My favorite way to help others is to lend a helping hand, a shoulder to cry on, and a listening ear. Sometimes all people need is to just vent and let our their bottled up emotions and frustration, they often don't want advice or a solution to their issues, they just want to talk. This is something that I deeply value in a friendship or in any kind of relationship really... always listen to what your partner or friend is saying. Make them feel like their voices and words are being heard, and not just on surface level. I know that when I have had my low points in life, I would only want to talk to certain people in my life. Some of the things that were bothering me at the time, I was only comfortable discussing with family, whereas other times when something was going on, I would only want to talk to my friends about it. Each group was patient and understanding, and they kept my secrets safe with them. I appreciated this so much, so I make sure that I do my best every time I am in that kind of situation to be just as patient and understanding as people have been with me. Sometimes just lending a listening ear is the best thing you can do.

In life, many obstacles are thrown your way. Some may alter your vision of what your future looks like, whereas some are merely a bump in the road. Obstacles can tear you down or they can build you into something more powerful than what you once were. Throughout my life, I have learned not to let the darkness swallow you whole. All my life, I have always had a passion for helping others, and I plan to do just that. I want to become a medical doctor, (preferably a pediatrician), and I would like to build my own clinic in a low income area to help residents and children from low-income families. In 2013, my father was diagnosed with Stage IV Esophageal Cancer. My father was my hero. When my father passed in June of 2015, my world completely changed in the blink of an eye. To cope, I started participating in rallies such as Relay for Life. I believe these rallies not only raise awareness for cancer research, they allow strangers to share special moments of communal support and understanding. I think my participation would make my father proud. My father was a religious man who would read me the bible and children's versions of the bible's stories before bed. This taught me to spread kindness and to live my life to the fullest. My father's teachings will stay with me forever. During my sophomore year, I met my first boyfriend. This man was abusive in every sense of the word. He had obtained power over my life; due to this, my grades suffered and my high school experience was very lonely. People always ask victims "why didn't you leave?" My answer, your way of thinking becomes manipulated and toxicity becomes your new normal. In January of 2020, I discovered I was pregnant with his child. I was 16. I was scared. Every adult in my life told me the same thing- Adoption or Abortion were my two options, anything else resulted in me becoming a failure. Given the circumstances of an abusive relationship and my age, I went through with the abortion. During the procedure, the doctor pierced a hole in my uterus and my blood became toxic. Although I was in great pain, my cries were ignored. I was dying from Septic Shock. When I was rushed to surgery, they discovered that my uterus and ovaries had become necrotic. The infection was rapidly spreading and they had to remove my reproductive organs. I was immediately life-flighted down to Mott's Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor, MI. At this time, it was unclear if I'd survive. I underwent 12 surgeries during my stay of 37 days in the PICU. The University of Michigan PICU staff saved my life. These heroes solidified my dream of going to medical school and becoming a doctor. The amount of loss I have endured has ultimately shaped me as a person and has secured my desire to help others. My trauma has given me a deeper understanding of the challenges patients face, hence why I want to help them. The loss of my father, my fertility, and the death of my unborn child have all proved that I can overcome anything. I live everyday with knowledge and experience that my peers don't have. I know pain and loss, yet I choose to keep going. "From every wound there is a scar, and every scar tells a story. A story that says 'I survived'."- Craig Scott

In today's world, it is a common theme for us women to feel inferior against men because "it is a man's world." Each passing day, more and more laws and expectations are passed that are stripping women's rights away from them. For example, in Texas, their senate is tying to make a law against women being able to have abortions. The reason this law has not yet passed, is simply because it is going against everything Roe V Wade stands for. Why are we letting men continue to take away our basic human rights? Why do men get to decide what we can do with our own bodies? I truly believe that in a perfect world, we as a society could stand up for what is right and have our voices be heard, but this is not a perfect world, and our voices cannot be heard if no one is listening. Not to mention, on a day to day basis, women are expected to follow unrealistic beauty standards. Since a young age women are told "he pulls your hair because he likes you", or "cover your shoulders, you're showing too much skin!" and many other things. I will never understand why young boys are not strictly taught, "keep your hands to yourself." As a victim of domestic abuse and rape, I do not completely blame the individuals who did these awful things to me for their actions. A part of me blames a broken society, and justice system, that gets to pick and choose what is acceptable, versus what is not. When I was 16, and took it upon myself to speak up about the rape, I was told that my case was "too in the gray area for them to prosecute my rapists." Are you kidding me? How can people who drugged and raped a 16 year old girl get off get off with just a slap on the wrist? I know how... my rapists said they "didn't do it" which led to the officers believing it was a "he said-she said" case... I got no justice from doing what was right, I continue to live each day in fear. In my hometown, the only outlet for abused women and girls who were victims of sexual assault, was Shelterhouse. I reached out to their organization, told them my case, and was waitlisted for 6 months. There need to be more outlets for women to discuss their problems and get the help they deserve. Us women go through so much on a daily basis, that it simply amazes me how we still mange to get out of bed each and every morning. In order to see change, there needs to be somebody (whether it is a male or female) in charge, or in a powerful position where they can speak on our behalf. We have the numbers, we have signed the petitions, yet we see little to no difference on a day to day basis. I want to have the freedom to wear a bathing suit at the beach, without hating my body because it doesn't meet our generation's standards of beauty. I want to be able to walk back to my dorm late at night without fearing being abducted or robbed, simply because I am a young woman. I want to see these changes in our world, but will it ever come? I believe that it can. We need to keep striving for what is right. We need to keep marching. We will not let this be "a man's world" for any longer. We've got this. We are women.

My essay will be about how technology literally saved my life. In early March of 2020, I was hospitalized for 37 days due to a strep infection that had gotten into my blood stream and caused me to become Septic. Septic Shock is when an infection gets into your bloodstream and starts killing off your vital organs. This is what was happening inside of my body, and I didn't even know it. When I was diagnosed, I was incoherent. The doctors had used their NASA-level intelligence and technology, and figured out what as wrong with me. They had to act quick, I was dying right in front of their eyes. The surgical team and head doctors of the Midland Hospital used all of the amazing tech that they had available, and they hooked me up to all sorts of machines and IV's. I was placed on a life-flight helicopter which was taking me to University of Michigan's Mott's Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor, MI. In order for me to stay alive, they spent over an hour switching all of the machines I was hooked up to, to miniature versions of themselves, that would fit in the helicopter. The doctor's at UofM said that I "looked like I was already dead when I had arrived." They didn't know if they could save me. And in all honesty, if their access to technology hadn't been as advanced as it is, I don't think I would have survived. Within my 37 days in the University of Michigan's hospital, I over-went 13 surgical procedures, I experienced ICU delirium, which is honestly the most terrifying thing someone could ever experience... and I lost my reproductive organs due to the infection. So yes, the doctors and nurses' intelligence healed me, but technology is what really saved my life. Technology has allowed us to evolve into something unthinkably amazing, and it continues to evolve each and every day. When I see my cardiologist, he uses his technology EKG and his echocardiogram machine to make sure my health is continuing to improve. Since I no longer can have children of my own, I am dependent on the power of evolution in technology to try and create a "lab baby" out of my bone marrow, I am also planning on adopting. As you can see, technology has had and continues to have a huge impact on my life.