I have lived with my mother my whole life and I am an only child so I'm all she has and she's all I have. As a primarily straight-A student, I give all my credit to her. It is because of the intelligent genetics she passed down to me and the motivation she has given me to be the best I could be. She has always driven me to put my all into school. She's always wanted me to go to college because she didn't. Even though she would be disappointed in me over a C on my report card, it would drive me to do better, and I did. Also, my grandmother would give me money for each A that I had on my report card in middle school, and money, as a teenager, is a good incentive to make good grades. My mom would often threaten to take my car away over a bad grade and even though I would think it was ridiculous, I know it was her way of wanting the best for me. She's helped me in so many ways when it comes to school and that's her top priority for me, to finish school with a good degree. She makes sure I'm applying to colleges and at least one scholarship a week this year. She doesn't care much if I'm in clubs or sports as long as I'm making A's and getting Principal's List. She has made me love school and learning whether either of us even realizes it. I wake up in the morning and get to school on time every day because of her. I know that she wants me to be great because in high school she didn't care and didn't even go to school regularly she just wants better for me and wants to be able to get the career I want and make a lot of money doing what I love. Since I want to be an astronomer I need to apply myself in school and get good grades along with going to college and she is making sure, every day, that I do that because she wants me to succeed. My dad would always try to put me down and say that college isn't necessary to be great and it would have me wondering but my mom always reassured me of what's best for me and my life goal.

As a younger kid in elementary school learning how to spell longer words, one of the first big words that I learned was multiplication and I was ecstatic that I knew how to spell it. Math has always been an easy subject for me, therefore, I love it so much. Growing up, I've had almost a pull toward math. I had a huge multiplication table and a whiteboard in my mom's office where I would sit and memorize this table. As I got into middle school I had the opportunity to take high school math and I was more than ready. Learning math for me is fun and being able to understand it to the point where I can teach it brings a certain happiness to me that I can't describe. Even taking geometry, which I didn't enjoy too much, I was still excelling in my class. When it's easy to learn something, you automatically have a love for it. Now, as a senior in high school, I am taking some college classes that some college students don't even take or drop out of. I enjoy being able to help my friends or coworkers out with math problems that they may not be able to get right away. I plan to major in physics in college and physics was built on the principle of calculus. A lot of people believe that you won't have to use difficult math in real life, but I'm hoping we do. I enjoy taking tests and being challenged with math. I can't wait to see where math takes me in my career. Math has shown me the importance of everything, there is math everywhere. Whether it is simply adding and subtraction or even algebra and geometry. Mathematics has a huge impact on the world and every job field that there is. Being able to understand math is not just able to pay attention in class it is a skill. I think that being able to comprehend math easily I can is extremely helpful for the real world that I have ahead of me. I chose to go into a physics major not only because I love math, but because I believe that I can make a difference with my growing knowledge of mathematics and physics. I want to be able to make discoveries and do impacting research and I can do this with just math and statistics.

As a younger kid in elementary school learning how to spell longer words, one of the first big words that I learned was multiplication and I was ecstatic that I knew how to spell it. Math has always been an easy subject for me, therefore, I love it so much. Growing up, I've had almost a pull toward math. I had a huge multiplication table and a whiteboard in my mom's office where I would sit and memorize this table. As I got into middle school I had the opportunity to take high school math and I was more than ready. Learning math for me is fun and being able to understand it to the point where I can teach it brings a certain happiness to me that I can't describe. Even taking geometry, which I didn't enjoy too much, I was still excelling in my class. When it's easy to learn something, you automatically have a love for it. Now, as a senior in high school, I am taking some college classes that some college students don't even take or drop out of. I enjoy being able to help my friends or coworkers out with math problems that they may not be able to get right away. I plan to major in physics in college and physics was built on the principle of calculus. A lot of people believe that you won't have to use difficult math in real life, but I'm hoping we do. I enjoy taking tests and being challenged with math. I can't wait to see where math takes me in my career.

As I am about to enter college, I have recently discovered my love for astronomy and the universe around us. My whole life I have struggled with my religious views because it does not make sense how there are so many religions that are all so different from one another. I have always thought there was something greater that created us and it has always made me curious. The universe around us is bigger than we could even imagine and certainly too big for us to explore and understand in our lifetime. I hope that becoming an astronomer can help me answer some questions that I have had for years. I think it's very important to understand the nature of our universe because it helps us understand who we are and where we come from. This could help us predict things to happen to our planet in the future and also explore other habitable planets in case of catastrophe on Earth. My mission in life is to understand how we came about in this universe. I want to explore and learn the ideas of life, reincarnation, parallel universes, and black holes. I think these subjects help give a better understanding of not only the world around us, but also our past and our future. I want to study the stars and the galaxies light years away. There are so many planets with different make-ups and it's incredibly intriguing to see the differences in planets, solar systems, and galaxies. Nobody truly knows for a fact how we got here, whether it was a god or the Big Bang Theory, but it's important for us to have a decent understanding of the universe around us. It's also important to know about aliens, whether they are harmless or a threat. Can aliens help us advance as a civilization? Or do they want to take over and colonize our planet? These are very important topics for discussion as they help protect us. It's also important for us to know who or what created us so we can make theories as to how or when we could go extinct. By knowing how the universe, and the Earth, was created, we can predict how they will end. I hope that after I finish college and get my Doctorate's degree, I can become an astronomer at NASA to answer these questions for not only myself but for everyone else with these same questions about our existence.