Miles-upon-miles of yellow spines, a little magnifying glass plastered on each catches my gaze. Running my fingers along the edges, 8-year-old-me was mesmerized. The illustrious Nancy Drew ignited my lifelong mystery obsession. After devouring every novel, I dove into works by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, learning from the minds of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot. Every plot, granted, is similar: a beat-by-beat mystery, but there is something infinitely satisfying in untangling riddles. I felt like Benedict Cumberbatch (aka BBC’s Sherlock) sitting down in calculus or physics. Drawing diagrams and vectors and parsing formulas, I beam at each problem-solving “Eureka!” While I have limited answers, the art of decoding and deciphering problems is “elementary,” my dear Watson.
Looking for new problems to solve I found myself, sitting on a bucket in a sustainable materials lab at UT Arlington - slowly developing a cramp in my hand as I ground seashells into powdery dust with a mortar and pestle. The goal: reduce particles to 75 micrometers and then use them as the Calcium Carbonate component in our new cement. It was another case to crack: how to take Ordinary Portland Cement that produces one ton of CO2 per ton. The investigation was simple–take dredged sediment, destined for landfill, and use those raw materials to make new cement, avoiding the carbon dioxide releasing limestone. My work was more pedestrian, spending hours on my bucket-perch, using brute force to pulverize obstinate seashells into submission.
A 12-year volleyballer, I’ve spent my whole life familiar with team dynamics, and my best lessons were as captain during junior and senior years. Learning that listening skills are key to fostering connection, I knew that solving the mystery of how to win games would be kickstarted by understanding each other. 
When Embrace Texas was hosting their family camp for families affected by foster care and was struggling to fill time productively, I found my new case. Combining my art skills with my desire to help I recruited friends for last-minute-researching, social-media-blast-plea-fundraising, and craft-store-runs, I purchased the supplies needed to create phone charms and tote bags. Setting up a table with my supplies, the kids, after playing outside in the heat, were called in for arts and crafts. With 75 plus eager sets of eyes on me, I cleared my throat and began to explain how to make the charms and decorate the bags. Implementing daily art programming for the camp, I taught new art skills and watched them discover a love for art and creating. Thrilled, they left my art station with huge grins. 
Answering these so-called mysteries and many more has been so rewarding, and I am always looking for the next problem to solve. Equipped with the multitude of resources of UT and a program unlike any other, I am looking forward to working on my next cases on the Forty Acres.

Major
Civil Engineering and Plan II Honors

Honors Program
Engineering Honors and Plan II Honors 

Extracurricular Activities
Delta Gamma

What drew you to the Forty Acres Scholars Program?
Growing up I visited Austin multiple times a year to see my great-grandma, so UT as a school had always been in the back of my mind. When I walked into the lobby on finalists weekend I was thrilled to find so many fellow high school seniors with a drive to change the world. As I met and talked with them and was shown the resources of UT, the Forty Acres Scholars Program felt more and more like home, where I could find resources, grow relationships, and make a difference all with the program.