I was always labeled as the Math nerd because of the Asian stereotype. In elementary school, I can recall not answering questions in Math class because I didn't want to be labeled as the kid that was good at math simply because she is Asian. I know it may sound like a stupid thing to be ashamed of, but the children at my school were not quite kind towards my brother and me as we were the only minorities at school. However, I realized that trying to despise Math just to fit in was not benefitting anyone; rather, I was only sabotaging myself. I began to pay attention and participate in class more often, and as the years passed by, I genuinely developed a passion for Mathematics. To start, I enjoy the fact that I do not need to memorize a lot of information. Yes, I need to memorize laws and formulas but the more I practice and use them, the faster I engrain them in my mind forever. This is way better than memorizing large amounts of information and then forgetting about everything after I've passed the test. Instead, Mathematics allows me to learn different techniques so I can apply them later to different problems. This is what makes it more interesting. You may know many techniques and theories, but it is up to you to figure out how and when to appropriately apply them. Mathematics always makes sense. Unlike other subjects, Math is objective as it relies on logic. Although every question may have one answer, there may be several different ways to solve it. And this is what challenges my mind since I am forced to think of the many different approaches to a problem. For instance, Trigonometry was one of the first Math classes that I had taken in college, and I enjoyed it. Trigonometry is the study of triangles and the lengths and angles of their sides. And even though we were learning about one of the simplest geometrical figures, my mind was always being blown as there were so many different directions you could take a problem. I believe what made it even better was that my teacher was passionate about what she was teaching. Her enthusiasm was contagious, and it led to a very engaging class. Taking her class was a pleasure indeed, and I am glad to have learned the material because Trigonometry played a vital role in my Physics classes. This leads me to my most important point, Mathematics is a subject that is fundamental to every other subject and field in the world. I was a Math and Physics major so I used Math in every Physics class I took. As they say, Physics is just "spicy mathematics" because if you take a Physics course, you have to be prepared to apply Mathematics in all the Physics concepts you will learn. Now I will be pursuing my undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering and I am more than ready to learn new ways to apply Math to solve real-life problems. Essentially, majoring in Mathematics gave me a deeper appreciation for the world. It made me view the world in patterns and helped me to make significant decisions. This subject has allowed me to think analytically and have better reasoning abilities. I have become better at simple everyday tasks such as preparing food and saving money. I am glad that I decided to embrace my love for math, despite what others said. In all, to live a life without math is simply impossible as we live in a world surrounded by it.

Being the daughter of two immigrants who don’t have college degrees, I am expected to go to college. This puts a lot of pressure on me, as I am the only one who could fulfill their hopes of advancing in life and prove that they did not migrate from the other side of the Earth for nothing. To begin, I will be attending university in the fall, and the main challenge is that I do not qualify for scholarships. Because of my load of responsibilities, I couldn’t afford to use my time to participate in extracurricular activities and volunteer work because those activities would not put food on the table. Every day after school, I had to get home, work and then do chores and homework. I was not allowed the time to hang out with friends, relax and watch movies like a normal teenager would. It was very stressful, but as a first-generation student with immigrant parents, it was what I ought to do. Furthermore, I aspire to become a civil engineer, and the only way to reach my goal is to obtain a college degree. I knew that to be able to succeed, I would need to apply myself and do very well in my class. I was awarded as the valedictorian in both elementary and high school. Unfortunately, being the best in my class still isn’t enough. The sad truth is that the people who need scholarships, rarely qualify for them. Scholarship boards usually ask for your extracurricular and volunteer background. But the people who need the money don’t have time to be in clubs and organizations- they need to help pay rent. They then get rejected for the scholarship and don’t get the money that they desperately need. What other options are there? I have not found any. I can only hope that there will be more opportunities this coming year for myself as well as other struggling first-generation students. As a first-generation minority student, this college degree will bring stability, financial freedom, and content. I am willing to put my all into achieving my goals for a better future for myself and my family. If I am awarded the scholarship, I am confident that I will work to the best of my abilities and excel in my studies as I am a self-driven and determined individual. Thank you for reading my scholarship essay.

Imagine on your way to work you get to drive on the road you designed? How do you feel? How about a relaxing canoe ride under the bridge you built? Excitement, joy, and pride- these are what I want to experience. And with my civil engineering job, those are the exact emotions I will encounter. My name is Cristal Wu, and I will be pursuing my undergraduate degree in civil engineering at the University of South Florida. I was born and raised in Belize, a developing country that is slowly working its way up in infrastructure and energy alternatives. Although we have started our developmental journey, we still have plenty to do. My passion for Mathematics, Physics, and my country make Civil Engineering the perfect job for me. The love I have for my country makes me coming back home not an option but a must. After obtaining my degree, I will be able to come back and partake in its development while causing little to no harm to the environment. I want to be a part of helping society to become more advanced while reducing our carbon print as much as possible. In addition, my education and career will also allow me to inspire young individuals to pursue a STEM degree. During my Civil Engineering career, I want to start an engineering mentorship program that will allow aspiring engineers, especially females to get mentorship from professional engineers. According to the Association of Professional Engineers of Belize, in a total of 131 engineers, only 8 of them are female engineers (2021). Females only take up 6% of the engineering list which is a minuscule percentage. I want to have the ability to close the gender gap in engineering by being a role model for the younger generation. All in all, education is essential for me to pursue my goals of contributing to my community. This scholarship will allow me to help Belize become more eco-friendly and sustainable. My little country may be lacking in many areas but I am hoping that I can assist in filling that gap between now and the future of development and success. While doing that, I will also be able to inspire young individuals to pursue careers in STEM. If I am awarded the scholarship, I am confident that I will work to the best of my abilities and excel in my studies as I am a self-driven and determined individual. Thank you for reading my scholarship essay.

As a kid, all I looked forward to was the weekend. Nothing was more refreshing than swimming at the river on a hot summer day. Unfortunately, that tradition is dying, and so are our rivers. Now, all that is visible is the endless green of river algae bloom. Algae blooms occur when colonies of algae grow out of control. These produce toxins that can harm and kill humans and animals. My name is Cristal Wu, and I will be pursuing my undergraduate degree in civil/environmental engineering at the University of South Florida. I was born and raised in Belize, Central America. Belize is a tiny developing country that is slowly working its way up in infrastructure and energy alternatives. Although we have started our developmental journey, we still have plenty to do. For instance, we need to save our rivers. Furthermore, Belize does not have the technology nor expertise to make a change. That is where I hope to fill the gap. The love I have for my country makes me coming back home not an option but a must. After obtaining my degree, I will be able to come back and partake in its development while causing no harm to our rivers. I want to be a part of helping society to become more advanced while reducing our carbon print as much as possible. Moreover, I am truly passionate about saving our rivers. I have been an advocate for the river since 2016. I have done many river clean-ups and seminars, but there is only so much I can do. With my degree, I will be capable of preventing the problem. I want to be able to go swimming with my family one day again. I want animals to drink water from our rivers again. I want our rivers to have fishes again. I want our rivers to be clean and healthy. I hope in the future, I will be able to contribute to my community by bringing back what is essential to life- clean water.

My greatest achievement may not seem as grand, but starting a feed the homeless program in my community has been one of my highlights in life. I live in Belize where almost half of the population lives below the poverty line. In college, I decided to start a program where we would feed the homeless every month. The program was a success, and I was very happy to know people appreciated the food package. Most importantly, I am glad that it became a tradition. Although I had already graduated from my college, I was able to pass on the responsibility to another student, and then that student will do the same and so forth. In addition, the feed the homeless program taught me that I have a weakness. I tend to refuse to ask for help, even when I need it the most. It's not because of pride and whatnot, but simply because I cannot register when I am overloading myself with too many responsibilities. For instance, this program turned out to be more work than anticipated. I had to send a proposal to the president to approve my program, send another proposal to ask for permission to fundraise on campus, plan the fundraisers, find volunteers to distribute, purchase all the materials and ingredients, prepare the food, and lastly, find transportation to help distribute the foods packages. Instead of dispersing the tasks to other people, I convinced myself that I can do it myself. Nevertheless, I got overwhelmed and broke down. That made me realize that I was overworking myself. I now know that I need to allow myself to get help when necessary. On the other hand, this program made me find many strengths in myself. One being I am very dedicated. I put my all into this program to make it happened, and it did. The lack of finance made things very difficult, but I made sure to fundraise enough so that we were able to make it possible. In addition, I've learned that I am not only a great planner but also a great executor. In the future, I hope to continue contributing to my community. The love I have for my country makes me coming back home not an option but a must. Belize is a tiny developing country that is slowly working its way up in infrastructure and economic growth. Although we have started our developmental journey, we still have plenty to do, and I hope I will be able to come back and partake in that journey.

As a kid, all I looked forward to was the weekend. Nothing was more refreshing than swimming at the river on a hot summer day. Unfortunately, that tradition is dying, and so are our rivers. Now, all that is visible is the endless green of river algae bloom. Algae blooms occur when colonies of algae grow out of control. These produce toxins that can harm and kill humans and animals. My name is Cristal Wu, and I will be pursuing my undergraduate degree in civil/environmental engineering at the University of South Florida. I was born and raised in Belize, Central America. Belize is a tiny developing country that is slowly working its way up in infrastructure and energy alternatives. Although we have started our developmental journey, we still have plenty to do. For instance, we need to save our rivers. Furthermore, Belize does not have the technology nor expertise to make a change. That is where I hope to fill the gap. The love I have for my country makes me coming back home not an option but a must. After obtaining my degree, I will be able to come back and partake in its development while causing no harm to our rivers. I want to be a part of helping society to become more advanced while reducing our carbon print as much as possible. Moreover, I am truly passionate about saving our rivers. I have been an advocate for the river since 2016. I have done many river clean-ups and seminars, but there is only so much I can do. With my degree, I will be capable of preventing the problem. I want to be able to go swimming with my family one day again. I want animals to drink water from our rivers again. I want our rivers to have fishes again. I want our rivers to be clean and healthy. I hope in the future, I will be able to contribute to my community by bringing back what is essential to life- clean water.

Smartphones are everywhere. Just yesterday, I got asked for my phone number by my 5-year-old nephew. Even my grandma asks me for tutorials on how to use her smartphone sometimes. I was given my first smartphone when I was only 12 years old. Since then, I have been a heavy user. Smartphones are handy since you can use them for multiple reasons. Want to call someone? Use your smartphone. Want to snap a picture? Use your smartphone. How about listening to music? Yup, use your smartphone. But although there are many advantages of owning a smartphone, there are also many disadvantages. In my experience, owning a smartphone has made me very dependent on it. I cannot even recall the last time that I have gone anywhere without my phone. I have my phone every single second. If I want to sit, I pull out my phone. When I'm eating, I use my phone. Even when I am supposed to be working, I have the urge to use my phone. My smartphone has made me very unproductive because I often find myself switching between three different apps for hours and hours. With the amount of time that I spend on my phone, I can be doing something beneficial. Secondly, smartphones can be a hazard. We know that texting and driving is a huge danger, but yet we still risk our lives. And for what? Just so we can send a quick message to a group chat? Why can't that message wait? Why do our smartphones make us forget that our lives matter? Most importantly, what disheartens me is that smartphones make us lose human interaction. I remember back then, my entire family would sit at the dinner table and eat together. We would always exchange how our day went and talk about the latest news. Now, although we are together around the dinner table, we are distant from each other. Everyone eats with their smartphone in front of them. The sound of us chattering with one another has been replaced with audio from Netflix and YouTube. No one talks about their day anymore, and the sad thing is, it has become the norm. All in all, writing this essay made me realize how consumed I was by my smartphone. I won't out rightly throw away my smartphone, but starting today, I will limit my screen time and abstain from ever using it behind the wheel. I will also express my feelings to my family and hope that they are willing to change a few things. Life is too precious to lose just because we want to quickly send a text. Human interaction, especially with family should be cherished every single day. As amazing as a smartphone may be, we shouldn't let it consume us. We are in control of our destiny, and the first step is to put our phones down.

In 2019, I did an internship at The Raptor Center in my home country, Belize. The Raptor Center is home to some of the worlds apex predators. I didn’t only get to learn about raptors, but also how they came to be at the center. I got the opportunity to help rescue and rehabilitate injured and orphaned birds of prey. It was an experience that was worth every second!

When the pandemic began, my mother’s grocery store was shut down for the entire lockdown. I was forced to take a gap year because I didn’t want to put a strain on my mother to pay for tuition knowing that there was no income. Fall 2020 came around and ‘the outside’ became a thing again. Since I wasn’t attending school, I had a lot of free time. I began searching for jobs to help pay bills. Unfortunately, there weren’t any jobs available. That’s when I decided to put my Math & Physics degree into use; I became a freelance tutor. The entire country was doing distance learning and I knew that there were many students who would need extra help as online school isn’t ideal for everyone. My tutoring job thought me to be more confident in myself. I always thought that I wasn’t smart or good enough to teach someone. Nonetheless, I am very great at it; and if I didn’t put myself out there, I would have never known. Secondly, freelancing also thought me that time is money and not all money is good money. There was this instance when I tutored a student for minimum wage. I then realized that the parent was taking advantage of my kindness. In essence, I was babysitting him which wasn’t a part of the job. And for $1.75USD an hour? In other times, I would love to help with no cost but given the circumstances, I had to let the student go. I had to make time for other students that would allow me to be able pay bills. This was a tough decision for me, but I had to draw the line. From then, I learnt to never let people mistake my kindness for naivety. When I wasn’t tutoring, I was selling popsicles. This thought me the power of using social media to market my product and how to make calculated decisions. This is when I realized that I am an entrepreneur at heart. I enjoyed coming up with new ideas all the time. All these years, I have been putting entrepreneurship in this world of only business. I have been separating business and STEM fields all along when in fact, they should go together since they both require innovation and creativity. From that moment, I realized that everyone should have an entrepreneurial mind-set. Entrepreneurship isn’t only for business people. What was I even thinking? As a future engineer and entrepreneur, I need to develop technical skills as well as entrepreneurial ones. Now, thanks to my gap year, I am ready to pursue my undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering at the University of South Florida with a new mind-set- an entrepreneurial one. What excites me the most is the thought of planning new ideas and executing them. I hope to make my mother proud as she is the reason that I confident in myself to further my education. If I am awarded the scholarship, I am positive that I will work to the best of my abilities and excel in my studies as I am a self- driven and determined individual. Thank you very much for reading my scholarship essay.

Every day in life, we experience something new. Whether it be learning how to ride a bike for the first time or something as small as listening to new music. However, sometimes the experiences we encounter can be mortifying, and may transform us into new and different people. Nevertheless, whatever it is, it sticks with us forever, and it can either change our lives for the good or bad. For instance, when I was in Standard 6, I was talking to one of my friends when I suddenly noticed that she had scratches on her arms. I shrugged it off but as I continued talking, I couldn't stop myself from glancing at her hands. After a while, I finally noticed that they weren’t actually scratches but rather cuts. I was only twelve years old at the time, not even a teenager, so I still somewhat had the mindset of a child. This made me very worried and confused. The topic of self-harm had never come up before and was quite unfamiliar to me. I thought to myself, “is she crazy? Why is she doing that to herself?” After that incident, I began to keep my distance from that person, as I did not know what was occurring or how to deal with it. I wanted so badly to talk to her and ask her why she was doing what she was doing, but I couldn’t find the right words. This was my first time experiencing something like that, and I wish I had at least told my teacher about what I witnessed. Maybe I could have helped her get through her mental pain so she didn’t have to go through it physically. Fast forward to two years later, I was in my second year of high school at fourteen years old. It was a normal day at Sacred Heart College, and everyone in class was paying keen attention to my Math teacher, Mrs. Husle, as she taught us the Pythagoras’ Theorem. When the bell rang for our lunch break and she dismissed us, everyone rushed to the cafeteria including myself. But then I suddenly saw the gathering of teachers, and I noticed their shocked faces. Being the curious person I am, I went over to my Spanish teacher and asked him if something was wrong. I clearly remember my heart falling out of my chest when he told me the awful news. A student of my school had committed suicide the night before. I was completely awestruck. Although we weren’t close, the student was a girl who would always smile and say hi to me whenever we saw each other at school. She was a kind soul, and I couldn’t help but feel sympathy towards her and her family. The fact that she was so young and full of potential, and now everything she would have ever become had now turned into dust. Weeks passed and I still kept thinking about it. I still do to this day. I didn’t know why she did it and still don’t, but that whole experience has thought me that life is short and you never know when someone will take their last breath. Now I’m nineteen years old and I have been exposed to many scary situations. Nevertheless, I am not that little innocent twelve year old girl anymore as that innocence has been taken away. The experiences that I have faced have made me more mature in the way I think and how I react to certain predicaments. I have become more cognizant about social issues that affect the society and I have become more compassionate towards others. I have learned how to love and cherish my friends more than I ever did and also treasure every single God-given moment in life. During the pandemic, I started a mental health club for anyone that wanted to join. I knew that the isolation could be dangerous for anyone suffering from mental health. We met every week via zoom and we did different activities such as reading and discussing books, watching movies and playing games together. I have met many new friends and I hope to continue with this club even when I begin university this fall. I am forever grateful for this club because it helped me to stay sane during my gap year. Since I wasn’t attending online school during the lockdown and I had nothing to do at home, I would often find myself overthinking about many things. However, this club helped me to through it and I will always remember it. My goal is to either start another mental health club at University of South Florida or extend this club. No matter which direction I take, I will always be an advocate for mental health awareness.

Every day in life, we experience something new. Whether it be learning how to ride a bike for the first time or something as small as listening to new music. However, sometimes the experiences we encounter can be mortifying, and may transform us into new and different people. Nevertheless, whatever it is, it sticks with us forever, and it can either change our lives for the good or bad. For instance, when I was in Standard 6, I was talking to one of my friends when I suddenly noticed that she had scratches on her arms. I shrugged it off but as I continued talking, I couldn't stop myself from glancing at her hands. After a while, I finally noticed that they weren’t actually scratches but rather cuts. I was only twelve years old at the time, not even a teenager, so I still somewhat had the mindset of a child. This made me very worried and confused. The topic of self-harm had never come up before and was quite unfamiliar to me. I thought to myself, “is she crazy? Why is she doing that to herself?” After that incident, I began to keep my distance from that person, as I did not know what was occurring or how to deal with it. I wanted so badly to talk to her and ask her why she was doing what she was doing, but I couldn’t find the right words. This was my first time experiencing something like that, and I wish I had at least told my teacher about what I witnessed. Maybe I could have helped her get through her mental pain so she didn’t have to go through it physically. Fast forward to two years later, I was in my second year of high school at fourteen years old. It was a normal day at Sacred Heart College, and everyone in class was paying keen attention to my Math teacher, Mrs. Husle, as she taught us the Pythagoras’ Theorem. When the bell rang for our lunch break and she dismissed us, everyone rushed to the cafeteria including myself. But then I suddenly saw the gathering of teachers, and I noticed their shocked faces. Being the curious person I am, I went over to my Spanish teacher and asked him if something was wrong. I clearly remember my heart falling out of my chest when he told me the awful news. A student of my school had committed suicide the night before. I was completely awestruck. Although we weren’t close, the student was a girl who would always smile and say hi to me whenever we saw each other at school. She was a kind soul, and I couldn’t help but feel sympathy towards her and her family. The fact that she was so young and full of potential, and now everything she would have ever become had now turned into dust. Weeks passed and I still kept thinking about it. I still do to this day. I didn’t know why she did it and still don’t, but that whole experience has thought me that life is short and you never know when someone will take their last breath. Now I’m nineteen years old and I have been exposed to many scary situations. Nevertheless, I am not that little innocent twelve year old girl anymore as that innocence has been taken away. The experiences that I have faced have made me more mature in the way I think and how I react to certain predicaments. I have become more cognizant about social issues that affect the society and I have become more compassionate towards others. I have learned how to love and cherish my friends more than I ever did and also treasure every single God-given moment in life. During the pandemic, I started a mental health club for anyone that wanted to join. I knew that the isolation could be dangerous for anyone suffering from mental health. We met every week via zoom and we did different activities such as reading and discussing books, watching movies and playing games together. I have met many new friends and I hope to continue with this club even when I begin university this fall. I am forever grateful for this club because it helped me to stay sane during my gap year. Since I wasn’t attending online school during the lockdown and I had nothing to do at home, I would often find myself overthinking about many things. However, this club helped me to through it and I will always remember it. My goal is to either start another mental health club at University of South Florida or extend this club. No matter which direction I take, I will always be an advocate for mental health awareness.

My name is Cristal Wu and I was born and raised in Belize, Central America. At a very young age, my parents have emphasized the importance of education to achieve great things and make impactful changes in the world. Growing up, my mother made sure that I learned the value of higher education to seek a prosperous future and to be able to help others who may not be as fortunate as I am. My mother has been the biggest influence in my life, and she is the reason why I am fortunate enough to begin pursuing my undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering at the University of South Florida this fall. My parents were forced to come to Belize because they couldn’t afford an education and also there was a lack of job opportunities in their homeland, China. Because they were uneducated, they had no choice but to open a grocery store in a small village that I live in. My goal is to achieve what my parents couldn’t have afforded when they were my age. Moving from Belize to Florida may not be as scary as moving across the globe but it is still indeed a big step. Moreover, if I am fortunate to receive this scholarship, I am confident that I will work to the best of my abilities and excel in my studies as I am a self- driven and determined individual. This scholarship will be used to help pay my tuition fee. I am an international student so my tuition is about double the cost. This puts a strain on my mother to pay this large sum. With this scholarship, I will be able to assist my mother with costs and assure her that her teachings of the importance of education did not go to waste. The JuJu Foundation Scholarship will help me show my parents that they did not travel to the other side of the world for nothing.

My name is Cristal Wu and I was born and raised in Belize, Central America. At a very young age, my parents have emphasized the importance of education to achieve great things and make impactful changes in the world. Growing up, my mother made sure that I learned the value of higher education to seek a prosperous future and to be able to help others who may not be as fortunate as I am. My mother has been the biggest influence in my life, and she is the reason why I am fortunate enough to begin pursuing my undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering at the University of South Florida this fall. Furthermore, I am from a third world country. In this country, there is a lot of brain drain, which happens because everyone wants to migrate to other countries to seek for a higher standard of living. However, that is not the case with me. I love my country and I hope to come back and partake in the development of my home, Belize. After obtaining my Undergraduate Degree in Civil Engineering, I will be able to come back and improve the lives of my fellow Belizeans with little harm to the environment. I want to be a part of helping society to become more advanced while reducing our carbon print as much as possible. This scholarship would make a huge impact in my life as it would allow me to help others as well. This is also what inspires me to seek higher education. My little country Belize may be lacking in many areas but I am hoping that I can assist in filling that gap between now and the future of development and success. Moreover, the Rho Brooks Women in STEM Scholarship will give me the opportunity to achieve my goals and prepare me for when it is time to enter the workforce. If I am fortunate to receive this scholarship, I am confident that I will work to the best of my abilities and excel in my studies as I am a self- driven and determined individual. This scholarship will be used to help pay my tuition fee. I am an international student so my tuition is about double the cost. This puts a strain on my mother to pay this large sum. With this scholarship, I will be able to assist my mother with costs and assure her that her teachings of the importance of education did not go to waste. Thank you very much for reading my scholarship essay.