Did you ever have a moment in your life, where you felt like your world was crashing down in front of your eyes? I had my moment on November 23rd, 2022, when my mom passed away from a heart attack. When I heard the news, my life flashed before my eyes. My mom was my biggest inspiration and supporter. Throughout my personal and academic life, I could always count on her being there for me and always cheering me on. My mom was the main reason why I decided to enroll in college. Throughout my childhood, my mom would always tell me how important it was for me to go to school and succeed. I remember the time I asked my mom, “why are you strict about me and school?”. She looked into my eyes with sincerity and replied, “I do not want to see you struggle and work three jobs like me. From that moment forth, it was clear why she wanted and demanded more from me. Being in lockdown as the Covid-19 virus plagued my new hometown Brooklyn, New York, I spent my junior year virtually and it was clear school was the only stable thing in my life. It inspired me to think about college and what major(s) would align with my aspirations and goals. Once again the thought of my mother crossed my mind but in a different light. Throughout my childhood, she struggled with health issues and I would be the one to help her through pain and sickness. I strongly believe helping her led me to a passion for wanting to help people and making a difference through healing. For this reason, going into the medical field seemed ideal to accomplish the goals I had set for myself. By my senior year of high school, I decided to begin my journey for pre-med by majoring in biology. When I told my mother about my decision, her face lit up with pure joy and happiness giving me the solidarity that the medical field was the right choice for me. I chose biology. The simple fact is that I want to help people in my career. My mom had really bad health issues and she was the biggest motivation for me to want to be a doctor. I want to be able to help someone's family member, the way I wished someone had helped my mom. I want to make a positive impact on somebody else's life, I would love to be able to save someone's life and give them a second chance at living. I wish every day that my mom had gotten medical help and I think about how she probably would still be here if she did. I can't change that, but I can do my best to make sure nobody ever feels like I feel right now. I'm still grieving and mourning the loss of my mom but the way that I’m trying to become better is by finishing college and becoming a doctor. That was my mother's last wish for me, to be able to finish school and be a successful woman in this world. And that's exactly what I'm going to do, I'm going to finish college and get my bachelor's degree in biology. After that, I plan on going to medical school and I want to focus on becoming a general surgeon. So even though my mom isn't here anymore, I know that she’ll always be with me and that I will be fulfilling her last wish for me. That's all I could ask for.

Did you ever have a moment in your life, where you felt like your world was crashing down in front of your eyes? I had my moment on November 23rd, 2022, when my mom passed away from a heart attack. When I heard the news, my life flashed before my eyes. My mom was my biggest inspiration and supporter. Throughout my personal and academic life, I could always count on her being there for me and always cheering me on. My mom was the main reason why I decided to enroll in college. Throughout my childhood, my mom would always tell me how important it was for me to go to school and succeed. I remember the time I asked my mom, “why are you strict about me and school?”. She looked into my eyes with sincerity and replied, “I do not want to see you struggle and work three jobs like me. From that moment forth, it was clear why she wanted and demanded more for me.Being in lockdown as the Covid-19 virus plagued my new hometown Brooklyn, New York, I spent my junior year virtually and it was clear school was the only stable thing in my life. It inspired me to think about college and what major(s) would align with my aspirations and goals. Once again the thought of my mother crossed my mind but in a different light. Throughout my childhood, she struggled with health issues and I would be the one to help her through pain and sickness. I strongly believe helping her led me to a passion for wanting to help people and making a difference through healing. For this reason, going into the medical field seemed ideal to accomplish the goals I had set for myself. By my senior year of high school, I decided to begin my journey for pre-med by majoring in biology. When I told my mother about my decision, her face lit up with pure joy and happiness giving me the solidarity that the medical field was the right choice for me. I chose biology. The simple fact is that I want to help people in my career. My mom had really bad health issues and she was the biggest motivation for me to want to be a doctor. I want to be able to help someone's family member, the way I wished someone had helped my mom. I'm still grieving and mourning the loss of my mom but the way that I’m trying to become the best person I can be is by finishing college and becoming a doctor. That was my mother's last wish for me, to be able to finish school and be a successful woman in this world. And that's exactly what I'm going to do, I'm going to finish college and get my bachelor's degree in biology. After that, I plan on going to medical school and I want to focus on becoming a general surgeon. So even though my mom isn't here anymore, I know that she’ll always be with me and that I will be fulfilling her last wish for me. That's all I could ask for.

Did you ever have a moment in your life, where you felt like your world was crashing down in front of your eyes? I had my moment on November 23rd, 2022, when my mom passed away from a heart attack. When I heard the news, my life flashed before my eyes. My mom was my biggest inspiration and supporter. Throughout my personal and academic life, I could always count on her being there for me and always cheering me on. My mom was the main reason why I decided to enroll in college. Throughout my childhood, my mom would always tell me how important it was for me to go to school and succeed. I remember the time I asked my mom, “why are you strict about me and school?”. She looked into my eyes with sincerity and replied, “I do not want to see you struggle and work three jobs like me. From that moment forth, it was clear why she wanted and demanded more for me.Being in lockdown as the Covid-19 virus plagued my new hometown Brooklyn, New York, I spent my junior year virtually and it was clear school was the only stable thing in my life. It inspired me to think about college and what major(s) would align with my aspirations and goals. Once again the thought of my mother crossed my mind but in a different light. Throughout my childhood, she struggled with health issues and I would be the one to help her through pain and sickness. I strongly believe helping her led me to a passion of wanting to help people and make a difference through healing. For this reason, going into the medical field seemed ideal to accomplish the goals I had set for myself. By my senior year of high school, I decided to begin my journey for pre-med by majoring in biology. When I told my mother about my decision, her face lit up with pure joy and happiness giving me the solidarity that the medical field was the right choice for me. I chose biology. The simple fact is that I want to help people in my career. My mom had really bad health issues and she was the biggest motivation for me wanting to be a doctor. I want to be able to help someone's family member, the way I wished someone had helped my mom. I'm still grieving and mourning the loss of my mom but the way that I’m trying to “turn it up to 11” is by finishing college and becoming a doctor. That was my mothers last wish for me, to be able to finish school and be a successful woman in this world. And that's exactly what I'm going to do, I'm going to finish college and get my bachelors degree in biology. After that I plan on going to medical school and I want to focus on becoming a general surgeon. So even though my mom isn't here anymore, I know that she’ll always be with me and that I will be fulfilling her last wish for me. That's all I could ask for.

Have you ever been in pain? As a black woman, I know a lot about it. You have things coming at you from all sides – colorism, racism, sexism, stereotypes – and these things cause pain. Black people get sicker and die earlier than other races. For example, black women are three times more prone to death after childbirth. Yet, when black women tell their doctors they're in pain, they’re not taken seriously. We as black women are getting inferior medical care because we are seen incorrectly as more aggressive and tougher than everyone else. Stereotypes about black women’s sexuality also prevent them from getting good medical care. In the 1980’s, if a black woman entered a hospital with pain in her pelvis, doctors were taught to treat her for a sexually transmitted disease. As a black woman it’s disheartening to know that the first thing doctors think of when a black woman says she’s in pain, is that she has an STD. How would you feel if that was your mother or sister getting misdiagnosed by a doctor? I can answer this question for you, most likely upset and disgusted. I know first hand how it feels to have a loved one receive improper health care due to being a black woman. Back in 2011, my mom miscarried my younger brother due to the doctor giving her the wrong medication and properly taking precautions to make sure my baby brother survived. From the result of her miscarriage and have to live with my decease brother in her stomach, my mother was diagnosed with high blood pressure and diabetes due to the harmful toxins from the babys body. This is what is pushing me to want to pursue a career in medicine. Sadly we can’t erase these stereotypes but we can fight the problem by having more black women working in hospitals. If black doctors are caring for black people, then patients will feel more comfortable, and the doctors won’t turn to the stereotypes that black women don’t feel pain or that they are nothing more than their sexuality. Having black people practicing medicine not only helps fight stereotypes but strengthens the black community. Growing up, I didn't see many black doctors but when I did, I remember connecting with them and answering questions about their experiences in the medical field. One common thing they would all say was when they met another black person, who was also studying medicine, the bond that they would make was incredible. I believe having diversity and representation in medical fields and STEM careers are extremely important and fundamental to making STEM careers more open and comfortable for all.

As a African American women in American, A lot of the times we are silenced and mocked for our opinions. We are always told that our role in life is to “be in the kitchen and take care of the kids” and I feel like its our time to show society that we are way more than housewives. Some things that society can do to empower us is to make it so that women and men get paid the same amount. Did you know on average women make 82 cents to every 1 dollar a man makes. This is unacceptable and I believe it’s time that society acknowledges this. Another thing society can do to empower women is to get rid of the abortion law. A womens right to her body should be exactly that. It’s unfair that men are allowed to have any kind of procedure that they please but when it comes to women there are laws and rules to what we can and can not do with our bodies. Some needs that need to be met to ensure equality and to empower women are to close up the pay gap between men and women. Another thing is to make safe abortions legal because not everyone believes in their parenting abilities and might not have the finances to care for a child. One last thing that would help women is to start believing us when we talk about harassment and sexual assault. 81% of women have reported to being sexual harassed/assaulted but only 14-18% of them are given justice. We have a long way to go but the first step is to stick to together and be each other’s friend and support system.