I was alone in the ER, waiting while my nurse attended to other patients. As I examined the unfamiliar location that would be my home for the next two days, one question echoed in my mind: Why me? Why was I, of all, diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes? I prayed daily, ate healthily, and played on the basketball team, so why me? I thought. Then, in my stillness, I heard God answer, “ Why not you?” At that moment, I understood there was a greater purpose behind my diagnosis. God was going to use me as an example. Growing up in a Christian Baptist church, I was taught not to tell my God about my mountains but to tell my mountains about my God. I stand firm in that belief. I knew I wasn’t going to let my diagnosis get in the way of the plans God had for me. And they didn’t. Being so young in the age of social media, I always wanted to find a way to spread my faith. Just a few months after my diagnosis, I started uploading videos online to document my growth in faith. To my surprise, people loved my content! It only took a few videos for me to reach a thousand followers, and within just a year, I had thirteen thousand followers. Sharing my Christian and lifestyle content online allowed me to reach others, especially young black women like myself, to show it’s possible to live by your values while staying true to yourself. I didn’t understand that the full importance of sharing my testimony online was more for the will of God rather than my personal online interest until my great-aunt Paula told me how much she appreciated my content. She told me that she would always remember me as “spoken word” and that my content helped her during her grieving process for my uncle and her navigation through my cousin's drug addiction. Hearing this coming from an older woman in my family put my ministry in perspective. Many tell me my testimony about faith has changed their lives. So why stop now? I aspire to broaden my influence past social media and to build new communities using my communication skills and readily available networks at Spelman, as well as my home church. With strong faith, my words can be well articulated through the education I receive in college. I once shared misconceptions that I couldn’t succeed in my weakened state, but that very faith I wish to share caused something within me to shift. Just as I was transformed, I hope to share my journey and bring meaningful group and one-on-one conversations to both my classroom and community.

I’m a mad scientist. That’s right, just like in children’s horror books. I’ve always been one since I can remember. I long to break down science to its molecules. When I was barely five, I ate my mother’s entire lip gloss because asking her to read the ingredient list wasn’t enough. I wanted to make my own. I needed to feel like I was in the lab, recreating the exact shade of red within the taste of cherry. I knew I was a mad scientist. You can imagine my disappointment when my cousin told me mad scientists weren’t real. It felt like I had just been told Santa wasn’t real! Becoming one, like in the Franny K. Stein books, was my dream. What could she know about science anyways? Chemistry with boys is not science! But by the time I reached middle school science class, I realized what I was looking for was chemistry-a much better alternative to being a deranged scientist. That year, I took matters into my own hands. I made a list and presented it to my mom, asking for everything I needed from amazon to start a lip gloss business. With her support, my business was born. After school, I fulfilled orders, watched Youtube tutorials to create new products, and used my mom as a delivery driver. But it wasn’t enough, I wanted to create the lip gloss base from scratch and work in a full lab. I had a vision. My love for chemistry only grew. Chemistry isn’t just self seeking for me. The cosmetic industry is ever-evolving and has room for black scientists like myself. My passion stems from my desire to create makeup that can be better fitting for people of color. With a deep understanding of elements and how they interact, I aim to create personalized makeup for all. I want to answer the questions I once had and continue to explore. That’s why Chemistry is my path. I plan to solve issues within the cosmetic industry by leveraging my experiences in STEM, business and my passion for inclusion . Being able to attend a STEM HBCU, such as Howard University or North Carolina A&T State University would would provide the lab experiences I crave. Including the possibility of working with great companies such as Estée Lauder , E.L.F. Cosmetics and more. While I may not become a mad scientist, I am determined to be the cosmetic chemist I was always meant to be.

I was alone in the ER, waiting while my nurse attended to other patients. As I examined the unfamiliar location that would be my home for the next two days, one question echoed in my mind: Why me? Why was I, of all, diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes? I prayed daily, ate healthily, and played on the basketball team so-why me? I thought. Then, in my stillness, I heard God answer, “ Why not you?” At that moment, I understood there was a greater purpose behind my diagnosis. God was going to use me as an example. Growing up in a Christian Baptist church, I was taught not to tell my God about my mountains but to tell my mountains about my God. I stand firm in that belief. I knew I wasn’t going to let my diagnosis get in the way of the plans God had for me. And they didn’t. Being so young in the age of social media, I always wanted to find a way to spread my faith. Just a few months after my diagnosis I started uploading videos online to document my growth in faith. To my surprise, people loved my content! It only took a few videos before I reached a thousand followers and in just a year I reached thirteen thousand followers. Sharing my Christian and lifestyle content online allowed me to reach others, especially young black women like myself, to show it’s possible to live by your values while staying true to yourself. Many tell me my testimony about faith has changed their lives. So why stop at just faith? One day at church, one of the singers who led worship approached me to ask questions about my Dexcom attached to the back of my arm. Through further conversation, I learned that she also was a Type 1 diabetic, and the reason she was asking me about my glucose monitor was not because she didn't know what it was, but wanted to share how she also wore one. At that moment, I realized all she wanted was someone whom she could relate. She wanted to know why I felt confident wearing mine openly and yet she didn't. I once shared misconceptions that I couldn’t succeed at my weakened state , but that very faith I wish to share caused something within me to shift. My experience with diabeties has created an aspiration within me to broaden my influence past social media and to build up new communities using my communication skills and warm personality. Just as I was transformed, I hope to share my journey and bring meaningful group and one-on- one conversation to both the community of diabetics and globally.