I am Addison-Piper Flores, a senior at Junípero Serra High School in Gardena, California, and will be a Health Science major this coming fall at Spelman College. My journey to this point has been shaped by a deep commitment to excellence, leadership, and service. Throughout high school, I have maintained a 4.0 GPA or higher, earning Principal’s Honor Roll every year, while also taking college courses since the seventh grade. I currently serve as ASB President, was Class President my sophomore and junior years, and ASB Treasurer my freshman year. In addition, I am the captain of the varsity track team, an active member of the Black Student Union, and the proud owner of my own cotton candy business, Piper Maüru, for the last six years. In addition to going above and beyond, I have most recently begun the UCLA Medical Assistant Program, where I attend classes Monday through Friday from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM. I also work in a clinic on Sundays, gaining hands-on experience and completing clinical hours. Through this program, I have recently become a certified phlebotomist, further strengthening my commitment to a future in healthcare. Each of these roles has strengthened my discipline, time management, and passion for creating opportunities not only for myself, but for those around me. Attending an HBCU means being a part of history and building onto the school’s legacy of resilience and excellence, but also being in a space created just for me and other African American students to thrive in our academic careers and later go on to be successful individuals long after that. It means being in a space where I do not have to shrink myself or question if I belong, because I already do. I will be surrounded by strong, intelligent Black women who are just as driven as I am, and that kind of environment is something I value deeply. My choice to study health science comes from my own lived experiences of watching my family struggle with their health and losing many family members to preventable diseases within a three-month time span at the early age of eight, as well as witnessing doctors lack compassion and be dismissive toward my family members. This is what motivates me every day to get up and do better so that I can help others and make a real impact in the medical field. I aspire to become a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist and a healthcare advocate. Healthcare is not just about treating patients—it is about understanding them, listening to them, and ensuring they receive the care they deserve. I want to be someone who not only provides medical support but also advocates for all patients, especially minorities, as they are more likely to be dismissed and unheard. Through my education and future career, I plan to make a difference for both my family and my community. For my family, I will be able to help guide them to make better health choices by sharing my education with them and attending doctor appointments to ensure they receive the proper care they need, while also holding them accountable in their health decisions. As for my community, I plan to come back and educate others, host health fairs, and overall make healthcare more accessible. I also plan to use my voice to address healthcare disparities and work toward creating a system that is more equitable for everyone. In addition, I want to be a source of representation and change. I want young Black girls to see what is possible and know that they can achieve it too. I also plan to invest in the youth by starting my own scholarship to not only help fund the next generation’s journey to excellence, but also to show that someone believes in them and encourages them to keep going. Spelman will not only provide me with an education, but with a strong community that will support and encourage me to change the world.

At the age of 11 I started my own artisan cotton candy business named Piper Mauru. What started as a simple conversation between my cousin and me about where our first job would be led to something much bigger. We agreed that working at Starbucks or Baskin-Robbins didn’t seem like a terrible idea. However, my Goddad asked a question that changed the trajectory of my life: “Why plan to work for somebody when you can work for yourself?” Over the past six years, I’ve learned that there is never a perfect time to start something—you just have to do it. If you fail, you learn and try again. I have made many mistakes, but I have used each one as a learning opportunity. Launching my business a month before the pandemic started was definitely a challenge. Not just because I was 11 it was more difficult because what would’ve been prime time to really market and get myself out there was a bit discouraging because there was a mandated lockdown and being out of your home for non-essential reasons meant it wasn’t important. And booking a cotton candy cart for a party was not essential at all. Instead of quitting then and there I came up with other ways to bring some business in. I started pre-packaging my cotton candy and making deliveries on my bike if the customer was close enough. Learning that resilience is not just moving forward but revising your plan a little to fit circumstances. When the pandemic was over, I had the opportunity to do my first large event which was Juneteenth in Leimert Park. Throughout the day I was asked, “How old are you?” For many people, that question might be annoying, but for me it is an opportunity to inspire others. Whether the answer has been 13, 15, or 16, the response that warms my heart the most is hearing an adult say, “Wow, I’m going to go tell my kids about you,” or a younger child say, “I want to do something like this.” I always respond, “Yes, you can do whatever you want as long as it’s fun for you.” Seeing young black girls especially eyes light up when I answer their questions it’s what keeps me going. Even when I have to sacrifice my other extracurriculars to go and work a party, I remember my why, which is to inspire. Even when there are occasional hiccups such as I miss a message, forget to post, or someone ghosts me when it’s time to make a deposit, I use each setback as redirection and a learning lesson that I don’t just apply to my business but I apply in my everyday life. As a young Black entrepreneur, I use my business as a platform to inspire other Black girls to chase their dreams. I encourage them to pursue what makes them happy, not just what is socially accepted or expected of them. We are meant to bring our own seat to the table and never question whether we belong. Though my business, I show my resilience in wanting to create a strong legacy of being bold and going out and making their dreams reality.

I am Addison-Piper Flores, a senior at Junípero Serra High School in Gardena, California. I currently serve as ASB President, captain of the varsity track team, and CEO of my own artisan cotton candy business, Piper Maüru. I have made the Principal's Honor Roll every semester of high school, earning a 4.7 GPA this past semester. I have been taking dual-enrollment courses since the eighth grade and am currently dual-enrolled at El Camino College and Arizona State University through the Universal Learners Program. I have also recently begun the UCLA Medical Assistant Program. During my time at Serra, I have been heavily involved in student leadership. My freshman year, I served as ASB Treasurer. During my sophomore and junior years, I served as Class President, and this year I am the ASB President. I am an active member of the Black Student Union and have completed Project Lead the Way, a Biomedical Science Program. I have participated in track and field since elementary school and have been a member of the Serra track team since freshman year. My ability to balance athletics and academics has earned me the Scholar Athlete and Coaches Award, as well as recognition as Cavalier of the Month for embodying school values of humility, accountability, and integrity. I have always been active in my community, starting with Girl Scouts. Whether giving back to the homeless population in my local community through providing meals and care packages, or donating to victims of the Altadena and Palisades fires, service has always been important to me. Outside of Girl Scouts, I give back through Top Teens of America, serving the elderly and those in need. However, my favorite experience was assisting with a karaoke party for autistic children. I helped organize the event by putting together the playlist and schedule behind the scenes. During the event, I provided encouragement and support to these amazing kids as they sang in a space created just for them to be free and enjoy themselves. I am always looking for ways to give back and improve my community, which directly connects to my future goal of becoming a healthcare provider with an emphasis on inclusion. My plan to reach my future goals begins with obtaining my BS in Health Science from Spelman College. From there, I plan to attend nursing school to become a registered nurse. After working as a nurse for two years, I intend to return to school to become a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, or possibly an anesthesiologist. In five years, I should be close to reaching my goal of becoming a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist or anesthesiologist who combines skill with empathy and advocacy. I want to bring diversity to the medical field, provide compassionate care, and help patients and families feel understood, supported, and educated, while remaining an active member of my community and giving back where I can. I aim to become the kind of healthcare professional who makes a real difference in both individual lives and the broader medical community. This scholarship would not only help ease the financial burden of college for me and my family, but also allow me to focus on my education, continue participating in community service, and pursue opportunities that will prepare me for my future. It would give me the resources to excel academically and take full advantage of everything college has to offer. Most importantly, it would support my goal of becoming a healthcare professional who provides high-quality, compassionate care and gives back to the community.

1) What does inspiration mean to you? How would you use your platform in your future career in healthcare to inspire and uplift others? What inspiration means to me is seeing someone doing something or setting an example for others that allows them, or myself, to see a way to do something new. Allowing a new journey to begin, as a new spark has been lit, and now creativity and drive are in place for a new goal to be met. Without being inspired by others, many of the things I’ve accomplished might never have happened. An example of this would be the reason behind starting my own cotton candy business at eleven years old. While having a conversation with my cousin about where we would want to work for our first jobs, my godfather gave a piece of wisdom that will forever stick with me, which was, “Why work for someone when you can work for yourself?” That summer, I worked on my business plan, figuring out who my target audience would be, where I would get supplies, and more. Now I can proudly say I’ve been running my business for the last five years, and even inspired my older brother to start his own churro business. I also have another passion, which is to work in healthcare. This passion is inspired by many people—my mother, Doc McStuffins, and more recently, Dr. Andrea Alexander, known as @Paging.dr.dre on Instagram. I have seen my mom educate her students throughout my entire life, and most recently she became a community based doula providing care to women who typically could not afford this resource. Watching Doc McStuffins care for the toys in a loving and educated manner as a young Black girl on TV was inspiring because I saw a character who looked like me doing something that I want to do, which is care for others. Most recently, I’ve been inspired by @Paging.dr.dre on Instagram a young Black female OB-GYN who uses her platform not only to share day-in-the-life content, fashion tips, and a little humor, but most importantly to educate others about women’s health in a way that is engaging and accessible. I would use my platform in my future career in healthcare not only to inspire the healthcare community to do more research and studies on how certain diseases appear in African Americans but also to work toward changing the narrative that African Americans do not experience pain as much as Caucasians. This would help promote equality in treatment in a country where minorities are often overlooked or ignored when it comes to their symptoms due to a lack of understanding or empathy. Additionally, I would use my platform in a similar way as @Paging.dr.dre by explaining and breaking down disease processes, symptoms, tests, and medications into simpler terms to provide more understanding to patients. Helping to educate which in turn would ease any fear related to medical care, which leads to disparities in minority communities. 2) What intentional actions are you currently taking to inspire people around you? Starting my business was an intentional action that I took first to provide something that did not contain harmful chemicals and harsh dyes such as Red Dye 40. I spent my entire summer researching organic, sustainable ingredients. I also made sure my products were affordable to my community as a way to show that we deserve nice things at a reasonable price. It also teaches that we can do so much as a community by supporting one another. It is not just about buying and booking my services but about uplifting each other’s businesses, sharing resources, and celebrating our talents together. Another intentional action that I took at the start of my freshman year was joining the Associated Student Body and Student Council and becoming the class president. I have now taken on the role of ASB President for my upcoming senior year. My goal has always been to be the voice for my class and now the entire school, to bring a fun environment or simply address things we would like to see changed in a system that is not up to date or accepting at times. One of the first things I helped change was allowing us as students to wear our necklaces and chains out. With the demographic of the school mostly being African American students, many of us have nameplates or chains, which are very important within African American culture as a way of expressing ourselves. During a meeting with administration, I, along with other leadership members, explained why we should be able to wear our necklaces and chains. I explained in the meeting that nameplates were a beautiful protest, in which many African Americans were unable to find our names on amusement park displays or souvenir shops while on vacation. As a solution, we began making nameplates with our unique names. This resulted in my private Catholic traditional school revising the policy and meeting us in the middle by allowing students to now wear customized jewelry. This inspired the school to speak up more often and share any concerns to get change within our school. 3) If granted the scholarship, describe how you would utilize the award to propel yourself towards your goals and continue serving as a source of inspiration to others. If granted the scholarship, I would use this money towards my educational needs such as college application fees, tuition, books, and any additional software that I may need. I would also be diligent and purposeful about how this money is spent, as it will be of great help to my family, having two other children in college at the same time, as a way to help my parents and minimize additional stress. This would also allow me time to volunteer in community spaces with minority children to inspire them to go further in their education and help propel them towards college goals by providing them with resources and helping them move to the next step. This would allow young students to see that with hard work, support, and belief in themselves, college is possible no matter their background.