For example, one of the stories I have in mind is based on real events that happened in the 1970s in New York. This requires intensive research as the goal is creating an imaginary story with historical basis. Thus, I would need to gather data from police reports and population data such that I could predict human behavior and socioeconomic atmosphere that would not be far-fetched. As a science-fiction fan, I want to create a futuristic story featuring robots. Imagine a film in which artificially intelligent robots are based on real behavioral predictions. Since I believe in in-depth research for my films, as a data scientist, I could understand published articles and use tools to test my hypotheses, making my film as realistic as possible. Nevertheless, I want to create films that make my audience think. As I said before, I love mathematics, and one of my goals is to earn a certificate in cryptology, as I was always fascinated by the subject. My degree program would help me set the basis for cryptology; thus, I could include sophisticated easter eggs in my films. These would be visible only to the trained and returning viewers. Also, I plan to apply for the Digital Culture MS next year since this degree would be the intersection between art and science. Hopefully, my background in data science will help me become a unique entertainment creator and stand out in the film industry crowd.

I will never forget the night my partner entered our bedroom and found me crying on the floor. He immediately hugged me and asked me what had happened, and I knew how worried he was. Yet, the two hours of crying left me too exhausted to speak, and I was too afraid to tell him that I felt like there was no point in keeping on living. It was September 2021 when I was on my way to a Hafrashat Challa gathering at my friend's house, a ceremony in which Jewish women bake Challa bread and pray to welcome the new Jewish year before Rosh HaShanah. By that time, I was seen by more than a dozen medical providers because of a mysterious medical condition; half of them concluded that my symptoms were psychological. I am not religious, and that was supposed to be the first time I would attend this prayer. Thus I took extra time to prepare myself for the occasion. Unfortunately, someone crashed into my car at an extremely high speed fifteen miles away from my destination. My car was a total loss, and I suffered from multiple injuries. I had to stop working and take a break from school. Nevertheless, the accident drastically worsened my previous symptoms, making it almost impossible to find their cause. During my recovery, I fell into depression. I immigrated to the US just before the COVID-19 pandemic; thus, I could not have any meaningful friendships. Additionally, before the accident, I was ambitious to finish my bachelor's degree a year earlier. Hence, by taking a break from school, something I truly enjoyed, I felt like my future was robbed of me. I had minimal social interactions - my family, my partner, and my medical team. I had unbearable pain, and my medical treatment was very intensive. I felt betrayed by God for making me go through it all, especially because of the circumstances of the accident. Thankfully, I came across the "Terry Crews' Creative Courage Scholarship." At the time, I was in Computer Systems Engineering major, and although I knew that the chances for me to win the award were minimal, I could not stop thinking about it. At first, I could not find an idea worthwhile even to apply; but then, an idea of a short film came to me in a dream. For the next four months, I planned, drew, filmed, directed, and edited my first stop-motion project. The process helped me regain my passion for directing, and slowly, I started feeling better. Halfway through the process, on a really happy day, I finally got the courage to tell my partner about the days I felt suicidal. I asked him to hide our firearm because I could easily forget how beautiful life can be. After completing my film, I understood how much joy I feel when I direct. It was then that I realized that directing was my destiny. In March 2022, I was humbled to learn that I was one of the scholarship's finalists. Upon applying to Arizona State University [ASU], I changed my major to Computer Science (Cybersecurity) and added a minor in Theatre. I was eager to find a way to direct a play, so I applied to Barrett, the Honors College at ASU; I was accepted in May, and currently, I am working on my senior project which is directing the play Copenhagen by Michael Frayn, something that would not be possible as a non-Theatre major. Even though I am far from a complete recovery, a part of me is thankful for the car accident. I think God made me go through it all to help me regain my passion for directing, something I lost during the pandemic. I was recently diagnosed with dysautonomia, which finally helped me understand many aspects of my life. Currently, I am working on different ways to improve my health - the pain from the accident and the symptoms of my condition - without using medications. I recently had an opportunity to share my experience with depression with someone who is in the midst of a challenging chapter of their life. They thanked me sincerely for being vulnerable with them and legitimizing their pain. Thus, I believe that my experience with depression would significantly affect how I tell stories in my future films, and I hope to make mental illnesses more socially accepted through them. Nevertheless, since I decided to follow the path of joy, I changed my major once again into Data Science because I realized that I like mathematics better than coding, and as I plan to continue to a graduate program in Digital Culture, I think that the integration of all my interests would serve me well in the stories I want to tell. I feel stronger, more confident, loyal to my friends and family, and more accepting of myself. Most of all, I know now that I would never give up. Although I am young, I went through many hardships, but I am still here. I know that nothing is impossible, no goal is unaccomplishable, and nothing can stop me from achieving my dreams and being happy.

"Beware, for I am fearless and therefore powerful," Mary Shelley's words in her novel Frankenstein (1818). There is something magical about the fact that Shelley never had sufficient formal education and was able to write one of the most revolutionary texts in human history. I agree; her fearlessness made her powerful. She was a female writer in the midst of the 18th century, wrote a scientific-contextual novel, and now, she is considered the godmother of science fiction. I love science, especially mathematics and physics, as I like being able to understand how the world works. From a young age, I was always torn between my enthusiastic attitude about science and my passion for creating art. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, I decided to try my luck as an actress; however, my accent became a major issue in getting parts. Thus, instead of wasting time on an uncertain career path, I decided to put that dream behind me and start a degree in STEM. I searched different majors, and I felt that Computer Engineering would be the best career choice for me. I was getting good grades, and it was enough for me to be happy. My goal was to finish my undergraduate degree in three years, and if my car accident had never happened, I think I would be graduating next semester. Only after my advisor urged me not to give up on my creative side, I decided to add a minor in Theatre. Then, with the help of my engineering advisor, I found a different major that interests me more than a major in the computing world. I decided to pursue a degree in Data Science because I love mathematics and this major allows me to combine the two worlds by taking several digital art classes. Every single person is different; we are all beautiful in our own way. Some of us are better with words, others with numbers. In Israel, I felt like it was either or; people often told me to make a choice since the world is already too competitive, and splitting my efforts would make me an average applicant and less likely to be hired in the future. I believed them as the thought of being unemployed frightened me. But now, I am fearless; a year ago, I saw my life flashing before my eyes in the rear mirror. I had to be at my lowest to find what makes me happy - being creative and integrating my scientific side into my art. I realized that being able to write successful softwares is meaningless when I do not enjoy doing it. I like how mathematical ideas and physics theories make me see the world differently. I always get emotional when I see women, especially women from minorities, beat the odds, achieve greatness, and become more than anyone imagined. These are the most reassuring moments for me - I know that I am powerful to do whatever I choose, I just need to take the risk. I aspire to be at least half as revolutionary as Mary Shelley, tell stories that make the outcasts extraordinary, challenge my audience and make them think, and hopefully inspire others to follow their dreams.

I am grateful for my grandmother who sparked my love for mathematics at the age of nine when she taught me how to play sudoku for the first time. Since then, I have solved countless sudokus, nonograms, magic squares, and even mine sweeper games. I never get bored because each game is different, and I enjoy the challenge each game holds. In 1949, the mathematician Claude Shannon introduced the Shannon numbers to the world. According to him, each chess game holds around 10 to the power of 120 possible games, as each pair of moves create 1000 more possibilities on average. Still, his calculation is not entirely accurate as it includes and excludes some illegal and legal stances, respectively. After years of playing chess, I learned that the most fun games are those in which my opponent or I choose the most unexpected moves, as it forces us to be creative. What draws me to math is the limitless amount of possibilities it offers. Take any number, and you can write it in numerous ways - standard form, expanded form, word form, or with binary, octal, or hexadecimal bases, to name a few. There are many ways to solve a function, so many techniques one can use, and all give the correct answer. I also like how my understanding of math expands over time. In elementary school, I learned that I could not divide numbers by zero. Then, in high school, by learning about the behavior of functions and asymptotes, I finally understood the reason behind it. When I learned about roots, I knew I cannot take the root of a negative number. Then I learned about imaginary numbers - the name itself says it all - a real number multiplied by the root of negative one, an imaginary unit. I always find it exciting when mathematical ideas are proved or disproved. Our world changed immensely in the past three years. I do not think that anyone, even the wisest mathematician, could predict the events that took hold in recent years. When I started my degree, I was heading toward a specific career path and was certain that I would graduate a year earlier so I could start my graduate studies right away. I never imagined that I would be injured and among other things, would have to take a break from school, but I am thankful things happened the way they did because they made me the person I am today. My favorite mathematical concept is chaos theory which says that for any given initial condition, there is a single outcome, meaning nothing is random. Any chaotic deterministic system has attractors, and unlike statistics that provide the probability for something to happen, the attractors provide one possible way things would turn out. At the same time, our world could never predict the pandemic, even though it was not the first pandemic in human history. I never thought I would give up on becoming a computer engineer, and here I am, following my dream to become a film director who would integrate science into her narratives. There is no larger number than infinity, but infinity plus one is bigger than infinity, and infinity plus two is bigger than the latter. Mathematics helps put things into proportions - we are a tiny speck of time in a world of boundless possibilities. Instead of taking everything too harshly, we should live in the moment, respect others and ourselves, and enjoy each moment to the fullest because everything is temporary and uncertain either way.

Imagine you are a child at a playground, and a group of kids offers you to join their game. You nod your head, yet you could not understand the rules because they spoke faster than your lipreading. Then you sign them to repeat the rules slower, but no one can understand you. Now imagine the same situation; however, this time, you are wearing a sign language glove that translates everything you sign out loud. In June 2020, bioengineers at the University of California Los Angeles designed an early prototype of a wearable-tech sign language glove that captures signs and translates them into speech simultaneously using a mobile app. However, this technology is helpful only in cases where the deaf person is a lipreader. Thus, this device helps hearing people understand the Deaf and not the opposite. Still, this technology inspires me as it allows more accessible communication between the Deaf and the hearing community, thus, raising awareness about the issue. Hopefully, future inventors will be able to resolve this problem. The sign language glove is an example of how technology can minimize differences between individuals in our society. As a person who suffers from attention deficit disorder, I know how difficult it is to keep up with the pace of others in my class if I do not have my disability aid available. I can only imagine the experience of the Deaf when they try to communicate with non-American Sign Language speakers. Hence, even though this technology is not perfect, in my opinion, the effort of creating a bridge between the Deaf and the hearing community is genuine enough to prove that technology can help our world become a better place as it thrives to achieve equal communication opportunity for the Deaf.

In high school, I majored both theater and physics (Israel). From a young age, I dreamt about becoming an actress, but as I grew older, I learned that life does not always go along with my dreams and wishes. The Covid-19 pandemic made me give up on my dreams and start a new path in the STEM fields. I want to thank you, Mr. Crews, for reminding me of my deepest passion - directing. This project lit the fire of theater in my heart, and I know now that I meant to be a director. Thank you. Another way to watch the film: https://drive.google.com/file/d/16vvd_sQtCaVzEIBCXhjG-XjAYCRnUpw9/view?usp=sharing

Service and Leadership have, and always will be, a part of who I am. At the age of 16, I was the 9th-grade group counselor in the Israeli Scouts. Later I joined the Israeli Defense Forces as mandatory service, serving as the Sergeant of my team as a crime investigator in the military police; I always wanted to serve and lead others. Since September 2020, I was an active club member in the Intercultural Exchange Club of the Chandler-Gilbert Community College. Soon, I was chosen to take the Co-Chair position, thinking that we can make a difference together. Every one of us came from a different place, spoke a different language, and as an immigrant, I found my place there. My goal was to reach a broader audience, educate students about our cultures, learn one another's history and traditions, and build together a place to express our true selves. The task was not easy in the online environment, especially when there were not many club members to start with. We started with country presentations, giving the stage for every student to come forward and shed some light on its culture. I chose to do my presentation differently; I showed every group, culture, and tradition you can find in Israel. I felt that I can not speak only about my culture, but I must also respect every community because Israel is the greatest cultural melting pot in the world. From the Bahai Gardens in Haifa, the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem, the different Jewish sects, the Druze, the Christian communities, the Muslim Arabs, and the Palestinians, I made sure to give an insight into each community, their traditions, foods, holidays, and beliefs. After my presentation, one member said that he was sure that there are only Jews and Palestinians in Israel, and the way I spoke about every group, with the spark of excitement in my eyes, made him add visiting Israel to his bucket list. When my grandfather passed away, I wanted to create an event in his memory; I learned that many Americans have never had the chance to hear about the Holocaust from firsthand. For two months, I did everything I could to make this event a reality on the Holocaust Remembrance Day last January. Because of timing, we had a technical issue publishing the event, and I thought that besides my club members, no one else would attend the event. Surprisingly, 200 people attended this event; they all were there to hear my conversation with Goerge Kalman, a survivor from Hungary and a Holocaust educator. At the beginning of the event, I spoke about its importance and how we, as a community, are obligated to hear and remember those stories because soon, there will be no one to tell them. Goerge and I both asked the audience to ask complicated questions because this is their opportunity to learn before it will be too late. I was surprised by the impact the event had on people. One student told me that my words about my grandfather encouraged her to learn more about her grandparents and her legacy. Some thanked me for the opportunity to talk with Goerge and how this discussion opened their eyes about the harder parts of human history. And others told me that my words changed their perspective about life and how they learned to appreciate every moment of life. I believe in equal opportunity and diversion. I will continue doing my best to make our world more accepting of others; even when my reach is limited now, I must start somewhere.

There is nothing like being on the stage doing the thing you love the most. In my senior year I had the honor to be the director, cheographer and actress in the comedy "6 Kilograms of Sugar." It was not easy, especially because my parents were in the crowd (I acted as a 40 year old stoner and a prostitute). The days of the production were the happiest days of my life! I will always cherish these moments and everytime I need a laugh, I will always come back and watch it for the 1,001 time.