A sense of excellence doesn’t fall under the idea of perfection; instead, it exceeds our boundaries to fulfill a commitment to high standards, but not for ourselves. Battling through the dark times with a beaming soul of brilliance for the sake of others. Whether I found myself guiding students around food insecurity or package boxes at the local church, I strive to bring clear intention and care to my daily habits. As a nutrition and dietetics student, finding my calling in the intersection of food systems, community wellness, and sustainability. The personal ideals with substance are not only a human right but also a powerful tool in working towards a more just, connected, and healed world. Inspired by this, taking on leadership roles allows me to serve others through my education and grassroots action. At Loyola University, I launched Harvesting Hope, an ecological sustainability project, ordering recipes using seasonal, affordable ingredients while teaching my peers how to create cost-effective meals. We partnered with local food pantries and wellness centers, promoting equitable access to nursing foods for academic and communal populations. Currently, at the University of Illinois, I am leading peer fitness & nutrition coaching. Here, I designed a student-centered health initiative based on personal goals. I focused on practical, empowering strategies, as in understanding food labels, meal prepping, and grocery budgeting, helping my peers to build their culinary confidence and autonomy to contribute to meaningful health outcomes and habitual behaviors. Outside of school, years of volunteering with the Northern Illinois Food Bank and the Fox Valley Community Garden, aiding in the organization, bringing meals to low-income neighborhoods, and harvesting vegetables for local churches. Learning that service isn’t based on grand gestures but rather on consistency. The initial, everyday choices, regardless of how small, that contribute are needed for meaningful change. Carrying this spirit of excellence has transitioned into my professional life, from analyzing data at local supply companies to collaborating with eco-conscious strategies. I hold the approach we take to individual tasks, as it reflects our broader patterns of behavior and values. Accordingly, I approach every environment with compassion and dedicated effort, no matter the setting or scale. Inspired by figures like Harriet Russell Carr, I aspire to embody their principles of servant-leadership, mobilizing my actions to reflect a deeper commitment to my community. I wish to utilize my education to focus on food insecurity in inner-city neighborhoods, where accessibility to nutritious goods is limited to convenience stores and fast food establishments, a critical step toward promoting public health and dismantling structural inequalities in the urban food environment. This scholarship would not only aid in my pursuit of a more just future but also affirm the morals of purpose that guide my devotion to meaningful societal change in progress through homegrown leadership

Personally, the term “paying it forward” represents the act of compassion, not out of obligation, but because someone once did the same for us. The quiet motion of creating a rippling effect begins with a small gesture. In a world with many people are just trying to get by, “paying it forward” sets a powerful reminder: you are never truly alone. Financial struggle has always been a prominent presence in my life. Years of seeing bills falling over the kitchen counter, with my mother sobbing after being let go from her job, to squatting out of cabins in rural Illinois. The intensity started to spike during my junior year of high school with the worry of college applications and working full-time to pay the monthly bills while being an active member in my community; however, the idea of attending university was a distant thought. After several years volunteering at the Northern Illinois Food Bank, a local librarian, Mrs. Liu, saw the weight I was carrying. Following our shift, she pulled me aside and shared her concerns, not just about college but about my well-being over the last three years. Never had I had a conversation that opened the gates to new possibilities. Ideals I had never thought of. The drives across state lines to college tours, peer reviewing every essay I drafted, to even aiding me with application fees, knowing quiet well of my financial concerns. Never has she once waited for anything in return. The unwavering faith in truly believing that I had a chance to receive a proper education to free myself after numerous periods of not feeling worthy due to my background. Her advocacy didn’t revolve around material help, it was about sending a meaningful message: you are worth believing in and investing in. The acts of her generosity have stuck with me, embedded into my own life. Whether tutoring elementary students about playing classical piano, volunteering every Friday at my local synagogue, or creating “Harvest Hope,” a sustainable garden to help nourish the low-income individuals in my hometown. Only trying to reciprocate the same kind of guidance that once comforted me. I never thought of these acts as charity, but rather to continue the cycle, I'm grateful to be a part. My Jewish heritage instilled the value of the tikkun olam, the idea of repairing the world, as it doesn’t always require grand, revolutionary deeds to have an impact. Sometimes it might be present, offering quiet efforts of empathy or allowing a gesture to bloom with time. Alan Perlow’s legacy, a man who treasured knowledge in assisting his nephews and being the mentor in their path, has caused me to reflect on how crucial it is to have people in times of sorrow, especially when it stems from family and friends. Receiving this scholarship would not only aid in completing my degree but also fulfill my educational desires in public health, focusing on addressing the high rates of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity in my faith group. In obtaining this knowledge, I will apply my expertise to tackling these crises while promoting nutritional recipes that are permissible under Jewish law. As food is more than fuel, it’s a form of care, culture, and connection. Wishing to give others the resources to live healthier and more fulfilling lives through collective care. If I can be a helping hand to at least one person, making an actual difference in their life, as someone once aided me, then I’ll know I’m continuing the lasting legacy of paying it forward in the same way as Mrs. Liu did for me.

Writing for this application and other scholarships, I was constrained to reflect directly on the truth I grew up in. Digging into the past and recounting stories of my life, I could see the drawbacks based on my socioeconomic position. At a young age, I was aware that my mother caring for two daughters wasn’t very financially set off, but at the same time, it was never presented as if we were dirt poor. I grew up normal with my little desires for the occasional sweet treats that were never denied, but I knew asking for the latest iPhone or gaming station would be a stretch. Developing into a young adult, I have learned the skill of how to tackle my demons, but I now have to battle the ones my mother has sheltered me from, the devils in the world that weren’t delivered into. Creatures of adverse circumstances are suppressed by those of higher hierarchy, keeping those in the cycle of poverty, flourishing in a world that forces them away from society and is in the modern political climate with the bitterest welcome. Separation of my father, the night shifts, and isolation from family, it's been a fight for over a decade to reach financial stability. She was one of the millions laid off from her job during the Coronavirus-9 outbreak, causing us to start over completely. However, this was the last chance to rebuild our family. Years of saving and living off food stamps and government aid because my mother repeatedly found herself living paycheck to paycheck, not by choice, but by circumstance. My mother already had maxed out credit cards, never owning her own home or being lucky enough to have help from others. Beckoning homeless quickly followed after we tried applying for homes during the peak of the housing market, living in our car with four pets to squatting in cabins in rural Iowa. Living in seclusion with no access to the intern, friends, or family, along with my mother, spiraled into a manic episode, forcing me to care for my younger sister. Cleaning the home, making job appointments for my mother, and keeping up with my younger sister’s studies quickly caused me to fall off my academic career. The feeling of loneliness and desperation embodied my mental health and the act of trying to solve equations was like the end of the world. Even when I was motivated to complete my studies, the lack of the internet to join online classroom calls or turn in work was nearly impossible. My new "home" was a broken-down cabin with shattered windows and barely electricity. Knowing that my family had to relocate with close to no money, the immense guilt when I was applying for school became overwhelming. Moving forward, living with a family friend in a small home was a relief, but whenever I returned from college, I felt like I’, contributing to the burden and felt that we might return to living in that shack. I fear my family's financial standpoint will hinder college completion. My mother's finances aren't new, with CPS coming to the front door and the frantic calls of my friends checking up on me; this isn't a secret. I know the struggle as I hear from her while she's crying over the pile of bills gradually adding up. My family is dealing with the relocation issue by the end of May this year and no longer has the support of anybody afterward, stuck yet again, another need to adapt. Transferring a family of three with four other critters with no funds is no simple task, with rent prices increasing close to mortgages. I always thought it was strange that they didn't want to see my stress or that I was on the verge of a breakdown over grades, but I never wanted to weigh us down. Now my alarm rings at five am, with only a few hours of sleep, quickly slipping my shoes on to get to work on time to rushing into the library. Balancing my work schedule, my studies while taking care of my family has been tought but I’ve managed to keep my high academic standing through discipline. If I feel that there is a goal that needs to be achieved, it will always get followed through.

Growing up in a household taught me that the values of food choices will affect my overall health, and seeing my mother, who educated me about these ideals, fall into the prediabetic path initiated my voyage to support others. My passion for nutrition was heavily influenced by my childhood; however, once I saw my mother’s health decline during the pre-diabetic journey, a new version of myself sparked a desire to care for others through food and knowledge. We couldn’t afford to have her seen by a physician and the lab testing due to the costs; after reading articles from Cleveland and Mayo Clinic and checking out books from the local library on prevention care, I felt I made a difference. Even cliche as that may sound, my mother’s health did start to improve by losing weight, eating a rainbow of foods to nourish the microbiome in the gut while being on a budget, and now being able to turn into the mother I remember growing up. If granted this award, it will help me support my finances while I study to become a registered dietitian; coming from a low-income household, this donation would go straight into my laboratory fees for chemistry and biology, along with the mandated online portals for schoolwork, allowing me to focus on my studies. Without this award, I would have to have an intense part-time job to cover these payments, taking away time I wished to use by collaborating with my college’s head nutrition department by creating food drives for students on campus. This food bank has been in the work; however, with myself paying for my school, I might be on hiatus due to school expenses. With this food drive, we were also planning on educating students about how to maintain a healthy diet easily with the ease of pricey meal plans. Especially learning how to buy sustenance on a low budget while being provided information about how foods like fiber can make one feel fuller for longer; saving some money or canned goods are an excellent replacement for fresh vegetables. Another reason is that I actively participate in the Northern Illinois Food Bank and wish to continue this act of service while in school. Still, I also wanted to create a school club dedicated to educating low-income families about nutrition from our school’s nurture nurses and dieticians. I would especially like to discuss how to prevent type 1 diabetes, sympathizing with their background and relating to it heavily; I wish to educate these communities.

Growing up in an abusive split family with a mother who refused to work alongside a father who drowned himself in booze, my sister and I struggled to focus on academics—it escalated during the pandemic of squatting in cabins in rural sides of Illinois to four years later coming back to a home where I have to pay for our groceries to pitching into the water bill. The mentality I had was being in a constant state of stress of surviving while seeming normal when going to school to avoid any form of bullying, but trying to keep up with school on top of being successful was challenging to manage. We didn’t grow up like normal children, playing sports or seeing our friends; instead, we put all our energy into surviving. Due to our abnormal living situation, I had to put money into my education during high school with high school courses and AP classes to pay for my lab fees in college. As someone who would take pre-med courses to become a dietitian, I know that the costs of science courses due to paying for homework premiums and lab fees increased quickly during my college career. Not relying on my parents or family for support, work studies, volunteering, and working two jobs for my educational upkeep is a lot to juggle. The Veerappan Memorial Scholarship would be a massive support on my academic journey, using the generous donation towards paying for my chemistry anagram and psychology lab fees and helping cover one semester's worth of homework. This aid would be helpful with investing my money in working for financial freedom from a home that heavily lacked this factor. In doing so, I can focus on volunteering at the Northern Illinois Food Bank and my studies to accomplish my lifelong dream of being a licensed director. Developing in a home where food was scary caused unhealthy relationships at a young age, and growing up alongside social media, my perception of food was always poor until I started going to the library and reading out the human diet. I am speaking about an internal flame of the passion for improving the American public’s association with substances, especially those who struggle with eating disorders, especially anorexia and binge eating, as an issue I have struggled with, hoping to teach others that we can live healthy lives regardless of our economic or social background in my local community. I will eventually take this knowledge to the internet to spread awareness of the situation on our plates.

As I gaze upon this viridescent earth, viewing all forms of life that were saved by my hand and those who seek similar values on liberating mother nature's beauty as we continue to strive for environmental safety from the tiny plankton found at the surfaces in all forms bodies of water to toucans gliding through the humid, lushes rainforest.

Seeing different types of bodies function in our world gradually fabricates a stigma toward each individual. Growing up alongside digital media exposes every nook and cranny of the imperfections people could “unfortunately” possess, creating a crescendo of thoughts about my human vesicle formed into hatred and nauseating disgust by balancing my physiognomy to beauty gurus. When someone is young, they’re vulnerable to the environment of those perceiving models with perfect features without knowing the vast genetic pool and the percentage of people obtaining cosmetic changes. The cycle continues. However, after years of starvation following an intense three-hour workout plan every day for multiple years, everything eventually burns to the ground. Feeling like a failure not to complete the calorie deficit or caving in eating a bar of chocolate, I turned to try to discover the real issue with myself. Consuming an occasional Reeses Pieces never created self-hatred in elementary but occurred every moment as I aged. I began to question whether these "unhealthy" fats and sugars were a real threat compared to my mental state. The immediate aha moment clicked as the thoughts of realization started to form that I had created my demon based on pursuing unreasonable human expectations. The bitter acceptance wasn't based on the torture I endured but on figuring out how to evolve this problem into a solution. When confronting my eating disorders, the initial steps should be the same for every plan: remain calm and follow through. A major lesson was to learn about myself and how others in similar scenarios should create a proposal for one's issues. The acceptance to go beyond financial and plausible ideas would be to create a computer AI digital micromachine that submits daily tasks regarding someone's mental and physical wellness. The reasoning behind pushing for this form of technology is that the projector from this tiny machine would be portable and specific to all humans, along with their anatomical needs. This form of machinery would look like a functioning watching to count one's heartbeat to electrical impulses while having all medical information needed in all systems with a prick in the first to draw blood into the system can read all genetic information to how the body is currently functioning. After taking in the specifics, the projector would come in a while being portable, resulting in seeing the daily tasks targeted to one's health but done in small steps. For example, those with high sodium levels will be alerted while shown alternative food meals and educated the user on what contains high salts. The user should follow a small pattern before preventing or treating their biological matter. The main reason why this fictional plan seems ideal is based on how many individuals around the globe, regardless of all financial affairs while supporting one's health. Writing this fallacy of a dream, I asked myself how this would've guided me through my troubles with my body, but despite that, people don't need all forms of enology to receive one's holy grail. However, it's the pure drive to reach the finish line with all drawbacks, but achieving all the small checkmarks will cause the solution.

As mental stability crumbles as seedlings onto the Earth's surface is when true growth will begin. After the recent pandemic, my understanding of body functions became more apparent yet crucial. The mind and physical physique are blended as one unit, so if one part of the whole falls, then all tumbles down. My mental health plummeted significantly due to the struggle of academics and living in an unstable environment. The gradual crescendo of suffering brought me to a breaking point of acknowledgment, followed by the beauty of the outdoors. Living in an isolated cabin in western Illinois, surrounded by cornfields with minimal human interactions online, made me more active in replenishing my mental state. A simple walk around the hut led to a stroll along the local creek into a hobby. The constant state of anxiety started to lift when I spent less time thinking about personal issues and insecurities. The dark and sorrowful mindset began to switch to a moment of reflection on how I developed a deep depression but acknowledged the source of the problem. Once I understand how personal wellness impacts someone's whole life only left me with a new acknowledgment of how severe mental health is. Taking one foot in front of the other corresponded with my new mindset. Even moving across the nation to find a sustainable home with my single mother and younger sister, I handled scenarios calmly after finding a way of coping. In personal years of growth, how someone views themselves affects their academics which I informally had to figure out for myself. Regardless of the feelings of bitterness, I'm grateful for this sorrow because it unfolded a new chapter. As a new version of being a college student in Chicago at Loyola Univerity as schooling becomes more rigorous, my appreciation for someone's wellness is essential to be successful. Even though I'll be far from the countryside, let alone the suburban area, anyone could stroll outside to see new beauty and inspiration to continue. Although my surroundings would be different than what I was comfortable with, my mentality of being at peace when chaos is happening is an ideal way of functioning as a college student. The fundamental factor in success and satisfaction when all seems lost. Life shouldn't revolve around whether one's grades are perfect nor who belongs to the largest friend group, but to be in pure tranquility forever in our hearts.