My name is Samuel Conduah Jr. I am an African American student who recently graduated from Abby Kelley Foster High School in Massachusetts, and plan to attend Boston University this upcoming fall as a computer science major. I’ve had some experience in volunteering that I believe will be invaluable for me going forward in my ability to interact and give back to the community for providing me with opportunity. One example of my volunteering experience was during a church event last year. “COME ON, YOU CAN DO THIS, KEEP IT GOING,” my cousin and I holler at the top of our lungs as first and second-grade children struggle to climb a six-foot high wooden fence. A child makes it to the top and stresses that they can’t make it over, but by God’s grace, the child lands safely on the rainbow-colored mat on the other side, and the small crowd of kids and volunteers watching them climb erupts into cheer. Hallelujah and Amen. As a Christian, the word of God is indispensable to me, and so I allow Him to guide me through my life. At my church, we annually organize an event called Vacation Bible School where grade school children participate in an array of events based around a common theme. In that year, the theme was about overcoming the obstacles that life may throw at us. Each day, the children had various obstacles to overcome. I was in charge of watching the children attempting to climb multiple-foot high fences and super steep ramps. Leading these children through many different obstacles taught me how important it is to encourage and have empathy for one another, as there was a distinct change in their demeanor and level of perseverance when they had someone cheering them on. Ever since that event, I have attempted to carry empathy and compassion with me wherever I go regardless of who is present. The experience also taught me more about leadership, and how to be a role model for others, like children, to look up to. That is one of my strong motivations for working hard toward my own goals and ambitions because I know that someone is watching, regardless of whether or not I realize it. It also taught me how to take care of and entertain children better in general, which was a skill that never necessarily came naturally to me, and will be valuable as I approach fatherhood. I am very much interested in philanthropy because it gives me a venue to give back to the community, and to be a leader within any community that I may find myself in. As I pursue my goals, doing the unthinkable of potentially becoming an NBA player, I hope to give much of my own resources that I garner back to the community to give them more of an opportunity to find their own ambitions and fulfillment in this world. I also hope to be involved in numerous philanthropic institutions or charities to continue promoting the welfare of others. It is something I feel drawn to, and it is what I believe God’s purpose is for me.

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, which started for me towards the end of 8th grade, I hardly ever thought about my future goals and aspirations deeply, and instead I preferred to escape and play video games. Ever since I was young, though, I knew I wanted to work with computers in some capacity. When parents, especially my parents, and other adults asked about my career plans, I would simply say “computer engineer” because I knew it would make my parents proud, and they always assumed I would go into that field due to my young obsession with video games and computers. This was likely confirmed in their heads when I built my first computer in August 2018, and have built and fixed several others to date. However, as I've grown older, my dreams and aspirations have evolved significantly. In the summer of 2019, I started playing basketball with old friends. It was a fun pastime, and my interest in basketball began to grow, though it was still a casual interest at the time. During the coronavirus pandemic, I had more time to reflect on my life and future, and began to develop a serious interest in basketball. Since playing basketball at outdoor or indoor courts wasn’t an option, I began to watch the NBA and dribble indoors. My enjoyment in watching professional basketball players hoop eventually sparked a thought: “What if I could play in the NBA one day?” Initially, this idea wasn't very serious, but as I continued to watch the game and dribble in my basement, my passion for it deepened. I finally found a genuine passion that felt entirely my own, not something imposed upon me. This isn’t to say that I was never passionate about computers because that was and still isn’t the case, but basketball was and is something I feel more drawn toward. Since then, I've committed myself to basketball, despite facing numerous challenges. During my sophomore year, I made my high school JV team but scored just two points the entire season, and they came in the very first game. In my junior and senior years, I was cut from the varsity team during tryouts. Many aspiring basketball players would have given up after these setbacks, but my struggles have only strengthened my resolve to pursue this dream. I have no intention of quitting because I believe there is still a path forward, and the game is too much of a passion for me to just give up. Quitting, to me, is not an option, because to quit is to fail and give up on myself. In addition to my basketball aspirations, I aim to become a computer scientist. I believe that an education at Boston University will help me achieve this goal. I am extremely ambitious, and I think that chasing one’s dreams, no matter how insurmountable they seem, is the best way to live life. This ambition fuels my belief that “the best is yet to come” because while some might consider my scholastic career a success thus far, my athletic goals have been a struggle. However, I am confident that these struggles are temporary and will eventually lead to my success. My early basketball struggles have taught me the importance of resilience and the value of pursuing genuine passions. It has also shown me that setbacks are not the end but opportunities for growth and self-actualization. My dream of playing in the NBA and becoming a computer scientist may seem implausible to some, but I am committed to working tirelessly to achieve it. The best truly is yet to come.

In March 2024, the immigrant population in the United States reached new record highs of around 51.6 million, which is approximately 15% of the total population. This figure represents a 5.1 million increase over the past two years, marking the largest two-year immigrant growth period the US has experienced, made more significant by the fact that the US has the greatest immigrant population of any other country. This immigrant influx provides evidence to how attractive the American dream can appear for some, and is a concept that has drawn people from across the globe to the US for centuries. My personal definition of the American dream is the pursuit of personal freedom and the opportunity to actualize one’s own dreams, goals, and ambitions. It is the desire to seek a bigger and brighter future for oneself and their current and future families, ultimately driven by the promise of being the “land of the free” that America offers. Many immigrants come to the US in search of a better future for themselves and their children. This is greatly due to the fact that in numerous countries outside the US, there are many oppressive regimes that prevent people from realizing their hopes and dreams. Additionally, many third-world countries, particularly those in Africa, lack the resources and opportunity more readily available in America that would enable individuals to chase their dreams. The oppressive lifestyle and lack of resources in other countries is ultimately what drives many to migrate to America, where achieving a better future seems possible. My own parents are immigrants, and I consider myself blessed to have been born in America. I am forever grateful to have the opportunity to pursue my own personal goals and ambitions, which include becoming a professional basketball player and a computer scientist. With these goals, I hope to give back to the community in various ways monetarily and otherwise. The American dream has enabled me to enroll in one of the most prestigious schools in America, Boston University, which will help me achieve these goals. However, the American dream does not guarantee success or realization of dreams, regardless of whether one is an immigrant or a US-born citizen. This is a lesson I have learned in my young basketball career, having been cut twice from my high school teams. While the American dream provides individuals with numerous possibilities, it is crucial to understand that it does not come without hard work, a fundamental piece of actualizing any dream. Without hard work, opportunities will just remain opportunities. In summary, the American dream can be defined as the belief that America offers the freedom and opportunity for people to pursue their dreams and ambitions. It continues to attract millions around the world, as evidenced by the record-high immigrant population and influx in the US today. Nevertheless, the American dream is not a magic ticket to success but is an opportunity that requires hard work and determination to take advantage of. Success will never be guaranteed, and instead can be earned through hard work and dedication, a lesson I will take with me as I continue to embark on my journey.

My name is Samuel Conduah Jr. I am an African American student who recently graduated from Abby Kelley Foster High School in Massachusetts, and plan to attend Boston University this upcoming fall as a computer science major. The topic of mental health is one that I never wanted to seriously address in the past. When I was younger, I always tried to convince myself that my mental health was completely fine and I had no issues, and while I am not clinically diagnosed with mental health conditions such as MDD, Anxiety, ADHD, and the like, that is not to say that my mental health is flawless. I believe everyone’s mental health can be improved, which is why it probably should be more prominent in other peoples’ lives. Without a strong mind, there is no strong foundation for one to base their lives on top of, which is why I started to take my mental health more seriously as I entered highschool. Since the start of quarantine in March 2020, when I was nearing the end of 8th grade, I have become obsessed with basketball and have goals to become a professional player. Because of that, it has completely altered the course of my life in amazing ways that I am also very grateful for, regardless of the dream’s realization. One of the major areas of my life that I have changed because of the game of basketball has been in my mental health. My mental health used to be something I would never admit to be struggling with if I was because I, especially as a man in western culture, thought it was weak, meanwhile the opposite is true. Many of the world’s problems stem from poor mental health, often due to stress, primarily in individualist cultures, like the US, where it is expected that one works all hours of the day, or “hustle” culture. For me, once basketball really started to change my life, I began to journal in 9th grade, a practice that many claim to help them destress. I took to it instantly, and I still journal to this day as a high school graduate. I have definitely found that it is something that grounds me and allows me to track my daily mental health progress, and it is helpful for me to put all my thoughts down on paper because, with how many things I have to focus on daily, my mind can be all over the place. Another practice is meditation, specifically breathing meditation. Meditation enables practitioners to increase their mindfulness, which is the ability to stay present, and become less reactive to potentially anger-triggering situations. This has been an incredibly powerful practice for calming down my mind and allowing me to focus better, thus improving my mental health. Unlike the popular misconception, not all forms of meditation are religious, and breathing meditation in particular is one I would recommend to everyone. These two practices have drastically improved my mental health by allowing me in a way to reorganize my mind. This improved mental health has allowed me to improve my relationships as well because I am able to be more open to the people around me as I practice being more open and understanding to my own self, as well as allowing me to connect with others on a deeper level. I will continue to apply what I have learned about mental health and how to improve it by recommending these practices to a wider range of people, something I have been hesitant to do because of the societal stigma that surrounds this topic.

I believe that understanding the nature of our universe is a fundamental venture for humanity and its existence considering this is where we reside, allowing us to better our knowledge and daily lives. Despite the millions of years that humans have inhabited this planet that we call “Earth”, our understanding about the nature of the universe at large is miniscule. In fact, I believe that it is conceivable to say that the proportion of the universe that we do understand can be rounded to zero on a scale of one hundred. We hardly understand our own minds, for crying out loud! While there have been groundbreaking discoveries made in science, such as the biological Theory of Evolution created by Charles Darwin, as well as William Harvey’s discovery of the human circulatory system, these advancements to me feel “basic” and “surface-level”. I, as well as properly established scientists and philosophers, have a sense that the understanding of ourselves as human beings and the world around us is just beginning to sprout. According to works “Science before the Greeks” and “Ancient Egypt to Plato” written by David Lindberg and Edward Grant respectively, science’s earliest roots can be traced back to Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, around 3000 to 1200 BCE. Assuming that this is when the concept of “science” was born, that would make the field just 3200 to 5000 years old, which is a far cry from the NASA-claimed 13.7 billion year age of the universe. Because of that gap, it is, again, reasonable to assume that humans know little about the nature of the universe. This is why I believe it is important for people to explore, because exploration leads to discovery, which in turn can lead to a better understanding of the universe. Furthermore, the role of technology in our daily lives underscores this need for exploration. Despite the many benefits of technology, it has made the human race at large complacent. This complacency has arisen not only because of the development of soul-sucking social media platforms (i.e. TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat) which can create an escape from the real-world for many people, namely teenagers, but also because it has produced an illusion of knowledge and understanding among the general population, while the truth is that we do not understand much. Paradoxically, technology can and should be used as a tool to aid in making new discoveries (for example, Franklin and colleagues utilizing X-ray crystallography to discover the double-helix shape of DNA), yet its integration in daily life has often dulled our curiosity and drive, at least in my experience. In my opinion, groundbreaking discoveries require a stable foundation of self-understanding, and thus self-mastery is essential for enabling us to continue understanding the nature of the universe. To this end, I propose my long-term project — an application or software that aims to enhance various aspects of its users’ lives, from physical and mental health to relationships, and even personal goals and ambitions. Through these life improvements, I believe that individuals can more effectively contribute to our collective understanding of the nature of this crazy place. In summary, striving for a better understanding of the nature of the universe is vital for our sustainment and progress as a species. By combining exploration, technological tools, and self-mastery, it is possible for us to continue making significant additions to our current understanding, ultimately allowing us to improve the quality of our lives.

Throughout my entire academic career so far (from kindergarten to a high school graduate), I have always been at the top of my class, and have been regarded as either the smartest or one of the smartest kids in my class. I have maintained straight A’s for the bulk of my academic career, with a single B+ (88%) during my high school tenure in 9th grade writing class. I finished ranked 3 out of 87 in my class with a 4.49 weighted GPA out of a possible 4.6 while being a full IB Diploma student throughout my last two years in high school. This consistency in my grades has allowed me to enroll in one of the most prestigious colleges in the nation, Boston University, where I plan to study computer science and further my academic career. A major part of my academic success so far is my work ethic. I have developed this work ethic not only through my academic career, but also through my favorite sport, basketball, which I have dreams of taking to a professional level. Even if that were to come into fruition, though, the work ethic I have developed from trying to make that work has come in handy for other aspects of my life, primarily through my education, enabling me to go above and beyond the requirements of the classroom. My excellence in my education thus far has impacted my ability to leave a legacy in my family and my community because I am able to attend Boston University, which will give me more opportunity to connect with big names and have a larger impact on those around me than if I went to a smaller college (that is not to say, however, that one cannot have a large impact at a smaller college). Additionally, as previously mentioned, my work ethic is very strong, which will also allow me to help the community. One goal I have in mind is to one day be able to build something, like an app or software, that’s aim is to help people improve themselves in all facets of life (i.e. fitness, developing values, improving relationships, etc.). This idea came to me because as I have gone through my own self-improvement journey in an attempt to become a professional basketball player and to continue to excel in my education, I have noticed that there are many personal development tools/apps scattered around, which can make discouraging to try to improve one’s life since finding the “perfect” tool/app requires a good amount of research/testing (i.e. I have more than five apps I use to keep track of my fitness). I believe that putting everything into one app will encourage more people to improve themselves, thus enabling me to leave a legacy on my family and community.

I am most passionate about studying pretty much anything in the STEM field, but particularly in computer science or engineering. Growing up, my favorite classes in school have been my math class and then my science class. From basic arithmetic classes in grade school, to algebraic classes during middle and high school, and analysis and approaches in my final two years, these classes have always been my favorite because I love how exact everything is. It all usually has just one answer and multiple ways of getting there. It’s something I’ve always enjoyed because I love to be precise and follow a certain logic to get to a certain answer. It just feels… right. Right behind those math classes have always been my science classes. From standard earth science in grade school, to biology classes and a chemistry class, I have always found it so fun to learn more about the world as a whole and think that it is extremely useful to be able to make big changes in the world. Because of my love for math and the sciences, I have decided to pursue a career in STEM, particularly in computer science or engineering as previously mentioned, because it combines math AND science into one package. Part of the reason I fell in love with computers is because my love for math and science is innate, because both math and science are heavily involved with the way that a computer functions. I have also always loved computers partly because of my love for video games when I was younger. In terms of making a difference in the world, I don’t want to go into computer science or engineering and just, well, be another computer scientist or engineer. I want to invent something. I want to bring something new to the table that is going to help the community in more ways than I can even think of right now as a teenager. I’m not exactly sure what it will be (perhaps a new piece of software), but I do know that I do want to help everyone self-actualize, or become the best versions of themselves in every area of life. I believe that humans should take more advantage of being able to access this much technology than to essentially waste a ton of time with it (i.e. social media doom-scrolling). I genuinely want my product to be for the consumer’s benefit and not just for monetary gain, for example. I believe that going into STEM will be one of the best ways for me to make a major difference in the community because STEM is everywhere with the prevalence of technology, and so that is why I want to pursue a career in STEM.

Since the start of quarantine in March 2020, I have become obsessed with basketball and have plans to do big things within the game. Because of those goals, it has completely altered the course of my life in an amazing way that I am so grateful for, and I don’t know where I would be without the game, even if my dream to play professionally does not work out. One of the major areas of my life thatI have changed because of the game of basketball has been in my mental health. I would say that I have never had a big depressive episode, but that isn’t to say that my mental health was or is perfect. It used to be something I would never admit to be struggling with if I was struggling with it because I thought it was weak, but that is absolutely not the case. Much of the world’s problems stems from poor mental health, usually due to the stress placed on every human being, primarily in individualist cultures, like the US, where the expectation is that you are working all hours of the day. For me, once basketball really started to change my life, I began to journal in 9th grade (it has been 1,237 days since I first journaled on January 13, 2021), a practice that many claim to help them destress, or at least garner a sense of their inner dialogue, and I took to it instantly, and I still journal to this day as a high school graduate. I have definitely found that it is something that grounds me and allows me to track my daily mental health progress, and it is helpful for me to put all my thoughts down on paper because my mind can be all over the place. Another practice I began doing consistently for my mental practice has been meditation to increase my mindfulness and become less reactive to certain things that would have upset me in the past. This has been an incredibly powerful practice for calming down my mind and allowing me to focus better and I have done it just about every day since mid-January 2023. These two practices have drastically improved my mental health by allowing me in a way to reorganize my mind. This improved mental health has allowed me to improve my relationships as well because it has allowed me to become more open to the people around me. While my mental health hasn’t necessarily shaped my goals (or at least I don’t think), it is more so that my ultimate goal of playing professional basketball has actually led me to introducing these practices in my life that have improved my mental health.