Kerry Kennedy Life Is Good Scholarship

My career of choice is clinical social work. I am pursuing social work because I want to do public service that is personal, practical, and life-changing. I want to support people when life feels unmanageable, when systems are confusing, and when they do not have the resources or the language to advocate for themselves. I am especially drawn to geriatric social work, because older adults are often treated like an afterthought even though they carry so much history, loss, resilience, and unmet need. I have seen how powerful it is when someone is treated with dignity and not rushed or dismissed, and I want my career to be built around giving that kind of care. I am passionate about social work because I know mental health and stability are not just personal issues. They are shaped by money, housing, family stress, health, and the way systems respond to people. A lot of the time, the people who need help the most are the ones who have to fight the hardest to access it. Social work combines what I care about most: listening deeply, understanding people in context, and helping them move from surviving to having real support. I want to be the person who does not look away, who helps someone create a plan, find resources, and feel less alone. That is the kind of work that stays with you, and that is why I chose this path. The sacrifices I have made for my education are not one dramatic moment, but a pattern of choices. As a low-income, first-generation college student, I have learned how to make a small amount of money stretch and how to plan around uncertainty. I have had to be strategic about what I spend, what I postpone, and what I can do without. There have been times when I have chosen textbooks, fees, or school needs over things that would have been more fun or more comfortable. I have learned to be patient with myself and disciplined with my budget, because staying enrolled and staying on track matters more than short-term comfort. I have also sacrificed time and rest. Balancing coursework with extracurricular commitments means my schedule is rarely easy. I am involved in service work because I believe it matters, but it also means I often spend my energy on others when I could be taking the easier route. Even so, those choices have shaped me into someone consistent and reliable, and those are the qualities I want to bring into my profession. I have also sacrificed comfort in a different way: the comfort of having a clear roadmap. Being first-generation means I have had to ask questions, advocate for myself, and sometimes admit I do not know what I am doing while still pushing forward. I have had to learn how to navigate college systems, financial aid processes, and academic expectations that were not explained in my household. That can feel intimidating, but it has also built resilience and confidence that I carry with me. I am proud of the sacrifices I have made because they reflect my mission. I am not pursuing social work casually. I am choosing it as a public service profession because I want my education to translate into care that reaches people who truly need it. This scholarship would support not only my degree, but the future work I plan to do for my community.

Last year, I spoke to a WIC nutritionist, and one thing she said that stood out to me was how she meets her clients where they are and then takes them to where they need to be. This statement made me think about how healthcare workers interact with people from different backgrounds daily, and the same method to help one patient might not work with another patient. For healthcare professionals to truly help someone, they have to assist the patient in a way that works for them and the patient. I then realized that I have been implementing this concept in my public health experiences, yet never defined the term. Additionally, meeting people where they are is crucial in non-medical settings. As an aspiring health educator, I know it is important to teach health in a way that students can understand. This summer, I am working with a Cornell University professor to implement the Youth Engagement & Action for Health (YEAH!) Program focusing on food justice at the Boys & Girls Club of Harlem. The students will critically analyze food businesses and present their solutions to change makers in New York City. When implementing our programming, one of the first challenges we encountered was getting the students to be more passionate and understand how important food justice topics such as nutrition and marketing truly are. As someone passionate about the subject since elementary school, I entered the classroom with the assumption that the high school students would also know background information about food justice. Once my team realized this was not the case for the students, we altered our lesson plans to emphasize the importance of being knowledgeable about nutrition and how many people have limited access to healthy foods. Now, the students are more engaged in the lessons, and the classroom always gets a little rowdy talking about food justice. This experience made me discover my passion for educating students about health topics. These allied health professionals have made me explore nutrition from different angles, and I realized how nutrition is part of many health issues in society. I am extremely grateful that these professionals believed in and invested in me because my public health experience would have been narrow otherwise. Experiences like these make me truly see the value of people offering their resources to help others. I come from a predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhood in California, where few people continue their education to college. As a young Black woman, I approach the world with an intersectional feminist lens. By approaching life with this lens, I am motivated to work hard to value and take full advantage of the opportunities I receive. As someone who strives for excellence in education, I cannot take a chance to win a scholarship for granted. My commitment to education, hard work, and the Kerry Kennedy Life Is Good Scholarship will allow me to complete my career goals of becoming a prominent figure in Public Health, ameliorating health inequalities in the United States, and being a positive Black woman role model for the next generation.