Everything I have ever done until this point has led me in one direction towards graduate school and for me, going to graduate school is composed of three distinct steps. First, it is about mastering a skillset and developing my education. By obtaining my graduate degree in Statistics, I hope to develop the tools necessary to predict and analyze data, advance critical thinking skills, and defend my work.

However, the importance of further studies more than obtaining the hard tools. Through my last two summers of research, I have developed a passion for exploring and hunting through data. My Jesuit education at Loyola University has instilled in me a quest to better the world. With this degree, I can intermix my passion for research and the importance of social justice and contributing to society by working on datasets surrounding systematic oppression and demographics.

Lastly, sharing the wealth of the education I receive to individuals who do not have access to education or underrepresented individuals in the STEM fields is my end goal. At my current university, I have had the privilege to stand in front of the classroom for 3 years, both advising first year students and tutoring advanced mathematics to other students, and in the classroom was where I found my true bliss. Recognizing the importance of teaching the way students learn, instead of teaching the way one was taught is fault in the American education system, and I hope to be able to rectify it. Through teaching, I hope to spark the interest of students for mathematics in the same way my professors have done for me, empower minority groups to consider STEM fields, and implement teaching strategies on how math education is taught.

In the pursuit of my dual degree in mathematics and statistics, I had the opportunity to take an advanced predictive analytics course. The class centers around estimating a function which minimizes the test error by optimizing parameters. Like this course, I hope my graduate studies can prepare me in with the best education, which will be optimized through research, and tested on how I in turn give back to those who have served me.

With my past experiences here at Loyola, I believe I can ssuccessfully pursue a higher degree in my field and continue to learn for the rest of my life as a researcher. I aspire to obtain a PhD in Statistics and continue research in optimization and predictive analytics. Eventually, I hope to lecture at the university level and as a future professor, I hope to change the outlook of STEM and how it is taught in the classroom.