1. Please tell us a bit about yourself and what specifically motivates you. If you could do anything with your life, what do you imagine you’d do? The young Sofia from 2015 would be proud of who she is now. Once, my mom asked what I wanted to do with my life. "I am not sure about my profession, but the only certainty is that I want to use STEM to make a positive impact in the world.” Being a dreamer girl has always been part of me, and the will to make a difference has motivated me to where I am today. I constantly challenge myself. When I was eight years old, I discovered a prize in my school for the greatest GPA of the graduating high school class, which became my biggest goal. My focus and determination surpassed all obstacles for nine years, and my name was finally announced as the winner. This moment confirmed that I had to follow my biggest dream: study abroad. The possibility of studying in the USA fascinated me because of better educational opportunities. I would meet high-level projects and increase my STEM abilities using advanced resources. It would encourage me to invent something significant to society. Thus, after one gap year of volunteer services… the dream came true. The chance to get the best training possible and help others was in front of me as an acceptance letter. I assumed the challenge and traveled thousands of kilometers to fight for a better future. Now, I am ready to take the following steps. Indeed, my curious and unstoppable essence will always be there. After all, this is who I am. 2. What excites you about STEM? How do you feel you could make a positive impact on the world through a job in information technology? When I look to the past, I see how the experiences I had with my family shaped me. By building hands-on activities with my grandpa, like Barbie houses, I developed a creative personality and a passion for STEM. What excites me the most about those areas is that many concepts happen in real life, compose the world, and can be tested in labs. The possibility of creating technologies that improve the way people live and revolutionize the world has driven me to scientific events. A course of applied science at Yale University was one of the activities that made me even more sure about pursuing STEM. However, one question was always on my mind: "What do you want to work with in the future?" Nowadays, I get reconnected to my past experiences. Thinking about using my education to impact the world, I realized that the answer to this question was always present in my life: cooking. I grew up in a family that loved to cook. This way, I developed a passion for this activity and started preparing food with more scientific thoughts. Therefore, I associated all those points and concluded. I want to become a food chemist. In a world where malnutrition represents a significant problem in the food system, following a path in this field means fighting for better nutrition. By studying food’s chemical properties, I plan to develop new products for people's necessities, like undernourished refugees, and discover compounds that help people's health while decreasing food waste. 3. Please describe the greatest challenge you’ve had to overcome and how you managed to get past it. I fondly remember the moments with my grandfather throughout my childhood, especially when he cooked ramen to demonstrate his love. Once, he introduced me to origami by crafting a boat, and I focused on all details to learn every movement. Determined, I slowly folded my sheet of paper and succeeded by remembering my grandfather saying that persistence is always the key. Then, I happily tasted his noodles as my most significant award. I did not imagine that the boat challenge would reappear in 2016 after my grandpa died. I was selected to the Quanta Olympiad and had to construct a small boat for a pool race. However, for some reason, it never worked. I was running out of resources… Then I remembered my grandfather's belongings, and a piece of acrylic enlightened my mind. I realized that one crucial object was missing: the keel that "cuts" the water below the boat. I cut the acrylic, fit the keels into the boat, and, hopeful, went to the pool. The boat finally went straight! In the same way the keels opened the boat path, causing it to sail in tranquil waters, my determination surpassed all the challenges. That night, I prepared a rewarding ramen with love. By being stimulated with my grandpa, I developed a personality that I had never imagined flourishing. Without his influence, I could not have achieved new adventures. From now on, inspired by him, I am ready to overcome my STEM challenges. Especially if they are rewarded with ramen.

"Grandfather, why is your ramen remarkable?" "Because it is made with love." I fondly remember the moments my grandfather and I shared throughout my childhood. I always felt motivated when he invented activities to stimulate my development, like managing an imaginary restaurant. To demonstrate his love, he prepared the best ramen in the world. When I was six years old, he challenged me, and I accepted it. Then, he introduced me to origami, the art of paper folding, by crafting a boat. I focused on all the details to learn every movement. "Your turn," He gave me a sheet of paper. "Try to finish it while I prepare your ramen." I wanted to surprise him with a flawless origami, like he amazed me with his delicious ramen. Determined to complete all steps, I slowly folded the sheet of paper. However, I did a wrong movement that ripped it off. By remembering my grandfather saying that persistence is always the key, I started everything again and succeeded. "You did it!" he exclaimed, bringing over the ramen. Then, I happily tasted the noodles as if they were my most significant award. When I look to the past, I see how the experiences I had with my family shaped me. By being stimulated to build hands-on activities with my grandpa, I developed a creative personality that I had never imagined flourishing and a passion for STEM. What excites me the most about those areas is that many concepts happen in real life, compose the world, and can be tested in labs. Since I am interested in hands-on projects, this characteristic of seeing and building things excites me. The possibility of creating technologies that improve the way people live and revolutionize the world has driven me to scientific events in the past years. Mathematics olympiads, an international competition where I built a mini boat for a race, and a course of applied science and engineering at Yale University were some of the activities that made me even more sure about pursuing a future in STEM. However, one question was always on my mind: "What do you want to work with in the future?" Nowadays, at Oberlin College, I get connected to my past experiences again. Thinking about using my education to impact the world, I realized that the answer to this question was always present in my life: cooking. I grew up in a family that loved to cook. From my grandpa's noodles to birthday parties and holidays, everything was involved and associated with food. This way, I developed a passion for this activity, and after enjoying science immensely at school, I started preparing food with more scientific thoughts. This curiosity led me to an online course called “Science and Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science” by Harvard edX, and also a Neuroscience project in which I presented experiments about taste and smell senses. Therefore, I associated all those points and concluded. I want to become a food chemist. In a world where the population grows exponentially and malnutrition represents a big problem in the food system, following a path in this field means fighting for better nutrition. By studying food’s chemical and physical properties, I plan to develop new products for people's necessities, like undernourished refugees, and discover compounds that help people's health while decreasing food waste. Without my grandfather and family’s influence, I could not have searched for new experiences and found my true mission. From now on, inspired by them, I am ready to overcome my own STEM challenges. Especially if they are rewarded with ramen.

"Grandfather, why is your ramen remarkable?" "Because it is made with love." I fondly remember the moments my grandfather and I shared throughout my childhood. I always felt motivated when he invented activities to stimulate my development, like managing an imaginary restaurant. To demonstrate his love, he prepared the best ramen in the world. When I was six years old, he challenged me, and I accepted it. Then, he introduced me to origami, the art of paper folding, by crafting a boat. I focused on all the details to learn every movement. "Your turn," He gave me a sheet of paper. "Try to finish it while I prepare your ramen." I wanted to surprise him with a flawless origami, like he amazed me with his delicious ramen. Determined to complete all steps, I slowly folded the sheet of paper. However, I did a wrong movement that ripped it off. By remembering my grandfather saying that persistence is always the key, I started everything again and succeeded. "You did it!" he exclaimed, bringing over the ramen. Then, I happily tasted the noodles as if they were my most significant award. When I look to the past, I see how the experiences I had with my family shaped me. By being stimulated to build hands-on activities with my grandpa, I developed a creative personality that I had never imagined flourishing and a passion for STEAM. What excites me the most about those areas is that many concepts happen in real life, compose the world, and can be tested in labs. Since I am interested in hands-on projects, this characteristic of seeing and building things excites me. The possibility of creating technologies that improve the way people live and revolutionize the world has driven me to scientific events in the past years. Mathematics Olympiads, an international competition where I built a mini boat for a race, and a course of applied science and engineering at Yale University were some of the activities that made me even more sure about pursuing a future in STEAM. However, one question was always on my mind: "What do you want to work with in the future?" Nowadays, at Oberlin College, I get connected to my past experiences again. Thinking about using my education to impact the world, I realized that the answer to this question was always present in my life: cooking. I grew up in a family that loved to cook. From my grandpa's noodles to birthday parties and holidays, everything was involved and associated with food. This way, I developed a passion for this activity, and after enjoying science immensely at school, I started preparing food with more scientific thoughts. This curiosity led me to an online course called “Science and Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science” by Harvard edX, and also a Neuroscience project in which I presented experiments about taste and smell senses. Therefore, I associated all those points and concluded. I want to become a food chemist. In a world where the population grows exponentially and malnutrition represents a big problem in the food system, following a path in this field means fighting for better nutrition. By studying food’s chemical and physical properties, I plan to develop new products for people's necessities, like undernourished refugees, and discover compounds that help people's health while decreasing food waste. Without my grandfather and family’s influence, I could not have searched for new experiences and found my true mission. From now on, inspired by them, I am ready to overcome my own STEAM challenges. Especially if they are rewarded with ramen.