According to Statista, the global anti-aging beauty market is estimated to be worth $58.8 billion. On the other hand, our society does everything in its power to hide the fact that aging happens. The longer we live, the more we grow and learn and experience life, and "aging" is simply the mathematical sum of those experiences. Few people would wish for the kind of short, uneventful life that would remove aging from the equation completely. From one perspective, it's something we should be grateful for. If he pulls this off, it could be life changing for the 2 million people in the United States that live with the loss of a limb.Īging is a weird thing. polySpectra produces durable 3D material.Ĭhoi plans to attend college to study engineering and wants to continue working on his prosthetic arm, eventually bringing it to clinical trials. He is also a recipient of a manufacturing grant from polySpectra Inc., awarded in 2020 to help with the production of the arm. He has won awards in the Microsoft Imagine Cup, the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair and the National At-Home STEM Competition. The high schooler still has a way to go before the arm is complete and ready to be put on the market but that hasn’t stopped him from being recognized. Presently, a basic body-powered upper body prosthesis will run you around $7,000.Ĭhoi works with volunteers to collect data and improve the functionality of the AI arm. Choi is still able to maintain the affordability of the prosthetic, with manufacturing costs of around $300. The arm is currently on its 75th iteration. Over the past two years, Choi has been working to perfect the arm before adding a socket, which he says will require a recipient to be custom fitted. He’s gone to the VEX Robotics World Championships several times and in 9th grade he taught himself computer programming languages C++ and Python by watching videos on Stack Overflow.įor now, the arm is mounted on a stand.
He has been participating in robotics competitions since he was in elementary school, requiring him to not only build robots, but code them so they would move the way he wanted.
People shouldn’t have to choose between pursuing their dreams and taking debt to the grave.Īmazingly, the prosthetic arm wasn't Choi's first go at coding.
Until we can figure out how to better regulate the lending companies in charge of student loans, the next generation will repeat the cycle. Seventeen- and 18-year olds with a dream of attending college and questionable loan practices is a perfect storm for continued crisis in the student loan arena.
The truth of the matter is that children who three months prior had to ask permission to use the bathroom are now expected to understand the long term implications of borrowing money from a company that doesn’t care that the average person can’t pay it back plus interest. If stories like Michelle’s are the norm, why aren’t we doing more to regulate student loan companies? Presidential candidates like to talk about student loan forgiveness, and some have come up with actionable plans, but it doesn’t solve the long term issue of student loan practices. Man wearing white top using MacBook Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash When going through her mother’s paperwork after her death, Michelle was met with a shock.
Unfortunately her mother became unexpectedly ill and passed away before she was able to retire or pay back the loans. To her mother, it was worth it to hold up her end of the bargain. Miller’s mother was expected to pay $400 a month on the student loans, but this would cut into her retirement, leaving her below the poverty level. When Michelle’s mother informed her that the original $15,000 turned into $40,000 after interest, Michelle decided to save money in preparation to take over payments. Michelle lamented on Twitter about how her mother insisted on paying back her agreed-upon portion of the student loans though the daughter offered to take over payments.
After graduation the daughter owed approximately $30,000 and, split between the two of them, it meant they would each need to pay back $15,000.
In the case of one Twitter user, Michelle Miller, her mother agreed to pay back half of Michelle’s student loans to ease the burden on the new graduate. Inevitably many students and parents have to take out student loans in an effort to fill in the gaps left by financial aid. Parents work multiple jobs, put pressure on their children to perform at the top of their class in order to earn merit scholarships, all in the hopes for college to be mostly paid in full.