At the age of three, my younger brother had to completely change his diet—cutting out gluten, dairy, red dye, processed foods, tomatoes, and more. As a result, our entire family of seven temporarily changed our diet for a whole year. The reason? My brother had eczema. While the expected results were that only his eczema severity would die down, it was a miracle that when introduced slowly to the foods that made his eczema flare, he was actually able to eat some of these foods safely once again. However, it wasn’t until I took AP Biology in high school that I truly understood how significant food is to our bodies. Yes, food is delicious and often central to culture and family, but it's also what fuels us. Certain foods can contain the nutrients your body may need to improve your overall physical being. For instance, tomatoes contain high amounts of lycopene, which is an antioxidant, alleviating oxidative stress, which can then prevent the damage of cells and contribute to heart disease, cancer, and more. But what makes oxidative stress harmful? Oxidative stress is a state when there is an imbalance between reactive oxidative species (ROS) and antioxidants. Because ROS are unstable molecules, they will take the electrons from surrounding molecules, making those molecules unstable, which leads to more and more molecules becoming unstable. This can ultimately lead to the alteration or damage of DNA, proteins, and lipids. Learning this blew my mind because it demonstrates that what we eat really matters. Therefore, becoming healthy doesn’t have to be daunting and overwhelming. I believe this is a message that should be shared with people who feel hopeless about their health, who think healthy eating is out of reach, or who don’t yet realize how transformative dietary changes can be. I aspire to be the bridge that makes food science accessible to those in need. My goal is to educate and support patients and their families by first providing them with accessible, research-based educational content. Then, I will work with them to create personalized strategies and plans as to how they can incorporate eating healthy in their own life. By getting to know each patient and understanding their background, I can help create tailored plans that reflect their specific needs and circumstances. Beyond advising foods to eat or avoid, it's also essential to provide simple, at-home recipes that make healthy choices more practical. Overall, it is crucial to foster a safe space for the patient to want to take charge of their own health. Besides patient care, creating or supporting workshops and programs that help to educate the importance of taking care of your own health by adding nutrient rich foods is another way I would have to help support the community. I believe supporting the programs implemented in schools and hospitals is essential. In addition to patient care, it's important to support community workshops and programs that promote the importance of nutrition. I believe it’s essential to support initiatives in schools and hospitals that focus on food education. I strive to be a part of the impact that helps others to be confident and knowledgeable and comfortable with their own body.

I grew up in a big family as the eldest of four other siblings and with loving parents. Even at my church in Brooklyn with my dad as an assistant pastor, I had grown accustomed to kindness and graciousness from others. The church quickly became a second family with younger, wild kids, kids around my age, and older people who engaged in fun activities with us kids but also acted as mentors. Having people over our house for church related events and to hang out and even having pastors stay over for a night were common occurrences. Hence, when our parents told us that a church member my siblings and I knew, “Joe”, was going to stay over our house for some time, it didn’t seem weird at all. If anything we were excited to finally have someone to hang around with other than just ourselves. All that my siblings and I had known back then was that he was someone who needed a place to stay. Our bond with him continued to grow through video games, playing made up games, and conversations. I remember distinctly of the times we’d yell at him for lying on the ground from getting too tired easily after playing tag and when we’d annoy him while he was trying to do some work on his laptop. In a way, he became an older brother figure to all of us. Later, by overhearing some conversations, I learned that Joe was someone who didn’t have a normal childhood and was in a bad place after college with little money. The more I learned about his backstory, I realized that having a family and community was something I took for granted. In particular, I remember overhearing my dad say that Joe playing video games and doing fun activities with us was in many ways giving him the opportunity to do things that he wasn’t able to enjoy as a child because of his upbringing. “Wow, it’s almost as if Joe is one of the kids,” a church member laughed as he saw all of us racing down the stairs to play a new game. "Let him play more video games with my kids and act like a kid," my father said. I realized then that my and my siblings were helping Joe without even knowing it. Making him feel welcome and one of our own helped create a sense of belonging. What he needed the most was a caring community and my church and my family helped to make that happen by opening up to him. To this day, he is still known as the “sixth child” of my family. Furthermore, I learned that creating community and being kind to others no matter how they seem is important and strived to do so in the classroom, the Christian Seeker’s Club, and the girls varsity fencing team by making sure that people didn’t feel left behind or alone. Because someone who may seem like they are okay on the outside, can really just be someone who is struggling on the inside. Whether it's opening up your home or simply playing video games with someone, it can make all the difference.