One of my main talents is teaching. I have used this skill to teach students around the world about science, English, environmental sustainability, and western culture. In 2019, I spent 6-weeks living with a host family in Costa Rica, where I taught local elementary school students. I had to be a patient and organized teacher for the 35 Escuela Naranjo students as I taught them about environmental sustainability and personal health. I would explain activities and coordinate the young students so that we could effectively make use of our limited time. The first two days were frustrating because of the students' impatience with my limited Spanish speaking ability, but once I became more confident with making mistakes, the next eighteen days of teaching and supervising were a success. Costa Rica is known for its vast biological diversity and helping the students recognize that they have the power to protect it is necessary for the future of our planet. During the covid-19 pandemic in the summer of 2020, when traveling to places like Costa Rica wasn't possible, I created lesson plans and taught English to 8 Chinese students online. Our goal was to teach them English vocabulary related to American and Chinese culture. By sharing information about our schools and communities in the United States and China, we were able to gain a new perspective on our cultural differences. Culture is another important topic to share with youth because understanding cultural differences leads to respect and peace. Finally, babysitting can be viewed as an indirect form of teaching in that you are providing lessons and rules for children to help them grow up to be kind and influential leaders. As a babysitter, I try to engage kids in educational activities related to science, culture, and language.

Yue Liang Dai Biao Wo De Xin (The Moon Represents My Heart) by Teresa Teng is the song that most inspires me. A song that touches the hearts of so many women from my mother's generation (including my mother). A song she would sing to me at night to display her love for me through song. My mom and I are both very musical. She is a professional violinist in the Utah Symphony and I have been a member of the Utah Chinese Orchestra and a variety of other musical groups, so music has always been a way for us to reconnect. Time and time again, Teresa Teng's song has reminded us of how much we should appreciate each other's love. The last few lines of the song are a beautiful summary of the meaning behind the lyrics. Translated to English, Tang sings "you ask me how deep my love for you is, how much I really love you. Go think about it. Go and have a look, The moon represents my heart". In Chinese culture, the moon represents good fortune and a beacon of light, so by saying the moon represents her heart, she is saying that she wants the best for the person she loves and hopes they will have a successful and happy life. I struggle to directly say "I love you" to my mother or give her hugs because that simply isn't my "love language". However, through words of affirmation and Yue Liang Dai Biao Wo De Xin, I can make my mother feel the love she deserves from me. Music is a form of expressing emotions that should be used for creating strong connections with others.

If I had the attention of a million people, I would talk about the importance of supporting immigrants in a community. By helping immigrants become acculturated, we can collaborate to help them find a sense of belonging within the United States. My mother, who immigrated to America to study the violin, will often tell me stories about her efforts to understand the culture and language of the United States. She developed a successful life in this country because of the support of my father. In contrast, my Chinese grandmother, who is only authorized to spend half of the year in California, hasn't even gotten the chance to learn English. According to Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory, it is demanding for citizens of any culture to become acculturated into another one. When I participated in the Chinese Orchestra and communicated with the Women of the World organization, I noticed that people like my grandmother, who feels discomfort in China and feels isolated in The United States, are grateful for any new connections with people in America. Getting to create comfort for Immigrants is one reason why I love learning languages. I get to help others learn English, better understand their values, and share my knowledge of American culture with them. Inspiring strong connections with immigrants could teach others to respect all traditions, history, beliefs, and cultures. By supporting immigrants, I am supporting equality and diversity. By providing confidence and self-reliance to immigrants, I can help give them the opportunity to improve the diversity and equality of their workforces and new communities.

Tightly gripping my backpack stuffed with lesson notes and craft supplies, I slowly walked into the classroom, and immediately, the eyes of eight sixth-graders darted towards my Spanish-speaking partner Gaby and me. They were excited to meet the volunteers introduced to them as Amigos de Los Estados Unidos (Friends from The United States). Unfortunately, their impatience with my limited Spanish-speaking ability would be frustrating for us all. I had already misinterpreted questions from three students who decided to direct any future questions at Gaby instead. This setback undeniably impacted my confidence in my communication skills and caused me to comfortably record lesson plans behind the scenes for the first two days. However, I knew that my purpose for training and fundraising with the Amigos program for the past year was so I could collaborate with the community on a project, practice Spanish, and teach the students. I had always aspired to help youth reach their fullest potential, and I knew that I was prepared to undertake the influential role of a teacher. The biggest challenge was surely going to be the language barrier. After all, I had come to live in Palmares having taken only four years of mediocre Spanish courses. I came up with a plan. I would ask Gaby to let me manage the activities for environmental sustainability the next day. Knowing that we would teach the first graders for the first time, I was ready to renew my passion for teaching. I eagerly brainstormed, discarding the complicated games, and starring potentially enjoyable crafts until I convinced myself that I had the perfect lesson. I prepared stickers and a song called “¿Dónde Jugarán Los Niños?” (Where would the children play?) and demonstrated how to make fortune tellers so Gaby could help supervise. Even after all of my preparations, I was still nervous. I wanted the young students to enjoy my class. It was finally time. After giving hesitant instructions filled with unfit conjugated verbs and rough sentence structure, I could feel my confidence fading again. Still, I was determined to finish the lecture. I tried once more, carefully, clearly, and correctly crafting each sentence word-by-word. My patient, proud, and encouraging students gave me a sense of instant gratification. They were young enough to remember the struggle of learning Spanish but reliable enough to help me rectify my errors. They would give me time to piece together each question and, to my advantage, not immediately turn the question to Gaby. This supportive experience had prepared me for leadership roles beyond my twenty days at Escuela Naranjo. Ironically, my transition to adulthood was initiated by eleven Spanish-speaking first graders in a community 3,463.6 miles from my comfort zone. I taught them about environmental issues and personal health, and in exchange, they indirectly showed me how patience can strengthen an individual's confidence in making mistakes. When I arrived back in Utah, I reread Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's novella "The Little Prince" about how all grown-ups were once children. The young students in Naranjo taught me what Saint-Exupéry meant by this. As one grows up, it is necessary to maintain the untroubled and encouraging behavior they had as children. I am grateful to the first graders for reminding me that school can be enjoyable if you have confidence in your cognitive abilities. I will continue to implement what I have learned in my future role as a student, neuroscientist, and teacher. At the end of our cross-cultural service project, Gaby and I were unprepared to leave the students that now considered us Amigos de Costa Rica (Friends of Costa Rica).

My favorite book/novella is The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince) by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. In 2019, I spent 6-weeks in a Costa Rican community to teach environmental sustainability to the local elementary school students. However, my four years of mediocre Spanish courses quickly proved insufficient and caused frustration for myself and the 6th graders. Regardless, I knew that my purpose for training and fundraising with the Amigos program for the past year was so I could teach the students. After spending an entire day preparing lessons and activities, my patient, proud, and encouraging 1st graders supported my efforts. They were young enough to remember the struggle of learning Spanish but reliable enough to help me rectify my errors. When I arrived back in Utah, I reread Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's novella "The Little Prince" about how all grown-ups were once children. The young students in Naranjo taught me what Saint-Exupéry meant by this. As you grow up, it is essential to maintain the untroubled and encouraging behavior you had as a child and that you should never forget to have fun and be creative sometimes. The 1st graders and The Little Prince reminded me that I will always have struggles in life, but by having the right attitude, I can find joy in everything I do. Prioritizing learning over comfort can be difficult but will be beneficial in the end. The lesson I have learned from reading The Little Prince and spending time with children will motivate me to continue towards my goal of becoming a neuroscientist and teacher.

My best skill is teaching. I have used this skill to teach students around the world about science, English, environmental sustainability, and western culture. In 2019, I spent 6-weeks living with a host family in Costa Rica, where I taught local elementary school students. I had to be a patient and organized teacher for the 35 Escuela Naranjo students as I taught them about environmental sustainability and personal health. I would explain activities and coordinate the young students so that we could effectively make use of our limited time. The first two days were frustrating because of the students' impatience with my limited Spanish speaking ability, but once I became more confident with making mistakes in Spanish, the next eighteen days of teaching and supervising were a success. Costa Rica is known for its vast biological diversity, and helping the students recognize that they have the power to protect it is necessary for the future of our planet. During the covid-19 pandemic in the summer of 2020, when traveling to places like Costa Rica wasn't possible, I created lesson plans and taught English to 8 Chinese students online . Our goal was to teach them English vocabulary related to American and Chinese culture. By sharing information about our schools and communities in the United States and China, we were able to gain a new perspective of our cultural differences. Culture is another important topic to share with youth because understanding cultural differences leads to respect and peace. Finally, babysitting can be viewed as an indirect form of teaching in that you are providing lessons and rules for children to help them grow up to be kind and influential leaders. As a babysitter, I try to engage kids in educational activities related to science, culture, and language.

Hanging in the center of the Carolyn Tanner Irish Humanities Building at the University of Utah is a painting by Pilar Pobil. This piece inspired me to share my knowledge with students around the world because it presents an interaction between people from different backgrounds trying to communicate and learn from each other. The detailed elements of the art suggest that they share similar values, like a love of nature and literature. At the same time, the viewer can see differences in fashion, physical characteristics, and mannerisms that are often influenced by where a person lives. As an Asian American with family in China and Tennessee, I have witnessed conflict from cultural differences between my mother and grandmother firsthand, but their love for their family always brought them back together. At the bottom of the frame, it says “All by nature desire to know - Aristotle”. Regardless of a person's race, nationality, and gender, gaining knowledge is always a part of human nature. Children are born curious to learn about the world around them. What information is taught can differ between cultures, but in the end, knowledge is the goal. The people in this piece have likely come together to share their knowledge to create a better world. I believe that this piece is trying to demonstrate that communities and cultures have more in common than we imagine, and no culture is necessarily better than another. It is inspiring to see people set aside their differences and collaborate to solve a global issue. Respecting each other's opinions will certainly make the world a more peaceful place. I can only imagine the artist painting this to inspire the humanities students to respect cultures and help them maintain their history through literature, cultural immersion, and research.

Hanging in the center of the Carolyn Tanner Irish Humanities Building at the University of Utah is a painting by Pilar Pobil. This piece is fitting for a building where students study societies, languages, cultures, and literature because it presents an interaction between people from different backgrounds trying to communicate and learn from each other. The detailed elements of the art suggest that they share similar values, like a love of nature and literature. At the same time, the viewer can see differences in fashion, physical characteristics, and mannerisms that are often influenced by where a person lives. Perhaps it is trying to say that the increased interaction between cultures is good for society because it allows citizens to learn more about the history of the human race and how best to coexist. At the bottom of the frame, it says “All by nature desire to know - Aristotle”. Regardless of a person's race, nationality, and gender, gaining knowledge is always a part of human nature. Children are born curious to learn about the world around them. What information is taught can differ between cultures, but in the end, knowledge is the goal. The people in this piece have likely come together to share their knowledge to create a better world. I believe that this piece is trying to demonstrate that communities and cultures have more in common than we imagine, and no culture is necessarily better than another. I can only imagine the artist painting this to inspire the humanities students to learn about cultures and maintain their history through literature, cultural immersion, and research.

My mother, who immigrated to America to study the violin, will often tell me stories about her efforts to understand the culture and language of the United States. According to Hofstede Insights, which compares countries according to Geert Hofstede's six cultural dimensions, it is demanding for citizens of any culture to become acculturated into another culture. When I participated in the Chinese Orchestra and communicated with the Women of the World organization, I noticed that people like my mother, who feels disconnected from China and isolated in The United States, possess strong gratitude that others fail to understand. Her struggles as an immigrant make me grateful for the life she has provided for my brother and me in the United States. I feel I owe it to her to appreciate everything around me. Every day, I remember how lucky I am to have grown up in the US being surrounded by people I love. I do community service for the Chinese and Spanish-speaking communities in Utah as much as possible in hopes that I can spread gratitude to the children of immigrants. I strongly believe that teaching children to appreciate the world will lead them to protect it in the future.

I have learned the value of using my leadership skills for community service. I participated in the Amigos program in 2019 so that I could lead a Costa Rican community on a painting project, teach the local elementary school students, and communicate in Spanish. My experience as a leader during my six weeks in Naranjo positively influences both myself and the community members. My role as a director of an entire project undoubtedly improved my leadership abilities the most. I had to plan and inform the community about project meetings, collaborate with the school to get paint and supplies, find a solution for the paint color debate, lead volunteers to help us clean and paint the community building, and organize a project completion party. In the end, this project positively impacted the community because it transformed their faded community center into a charming building that they knew was the product of their hard work and cooperation. When I reconnect with my host family every month, they say that the building has been a pleasant place for the community to celebrate their cultural traditions. Taking on the role of an influential teacher also required leadership. My partner and I had to be patient and organized leaders for the 35 Escuela Naranjo students as we taught them about environmental sustainability and personal health. I would explain activities and coordinate the young students so that we could effectively make use of our limited time. The first two days were frustrating because of the students' impatience with my limited Spanish speaking ability. Once I became more confident with making mistakes in Spanish, the next eighteen days of teaching and supervising were a success. My partner and I left the teachers with lessons that they would continue to teach to the students.

Environmental science is an academic subject that inspires me. I have always been aware of how intricate the formations and processes of ecosystems are. I have also been aware of how human-caused environmental issues have impacted these processes. I studied basic ecology in IB Biology and environmental chemistry in IB Chemistry, but I would like to learn more about environmental science to have a scientific perspective of how human actions have negatively affected the environment. It is important to me that I help solve this global issue by sharing my knowledge about it with others. I have already taught environmental sustainability to Costa Rican and Chinese students in my past summer breaks. I did research outside of class to plan lessons and activities relating to deforestation, water pollution, recycling, and excess carbon in the atmosphere. My hope was that I could make the students as inspired by the subject as I am. In reality, China is the largest developing country with the most carbon dioxide emissions; meanwhile, Costa Rica has had long-lasting deforestation problems that endanger its vast biological diversity. These are two examples of countries that would greatly benefit from a young generation of environmentally-conscious consumers. I also use reusable items and carpool as much as possible. By improving air and land pollution, we can improve the environment as well as people's physical health and mental health.

I participated in a well-being program last semester to positively change the way I handle mental-health-related issues. During the very last lesson, we went around sharing our well-being for the week and Callie's response has followed me ever since. "Sometimes it feels like I'm not driving the car, but that the car is driving me, and all I can do is enjoy the ride and see where I end up". At first, I was shocked. A participant who rarely commented during the 6-week program half-heartedly whispers a sentence that I so badly needed during that finals week. It seemed to me that she was having a hard week and was starting to lose hope but was starting to find somewhere she wanted to be. Sometimes, it feels like we aren't in control of the direction our life takes. As if we can't steer our own car. Stressful and unexpected stoplights constantly prevent the progress towards our goals. We can give up and stop the car completely, never reaching our goals, or we can be like Callie and go along for the ride with a positive attitude. The world pressures society to always create strong goals and follow that path, ignoring all others. However, you might find something you love on the other paths. The point is that there will be some bumps in the road, but by being flexible and continuing on the journey of life, you just might find something you never knew you needed. If not, you will get control back by being patient and resilient. Either way, you will eventually be the one driving the car again.

So many forms of art, each acting as my escape from the chaotic, fast-paced world that we live in. A world too focused on the future and forgetting the past and present. Music, visual arts, and culinary arts are the forms of art that distract me most from my academic life and mental health struggles. After playing the piano and the violin for three years, I discovered the clarinet at the age of ten. Learning to play the clarinet allowed me to express my creative side with the local Chinese Orchestra, Utah Youth Orchestra, and Utah All-State band. I use musical compositions to convey my emotion by emphasizing dominant notes and changing the volume of others. It is an incredible experience to hear each musician in a symphony create and coordinate these accents during a concert. The audience can connect with the fast-paced folk music from the Chinese orchestra or the peaceful European classical music from the youth orchestra. So much variation in just one hobby. Pixel art is my choice of visual art. To create characters and backgrounds for Bearly Dancing, a rhythm game my brother and I have been gradually producing, is a satisfying experience. I have the creative freedom to put together a world created entirely from my imagination that comes to life from my brother’s programming. They say art brings people together. In this case, it has certainly tightened the bond between my brother and me. Culinary arts is my final and favorite form of art. Every weekend, I have the satisfying chore of experimenting with recipes from cultures around the world. I come up with picturesque plating ideas and extra ingredients to enhance the flavor of the foods. Any hobby that can be enjoyed by myself as well as others is truly beautiful.

My favorite way to help others is by directly working with them to solve an issue that impacts their lives and community wellbeing. In 2019, I lived in a tiny Costa Rican community with a host family for 6-weeks through the Amigos de las Americas program. My partner and I taught environmental sustainability to the local elementary school students and painted their community events building. Before starting the project, we had a meeting with the community to ask them what they wanted us to help them with. To me, this was a unique service experience because it gave me the chance to meet the people my service was for. I learned so much about their community, lifestyle, and how to speak Spanish by being immersed in their culture. This collaborative method of helping others was so special because I made life-long friends who felt comfortable enough to share their opinions about the project. There are many massive organizations helping others through projects or fundraisers, but to me, the best way to help others is to directly ask the citizens what they want help with before trying to help them. It is important to see if they have suggestions because, more often than not, they know what their community needs more than you do. By experiencing life in Naranjo, Costa Rica, I got a better sense of the values and beliefs of the community members and felt like I could provide more beneficial help than if I tried to help without taking the time to connect with them.

Gary Chapman suggested that there are five "love languages" that are different for every person. Love comes in many forms and whether my loved ones use words of affirmation, physical touch, receiving gifts, quality time, or acts of service, I make sure to respect and recognize what my loved ones are comfortable with. By doing this, I hope to help them feel comfortable about who they are around me. I will never purposefully make someone feel like they are forced to alter their personality to gain my love. Accepting who my friends, family, and community members are will hopefully make them feel like they deserve love. It's all about respect. Respect for their "love language", their identities, their goals, and everything about them. My default "language" for making someone feel loved that I find rewarding for both myself and the people in my life is acts of service. Throughout high school and my first year of college, I have joined many volunteer groups to meet people and provide them with services that will show them that there is someone who loves them. I do simple services, like writing cards to my friends and cooking for my family, but I also do bigger projects, like painting a school building for a Costa Rican community and teaching science to underrepresented kids in Utah. Service at any level shows positive impacts to the mental health of those being served.

My favorite scientific discovery was by Marie Curie, a female scientist who was determined to get a college education in science. She discovered the element polonium while working on her thesis on radiation and discovered radium not long after. In 1903, Curie became the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize and received another one later in her career. The scientific discovery of radium is my favorite because of the inspiring story behind it and the life-saving uses it had during the first world war. Curie's discoveries allowed her and her husband to improve x-rays and use them to find bullets in wounded soldiers, saving many more lives than they could have without the x-ray technology. Radium also has many other uses, including in cancer treatment and luminous paint. Scientific discoveries would not be possible without the dedicated scientists who worked on them. The discovery of polonium and radium to improve x-rays is my favorite discovery because of the fact that it is still widely used today to treat tumors and broken bones and because Marie Curie was a female scientist who devoted her life to understanding its medical uses. Both Curie and the element radium deserve more attention.