Joshua Odiase, a rising high school senior at Deer Valley High School. I have an interest in both the STEM-based field and the art/humanities. I believe I can in latent terms "Davinci it" (I made that up), where I can do both. I am keen on the exploration of the vast emerging fields in STEM that have possibilities to revolutionize our world and I am also curious about the world of critical thought impacting how we tackle pressing issues in the political, racial, economic, and climate-based sphere.

of Stem's ubiquitous presence; STEM careers and innovations are contributing to a variety of advancements in societies and other distinct fields alike. STEM challenges the curious; instead of being derivative, it pushes you to be innovative. STEM complements my other interests in film, music, art, and humanities because of the methodical process every scientist has to follow. The ability to create something the world has never seen gives a sense of purpose that seems almost otherworldly. The limits of what STEM can seem almost limitless: providing careers to thinkers, builders, and innovators. The applications of STEM have helped me in my filmmaking of short films to my scientific thinking when addressing philosophical topics.

At the moment, I am in a grey area for what STEM field I would necessarily like to specialize in. I am working on building my portfolio and engaging in other fields to see which career appeals to me the most. I can reasonably say that I am keen on chemistry, physics, sustainable engineering, economics, and the applications of quantum mechanics. I have had a predilection for science since my youth, I think I inherited that from my mom, who would lecture me about genes, moles, ionic and covalent bonds when I was sitting in her classroom (reluctantly) surrounded by posters of the periodic table, past projects, experiments, and scientists. I took that passion and went to compete in the district science fair and won first place and grand champion on my project on aerospace engineering becoming the first black student to do that knowingly in my school district's history. This recent school year I won first place in my county in the physics/astronomy category and proceeded to the CSEF state-level fair. In all, I don't like to restrict myself, that is why I am exploring the wonders of what a possible path in STEM could look like for me; if that be a mad scientist or business tycoon.

Never let a teacher, a class, a friend, a job/internship, environment, group, family member, or life deviate you from your goal. If you have the resolve to succeed and put in the effort for that success to come about, persevere. These are words I should be telling myself to be quite frank, but obstacles are going to come; it's inevitable, but it is tantamount to your success to know how to deal with them so they aren't obstinate to achieving your goals. I like using the Mr. Crocker analogy because I was a fan of Fairly Odd Parents growing up, if you get someone or experience something that resembles a Mr. Crocker, then when he gives an F like he usually gave Timmy Turner on the show, don't sit idle and take it as it is. Learn from it, do whatever you can do and have to do to rectify that F or prevent another one in the future. You have to take the reins of your education and personal success, no one will be able to do that for you in the long run.

Have been subpar. Due to the social loafing effect, I am usually the member of the group who gets the majority to all of the work placed on. I believe this is why my determination and work ethic is a prominent part of my personality. Depending on how you view it, these experiences have made me more independent and self-reliant. I don't let trivial factors like the lack of help stop me from accomplishing the task assigned. This is why when I commit myself to anything, I see myself as the only reliable option. Even with most of my team experiences being similar to this, I've had some teams composed of skeptical individuals like myself. For instance, very recently, I and a couple of friends formed the first annual science expose at my school, we planned and spent hours preparing items, goods, demonstrations, and experiments for students and teachers in our school. When I was preparing our chemistry experiment, ethanol combustion, there was faulty experimentation with too much alcohol added to the bottle without my knowledge, and when I set a match near the opening, blazed a ferocious flame which cinged the back of my fingers and gave me second-degree burns. My teammates came to my aid and advised me to put it under water and go to the doctor; they alleviated my mental strain by offering to cover my role. Even though I was experiencing excruciating pain, the comradery set me at ease.

Side note: it is hard to define my story as it is still being written (it's a work in progress much like the rest of us). Science, you could say is in my blood, passed down from my mom. A Nigerian immigrant along with my father who came with my oldest sister teaches her passion for science to her students. She has endowed the knowledge and meaning of how valuable it is to be both a student along with being a teacher.

In the 6th grade, by combining both my love for literature and science, I crafted a well-articulated presentation on Sir Isaac Newton for my class (I could see how some of my peers viewed it out of the ordinary by presenting science in an English class). I expressed this devout passion for the sciences deeper when I entered my "aerodynamics/aerospace phase" the following year when I was researching topics ranging from drag, the archangel-12, hydrostatic pressure, the troposphere, the stratosphere, and Bernouilli's equation. I would soon form this interest into a winning project at the district fair when I ascertained first place and grand champion becoming the first black student (knowingly) at that level to achieve such a feat in the district's history. You could say this somewhat validated my capabilities of operating in the STEM space. The more competitions and rigorous classes I would take to satiate my curiosity in this field, the less I saw people who looked like me. The number of students of African descent in this realm was (and still is) staggeringly low. However, I didn't and still haven't let this make me lose sight of what I can do; knowing that I am of an underrepresented community such as those of African descent who aren't represented greatly in STEM or given the same recognition as our white counterparts on tech magazines like TIMES or WIRED; I feel a sense of wistfulness to obtain a position to where young kids of my complexion in disenfranchised communities can be exposed to possible career paths they never would of else have known about. I continued this journey to answer my questions in high school; I took classes that would help me answer questions to refine my rudimentary view of the physical world and beyond.

At the time of writing this, I am going through an obstacle. I have taken many arduous classes, both in STEM and in general, but this recent year I was posed with my most difficult academic obstacle yet. In a way, it has demoralized me and has diminished my self-efficacy in the field of STEM. I experienced anxiety-induced stress because of this obstacle which has led me to second guess and contemplate my future in the field of mathematics and science regardless of the awards, past accolades, motivation from others, and lined up future I had made for myself. I joined RePicture, yes to grasp a better insight on careers in the STEM world, but also to see if I can rectify what I now view as broken; to encapsulate everything I once enjoyed in STEM, and see if I can recapture that passion once again.

Sustainability ActivismPrison reformListening to musicPianoTenor SaxophoneReading/Book ClubFilmmaking/CinemaBasketballVolleyballSoccer

In my extensive career as a high school student, I believe that all the classes that I have taken have bestowed on me a vast set of knowledge on the brevity of topics. I would have to say that the two most used classes at this point would be AP Psychology and Video Productions. AP Psychology has enlightened my view on the human condition; from how mundane tasks such as making your bed every day can be linked to Pavlov's classical conditioning or how riots like January 6th to pranks on Halloween night by trick-or-treating groups can be a form of deindividuation. The class has instilled in me a more profound cosmopolitan approach to looking at situations considering how I did before. Video Productions was a class that allowed me to exude my artistic style through film. I learned camera operation, film budgeting, screenplay writing, cinematography, editing, and filmmaking. I held the leadership role/position as director in all the groups I was placed in; this amount of responsibility illuminated both my positive and negative traits. I saw my methodical nature highlighted, but also I saw my mercurial temperament when I was agitated and my domineering personality demanding teamwork but actual subservience from my fellow members. To ensure the success of my group and my film, I learned how to be less managerial and entrust more responsibilities to my constituents; to work more as a cohort rather than as an independent unit. Making me blossom into my unique self.

Resilience, meticulousness, and having an unassailable set of ideals, morals, and goals. Life is complex; an intricate labyrinth of pleasures, tragedies, and obstacles that seem perceivably insurmountable. I am not saying I run into obstacles at every turn in life, I think it's the opposite, but when I do the core of my being is tested. In my experience, I found there is no firm or concrete paradigm to navigate life, but I found that for me having these traits has led me to academic and personal success. I rather abstain from being a vagabond searching for a quaeistum of excelling at life because there isn't one (trust me). On a personal note, this recent year in AP Calculus, I tested my academic and overall resiliency more than ever before: my determination, my nature to never quit what I start, and my end goal for why I took this class was what made me persevere. I'll admit it wasn't ideal and the class didn't end in the most auspicious way, but can I say regret taking it? I'll have to see how life pans out to answer that question, but looking from a more optimistic perspective, I see that "keeping the big picture" helped me to move forward and grow. Keeping in touch with "why" I was doing this made me resilient to the "Mr.Crocker" type grades I wasn't used to getting. Having talent and innate ability is one thing, but having a work ethic and determination goes farther than most give credit.