Beyond the Numbers: Discovering My Passion for Statistics by Gavin

Beyond the Numbers: Discovering My Passion for Statistics by Gavin - February 2025 Scholarship Essay

Throughout my journey, few academic subjects have shaped my aspirations and goals for the future so much as AP Statistics. What began as a simple math class I took in order to help boost my GPA through weighted coursework, quickly became a subject I began to use in all aspects of my life. Through analyzing real-world data sets, interpreting trends, and drawing meaningful connections, I began to understand the real value statistics play in finance and economic forecasting.
Growing up, I thought I was going to go to college for engineering; I had loved robotics growing up and been a part of my school’s club since I was in 4th grade. However, when I was in my sophomore year of high school, I was starting to fall out of love with the field, as I didn’t enjoy the calculus problems that were difficult to understand and felt like they were being thrown at me.
In order to make a change, I began to take more business-based classes starting in my junior year, where I found I loved my macroeconomics and marketing classes. While these classes served as a great introduction to the field of business for me, it didn’t feel like I had found my niche, and I was growing worried I would not find something to major in that I truly enjoyed. As a result, I decided to take AP Statistics going into my final year of high school and was initially skeptical when I got into the class. However, while the coursework might have been hard, I immediately fell in love with the subject after earning a perfect score of 100 on my first test. Something about the class just clicked for me, and it felt easy understanding the concepts about standard deviation, test statistics, p-values, etc.
The more I found myself immersed in the world of statistics, the more I realized its value in applications everywhere. I began to analyze the stock market and used the ideas I learned in class to not only help me with simulated trades through Investopedia, but also, to help my real-world investing decisions, helping me to open a joint-investment account with my brother in a ROTH-IRA. I used the concepts acquired in AP Statistics to help with other subjects too, including the presidential election with probabilities and my own athletic journey in lacrosse, through understanding where opposing players like to shoot and how accurate they are.
As I prepare for college, I know that statistics will play a central role in my academic and professional future. I plan to major in Financial Markets and Economic Analysis, a field that is directly connected to relating statistics to usable information. Going forward, I am interested in participating in research projects and internships that will allow me to further develop my analytical skills. Looking back, my decision to take AP Statistics was one of the most defining moments in my high school career. What started as an optional class I took to help boost my grades, ended up turning into a career-defining class that will go on to shape my future. Statistics has given me a new perspective on problem-solving and decision-making, and I am extremely excited to continue exploring its endless possibilities in college and beyond.