As a low-income student, I was burdened by the thought that asking questions—especially in a room of talented students in my calculus class—was a sign of weakness. I felt I had to say “sorry” whenever I raised my hand, afraid to show any sign of confusion or incapacity.
However, during the summer of my junior year of high school, I attended the Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America Program held at Princeton University. LEDA is a program aimed at developing the leadership potential of high achieving, underrepresented and low-income students in a university of workplace. In the Aspects of Leadership Course, my instructor Mr. Rosenthal echoed that leaders are to create and inspire their constituents to become leaders. Hearing him speak …show more content…
I decided to take initiative and attend Michigan Introduction to Technology and Engineering program at the University of Michigan and the SUMMET program at Colorado School of Mines in the first two summers of high school. These camps were where I built energy absorbent shoes to walk on, and crack a few, eggs, learned about balancing forces in civil engineering, created an energy saving lava lamp, and created fuel efficient biodiesel for automotive use. I was amazed at how I could physically see a creation in my own hands! Furthermore, in the Freshmen Scholars Institute Program, I learned how to program an electric circuit board for our constructed bottle rocket. We had to conduct several simulations in order to optimize the flight path of the rocket. Having no exposure to coding, I had to take initiative to reach out to the course fellows and truly gain a deep understanding of the programing instead of superficially finding the code to fulfill the assignment. The most rewarding aspect of my experience was identifying a problem and being able to solve and produce the solution for the simulation. It was an enlightening experience that fulfilled my expectation: I came to Princeton to not become a consumer of knowledge, but rather to become enthusiastic producer of knowledge. And with respect to Aidha, I want to be able to produce and create ideas in order to effectively create stronger women entrepreneurs. These research experiences have helped me to become a better problem solver, and I would love to help women within business and research. In addition, these projects required creative and collaborative teamwork, and I was able to enhance my abilities in working with people from diverse backgrounds and
However, during the summer of my junior year of high school, I attended the Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America Program held at Princeton University. LEDA is a program aimed at developing the leadership potential of high achieving, underrepresented and low-income students in a university of workplace. In the Aspects of Leadership Course, my instructor Mr. Rosenthal echoed that leaders are to create and inspire their constituents to become leaders. Hearing him speak …show more content…
I decided to take initiative and attend Michigan Introduction to Technology and Engineering program at the University of Michigan and the SUMMET program at Colorado School of Mines in the first two summers of high school. These camps were where I built energy absorbent shoes to walk on, and crack a few, eggs, learned about balancing forces in civil engineering, created an energy saving lava lamp, and created fuel efficient biodiesel for automotive use. I was amazed at how I could physically see a creation in my own hands! Furthermore, in the Freshmen Scholars Institute Program, I learned how to program an electric circuit board for our constructed bottle rocket. We had to conduct several simulations in order to optimize the flight path of the rocket. Having no exposure to coding, I had to take initiative to reach out to the course fellows and truly gain a deep understanding of the programing instead of superficially finding the code to fulfill the assignment. The most rewarding aspect of my experience was identifying a problem and being able to solve and produce the solution for the simulation. It was an enlightening experience that fulfilled my expectation: I came to Princeton to not become a consumer of knowledge, but rather to become enthusiastic producer of knowledge. And with respect to Aidha, I want to be able to produce and create ideas in order to effectively create stronger women entrepreneurs. These research experiences have helped me to become a better problem solver, and I would love to help women within business and research. In addition, these projects required creative and collaborative teamwork, and I was able to enhance my abilities in working with people from diverse backgrounds and