As a kid, I wasn't the biggest sports fan of all time. Sometimes I'd walk into the living room to hang out with my dad and I did some work while he was watching a game. While it was welcome background noise, I never really paid attention myself. However, one day - deep in the midst of the COVID quarantine - I found myself in the same situation as most of America: with nothing to do and running out of topics to discuss with parents I had been locked in a house with for months. That day, when I walked in to sit with my dad, I had nothing to work on and I couldn't think of anything new to talk about with him. So I watched the game he had put on. I didn't care enough at the time to recall any specifics about the game, but having grown up in LA, I knew that I was supposed to cheer for the Lakers. I also knew the name LeBron James, because who doesn't know the name LeBron James. That year, LeBron led the Lakers to a championship in the weirdest circumstances that had ever come about in the NBA. He also made me not just a basketball fan but sparked an interest in sports I didn't know I had. There wasn't a whole lot going on during that year, and consistently, the most exciting part of my day would get to be watching LeBron James lead the Lakers to victory after victory. He gave me something I could consistently talk to my dad and friends about when there was nothing else going on in the world. Now I go to school in Boston, and it is one of my greatest pleasures to get made fun of by my friends when I wear a Lakers jersey out of the house because it's LeBron's jersey. There is no question that LeBron is an amazing basketball player, but I'm not going to try to claim in a short essay that he's hands down the greatest of all time. What I will say is that he is my favorite basketball player of all time, because he gave me something to care about when nothing was happening. He is the reason I love sports as a whole, and for that, he will always be the greatest basketball player to me.

I believe that what makes anyone a true leader is their willingness and ability to listen to others. I recently finished an internship at a start up company pursuing clean energy. Due to how small the company was (only 4 full time employees when I started), I was given much more responsibility than the average college intern is. They let me be in charge of multiple projects and really gave me room to step up and lead the design of components that would end up in the final product. At first this was honestly terrifying. I didn't want to be responsible for something not working, or costing this start up extra money. The projects I was working on were more complex than anything I had learned from classes and in most cases would be worked on by someone with at least a bachelor's and maybe master's degree. I definitely did not know how to do everything that was being asked of me, and I was scared of seeming not up to the task. Despite my fear of looking under-qualified, I reached out to my coworkers for help. They offered fantastic advice time and time again. I learned that I could still be the one in charge of the project and making the final decision while listening to them. Not only did turning to others make the project turn out better, but it gave me more confidence in myself. Knowing that others also agreed with the path I chose made me more willing to take charge and make decisions. It also made my bosses see me as more of a leader as they started giving me more responsibilities. Being a true leader means not trying to solve something on your own. It means not making a decision just because you think it's the right one, but because you know your team agrees. It means trusting those around you to want the best for your shared vision. Being willing to learn is one of the best qualities a person can have, and it is absolutely essential for a leader. No one will ever have all the answers. That was something that was easy for me to accept of others, but at times difficult to accept for myself. I wanted to be able to just know what the right decision was for my team and project, but I can't. As long as I lean on those around me and rely on our shared knowledge, that's not a bad thing. The best choices I have made in leading have always been to ask for help from and listen to my team.

I've loved math since I was a little kid. Numbers always made sense to me, and the idea that these abstract ideas could explain how everything around us works fascinated me. I would spend hours making my mom write out practice problems for me so I could get ahead. I started going to summer school in middle school so I could get ahead in math. I got through both AP Calculus courses and the Multivariable Calculus class my high school offered when I ran out of math courses at my high school. I ended up taking an online linear algebra course and since I got to college have continued, taking a differential equation class. I plan on getting a math minor, but even besides that, I think my major applies here. I'm primarily studying physics, and on the most, basic level physics is just math. I particularly love particle physics, which studies theoretical particles we cannot see, but can mathematically model to explain how the most fundamental parts of the universe might work. I find it so interesting that we're able to extrapolate how everything works, just from math. I think that math has drastically changed how I view everything in my life. From my major to my interests in engineering and woodworking. By applying math to these situations I'm able to find more direct ways to solve a problem. In woodworking, I look at how to design and assemble a piece based on the angles and - when applicable - the forces being applied. Math has also taught me many valuable lessons. One of which was that there is always an answer. When I was younger I would often get frustrated at a problem I was struggling with and decide it was unsolvable. Eventually, I learned that you can always solve the problem, it just might take a bit of trial and error. I also learned the importance of showing my work. In middle school, I refused to show my work on my math homework, and even though I got the answers right, I would lose points. I didn't understand for a long time how important it was to show the steps you took to get there. It's not only important because as you get to higher levels math becomes far too untrackable if you don't show your work, but it applies to real life as well. It doesn't pay off to skip important steps, and you have to make it clear how you achieve things, or you won't be able to accomplish anything incredible. Math has done so much for my life and I hope to keep being able to learn about it for years to come.

I love building/creating, especially when it's to solve a problem. It's part of the reason I have a special interest in engineering, and I hope to be able to do some level of engineering along with research through my physics degree. When thinking about all the things I've built, one, in particular, reminds me of what was written here about Kyle Lam and the "hacker" spirit he carried. My dad is extremely into barbequing. He will spend an entire day cooking dinner if he has time, making sure the smoker has the right type of chips, the marinating or dry rub is just right, and most importantly: that the temperature stays perfect. He has a thermometer that senses the temperature of the meat and the inside of the smoker and controls a fan to moderate it based on that. He wanted to be able to watch it all day though, and it's quite heavy and an odd shape. Plus the counter near the grill is always covered in food and other stuff he wouldn't want to get on it. He came to me asking how he could keep the thermometer in an easy-to-see, but safe place, and I set to work. The first thing I did was take a contour gauge out to the countertop; it wasn't just a squared-off edge, so I had to carefully trace its shape onto a piece of paper. I scanned that shape onto my computer and through CAD (3d design) software, I recreated the outline of the counter. I also took measurements of the thermometer and modeled a holder that could sit on the counter. Due to the weight of the thermometer being farther back, it wouldn't slide off. Careful to select a filament that wouldn't get damaged by rainwater (I knew my dad would forget to put it away), I 3d printed my holder. It took a few tries, the first ones didn't slide onto the counter as easily as I would have hoped, and one even snapped in half in trying to force it on. Eventually, I printed one that easily slid on, and gave it to my dad. He loves it and has one more tool in his BBQing toolbox (yes, that's a thing he has...). I know this isn't that big of a creation or even something that many people could use, but I think it embodies that hacker spirit. It was a fun thing to make to a very unique problem and getting to give my dad something that makes it slightly easier to enjoy his hobby made me happy. I also think it shows how many of life's smaller problems can be solved by technology. Of course, we should focus on the bigger issues that worry humanity, but we shouldn't forget that this technology (like 3d printing) can also be used for everyday nuisances to make our lives just a little bit easier.