Math has been a key subject and part of my life that I can never forget. As far back as I can remember, I have enjoyed performing math and teaching it to other individuals. The first time that I really knew I had a passion for math was when I was in 6th grade. I remember my teacher trying to explain the idea of ratios. While she was solving a question, I figured out that by multiplying across, it was possible to get the answer faster. She saw that and asked me to showcase it to the class. This experience made me feel really proud of myself, and it also shifted my outlook regarding the topic of mathematics. As the years progressed, I grew even more interested in math, especially after my mom started teaching me advanced techniques to solve questions. In class, I would solve the questions really fast and would start teaching my peers how to overcome certain tricks to problems. Seeing this, my teacher asked me to help him with tutoring during our free period. While helping him tutor, I realized that teaching math was significantly different compared to actually doing it. I learned that some people were visual learners who understood concepts better when they saw it drawn out, while others learned better if I helped them with one or two example questions. Through the experience that my teachers and my mom provided me, I began tutoring at my home as well. I started to teach math to children with special needs. Initially, this was a great challenge for me as I could not figure out a way to explain the concepts to them, but as time went on, I came up with activities and questions to help strengthen their understanding of math. My plan became successful as I was able to push the children I was teaching into a higher math class. Math has shaped a lot of my experience throughout childhood and even now. I learned that math is a language that everyone understands and teaching it to people can be a very satisfying process.

I am very dedicated to community service and volunteering, especially in healthcare and youth empowerment. I first began volunteering at hospitals in my community, where I witnessed firsthand the struggles of patients and their families. This prompted me to dedicate my time to organizations that work with healthcare field and support my local clinics and help develop marginalized communities. I have volunteered hundreds of hours at various organizations throughout high school. I also volunteered at my local food pantry, where I prepared and served food for local events and shelters. I also worked more than 100 hours on a project known as SEWA, where my class and I created an initiative to bridge the digital divide in Washington D.C., wards 6 and 7. We collected used laptops and donated them all over D.C. The remaining laptops were exported abroad to Ukraine. I also instruct special children and assisted them in improving their mathematics. Being an immigrant to the United States, my desire to study at a top college like the University of Rochester is now a reality, but financially my family and I are in deep trouble. Since I am not a citizen of the United States, I am not qualified to apply for FAFSA and do not receive federal financial assistance. My dream is to be a doctor, a very long process with much financial investment. The scholarship would really help with the reduction of financial burden and allow me to pursue my dreams. There is one big reason that I am committed to: protection from in-person bullying and cyberbullying for children and adolescents. Most children today are living on the virtual page, many times unsupervised and alone. Thus, they tend to feel helpless when they get cyberbullied. The solution to this is ensuring that the parents know how the internet world works and how cyberbullying can impact the child's physical and mental health. Parents are supposed to sensibly monitor the child's internet activities to ensure that they are safe and are not being bullied. If cyberbullying, parents need to document and report the incident and reassure the child that they are not alone and are supported. Even though most interaction is done online, school and activity like sports are not online and where bullying could be. Bullying face-to-face can only be avoided best by putting the child where he/she feels less bullied. The parents need to question the child for the day and ask them if they are stressed by their peers because they are outside in most instances. If a child is being bullied, parents must educate them on what bullying is and encourage them to report it.