They flopped a pig heart from the bucket. It slopped onto wet paper. The dark crimson organ was heavy-slick – considerably larger than expected. I glanced at the other table, where a heart half the size lay. Ours was definitely the sumo wrestler of pig hearts. Holding the heart gave pause. A living being had been sacrificed to learn its intricacies. A life once beat now beats inside me to a rhythm of respect and wonder. And this is how I define connection and community: to be strong. Smart. Bold. Likewise, these are the inspirations of the Girls, Inc. motto. Growing up biracial - part African American and part Chinese - and learning English after moving to the United States, I often found myself navigating different communities while searching for where I belonged. In biology and healthcare, I rarely saw Black scientists, physicians, or researchers who shared my background represented in the spaces where discoveries were made and patients were cared for. That perspective drew me toward organizations that created environments where students felt they belonged in pursuing the life sciences. Three years ago, Girls Inc initiated my transformation. Through mentorship, networking, and workshops, I gained confidence navigating unfamiliar spaces. The result: an externship at Edwards Lifesciences, adapting to professional environments. My day-to-day consisted of shadowing biology, microbiology, and chemistry labs, observing heart valve tissue creation. Starting from a cow sample, I observed the process of cleansing tissue and assembling heart valves into prototypes. Prior to this, I began as a Girls, Inc. Senior Associate. My efforts were on display when I was tasked to assistant lead Smart-Ups, an entrepreneurial camp for children. I watched in awe as students who were initially hesitant began to trust their own voices. By being able to work with children in Girls Inc. and the Edwards Lifesciences externship, that thread spun me to Stanford’s Youth Leadership Conference on HBV awareness. There, I met Dr. Samuel So, a professor of surgery at Stanford, and joined Team HBV, an advocacy group dedicated to raising Hepatitis B awareness in AAPI communities. What originated as editorial contributions to the esteemed newsletter grew into a role in national leadership. Emerging chapters. Coordinating competitions. Reimagining Team HBV’s website to reach more students. Recently, I obtained funding from the Stanford Asian Liver Center to revamp their HBV website, increasing viewership by 60%. Together, we hope to expand Team HBV to more collegiate campuses. By expanding this public health effort, I am giving back to both the Team HBV community and Girls Inc. In doing so, I’ve extended the opportunities provided to me. Majoring in immunology and physiology is how I will continue to give back to my communities, both in Orange County and now Providence, Rhode Island. Through research in medicine and public health education, I hope to improve healthcare access for communities that have historically lacked representation. Brown University will allow me to expand this mission through its community-based opportunities, while Project Accelerate, the collegiate branch of Girls Inc., will help me continue mentoring young students in STEM. Receiving this scholarship would ease the financial burden of the cost of my tuition while supporting my continued outreach efforts. More importantly, it would be an investment in the communities I hope to serve: a future where Black scientists, physicians, and researchers are not viewed as exceptions, but as leaders advancing medicine. I hope to continue building pathways for Black students who, like me, once questioned whether they belonged in science. A community is so much more than just belonging to it; it is about doing something that makes the belonging matter.