I was homeschooled in middle school so my father taught me mathematics and my mother covered the humanities. I wasn’t always very good at math. I struggled to understand some of the basics like adding and subtracting integers; I could not wrap my head around rounding, and word problems involving imaginary objects didn’t compute. But we persevered through the worst of it and we look back on that time fondly. When I returned to brick-and-mortar classes, I had already finished high school algebra and started geometry when I was twelve. By thirteen I had finished my high school's normal course of mathematics which was already accelerated. Even though I had done well in math, I hadn’t considered studying it seriously because I didn’t know what I could do with it. When I was studying precalculus, my teacher mentioned a course called abstract algebra and how that related to cybersecurity and cryptography. That was about five years ago. Now I am 18 years old and halfway through my degree with a plan to join the NSA as a cryptographer. I am thrilled at the idea of continuing to learn pure math and using it in the future to protect my country from threats. To this end, I applied to the Department of Defense SMART Scholarship-for-service program and made it to the semi-finalist round. Part of the appeal of math is its undeniable beauty that seems natural and yet planned to perfection. Beyond this, I love the process of solving a problem or stumbling through a proof. Maki Kaji (known for popularizing sudoku) described puzzles visually as “? → !” which perfectly encapsulates puzzle solving and mathematical processes. The question mark represents the (often agonizing) time spent looking at the problem from multiple angles and occasionally banging your head against a wall. That time pays off in that glorious moment when confusion becomes a eureka moment and the pieces magically fall into place! This is reflective of life and all its uncertainty and a reminder to cherish the “!” moments we encounter.

I was born in China when the authoritarian one-child policy was still in place. Because they were considered a burden on the family, baby girls like me were discarded with hopes that a baby boy was in the future. After 10 months in an orphanage, I was adopted by an American family. When we lived in Japan my family was always stared at, I don't mean an occacionally funny look on the street. I recall walking into a small restaurant with my (white) mother and the room went dead silent. Another time, a woman found a policeman because she thought my parents had abducted us (because abducted children so frequently run around a park calling "mama! dada!"). I wish I could say more Americans were accepting of adoption (I don't mean they should adopt but rather don't have a problem with it), but that, sadly, is not the truth. I have somewhat different tastes than most people my age. I love "The Golden Girls" and I am very excited when I understand their 80s pop culture references various icons like Tammy Bakker or Krystle Carrington. I adore Lady Gaga. (My sister once mentioned this to her friends and they wouldn't believe her!) I know all of her songs whether or not they get played on the radio. I love solving Rubik's cubes and jigsaw puzzles. I hate social media. I have never downloaded TikTok and I don't ever post content elsewhere and use an alias if I have to be online. I have always preferred talking to adults over kids my age. I used to be horrifically shy but I am proud to have overcome this and after a lot of work, I am much more comfortable in public. My major is in mathematics but I have a great appreciation for the arts. I enjoy art and its history and I was an actively engaged member of our theatre troupe. I graduated high school when I was 15 and started college at barely 16. I have lived in 14 different plays (including China, Japan, and Guam). I love volunteering for various organizations that help the local community. In Arizona, I used to make short videos highlighting rescue dogs that needed a forever home (and fight the urge to take them all home myself). In the summer of 2021, I started a pop-up dessert stand called "Just Desserts." I made homemade desserts (made-to-order) and delivered them around the community and 10% of my profits went to either the ACLU or the Human Rights Campaign (the rest have been put towards my educational goals). Later, my mother noticed that many people in our community reported that strangers would stare at them when they wore masks in public after the lockdowns ended. So I designed a button that read "Vaxxed and Masked for a Person I Love". A lot more people asked for them than we had anticipated and we quickly had to order more. I am very glad to have helped people feel more comfortable in public. I will continue to be proactive and do small projects that help people in the community. I am working towards a degree in mathematics to become a cryptographer for the National Security Agency to protect our country.

I was born in China when the authoritarian one-child policy was still in place. Because they were considered a burden on the family, baby girls like me were discarded with hopes that a baby boy was in the future. After 10 months in an orphanage, I was adopted by an American family. Identities are complicated so to be clear, here is how I identify. When asked about race I say 'Asian'. My ethnic background was revealed by a DNA test to be Thai and Vietnamese. My ethnicity is more complicated. Anthropology tells us that your ethnicity is distinct from your ethnic background in that 'ethnicity' refers to the culture you grew up in and what you were enculturated into by the people around you. It doesn't matter who your ancestors were or the city you were born in but rather the cultural dynamics you understand. You may be a part of one or many! So I have found myself identifying as just 'American'. After all, I don't live in Asia, I don't practice Asian traditions, I am not yet fluent in an Asian language and I wasn't raised by anyone who was. Because of this, I have had some difficulty identifying as Asian. Not out of shame but out of respect. Any identity takes work, continuous work. It's not something that you can just slip into nor something that is automatically granted at birth. And I felt...perhaps...I hadn't done that work. Upon closer reflection, I realized this isn't quite the truth. I lived for a period in Japan with my family and we have adopted some pieces of their culture. I was in a Mandarin immersion program for several years and I have continued to teach myself the language (with varying success) with a strong intent to use it in my future work. I can use a Chinese-English dictionary. I am even reading the English translation of 'Dream of the Red Chamber'. I took a course in Asian art history and spent hours outside of class researching the works we studied. I still have more work to do and more to learn, but that is what an identity requires. There are even some American practices I have yet to be a part of (voting in an election, serving on a jury). Identity is not a birthright and it is in the conscious effort we put into them that we find ourselves and honor our ancestors. I love to study languages and have dabbled in over dozen. I have taken two courses in linguistics to understand the structure of language. Because of time restrictions, I have chosen to focus on Mandarin for the time being and I plan to take formal courses once I transfer to college with a Mandarin Studies department. This also aids my ambition to be a cryptographer for the National Security Agency because multilingualism will allow you to work with a diverse set of people. I love volunteering for various organizations that help the local community. In Arizona, I used to make short videos highlighting rescue dogs that needed a forever home (and fight the urge to take them all home myself). In the summer of 2021, I started a pop-up dessert stand called "Just Desserts." I made homemade desserts (made-to-order) and delivered them around the community and 10% of my profits went to either the ACLU or the Human Rights Campaign (the rest have been put towards my educational goals). Later, my mother noticed that many people in our community reported that strangers would stare at them when they wore masks in public after the lockdowns ended. So I designed a button that read "Vaxxed and Masked for a Person I Love". A lot more people asked for them than we had anticipated and we quickly had to order more. I am very glad to have helped people feel more comfortable in public. I am grateful to have a family that loves me unconditionally; I am grateful to have access to so many learning resources, and I am most grateful to have the freedom to meaningfully embrace my identities rather than having the world decide for me.