Time, My Most Cherished Gift

The most important one is time. As I see it, there is so much time saved throughout the day. For instance, I no longer drive to school. In my previous life, most things were generally routine. A night of sleep, a drive after school, a load of laundry, a hot bath, a cup of tea, and it goes on. After certain years, these things fall into my category of averageness. Although it becomes a sense of boredom and repetition, this weariness and repetition are the inspirations for my creations. This time and flexibility allowed by the online world during the coronavirus urged me to plan, organize, analyze, and particularly create. I strive to appreciate my daily activities as often as I can.

“Nobody ever figures out what life is about, and it does not matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough”.

This has opened me to an appreciation for ideas, people, and things. Perhaps I also get inspired by not what I know, but by what I do not know. As I glance at the starry night sky, staring at the incomprehensible–the infinite space above me, I experience an overwhelming awareness of how little I know. It reminds me of the unclarity of life. It proves to me that what I think I know is probably wrong. -Richard Feynman said that “Nobody ever figures out what life is about, and it does not matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough”. At the base of almost everything, the conclusion is we do not know. The reason I sleep and dream remains a mystery. People are fascinating; I can’t help but appreciate their creativity. The little moments make me excited and the mistakes become less significant.

To answer the question, navigating online has been hectic, busy, and confusing. It has been an experience of waiting an hour on a phone call, getting an email response after 5 days, not understanding my statistics class, watching excessive Tiktok videos, and much more. However, I have been able to generate ideas like never before. Often my inspirations are random thoughts, memories, illusions, or simply something that I do not know. I wonder if my inspirations are nothing, somehow through me, they become everything. I wonder if I create art by living through it.

I believe that this creativity impacts a great part of my future. This ability allows me to take risks, to be open-minded. It permits me to reveal my inhibitions. This side of me helps me approach situations from many perspectives. I see things differently and better deal with uncertainty. I have become vulnerable to share my art and accept that some of my creations may never see light again. Most importantly it improved my health and life, provided relaxation and serenity; it filled my life with positive emotions such as love, forgiveness, joy, and hope. This is my experience living and navigating in an online world.

Editor’s Note: This essay was written by Annika Pierre Michel, winner of the 2021 YuJa Essay Scholarship Contest. Learn more about Annika here.

Through the Wardrobe

Through the Wardrobe

by Samantha Jones

As an English major, I have been exposed to an incredible assortment of literature. I have read pieces that have shaken me to the core, transformed the way I think, taught me empathy, and I am so grateful for these things. But for everything I have learned from my classes, I have learned just as much, if not more, from the fairytales that made up my childhood. My favorite storybook when I was young was “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” by C.S. Lewis and it remains to this day one of my favorite stories.

The book was an escape into a world that was much more exciting and meaningful to me than that of my life. The book showed me that someone as seemingly insignificant as a child could be a hero, and have adventures and I could go on those adventures when I read the books. Every step a character took, I was walking right beside them.

The lessons I learned from my trips Narnia are innumerable and every time I read it, I gain new insights. I learned from Lucy to believe in magic, that you should be kind to strangers, and loyal to your friends. Edmund taught me that it’s okay to make mistakes, and be afraid. Then, he taught me to learn from my mistakes and grow. Peter showed me that leadership is not just telling people what to do or where to go, it is listening and understanding, so that you can be a guide to those around you. Susan reminded that while it is okay to be a little skeptical, I should never let that get in the way of what is important.

I learned many things but more than that, I realized that the intricate fabric of Narnia was woven with many of the same threads that make up real life. There is good and evil, there is temptation and there is redemption. When I first stepped through the wardrobe, I began to form a new understanding about how life works. As I get older, I am becoming more aware that while I cannot prevent the evil and the temptation in my life, I can make choices about how I respond to it. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” is important to me because it has become part of the foundation on which I have built myself up. The heroes of this story have served to shape me as person and I hope that when I act and speak and think, I do so in a manner that would be worthy of a queen or king of Narnia.

Fall 2018 Scholarship Winner – Darian Williams

Tell us about yourself:

I’m from Utah, USA, and earned a degree in Anthropology from Southern Utah University. I’m currently a graduate student of Global Environmental Studies at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan. I’m focusing my MA thesis on sustainability marketing, and currently have content marketing internships with American startup Alda Lifestyle and international organization Plastic-Free Tuesday. I also work part-time as an English teacher.

What has been your best experience in school?

During my second semester, I was able to go on a research trip to a small town called Karuizawa. While I didn’t directly learn anything about marketing, I gained hands-on experience with forest management. I also learned many traditional Japanese conservation methods that are unfortunately beginning to die out. On top of that, I was able to bond with my classmates and professors over good Japanese sake!

What influenced your choice in major?

During my undergraduate, I learned of primate endangerment in a biological anthropology course and decided to focus my senior thesis on the various dimensions of this problem. My findings from this thesis made me understand that conserving natural resources can’t be done from a one-dimensional perspective. As I approached grad school, I knew that I wanted to make sustainable living more doable for a greater number of people. Because of this, I decided to focus my MA thesis on how to increase sustainable consumption with marketing methods.

How do you envision yourself in 5 years?

I’d like to continue globe-hopping while working remotely as a sustainability marketer. Since I originally come from the countryside, which is quite homogeneous, I’m happy to experience different cultures. I also see this as an important educational and career skill in an increasingly globalized world. I’d like to be working on a diverse range of environmental problems and hope to see improvements in climate change, waste management, and biodiversity loss.

What do you hope to learn from your school experience?

I would like to gain a deeper understanding of human behavior because I see this as paramount to creating a sustainable future. This is something that was part of my undergraduate education, so it’s an extension of what I already know. Something that I missed during my undergrad, though, was any type of marketing or business knowledge. Although human behavior is important for sustainability, so are economic processes. I intend on melding these two elements in my final thesis as well as my career. What extracurricular activities do you enjoy? Most of the time that I don’t spend on my thesis is put towards two internships. One focuses on the general growth of a sustainable startup, in which I do everything from blogging to email marketing to Twitter growth. The other is more specific and focused because it’s for an organization that aims to decrease plastic waste with doable, everyday changes. I am currently working on revamping the organization’s Pinterest account in order to grow awareness about its mission.

Emerging AI in Healthcare and its Impacts on the Modern World

One specific example of AI in healthcare is the development of Google Health in recent years. While the initial version of Google Health was discontinued in 2012, a new branch was reorganized in 2021 with the goal of improving “access to high-quality, equitable healthcare across the globe” (Corrado) and the ability to offer “clinicians a longitudinal view of patient records and the ability to quickly search through those records using a single secure tool” (Landi). While Google Health has many benefits for physicians and their patients, there are also many concerns that come with introducing advanced technology into sensitive spaces.

Google Health is a great resource for health care providers to pull up medical documents, view test results, and send prescriptions to pharmacies quickly and efficiently. Furthermore, Google Health has programs such as ARDA, or Automated Retinal Disease Assessment, which uses AI to detect ophthalmological issues such as diabetic retinopathy. This complication of diabetes can cause blindness if left untreated, so rapid detection is essential. Google Health also has programs that can measure heart and respiratory rates with a smartphone camera, which is “now available on over 100 models of Android devices, as well as iOS devices.” (Corrado) Recently, Google Health developments have also introduced that smartphone microphones may be able to detect heart or respiratory issues such as heart murmurs or heart valve disorders in the near future. While doctors use stethoscopes as routine parts of every medical exam, the technology in smartphone microphones could pick up abnormalities in heart rates or breathing patterns without having to go to a doctor’s office.

However, while there are many benefits to utilizing AI in medicine, there are several drawbacks. For example, data leaks are a serious concern. If AI has access to millions of people’s sensitive medical histories worldwide it would be devastating if that data somehow got hacked into or leaked. Furthermore, AI can still be inaccurate when reporting information, so if people take the information AI gives them at face value, it could lead to many misdiagnoses or incorrect information being given to patients. Finally, AI will lead to a significant loss in jobs. As reported by the 2018 World Economic Forum, “ AI [will] create a net sum of 58 million jobs by 2022…[but] 75 million jobs will be displaced or destroyed by AI by the same year.” (“Pros & Cons of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine – College of Computing & Informatics”) This net loss of 17 million jobs is detrimental to people working these jobs and their families.

To conclude AI in healthcare settings is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it will be revolutionary in providing at-home healthcare solutions and disease detection, while at the same time bringing severe job loss and security threats. However, people today can look forward to a more modern approach to everyday healthcare practices and advancements in how we detect health problems.

Works Cited
Corrado, Greg. “The Check Up: our latest health AI developments.” The Keyword, 24 March 2022, https://www.blog.google/technology/health/check-up-ai-developments-2022/. Accessed 12 May 2022.

Landi, Heather. “ViVE 2022: Google Health expands AI capabilities of Care Studio to organize patient data.” Fierce Healthcare, 8 March 2022, https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/health-tech/vive-2022-google-health-expands-ai-capabilities-care-studio-organize-patient-data. Accessed 12 May 2022.

“Pros & Cons of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine – College of Computing & Informatics.” Drexel University, 21 July 2021, https://drexel.edu/cci/stories/artificial-intelligence-in-medicine-pros-and-cons/. Accessed 12 May 2022.

Fall 2017 Scholarship Winner – Samantha Jones

What has been your best experience in school?

I admit, when I began studying English at a Polytechnic school, I wasn’t expecting an amazing program, since the humanities are often a lower level concern on many similar campuses. I could not have been more wrong though. The small major has afforded me the opportunity to be on a fist name basis with many of my professors, who in addition to being amazing mentors, have been some of the most brilliant people I have had the pleasure of knowing. My classes have been incredible and the further I get into the major, the stronger my sense of sureness in my own expertise becomes. I have no doubt I will come out of this major a stronger writer, a more analytical reader and a confident participant in the literary conversations already going on.

What influenced your choice in major?

I am a third year English major, with a minor in interdisciplinary studies and plans to pursue museum studies if grad school. I am a voracious reader, a passionate writer, and I have been in love with the notion of storytelling for as long as I can remember. Initially I began my English career at Cal Poly with plans to pursue creative writing. Since then I have become entranced with my literature classes and picked up a minor, which has turned my attention toward the way museum education utilizes storytelling.

How do you envision yourself in 5 years?

In five years, ideally I will be finished with my graduate studies and working at a museum that includes some kind of historical/cultural studies component. I would like to be working in Exhibit design and curation. I believe museum culture has the potential to contribute powerful change and to promote greater cultural tolerance in society and I want to be part of that movement. I believe storytelling increases empathy and so I want to explore the narratively of museum exhibits.

What do you hope to learn from your school experience?

I am fortunate in that I have always loved school and learning. My education has not only been extremely important to me, it has been something I actively enjoy and seek out. From college, I am hoping for more than just a degree earned by specific units, more than just the collaborative skills necessary for interacting with others in everyday life. I want to graduate having gained understanding about who I am as a person, what I value and believe. College has been, for me, the opportunity to establish myself as an individual and what I hope for is that when I am through with school, I will have a greater love and appreciation for myself and the work I am capable of, as well as a great curiosity and a continuing desire to learn.

What extracurricular activities do you enjoy?

Philanthropy and sisterhood have always been extremely important to me. I high school I was involved in a youth sorority sponsored by the Freemasons and served as an officer on the State level. Now that I am in college, I have become very involved in my sorority, Alpha Gamma Delta, and I am currently serving on our Executive Council as Property Coordinator. I am also a new initiate in the Order of Omega, the Greek Honor society on my campus. In addition to my job as a tutor at the writing center on Campus, I volunteer as a docent at the local aquarium.

---

Samantha’s Essay

Through the Wardrobe

by Samantha Jones

As an English major, I have been exposed to an incredible assortment of literature. I have read pieces that have shaken me to the core, transformed the way I think, taught me empathy, and I am so grateful for these things. But for everything I have learned from my classes, I have learned just as much, if not more, from the fairytales that made up my childhood. My favorite storybook when I was young was “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” by C.S. Lewis and it remains to this day one of my favorite stories.

The book was an escape into a world that was much more exciting and meaningful to me than that of my life. The book showed me that someone as seemingly insignificant as a child could be a hero, and have adventures and I could go on those adventures when I read the books. Every step a character took, I was walking right beside them.

The lessons I learned from my trips Narnia are innumerable and every time I read it, I gain new insights. I learned from Lucy to believe in magic, that you should be kind to strangers, and loyal to your friends. Edmund taught me that it’s okay to make mistakes, and be afraid. Then, he taught me to learn from my mistakes and grow. Peter showed me that leadership is not just telling people what to do or where to go, it is listening and understanding, so that you can be a guide to those around you. Susan reminded that while it is okay to be a little skeptical, I should never let that get in the way of what is important.

I learned many things but more than that, I realized that the intricate fabric of Narnia was woven with many of the same threads that make up real life. There is good and evil, there is temptation and there is redemption. When I first stepped through the wardrobe, I began to form a new understanding about how life works. As I get older, I am becoming more aware that while I cannot prevent the evil and the temptation in my life, I can make choices about how I respond to it. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” is important to me because it has become part of the foundation on which I have built myself up. The heroes of this story have served to shape me as person and I hope that when I act and speak and think, I do so in a manner that would be worthy of a queen or king of Narnia.

2020 YuJa Scholarship Winner – Dara Nicole Díaz Ríos

Congratulations to Dara Nicole Díaz Ríos as the winner of the 2020 YuJa Scholarship Contest

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BEST EXPERIENCE IN SCHOOL?

The experience of being an exchange student in San Francisco was for me a transformational academic experience. One of my fondest memories of my semester abroad was an incredible experience that took me home; on a cold spring afternoon as I was leaving the university gym, I saw my dance teacher from Nicaragua coming toward me. Coincidentally she was teaching at USF and invited me to her dance class with the school’s company. This wonderful opportunity opened my eyes to the realization that the world is more interconnected than ever and that we can connect with our roots anywhere.

HOW DO YOU ENVISION YOURSELF IN 5 YEARS?

By 2025, I will be developing new ways to distribute more inclusive and accessible artistic content for rural Latin American communities. I see myself getting to know and collaborating with rural populations to document and preserve their traditions and give them the gift of art that has been so transformational for me. Additionally, I know I will be continuing with my education a process that will never end.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO LEARN FROM YOUR SCHOOL EXPERIENCE?

My main interest is to be able to develop my own voice, to understand my unique way of seeing the world, and to be able to communicate it to create a positive impact. I am confident that my university experience will help me build a network of artists who have the same interest in developing a global union for artistic inclusivity and democratization.

WHAT EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES DO YOU ENJOY?

My curiosity is infinite, I am always open to new experiences and eager to learn from others. The breadth of my hobbies is extensive: sports, gardening, all kinds of plastic, visual and performing arts, and any opportunity to give back and share with my community. I especially enjoy listening, writing, and sharing stories as this is a way to mix my vocation with my passions.

Related Article: Scholarship Submissions 2020

2021 YuJa Scholarship Winner – Annika Pierre Michel

Congratulations to Annika Pierre Michel, the winner of the 2021 YuJa Scholarship Contest

TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF:

My name is Annika Pierre Michel. I enjoy analyzing, creating and traveling. In leadership, I value interactions, health, and freedom. I am passionate about architecture. I am attracted to learning interesting skills and meeting like-minded individuals. I currently enjoy playing chess, assembling puzzles, and binge-watching shows and movies. I’m also an advocate for environmental sustainability. In the future, I envision an exceptional work-life balance while achieving greater creativity, developing my work, and exchanging ideas. My life goal is to improve my health and life endlessly.

 

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BEST EXPERIENCE IN SCHOOL?

My best experience in school is learning something interesting enough and meeting like-minded individuals.

WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR CHOICE IN MAJOR?

For many of us, being financially stable is a way of defining our success. Money is traded for nearly anything, home, food, school, accessories, and the list goes on. Nevertheless, I believe my field of study is crucial in today’s society. Finance ensures that people’s sources of income and livelihoods are maintained. It is beneficial to everyone. Individuals, businesses, and governmental entities all value it.

HOW DO YOU ENVISION YOURSELF IN 5 YEARS?

In 5 years, I want to be the one to help my clients reach their inflection point and celebrate their maximum financially. I envision myself to be seen as honest, bold, and accountable. Most importantly, I envision an exceptional work-life balance while achieving greater creativity, developing my work, and exchanging ideas.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO LEARN FROM YOUR COLLEGE EXPERIENCE?

From my college experience, I hope to learn how to make better financial decisions. For instance, helping my clients achieve their goals with plans, such as savings, investments, budgets, insurance, tax strategies, and much more.

WHAT EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES DO YOU ENJOY?

I currently enjoy playing chess, assembling puzzles, and binge-watching shows and movies. I love to volunteer as it helps my community. I also advocate for environmental sustainability.

We would like to thank all the participants for entering in our 2021 Annual YuJa Essay Contest! We were blown away by the number of participants and interest in our Essay Contest, and we look forward to your participation next year in our 2022 Annual YuJa Essay Contest.

Read all the essays from the 2021 scholarship contest: Scholarship Submissions 2021