My little sister continuously inspires me to be an empathetic and positive person. Despite her disability creating many challenges in her day-to-day routine, my little sister continues to light up the world around her with grace and positivity. Throughout our childhood, we have encountered many doctors that are irritable or otherwise uninterested in providing intensive care for my little sister. This has inspired me to become a doctor myself. This goal, however, was completely unattainable in my situation at home. My parents were battling through a messy divorce and no college in my area provided the academic support I needed to get accepted into medical school. As a result, I decided to take a risk. I applied to my current university, not knowing if I would get in and certainly not knowing how I would pay for it. Ultimately, I got in and decided to move far away from everything I had ever known to pursue a STEM degree at my dream school. Since starting college, my love for STEM has grown from a desire to help my sister to a lifelong passion. My college has provided so many amazing opportunities that I never imagined I would be allowed to participate in. I feel that my school has given me the ability to be in labs and classrooms that I otherwise would have been unable to access. I have been able to experience the satisfaction of seeing my bacterial samples grow or feel my heart expand with pride after acing a chemistry exam, and I am endlessly grateful for all of it. I am beyond excited to pursue my second year! This year, my advisor has said that I am projected to be able to officially declare myself as an Integrative Biology major (I have been taking classes for that major but will be allowed to officially declare in January). My little sister has inspired me to pursue all of these things, and I am forever grateful to her. She has taught me how to persevere through life's challenges with love and mindfulness. My little sister has shown me how to get back up after every setback, how to smile through every storm, and how to spread kindness to those around me. Because of her, I want to be the kind of doctor that eases the minds of those in my office. Having a disabled or sick family member is a neverending plight, and my goal is to help people like my family feel less alone in their situation.