A successful college experience, in my view, is having the ability to not only expand your mind to its greatest capacity, but being able to socialize, find yourself, and create your own sense of identity. I want to make connections that I will be able to carry with me beyond college, graduating with a better understanding of who I am and what I want to spend the rest of my life doing. In addition to creating new friendships, it is important to me that I am happy with my major. I have always enjoyed mathematics, problem-solving, and learning new things, which is why I plan to study mathematics and computer science. I believe that extracurriculars are important in enhancing your ability to succeed and therefore improve your GPA, however it is not always the case that GPA is an accurate reflection of who a person is; getting high marks allows for a small representation of a student.

A time in which I demonstrated civic engagement and advocated for students is during the 2020 Leadership Conference which took place in Washington D.C. While on this five-day overnight trip with select students from my high school, I had the opportunity to teach a workshop to other high school students from other states. The workshop had to do with students having a voice and strategies on how they could make themselves heard. In order to prepare for this presentation, my group and I would meet inside and outside of school to create a slideshow presentation as well as activities for students who decided to select the workshop. It was a successful experience because it taught me the importance of speaking out and using your voice for those that don’t have the capacity to. Furthermore, I grew more united to my peers when I heard different opinions and perspectives. Listening to people from various parts of the country opened my eyes to different points of view which made me feel more connected to my community, both at the conference as well as nationally.

With that being said, pursuing STEM is a goal for me academically as well as socially, because I hope to break the barrier between men and women in STEM and give women the voice they have not always had. I find STEM fields, especially those involving computers and mathematics, fascinating and see an advancing future in applied mathematics for not only myself, but also for women in STEM. I want to be a role model for girls to look up to and inspire them to be able to accomplish anything they set their minds to. Furthermore, I want everyone to feel included and accepted in a field that has not had much balance according to history. It has become more prominent for women to pursue interest in fields such as these and I think it is important to promote this emerging interest, especially so that those who feel unworthy can feel like they have a chance to succeed at whatever they set their mind to. Finally, destroying these imaginary walls of inequality between men and women in STEM can create more balance, which is crucial for development around the world. Overall, I feel that what you do outside of the classroom allows for a better opportunity at succeeding since it allows you to develop ideas that can help you achieve greater things in the real world.