While the loss of my father occurred at such a young age that I have no memory of it, it has affected my approach to life and the decisions I make throughout it. My father’s death left my twenty-seven-year-old mother alone to raise my older sister and me in a country where she had limited knowledge of everything, including the language. To give us the best life possible with the best opportunities possible, my mother worked to learn everything necessary to live in the United States, causing me to believe it was not just my desire but instead my responsibility to succeed in life. This pressure has motivated me in my life and I credit it for many of my successes, but it has also been an impactful stressor. Living up to the expectations I place on myself because of the countless sacrifices my mother made has often stressed me out. Taking every Advanced Placement course despite my mother's attempts to talk me out of building a stressful schedule has, well, stressed me out. I occasionally feel behind in my schoolwork and seemingly never-ending “To-Do” list, and thus feel the motivation to study slip away, yet I constantly remind myself of the reason that I have these opportunities in the first place, my mother. To reach these high expectations I place on myself, I know it is important to stay dedicated to my goals, even and especially when I feel overwhelmed by them. The vital characteristic that has kept me going during these struggles in school and other aspects of my life is determination. This characteristic is one that I learned and developed during my time on my middle school and high school Cross Country and Track & Field teams. These sports have taught me the importance of consistently showing up and working hard even when it seems like progress is slow or not even happening. Even when I feel defeated, I show up to practice every single day, and my hard work is evident when I compete well in races. This sport has strengthened my determination and perseverance, and I now apply these skills whenever I feel my motivation slipping in life. The tragedy of losing a parent figure so young has only pushed me to work harder and strive to achieve anything I desire. I feel inspired by my mother’s response to the death of my father, and with her as my role model, I know that consistent efforts will enable me to accomplish great things in life. Living in a single-parent household has caused me to place high expectations on myself, yet the parent that I do have is the most inspirational role model I could desire. Rather than let it knock me down, living in a single-parent household has taught me to look for positives in every situation and find a solution even when it seems like one simply does not exist. My mother has persevered to fill our home with love, and this determination inspires me in my life. My goals are different in each aspect of my life and they change as I enter different phases of life, yet one always remains the same: make my mother proud. My single mother constantly holds a financial burden working and planning to put two children through college and this is motivation enough to work so hard that I can one day relieve her of this responsibility. As I work to achieve all I desire, I hope to inspire others to work hard in life even when the odds do not seem to be in our favor.

Through my community activities, I am able to inspire students to explore potential career paths at a young age while demonstrating leadership. As the outreach manager of Franklin High’s Computer Science Pathway Leadership Team, I am dedicated to introducing the world of computer science to young girls. My enrollment in computer science courses has consisted of being one of only a couple of girls on the roster, and as I have experienced learning in a male-dominated setting, I strive to do my part to decrease the gender gap in this field. I work alongside my passionate peers and faculty to organize events and tours that teach young students the capabilities of code. In a growing world of technology, I work to communicate the fact that there is more room for women in this field, we just have to work to fill it. My most meaningful experience within this role occurred during my time promoting the pathway to many families interested in computer science at Franklin’s Steam Night. I carefully analyzed my time as a student in this pathway, accumulated my favorite parts of studying computer science at Franklin, and introduced many families to the advantages of exploring a potential field of study at a young age. By passing on my “story”, I was able to encourage young students, especially young girls, to explore any field they desire, even if it may be intimidating. My role as Director of Development in the California Association of Student Councils (CASC) consists of assisting in designing and implementing conferences that enable student activists to propose legislation regarding educational issues. These conferences allow students to work within the educational system and prepare them for legislative work. Workshopping bills and working with student activists to create a solution to a problem has allowed me to do my part in shaping the minds of students into leaders. This legislative work enables students to have a voice in the educational system and allows them as well as me to strengthen the problem-solving and collaboration skills that virtually every aspect of life requires. The one thing I have enjoyed the most from community service is witnessing the growth within myself, the peers I work alongside, and the students that I work with to create legislation. My role in the world of community service consists of a great deal of problem-solving, and this consistent work has enabled me to acquire skills that I will continue to apply in every aspect of my life. I am now more confident in my ability to collaborate with others to come to a solution, and I appreciate my community service for providing me the opportunity to do so. Being a part of others’ growth within a group of students who strive to make a difference in the community makes me that much more interested in continuing my work. With a degree in computer science, I hope to obtain a career in web development. While earning my education to accomplish this goal, I hope to fill or create leadership roles in which I can continue to inspire young women to explore this growing male-dominated field. I will strive to apply my education and utilize all my opportunities to truly make a difference in closing this gender gap. During my time in my high school’s computer science pathway perhaps my most important lesson remains that plenty of mistakes and practice are essential to learning. I desire to make use of all tools provided to me in order to best learn and understand computer science skills so I can eventually apply them in a web development career.

Robotics, websites, and the satisfaction of making code work are all compelling components of computer science that make me want to pursue a degree in the field, but the large gender gap inspires me to make a difference. Taking attendance on the first day of Exploring Computer Science, my immediate realization was the ratio of girls to boys. Four girls on a roster of thirty students. I thoroughly enjoyed the curriculum, projects, and assignments and therefore questioned why this gender gap even existed. With this discovery, I knew I wanted to do my part in changing this. I joined my school’s computer science pathway leadership team to do this very thing: encourage more girls to join. With a degree in computer science, I hope to obtain a career in web development. While earning my education to accomplish this goal, I strive to fill or create leadership roles in which I can continue to inspire young women to explore this growing male-dominated field. I will work to apply my education and utilize all my opportunities to genuinely make a difference in closing this gender gap. During my time in my high school’s computer science courses, perhaps my most vital lesson remains that plenty of mistakes and practice are essential to learning. I desire to effectively utilize all tools provided to me to best understand and apply computer science skills in a web-development career. When I think about the future of STEM, I imagine innovation, trial and error, mistakes, practice, collaboration, and hard work. These career paths continue to rapidly grow, creating new jobs and replacing existing ones to become more efficient. I envision this process to be simultaneously terrifying and exciting. The mere thought of losing a job to technology causes fear, yet the possibilities and new jobs that the future of STEM creates cause excitement. I truly believe this progression will eventually do more good than harm, yet this process will take plenty of time and patience. As I embark on a career in computer science, I desire to make a contribution that ensures this process remains on the path in which benefits far surpass disadvantages. Both planning on studying in college for the next couple of years, my sister and I work to alleviate the financial pressure on our single mother. I work a side job tutoring elementary school students, and while I can cover a portion of my costs as a teenager, the many zeroes attached to the university tuition are out of my scope of ability. My many applications to scholarships such as this enable me to do my part in putting a dent in the burden on my mother. The large price tag attached to earning a college degree makes me nervous despite my hope for the future. Throughout every step of my education and beyond, I strive to continue connecting my passions. Scholarships such as this will allow me to focus my energy on expanding my knowledge rather than worrying about how to finance it.

As I navigate the abundance of opportunities that come with an interest in computer science, running competitively, immersing myself in books, and traveling the world, one of the biggest challenges I face is finding a balance while pursuing these passions. I have strived to take on only challenges that I can truly invest my time and heart into, and from this, I have gained experience in the art of molding a personalized, efficient schedule. Now, I desire to utilize my skills in computer science to help positively incorporate technology into my varying interests. Robotics, websites, and the satisfaction of making code work are all compelling components of computer science that make me want to pursue a degree in the field, but the large gender gap inspires me to make a difference. Taking attendance on the first day of Exploring Computer Science, my immediate realization was the ratio of girls to boys. Four girls on a roster of thirty students. This large gap stayed the same in every class after that, with my most recent course having only two girls, myself included. I thoroughly enjoyed the curriculum, projects, and assignments and therefore questioned why this gender gap even existed. With this discovery, I knew I wanted to do my part in changing this. I joined my school’s computer science pathway leadership team to do this very thing: encourage more girls to join. As outreach manager of the team, I designed events aimed towards inspiring young students, especially young women to explore the field of computer science as well as social media posts in which I promoted these events. I spent my time drafting and creating activities related to computer science in hopes of enriching the minds of young students and inspiring them to take charge in exploring potential career paths at a young age. Introducing these games to young girls and emphasizing the creator herself as a woman empowers them as seeing someone similar to ourselves accomplish something makes us feel as if we can do the same. During my time in this role, I had the opportunity to share my experiences during my four years in my high school's computer science pathway with incoming students and their families. This process enabled me to reflect on my time spent learning computer science while emphasizing the fact that despite the existence of a wide gender gap it is beyond possible for a woman to major in computer science and succeed within the field. With a degree in computer science, I hope to obtain a career in web development. While earning my education to accomplish this goal, I hope to fill or create leadership roles in which I can continue to inspire young women to explore this growing male-dominated field. I will strive to apply my education and utilize all my opportunities to successfully make a difference in closing this gender gap. Regarding my education, I hope to make mistakes and learn from them. During my time in my school’s computer science courses, perhaps my most vital lesson remains that plenty of mistakes and practice are essential to learning. Combing through hundreds of lines of code for time on end to find just one missing semicolon as the error has taught me the utter importance of carefully writing code. Making mistakes such as this and learning from them will prepare me best for this field. I desire to take advantage of all the tools provided to me to understand computer science skills so I can eventually apply them in a web development career.

While the loss of my father occurred at such a young age that I have no memory of it, it has affected my approach to life and the decisions I make throughout it. My father’s death left my twenty-seven-year-old mother alone to raise my older sister and me in a country where she had limited knowledge of everything, including the language. Rather than return to India, her home country, and receive help from family to raise us, my mother chose to stay here despite knowing that a plethora of obstacles would arise. I believe it is my responsibility to take advantage of all the opportunities my mom sacrificed to provide for us. Because of this, I place pressure on myself to get the best grades, to be the fastest runner on my cross-country team, and to be the best at any task I undertake. This pressure has motivated me in my life and I credit it for many of my successes, but it has also been an impactful stressor. I often find myself wondering what my life would be like with a father figure and the fact that my mother deserves a partner to support her. The tragedy of losing a parent figure so young has only pushed me to work harder and strive to achieve anything I desire. I feel inspired by my mother’s response to the cancer diagnosis and eventual death of my father, and with her as my role model, I know that consistent efforts will enable me to accomplish great things in life. Rather than let it knock me down, living in a single-parent household has taught me to find a solution even when it seems like one simply does not exist. I have been negatively impacted by growing up with one parent, yet it has never been “only” one parent in my life. My goals are different in each aspect of my life and they change as I enter different phases of life, yet one always remains the same: make my mother proud. My mother has embodied this “Bring It On” attitude throughout my father’s cancer diagnosis and holds it to this day. My mother and father moved to the United States at a young age to raise a family in a country full of opportunities. My mother became my father’s biggest support system and helped him through the diagnosis. She was forced into the role of the head of the household at such a young age and her experience has shaped her into perhaps one the most determined and positive people that I know. My mother always encourages me to make the most out of what I have and to find joy in everything that happens. Her “Bring It On” attitude inspires me to persevere through all of the obstacles that I face. My personal experience with cancer has shaped me into a positive person who strives constantly to work hard and achieve all that I set my mind on. Life is short and I intend to make the absolute most of it. As I work to achieve all that I desire, I hope to inspire others to work hard in life even when the odds do not seem to be in our favor. In every one of my leadership roles, as a teammate, as a friend, or even just as an acquaintance, I strive to introduce everyone to the world of positivity and confidence. I would rather experience the emotions that come with failing rather than ever regret not taking action, and I always attempt to inspire others to do the same.

Through my community activities, I am able to inspire students to explore potential career paths at a young age. As the outreach manager of Franklin High’s Computer Science Pathway Leadership Team, I am dedicated to introducing the world of computer science to young girls. My enrollment in computer science courses has consisted of being one of only a couple of girls on the roster, and as I have experienced learning in a male-dominated setting, I strive to do my part to decrease the gender gap in this field. I work alongside my passionate peers and faculty to organize events and tours that teach young students the capabilities of code. In a growing world of technology, I work to communicate the fact that there is more room for women in this field, we just have to work to fill it. My most meaningful experience within this role occurred during my time promoting the pathway to many families interested in computer science at Franklin’s Steam Night. I carefully analyzed my time as a student in this pathway, accumulated my favorite parts of studying computer science at Franklin, and introduced many families to the advantages of exploring a potential field of study at a young age. By passing on my “story”, I was able to encourage young students, especially young girls, to explore any field they desire, even if it may be intimidating. My role as Director of Development in the California Association of Student Councils (CASC) consists of assisting in designing and implementing conferences that enable student activists to propose legislation regarding educational issues. These conferences allow students to work within the educational system and prepare them for legislative work. Workshopping bills and working with student activists to create a solution to a problem has allowed me to do my part in shaping the minds of students into leaders. This legislative work enables students to have a voice in the educational system and allows them as well as me to strengthen the problem-solving and collaboration skills that virtually every aspect of life requires. The one thing I have enjoyed the most from community service is witnessing the growth within myself, the peers I work alongside, and the students that I work with to create legislation. My role in the world of community service consists of a great deal of problem-solving, and this consistent work has enabled me to acquire skills that I will continue to apply in every aspect of my life. I am now more confident in my ability to collaborate with others to come to a solution, and I appreciate my community service for providing me the opportunity to do so. Being a part of others’ growth within a group of students who strive to make a difference in the community makes me that much more interested in continuing my work. My work in the community has enabled me to appreciate the fact that we are all in different stages of our lives, but we can help others along their journey by teaching them lessons we have already learned through our experiences. This has allowed me to reflect on my life and what experiences have shaped me into who I have become today: a motivated student, an inspired role model, and an active member of my community.

As I navigate the abundance of opportunities that come with an interest in computer science, running competitively, immersing myself in books, and traveling the world, one of the biggest challenges I face is finding a balance while pursuing these passions. I have strived to take on only challenges that I can truly invest my time and heart into, and from this, I have gained experience in the art of molding a personalized, efficient schedule. As a student-athlete, I have worked to find compromise and balance between daily practices and taking advantage of every opportunity I can, even going to the lengths of missing Friday practices to attend a class with Girls Who Code, running individually, and then sending proof of the run to my coach. Finding this balance has also led me to connect my passions; while looking for an opportunity to practice my skills in HTML and CSS I created a simple code that outputs a user’s skill level after they input their mile time. While used solely for my enjoyment, this code opened a gate of possibilities for me. I now desire to utilize my skills in computer science to help positively incorporate technology into my varying interests. I strive to apply the determination I have learned from being an athlete to every challenge I accept head-on. As outreach manager of my high school’s computer science leadership team, I designed events aimed at inspiring young students, especially young women to explore the field of computer science. Introducing these games to young girls and explaining that a girl herself made them empowers them since seeing someone similar to ourselves accomplish something makes us feel as though we can do the same. There truly is nothing like a role model who fits the same characteristics we have, especially the ones we believe are our weakest. During my time in this role, I had the opportunity to share the experience I had during my four years in the high school's computer science pathway with incoming freshman students and their families. This process enabled me to reflect on my time spent learning computer science while emphasizing the fact that despite the existence of a large gender gap it is beyond possible for a woman to major in computer science and succeed within the field. With a degree in computer science, I hope to obtain a career in web development. While I explore my identity beyond my education, I aspire to continue my work in inspiring young girls to join this field, which has a notorious gender gap. Regarding my education, I hope to make mistakes and learn from them. During my time in my high school’s computer science courses, perhaps my most vital lesson remains that plenty of mistakes and practice are essential to learning. Combing through hundreds of lines of code for time on end to find just one missing semicolon as the error has taught me the utter importance of carefully writing code and maintaining patience throughout the process. I desire to take full advantage of all the tools provided to me to learn and understand computer science skills so I can eventually apply them in my career. There truly is space for everyone in the field of computer science, we women just have to continue our work to fill it.

As I navigate the abundance of opportunities that come with an interest in computer science, running competitively, immersing myself in books, and traveling the world, one of the biggest challenges I face is finding a balance while pursuing these passions. I have strived to take on only challenges that I can truly invest my time and heart into, and from this, I have gained experience in the art of molding a personalized, efficient schedule. Finding this balance has also led me to connect my passions; while looking for an opportunity to practice my skills in HTML and CSS I created a simple code that outputs a user’s skill level after they input their mile time. While used solely for my enjoyment, this code opened a gate of possibilities for me. I now desire to utilize my skills in computer science to help positively incorporate technology into my varying interests. I strive to apply the determination I have learned from being an athlete to every challenge I accept head-on. As outreach manager of my high school’s computer science leadership team, I designed events aimed at inspiring young students, especially young women to explore the field of computer science. During this time, I had the opportunity to share the experience I had during my four years in the high school's computer science pathway with incoming freshman students and their families. This process enabled me to reflect on my time spent learning computer science while emphasizing the fact that despite the existence of a large gender gap it is beyond possible for a woman to major in computer science and succeed within the field. With a degree in computer science, I hope to obtain a career in web development. While I explore my identity beyond my education, I aspire to continue my work in inspiring young girls to join this field, which has a notorious gender gap. Regarding my education, I hope to make mistakes and learn from them. During my time in my high school’s computer science courses, perhaps my most vital lesson remains that plenty of mistakes and practice are essential to learning. Combing through hundreds of lines of code for time on end to find just one missing semicolon as the error has taught me the importance of carefully writing code and maintaining patience throughout the process. I desire to take full advantage of all the tools provided to me to learn and understand computer science skills so I can eventually apply them in my career. There truly is space for everyone in the field of computer science, we women just have to continue our work to fill it. My educational goal of earning a degree in computer science includes attending a four-year university in California. Both planning on studying in college for the next couple of years, my sister and I work to alleviate the financial pressure on our single mother. I work a side job tutoring elementary school students, and while I can cover a portion of my costs as a teenager, the many zeroes attached to the university tuition are out of my scope of ability. My many applications to scholarships such as this enable me to do my part in putting a dent in the burden on my mother. The large price tag attached to earning a college degree makes me nervous despite my hope for the future. Throughout every step of my education and beyond, I strive to continue connecting my passions. Scholarships such as this will allow me to focus my energy on expanding my knowledge rather than worrying about how to finance it.

While the loss of my father occurred at such a young age that I have no memory of it, it has affected my approach to life and the decisions I make throughout it. My father’s death left my twenty-seven-year-old mother alone to raise my older sister and I in a country where she had limited knowledge of everything, including the language. Rather than return to India, her home country, and receive help from her family to raise us, my mother chose to stay here despite knowing that a plethora of obstacles would arise. To give us the best life possible with the best opportunities possible, my mother worked to learn everything necessary to live in the United States, causing me to believe it is not just my desire but instead my responsibility to succeed in life. I believe it is my responsibility to take advantage of all the opportunities my mom sacrificed to provide for us. Because of this, I place pressure on myself to get the best grades, to be the fastest runner on my Cross Country team, and to be the best at any task I undertake. This pressure has motivated me in my life and I credit it for many of my successes, but it has also been an impactful stressor. I often find myself wondering what my life would be like with a father figure and the fact that my mother deserves a partner to support her. The tragedy of losing a parent figure so young has only pushed me to work harder and strive to achieve anything I desire. I feel inspired by my mother’s response to the cancer diagnosis and eventual death of my father, and with her as my role model, I know that consistent efforts will enable me to accomplish great things in life. Living in a single-parent household has caused me to place high expectations on myself, yet the parent that I do have is the most inspirational role model that I could desire. Rather than let it knock me down, living in a single-parent household has taught me to find a solution even when it seems like one simply does not exist. I have been negatively impacted by growing up with one parent, yet it has never been “only” one parent in my life. My mother has persevered to fill our home with love, and this determination inspires me in my life. My goals are different in each aspect of my life and they change as I enter different phases of life, yet one always remains the same: make my mother proud. I have followed in my father’s footsteps by majoring in computer science just like him, and I will continue to fight and look for the positives in every situation, just as he always did. My personal experience with cancer has shaped me into a positive person who strives constantly to work hard and achieve all that I set my mind on. Life is short and I intend to make the absolute most of it. As I work to achieve all that I desire, I hope to inspire others to work hard in life even when the odds do not seem to be in our favor. In every one of my leadership roles, as a teammate, as a friend, or even just as an acquaintance, I strive to introduce everyone to the world of positivity and confidence. I would rather experience the emotions that come with failing rather than ever regret not taking action, and I always attempt to inspire others to do the same.

As I navigate the abundance of opportunities that come with an interest in computer science, running competitively, immersing myself in books, and traveling the world, one of the biggest challenges I face is finding a balance while pursuing these passions. I have strived to take on only challenges that I can truly invest my time and heart into, and from this, I have gained experience in the art of molding a personalized, efficient schedule. As a student-athlete, I have worked to find compromise and balance between daily practices and taking advantage of every opportunity I can, even going to the lengths of missing Friday practices to attend a class with Girls Who Code, running individually, and then sending proof of the run to my coach. Finding this balance has also led me to connect my passions; while looking for an opportunity to practice my skills in HTML and CSS I created a simple code that outputs a user’s skill level after they input their mile time. While used solely for my enjoyment, this code opened a gate of possibilities for me. I now desire to utilize my skills in computer science to help positively incorporate technology into my varying interests. I strive to apply the determination I have learned from being an athlete to every challenge I accept head-on. As outreach manager of my high school’s computer science leadership team, I designed events aimed at inspiring young students, especially young women to explore the field of computer science. Introducing these games to young girls and explaining that a girl herself made them empowers them since seeing someone similar to ourselves accomplish something makes us feel as though we can do the same. There truly is nothing like a role model who fits the same characteristics we have, especially the ones we believe are our weakest. During my time in this role, I had the opportunity to share the experience I had during my four years in the high school's computer science pathway with incoming freshman students and their families. This process enabled me to reflect on my time spent learning computer science while emphasizing the fact that despite the existence of a large gender gap it is beyond possible for a woman to major in computer science and succeed within the field. With a degree in computer science, I hope to obtain a career in web development. While I explore my identity beyond my education, I aspire to continue my work in inspiring young girls to join this field, which has a notorious gender gap. Regarding my education, I hope to make mistakes and learn from them. During my time in my high school’s computer science courses, perhaps my most vital lesson remains that plenty of mistakes and practice are essential to learning. Combing through hundreds of lines of code for time on end to find just one missing semicolon as the error has taught me the utter importance of carefully writing code and maintaining patience throughout the process. I desire to take full advantage of all the tools provided to me to learn and understand computer science skills so I can eventually apply them in my career. There truly is space for everyone in the field of computer science, we women just have to continue our work to fill it.

As I navigate the abundance of opportunities that come with an interest in computer science, running competitively, immersing myself in books, and traveling the world, one of the biggest challenges I face is finding a balance while pursuing these passions. I have strived to take on only challenges that I can truly invest my time and heart into, and from this, I have gained experience in the art of molding a personalized, efficient schedule. As a student-athlete, I have worked to find compromise and balance between daily practices and taking advantage of every opportunity I can, even going to the lengths of missing Friday practices to attend a class with Girls Who Code, running individually, and then sending proof of the run to my coach. Finding this balance has also led me to connect my passions; while looking for an opportunity to practice my skills in HTML and CSS I created a simple code that outputs a user’s skill level after they input their mile time. While used solely for my enjoyment, this code opened a gate of possibilities for me. I now desire to utilize my skills in computer science to help positively incorporate technology into my varying interests. I strive to apply the determination I have learned from being an athlete to every challenge I accept head-on. As outreach manager of my high school’s computer science leadership team, I designed events aimed at inspiring young students, especially young women to explore the field of computer science. Introducing these games to young girls and explaining that a girl herself made them empowers them since seeing someone similar to ourselves accomplish something makes us feel as though we can do the same. There truly is nothing like a role model who fits the same characteristics we have, especially the ones we believe are our weakest. During my time in this role, I had the opportunity to share the experience I had during my four years in the high school's computer science pathway with incoming freshman students and their families. This process enabled me to reflect on my time spent learning computer science while emphasizing the fact that despite the existence of a large gender gap it is beyond possible for a woman to major in computer science and succeed within the field. With a degree in computer science, I hope to obtain a career in web development. While I explore my identity beyond my education, I aspire to continue my work in inspiring young girls to join this field, which has a notorious gender gap. Regarding my education, I hope to make mistakes and learn from them. During my time in my high school’s computer science courses, perhaps my most vital lesson remains that plenty of mistakes and practice are essential to learning. Combing through hundreds of lines of code for time on end to find just one missing semicolon as the error has taught me the utter importance of carefully writing code and maintaining patience throughout the process. I desire to take full advantage of all the tools provided to me to learn and understand computer science skills so I can eventually apply them in my career. There truly is space for everyone in the field of computer science, we women just have to continue our work to fill it.

As sweat dripped from my forehead in the blistering heat and the sounds of my teammates cheering me on rang in my ears,I fought against the beginning of sharp pains from my muscles tightening in the side of my torso. Slowly filling with horror, my mind began working harder than my legs to reach the finish line. The bright red time read 22:00 as I sprinted the last 5 meters of my 5K race, and while an improvement from last year, it meant finishing with one of my slowest times of the year, and the end of my season. While so small of a setback that could have occurred in a slow race and nothing else, my response to dedicating hours of practice and leaving with “nothing” to show for it led to a challenging few months. The occurrence of an unexpected cramp was out of my hands, but the consequences of it were a product of my creation. My qualification for Masters in only one event failed to meet the high expectations I so often set for myself, and upon realization of this setback, I looked for motivation from various sources to pair with my hard work. This contributed to my success in my senior year. As I considered the effects of my actions, I vowed to not dwell on what I could not control, but rather direct my energy towards reacting in a way that would turn even failures into eventual success; I soon worked to apply this understanding to other aspects of my life. Completing yet another computer science course in high school with the universally desired A left me with a higher GPA, but feeling unsatisfied. I sought a deeper understanding of the foundational skills on which I knew I would continue to build, but instead of confining myself to regret in an almost unbreakable cycle similar to that of syntax errors in coding projects, I sought a solution. I enrolled in the Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program to solidify my understanding of skills while learning new ones. On the high from finding solutions to all my “problems” I considered the financial burden of college tuition that my single mother faces, and I filled out yet another application, this time to work as an intern at the elementary school in which my love of learning began. Working with kids instead of simply stressing over the daunting costs enabled me to experience the role of a student from a different perspective while earning money for college. My journey of focusing on my reactions to the unpredictable instead of the events themselves has pushed me to open up a variety of opportunities, and throughout it, I found both comfort and competition in comparing myself to those around me. Picking a teammate to beat and a peer to outperform encouraged me to push myself in all aspects of my life, up until both my mind and body cried for a break. I wouldn't dare say I reached my limit, yet treating other people’s limits as my own often felt like it. For a large portion of my life, I could dedicate part of my success to my desire to do better than those around me, but when I beat myself up over not being president of a biology club despite my interest in anything but, I realized I was running someone else’s race and expecting to win. I now treat myself as my own competition, and as I strive to be better than who I was yesterday, I continue to find solutions instead of simply fixating on problems.

As I navigate the abundance of opportunities that come with an interest in computer science, running competitively, immersing myself in books, and traveling the world, one of the biggest challenges I face is finding a balance while pursuing these passions. I have strived to take on only challenges that I can truly invest my time and heart into, and from this, I have gained experience in the art of molding a personalized, efficient schedule. As a student-athlete, I have worked to find compromise and balance between daily practices and taking advantage of every opportunity I can, even going to the lengths of missing Friday practices to attend a class with Girls Who Code, running individually, and then sending proof of the run to my coach. Finding this balance has also led me to connect my passions; while looking for an opportunity to practice my skills in HTML and CSS I created a simple code that outputs a user’s skill level after they input their mile time. While used solely for my enjoyment, this code opened a gate of possibilities for me. I now desire to utilize my skills in computer science to help positively incorporate technology into my varying interests. I strive to apply the determination I have learned from being an athlete to every challenge I accept head-on. As outreach manager of my high school’s computer science leadership team, I designed events aimed at inspiring young students, especially young women to explore the field of computer science. Introducing these games to young girls and explaining that a girl herself made them empowers them since seeing someone similar to ourselves accomplish something makes us feel as though we can do the same. There truly is nothing like a role model who fits the same characteristics we have, especially the ones we believe are our weakest. During my time in this role, I had the opportunity to share the experience I had during my four years in the high school's computer science pathway with incoming freshman students and their families. This process enabled me to reflect on my time spent learning computer science while emphasizing the fact that despite the existence of a large gender gap it is beyond possible for a woman to major in computer science and succeed within the field. With a degree in computer science, I hope to obtain a career in web development. While I explore my identity beyond my education, I aspire to continue my work in inspiring young girls to join this field, which has a notorious gender gap. Regarding my education, I hope to make mistakes and learn from them. During my time in my high school’s computer science courses, perhaps my most vital lesson remains that plenty of mistakes and practice are essential to learning. Combing through hundreds of lines of code for time on end to find just one missing semicolon as the error has taught me the utter importance of carefully writing code and maintaining patience throughout the process. I desire to take full advantage of all the tools provided to me to learn and understand computer science skills so I can eventually apply them in my career. There truly is space for everyone in the field of computer science, we women just have to continue our work to fill it.

Through my community activities, I am able to inspire students to explore potential career paths at a young age. As the outreach manager of Franklin High’s Computer Science Pathway Leadership Team, I am dedicated to introducing the world of computer science to young girls. My enrollment in computer science courses has consisted of being one of only a couple of girls on the roster, and as I have experienced learning in a male-dominated setting, I strive to do my part to decrease the gender gap in this field. I work alongside my passionate peers and faculty to organize events and tours that teach young students the capabilities of code. In a growing world of technology, I work to communicate the fact that there is more room for women in this field, we just have to work to fill it. My most meaningful experience within this role occurred during my time promoting the pathway to many families interested in computer science at Franklin’s Steam Night. I carefully analyzed my time as a student in this pathway, accumulated my favorite parts of studying computer science at Franklin, and introduced many families to the advantages of exploring a potential field of study at a young age. By passing on my “story”, I was able to encourage young students, especially young girls, to explore any field they desire, even if it may be intimidating. My role as Director of Development in the California Association of Student Councils (CASC) consists of assisting in designing and implementing conferences that enable student activists to propose legislation regarding educational issues. These conferences allow students to work within the educational system and prepare them for legislative work. Workshopping bills and working with student activists to create a solution to a problem has allowed me to do my part in shaping the minds of students into leaders. This legislative work enables students to have a voice in the educational system and allows them as well as me to strengthen the problem-solving and collaboration skills that virtually every aspect of life requires. The one thing I have enjoyed the most from community service is witnessing the growth within myself, the peers I work alongside, and the students that I work with to create legislation. My role in the world of community service consists of a great deal of problem-solving, and this consistent work has enabled me to acquire skills that I will continue to apply in every aspect of my life. I am now more confident in my ability to collaborate with others to come to a solution, and I appreciate my community service for providing me the opportunity to do so. Being a part of others’ growth within a group of students who strive to make a difference in the community makes me that much more interested in continuing my work. My work in the community has enabled me to appreciate the fact that we are all in different stages of our lives, but we can help others along their journey by teaching them lessons we have already learned through our experiences. This has allowed me to reflect on my life and what experiences have shaped me into who I have become today: a motivated student, an inspired role model, and an active member of my community.

While the loss of my father occurred at such a young age that I have no memory of it, it has affected my approach to life and the decisions I make throughout it. My father’s death left my twenty-seven-year-old mother alone to raise my older sister and I in a country where she had limited knowledge of everything, including the language. Rather than return to India, her home country, and receive help from her family to raise us, my mother chose to stay here despite knowing that a plethora of obstacles would arise. To give us the best life possible with the best opportunities possible, my mother worked to learn everything necessary to live in the United States, causing me to believe it is not just my desire but instead my responsibility to succeed in life. While my mother has often mentioned that our family is different from others and therefore has an even greater reason to focus on achieving our goals, I am the one who places the most pressure on myself to be the best at everything I do. I believe it is my responsibility to take advantage of all the opportunities my mom sacrificed to provide for us. Because of this, I place pressure on myself to be the best at any task I undertake. This pressure has motivated me in my life and I credit it for many of my successes, but it has also been an impactful stressor. The vital characteristic that has kept me going during these struggles in school and other aspects of my life is determination. This characteristic is one that I learned and developed during my time on my middle school and high school Cross Country and Track & Field teams. These sports have taught me the importance of consistently showing up and working hard even when it seems like progress is slow or not even happening. Even when I feel defeated, I show up to practice every single day, and my hard work is evident when I compete well in races. The tragedy of losing a parent figure so young has only pushed me to work harder and strive to achieve anything I desire. I feel inspired by my mother’s response to the death of my father, and with her as my role model, I know that consistent efforts will enable me to accomplish great things in life. Living in a single-parent household has caused me to place high expectations on myself, yet the parent that I do have is the most inspirational role model that I could desire. Rather than let it knock me down, living in a single-parent household has taught me to look for positives in every situation and find a solution even when it seems like one simply does not exist. I have been negatively impacted by growing up with one parent, yet it has never been “only” one parent in my life. My mother has persevered to fill our home with love, and this determination inspires me in my life. My goals are different in each aspect of my life and they change as I enter different phases of life, yet one always remains the same: make my mother proud. My single mother constantly holds a financial burden planning to put two children through college and this is motivation enough to work so hard that I can one day relieve her of this responsibility. As I work to achieve all that I desire, I hope to inspire others to work hard in life even when the odds do not seem to be in our favor.

Robotics, websites, and the satisfaction of making code work are all compelling components of computer science that make me want to pursue a degree in the field, but the large gender gap inspires me to make a difference. Taking attendance on the first day of Exploring Computer Science, my immediate realization was the ratio of girls to boys. Four girls on a roster of thirty students. This large gap stayed the same in every class after that, with my most recent course having only two girls, myself included. I thoroughly enjoyed the curriculum, projects, and assignments and therefore questioned why this gender gap even existed. With this discovery, I knew I wanted to do my part in changing this. I joined my school’s computer science pathway leadership team to do this very thing: encourage more girls to join. As outreach manager of the team, I designed events aimed towards inspiring young students, especially young women to explore the field of computer science as well as social media posts in which I promoted these events. I spent my time drafting and creating activities related to computer science in hopes of enriching the minds of young students and inspiring them to take charge in exploring potential career paths at a young age. Introducing these games to young girls and emphasizing the creator herself as a woman empowers them as seeing someone similar to ourselves accomplish something makes us feel as if we can do the same. During my time in this role, I had the opportunity to share my experiences during my four years in my high school's computer science pathway with incoming students and their families. This process enabled me to reflect on my time spent learning computer science while emphasizing the fact that despite the existence of a wide gender gap it is beyond possible for a woman to major in computer science and succeed within the field. With a degree in computer science, I hope to obtain a career in web development. While earning my education to accomplish this goal, I hope to fill or create leadership roles in which I can continue to inspire young women to explore this growing male-dominated field. I will strive to apply my education and utilize all my opportunities to successfully make a difference in closing this gender gap. Regarding my education, I hope to make mistakes and learn from them. During my time in my school’s computer science courses, perhaps my most vital lesson remains that plenty of mistakes and practice are essential to learning. Combing through hundreds of lines of code for time on end to find just one missing semicolon as the error has taught me the utter importance of carefully writing code. Making mistakes such as this and learning from them will prepare me best for this field. I desire to take advantage of all tools provided to me to understand computer science skills so I can eventually apply them in a web development career.

While the loss of my father occurred at such a young age that I have no memory of it, it has affected my approach to life and the decisions I make throughout it. My father’s death left my twenty-seven-year-old mother alone to raise my older sister and I in a country where she had limited knowledge of everything, including the language. Rather than return to India, her home country, and receive help from her family to raise us, my mother chose to stay here despite knowing that a plethora of obstacles would arise. To give us the best life possible with the best opportunities possible, my mother worked to learn everything necessary to live in the United States, causing me to believe it is not just my desire but instead my responsibility to succeed in life. While my mother has often mentioned that our family is different from others and therefore has an even greater reason to focus on achieving our goals, I am the one who places the most pressure on myself to be the best at everything I do. I believe it is my responsibility to take advantage of all the opportunities my mom sacrificed to provide for us. Because of this, I place pressure on myself to get the best grades, to be the fastest runner on my Cross Country team, and to be the best at any task I undertake. This pressure has motivated me in my life and I credit it for many of my successes, but it has also been an impactful stressor. Living up to the expectations I place on myself because of the sacrifices my mother made has often stressed me out. Taking every Advanced Placement course despite my mother's attempts to talk me out of building a stressful schedule has, well, stressed me out. I occasionally feel behind in my schoolwork and seemingly never-ending “To-Do” list, and thus feel the motivation to study slip away, yet I constantly remind myself of the reason that I have these opportunities in the first place, my mother. To reach these high expectations I place on myself, I know it is important to stay dedicated to my goals, even and especially when I feel overwhelmed by them. The vital characteristic that has kept me going during these struggles in school and other aspects of my life is determination. This characteristic is one that I learned and developed during my time on my middle school and high school Cross Country and Track & Field teams. These sports have taught me the importance of consistently showing up and working hard even when it seems like progress is slow or not even happening. Even when I feel defeated, I show up to practice every single day, and my hard work is evident when I compete well in races. This sport has strengthened my determination and perseverance, and I now apply these skills whenever I feel my motivation slipping in life. The tragedy of losing a parent figure so young has only pushed me to work harder and strive to achieve anything I desire. I feel inspired by my mother’s response to the death of my father, and with her as my role model, I know that consistent efforts will enable me to accomplish great things in life. Living in a single-parent household has caused me to place high expectations on myself, yet the parent that I do have is the most inspirational role model that I could desire. Rather than let it knock me down, living in a single-parent household has taught me to look for the positives in every situation and find a solution even when it seems like one simply does not exist. I have been negatively impacted by growing up with one parent, yet it has never been “only” one parent in my life. My mother has persevered to fill our home with love, and this determination inspires me in my life. My goals are different in each aspect of my life and they change as I enter different phases of life, yet one always remains the same: make my mother proud. My single mother constantly holds a financial burden planning to put two children through college and this is motivation enough to work so hard that I can one day relieve her of this responsibility. As I work to achieve all that I desire, I hope to inspire others to work hard in life even when the odds do not seem to be in our favor.

I am a motivated student, a dedicated athlete, and an active member of my community. I have always strived to connect my many interests, and as a woman who plans to major in computer science, a male-dominated field, I have cracked the code on how to do just that. Throughout high school, I found myself allocating time to different activities regarding my interests in education, running, and community service among others. As I split up my time among these extracurriculars, I gradually learned that I can utilize code to further my interest in competing athletically, and I can help my community by volunteering to inspire young students to explore the growing field of computer science. My journey of connecting my interests began when I wrote a simple code that allowed runners to input their miles times and receive their skill levels outputted to them. While the time ranges for “Great Mile Time!” and “Needs Improvement” were so biased that I used the code solely for my enjoyment, it opened up so many doors for me. I quickly realized that the growth of technology enables me to utilize it positively by connecting it to seemingly unrelated subjects, such as running. I then took a step back and evaluated each of my passions, attempting to find new opportunities and creating them when I could not. Because of this, I quickly jumped on the opportunity to join my high school’s computer science leadership team, designed in part to encourage young girls to explore the field of computer science. I now dedicate my time to planning and hosting activities and events that introduce this field to many young students to spark their interest and broaden their search as they enter high school and even middle school. This work in my community allows me to do my part in working to close the large gender gap in this field. My role as outreach manager and co-president of my high school’s team enables me to serve my community while further exploring my major. My competitive drive creeps up in all aspects of my life and can be seen in an academic sense. In my Advanced Placement Computer Science class, I was one of the two girls in a twenty-eight-person class and found myself competing for a voice and a chance for my knowledge of the subject to be acknowledged. Presented with the opportunity to earn extra credit points by writing a code that could produce a calendar for any given year, I took it as an opportunity to establish my credibility in the class. Handed back my code with a loud exclamation on how impressive my work was by my teacher, the boys in my class soon recognized my abilities and valued my contribution. My competitiveness helped me not only earn extra credit points and make my place in the classroom but pushed me to learn more skills in computer science. While writing the code to produce a calendar, I was pushed to problem-solve and learn new coding skills within coding languages. My educational goal of earning a degree in computer science entails attending a four-year university in California. As I work towards earning a degree in Computer Science, I plan on pursuing my passion for racing competitively. Both of these goals require perseverance and dedication, and I plan on strengthening these skills through my role as a student and athlete. My competitive drive pushes me to channel my energy into a positive one that allows me to learn and grow as an individual, an athlete, and a future computer scientist.

Community service enables me to help and improve different aspects of my community while learning more about myself. Through my community service activities, I can inspire students to explore potential career paths at a young age while gaining an understanding of how I desire to spend the rest of my life. As the outreach manager of Franklin High’s Computer Science Pathway Leadership Team, I am dedicated to introducing the world of computer science to young girls. My enrollment in computer science courses has consisted of being one of only a couple of girls on the roster, and as I have experienced learning in a male-dominated setting, I strive to do my part to decrease the gender gap in this field. I work alongside my passionate peers and faculty to organize events and tours that teach young students the capabilities of code. In a growing world of technology, I work to communicate the fact that there is more room for women in this field, we just have to work to fill it. My most meaningful experience within this role occurred during my time promoting the pathway to many families interested in computer science at Franklin’s Steam Night. I carefully analyzed my time as a student in this pathway, accumulated my favorite parts of studying computer science at Franklin, and introduced many families to the advantages of exploring a potential field of study at a young age. By passing on my “story”, I was able to encourage young students, especially young girls, to explore any field they desire, even if it may be intimidating. My role as Director of Development in the California Association of Student Councils (CASC) consists of assisting in designing and implementing conferences that enable student activists to propose legislation regarding educational issues. These conferences allow students to work within the educational system and prepare them for legislative work. Workshopping bills and working with student activists to create a solution to a problem has allowed me to do my part in shaping the minds of students into leaders. This legislative work enables students to have a voice in the educational system and allows them as well as me to strengthen the problem-solving and collaboration skills that virtually every aspect of life requires. The one thing I have enjoyed the most from community service is witnessing the growth within myself, the peers I work alongside, and the students that I work with to create legislation. My role in the world of community service consists of a great deal of problem-solving, and this consistent work has enabled me to acquire skills that I will continue to apply in every aspect of my life. I am now more confident in my ability to collaborate with others to come to a solution, and I appreciate my community service for providing me the opportunity to do so. Being a part of others’ growth within a group of students who strive to make a difference in the community makes me that much more interested in continuing my work. My work in the community has enabled me to appreciate the fact that we are all in different stages of our lives, but we can help others along their journey by teaching them lessons we have already learned through our experiences. This has allowed me to reflect on my life and what experiences have shaped me into who I have become today: a motivated student, an inspired role model, and an active member of my community.

While the loss of my father occurred at such a young age that I have no memory of it, it has affected my approach to life and the decisions I make throughout it. My father’s death left my twenty-seven-year-old mother alone to raise my older sister and I in a country where she had limited knowledge of everything, including the language. Rather than return to India, her home country, and receive help from her family to raise us, my mother chose to stay here despite knowing that a plethora of obstacles would arise. To give us the best life possible with the best opportunities possible, my mother worked to learn everything necessary to live in the United States, causing me to believe it is not just my desire but instead my responsibility to succeed in life. While my mother has often mentioned that our family is different from others and therefore has an even greater reason to focus on achieving our goals, I am the one who places the most pressure on myself to be the best at everything I do. I believe it is my responsibility to take advantage of all the opportunities my mom sacrificed to provide for us. Because of this, I place pressure on myself to get the best grades, to be the fastest runner on my Cross Country team, and to be the best at any task I undertake. This pressure has motivated me in my life and I credit it for many of my successes, but it has also been an impactful stressor. Living up to the expectations I place on myself because of the sacrifices my mother made has often stressed me out. Taking every Advanced Placement course despite my mother's attempts to talk me out of building a stressful schedule has, well, stressed me out. I occasionally feel behind in my schoolwork and seemingly never-ending “To-Do” list, and thus feel the motivation to study slip away, yet I constantly remind myself of the reason that I have these opportunities in the first place, my mother. To reach these high expectations I place on myself, I know it is important to stay dedicated to my goals, even and especially when I feel overwhelmed by them. The tragedy of losing a parent figure so young has only pushed me to work harder and strive to achieve anything I desire. I feel inspired by my mother’s response to the death of my father, and with her as my role model, I know that consistent efforts will enable me to accomplish great things in life. Living in a single-parent household has caused me to place high expectations on myself, yet the parent that I do have is the most inspirational role model that I could desire. Rather than let it knock me down, living in a single-parent household has taught me to look for positives in every situation and find a solution even when it seems like one simply does not exist. I have been negatively impacted by growing up with one parent, yet it has never been “only” one parent in my life. My mother has persevered to fill our home with love, and this determination inspires me in my life. My goals are different in each aspect of my life and they change as I enter different phases of life, yet one always remains the same: make my mother proud. My single mother constantly holds a financial burden planning to put two children through college and this is motivation enough to work so hard that I can one day relieve her of this responsibility.

Through my community activities, I am able to inspire students to explore potential career paths at a young age. As the outreach manager of Franklin High’s Computer Science Pathway Leadership Team, I am dedicated to introducing the world of computer science to young girls. My enrollment in computer science courses has consisted of being one of only a couple of girls on the roster, and as I have experienced learning in a male-dominated setting, I strive to do my part to decrease the gender gap in this field. I work alongside my passionate peers and faculty to organize events and tours that teach young students the capabilities of code. In a growing world of technology, I work to communicate the fact that there is more room for women in this field, we just have to work to fill it. My most meaningful experience within this role occurred during my time promoting the pathway to many families interested in computer science at Franklin’s Steam Night. I carefully analyzed my time as a student in this pathway, accumulated my favorite parts of studying computer science at Franklin, and introduced many families to the advantages of exploring a potential field of study at a young age. By passing on my “story”, I was able to encourage young students, especially young girls, to explore any field they desire, even if it may be intimidating. My role as Director of Development in the California Association of Student Councils (CASC) consists of assisting in designing and implementing conferences that enable student activists to propose legislation regarding educational issues. These conferences allow students to work within the educational system and prepare them for legislative work. Workshopping bills and working with student activists to create a solution to a problem has allowed me to do my part in shaping the minds of students into leaders. This legislative work enables students to have a voice in the educational system and allows them as well as me to strengthen the problem-solving and collaboration skills that virtually every aspect of life requires. The one thing I have enjoyed the most from community service is witnessing the growth within myself, the peers I work alongside, and the students that I work with to create legislation. My role in the world of community service consists of a great deal of problem-solving, and this consistent work has enabled me to acquire skills that I will continue to apply in every aspect of my life. I am now more confident in my ability to collaborate with others to come to a solution, and I appreciate my community service for providing me the opportunity to do so. Being a part of others’ growth within a group of students who strive to make a difference in the community makes me that much more interested in continuing my work. My work in the community has enabled me to appreciate the fact that we are all in different stages of our lives, but we can help others along their journey by teaching them lessons we have already learned through our experiences. This has allowed me to reflect on my life and what experiences have shaped me into who I have become today: a motivated student, an inspired role model, and an active member of my community.

I am a motivated student, a dedicated athlete, an inspired role model, and an active member of my community. I have always strived to connect my many interests, and as a woman who plans to major in computer science, a male-dominated field, I have cracked the code on how to do just that.. As I split up my time among many extracurriculars, I gradually learned that I can utilize code to further my interest in competing athletically, and I can help my community by volunteering to inspire young students to explore the growing field of computer science. As I navigate the abundance of opportunities that come with an interest in computer science, running competitively, immersing myself in books, and traveling the world, one of the biggest challenges I face is finding a balance while pursuing these passions. I have strived to take on only challenges that I can truly invest my time and heart into, and from this, I have gained experience in the art of molding a personalized, efficient schedule. As a student-athlete, I have worked to find compromise and balance between daily practices and taking advantage of every opportunity I can, even going to the lengths of missing Friday practices to attend a class with Girls Who Code, running individually, and then sending proof of the run to my coach. Finding this balance has also constituted connecting my passions; while looking for an opportunity to practice my skills in HTML and CSS I created a simple code that outputs a user’s skill level after they input their mile time. While used solely for my enjoyment, this code opened a gate of possibilities for me. I now desire to utilize my skills in computer science to help positively incorporate technology into my varying interests. While I explore my identity beyond my education, I aspire to continue my work in inspiring young girls to join the field of computer science, one that has a notorious gender gap. I strive to apply the determination I have learned from being an athlete to every challenge I accept head-on. My decision to join my high school’s Computer Science Pathway began with robotics, but my reasons for staying came from different places. While learning the coding languages of C++ and Java, the thing that got me the most excited was writing code for websites. We all use websites daily, and I had never sat down to think about the work behind making them. I didn’t think about the code behind making it possible to click a link and end up somewhere else on the internet, but computer science changed that. I found a newfound appreciation for one of the things we use so often but rarely appreciate, websites, and the code making them possible. Robotics, websites, and the satisfaction of making code work are all interesting parts of computer science that make me want to pursue a degree in the field, but the large gender gap inspires me to make a difference. Taking attendance on the first day of Exploring Computer Science, and the first thing I noticed was the ratio of girls to boys. Four girls in a class of thirty. This stayed the same in every class after that, my most recent one having only two, myself included. I thoroughly enjoyed the class and questioned why this gender gap even existed. With this discovery, I knew that I wanted to do my part in changing this. I joined my school’s computer science pathway leadership team to do this very thing: encourage more girls to join.

I am a motivated student, a dedicated athlete, an inspired role model, and an active member of my community. I have always worked to connect my many interests, and as a woman who plans to major in computer science, a male-dominated field, I have cracked the code on how to do just that. Throughout high school, I found myself allocating time to different activities regarding my interests in my education, running, and community service among others. As I split up my time among these extracurriculars, I gradually learned that I can utilize code to further my interest in competing athletically, and I can help my community by volunteering to inspire young students to explore the growing field of computer science. My educational goal of earning a degree in computer science includes attending a four-year university in California. As I research colleges, their acceptance rates, and locations, the tuition costs per year attract my attention almost every time. Both planning on studying in college for the next couple of years, my sister and I work to alleviate the financial pressure on our single mother. I work a side job tutoring elementary school students, and while I can cover a portion of my costs as a teenager, the many zeroes attached to the university tuition are out of my scope of ability. My many applications to scholarships such as this enable me to do my part in putting a dent in the burden on my mother. Choosing which college to further my education at includes evaluating financial aid offers and making the best decision not only for myself but for my family. The large price tag attached to earning a college degree makes me nervous despite my hope for the future. Throughout every step of my education and beyond, I strive to continue connecting my passions. Scholarships such as this will allow me to focus my energy on expanding my knowledge rather than worrying about how to finance it. As I navigate the abundance of opportunities that come with an interest in computer science, running competitively, immersing myself in books, and traveling the world, one of the biggest challenges I face is finding a balance while pursuing these passions. I strive to take on only challenges that I can truly invest my time and heart into, and from this, I have gained experience in the art of molding a personalized, efficient schedule. As a student-athlete, I have worked to find compromise and balance between daily practices and taking advantage of every opportunity I can, even going to the lengths of missing Friday practices to attend a class with Girls Who Code, running individually, and then sending proof of the run to my coach. Finding this balance has also constituted connecting my passions; while looking for an opportunity to practice my skills in HTML and CSS I created a simple code that outputs a user’s skill level after they input their mile time. While used solely for my enjoyment, this code opened a gate of possibilities for me. I now desire to utilize my skills in computer science to help positively incorporate technology into my varying interests. While I explore my identity beyond my education, I aspire to continue my work in inspiring young girls to join the field of computer science, one that has a notorious gender gap. I strive to apply the determination I have learned from being an athlete to every challenge I accept head-on.

Supporting a large family by using my degree in computer science to work on web development, and taking time to travel to new destinations, try new cuisines, and serve my community.

I am a motivated student, a dedicated athlete, and an active member of my community. I have always strived to connect my many interests, and as a woman who plans to major in computer science, a male-dominated field, I have cracked the code on how to do just that. Throughout high school, I found myself allocating time to different activities regarding my interests in education, running, and community service among others. As I split up my time among these extracurriculars, I gradually learned that I can utilize code to further my interest in competing athletically, and I can help my community by volunteering to inspire young students to explore the growing field of computer science. My journey of connecting my interests began when I wrote a simple code that allowed runners to input their miles times and receive their skill levels outputted to them. While the time ranges for “Great Mile Time!” and “Needs Improvement” were so biased that I used the code solely for my enjoyment, it opened up so many doors for me. I quickly realized that the growth of technology enables me to utilize it positively by connecting it to seemingly unrelated subjects, such as running. I then took a step back and evaluated each of my passions, attempting to find new opportunities and creating them when I could not. Because of this, I quickly jumped on the opportunity to join my high school’s computer science leadership team, designed in part to encourage young girls to explore the field of computer science. I now dedicate my time to planning and hosting activities and events that introduce this field to many young students to spark their interest and broaden their search as they enter high school and even middle school. This work in my community allows me to do my part in working to close the large gender gap in this field. My role as outreach manager and co-president of my high school’s team enables me to serve my community while further exploring my major. My competitive drive creeps up in all aspects of my life and can be seen in an academic sense. In my Advanced Placement Computer Science class, I was one of the two girls in a twenty-eight-person class and found myself competing for a voice and a chance for my knowledge of the subject to be acknowledged. Presented with the opportunity to earn extra credit points by writing a code that could produce a calendar for any given year, I took it as an opportunity to establish my credibility in the class. Handed back my code with a loud exclamation on how impressive my work was by my teacher, the boys in my class soon recognized my abilities and valued my contribution. My competitiveness helped me not only earn extra credit points and make my place in the classroom but pushed me to learn more skills in computer science. While writing the code to produce a calendar, I was pushed to problem-solve and learn new coding skills within coding languages. My educational goal of earning a degree in computer science entails attending a four-year university in California. As I work towards earning a degree in Computer Science, I plan on pursuing my passion for racing competitively. Both of these goals require perseverance and dedication, and I plan on strengthening these skills through my role as a student and athlete. My competitive drive pushes me to channel my energy into a positive one that allows me to learn and grow as an individual, an athlete, and a future computer scientist.

While the loss of my father occurred at an age that I do not even remember, it has affected my approach to life and the decisions I make throughout it. My father’s death left my twenty-seven-year-old mother alone to raise my older sister and me in a country where she did not even know the language. Rather than return to India, her home country, and receive help from her family to help raise us, my mother instead chose to raise us here. To give us the best life possible with the best opportunities, my mother strove to learn everything necessary to live in the United States, causing me to believe it is not just a desire and instead my responsibility to succeed in life. While my mom has often mentioned that our family is different from others and therefore has an even greater reason to focus on our goals, I am the one who places the most pressure on myself to be the best at everything I do. I believe it is my responsibility to take advantage of all the opportunities my mom sacrificed to provide for us. Because of this, I place pressure on myself to get the best grades, to be the fastest runner on my Cross Country team, and to be the best at anything I do. This pressure has motivated me in my life, and I credit it for many of my successes, but it has also been an impactful stressor. Living up to the expectations I place on myself because of the sacrifices my mother made following my father’s death has often stressed me out. Taking every Advanced Placement course despite my mother's attempts to talk me out of building a stressful schedule has well stressed me out. I occasionally feel behind in my schoolwork and seemingly never-ending “To-Do” list, and thus feel the motivation to study slip away. To reach these high expectations I place on myself, I know it is important to stay dedicated to my goals, even and especially when I feel overwhelmed by them. The vital characteristic that has kept me going during these struggles in school and other aspects of my life is determination. This characteristic is one that I learned and developed during my time on my middle school and high school Cross Country team. This sport has taught me the importance of consistently showing up and working hard even when it seems like progress is slow or not even happening. Even when I feel defeated, I show up to practice every day, and my hard work is evident when I compete well in races. This sport has strengthened my determination and perseverance, and I now apply these skills whenever I feel my motivation slipping in life. The tragedy of losing a parent figure at a young age has only pushed me to work harder and strive to achieve anything I desire. I feel inspired by my mother’s response to the death of my father, and with her as my role model, I know that with consistent efforts I can accomplish great things in life. I hope to inspire others to do the same, and work hard in life even when the odds don’t seem to be in our favor.

There are a variety of paths I can take to describe myself, yet I believe the best way I can do so is by explaining where I spend most of my time. I am a motivated student, a dedicated athlete, an inspired role model, and an active member of my community. I have always strived to connect my many interests, and as a woman who plans to major in computer science, a male-dominated field, I have cracked the code on how to do just that. Throughout high school, I found myself allocating time to different activities regarding my interests in my education, running, and community service among others. As I split up my time among these extracurriculars, I gradually learned that I can utilize code to further my interest in competing athletically, and I can help my community by volunteering to inspire young students to explore the growing field of computer science. My journey of connecting my interests began when I wrote a simple code that allowed runners to input their miles times and have their skill levels outputted to them. While the time ranges for “Great Mile Time!” and “Needs Improvement” was so biased that I used the code solely for my enjoyment, it opened up so many doors for me. I quickly realized that the growth of technology enables me to utilize it positively by connecting it to seemingly unrelated subjects, such as running. I then took a step back and evaluated each of my passions, attempting to find new opportunities and creating them when I could not. Because of this, I quickly jumped on the opportunity to join my high school’s computer science leadership team, designed in part to encourage young girls to explore the field of computer science. I now dedicate my time to planning and hosting activities and events that introduce this field to many young students to spark their interest and broaden their search as they enter high school and even middle school. This work in my community allows me to do my part in working to close the large gender gap in this field. My role as outreach manager and co-president of my high school’s team enables me to serve my community while further exploring my major. My educational goal of earning a degree in computer science includes attending a four-year university in California. As I research colleges, their acceptance rates, and locations, the tuition costs per year attract my attention almost every time. Both planning on studying in college for the next couple of years, my sister and I work to alleviate the financial pressure on our single mother. I work a side job tutoring elementary school students, and while I can cover a portion of my costs as a teenager, the many zeroes attached to the university tuition are out of my scope of ability. My many applications to scholarships such as this enable me to do my part in putting a dent in the burden on my mother. Choosing which college to further my education at includes evaluating financial aid offers and making the best decision not only for myself but for my family. The large price tag attached to earning a college degree makes me nervous despite my hope for the future. Throughout every step of my education and beyond, I strive to continue connecting my passions. Scholarships such as this will allow me to focus my energy on expanding my knowledge rather than worrying about how to finance it.

The loss of my father, while it occurred at an age that I don't even remember, has affected the way I live my life and the decisions I make. My father’s death left my twenty-seven-year-old mother alone to raise my older sister and I in a country where she did not even know the language. Presented with the choice to go back to India, her home country, and receive help from her family to help raise us, my mother chose to raise us here. To give us the best life possible with the best opportunities, my mother chose to learn everything necessary to live in the United States, and because of this, I believe it is not just a desire but it is my responsibility to succeed in life. While my mom has often mentioned that our family is different from others and that we should focus on our goals, I am the one who places the most pressure on myself to be the best at whatever I do. I believe that it is my responsibility to take advantage of all the opportunities my mom sacrificed so much to provide us with. Because of this, I place pressure on myself to get the best grades, to be the fastest runner on my Cross Country team, and to be the best at anything I do. This pressure has motivated me in my life, and I credit it for so many of my successes, but it has also caused me stress. Living up to the expectations I place on myself because of the sacrifices my mother made after my father’s death, has often stressed me out. Taking every Advanced Placement class even after my mother has tried to talk me out of building a stressful schedule, has well, stressed me out. I occasionally feel behind in my schoolwork and with so much to do, I feel the motivation to study slipping away. To reach these high expectations I place on myself, I know it is important to stay dedicated to my goals, even when I feel overwhelmed by them. The important characteristic that has kept me going during these struggles in school as well as in all other aspects of my life is determination. This characteristic is one that learned and developed during my time on my middle school and high school Cross Country team. This sport has taught me the importance of showing up and working hard every day even when it seems like progress is slow or not even happening. Even when I feel defeated, I show up to practice every day, and it shows when I compete well in races. This sport has taught me determination and perseverance, and I now apply them whenever I feel like I am losing motivation in life. The tragedy of losing a parent figure at a young age in my life has only pushed me to do better, and strive to achieve anything I desire. I feel inspired by my mother’s response to her husband’s death, and with her as my role model, I know that with hard work I can accomplish great things in life. I hope to inspire others to do the same, and work hard in life even when the odds don’t seem to be in our favor.

From my love of robots to my fascination with the way websites can direct us to other places with just one click, my reasons for pursuing a degree in Computer Science vary. As part of my elementary school’s robotics team, I collaborated with my classmates in coding small robots to complete assigned tasks. The excitement of competing against other schools, and other robots, to see which one could successfully complete the tasks the best is what made me passionate about computer science in the first place. Well, not directly. Choosing classes for my high school schedule, I chose to enroll in the computer science pathway which involved taking one class related to this field every year. Robotics being part of the curriculum heavily influenced this decision, and I am taking my last class of the pathway this year, my senior year of high school. My reason for choosing these classes started with robotics, but my reasons for staying came from different places. While learning the coding languages of C++ and Java, the thing that got me the most excited was writing code for websites. We all use websites daily, and I had never sat down to think about the work behind making them. I did not think about the code behind making it possible to click a link and end up somewhere else on the internet, but computer science changed that. I found a newfound appreciation for one of the things we use so often but rarely appreciate, websites, and the code making them possible. Coding websites and completing labs always involved errors, syntax errors, runtime errors, and overflow errors, and while sometimes frustrating, the satisfaction of making a code work tops everything else. When the number of errors decreased from fifty-two to three just by adding one semicolon on a line, I felt satisfied, and proud to have found such a small mistake. Robotics, websites, and the satisfaction of making code work are all interesting parts of computer science that make me want to pursue a degree in the field, but the large gender gap inspires me to make a difference. Taking attendance on the first day of Exploring Computer Science, and the first thing I noticed was the ratio of girls to boys. Four girls in a class of thirty. This stayed the same in every class after that, my most recent one having only two, myself included. I thoroughly enjoyed the class and questioned why this gender gap even existed. With this discovery, I knew that I wanted to do my part in changing this. I joined my school’s computer science pathway leadership team to do this very thing, encourage more girls to join. While I did question why girls wouldn't want to join this field, I occasionally felt the discrimination that was most likely the very reason they stayed away from computer science. The leadership team that I joined consisted of one president and five vice presidents in a team of twelve, and every single one of them was a boy. I immediately knew that I would struggle to have my voice heard. While pursuing a degree in computer science, I know that as a woman I will struggle with making my voice heard, but that just encourages me to join even more. I want to earn a degree in this field and also help make a difference by encouraging more women to learn this subject.

My mother has stressed the importance of education for as long as I can remember. The loss of my father when I was just one years old left my twenty-seven year old mother alone to raise my sister and I in a country where she didn’t even know the language. My mother persevered, and successfully learned everything possible in order for us to be able to live in a country with an immense amount of opportunities, but the one thing she regretted was not getting a higher education. With a bachelors in education, my mother worked in the field and had a decently paying job, but wished she could have worked in higher positions, and even different ones within the field. Without the correct courses or level of education to achieve this, my mother couldn't do so, and with the responsibility of raising two kids by herself, she never found the time. Because of this, my mom ensures that my sister and I take our education seriously and prioritize it in our lives. Understanding the importance of education and hoping that I don’t make the same mistake of not pursuing every one of my educational goals, my mother pushes me to work hard towards them. Although my grandparents laid out plans for our future and encouraged us to pursue the field of medicine, my mother always left this choice up to me. Knowing that I wouldn't do the best I possibly could unless I truly wanted to learn a subject, my mother told me to do whatever I pleased, as long as it would bring me success and make me happy. My elementary school days were filled with my mother pushing me to be the best, constantly expressing her expectations for me to only earn the highest grades. While this may seem stressful, my mom soon backed off when I entered middle and high school, knowing that I already placed high expectations on myself. Now my mother tells me that she is proud of me as long as I try my best and know I put as much effort in as I possibly could. With a strong educational base in which I was pushed to strive for the best, I carried that to my later education and now expect myself to do the same. My mother most supported me through my educational journey, helping me understand the importance of education as well as celebrating my accomplishments. My mom motivates me to do well, and even ensures that I don’t place too much stress on myself. From telling me her opinions after reading my essays, to providing me with better vocabulary words to fit in my sentences, to quickly solving math facts in her head, my mother stays involved in my education. It may seem like a small bit of help, but to me, it shows that my mother cares and wants to be a part of my educational journey. Expressing how proud she is of me encourages me to do better, and with her as my role model, I know I can achieve anything I set my mind to.

The relentless pursuit of winning a scholarship presents the opportunity for both benefit and disappointment. The ability to win any amount of money for writing an essay attracts me to apply for scholarships, despite the high chance of rejection after rejection. While the ability to win funds attracts me to apply for scholarships, I believe the best part of doing so is learning more about myself. By writing scholarship essays, I find myself learning more about who I am as a person, why humans function the way we do, why the world works the way it does, and so many more topics. The millions of scholarships out there ask applicants various questions, and my favorite part about this is how much I learn about myself. Scholarship applications that ask me to evaluate conflicts in my life push me to reflect on what events have shaped me into who I am today. Writing these essays forces me to think not only about what events have occurred in my life, but what lessons I learned from them. Most of us go about living our lives with the characteristics that we have, failing to recognize what made us have these qualities, to begin with. While answering the prompt “What major do you hope to pursue, and why?” I spent some time considering the second part of that question. I have known that I hope to pursue computer science for a while now, but I have never really sat down to consider why this specific field. Through this process, I learned more about myself, specifically that my late father’s career choice may have subconsciously driven me to choose the same one. While simply an example of a scholarship essay prompt, this, as well as many others, have pushed me to reflect on my life, my opinions, and the reasoning behind so much of what I do. The process of writing these essays provides me the opportunity to learn, but the process of finding and applying for scholarships has taught me about myself as well. Through this, I have learned that I certainly am determined, even if I am unaware of what the results may be. "Practice makes perfect" pushes me to work hard in an academic and athletic sense, but the reward is often hard to achieve with scholarships. The applications that I continuously choose to fill out despite having won any have proven that my determined characteristic applies to various areas of my life.

From my love of robots to my fascination with the way websites can direct us to other places with just one click, my reasons for pursuing a degree in Computer Science vary. As part of my elementary school’s robotics team, I collaborated with my classmates in coding small robots to complete assigned tasks. The excitement of competing against other schools, and other robots, to see which one could complete the tasks the best is what made me passionate about computer science in the first place. Well, not directly. Choosing classes for my high school schedule, I chose to enroll in the computer science pathway which involved taking one class related to this field every year. Robotics being part of the curriculum heavily influenced this decision, and I will be taking my last class of the pathway next year, my senior year of high school. My reason for choosing these classes started with robotics, but my reasons for staying came from different places. While learning the coding languages of C++ and Java, the thing that got me the most excited was writing code for websites. I didn’t think about the code behind making it possible to click a link and end up somewhere else on the internet, but computer science changed that. I found a newfound appreciation for one of the things we use so often but rarely appreciate, websites. Robotics, websites, and the satisfaction of making code work are all interesting parts of computer science that make me want to pursue a degree in the field, but the large gender gap inspires me to make a difference. Taking attendance on the first day of Exploring Computer Science, and the first thing I noticed was the ratio of girls to boys. Four girls in a class of thirty. This stayed the same in every class after that, my most recent one having only two, myself included. I thoroughly enjoyed the class and questioned why this gender gap even existed. With this discovery, I knew that I wanted to do my part in changing this. I joined my school’s computer science pathway leadership team to do this very thing, encourage more girls to join. While I did question why girls wouldn't want to join this field, I occasionally felt the discrimination that was most likely the very reason they stayed away from computer science. The leadership team that I joined consisted of one president and five vice presidents in a team of twelve, and every single one of them was a boy. I immediately knew that I would struggle to have my voice heard. While pursuing a degree in computer science, I know that as a woman I will struggle with making my voice heard, but that just encourages me to join even more. I want to earn a degree in this field and also help make a difference by encouraging more women to learn this subject.

Throughout my childhood and even during my years as a teenager, I have watched my fair share of Disney movies, and while I have enjoyed and learned lessons from a majority of them, my favorite character is Disney princess Moana. As a young girl, Moana identifies her dissatisfaction with her village not reaching its full potential, and fuels it into taking action and exploring the seas beyond the island they call home. Daughter of a chief, Moana is a princess, yet a key difference between her and all of the other Disney princesses is that she is not connected to a male, and is successful in her goals despite it. As a young girl watching these Disney movies, the typical princess usually desired a male and even left behind their family or goals to marry one. A fresh idea emerged with Moana as she represented the truth, that a female’s strength comes from within, and their whole life purpose does not revolve around finding a husband or boyfriend. I believe that we are a product of our environment, and the storyline of Moana fighting for her mission to restore the heart of the ocean without a love interest showed me the true meaning of being a strong princess-title-worthy woman. Moana inevitably faces conflicts during her journey and does eventually receive some help from Maui, a demigod, but she stays focused on her task of helping her community. With this, Moana demonstrates that being a strong woman does not mean doing everything independently, but instead means embracing help when needed. As a young girl, Moana bravely faces these conflicts but does debate whether or not she wishes to start this journey. Her hesitancy shows me that it is okay to be vulnerable, as long as we stay true to ourselves. Moana embodies the meaning of an actual princess, strong, brave, and kind, teaching me a valuable lesson while creating a storyline worthy of an entertaining movie.

“I got a 92% on the test,” I excitedly told my friend, only to be met with “that’s amazing, I got a 97%.” While extremely proud of them, my competitive drive kicks in quickly, and I am motivated to do even better on the next test. One characteristic that I admire about myself is my competitiveness. While many people believe comparing ourselves to another person is a “wrong” way to live life, I cherish my ability to derive motivation from just about anywhere. As a runner on my high school’s cross country team, my competitiveness has been the reason for my improvement and success over the years. As I found myself falling behind my teammates that I used to run alongside, I obtained a newfound motivation to get faster. My competitive drive led me to persevere through difficult practices in the 106-degree weather and work hard, to the point that I not only ran alongside the teammates I had fallen behind, but in front of them. I eventually earned the “Most Improved Runner” award on my team from the success that came in part due to my competitiveness. If they could do it, why couldn't I? My competitive drive creeps up in all aspects of my life and can be seen in an academic sense as well. In my Advanced Placement Computer Science class, I was one of the two girls in a twenty-eight-person class and found myself competing for a voice and a chance for my knowledge of the subject to be acknowledged. Presented with the opportunity to earn extra credit points by writing a code that could produce a calendar for any given year, I took it, not so much for the grade boost but as an opportunity to establish my credibility in the class. Handed back my code with a loud exclamation on how impressive my work was by my teacher, the boys in my class soon recognized my abilities and saw me as someone to ask for help. My competitiveness to produce a “better” code than the boys in my class who did not necessarily view me as someone who belonged in that classroom, motivated me to do so. This competitiveness helped me not only earn extra credit points and make my place in the classroom but pushed me to learn more skills in computer science. While writing the code to produce a calendar, I was pushed to problem solve and learn new coding skills within coding languages. We can not always control our environment and what happens to our lives, yet we can control how we respond to it. My competitive drive pushes me to channel my energy into a positive one that allows me to learn and grow as an individual, an athlete, and a future computer scientist.

A healthy body and a healthy mind equal success. I believe that our performance directly relates to our health, and what we choose to eat makes a huge difference. “Clean” and nutritious foods such as superfoods help clear our minds and strengthen us physically and mentally. “Superfoods,” or foods that offer a lot of nutritional benefits and have many compounds that benefit our health include avocados, onions, nuts, and fish, some of my favorites. My all-time favorite superfood would be onions. The majority of Indian food, which is a big part of my diet, consists of onions. Onions are something that not many people eat raw, I tend not to either, but it is one of my favorites because it is already in so many of the recipes I eat. Onions have a huge health benefit, and I believe they greatly enhance the flavor of so many foods. I feel that it is necessary to eat healthy foods, but enjoy them at the same time. A wide variety of superfoods and other foods that are good for our health exist, and I believe we should eat the ones we enjoy. Doing this helps ensure I have a healthy relationship with food while still consuming all the minerals and vitamins my body needs. As an athlete who runs 30-40 miles per week for most of the year, my body requires energy to perform as best as I can, and to just get through the day, the energy that I obtain from these superfoods. I love superfoods because they allow me to get a large number of nutrients and minerals through smaller servings. Since superfoods are rich in minerals like iron, calcium, and potassium, my body can perform well when I eat them. While growing up, my mom always stressed the importance of fueling my mind with healthy foods. While I am constantly fed healthy foods, my mother provides me with nutritious foods such as almonds and eggs when I have important exams. Growing up in an environment where the importance of healthy and nutritious foods are stressed, I have learned that what we put in our body matters. I love superfoods because they allow me to eat small portions and still get the nutrients my body needs. Along with this, I feel as if incorporating them into my diet is rather easy. Nuts are something that I eat along with my breakfast in the morning as they are quick to eat when I am in a rush, and they provide a lot of energy. I tend to eat a lot of berries in the summertime, when they are grown, while I stay at home. As someone who enjoys snacking while watching television shows or movies, I try to avoid unhealthy foods, and turn to foods like berries as alternatives. Smoothies are a great way that allow me to consume superfoods, as I am able to add both berries and nuts into one drink. I strive not to be too restrictive with the foods I eat, but I set goals to ensure I eat enough protein, carbs, fats, and vitamins throughout the day. I incorporate these superfoods into my diet in order to meet these goals. I tend to look for recipes that include a balance of all food groups and already include superfoods, so I don’t have to worry about how to add them into my meals.

“Everything happens for a reason” has kept me going since I learned that looking at the negative side of things for too long never improves the situation. Throughout tough times in my life, I remind myself that even if the reason never becomes clear to me, everything has one. Instead of focusing on the bad event or interaction that occurred, I try to stay optimistic through these tough times by learning a new lesson or something new about myself. The passing of my father at a young age becomes tough at times when I wonder how different my life would have been with a father figure, but I have mastered the ability to focus on what I have learned from my experiences because of this. Because of this I have lived in a family of only women, and have learned that despite what others may think, women are capable of doing so many things people say they aren’t. I have stayed optimistic through these times by focusing on growing through my experiences instead of just dwelling on them. The ideology that “everything happens for a reason” has helped me accept my circumstances, and thus learn from them. Staying optimistic even when circumstances make it incredibly difficult to do has made me mentally stronger. By slowly learning to implement the lessons that I learn from my experiences, I have learned how to stay optimistic and focus on the positive. Staying optimistic instead of just accepting defeat or forever dwelling on negative things has allowed me to look for ways tough times can help me grow as a person.

From my love of robots to my fascination with the way websites can direct us to other places with just one click, my reasons for pursuing a degree in Computer Science vary. As part of my elementary school’s robotics team, I collaborated with my classmates in coding small robots to complete assigned tasks. The excitement of competing against other schools, and other robots, to see which one could successfully complete the tasks the best is what made me passionate about computer science in the first place. Well, not directly. Choosing classes for my high school schedule, I chose to enroll in the computer science pathway which involved taking one class related to this field every year. Robotics being part of the curriculum heavily influenced this decision, and I will be taking my last class of the pathway next year, my senior year of high school. My reason for choosing these classes started with robotics, but my reasons for staying came from different places. While learning the coding languages of C++ and Java, the thing that got me the most excited was writing code for websites. We all use websites daily, and I had never sat down to think about the work behind making them. I didn’t think about the code behind making it possible to click a link and end up somewhere else on the internet, but computer science changed that. I found a newfound appreciation for one of the things we use so often but rarely appreciate, websites, and the code making them possible. Coding websites and completing labs always involved errors, syntax errors, runtime errors, and overflow errors, and while sometimes frustrating, the satisfaction of making a code work tops everything else. When the number of errors decreased from fifty-two to three just by adding one semicolon on a line, I felt satisfied, and proud to have found such a small mistake. Robotics, websites, and the satisfaction of making code work are all interesting parts of computer science that make me want to pursue a degree in the field, but the large gender gap inspires me to make a difference. Taking attendance on the first day of Exploring Computer Science, and the first thing I noticed was the ratio of girls to boys. Four girls in a class of thirty. This stayed the same in every class after that, my most recent one having only two, myself included. I thoroughly enjoyed the class and questioned why this gender gap even existed. With this discovery, I knew that I wanted to do my part in changing this. I joined my school’s computer science pathway leadership team to do this very thing, encourage more girls to join. While I did question why girls wouldn't want to join this field, I occasionally felt the discrimination that was most likely the very reason they stayed away from computer science. The leadership team that I joined consisted of one president and five vice presidents in a team of twelve, and every single one of them was a boy. I immediately knew that I would struggle to have my voice heard. While pursuing a degree in computer science, I know that as a woman I will struggle with making my voice heard, but that just encourages me to join even more. I want to earn a degree in this field and also help make a difference by encouraging more women to learn this subject.

My mother has stressed the importance of education for as long as I can remember. The loss of my father when I was just one years old left my twenty-seven year old mother alone to raise my sister and I in a country where she didn’t even know the language. My mother persevered, and successfully learned everything possible in order for us to be able to live in a country with an immense amount of opportunities, but the one thing she regretted was not getting a higher education. With a bachelors in education, my mother worked in the field and had a decently paying job, but wished she could have worked in higher positions, and even different ones within the field. Without the correct courses or level of education to achieve this, my mother couldn't do so, and with the responsibility of raising two kids by herself, she never found the time. Because of this, my mom ensures that my sister and I take our education seriously and prioritize it in our lives. Understanding the importance of education and hoping that I don’t make the same mistake of not pursuing every one of my educational goals, my mother pushes me to work hard towards them. Although my grandparents laid out plans for our future and encouraged us to pursue the field of medicine, my mother always left this choice up to me. Knowing that I wouldn't do the best I possibly could unless I truly wanted to learn a subject, my mother told me to do whatever I pleased, as long as it would bring me success and make me happy. My elementary school days were filled with my mother pushing me to be the best, constantly expressing her expectations for me to only earn the highest grades. While this may seem stressful, my mom soon backed off when I entered middle and high school, knowing that I already placed high expectations on myself. Now my mother tells me that she is proud of me as long as I try my best and know I put as much effort in as I possibly could. With a strong educational base in which I was pushed to strive for the best, I carried that to my later education and now expect myself to do the same. My mother most supported me through my educational journey, helping me understand the importance of education as well as celebrating my accomplishments. My mom motivates me to do well, and even ensures that I don’t place too much stress on myself. From telling me her opinions after reading my essays, to providing me with better vocabulary words to fit in my sentences, to quickly solving math facts in her head, my mother stays involved in my education. It may seem like a small bit of help, but to me, it shows that my mother cares and wants to be a part of my educational journey. Expressing how proud she is of me encourages me to do better, and with her as my role model, I know I can achieve anything I set my mind to.

The loss of my father, while it occurred at an age where I don't even remember, has affected the way I live my life and the decisions I make. My father’s death left my twenty-seven year old mother alone to raise my older sister and I in a country where she did not even know the language. Presented with the choice to go back to India, her home country, and receive help from her family to help raise us, my mother chose to raise us here. In order to give us the best life possible with the best opportunities, my mother chose to learn everything necessary to live in the United States, and because of this, I believe it is not just a desire but it is my responsibility to succeed in life. While my mom has often mentioned that our family is different from others and that we should focus on our goals, I am the one who places the most pressure on myself to be the best at whatever I do. I believe that it is my responsibility to take advantage of all the opportunities my mom sacrificed so much to provide us with. Because of this, I place pressure on myself to get the best grades, to be the fastest runner on my Cross Country team, to be the best at anything I do. This pressure has motivated me in my life, and I credit it for so many of my successes, but it has also caused me stress. Living up to the expectations I place on myself because of the sacrifices my mother made after my father’s death, has often stressed me out. Taking every Advanced Placement class even after my mother has tried to talk me out of building a stressful schedule, has well, stressed me out. I occasionally feel behind in my schoolwork and with so much to do, I feel the motivation to study slipping away. In order to reach these high expectations I place on myself, I know it is important to stay dedicated to my goals, even when I feel overwhelmed by them. The important characteristic that has kept me going during these struggles in school as well as in all other aspects of my life is determination. This characteristic is one that learned and developed during my time on my middle school and high school Cross Country team. This sport has taught me the importance of showing up and working hard everyday even when it seems like progress is slow or not even happening. Even when I feel defeated, I show up to practice everyday, and it shows when I compete well in races. This sport has taught me determination and perseverance, and I now apply them whenever I feel like I am losing motivation in life. The tragedy of losing a parent figure at a young age in my life has only pushed me to do better, and strive to achieve anything I desire. I feel inspired by my mother’s response to her husband’s death, and with her as my role model, I know that with hard work I can accomplish great things in life. I hope to inspire others to do the same, work hard in life even when the odds don’t seem to be in our favor.

While running may simply seem like a physical task, so much of it is mental. As a runner, I am required to be mentally strong along with physically in order to be successful. This isn't only seen in specific races, however. When competing on a team, persistence is often important to get through practices and even entire seasons. My freshman year of Cross Country, I ran relatively well, and even occasionally competed on the varsity team, but I did not succeed nearly as well in my Cross Country or Track and Field seasons of my sophomore year. My year consisted of not meeting most of my goals and feeling defeated when crossing the finish line as the fifth or even sixth girl on my team. I enjoyed running and competing, but the question of why I was still showing up everyday crossed my mind more times than I would like to admit, but I showed up. I went to practice everyday, even when easy runs didn’t feel so easy. I felt out of shape for so much of the season, but I showed up. I knew that I would never achieve what I wanted if I just gave up. I preserved through my sophomore season, fighting the struggle to just stop. I knew it would be worth it, and I was proved right. I continued working hard and I reached many of my goals in Cross Country during my junior year. I competed well, once again becoming a top runner on my team. My coach recognized these efforts, and I was even awarded the “Most Improved Runner” award for my success compared to last year. I utilized persistence to overcome this obstacle, this barrier in my running career, and as I succeeded, I learned the importance of determination from it.

As a tutor for an elementary school student, I mentor a 5th grader. I have been tutoring this student since she was in 3rd grade, assisting her in completing her homework assignments, teaching her exciting lessons from higher grade levels, and overall helping her navigate the world of education. I was a huge multiplication lover in elementary school, and still am, so I was so excited when presented the opportunity to teach this important math lesson to another person. I came up with new ways to teach in hope of instilling her with the same love for multiplication facts that I have. Through this mentorship I hoped the create a strong educational base for a student, a base that included her eager to learn. Understanding that she would learn more if she was excited to do so, I hoped to impact her life by showing her how fun learning can be. Along with the educational skills I teach my students, I have set out to teach life skills as well. Although parents normally take on this role, I believe we learn from every person in our lives, so I do my best to teach her skills that she can apply in her day to day life. By ensuring that she remembers to bring all her materials to tutoring lessons everyday, I teach her responsibility, and by assigning lessons that take away points for every incorrect answer, I teach her patience. Through my mentorship of this elementary school student, I hope to impact her life by making her excited to learn new things in school while teaching her vital life lessons that she will grow from. With the role of her tutor and “best friend” I hope to help her understand that there are so many different ways to learn.

From textbooks, to assigned reading in class, to books for my own enjoyment, I have read a lot, and my favorite book is Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian by Rick Riordan. I loved reading the entire series following the life of Percy Jackson, a demigod, as he finds his way through the world he once believed was a myth, but I always find myself re-reading the final book. The biggest event of this novel occurred towards the end in which the Titans fought the Olympians for power, and the demigods helped the Olympians. Percy and his friends, Annabeth and Grover, along with the rest of their camp, come up with strategies to help the Gods win their fight against the Titans. They come up with tactics to win as well as fight in battles themselves, demonstrating how we can all learn from one another. As these teenagers help immortal Gods win their fight, this book expresses that we can always learn from people younger than us, which I love. Along with the fascinating subject of immortality and exciting battles that always made me curious as to what would happen next, Percy and Annabeth displayed the strength and importance of love. When given the opportunity to become immortal as a reward for helping the Olympians win, he turns them down, mainly because he does not want to leave Annabeth. I love this book for demonstrating how much of an impact the people we love can have on our lives. Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian entertains me every time I read it, but it has also taught me to fight through struggles, even if the odds aren’t in my favor. As the Olympians won with the help of the demigods, the book has also taught me the value of teamwork.

To me, confidence means possessing the belief that the opportunity for success always exists. Confidence means understanding that there is always room for improvement and avoiding quickly accepting defeat. Staying assured that something will work out, staying confident, ensures that we continue to work hard to achieve our goals instead of giving up simply because of the doubt that they will come true. Personally, confidence in my abilities keeps me on my journey to achieve what I want as I believe if I do not have faith in myself, I will not want to keep trying. As a runner, my confidence in my abilities gets me through difficult practices and even difficult seasons. During both my Cross Country and Track and Field seasons of my sophomore year of high school, I faced a roadblock, feeling as if I simply couldn’t get better. Running the same times or even slower ones week after week at meets, I grew frustrated, but with the confidence that I could push past this, I continued to show up every practice. Confidence in myself to eventually run faster and reach my goal times motivated me to continue working hard, and because of this, I had a great Cross Country season the very next year. My junior year season went great with me hitting goal times and being a top runner on a girls team that almost competed at State. Receiving the “Most Improved Runner” award that season reminded me that my confidence in my determination and talent brought me to my success. While confident, I still occasionally doubted myself. I work on further building this confidence by staying patient and reminding myself that I can only make use of my talents and my abilities if I believe they exist. Confidence in myself helps me believe this.