Willie Mae Rawls Scholarship

My name is Scarlette Ann Katherine Caral Burgess-Wren, and I am a senior at Charles Herbert Flowers High School in our Project Lead the Way program (engineering track). With a focus on civil and agricultural engineering. My background, shaped by Maryland and Bermuda, has instilled in me the importance of sustainable infrastructure and agricultural innovation. With my education and future professional life, I will be positively contributing to the world through the creation of sustainable agricultural systems that increase food security and reduce the use of resources. I began my journey as an engineer by questioning how things work and how they could be improved. Whether it was studying the impact of infrastructure on society or how engineering is applied to agriculture, I was drawn to problem-solving and innovation. This prompted me to participate in the Howard University summer engineering program, where my team won first prize for our project on house lights that could sense temperature. This experience only furthered in me the capability of engineering to create solutions with tangible impact and to make lives better. Agricultural engineering is an area that interests me as it integrates technology, sustainability, and infrastructure to improve food production and environmental protection. As the globe keeps experiencing more challenges of climate change, food insecurity, and land degradation, I think agricultural engineering is a critical area for future development. My goal is to develop and implement sustainable agriculture practices that reduce environmental impacts while increasing efficiency and yield. These include irrigation system technologies, soil care, and smart farm technologies that are able to automate farming operations. In addition, my experience in Bermuda and Maryland has shaped my knowledge of how different environments require specialized engineering solutions. In Bermuda, the land and water are limited, and sustainable agriculture must be solved with precision and efficiency. In Maryland, the diversified agricultural landscape provides the potential to integrate technology and infrastructure to enable high-level farming. Both of these lessons will guide my work to develop agricultural systems that operate in multiple climates and geographic areas. In order to achieve my objectives, I will register for civil engineering with agricultural use. My hopes are to gain hands-on experience from internship, research, and working in the areas that will prepare me to formulate engineering principles from practical agribusiness practices. My ambition is to join projects that aid in sustainable cultivation, waste reduction, and accessing food by the local communities across the world. With my interest in agricultural engineering, I hope to contribute to a future where farming is more efficient, sustainable, and less vulnerable to environmental challenges. By using engineering solutions, I hope to contribute to a world where food production can sustain global demands without exhausting natural resources. My passion for innovation and my faith in building a better world will drive me as I work towards these goals, ensuring that my work leads to enduring and meaningful change.

My name is Mattie Hewatt, and I am a senior in high school. After high school, I plan to study nursing and eventually work in pediatrics or the NICU. It has been my dream since childhood to work in a hospital or doctor’s office. As a kid, many people have those kinds of dreams, but as I got older, my ideas about what I wanted to do with my life changed. I remember being terrified but also so excited to go to the doctor’s office just because I wanted to be one so badly. I remember the smell and the way things ran appealed to me so much. “Doctor” was my favorite game to play as a kid but everyone would always get mad at me because I had to be the doctor. For a while, I considered teaching or maybe dental hygiene, but none of those paths gave me peace or made me feel like that was what I was meant to do. During my junior year of high school, I continued to feel very passionate about becoming a nurse but wasn’t sure which area of the field I would be best suited for. Initially, I planned to go into med-surg right after earning my RN. However, after talking with a mentor and hearing her stories about the NICU, I realized that was where I wanted to be. I then started doing research and asking questions about the field, only to find that I loved it even more! I ended up shadowing at a doctor’s office just to get a feel for what it would be like, and I completely fell in love with the kids. The Nurse Practitioner that I shadowed with was working with babies and toddlers that day. I got to see a lot of things and hear her stories from when she was in the NICU. She told me how much she loved it and that it was so special to her. After working in PEDS that whole day though, I began to wonder if PEDS was something I wanted to do. I am incredibly good with kids and love working with them. So after that experience, it made me start wondering if pediatrics was an option for me. Now, I am torn between working in pediatrics or the NICU. I am hoping and praying that, in time, the right path will reveal itself. Another thing I hope to do is make doctor’s visits a more positive experience for children. As I mentioned before, I used to be terrified to go to the doctor’s office, even though there was a sense of excitement. I know many kids probably feel the same way. I want to help change that by making visits to the doctor’s office or hospital less scary for them. I want to show them that it can also be a fun and welcoming environment, where they feel safe and cared for rather than afraid.

The desire to be a passionate servant to the community and implement a change in atmosphere was much greater than the convenience of remaining complaisant. From my timid childhood to transitioning into an assertive adult, I have shared a common goal; to provide assistance and support to their community. A personal goal of mine is to confront the challenges of all people, especially the African-American community, by highlighting the significance of educational and economical development, mental and physical health, and international and political awareness and involvement. I aspire to become a catalyst that ignites the spark of change. Growing up, I was taught the significance of academic excellence while stressing the importance of being “more than just a GPA.” Because of that influence, I have continued to find new ways to lend a helping hand to those in need while maintaining at least a 3.6 GPA. I have made it a goal to complete at least 100 hours of community service each year. Recently, I devoted my entire winter break, the months of November of 2020 to January 2021, to help students with their academic needs. Within these three months, I was able to provide 68 hours of service and 223 total within the last 24 months. Students and parents were faced with many obstacles, from technology issues to lack of motivation in students, due to the pandemic. I held group tutoring sessions weekly via zoom Monday through Friday from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. I also organized virtual social events to help students maintain their morale in such challenging times: movie nights via Netflix Party, educational game nights, college awareness night, and holiday decorating sessions (stockings, gingerbread houses, thanksgiving cards). In addition to tutoring students and orchestrating social events, I held webinars to teach parents how to use the online features of their students’ portal to stay on top of their child(ren)’s progress. As a result, I witnessed increased community engagement. I plan to become a pharmacist. I will create internship opportunities for minorities, focusing on Black young women and men, to explore healthcare and STEM fields. I refuse to remain silent while the voices of discrimination, exploitation, and injustice reverberate. It is not my intent to simply follow trails. It is my purpose to create new paths and dismantle boundaries that exclude the unheard.

I have participated in several leadership and community minded programs that exist to promote the education and well-being of students of African descent. Some of these programs include the Young Leaders Academy of Baton Rouge Inc., the NAACP Youth Development Program, and the UNCF Portfolio Project). These programs taught me leadership skills, the importance of education, and the importance of service to your community. The Young Leaders Academy of Baton Rouge Inc. is a program for young African American males to help shape and mold them to become productive citizens, local leaders, and always serve their community. My biggest takeaway from the Young Leaders Academy was community service, being my brother’s keeper, and commitment. Cultural identity is significant to people of color, because our culture was stolen due to colonization and assimilation. The NAACP Youth Development Program was a partnership between NAACP Snohomish County Branch and Everett Community College's Diversity and Equity Center. It was designed to meet the specific needs of students of African Descent. I will always be grateful for the understanding of cultural worth and value. Lastly, the UNCF Portfolio Project not only taught me the value of higher education but taught the value of representation in education. It is imperative for me to learn from individuals who look like me as well as being surrounded by those who look like me. Which is why I have applied to Historically Black Colleges and Universities. This program took me through the college application process, taught me how to search and apply to scholarships, and opened my mind to possibilities of different career paths by giving me the opportunity to network with people of color in different career fields. Nevertheless, I am most grateful for the mentorship aspect of the program. Each participant in the program was assigned a mentor and even though, I have completed this program I am still able to reach out to my mentor for guidance. These mentors took time out of there day every Saturday for eleven weeks to help guide us through the entire process. Mentors reviewed college essay statements, wrote letters of recommendation, and were just there to talk to. This is another example of how service to the community is vital to ensure the success of young people. How I plan to make positive impact on the world through my faith is to following the teachings of Jesus Christ for he was about service, brotherhood, and fairness. I want to be a mentor, community leader, and advocate to those who are unrepresented & underprivileged, provide educational resources to Black students to invest in their futures and to spread the knowledge and resources in the Black community all because to be apart of America's social order!