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Nathan Guerrero

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Finalist

Bio

I love to create. In my time working with technology, I've had many projects that I've taken part in. I've built robots to perform in VEX competitions. I've built a prosthetic arm, with little resources to use, to reach the regional championships for MESA. Beyond competitions, I've created a few personal technology projects, including creating a simple game in Python and creating cultural objects in CAD software. I plan to continue this work through college and into my career days, creating for instutitions that do good in the world. Alongside my ambitions in the technology field, I also have strong passions in music. I've made it one of my life's goals to learn how to recreate the Japanese pop music that I love to listen to. Over three years, I've made a long journey learning music theory, how to play various instruments, and how to arrange music through software. A lot of skills are involved, but it's all in the long pursuit to create music. I plan to do a lot, and achieve a lot, and college is my path forward, though it will be a challenge to afford it with loans.

Education

High Tech High Chula Vista

High School
2018 - 2021

Miscellaneous

  • Desired degree level:

    Bachelor's degree program

  • Majors of interest:

    • Computer Science
  • Not planning to go to medical school
  • Career

    • Dream career field:

      Computer Science

    • Dream career goals:

      Software engineer

    • Intern (but was cancelled due to COVID)

      San Diego Youth Symphony
      2020 – 2020

    Research

    • Zoology/Animal Biology

      UCSD — Attracted ants outside of my house, determining the species, and measuring/recording the data with location to send the UCSD
      2020 – 2020

    Public services

    • Volunteering

      San Diego County Library — Volunteer, doing tasks like shelving, cleaning, and checking in
      2017 – 2020

    Future Interests

    Politics

    Volunteering

    Kap Slap "Find Your Sound" Music Grant
    If money wasn't an issue, I would spend a lot more time working on my music skills. One of the things that have really given me purpose in life has been the pursuit of recreating the music that I love to listen to, which is J-pop music. There's something very distinct and appealing about it that I want to capture for myself. However, my journey in learning to make a J-pop song has been one of learning to make music in general. I plan to be able to make complete songs, and there are a lot of skills involved: composition, lyric writing, production, sound design, and a lot more. Without a day job to worry about, I would be able to pay a lot more attention to all of those skills. With all the new free time, I would spend more of my days writing song ideas and fleshing them out, where hours of producing feel like minutes. As well, with my expanded resources, I would dive deep into all the musical gear and tools that exist out there, experimenting with them and eventually finding unique ways to insert them into full projects. It would be one of the biggest leaps in music skill and creativity I would ever make. In addition to being able to focus more on my own music skills, I would be free to network with other musicians and organize with them. Not having to worry about finances, I could collaborate with them on projects that actually interest me, or play music together for gigs and events where others can hear my work. Something that makes music fulfilling for me is sharing it with others, even more so in person, where it can make a positive impact. If money wasn't an issue, I would spend a lot more of my time creating music and enjoying it, as well as working and playing with others, to pursue my life's project of being able to write J-pop music for myself.
    Austin Kramer Music-Maker Scholarship
    I initially came up with this song idea in the shower, and unlike many other ideas, it really stuck to me after. Most of my work writing it was on the piano, where I naturally figured out the rhythm, the chord progressions for each section, and then finally, the melody. I eventually worked out the other instruments one by one. It helped that I knew which songs influenced my idea, which were "Rainbow Parade" by Aho no Sakata, and "Do You Wanna Do Nothing With Me?" by Lawrence. The latter song I listened to recently through a music analysis video, but for the former song, I only listened to it months before.