St.Hilaire Leaders of Tomorrow Scholarship

Robin Roberts from 'Good Morning America' says "turn your mess into your message". I agree. But I say that we should also "turn your mess into your mission". As the varsity soccer team goalie during my junior year of high school, I sustained a brain and neck injury that still impacts me today. The injury caused symptoms such as difficulty concentrating, vision and memory issues, tingling in my limbs, light sensitivity, sound sensitivity, and a consistent headache that was longest-lasting and debilitating. Two years later I am better, but still recovering. Throughout this process, I went to physical therapy and cognitive therapy to help me learn techniques that would help me manage schoolwork and my symptoms. Although this was a difficult time in my life, it exposed me to the medical field in a more intimate way and it made me fascinated with what exactly caused the pain that I was experiencing. As long as I live I will never forget the care I receive from nurses and other health care professionals who work together to take care of me. They gave me medical care, but more importantly they gave me hope and demonstrated techniques to me for how to improve my symptoms and improve my quality of life. I now volunteer at that medical center that I grew up seeing from my backyard. With the influx of immigrants into the NJ/ NYC area recently, and the increase in the population of homeless people, hospitals are serving a more diverse and disadvantaged patient population. Meanwhile, the healthcare system fails to give fair treatment to sick Americans, who are already suffering due to their ethnic, sexual, or socioeconomic identity. Moreover, Black maternal mortality rate in the U.S., which is three times that of white women, is of particular concern to me as a woman of color. Through the care I will provide, I will have the honor and privilege of "seeing" people, validating them, particularly those who look like me, in a world that often discounts our experiences. This is the most powerful part of patient care that can be provided. I will be enrolling at University of Michigan this fall to pursue my BSN because the program's emphasis on compassion and humanity through social justice resonates with me. It will prepare me to serve all patients in our increasingly diverse society. I share the program's values of inclusivity and dedication to resolving discrepancies in patient care. As a nurse, I will be determined to hold my profession, my colleagues and myself accountable to make sure that variations in quality healthcare, institutional racism/sexism, and implicit biases do not compound the suffering of future patients, especially the most underrepresented in my community and broader society. Having sustained a serious injury and struggled with the long term effects, I hope to bring a level of personal understanding to my study which will in turn make a positive impact on the future patients I serve. So the advice I would give to others experiencing adversity is not to deny your pain or ignore it. But rather, look for the opportunities in difficult experiences that you can use to make you better, and make you stronger. I would also say never give up! In my senior year after my injury, I led my varsity team to its first ever county championship in 67 years, and was named to NJ's all county and all state soccer teams! Using your "mess" to help others, can be an act of healing not only for you, but for others too.