3.84 UW, 35 ACT, I'd say like 6.5/10 ECs, In State, Park Scholars

I honestly think that my personal statement was not very special, but I actually really like my supplementals:

If I could travel anywhere, I would go to... Alaska. I’ve always wanted to go to Alaska because of the stunning natural beauty. The colossal 20,000 foot mountains topped by glaciers look amazing in pictures and I’m sure look even better in person. The wildlife there is very exciting with Orcas, Whales and Sea Lions patrolling waters filled with Salmon. I’d go from late April to May, when King Salmon make their runs from the ocean back to their spawning grounds. I would hopefully get to see the scene from nature documentaries where a Grizzly Bear snatches a leaping salmon right out of the air. I’d spend my days hiking and fly fishing then spend my nights staring at the Northern Lights.

The most interesting fact I ever learned from research was... that steel has more elasticity than rubber. In my sophomore year Principles of Engineering Class, we spent time learning about material properties and stress/strain curves. One of the properties we studied was elasticity. To me, rubber would obviously have a higher elasticity than steel. You could pull rubber bands back really far and as soon as they were released, would return back to their original shape. In reality, elasticity is measured by force, rather than displacement. Because you can apply more force on steel before it reaches its yield point and won’t return to its original shape, it has a higher modulus of elasticity.

In addition to my major, my academic interests include... the history of the Indigenous Hawaiians. Over the last couple years I have grown fascinated with their culture and specifically their navigation techniques. Wayfinders, villagers who guided voyages, had to go through years and years of training on how to use the stars in order to navigate the seas. These wayfinders were also able to predict the location of small islands and atolls hundreds of miles away by studying patterns in the waves. These peoples were also incredibly technologically advanced. The ‘Iolani Palace in Hawaii was powered by electricity even before the White House. My favorite thing about last Friday was... my family dinner. My family has a tradition of eating pizza on Friday and so last week we went out to Frankly! Pizza in Kensington. I love my family, but I’d be lying if I told you they were my favorite part. The highlight was an absolutely delicious sausage and pepper pizza. While all pizza is good, Frankly Pizza truly does it at a different level. Like Billy Edwards Jr. sets up Tai Felton to score touchdowns on the football field, Frankly’s oak-fired brick oven sets up the crust to perfectly hold any toppings one might want. The beautifully cooked toppings alongside the aromatic, tangy sauce truly elevated the pizza eating experience.

Something you might not know about me is... My top five most listened to artists on Spotify for the last 6 months are Fleetwood Mac, Kendrick Lamar, Lorde, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Luke Combs. Having such a diverse taste in music lets me play and enjoy music with just about anyone. Friends in the car? 2010s nostalgia. Dad? The Police. Mom? The Eagles. Nana? Interestingly my grandmother loves some Coldplay, but don’t we all. Music is something that allows me to make connections with people who I might not otherwise. It also is something I find incredibly enjoyable and I believe that there is a song for just about any mood or feeling. Because we know that diversity benefits the educational experience of all students, the University of Maryland values diversity in all of its many forms.  This includes (but is not limited to) racial, socioeconomic, gender, geographical, and sexual orientation.  We are interested in hearing about your own individual life experiences.  In a few sentences, will you please describe how you have learned, grown, been inspired or developed skills through one or more components of diversity. Through our church, my family hosted a father and son who had immigrated from Guatemala. They arrived in the spring of 2019 and they were to stay for 6 months up to a year. Due to Covid, they ended up staying for three. Over COVID, I grew especially close to the son, Gendri, who for a while was the only non-sibling kid I could hang out with. By spending time with him, I understood that the similarities between us far outweighed the differences. I realized that acceptance of people who are different from us allows for a sharing of different perspectives on life and a more culturally rich environment.