Helping others has always been a passion of mine. I strongly believe that as a community we should work to help each other prosper. This belief was fostered by my grandmother for as long as I can remember. I make sure I hold myself to this belief and carry the values she has instilled in me. I have been involved in many community service activities. I find these activities not just enriching to the population I am helping but most importantly enriching to myself. These activities with the community have had a major impact on my future career choice as a school social worker. I truly enjoy every act of service I am involved in. The most impactful volunteer work I’ve done was a forty-hour internship mentoring kids with the National Inventors Hall of Fame program. In this program, I had the opportunity to work with elementary and middle school students and encourage them to engage in STEM activities. Throughout this week I worked with the same group of students. This allowed me to get to know each student on an individual level. My favorite part of this volunteer work was listening to the students engage in conversations with each other and me as well. Their conversations entailing their devoted interest in their project were truly heartening. Seeing these inquisitive students engaged in their projects re-sparked my desire to learn while I was feeling discouraged in my educational aspirations. Not only did I work with students but I also worked alongside many volunteer teachers. I was inspired by their passion for teaching and desire to help their students prosper. I believe that teachers are pillars of our community and I am extremely grateful that I was able to work alongside them. These teachers provided guidance on my future career aspirations and easied every concern I had regarding working in a school. They assured me that working in a school provides you with the ability to support members of your community and also have members of your community support you. I felt this support throughout my internship with the relationships I built with the students, teachers, and my fellow volunteer interns. After this experience working with members of my community, I felt secure in my career aspirations. My first step towards my future was committing to The University of Alabama to major in social work. I also plan to fully utilize the university's accelerated master's program. I am also planning to minor in Spanish intending to become fluent to help students who may not speak English. I am extremely grateful to the members of my community who inspired and motivated me to follow my desire to help others and finalize my career choice. My heart is with social work and with this scholarship, I will be able to begin my path to helping others and serving the purpose I feel I am called to.

In my life, I have had many people in my corner who have surrounded me with love and support. One of the most influential is my grandmother. Despite her being 4’9 my grandmother is a fearless, independent, and determined black woman. My grandmother is from Ethiopia, a country in Eastern Africa. She was born to eight siblings and was always known for being different. She remembers being a tomboy when she was young, and told stories of getting into fights to defend her siblings. No matter who she upsets, my grandmother has always been a protector when it comes to her family. Her ability to be unapologetically herself has always been a skill I am striving to have. She immigrated from Ethiopia at the age of seventeen to Germany, alone. The courage to not only leave your home but to leave your country alone at such a young age is truly inspirational. When she told me the story, I could only imagine how scared she must have been, but surprisingly when I asked, she said looking back she doesn’t recall being scared at all. Many people can talk about the things they want to do in life, but actualizing them is the most difficult obstacle. My grandmother, however, finds this to be the opposite. Whenever she has a desire to do something she acts first and tells others second. Freedom is the feeling she described having when she chose to act on her dreams. This self-declared freedom is something that I strive to obtain; the ability to not feel tied down by monetary or societal standards. I was able to witness my grandmother’s incredible strength firsthand when my grandfather passed away. While grappling with this loss and dealing with her grief, my grandmother hosted, cooked, and cleaned for all of my family that came for the funeral. While I knew she was in a tremendous amount of pain from losing my grandfather she never let it show and even comforted others. Not only does my grandmother’s strength inspire me, but her giving spirit has cultivated a spirit of generosity in me. She jumps at every opportunity to be charitable especially when it comes to family. Almost every year when returning to Ethiopia she brings suitcases of clothes and goods for all her siblings, cousins, nieces, nephews, and whoever else may be in need. She has taught me that giving to others is just as rewarding to the giver as it is to the recipient. Her generosity has helped me choose my future career in social work My grandmother never fails to comfort and encourage me in all my endeavors. I am so grateful for her surrounding me with love and support my whole life. I will always carry the values she has instilled in me. I aspire to be as generous, empathetic, independent, and fearless as my grandmother.

Malcolm X said that "education is the passport to the future". I believe that the greatest need in our society is the unequal access to academic opportunities and resources. Children truly are our future, and yet they continue to be innocent victims of society's mistakes. For children to be successful they must feel supported and much of this support comes from their schooling. Schools can provide a multitude of resources that students will not receive otherwise such as health services, food, counseling, education, and more. However, many schools are not provided with adequate funding, training, staff, and materials to expedite these services to meet the needs of their students. Disparities that affect a school's access to these materials can be traced to their demographics of race, gender, and socioeconomic status; factors which are uncontrollable by students. It is my biggest career ambition to make an impact in reducing these inequities. I have always had a passion for helping others This passion is what guided my career choice of being a social worker. I am very confident in this choice to become a social worker as I will find my success in my fulfillment of becoming an advocate for these students in need. My plan to help solve this injustice starts with taking full advantage of the University of Alabama's accelerated master's program, allowing me to obtain my master's in social work in five years with a minor in Spanish. With this degree, I plan to work in schools to build first-hand relationships with students. With my minor in Spanish, I aim to become fluent, to help students who may not speak English. Social work has a code of ethics produced by the National Association of Social Workers which are service, social justice, dignity and worth of a person, the importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence, and I plan to use these values to guide me in my everyday work. These values to me become much more profound when working with impressionable children. I am aware that I will be a vital support system in these children’s lives and I believe I am well equipped to handle this role. I have participated in volunteer and internship programs working with children where I was able to build relationships, help provide guidance, and get a glimpse into my future career. I have seen, firsthand, students who could not communicate with their teachers, leaving them cheated out of many opportunities. All students should be awarded the same opportunities. This will allow me to become an advocate for students, who may not have felt heard before. Every student is deserving of a quality education and equal resources. Research shows that education and literacy rates affect income, employment, crime rates, and health. Education truly is power. I aim to be a part of the solution to bridge the gap of unequal education. I am a caring individual with the tenacity and ability to succeed in anything I set my mind to. My heart is with social work and with this scholarship, I will be able to begin my path to helping others and serving the purpose I feel I am called to.

My name is Ayanna Starling I am a senior attending Columbia High School. I have always had a passion for helping others. This passion is what guided my career choice of social work, more specifically a school social worker. I am very confident in this career choice as I will find my success in my fulfillment of becoming an advocate for students in need. I have already begun taking the necessary steps to become successful in my career. I know that success comes with hard work and discipline. Throughout my high school career, I have made sure to be a diligent worker in order to equip myself with the skills to become successful outside of school. I have been in leadership roles in numerous clubs and organizations which have taught me the importance of patience, tolerance, and communication. These skills have allowed me to work productively in diverse environments, much like the environments I will work as a social worker. I am also in the International Baccalaureate program which teaches its students how to be global-minded citizens. This program has shaped me into a well-rounded student who knows how to balance my school work with the service work this program also focuses on. This program along with my extracurricular activities required me to sacrifice my time with family and friends. I chose to prioritize my future over many short-term comforts. Although I was tempted to defer my responsibilities, I learned my time is better invested in personal development, educational aspirations, and community service. Becoming involved in my school and community has taught me meaningful lessons that have only furthered my drive to help others. Social work has a code of ethics produced by the National Association of Social Workers which are service, social justice, dignity and worth of a person, the importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence, and I plan to use these values to guide me in my everyday work. These values to me become much more profound when working with impressionable children. I am aware that I will be a vital support system in these children’s lives and I believe I am well equipped to handle this role. I have participated in volunteer and internship programs working with children where I was able to build relationships, help provide guidance, and get a glimpse into my future career. The next step in reaching my goal of becoming a social worker is my choice of college. I am attending the University of Alabama in the fall and plan to take advantage of their accelerated master's program and obtain my master's in social work in five years. I am also planning to minor in Spanish to further my education and grow the student population I can work with when I become a school social worker. I am a caring individual with the tenacity and ability to be successful in anything I set my mind to. I am also willing to continue to sacrifice my time and emotions to serve a greater purpose. My heart is with social work and with this scholarship, I will be able to begin my path to helping others and serving the purpose I feel I am called to.

I am no stranger to the struggles of mental illness. I can remember, being even as young as 9, dealing with extreme self-image issues and anxiety. At the time I thought these were feelings that I had to "tuff out" or "be strong" and deal with them alone. I was afraid to be a burden to my loved ones and eventually, these ideas led to my isolation from friends, family, and peers. I continued to battle these thoughts my whole life as I was never introduced to the resources that could aid me in my mental health journey. Of the four aims of the bipartisan caucus, Improving prevention and early intervention efforts should take the lead in priority. This will allow aid to be given ideally before an individual is in crisis. A vital part of implementing this aim should be increased resources in schools. 50% of mental illness begins by age 14, therefore to prevent and intervene before mental illnesses worsen truly, children must have access to mental health resources. In my entirety of schooling, I was never provided any education or resources for mental health. This left me feeling as if I was the only person facing issues of mental illness, however now I know this was not the case. Although I placed improving prevention and early intervention as the top aim of the four current goals of the Caucus, I believe an additional step should be added even before this early intervention. This step should be specifically focused on destigmatizing mental illness in minority communities. There can be many reasons why mental health care is underused in minority communities such as mistrust in the general healthcare system, cultural beliefs, and unequal access to resources. To combat these barriers this Caucus must create a plan of action to implement culturally competent mental health care practices. This will help bridge the gap between communities of color and white communities seeking health care. Once this step is implemented all communities will be more likely to engage in the intervention and prevention efforts of the caucus. The next priority of the caucus should be expanding the country’s mental health professional workforce. The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on our healthcare system, including mental health care. The pandemic has also caused a prevalence of mental health issues; cases of anxiety and depression have tripled, further expanding the gap between the mental health care workforce and patients in need. Areas that suffer from a scarce amount of mental health professionals are often communities of low socioeconomic status and often minority communities. Expanding our mental health professional workforce is necessary to ensure every community has equal access to treatment and aid. Enhancing our nation’s crisis response services and increasing access to evidence-based mental health treatment and common-sense solutions are the two aims that are the next priority. Once mental health education is overpowering common stigmas and our workforce has been expanded, quality of care will increase and individuals will feel more comfortable accessing the different forms of treatment. The purpose of this bipartisan Caucus to improve the nation's mental health services, prevention, and reduce stigma, gives me hope that individuals who face much more challenging mental health journeys than my own will receive quality care. The quality care that we must aspire for will show no bias to race or socioeconomic status, be overly accessible to students at a young age, and have adequate resources and employment to meet community needs.