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At the age of seven, I traveled to the U.S. to visit my grandparents, due to the COVID pandemic, my family was stuck in the country, and we couldn’t go back to Vietnam. It was difficult to leave my country, my native language, my friends, and most of my family behind. Because I couldn't go back to my homeland, I had to live with my grandparents and my aunt’s family in a small apartment. While living in the states, I’ve always struggled with English fluency. This has been a huge barrier in my life that made it difficult to start a conversation. My English difficulties caused me to become shy and reluctant to express my ideas. I often struggled with pronouncing difficult words and spelling them. Even as I struggle, I still seek to improve my English language skills by reading more books in order to become more fluent as a 7th grader. I was able to persevere through my English difficulties to achieve straight A’s and B’s academically.
Starting brand new also meant financially. When my family came over, we didn’t have much. Being an immigrant created barriers for my parents and limited the jobs they could get. This impacted our families income. As a low-income student, I have fewer learning opportunities than other people. Most opportunities I come across are for high schoolers, only. As a middle schooler, I have reached out to my teacher in order to join the robotics club that is strictly for high schoolers and to help build machinery for the 812 robotic team. I love to learn new things, do projects, cook, build Legos, and design 3d models. I also enjoy playing soccer and helping my mom with fixing household furniture. It’s one of the ways I get out of my comfort zone. Not being able to afford most things, I wasn’t able to pursue most of my passions since they were way out of my family's budget. I was able to go to programs in 6th grade, like the School of Young Entrepreneurs (SofYE) summer program, or the time I went to a fishing program for free, thanks to the help of various scholarships. On all my trips, I get to learn new things, such as survival skills and making business pitches, which will help me in the near future.
Throughout life, I have been interested in mechanical engineering along with electrical engineering, building robots, and software, beginning with seeing the inside of a robot for the first time. Until now, I have watched technology projects on channels from Mark Rober and Nikodem Bartnik, helping me explore how things connect together in physics. These channels have helped me start on small projects like building my first robot “ yeah it not working”, and learning how to fix broken house-hold items, all of which help me understand how the world works. I realized that I should focus on school in order to attend a university to earn both a bachelors and masters degree in mechanical engineering and electrical engineering at my dream colleges, such as MIT or UC Berkeley. I am eager to learn all I can about Robotics, dedicated to making my dream come true in starting my own robotic company. However, similar to my journey with learning English, I am determined to be successful, no matter what challenges come to me, I will learn and grow through it.
The Bridge for Kids programs will open up a world of opportunities for me, such as college visits and various internships. Having the honor to be a part of this will shape my future and help me explore my passions. The Bridge for Kids scholarship money will support me in my journey to becoming a robotics engineer because it will provide me access to materials and funds that I would not have had otherwise.
Thank you for your time and consideration.