Michele L. Durant Scholarship

As a lifelong learner, I believe that success means little if it is not used to uplift others. My experiences have shaped me into someone who values leadership, community, empathy, and service in every area of life. Whether through academics, advocacy, entrepreneurship, or mentorship, I have consistently been driven by a desire to create opportunities and support systems for people who are often overlooked. That passion for helping others has guided both my educational journey and the goals I am pursuing for my future. As a recent graduate of Howard University and an incoming graduate student at Rutgers University pursuing a Master’s degree in Social Work, I plan to dedicate my career to creating spaces where underserved individuals, particularly low income Black and Brown youth and families, can access both practical support and emotional healing. My education has strengthened my understanding of how systemic inequities affect Black communities, especially in areas such as mental healthcare, juvenile justice, education, and economic opportunity. At Howard, I explored the stigmas surrounding mental health within Black culture and examined how media, institutional systems, and historical trauma shape the way communities respond to psychological distress. These experiences reinforced my belief that advocacy must be holistic, culturally informed, and rooted in compassion. My long-term goal is to become a social worker and community advocate focused on improving access to mental health resources and intervention programs for marginalized communities. I want to work directly with youth who are often labeled “problematic” before anyone takes the time to understand why they may be that way. Too many young people are pushed into cycles of incarceration, violence, or instability because they lack mentorship, unified families, mental health support, and healthy environments to grow. I want to help interrupt those cycles through counseling, outreach programs, trauma-informed care, and community-based initiatives that prioritize prevention rather than punishment. In addition to my academic goals, I am also passionate about building generational stability and creating community-centered opportunities outside of traditional social service settings. Through entrepreneurial goals and future family-oriented business ventures, I hope to create environments that encourage wellness, connection, creativity, and rest—things that are often inaccessible in underserved communities. I believe impact does not only happen in offices or institutions; it can happen through safe spaces, mentorship, meaningful conversations, and experiences that allow people to feel valued and restored. I was emancipated while in my youth and have paid out of pocket for my education thus far, meaning that I understand firsthand the financial and emotional weight that often accompanies academic achievement. Many students are expected to persevere despite limited support, rising educational costs, and systemic barriers that make these achievements that much harder. This reality motivates me even more not only to pursue my own goals but equip my peers and future clients with all they need to be successful. The impact I hope to make is rooted in both compassion and action, working hands on with children and families. I want to contribute to stronger families, healthier communities, and systems that value healing as much as achievement. Through social work, advocacy, and community engagement, I hope to create lasting change that extends far beyond myself.

Ever since I was young, I wanted to have a job where I was helping people, whether that was being a teacher, a doctor, etc. As I got older and I became more aware of the situations happening around me, I realized how much I wanted to become a healthcare professional. Coming from a predominantly Black and low-income community, I have witnessed my family members, as well as members of my community, fear doctors and hospitals due to mistreatment of people of color. Seeing the medical mistrust create disparities, especially regarding Black women, I don’t want this to be average statistics for Black communities, including mine. As the mortality rate of women of color continues to rise, I want to be a prominent figure in contributing against discrimination and alleviating fears. One day I hope to establish a clinic with the help of other women of color to provide a safe, inclusive environment where women feel safe asking for help and guidance on their health. If I don’t establish my own clinic in the future, I still can make my work environment a safe and inclusive place through continuously updating myself on world events in healthcare so I can act accordingly with patients who may be affected as well as hold myself and coworkers around me accountable to holding proper standards of diversity and empathy. An experience that forever linked me to healthcare occurred while volunteering in my community. Urban Neighborhood Services had a local program called the Sisterhood Program. Although short in its time, the goal of the program was to get connected with the young ladies and women in the community. It was a safe space to discuss topics in the community and how the women felt affected in society. As an advisor, I worked to provide creative ideas to the founder of the program on how to better engage with the community. Being active in that program helped me really understand the mental health of women in society. No matter the age, we were able to connect about disparities and find our voices in the world. My mom and aunt even joined a session or 2. This helped reinforce my desire to work in women’s health as an OBGYN because women’s physical health can be so overlooked and overgeneralized that it can affect our mental health as well, seeping into every aspect of our lives. Ultimately, to me, becoming a healthcare professional is more than having the recognition of the career. It's about being able to return to my community, with my expanded knowledge, and become a staple leader, providing health resources and instilling back a level of safety, reassurance, and protection into the same neighborhood that raised me into the individual I am today. Through my undergraduate matriculation in the health science field, I have gained meaningful experiences volunteering with the Health Careers Club and Minority Association of Pre-medical Students, which further push my desires to make a change. The healthcare field is much bigger than I am, but just being able to deviate from the average and increase the Black female presence is a small step towards a larger impact.

In Yoruba culture, one's mission is to work on your Iwa, or character, with the intent to consistently evolve towards righteousness. My childhood library contained several character-shaping books, such as Anansi The Spider, focused on community, knowledge, and triumph through adversity. These tales shaped my personal, academic, and professional goals to serve humanity. When the world stopped in 2020, I launched a podcast discussing issues concerning mental health, politics, and my academic experiences as a thirteen-year-old college student. The podcast grew exponentially as other girls saw themselves in the topics I discussed, leading the podcast to gain a global audience. This was the catalyst for creating my non-profit organization, Pragmatic Prodigies. While moving the conversation from theory to action, I began mentoring and encouraging participation in early college courses to the young ladies at Morningside Middle School in Fort Worth, Texas. This zip code has the lowest life expectancy in Texas due to historical disenfranchisement. I learned that many girls would miss school because they did not have enough period products to last during their monthly menstrual cycle. Deeply concerned about how the lack of access to these necessities affected them academically, I was shocked to learn that nearly 1 in 5 American girls missed school due to a lack of period protection. To address these demoralizing and often embarrassing issues, I used pragmatism, skills, and resources to collect period products to be housed in a portable building on the school grounds. In partnership with the local community college, social service organizations, and local government officials, over 20,000 period products were collected in 60 days. This effort to raise awareness and combat period poverty has expanded to serving students in neighboring states, communities, school districts, and countries across the diaspora. Though the immediate need of providing girls with period protection has been met, I am dedicated to a permanent answer by eliminating the Pink tax, feminine products marketed as more expensive than male products. Pragmatic Prodigies hosts a Teen Summit where local and state elected officials conduct workshops on increasing public awareness and creating a bill to address the Pink Tax. Through advocacy in action, my passion is to help educate students while building agencies to address systemic inequities. As an academic, entrepreneur, and Pragmatic Prodigy, I am committed to working on my Iwa by using critical thinking skills, intellectual prowess, and resources to serve my community. As a student majoring in Political Science and minoring in English at Spelman College, my life experiences inspire me to use my voice to serve as a Civil Rights attorney specializing in education reform and, ultimately, a Supreme Court Justice, where around 3% of all attorneys in the US are black women. This scholarship will alleviate financial barriers by empowering me to pursue my dreams and make a meaningful impact in my field. This is not just for me; it's for my family, community, mentees, and the next generation.

Growing up in a predominantly Black community in Northern California, I was constantly exposed to the health disparities that disproportionately impact communities of color. I watched family members and loved ones battle diabetes, strokes, and heart disease—conditions that became normalized in my environment but were starkly absent in the lives of my White peers. These early experiences prompted my questions about healthcare access and quality, which later evolved into a deep commitment to pursue a career in medicine. My academic journey was not linear. While at UCLA, I struggled with imposter syndrome and the burden of being one of the few Black women in pre-med courses. Yet, those challenges cultivated my resilience and shaped my compassion for underserved populations. I leaned into community service, chairing the Youth Health Festival for the Black Pre-Health Organization and joining medical relief trips to Tijuana, Mexico, with the Flying Samaritans. These formative experiences solidified my calling to medicine, not just as a career, but as a means to serve and advocate. During my post-baccalaureate studies and professional work in clinical research, I began to understand the critical role of research in shaping patient outcomes. At Clovis Oncology, I supported early-phase oncology trials, while at Diablo Clinical Research, I worked hands-on with patients—drawing labs, taking vitals, and facilitating device studies. This direct patient interaction, combined with my growing scientific curiosity, drew me to orthopaedic oncology: a field that merges surgery, research, and complex cancer care. Now a medical student at the University of Houston College of Medicine, I’ve continued to hone my interests through leadership, research, and advocacy. I currently serve as President of the Class of 2027 and the founding President of the UHCOM Chapter of the Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society, where I work to build mentorship pipelines for women interested in orthopaedic surgery. As a medical student researcher at MD Anderson Cancer Center, I conduct clinical research under Dr. Valerae O. Lewis, Chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Oncology, studying financial toxicity in sarcoma patients and imaging characteristics of rare tumors. Presenting this work at national meetings has sharpened my commitment to both academic medicine and equitable cancer care. The financial hurdles I’ve faced throughout my journey have not only shaped my work ethic but also fueled my passion for advocacy. As a first-generation medical student, I lead a monthly, student-run grocery pop-up that combats food insecurity among my peers. These efforts, combined with my entrepreneurial platform “Melanated Med,” which supports over 30,000 women of color in medicine, reflect my belief in community-driven solutions to systemic problems. I chose orthopaedic oncology because it allows me to serve vulnerable patients during the most life-altering moments of their lives, combining technical precision with emotional depth. In the future, I envision myself not only as a surgeon and researcher but also as a health equity advocate—building culturally competent care models, mentoring underrepresented students, and transforming the patient experience through advocacy and education. This path has never been easy, but every challenge has reaffirmed my purpose. Medicine is my platform for impact, and orthopaedic oncology is the precise space where my passion, skill, and lived experience converge to make meaningful change.