My name is Maya Thesing and I'm a senior at Pierz Healy High School in Pierz, Minnesota. Music has impacted me greatly during my high school years. Currently, I play in my high school's Symphonic Band and Jazz Band. I play percussion for Symphonic Band and trumpet for Jazz Band. Our Sypmoonic Band has been selected to go to the Minnesota Music Educators Association (MMEA). This is the equivalent of going to state but for band. Only nine schools across the state get selected and ours did this year. We are going in February and our school is so excited to have this opportunity. I started playing in band in 5th grade. At the time, I played clarinet. I had the deepest hatred towards band as a little 5th grader since none of it made sense and my teacher was incredibly mean. I really didn't like it and I wanted to quit band and never be a part of anything music-related ever again. That was until 6th grade. One night, I went to my brother's band concert and I saw the percussion. I was so entranced by the sounds of the snares and the quick movements of the mallets by the bell players. I knew that if I was in percussion, I would fall in love with it, and I did. I took lessons during the summer between my 6th and 7th grade years. Since then, I have played percussion and I love it every single day. There's something that's so soothing about tapping out the rhythms and being able to read music in my head. I'm so glad that I started playing in band again. I just recently learned how to play the trumpet. I took lessons over the summer last year and I'm so grateful that I did because it's so different than anything I've played before. Being in band means so much to me. It's given me a second family with people who I'm so lucky to have in my life. Being in band isn't just about playing music, it's about creating relationships with the people around you and being able to create something amazing to share with others. Music gives me a way to express myself. You can play how you feel, and sometimes that's the best way for me to communicate. Music makes me happy and I'm so thankful and happy that I didn't stop in 5th grade. Now I'm involved in amazing things that I love. Thank you for reading and I hope you consider my application.

My name is Maya Thesing and I am a senior at Pierz Healy High School in Pierz, Minnesota. Currently, I have a 3.5 GPA. Usually, my GPA remains around 3.7-3.8 but I took college-level statistics last year which was very difficult for me. I'm very excited about college since I have chosen to study civil engineering. I don't know where I want to go to school yet, but I'm thinking of going to North Dakota State University (NDSU). I chose civil because I love to be outside and do anything in nature if I can. When I was little, I had one of the rugs with all the roads on it that you could drive little Hot-Wheel cars on and I always thought that the layout of the roads on the rug was stupid. I always thought that I could come up with a more convenient and efficient way for these toy cars to get around. Being a civil engineer is basically doing that but with actual roads. Also, as a kid, I always liked to build things and work with my hands. I like to be able to envision the finished product before it's completed. When I was little, my grandpa always had me help him build things such as deer stands, dressers, chairs, cabinets, desks, and so many more cool projects. Not only did we do a lot with woodworking, but we also did a lot with automotive work. My grandpa taught me how to change oil in a car, how to replace a muffler in an emergency, and even how to rebuild an engine (not on purpose...). My favorite part of these projects was the planning. I loved coming up with a plan to create these ideas that I had in my head. That's part of the reason I want to do engineering. My grandpa has taught me so much of what I know and I'm so grateful to have him in my life. Unfortunately, he passed away a couple of years ago. I know that he would be proud of my decision to go into engineering. I want to make him proud. Another reason that engineering, and STEM in general, means so much to me is because I'm a woman. I want to be able to show little girls that it's okay to go into a male-dominant field. It's important to me that kids understand that it's okay to do anything you want, as long as it's something that you want to do. Engineering has such an important role in the world and I love being able to be a part of that. I'm so excited to help make changes in my community that will make things more accessible for everyone and be able to have the opportunity to make a meaningful change. I'm not going into engineering for the money, I'm going into engineering for the experience. I'm hoping to learn lots of new information about engineering and just life in general. I hope that you consider my application and thank you for reading.

My name is Maya Thesing and I am a senior at Pierz Healy High School in Pierz, Minnesota. I'm very excited about college since I have chosen to study civil engineering. I don't know where I want to go to school yet, but I'm thinking of going to North Dakota State University (NDSU). I chose civil because I love to be outside and do anything in nature if I can. When I was little, I had one of the rugs with all the roads on it that you could drive little Hot-Wheel cars on and I always thought that the layout of the roads on the rug was stupid. I always thought that I could come up with a more convenient and efficient way for these toy cars to get around. Being a civil engineer is basically doing that but with actual roads. Also, as a kid, I always liked to build things and work with my hands. I like to be able to envision the finished product before it's completed. When I was little, my grandpa always had me help him build things such as deer stands, dressers, chairs, cabinets, desks, and so many more cool projects. Not only did we do a lot with woodworking, but we also did a lot with automotive work. My grandpa taught me how to change oil in a car, how to replace a muffler in an emergency, and even how to rebuild an engine (not on purpose...). My favorite part of these projects was the planning. I loved coming up with a plan to create these ideas that I had in my head. That's part of the reason I want to do engineering. My grandpa has taught me so much of what I know and I'm so grateful to have him in my life. Unfortunately, he passed away a couple of years ago. I know that he would be proud of my decision to go into engineering. I want to make him proud. Another reason that engineering, and STEM in general, means so much to me is because I'm a woman. I want to be able to show little girls that it's okay to go into a male-dominant field. It's important to me that kids understand that it's okay to do anything you want, as long as it's something that you want to do. I'm not going into engineering for the money, I'm going into engineering for the experience. I'm hoping to learn lots of new information about engineering and just life in general. I hope that you consider my application and thank you for reading.

Hello, my name is Maya Thesing, and I'm from Pierz, Minnesota. I'm currently in my senior year of high school, and I will be completing my AA degree through Central Lakes College before I graduate high school this year. After high school, I plan to go to either Minnesota State University Moorhead or the University of Minnesota Morris to get a bachelor's degree in engineering. I'm hoping to go into civil engineering since it's something I've been interested in for a long time. I've been doing multiple job shadows with engineering companies across the state, and I know that engineering is something that I would love to spend my future doing. I currently work as a nanny for a family with two boys with autism. I love getting to be a part of their life and helping the boys grow up safely while also creating meaningful memories. Helping others is something that I'm a strong believer in. As one of the top students in my class, I've always helped my peers if they need it. Not only do I help others academically, but I also help others with physical tasks. I help my grandparents clean and do yard work. I also do a lot of community service for the Minnesota Honor Society. One of my favorite community service activities I did was going to the food shelf and helping give back to the community. I also really enjoyed going to Walmart and buying gifts for children in need. Every year, my family gets little boxes and we fill them with toys, toiletries, and household items for people in need across the world. My church takes the boxes and sends them to a small community in Africa. I've met many interesting people through this and helping them is something that I'll never regret. I think people should help each other more. I'm super excited to go to college and hopefully share my appreciation for helping others with my peers there. I'm beyond grateful and excited to continue my education. I'm hoping that after college, I can get a job in civil engineering to use what I've learned over the past couple of years. My grandfather and uncle have taught me a lot about engineering and drafting since that's what they used to do for work. I understand that those are not the same, but it definitely helped me understand concepts better. I'm just grateful that I have the opportunity to go to college for something I'm passionate about, such as engineering. I plan to use the skills I learn to make the community a better place to be a part of. I'm hoping that by using my trade skills, I'll learn valuable life skills as well.

Science is hard. According to neaToday, "Research consistently shows that interactive, hands-on learning experiences are the most effective for boosting student engagement and understanding of abstract scientific concepts." This is important because it shows how important understanding material is. I believe that by getting the students involved in the subject, they are far more likely to stay engaged and learn more. After graduation, I will be going into engineering. As a woman going into a STEM field, I understand that I need to take many science classes. Unfortunately for me, science does not come easy. I have a hard time staying focused and understanding the material. This can make science very challenging, and at times, makes me feel like I can not do engineering as I will not understand it. Something I found that has helped me significantly is doing labs and experiments. I feel that when I am doing an experiment or lab, I understand the material better, and I understand why the reactions and results are occurring. My current chemistry teacher makes me take a lot of notes, and I do not understand them or know why anything is happening. I write the notes down but never fully comprehend them. It is hard to ask questions when you do not understand what you are even asking. By doing a lab, we break down each process into parts. I can ask questions and see the answers visually. I feel that doing experiments can help everyone comprehend a situation better. Experiments do not just have to be done by a student or teacher in a science classroom. They can be done by anyone and anywhere. My father is a machinist, and he does experiments every single day. He will make a model of a part so he can visualize how it needs to fit together or see how it functions when it is all assembled. This is a form of an experiment. He can do a test, ask questions, find answers, revise his experiment, and do the process all over again until he gets the exact answer he needs. In conclusion, I feel that doing an experiment can help to be able to visualize and understand the subject fully. This can make an immense difference in education. I hope that after reading this, you realize how important it is to do an experiment to understand a subject to the fullest so you can be involved and educated.