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Ari Patterson

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Bio

Greetings! I am currently a freshman attending Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University pursuing a degree in food science.

Education

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

Bachelor's degree program
2021 - 2025
  • Majors:
    • Agricultural and Food Products Processing
  • GPA:
    3.5

Bainbridge High School

High School
2017 - 2021
  • GPA:
    3.8

Miscellaneous

  • Desired degree level:

    Bachelor's degree program

  • Graduate schools of interest:

  • Transfer schools of interest:

  • Majors of interest:

    • Foods, Nutrition, and Related Services
  • Not planning to go to medical school
  • Career

    • Dream career field:

      Medicine

    • Dream career goals:

      Physician

    • Yearbook Editor

      Bainbridge High School
      2019 – 2019
    • Food Server

      BHS Book Club
      2019 – 20201 year

    Sports

    Badminton

    Intramural
    2015 – 20161 year

    Arts

    • Concert band

      Music
      2013 – 2020
    • Marching Band

      Music
      2017 – 2020

    Public services

    • Volunteering

      Food Science Club — Creating food drive boxes, donating canned goods, and making food for the homeless
      2021 – Present
    • Volunteering

      Bainbridge High School Book Club — I was a bearcat brew worker that had the duties of preparing and serving hot beverages for the 2020 Bainbridge High School tech fair.
      2019 – 2020

    Future Interests

    Advocacy

    Volunteering

    Philanthropy

    Entrepreneurship

    Charles Cheesman's Student Debt Reduction Scholarship
    All throughout my life, I always knew that I wanted to become a physician. Enduring my weak immune system and having a skin condition revealed my value in choosing a career in life that serves someone else rather than myself. Watching my doctors constantly do such truly founded my career desires. However, being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at the young age of 15 really deepened my aspiration of becoming a physician. Being diagnosed with this illness brought about many new revelations in my life. From changing my diet to witnessing the disparities in the medical field, I genuinely began to find my life’s purpose. Out of everything, educating myself on food and nutrition made the biggest impact on me. There were several moments when I could not eat or drink anything without having major stomach pains or nausea. Some days were amazing and others I contemplated my existence. Despite all this, I decided to persevere and attend college to study food science to learn about all the aspects of nutrition and food. Currently, I am going into my junior year at Florida A&M University and still following through with my aspiration of studying food science. FAMU was my dream school due to it being a nearby historically black college that offered what I desired to study. Because my single mother believes in my dreams and wants better for me, she takes on much of the school's cost through parent-plus student loans. Whereas, I try to assist her with supplementing the additional costs through various opportunities. One of my largest focuses during the past year is maintaining my affiliation with the USDA. Through this federal agency, I was awarded their 1890 scholarship. To maintain such, I am required to have a GPA above 3.0 and attend all organization meetings. I honored this devotion by completing my sophomore year with a 3.5 Grade Point Average and being continuously present at all of their events. Such a commitment was demanding, yet very rewarding. Therefore, I choose to expand where I allocated my time. Being a member of the Food Science Club since my freshman year has made a huge impact on me as an undergraduate student. Much of what I have accomplished and spent time doing with them is volunteering. I participated in creating food drive boxes and donating canned goods to the local food pantry. We also made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the elderly at different nursing homes and even helped plant gardens for them. All of this service resonates with my value of doing work that serves someone else, which is my why for wanting to become a doctor. Receiving the Charles Cheesman’s Student Reduction Scholarship will help assist me in progressing forward with my dreams. The costs of undergrad can be stressful even with my mother’s help and my additional USDA scholarship. I have attempted to avoid as many loans as possible, however, my debt totals up to a little less than $18,000. With the fund from this scholarship, I would be able to give my single-mother financial relief by not taking out a parent-plus loan. I will also be able to buy MCAT preparatory books, afford the costly medical school expenses, and spend the fall doing nutrition science research instead of working a job. Overall, much of the Charles Cheesman’s Student Reduction Scholarship Fund would truly help me progress forward in my path of becoming a doctor.