A project I had in one of my freshman classes was to recreate a game similar to the popular mobile game Bloons Tower Defense. The idea was to make a game with a path leading down to an end goal for the enemies and make a monetary system that allows the player to put up towers to shoot and stop the enemies from reaching their destination. This was coded entirely in Java. We had a theme to follow which was centered around space, so the goal of my game was to stop the asteroids from hitting Earth by placing either satellites in space to shoot down the asteroids, bunkers on nearby planets, or the moon, to shoot missiles at the incoming asteroids. Comets were another enemy to be weary of since they were faster and required more hits to destroy. If too many comets or asteroids hit Earth, the player would lose, determined by a score counter reaching zero. Working on this project was very fun for me since as a kid I couldn't play any games other than mobile games due to my family's financial situation at the time. I tried my hardest to make the game as tidy as I could. A lot of time went into the designing portion of this project, making the blow-up effect of the asteroids look good and kind of comical, or making the missile explosion effect happen in a mushroom cloud since they were nukes. It was fun to finally see my final project unfold and show friends and family the new game that I made from scratch. The inner child in me was giddy about this project and it's one of my first projects yet it's one of the projects that I am the most proud of. Working with technology inspires me in that it fills the "problem-solving" itch I have when I have to sit still and come up with something to do. I like to receive a problem that I can solve creatively or create something from scratch that may not need to be a solution to a problem but it improves a person's quality of life a little bit. Seeing how technology can be an answer to common problems, or even big problems, that people have inspired me to pursue my degree and get deeper into practices and skills that can serve an even bigger audience of people who may have problems that can only be solved by technology. My interest in AI and Computer Security drives me to pursue a career where I can improve people's technological safety through means of security software and AI. Working on projects that I know can help others or even just be a cool thing to use drives me to pursue a career that allows me to do just that, all the time. These passion projects of mine are the reason why I chose to learn Computer Science.

To first start off my involvement in the STEM field, I would like to introduce myself first briefly. I am Armenian, and the first person in my family to go to an accredited university in the US. I immigrated here with my parents at the age of 5 years old and learned English along with Armenian at a very young age. Thankfully due to my upbringing and my parents' support, I was very successful educationally. I always had high grades and was placed in high honor-level courses despite being from another world. Now to move forward, I chose to pursue a STEM career, and more specifically computer science because I had a great experience with it growing up. I was participating in a summer web development course where I made my first website, which was a little fry restaurant with a working google map and menu, and I found a great passion for it. I thought it was so cool to create something like that and to express myself through a space where I can make a real-world difference in. After my experience with the web development side of coding, I decided to get a little more in-depth and start learning some useful languages such as Java, Python, and C++. I loved it, and I immediately became invested in it and started to teach myself those languages. I even started to dabble in cybersecurity which is where I'd like to emphasize my computer science skills. Cybersecurity or Ethical Hacking is one of the most fascinating careers to me since it has a lot of applications. All types of career fields need a security specialist from big businesses like Adobe to even the government or FBI. I started to learn cybersecurity and ethical hacking from a course on Udemy and began to scan devices on my network and figure out who was using what and what was connected to the network. To touch on diversity, I believe diversity is a very important thing to have in the workplace, especially one that relies heavily on new ideas and fosters creativity amongst the people working there. Having diversity means having new and different perspectives to call upon, and being Armenian, I believe that I can bring a very diverse skillset to any workplace I am involved with. Being an immigrant and having that rather tough but rewarding upbringing, I believe that my experiences have shaped me to have a unique perspective and have made me a unique person overall. Because of this I strongly subscribe to the idea of diversity in the workplace and I believe that it can foster great creative success in all applications.

Recovery is returning to what you previously were and being calm, not being provoked or stimulated by what is happening around you. To me, recovery is significant, considering that I'm a boxer and burn through nearly 1000 calories from practicing, I need recovery to be able to get back on my feet the next day and continue through my life so I can stay in a productive cycle and not have to spend more extended periods of time resting. The way I recover is by enjoying a good show while drinking a cup of tea or eating a bowl of fruit and just relaxing after stimulating myself all day so that I can be in the mindset later to perform again, or even better. For me, recovery is significant and an essential part of my day, and can make or break the energy that I have to carry on.

1. When I was about 16 I had the opportunity to be involved in an FBI teen symposium and we had many presenters come and talk to us about what they do and what their jobs are. Everything from the SWAT specialists to the criminal interrogators. One position that really stood out to me was the digital forensic investigator who said that his day-to-day was using computers to investigate criminals' phones and other potential sources of evidence which I thought was terrific. I had been taking notes throughout all the presentations in detail and all I wrote down for the digital investigator was "I need this job." I also took some summer web development courses and tried out some video lecture Java and Python courses through Udemy. I was hooked, I loved making code do things and making something from essentially just letters. It was amazing to me. 2. After I receive my degree I really want to pursue either a digital forensics investigation field or work for a big creative firm like Adobe. I really want to be put in a position where I can make projects with a team and create things that serve a purpose to people not only as a product but to make their lives easier. I'm also very interested in ethical hacking, I like the idea of solving a puzzle such as getting into a potential criminal's information to solve a crime and bring justice to help people while also working with something that I like to use, which is computers. 3. Coming from an immigrant background and having to readapt to a completely new culture, I have the determination and hard-working skills needed to be successful in the computer science world. I am currently a freshman in college taking accelerated introductory computer programming courses and have been very successful in my projects. I know what is required of me when having to complete a project and believe that I can continue to be very successful. From my background and my current situation, I believe that I am the best candidate for this scholarship.

My favorite scientific discovery is Electricity. I think electricity is not only extremely vital to our society's structure, but it is also very fascinating to learn about. I think it's particularly interesting how we can generate electricity ourselves by friction alone and how it can either burn things or power things. I think the ability to be able to harness electricity is very fascinating, how we're able to tame a very frantic source of energy and use it to power everything we use every day. With this, it is also very important to have since almost everything we use currently, runs on electricity. From our lights and stoves to the computer I'm typing on right now, everything relies on electricity and without it, we cannot function. Electricity also can be generated from other sources of power like coal and oil, and from that heat that they produce, it can be converted to electricity. For these reasons, electricity is my favorite scientific discovery and I believe it has changed our scientific innovations drastically.

Currently, I am involved with a local Armenian Evangelical Church playing in the band with them and promoting Armenian culture. I learn Armenian from some teachers involved in that community and teach English to those who want to learn it. I offer saxophone and boxing lessons to those who may wish to learn and I also have participated in protests and marches (like the most recent protest in SLC against the Artsakh war). I help Armenian friends in my community like cleaning their yards and homes, helping in their auto shops, and cooking for their families when they may not have the time for that. Living in Salt Lake City, Utah, and having a small population of Armenians here makes it somewhat difficult to be involved but I have made efforts as I described previously to make a positive impact on my Armenian community and to be a strong representation of the Armenian community to those who aren't in it. Coming from an immigrant background myself, and having to understand a whole new world at the age of 5 years old gives me the background and knowledge of what hard work really means and allows me to understand the struggle that those in my community may be facing. I plan to give back to my community by funding more cultural events for Armenians to participate in to spread and introduce our culture to the many people who have not heard of it. I want to sponsor Armenian kids like me seeking higher education in hopes that they too will give back to the community as will I and continue the trend of uplifting the Armenian community and diaspora to grow and flourish. I would like to fund that specific Evangelical church as well, paying for renovations and bringing in more resources so that they may be more successful in growing their community and making other Armenians feel welcome in a place where they have familiar faces. I will aid Armenians seeking refuge from wherever they may be coming from and give them a better startup life here in the US just as I was blessed with a good startup life from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. All of this is in hopes that I can give those from my Armenian community the life I wish I had earlier in my life so they can grow and flourish, and with that give back to their communities as well.

In the context of college, know what you want to do before you get here. Knowing what you really want to do before going to college is an excellent way to really stay on track with what you want to do and not be forced into an area of study because of an unsure decision. Attend all the information sessions and see what really inspires you, they can really help you influence your decision and can help you get on track with something you really want to do. Instagram: davitz_22

A healthy lifestyle for me has been the biggest factor in why I have improved both mentally and physically. Before I started to be more invested in my health and health in general, my mental health was very poor and I was extremely unhealthy. I was out of shape and skinny before I decided to take the step to improve my health in fitness. I started eating clean first and drinking a gallon of water which gave me more energy to go about the things I do every day. Then I started boxing. Boxing has been a great place for me to vent out frustrations along with losing weight and gaining muscle. It has been a great way to improve my mental health as well. After 2 years of this, I began weightlifting as well, along with bouldering. I have been braver with trying new sports and have stuck with boxing, weightlifting, and rock climbing for a while. Because of my passion for these sports, I have been more determined to better my health and encourage my friends to do the same. It's important to keep a healthy lifestyle due to all the benefits all around and I encourage others to have a healthy lifestyle.

The biggest change that I decided to make in regards to my health was choosing to start Boxing. Before I had made the decision I was a more unhealthy and skinny kid with emotional issues as well. I did not have a good way to express my frustrations healthily and it made everything fester within me. I made the bold decision to try a day at my local boxing gym Legends Boxing. I was greeted by one of the coaches at the door and was immediately welcomed by everyone there. I felt like I had finally found a place where I was welcome and loved being there. After my first sessions I nearly passed out due to how intense it was but I was hooked. I signed up for a membership and started going 4 days a week. From doing this I went from being 140 pounds and skinny to being 170 and strong. My health has been much better since and my mental health has greatly improved. Since I have a place to express my frustrations I learned to vent everything out when I was hitting the bag. From this, I have learned more confidence as well since frustration and anger were not the main emotions I felt throughout my day. 2 years later, I have now become a coach at my gym and am loving every day of it. It's a great place for me to connect with people and give people the space I needed when I first started. I am very happy with my choice to start boxing and I feel because of it I have greatly improved mentally and physically. I believe that my change in my physical aspect and my mentality has helped me become more successful as well, along with having a more positive outlook on my life and not being as negative as I was before. I believe that anyone can make a change to their healthy life and that change can be one of the most impactful things that they can do. Form doing this I have become more confident in trying other sports like rock climbing and weightlifting. I have fallen in love with bettering myself and improving my healthy lifestyle so that I can be at the top of my game. I believe that I have greatly improved due to the first step of joining my boxing gym and I believe that many more people can do the same.

I first learned about cybersecurity during a Computer Sciences seminar at my school, where a computer science professional was teaching us about what different jobs there were in the cyber field and what he did. I instantly fell in love with the idea since it was everything that I had wanted as a career this whole time. I had also attended an FBI Teen Symposium where FBI staff members talked to us about their jobs and what they do on a day-to-day and when a cybersecurity specialist spoke with us about his job and what he does, I had only put "this is the job I want" in my notes as I was listening. Being the line of defense in a computer environment interests me greatly since I want to do something meaningful involving computers. The idea of helping people as well as a great motivator for me. I would like to be the person who protects people's information and be trusted with such a duty that people can feel comfortable knowing that their information is secure. I also like a rather interesting job experience, not having to simply sit at my desk all day and do meaningless tasks all day but also to help people and make a difference doing what I love. to further my skills in the industry I have registered for classes through a service called Udemy. I am learning cybersecurity skills through Kali Linux on my computer, messing with my own system things to be able to further understand the cybersecurity field and have experience doing something like that. I also attended an online class hosted by the USAF where they walked us through basic cybersecurity fundamentals and had us test systems that they had created to see whether or not they were good enough to keep us out, and if not, what we had to do to repair those systems. Currently, I am still learning cybersecurity fundamentals on my own as well as teaching myself coding languages such as Java, C++, and Python to also become a developer if I need to be in the cybersecurity field. My passion for this type of work is great in that I am doing more than what is necessary to be the best in the field and I am motivated to continue working until I can achieve my goal of being a cybersecurity specialist in this workforce.