I am the cinephile who watches films with a pen and paper beside them, extracting as much from the writing as possible. I am the gamer who replays storylines repeatedly to reach all the endings. I am the dungeon master that creates vast fictional worlds and large-scale plots that evoke curiosity and intrigue from players. I am the game designer who fills notebooks with hastily scrawled stories, taking inspiration from genuine experiences. I have looked for ways to understand the world my entire life; stories are the only reliable thing I have found. Stories from games, movies, and books have taught me about myself and the world and inspired me to share that with others. Interactive media and games blend art, music, design, and interactive features and have storytelling depth that is hard to find anywhere else. Thanks to my middle school art teacher, Mrs. Stilts, I see video games as pure art. I have always wanted to be a game designer. I knew what I wanted to do after discovering Lego Racers 2 at age 5. I admired the creators of games with explosions, flashy colors, and addictive gameplay. My views on the medium and my hopes for my future have developed significantly since my middle school art classes. Mrs. Stilts always emphasized the value of mixed-media, rather than just traditional art forms like painting or drawing. We learned how to design buildings with computer software and program simple animations. We even created monsters out of clothes hangers and duct tape. However, my favorite project was writing and painting for choose-your-own-adventure-style stories. I don’t consider myself a talented painter or illustrator; the lesson I learned in Mrs. Stilts’ class is more significant to my journey than anything else: anything can be art, as long as it provides something to the creator and the viewer. I no longer want to develop merely "cool" games like Lego Racers 2; I want to design games and stories that positively impact society and drastically change how players see our world and its people. Growing up in Seattle, I have seen the worst sides of the homelessness epidemic. The entertainment industry hasn't correctly addressed the issue, and some of the most misrepresented experiences are those of unhoused people. Often, writers generalize peoples' experiences and place them under harmful stereotypes, portraying them as "others." I want to use video games with interactive narratives to create genuine empathy and reinforce the idea that we, as humans, are all the same. I feel inspired by Chloé Zhao’s films as they contain an element that most Hollywood productions lack, authenticity and truth. I want to bring this same energy to the game industry by focusing on honest, personal stories to subvert societal biases and show players that many of our differences are merely superficial. In many key ways, we are all the same, and we are all worthy of respect. I am enormously grateful for Mrs. Stilts; her mixed-media art class directly helped me realize the value of games as an art form. I will attend the University of Southern California Interactive Media and Game Design program because I know the faculty and students see games like I do. I will be surrounded by a diverse group of like-minded people that believe in games as art rather than purely entertainment, just like Mrs. Stilts would. Although she passed in 2021, I will honor her legacy by using my diverse skills to create artful, meaningful games that address real-world issues and bring real change, something I hadn’t thought possible before.

As I stepped onto the college campus, I was filled with a whirlwind of emotions – excitement, nervousness, and a touch of melancholy. It was the beginning of a new chapter, leaving behind the comfort of home and childhood friends. In those moments of uncertainty, I found solace and understanding in the music of Taylor Swift, particularly during the Eras Tour. As I sat alone in my dorm room, playing her albums, I was taken on a journey through her evolution as an artist. Each era seemed to mirror my phases of growth and self-discovery. From the innocent charm of "Fearless" to the fierce vulnerability of "Red," I felt like Taylor's lyrics were speaking directly to my heart, capturing the essence of my emotions. During this period, I found myself yearning for connection and friendship in this new environment. The melancholic tunes of "All Too Well" and "White Horse" perfectly resonated with my wistful sentiments, allowing me to embrace my vulnerability and not shy away from the rawness of my feelings. It was as if Taylor Swift's music permitted me to acknowledge my emotions, helping me understand that it's okay to feel lost sometimes and that healing comes from embracing those feelings. Through the power of her storytelling, Taylor Swift taught me the importance of self-reflection and understanding my journey. "Long Live" became an anthem for me, reminding me to cherish the memories I create with newfound friends and to live in the present. Her ability to encapsulate various stages of life in her songs made me appreciate the passing moments and understand that each phase had its unique beauty. As I immersed myself in Taylor's music, I began to see parallels between her experiences and mine. The themes of heartbreak, growth, and resilience echoed in my own life, as I navigated the complexities of newfound independence and adulthood. Her songs made me realize that it's okay to make mistakes and that they often lead to personal growth and understanding. The Eras Tour, in particular, brought all these emotions to the forefront. Witnessing Taylor Swift perform live, I felt an indescribable connection with her and the crowd around me. We were all united in our shared experiences and the stories she had woven into her music. The atmosphere was electric, yet there was an underlying sense of vulnerability that made it all the more intimate. As a wistful, sentimental college freshman, Taylor Swift's music provided me with a soundtrack to my journey of self-discovery. Through her songs, I learned that it's okay to feel lost, embrace vulnerability, and appreciate the fleeting moments of life. Her music allowed me to understand myself on a deeper level and gave me the strength to embrace the uncertainties that come with this new chapter in my life. In those moments of introspection, I knew that I had found a companion in her melodies, and I was forever grateful for the lessons she taught me about life, love, and self-acceptance.

I have always been passionate about computers, video games, and math. I wanted to be a game designer after discovering Lego Racers 2 at age 5. Since then, my views on the medium and my hopes for my future have developed significantly. I no longer want to create merely "cool" games like Lego Racers 2; I want to build games and art that positively impact society and drastically change how players see our world and its people. Games' blend of art, music, design, and interactive features gives them a level of depth that is hard to find anywhere else. Games are the perfect artistic medium. Throughout my journey to become a professional game designer, math has expanded my creative horizon by allowing me to experiment with unique game mechanics and create more immersive experiences. My passions for game design and math have only bolstered each other. Games dominate my thoughts. Whenever I learn a new math concept, I think: "How can this be applied to games?" Through AP Calculus BC, AP Physics, and AP Statistics, I've acquired many skills that enabled me to create things I wouldn't have thought possible. I've implemented procedural generation algorithms for terrain and levels using Fractal Brownian Motion and wave equations. Vector operations have allowed me to create more detailed visual effects and more immersive, intricate physics systems. However, my favorite concept to learn and implement has been Bezier Curves. Bezier curves have made every aspect of game development all the more elegant and smooth. I've used them for character animation, camera movement paths, non-player-character movement, and more! Game development and math are inextricably connected; that is clear to me now. I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to learn math and am incredibly thankful that it has enabled me to achieve my goals and create the experiences I want to make. I look forward to taking more math courses in college and watching my game development skills flourish. One day, I plan to use my math and game development skills to create games and experiences that change peoples' perspectives on the world and have a real impact.

In December of 2022, there were an estimated 600,000 individuals experiencing homelessness in the United States. As a lifelong Seattle resident, which has one of the largest homeless populations in the country, I have a unique perspective on the homelessness crisis. I-5 is often surrounded by tents, trash, and displaced individuals. Yet, humanity hasn’t correctly addressed the issue, and some of the most underrepresented and misrepresented experiences are those of unhoused people. With friends who have been unhoused at some point in their lives, harmful societal narratives have become painfully evident. I am the cinephile who watches films with a pen and paper beside them, extracting as much from the writing as possible. I am the dungeon master that creates vast fictional worlds and large-scale plots that evoke curiosity and intrigue from players. I am the writer who fills notebooks with hastily scrawled stories, taking inspiration from genuine experiences. I have looked for ways to understand the world my entire life; stories are the only reliable thing I have found. My passion for storytelling has helped me identify harmful narratives in the media and the entertainment industry and gives me a unique perspective on societal change. Through various conflicts in my life, I have learned that the only way to solve key problems is to attack them at their source. Legislators have largely focused on superficial solutions to homelessness. In reality, homelessness is perpetuated by a myriad of socioeconomic factors, including widespread stigma and harmful stereotypes. My desire to focus on pervasive, societal impact allows me to approach the issue from a unique perspective. I believe video games are a powerful way to tell a story, educate, improve mental health, and influence us. I want to create games and art that positively impact society and drastically change how players see our world and its people. Rather than “othering” unhoused individuals, I want to use virtual reality and interactive narratives to create genuine empathy and reinforce the idea that we, as humans, are all the same. I will focus on honest, personal, authentic stories to subvert societal biases and show players that many of our differences are merely superficial. As I am pursuing this goal through higher education, I have influenced smaller yet significant changes in my community. I offered help to local food banks and created volunteer opportunities for myself outside their specific programs. I spent my summer working with Food Lifeline in Seattle and the Edmonds Food Bank at the Edmonds United Methodist Church, I sorted and repacked fruit, vegetables, and other products for distribution. Additionally, I put together thousands of pounds of emergency non-perishable food bags for people that walked in. Seeing the gratitude and relief wash over families’ faces showed me that even small acts of kindness can make an enormous difference in someone’s life and that everyone has something to contribute. Although my work was modest, and I wasn't solving homelessness yet, I realized that I could still make a difference in people's lives. As I pursue my goals to bring widespread societal change through game design and storytelling, I will continue to seek out opportunities to positively impact individuals that need it, and I will continue to attack the issue of food insecurity in my local community.

As a lifelong resident of the Seattle area, which has one of the largest homeless populations in the country, I have seen the homelessness crisis at its worst. I-5 is often surrounded by tents, trash, and displaced people. Yet, humanity hasn't correctly addressed the issue, and some of the most underrepresented and misrepresented experiences are those of unhoused people. Often, the media generalizes unhoused peoples' experiences and places them under harmful stereotypes, portraying them as "others." The only way to bring real change is to fundamentally change how we see our world and its inhabitants. My dream is to create video game experiences that subvert societal biases and bring fundamental change. To reach my goal and help push the nation in the right direction, I will be attending university to study game design. However, this dream is unattainable with my current expertise. In the meantime, I have sought out opportunities to bring smaller, grassroots, individual change in my local community. Interactive media and games are the perfect artistic mediums. Their blend of art, music, design, and interactive features gives them a level of depth that is hard to find anywhere else. Because of that, I believe games are a powerful way to tell a story, educate, improve mental health, and influence us. I want to create games and art that positively impact society and drastically change how players see our world and its people. Homelessness has been significantly misrepresented by the entertainment industry. Rather than “othering” unhoused individuals, I want to use virtual reality and interactive narratives to create genuine empathy and reinforce the idea that we, as humans, are all the same. I will focus on honest, personal, authentic stories to subvert societal biases and show players that many of our differences are merely superficial. As I am pursuing this goal through higher education, I have influenced smaller yet significant changes in my community. As food insecurity is one of the leading issues facing unhoused and impoverished individuals, I offered help to local food banks and created volunteer opportunities for myself outside their specific programs. I spent my summer working with Food Lifeline in Seattle and the Edmonds Food Bank at the Edmonds United Methodist Church, I sorted and repacked fruit, vegetables, and other products for distribution. Additionally, I put together thousands of pounds of emergency non-perishable food bags for people that walked in. Seeing the gratitude and relief wash over families’ faces showed me that even small acts of kindness can make an enormous difference in someone’s life and that everyone has something to contribute. Although my work was modest, and I wasn't solving homelessness yet, I realized that I could still make a difference in people's lives. That realization will stick with me forever. As I pursue my loftier goals to bring widespread societal change through game design, I will continue to seek out opportunities to positively impact individuals that need it, and I will continue to attack the issue of food insecurity in my local community.

I am the cinephile who watches films with a pen and paper beside them, extracting as much from the writing as possible. I am the dungeon master that creates vast fictional worlds and large-scale plots that evoke curiosity and intrigue from players. I am the designer who fills notebooks with hastily scrawled stories. I have looked for ways to understand the world my entire life; stories are the only reliable thing I have found. Books, movies, and games have taught me about myself and the world around me and have inspired me to share that with others. Video game design is the best way to do this. Games’ blend of art, music, design, and interactive features gives them a level of depth that is hard to find anywhere else. Games are a powerful way to tell a story, educate, and treat mental health. I want to become a video game developer to create games that drastically change how players see our world. All Seattle-area residents know the severity of the homelessness crisis, an issue rarely addressed by the entertainment industry; some of the most underrepresented and misrepresented experiences are those of unhoused people. The industry generalizes peoples' experiences with harmful stereotypes, portraying them as "others." Focusing on authentic stories from real people, I want to use interactive narratives to create genuine empathy and reinforce the idea that we, as humans, are all the same. So far, the Mountlake Terrace High School STEM program has taught me all that I know about computer science. However, I will need to get more hands-on development experience before I can reach my artistic goals. I want to attend the Game Development and Interactive Design program at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) because the community sees games the way I do. I will be surrounded by a diverse group of like-minded people that believe in games as ways to tell a meaningful story, rather than purely entertainment. While working towards my degree with SCA, I will seek internships and job opportunities to get essential industry experience. Eventually, I want to work in an environment with both creative freedom and a livable wage. SCA's Game Development and Interactive Design Program will be essential in teaching me the skills I need to deliver my message, design a captivating experience around it, and grow as a person. Because of the extraordinary cost of the program and my family’s financial position, scholarships are necessary for me to attend. Without them, I will never pay off my tuition debt, causing a ripple effect throughout my life. I may have difficulty participating in an internship outside of working to keep myself afloat, I won’t be able to take the financial risk of pursuing creative projects, and I will be severely limited in my ability to reach other life goals (homeownership, kids, etc.). As I am pursuing a STEM-related field, I would be honored to receive the North Star Dreamers Memorial Scholarship. Any additional funding would be greatly appreciated and would enable me to pursue my dream.

As an aspiring game designer, I have always been drawn to the work of Hideo Kojima, the legendary game designer, and creator of the Metal Gear Solid franchise. Kojima has made significant achievements in the game industry, despite resistance from executives and the industry as a whole. He has always looked for ways to subvert industry norms and speak his mind. Kojima’s approach to game design has inspired me to pursue a similar path. To address the homelessness crisis in America, I want to create games that focus on honest, personal, authentic stories to subvert societal biases and show players that we are all the same. I’ve always admired Kojima’s unwavering commitment to his creative vision. Throughout his career, he has always been willing to take risks and push boundaries in order to create something truly unique and groundbreaking. For example, when he first pitched the concept for Metal Gear Solid to his superiors at Konami, they were skeptical of the game's stealth-focused gameplay and unconventional storyline. However, Kojima was determined to see his vision come to fruition, and he continued to work on the project despite the skepticism of his peers. Ultimately, his dedication paid off, as Metal Gear Solid became one of the most influential and beloved video games of all time. He took a similar approach in his latest game, Death Stranding. Throughout its development, he referenced the idea of using “ropes rather than sticks.” Sticks are used to fight, but ropes bring us together. In fact, Death Stranding features little to no combat at all. This was a significant break from the common design trends at the time. As an aspiring game designer, I know that I will encounter similar challenges and obstacles on my path to success. Seeing Kojima’s perseverance in the face of adversity inspires me to pursue my creative vision. Additionally, I admire Kojima's willingness to tackle complex and thought-provoking themes in his games. Throughout his career, he has explored topics such as nuclear disarmament, government surveillance, and the impact of technology on human relationships. In a period where most studios are simply profit-motivated, I think Kojima’s commitment to delivering a meaningful message is admirable. His games are not just entertainment, but also vehicles for exploring deep and meaningful issues that are relevant to our society. Like Kojima, I want to use my own work as a platform for impacting players' lives. Growing up in Seattle, I have seen the worst sides of the homelessness epidemic. Homelessness is a complex issue that affects people from all walks of life. Contrary to popular belief, many homeless individuals are not just lazy or addicted to drugs. Actually, the most common causes of homelessness are a lack of affordable housing, job loss, mental illness, and domestic violence. Sometimes unhoused individuals struggle to find shelter, food, and basic hygiene facilities, but everyone is in a different situation. Homelessness is a humanitarian crisis that demands attention and innovative solutions. However, the entertainment industry hasn't correctly addressed the issue, and some of the most underrepresented and misrepresented experiences are those of unhoused people. I want to develop virtual reality experiences and interactive narratives to create genuine empathy and reinforce the idea that we, as humans, are all the same. I will focus on honest, personal, authentic stories to subvert societal biases and show players that many of our differences are merely superficial. Kojima’s dedication to his creative vision and meaningful themes is what inspires me to pursue this goal. I hope to one day create games that are as innovative and meaningful as his.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, “Fear always springs from ignorance.” I believe that games are one of the best ways to inform. In fact, interactive media and games are the perfect mediums. Their blend of technology, art, music, and interactive features gives them a level of depth that is hard to find anywhere else. Games are a powerful way to tell a story, educate, improve mental health, and influence us. I want to attend the Game Development and Interactive Design Program at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts because I know the faculty and students see games the same way I do. To help underrepresented communities, I want to create games and art that positively impact society, drastically change how players see the world, and help diminish ignorance across the country, particularly in regard to unhoused individuals. Ultimately, my goal is to create games that tell stories that meaningfully impact people's lives and give them insight, but I want to master my craft before I jump into the deep end. At SCA, I would further my computer science education and apply it to game development. While working towards my degree with SCA, I will seek internships and job opportunities to get essential industry experience. Eventually, I will have the skills and the know-how to say what I need to say and get my message out there. SCA's Game Development and Interactive Design Program will be essential in teaching me the skills I need to deliver my message, design a captivating experience around it, grow as a person, and bring real change. Growing up in Seattle, I have seen the worst sides of the homelessness epidemic. Homelessness is a complex issue that affects people from all walks of life. Contrary to popular belief, many homeless individuals are not just lazy or addicted to drugs. Actually, the most common causes of homelessness are a lack of affordable housing, job loss, mental illness, and domestic violence. Sometimes unhoused individuals struggle to find shelter, food, and basic hygiene facilities, but everyone is in a different situation. Homelessness is a humanitarian crisis that demands attention and innovative solutions. However, the entertainment industry hasn't correctly addressed the issue, and some of the most underrepresented and misrepresented experiences are those of unhoused people. Often, the industry generalizes peoples' experiences and places them under harmful stereotypes, portraying them as "others." Frankly, people are ignorant, and the entertainment industry only reinforces that. Even award-nominated games like “CHANGE: A Homeless Survival Experience” focus more on survival elements than telling real stories. We aren’t going to make a change by throwing money at the problem and we aren’t going to make a change by reducing genuine stories to shallow survival games. In order to make a change, we have to educate people and reduce the ignorance people have about the issue. I want to develop virtual reality experiences and interactive narratives to create genuine empathy and reinforce the idea that we, as humans, are all the same. I will focus on honest, personal, authentic stories to subvert societal biases and show players that many of our differences are merely superficial. My computer science and game development education will enable me to create experiences that I hope can impact people’s lives, and bring real-world systemic change.

My best friend, whom we’ll call “Vic” for the sake of anonymity, had always struggled with anxiety and depression. This is becoming far too common for this generation. Despite the far-reaching consequences of the issue, prescription processes are inefficient guesswork. The response rate for antidepressant treatment is 42-53%; the trial-and-error process for prescribing antidepressants can cause personal suffering, delayed treatment response, and a higher risk of suicide. Vic had tried three different antidepressants and was merely losing hope. That’s when I realized just how harmful prescription processes can be. To address this problem and help people like Vic, I created an intuitive interface for predicting antidepressant responses. Researchers have found many biomarkers that correspond with medication treatment outcomes. These biomarkers involve enormous datasets that only machine learning models can process. Researchers have developed numerous successful models using demographic features, clinical assessments, and genetic data. However, none of these models are used clinically due to their lack of interpretability (“black box”) and trustworthy features. Explainable artificial intelligence tools like SHapley Additive eXplanations (SHAP) exist to solve this problem and show how a model makes its decision. To help get these models into clinical use, I combined SHAP with an open-source logistic regression model to create an intuitive, easy-to-use, clinically practical prototype that serves as an example for future real-world applications. Rather than reinventing the wheel and building a machine-learning algorithm from the ground up, I implemented an existing, open-source prediction algorithm. The model predicts remission after 12 weeks of escitalopram treatment, uses a combination of clinical and genetic factors, and has an accuracy of 77%. Previously trained off of data from the GENome-based therapeutic drugs for DEPression (GENDEP) gene association study and the Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) trial, the model was ready for use. I migrated the model code from R to Javascript so I could host the application on the web easily. Then, I created a page for a 32-item questionnaire that takes just a few minutes and collects all the information required for the prediction. Next, the results page displays the percentage chance of remission and presents context on the model, training data, limitations, and risks of escitalopram. Then, users can navigate to the “Why?” page, where the SHAP visualization is displayed. SHAP ranks the relative importance of all the variables and how much they contributed to the remission probability. In the end, the application met all of its initial design goals and was comparable if not better than leading clinical prediction applications for other uses. I know I could achieve so much more with more time and resources. The dream is to have a model that predicts remission with multiple medications at once, rather than just escitalopram. This would make decisions significantly more straightforward for patients and clinicians. On top of that, genetic data can be expensive and inconvenient to gather. A program like mine is only helpful if the variables can be easily collected. It is particularly unhelpful if the variables themselves aren’t accurate. For example, my prototype’s model uses clinical variables from heavily criticized 50-year-old depression inventories. Finally, the primary reason my program is merely a prototype is that its precision isn’t high enough for a clinician to put any real faith into. A precision of 75% is “good,” but when one’s livelihood is on the line, we should aim for higher. There are so many people out there who share similar struggles with Vic. With sufficient money and resources, I would create an application that is more than just a prototype and could truly help people like Vic.

Throughout my life, I have seen ocean levels rise and endangered species lists grow, but I have never been more concerned about the future of our planet than I am today. The environment is rapidly declining as global temperatures rise, oceans fill with chemicals and waste, and climate change takes away the livelihood of many animals. NASA predicts that some areas of the planet will be uninhabitable 30-50 years from now. When the future looks so bleak and the causes are systemic, it is easy to feel powerless. It is difficult to change your entire lifestyle to reduce your carbon footprint entirely, but changing your diet is a simple way to make a difference. Three years ago, I decided to become a vegan. For me, veganism is essential to saving our planet and its creatures. According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from the meat and livestock industry. This is a significant contributor to global warming thus the endangerment of many animals. The meat industry has more direct effects as well, some of which are exhibited close to where I live. Born in Seattle, and a lifelong resident of the Pacific Northwest, I see our resident orcas as a part of my region’s culture and identity. The overfishing of Chinook salmon, Puget Sound orcas’ primary food source, is destroying their ability to survive. As a result, resident orca populations are a fraction of what they once were, and scientists are warning of their extinction. Supporting the meat and fish industry only furthers the danger that these orcas are in, and we can say the same for thousands of other species out there. The factory farming industry is the most significant example of large-scale animal cruelty in the history of humanity. The United Nations reported that the amount of industrial livestock sent to slaughter annually is about eight times the total human population. As a society, we commit mass atrocities on some of the most intelligent species in the world, without remorse. We would be disgusted by this if it happened to dogs or young children, yet research has shown that pigs are more intelligent than both. From birth, factory-farmed animals are kept in cages so small they can’t move, rarely see the light of day, and are treated with no amount of compassion. Many know about this cruelty, but few decide to take action and change their habits. That is why I feel a duty to help the movement grow. I plan to study video game design and development at a four-year university. I dream of creating experiences that can inspire empathy and affect people’s lives. As an immersive medium, video games can have enormous power over people's emotions and thoughts. Video games can have meaningful stories, detailed environments, and music and sound that bring about intense feelings. I am a firm believer that video games are one of the most complete ways to teach empathy and convey information. Therefore, I see the medium as the perfect way to grow the reach of the vegan movement. I will design games that put players into experiences where they learn about issues relevant to the vegan movement, such as global warming, overfishing, and factory farming. These games could even put players in an environment that details the effects of climate change in the future or instills important values through purposeful choices and themes. I have been creating games for years, and with my education, I will take them to the next level, change people’s lives, and make a difference in the world.