In my experience, people mean one of two things when they talk about influence. The first is one’s reach, which can be quantified by followers, views, likes, etc. While this is important for those who wish to have a large impact, it is not the most important thing. The most important thing, then, has to do with the second definition of influence, which deals with how one has an impact. A quote from a Buddhist monk demonstrates the aim we should have in our influence on others: “Love is not just the intention to love, but the capacity to reduce suffering, and offer peace and happiness. The practice of love increases our forbearance, our capacity to be patient and embrace difficulties and pain.” As I watched The Clock of Life and Fluxare’s Twitch clips, I found that he was a great embodiment of this. He cultivated a positive atmosphere of great fun and positivity. Jack had his share of “difficulties and pain” near the end of his life. His positive outlook on these struggles has earned him the most amazing kind of influence: one that lasts even after we are no longer in this world. I greatly influence those in my school by the nature of my membership in the school’s TV Broadcasting class. About once a week, I have the opportunity to make a video and present it to the school. Additionally, I write the script for the live anchors and occasionally anchor myself. I aim to positively impact those around me in TV Broadcasting. I am figuring out what the meaning of life is, which has posed an existential crisis to me. In the past, I have been depressed to find that I don’t know the answer to the question of “Why am I here?” I am making headway in this process, though. I have realized that part of the meaning of life is learning to become altruistic, pursuing the best for others, even if it’s at one’s own expense. I am on track to pursue a Computer Science degree with an emphasis in Electronic Arts and Entertainment. Like Jack, I also have a passion for Esports. I’m interested in joining an Apex Legends team. I know that the path I walk is a difficult one, but I’m prepared to walk through any challenges that come my way. I chose this path because of a passion for games and coding that was born when I was first introduced at eight years old. Since then, I have grasped every opportunity to further myself in this career. Receiving this scholarship would be amazing. I am aware of the donor’s intentions to mentor whoever receives the scholarship, and I will take him up on his offer. Additionally, the money would be used to buy a new computer that can handle all the capabilities of Unreal Engine, a game-making software. I hope you will consider my application for this scholarship. Regardless, I thank you for sharing Jack's story with the world.

Bold Scholarship Essays Chris Jackson Computer Science Education Scholarship: It was the feeling of pure, imaginative, blissful focus. That's what I felt upon discovering the world of MIT's coding fundamentals website, "Scratch.” My friend showed it to me on his home computer. That was how I was introduced to the subject, pastime, and process of Computer Science that I've enjoyed doing for the past seven years. After my foundational preliminary experience with coding through Scratch, I craved anything related to the field. It opened the floodgates to new experiences: My friend and I joined our local library's coding club, where we learned python basics; I bought a Raspberry Pi and set up a Minecraft server that my friends and I could all connect to; I’ve taken two college-level programming classes in high school. Through their coding problem assignments, I learned critical thinking and diagnostics to solve them to the best of my ability. It was my older brother that showed me the path toward becoming a professional in the CS field. He struggled to get even footing during his education, juggling mental health, a faith crisis, and multiple strenuous college classes. Watching him go through that inspired me to do the same. I share his passion for the technological domain. The college workload will be excruciatingly hard at times; I know this from him. Nevertheless, I have the desire to undertake the preparation I need to become the person I aspire to be. I plan to pursue a Bachelor of Computer Science, Entertainment Arts and Engineering. My dream job is in Game Development. I have found the intersection between programming and art to be exciting. I would love nothing more than to be a computer programmer or game designer for an indie game company. I have started to work towards this goal. I and that same friend that introduced me to the world of coding are currently laying out the groundwork for our first game. I have started learning the mechanics of Unreal Engine and have plans to learn C++, the industry-standard language for game development. So far, we have parts of the story fleshed out, but we need to find a third person who is adept at visual art and design. I am an excellent candidate for Chris Jackson’s scholarship. I know I have the ambition to rise to the top, but now I need the skills to become a great engineer. This scholarship would secure me the funds I need to purchase the needed technology for my studies, and it would also cover some of the cost of college tuition. I hope you, Reader, will consider my application for this scholarship. Thank you.

To be skillful at tennis is nearly completely up to two things: the time that's spent learning, and the quality of your practice sessions. Nothing else comes close to being as important as these two factors. What happens when we are learning tennis? In the pure experimental form of it, we hit the ball and see where it goes and how it goes. If the result is favorable, we seek to replicate the exact action we did to create that outcome. For example, the ball topspins and hits the court in the specific place we wanted it to go, so we repeat the motion that caused that to happen. If we continue to spend the time and work on this movement, we will eventually learn to reliably hit the ball in this same way. This way of learning is quality, and also needs us to use lots of time as a requisite. This learning isn't specific to tennis. This is how we learn hard skills in general. Our minds are capable of using observation (what we see and feel) and input (our actions) to append to our intuition. Our intuition then becomes stronger, able to deal with things quicker and more precisely. Through this, we can become more capable of efficiently solving problems as they come our way. I have benefitted from learning this two-factor principle in a few ways. First, it changed how I felt about learning a new skill. While I was still learning how to play the game of tennis, I felt inadequate, as if I was steadily behind in my development of the skill. This did not help me get better; in fact, the quality of my practice was often damaged by my frustration. Now, I've learned that the correct attitude to have is this: one's brain needs repetition to sufficiently consolidate the sensory input into intuitive memory. Any conscious effort to speed up the process, other than to spend quality time on the acquisition and repetition of the skill, may obstruct our natural learning. I have modified my generalized skill-learning framework to include the time-quality principle, which involves the usage of time in a way that is efficient and helpful. I've recognized that I can easily become annoyed with my failure, which is not productive toward my growth. This realization has made me more patient with myself. I am learning to diligently pursue skills with my quality time, and not get upset with myself for my mistakes or non-progress.

At the age of eight, I was introduced by my friends to MIT's hands-on coding principles site, Scratch. As my first introduction to coding, I was hooked. My friends and I would spend the next 4 years creating games with each other, showing each other our cool projects. This initial experience with Scratch led me to be interested in pursuing a career in Computer Science. During my 8th grade year, I took my first programming class. In the class, we worked with Raspberry Pis and Python to create simple circuits, and later in the year, we made simple games in Javascript. After that, I took two college-level classes in my sophomore year of high school: Computer Programming 1 and 2. These were an in-depth exploration into the fundamentals of Computer Science, further exploring the libraries and functionalities of Python. In these classes, I demonstrated my proficiency in coding by solving assigned coding problems on the website Cengage. At the end of these classes, I gained Microsoft certification in Introduction to Programming using Python. Those classes taught me the bulk of what I know now. The connection I have to the military is through my grandfather. June Bastian was a World War II veteran with a huge legacy in our family. I never got to meet him, but the accounts my grandma tells of him are amazing and inspire me to be as driven as him. June was a paratrooper and demolition specialist of the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment. He was captured during the Battle of the Bulge when his company was overcome by the Germans. For 3 months, he was a POW in Stalag 12A. His daily meal was bread with potato peeling soup, and he became infested with lice. June escaped the camp three times and succeeded in gaining freedom the third time by fleeing from a train containing him and other POWs that was mistakenly being bombed by the allied forces. From there, he went into hiding with three other people and traveled by night and hiding by day until they reached the American lines and were brought home safe. He was given six awards on discharge, including a purple heart medal and a good conduct medal. I wish I was able to meet my grandpa, but unfortunately, he died shortly before I was born. Instead, I have his legacy to follow. I affirm to help my fellow peers whenever I am able, and to bring good into the world and my country, just as he did in his service to justice during the war.