My heart was beating out of my chest. My stomach was churning, whispering the truth. Ignoring my gut, I hung on to a sliver of hope. The doctor’s expression made it clear, but it wasn’t until he started speaking - his voice finalizing my tragedy - that my tear ducts gave way. I had never before cried as much as I did in that cold, sterile room. My toe, broken. My heart, crushed. My performance, ruined. In one...

Freshman year, I was a new face in a new town desperately trying to find my place. Most my classmates had grown up together, and I was an outsider with a completely different background. I was uncomfortable and unhappy. To help me adapt, my mom encouraged me to join the ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) team, but I did not want to be in another superficial club. Reluctantly, I attended my first meeting. The upperclassmen were discussing the season's designs as...

I was raised in the vibrantly diverse Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill area of North Carolina whose ethnic diversity created an enriching culture of varied interests and constant development, a true melting pot. I had almost everything I could ever want as an adolescent – a gifted magnet middle school, excellent ballet schools, and close friends from an assortment of ethnic backgrounds. The many cultural events I attended - from Kwanzaa celebrations to bug eating festivals - built a foundation for...

I cannot imagine my world without the arts. I have been dancing since the age of three, playing piano since five, drawing since I could hold a pencil, singing since I could stand in the shower. They are part of me. When I dance, blood pumps through my body, shivers run down my spine, endorphin rushing through my brain. I feel and know its beauty. Every movement - no matter how big or small - completes, empowers, and enlivens my...

Hello! I am Dorothy Szymkiewicz. “Dorothy, like from the Wizard of Oz?” is the reaction I get most often. Yes - my parents didn’t even realize until I told them. “Wait… how exactly do you pronounce that?” is what I get for my last name: Szymkiewicz. It’s Polish. I am half Polish. The other half, you may ask? Chinese. I am “Pol-american-ese!” However, I come from two very different places: a vibrantly diverse Research Triangle area of North...

At seven, I proudly assisted my dad lay hardwood floor. At eight, I manufactured a creative contraption to facilitate our fish tank’s water-changing process. At ten, I won my first bridge-building contest. Whether I knew it or not, I have always been an engineer. It is in my blood, with generations of critical thinkers before me. My own passion for engineering was finally ignited through advanced STEM classes, the Southwire internship, and especially my ROV team. When I first...

For the past three summers, I have attended the International ROV Competition hosted by the Marine Advanced Technology Education Center (MATE). Last year, I piloted our ROV in Alpena, Michigan, where the marketing poster I designed won first place in our division. To get there, we spent up to eighty hours a week laboring away in the workshop and practicing at the pool. I always greatly anticipate competitions, because they are not only a culmination of our efforts, but also...