I was born the second eldest into a family with parents, and three brothers. Family is important to me, and I am fortunate to have good relationships with my siblings, parents, grandparents on both sides, aunts, uncles, and 31 cousins. My family has helped shape what I value: faith, care for others, integrity, and the sanctity of life. Church and my experiences attending a Christian school taught me about what a community can be – something much more significant than looking out for myself, and the importance of valuing others. I enjoy helping my peers where I am able, and I seek opportunities to work collaboratively. I love learning and achieving new academic heights. I believe that maximum academic growth is achieved in community, not isolation. I frequently encounter ideas or concepts I don’t yet comprehend. When faced with new ideas, I am compelled to investigate and understand them in depth. I am proud of my curiosity and drive to examine concepts and ideologies. Others often comment on my insatiable desire to inquire and recognize me as someone who knows how to seek answers even when I may not know much about the subject.
Presented with an option to pursue Microsoft Professional Certifications through my high school, I completed and obtained the Microsoft Office Specialist (MSO): PowerPoint, MSO: Word, and MSO: Excel certifications. At the same time in Information Technology class, I had the opportunity to learn basic HTML, JavaScript, and python code. My knowledge in these coding languages grew exponentially as a result of my desire and excitement to learn and code new programs. It became a regular occurrence for my friend and me to complete coding lessons at home so we could spend the next day sharing our ideas about how to solve the problems we were facing. My eagerness to learn resulted in me not only meeting the criteria for the final project, a modified Blackjack game, but exceeding the requirements. I completed this final project shortly after the end of term 1, which gave me ample time to work on making more complicated games.
More recently, I spent time in an elementary school classroom helping young children understand coding and technology. Working with young students helped me recognize the value of being able to explain concepts in understandable language. When the children succeeded in building simple programs, their joy was palpable. This reminded me of how I feel when I overcome the challenges of programming and debugging; at that moment, I realized the significance of the work I was doing.
I am curious and driven to understand. I realized that I wanted to pursue Engineering when I reflected on my experiences and various conversations held with family and friends about their careers. Engineers are dedicated to solving complex problems—something I too pursue passionately. My competencies and interest in maths, physics, and computers led me to apply for the Mechatronics program at SFU. I have been accepted to UBC’s Engineering Program as well as to Simon Fraser University’s Mechatronics program. I plan to approach my university courses with the same passion I brought to secondary schooling each day. I am excited to begin this new chapter of learning.
In support of my application for the Dogwood Scholarship, please find the following areas in this online submission:
- Examples of my coding and game construction
- Certificates and Awards
- Community Volunteerism in Building Computational Thinking
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