
Hobbies and interests
Anime
Astrology
Cello
Coaching
DJing
Aaron Nemo
1,445
Bold Points1x
Finalist
Aaron Nemo
1,445
Bold Points1x
FinalistBio
Hi! I'm an ambitious college student studying Health Services Administration at James Madison University. Because I have a passion for improving the health care system with a focus on health equity and access, I have also enjoyed exploring my newfound interests outside of academic work which include astronomy, statistics, and media portrayals of marginalized communities. I value learning and personal development so that I can be a change maker in my community and in my field.
Education
James Madison University
Bachelor's degree programMajors:
- Health and Medical Administrative Services
Jamestown High School
High SchoolMiscellaneous
Desired degree level:
Bachelor's degree program
Graduate schools of interest:
Transfer schools of interest:
Majors of interest:
Career
Dream career field:
Gambling & Casinos
Dream career goals:
EXPO
Fat Tuna Oyster & Grille2023 – 20252 years
Sports
Soccer
Varsity2020 – 20244 years
Arts
Williamsburg Youth Orchestra
Music2022 – 2024
Pro-Life Advocates Scholarship
Every Life Has Value
My pro-life convictions are grounded in my own experiences that have taught me that each human being has inestimable value—regardless of their stage of development, special abilities, or circumstances. I was raised in a family that values empathy, faith, and dignified life. But it took my grandmother's last few years and her struggles with dementia, for me to truly see the value of protecting life, from womb to tomb. Even when she was unable to be in touch with the outside world, her life mattered. This fostered a sense of understanding in my mind that every life deserves love, care, and protection— including lives that society forgets, abhors, or judges unfavorably—for example, the unborn.
I have also seen the very tough choices that young people are faced with during the crisis of an unplanned pregnancy. A family friend, whom I've known for years, came to confide in me during her own crisis pregnancy. Rather than just tell her that abortion was the only answer, I sought to listen, connect her to local resources, and be present for her. She chose life, and today that baby is wonderful. This led me to really understand that being pro-life is so much more than a belief, it is about action, advocating on behalf of the unborn and being part of a community of support.
To support the value of diverse human life, I have also been involved in multiple initiatives. In school, I co-founded a Respect Life Club that hosts guest speakers, provides resources for education, and organizes donation drives for donation drives for local pregnancy resource centres. We have collected baby items for local shelters, and hosted panels on post-abortion healing, adoption, and supporting parents. I have participated in the annual March for Life, and volunteered with a group providing sidewalk counselling to offer women non-judgemental support and possible alternatives to abortion.
My advocacy has translated into the digital world, where I help share life-affirming messages, and add the voices and lived experience of mothers who chose life often in the most tragic of circumstances. I have found that open, respectful conversation, especially within the youth demographic is an important way to bring awareness to induce change.
At the end of the day, my pro-life position is not just about verbalizing a strong defense of the unborn, it is part of working to develop a world in which we see people, hear people, and substantiate their value. This involves mothers, fathers, babies, elderly, disabled people, and anyone who has life choices that marginalizes them. I truly believe that true justice begins when we acknowledge not only that all have a life ultimately with purpose, but simply the value of life itself.
In the future, I hope to advance this mission through my interest in working within healthcare administration, in order to assure care is grounded in ethics and respect for all patients, but particularly for those already marginalized and vulnerable. Whether this involves advocating for the unborn, or standing with a person at the end of life, I am committed to promote the dignity of all human life.
Billie Eilish Fan Scholarship
My Top 3 Billie Eilish Songs and the Significance Behind Them
Billie's music has significantly influenced my emotional and personal life. Her music portrays pain, anxiety, triumph, and stillness, providing a sense of clarity for my own emotional discernment. While she has put out a lot of music, there are 3 songs that mean the most to me: "everything i wanted", "idontwannabeyouanymore", and "getting older." Each song resonates in its own ways, but each one resonates graduately deeply.
Starting with "everything i wanted," speaks about these invisible battles many individuals are fighting their mental health. The lyric "I had a dream / I got everything I wanted / Not what you’d think," captures how what the world sees externally is likely stratifying to what we feel internally. There have been times when I have been in the depths of my despair when upon reflection there was honestly nothing externally for me to feel down about. This song lets me know that my feelings don't always have to make sense...and that's okay. Just like Billie says to her brother Finneas in the lyric "As long as I'm here, no one can hurt you," this brings my sibling and I back to the sailor and ship relationship we have when I need to escape my unwanted thoughts.
Secondly is "idontwannabeyouanymore." This song hit me fucking hard because it captures the solemn sorrow of lacking confidence and insecurity in such an haunting, raw way. I listened to it on loop when I was struggling with my self-image. The line, "By your makeup, I've seen you before / If teardrops could be bottled / There'd be swimming pools filled by models," poetically captures the unfelt feelings that we all carry, especially with us living in a hyper-visual world where appearance plays such a large part. Billie's soft voice and brutally honest lyrics made me feel seen—and to feel less alone.
Finally, "getting older," is art in regard to emotional maturity. It captures the strange and subtle transition from being a teenager to being an adult. Lines that describe "Things I once enjoyed / Just keep me employed now," captures the juxtaposition between authentic enjoyment and simply showing up to do work. As a college student who is navigating balancing validating my independence, balancing the expectations of others, and figuring out who I want to be in the world, "getting older," feels like someone is seriously narrating what I am currently living. It is comforting knowing that someone like Billie, with all her fame and success, is also feeling doubt and exhaustion.
The unifying factor of all of this is Billie's honesty. She does not minimize or sugar coat herself; she says the truth. This alone seems to make the weight of my struggles feel slightly lighter. Her music has labeled many of the feelings I struggle to label, and gives me a slight amount of resilience to keep trying.
For me, Billie Eilish' artistry is more than music; it is a form of emotional companionship. These three songs in particular have walked along with me in some of the darkest and most uncertain moments of my life, all the while allowing me to also grow into myself. That is the real beauty of Billie's music; it has been a delight to listen to, and feels like home.
Sabrina Carpenter Superfan Scholarship
Why I Am a Fan of Sabrina Carpenter, and How Her Career Has Influenced My Life
To be a fan of Sabrina Carpenter has not only inspired me, but it has also empowered me. Her career started as an actress, and her music career has flourished. Her illustration of growth, originality, and persistence has only grown stronger over the years. Sabrina Carpenter stands out to me because she has talent and the ability to use her voice with honesty, humor, and strength, both in music and in her life.
I first came to know of Sabrina Carpenter in the Disney Channel show Girl Meets World. Her character was fierce, funny, and full of heart. I felt a connection, however, when I started listening to her music. Each and every album has felt as though it had pushed forward her progress. Songs such as "Eyes Wide Open" and "Thumbs" helped me to think freely, and take ownership of my own identity. However, Sabrina's newest work, especially the emails i can't send and Short n' Sweet eras, is a testament to her artistry. Her songs "because i liked a boy" and "Feather" demonstrate angles on heartbreak, shame, and empowerment, wrapped in clever rhymes and metaphors; and provide such relief personally.
Sabrina's bravery is most remarkable to me. Criticism, speculation, and intense scrutiny have never wavered her sense of self. She isn't afraid to call out double standards, and then is able to transmute pain into art in a way that is very relatable and cathartic for me. When she sings about feeling misunderstood, it's like she is singing directly about me—and probably to countless others who feel that way too.
She shows confidence and humor, especially in tough moments (like her viral "Nonsense" outros), and she has shown me that I can challenge things too, with some grace and a little snark. She has also shown me that it is possible to be soft and strong at the same time; to embrace vulnerability, or perhaps it is the power in honesty.
Sabrina Carpenter's career has shaped me personally, to feel welcome in pursuing my own creative pursuits. I have increased my writing—both in music, and every day journal writing—because I saw in her lyrics the magic in acting on impulse and creatively expressing whatever I want with reckless abandon. When I used to suppress huge sections of my feelings, I know how free and healing it can be to be honest, even if it is a mess.
Being a Sabrina fan has also helped me feel a connection to other people. The fanbase is filled with supportive, artistic, thoughtful people, who are, like her, also not afraid to be in all their feelings. I have made a few friends with her fandom, and have a sense of community in a space where I feel safe being myself.
Lastly, Sabrina Carpenter is more than a pop star to me; she is an idol, an outlet for emotional expression, and an eternal reminder that we can still overcome all we go through. Her career continues to push me toward being as authentic as I can be; trusting my own creativity, and turning even the dark of my experience into better.
Chappell Roan Superfan Scholarship
How Chappell Roan's Music Affected Me and Why I Chose to Support Her Career
When I first discovered Chappell Roan's music, it felt as though I found a piece of myself that I didn't know was missing. Her unfiltered honesty and honesty in her art, theatricality, unapologetic queerness, have not just touched my heart and soul but made me more okay with who I am. In a world where different often feels like a burden, to invest in Chappell Roan is to harness power in the difference. She isn't just singing songs—she's sharing experiences of discovery, heart ache, empowerment and identity in a way that makes you feel seen, particularly for those of us who do not always find representations of ourselves in mainstream culture.
For me, Chappell Roan's debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess is not music. It's a manifesto. Tracks like "Pink Pony Club" and "Naked in Manhattan" embody the thrill and fear of taking up space in the world, on the journeys of self-expressing for LGBTQ+ people. I recall the first time I heard "Red Wine Supernova", I felt like it had leapt from my life stories. Her lyrics convey equal parts vulnerability and power—a feeling I have striving to achieve in life.
What I appreciate about Chappell Roan is her fierce authenticity. She challenges gender roles, artists from the industry, and limitations by being untethered, eclectic, theatrical, and uniquely herself. Through her performance and visual style, she embodies camp, glitter, depth of emotion and complexity that can often be dismissed. She is not dialed down to be more palatable. That level of self-expression is radical; through her work she makes space for her fans, myself included, to reveal our weirdness, creativity, and truth without shame.
To support Chappell Roan's career is intensely personal to me. I wish for artists like her to prosper as they make space for people like me. Her success fulfills the growing expectation for art to be inclusive, brave, and emotionally honest. I buy her music. I attend her shows. I share her songs with my friends. I support her, because I believe in what she's doing—not just as a musician, but as a cultural force for good. We need more artists who break mold or speak to experiences of marginalization.
Ultimately, Chappell Roan has taught me it's ok to take up space, to be too much, to be emotional, and to be loud. She's reminded me that art can be both playful and meaningful, and that our voices, however strange or different, deserve to be heard. Her music has inspired me to walk through life a little bolder, a little louder, and a lot more unapologetic about who I will be.
Learner Calculus Scholarship
The Role of Calculus in the STEM arena
Calculus is usually known as one of the most difficult disciplines of mathematics. But its value in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) arena is unrivaled. Calculus is a bedrock that much of science and engineering rests upon. From predicting the motion of planets to developing electronic circuits to understanding biological processes, calculus gives us the methodology to model, understand, and solve problems that we would otherwise be unable to solve.
At its foundation, calculus is all about change, specifically, how things change in size over time or dimensions. As such it is a vital tool in the sciences. In physics, for example, Newton's laws of motion are represented through differential equations, which is a major topic in calculus. If scientists are measuring the acceleration of a car, measuring the decay rate of a radioactive element, or determining the orbit of a satellite, they are using calculus to describe and predict physical changes to the highest degree of accuracy.
In engineering, calculus is an essential part of design and problem solving. For example, engineers use calculus to calculate force on structures, optimize designs for systems and performance, and to solve problems with heat, fluid flow, and electromagnetic systems. Without calculus we would not have the modern version of bridges, buildings, airplanes, and cellphones. For every innovation that needs to be modeled or simulated there is calculus behind it.
The disciplines of biology and medicine are also using calculus. In ways that we might not expect! Population dynamics, disease spread, drug dosage modeling, and neural activity mapping are mathematical models that leverage differential and integral calculus in their formulations. Calculus affords scientists new perspectives; not simply the observation of "what" is occurring, but "how" and "why" biology systems behave in particular ways. While our world of medicine grows all the more intertwined with technology, calculus will remain key to developing our future imaging systems, prosthetics and tailored vasculature and tissue adaptions.
Technology and computer science is no exception, with calculus being essential to optimization algorithms in artificial intelligence models, training neural networks in machine learning platforms and imitating an object's complexity and realism in animating and simulating outcomes in computer graphics. In order to operate in its entirety, calculus enables computers to eschew their limited knowledge of continuous change associated with input and disregard the transient state of a variable to achieve an effect on another variable--crucial element of an intelligent system.
While it is important to understand how calculus can be applied, it is equally as important to understand how they shape we approach scientific problems. Besides the applied elements of modeling problems, calculus teaches a particular way of thinking and enhances logical and critical thinking abilities. It fosters persistence in the problem-solving processes and engenders regard in precision. These are core competencies we-humans legally require competencies in through all practice in STEM careers. This element of calculus compels students which vis-à-vis their analytical practices to approach the particular questions methodically and to develop their innate curiosity about the way things fit together in general terms of how and why?
In conclusion, calculus is not merely something you are taught in a classroom, it is the functional language of science and technology. It allows us to accurately discuss the specifics in our worlds together and provide solutions to real world problems. For anyone wanting to engage in any practice in the world of STEM, I would argue its application is not only useful, but necessary.
Build and Bless Leadership Scholarship
Faith as My Anchor to Leadership
For me, faith has always been the anchor that holds me steady, shaping not only who I am, but also how I lead and serve others. Being raised in a Christian household, I learned early on that leadership is about humility, compassion, and service—not about power or control. These values are rooted in my faith system and have contributed to my leadership style in the contexts of school, church, and the world at large.
To this day, one school memory stands out to me from my junior year. I was elected to help lead a youth retreat at my church, a weekend meant to assist younger students in developing their faith and forging healthy and positive relationships with the older youth at our church. Our youth pastor asked us to plan and lead small group sessions, worship nights, and team-building activities. I was excited, but also nervous. I had never led peers in a spiritual capacity and felt a large responsibility in leading them in a way that did not fail them or God.
In preparing for the retreat, I turned to Scripture for strength, but the passage that encouraged me most was Philippians 2:3-4: "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." That text helped me capture a shift in my mindset. I realized that the focus was no longer on me performing; I was to simply serve. Over the course of the weekend, I tried to model encouragement and "active listening.” In one of our small groups, a student shared that they had been struggling with the feelings of loneliness and anxiety. I shared a little of my own experience and how I believed that prayer and community had helped me through it. Others followed suit, and what begun as a small group of people who were quiet soon turned into a circle of support and truth. Once the small group was finished, that student shared with me that it was the first time they felt that someone had truly heard them.
I will never forget that moment because it was transformative. I learned that leadership can be faith-based and not necessarily about knowing all the things—it is about being present, vulnerable, and willing to come along side people. I learned that faith equips me to not just speak faith into people’s lives but to listen; not just lead, but uplift.
That experience has also influenced my thoughts about my vision of the future. As I strive to earn my degree in Health Services Administration, I want to bring faith-based leadership into healthcare leadership based on empathy, integrity, and whole-person care. I truly believe that leading with kindness and moral clarity generates so much more than successful organizations, it can impact the lives of the people we serve.
Faith also impacts how I lead today. Whether it’s organizing a service project, helping a peer, or simply including someone, I believe I lead with patience, grace, and love. I know I won’t always be perfect, but I also know I am not leading alone. My faith reminds me that leadership is a calling, and I am serving for the purpose of a greater cause than me.
In an age when it seems that ego is rewarded, I hope to be a different kind of leader—one who exemplifies humility, compassion, and faith in action. Because when we lead from the heart, we are lighting a way for others.
SnapWell Scholarship
Prioritizing My Mental Health: A Turning Point Toward a Healthier Future
In my sophomore year of high school, I had a period of time in which the pressures that surrounded my academics, personal loss, and my social obligations became overwhelmingly heavy. I was involved in difficult courses, extracurriculars, and managing some family obligations while coping with the loss of both of my grandparents who lived with dementia. All of those things combined were causing stress in my life that I didn't really know how to manage. As a result of this stress, I started to see some of the effects it was having on my grades, my mental/emotional health, and my general well-being. I was always stressed and anxious, I found myself being uncomfortable with just falling asleep, and I started to disengage with things that brought me joy. It really took a panic attack on the morning of a large exam to realize that I could not continue to ignore my mental health.
This realization was a wake-up call. For the first time ever, I made the deliberate decision to prioritize my mental and emotional health. I started with taking the step of speaking with my school counselor, who helped me work through my grief and stress. From there I was able to talk to my parents about how I was feeling, something I had been putting off because I didn't want to appear weak. With the help of my school counselor, parents, and friends, I began to implement some daily structural changes in my life, such as setting boundaries with my school workload, finding mindfulness-based activities such as journaling and meditation, as well as giving myself permission to rest without feeling guilty. Through this process, I learned that taking care of my mental health is not a weakness — it is a strength. I recognized that I was not the only one and that asking for help is nothing to be ashamed of. Most importantly, I have learned how to recognize when I am getting to my limits and how to protect my peace.
I have walked away from this experience with a new perspective on how I will move forward in my future, both in my educational journey and beyond. Despite my role as a student pursuing an education in Health Services Administration, I have a greater understanding of the relevance of mental health to all aspects of health care. I want to be part of a system that not only addresses physical illness, but attends to people’s emotional and mental wellness as well. I want to aid in designing and advocating for healthcare models and spaces that treat patients as well-rounded individuals, not only their symptoms or medical causes.
I have also learned to be more deliberate about the way I run my days. I build in time for reflection, time for sleep (prioritizing sleep!), and healthy activities that engage me and bring me joy, not just a sense of productivity. These small, consistent habits have made me more resilient, present to myself, and compassionate to myself and those around me.
I understand, in thinking to the future, that life will throw me new challenges in my college experience, career, and relationships. I will face more challenges, but I now also possess a valuable toolbox of coping tools and an understanding that I have to take care of myself first before I can be okay for myself and those around me.
In a world that often promotes hustle over health, I am grateful to now value balance and self-awareness.
LeBron James Fan Scholarship
Why I Am a Fan of LeBron James – And Why He Might Be the GOAT
LeBron James has been my favorite athlete for as long as I can remember. From his incredible dunking and court vision, to his leadership, both on and off the floor, LeBron is everything I want in an athlete and more. For me, what makes LeBron James special is not only his talent, but also his durability, resilience, and what he has done outside of basketball. He is an NBA superstar, but he is also an inspiration, theorist, and change maker.
The LeBron story - from Akron, Ohio, to the world stage - has been built on hard work, commitment and self-belief. LeBron came in to the NBA with the absolute highest expectations, and somehow he has had an incredible career that has exceeded all of them. The versatility that LeBron possesses allows him to play every position on the court, score, rebound, pass, and defend, which puts him head and shoulders above the majority of players to ever touch a basketball. Not only does he make his teammates better, but he has arguably the greatest basketball IQ we will ever see. LeBron James is more than just a scorer - he is a playmaker, a floor general, and a leader. He can be a triple double machine or get a game winning block - he finds ways to impact every aspect of the game.
Do I think LeBron James is the greatest basketball player of all-time? That is a complicated question, But I certainly do think he has a very good argument. He is the all time leading scorer in the history of The National Basketball Association, he has won four NBA championships, he has been to ten NBA championships, and he has played for more than twenty seasons. Longevity matters, and for twenty years LeBron James has been elite - which no one has done, obviously. He has played with tons of players, he has played for multiple coaches, and he has changed his game as he's aged. The versatility and longevity is unprecedented.
Of course, the main GOAT debate is often centered around Michael Jordan. Jordan was iconic - dominant - he won six titles and never lost in the finals. I can see why some would choose him over LeBron. For me, LeBron's overall game, and longevity and everything he has faced through different eras is enough to give him the edge. He has not just won - he has evolved - he has taken teams with no business making the finals to the finals and always found a way to compete.
But what makes LeBron unique, is his work outside of basketball. He has opened the "I PROMISE School" for at risk children in his hometown of Akron, he is a social justice advocate, and he has used his platform to create opportunity for others. For me, that shows that greatness is not just measured by stats and rings; but by legacy and impact.
I truly think LeBron James is not only a basketball legend but an inspiration. While we may not all agree whether or not he is the GOAT, I believe LeBron James, as an athlete, has a solid argument for being one of the greatest athletes of all-time.
Lewis Ohana Scholarship
Being awarded this scholarship would be a great step toward achieving my education and career goals. I am currently working toward a degree in Health Services Administration because my goal is to improve the quality, access and equity of healthcare for underserved communities. This scholarship would provide financial assistance to cover the tuition and materials required for key courses, such as Health Policy, Health Informatics, and Healthcare Finance, which are all important for developing an understanding of the administrative and systems-focused side of healthcare. The financial support would alleviate the need to work so many hours while pursuing my education full time, and help me focus on deeply learning the material, and pursuing internships and networking opportunities. Relief from the financial burden of school would lessen my reasons for feeling stressed each week as I am a student balancing academic responsibilities with financial obligations which detracts from my overall learning experience, and the meaningfulness of completing my degree.
My journey to higher education has not been easy. One of the biggest defining adversities I faced was seeing both of my grandparents suffer from dementia. The illnesses took a toll physically, emotionally, financially, and mentally on my family. We took on the role ‘family caregiver’ long before we were ready to do so. Dementia forced us to confront the painful experiences of memory loss and safety and understand an overwhelming healthcare system that often felt cumbersome, impersonal, and at times prohibitive. This experience not only opened my eyes to the disparities in healthcare but ignited a passion within me to be part of the solution. I want to be the type of administrator that creates systems to ensure that the patient and family experience embodies good intentions and shows respect towards the greatest vulnerability in a person’s life.
I’ve also experienced financial hardships on top of this personal experience. Coming from a middle-class family with limited resources, I have to work part-time during school to help pay for my cost of living. While I am proud of my work ethic, the ongoing stress of financially supporting myself has limited my focus on academics and professional development in certain instances. Scholarships such as this are about more than just funds, but rather about believing in students like me who are trying to rise above their circumstance and potentially be agents of change in the world.
In five years, I see myself working as a healthcare administrator in a nonprofit or community-based clinic and helping develop and implement policy improvements for access to care for vulnerable populations. I envision myself alongside patients advocating for their access to care, designing programs, and promoting efficiency through empathetic data-based solutions that work for actual people. It’s my intention to be a leader who listens, learns, and leads with integrity. Outside of the office, I will be engaged in my local community—assisting families to navigate complex health systems, especially those facing chronic illness or financial stressors.
Personally, I want to grow into an individual who leads with competence and compassion. I want to be a mentor for the incoming cohort of students and share my story to prove that adversity does not limit you, it provides the framework for your purpose. I will eventually attend graduate school to increase my knowledge and capacity to make data-driven decisions that will shape healthcare policy.
This scholarship would not only reduce my financial stress, but it would severely validate my journey-a journey marked by loss, resilience and ultimately a desire to help improve the healthcare experience for others. With your support, I will continue to build the capacity to drive opportunity from adversity and promote the future of healthcare for everyone.
Henry Respert Alzheimer's and Dementia Awareness Scholarship
Title: Losing and Learning: My Grandparents' Fight with Dementia
Alzheimer’s and related dementia are cruel diseases. They steal a person’s memories and identity while at the same time thrusting upon a family to become caretakers, aides, advocates, and a source of support that you never dreamed you would ever have to be. I felt that in real-time as my grandparents were diagnosed with dementia not once but two times. Their gradual fading into confusion and fear, interrupted only by points of painful lucidity, shaped my awareness about many things — mainly, the capacity to have patience, love and the necessity for compassion in health care.
My grandmother was the first. My grandmother was always the lively, extroverted matriarch of our family. Wherever she went laughter would follow her. My grandmother’s memory was immense - my grandmother could tell you the story of a childhood memory, every birthday in our family and every family recipe. Yet eventually the edginess and capacity for those memories to become foggy. First, it started with her reading the same thing to me and then her putting things in places that she could not remember. Then came a confusion – forgetting people’s names, mixing regular family members up, and lost in the places it took years to learn your way across. Initially, it was easy to convince yourself it was age. But deep down I think we all knew something else was happening.
It was like watching a lamp fade, I was watching the woman who taught me the right way to make a beef stew, the woman who told me stories at night until I fell asleep and always knew the right thing to say fade away. It was not simply about losing her memories, it was about losing the person who was that; for my family it also meant that we were now caregivers. We learned how to give medication, how to stay safe in an environment, and how to comfort someone who supported us but no longer recognized us.
Only a few short years later, my grandfather began to show similar signs. He went further along the path of dementia - more quickly and, in some ways, more disorienting. My grandfather was always a quiet, proud man, who had always taken care of everybody else. And at points, he could not take care of himself and forgot, at times, where he was and who my siblings and I were, and with those forgetful moments came inevitable frustration and anger. For me, seeing him like that - vulnerable, frightened and unable to articulate anything he was frustrated by - was one of the hardest things I have ever had to see.
With the two of them unwell, it became a big burden both emotionally and physically on our family. We had many difficult choices to make in regard to care, went through the uncertainty of the disease and in the same breath felt the grief of loss over small things, bit by bit, day by day. Thankfully, there were also days with more joy. Days or moments when a similar look or laugh appeared or when they would rekindle a moment of recognition, even if fleeting. We would hold on to those moments like everyone else would hold onto gold.
There was of course pain, but we also learnt from all of it. I learnt a whole new level of patience - real patience - when there weren't words and frustration took over. I learned that love is so much bigger than memory; even when my grandparents couldn't remember me, I could still be with them, I could hold their hands and be present. I learned that being a caregiver is one of the hardest things you can do, and one of the most important, usually at the expense of other parts of your life.
These learnings have shifted my perspective on the world - especially within health care. I have witnessed how poor the support and resources are for families navigating dementia - I have experienced it trying to access services, I have personally felt its isolating feeling, I have learned that we need more empathy in health care and society. This is part of the reason why I am seeking my Health Services Administration degree - to speak for families like mine; to be a part of the solution to improving care systems; to advocate for education and support and dignity for the people living with memory loss.
Alzheimer's and dementia have taken so much from my family: but they have also given me time to think and to have a sense of meaning. They taught me resilience; they taught me compassion; they taught me how to find joy - even when times are hardest. I carry my grandparents with me in everything I do - not just in memory, but in an engaged, mindful way. I want to honor my grandparents by striving towards the vision of a world where families are better supported and have access to resources, dignity for their loved ones that they are caring for, and kindness, compassion and understanding to the silent suffering caused by dementia.
This is more than a career for me, it is personal - it is about changing my loss to an impact and my grief to action. I believe that we can create a better future for people living with Alzheimer's and other dementias through awareness, education, and advocacy. This is the legacy I hope to build - a legacy inspired by my grandparents' full lived lives and immense love.