After losing my hearing at a young age from an accident, I learned the challenges that came with being Deaf. Having an acquired disability made me view the world differently due to my experiences of being rejected, left out, and not receiving the same opportunities as my peers. It did not take me long to learn that the world is not equipped to support Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals, which leads to discrimination and prejudice. Being Deaf has influenced who I am and what I hope to accomplish in school and beyond because it has allowed me to understand the setbacks and discrimination that I, along with many others, face in the real world. As I navigate through my Doctoral program, I reflect on the many times I have been rejected from opportunities because of my inability to hear. My disability has influenced me to create a safe space for those with hearing loss and to advocate for them and their needs. This involves educating individuals on communication strategies, methods to create an inclusive environment, and how to work with students with hearing loss. My disability has taught me that I must work harder than my hearing peers and fight for my abilities, because I always believed that I am just as capable as any of my hearing peers. In school and beyond, I aspire to become a disability advocate while working with students and empowering them to be proud of their abilities and to fight for what they deserve. I want to have the opportunity to educate teachers, staff, and other professionals that, despite a student's physical or mental disability, they are just as capable as anyone else and should have the same opportunities and the right to be involved and participate as anyone else. Furthermore, as I am fluent in American Sign Language, I aspire to teach other individuals the basics of American Sign Language, as there are many times where it can be useful, whether it is in one's workplace, school, or in everyday life. This would allow for more Deaf awareness and understanding of the Deaf community. To conclude, despite living and navigating a "hearing world" with hearing loss, I have overcome many hurdles in my personal and professional journey. I am proud to be Deaf because I have the opportunity to advocate for others like me and to educate those with the aim of providing an inclusive environment where everyone is accepted for their unique abilities.

Having a physical disability of my own has allowed me to view the world differently than most people would. At the young age of five, I was involved in a serious accident that left me hearing impaired in both ears. I was diagnosed with Bilateral Auditory Neuropathy as well as Bilateral Auditory Processing disorder a few years after the accident had occurred. Because of my disability, I had immense trouble when it came to learning in school and making friends. I had little to no accommodations and was often pushed to the side when I asked for extra help. On top of that, the accident caused me to develop severe social anxiety, which eventually rendered me mute because I struggled to hear my surroundings and the voices of others. It was a very traumatic experience. Over the years, my hearing has gotten significantly worse with my left ear now having profound hearing loss and my right ear having severe hearing loss. I believe I should be awarded this scholarship because regardless of how difficult my life is, I am still determined to make the world a better place for those with disabilities. Having a disability and witnessing firsthand how the world treats us pushes me to bring about a change and educate others that having a disability does not make us any less than those without disabilities. Thanks to my hearing disability, I have been rejected and discriminated against multiple times from jobs, purposely left out of school clubs, not taken seriously when it came to requesting school accommodations, and have had others emotionally abuse me by saying I’m incapable of becoming successful. This scholarship would make a difference in my life because it would allow me to become a practicing Occupational therapist, something I have dreamed of and worked tremendously hard towards after high school, without the financial stress. My biggest goal in life has always been to become a practicing Occupational therapist because it has been my dream to work with those with disabilities of all types and advocate for them. I myself was a patient of Occupational therapy and I cannot express enough how Occupational therapy treatment changed my life as a young child. I am majoring in Psychology and I hope to pursue a career in Occupational therapy in the future. This scholarship will assist me in propelling the field of applied behavior analysis using the principles of positive behavior support to improve the quality of life for individuals with developmental disabilities because it will allow me to complete my education and learn how to assist those with developmental disabilities and to make life easier for them. That has always been my number one goal in life because ever since I was diagnosed with my disability, I found it tremendously difficult to do simple things in life and it has always been at the top of my list to improve the quality of life of those with disabilities. All in all, becoming an Occupational therapist would allow me to make the world a better place by changing the perspectives of others and making them understand that being disabled does not make one any different than another. We are all human but we are all different and I had a hard time accepting that it’s okay to be different because being different makes us who we are. My goal is to stop the discrimination those with disabilities face and to make society accept us for who we are because, at the end of the day, everyone has something they don’t want, and having a disability is just one difference. I am very deserving of this scholarship because I have come such a long way in life and I am nowhere done yet. I have so much more I want to accomplish and there is nothing in this world that will stop me; not even my disability.

I feel empathy is a strong word because empathy essentially means to understand and share the feelings of others but I feel that unless if you have experienced the same as one another, then it becomes difficult to understand and share a person's feelings. One way I combat this and how I treat others with empathy is by putting myself in someone's shoes and seeing life through their point of view. By doing this, I have come to the understanding that everyone is different and each of us process grief, happiness, anger, and sorrow in a different way. When someone is feeling a certain way, I would mirror their feelings and see that situation from their eyes. I believe everyone has their own struggles in life and one person's struggle is not greater than another's. One example of how I treat others with empathy is by giving them a shoulder to cry on, a pillow to punch in anger, excitement when they're ecstatic about something, and advice when needed. I feel treating others with empathy is important because with everything happening in the world in today's time, we could all use a person to lean upon and be empathic towards. Only then the world would be a much better place.

I had always lacked confidence as a young child and it only became worse as I grew up. My lack of confidence had gone hand-in-hand with my selective mutism (severe social anxiety), which means it was hard for me to convey my love for my family and friends, let alone how I portrayed my love towards them. Over the years, it took me an immense amount of courage to overcome my severe anxiety as I worked with Speech and Occupational therapists consistently throughout my grade school years. This allowed me to open up more and be able to do the things I always struggled to do, such as simply saying "I love you" to those I loved or making them feel appreciated. Now, as I look back, I realized I haven't had much of a chance to make those I loved, feel loved. Ever since this has come to my attention years ago, I now do the smallest of things to make my family and friends feel loved. These small acts would range from making dinner every day for my family, surprising my parents and sibling with gifts on their birthdays, Valentine's day, and other special holidays, completing a task before I am even told to do it, keeping the house clean, and just simply saying how much I appreciate them daily. I always remind myself how short life is and how important it is to make others feel loved because who knows when you will get an opportunity like that again.