I aspire to address the issue of the stigmatization of mental health care in the black community by becoming a developmental psychologist dedicated to rebuilding trust within the African American community. I plan to advocate for and implement culturally sensitive therapy practices that acknowledge and respect our unique experiences, especially taking into account African American Vernacular English (AAVE). An understanding of AAVE could help lower the misdiagnosed rates of African Americans by medical healthcare workers. My goal is to create a safe and welcoming environment where people feel understood and valued. I aim to work on community outreach programs that educate about the importance of mental health and dispel myths surrounding therapy. Possibly working with community and religious leaders, to bridge the gap between faith and healthcare, to help demonstrate that seeking help is not a sign of weakness but a step towards holistic well-being. Attending Howard University has given me a solid understanding of black psychology that I would not have gotten going to a PWI. I wanted to learn from psychologist that look like me and work with people in the African American community. Going to an HBCU has provided me with a community that lifts me up and propels me to work towards my dreams. I have the rest of my life to be a minority, so I wanted to experience a school where I am part of the majority to be heard, seen, and understood.

Over the course of my life, I have seen family members have a reluctance to seek out both physical and mental health care, especially when they most need it. This reluctance is often rooted in a deep distrust of the medical system, which is a sentiment that dates back years. African Americans have been exploited by the U.S. government and the medical community causing fear and skepticism within us. This legacy of unethical medical practices, such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, where African American men were left untreated for syphilis without their informed consent. This study has left a mark on our collective consciousness. Such historical abuses have contributed to the wariness of the healthcare system and professionals, making it hard for people to seek the care that they need. Mental health care, such as therapy, is often stigmatized as a weakness that diminishes a person’s standing in the eyes of their peers. This stigma is made worse by a cultural emphasis on self-reliance and resilience. Religious beliefs have also contributed to the hesitation to seek out help, viewing reliance on medical or psychological as a lack of faith. Many in my family hold a deep religious belief that turning to God should be sufficient to address physical and/or mental ailments. This perspective has created a powerful barrier to seeking the necessary care, as they feel that they are betraying their religious principles by doing so. The lack of representation and cultural competence among medical and mental health professionals have been making this issue worse. When African Americans are seeking care they primarily encounter professionals who do not fully understand their cultural context or specific challenges. This has led to experiences of discrimination and microaggressions, further discouraging individuals from continuing with treatment. I aspire to address this issue of the stigmatization of mental health care in the black community by becoming a developmental psychologist dedicated to rebuilding trust within the African American community. I plan to advocate for and implement culturally sensitive therapy practices that acknowledge and respect our unique experiences, especially taking into account African American Vernacular English (AAVE). An understanding of AAVE could help lower the misdiagnosed rates of African Americans by medical healthcare workers. My goal is to create a safe and welcoming environment where people feel understood and valued. I aim to work on community outreach programs that educate about the importance of mental health and dispel myths surrounding therapy. Possibly working with community and religious leaders, to bridge the gap between faith and healthcare, to help demonstrate that seeking help is not a sign of weakness but a step towards holistic well-being.

Since I was in high school, I have always dreamed of working in the psychology field. Being a psychology major has broadened my horizons in the many different fields of psychology. Last semester I took a class called, Developmental Psychology. Over the course of the class, my interest in the area of psychology blossomed. I just knew that this was the field for me once the class was over. I want to work as a Child Developmental Therapist, to help make a positive impact on children and their families lives. I also want to leave a legacy of bringing a spotlight to the mental health issues that occur across the black diaspora. Being Black, to me, is to be proud and empowered by the struggle with limitless opportunities that is a result of a strong foundation of pure leadership. A part of being black is while in the face of struggle, I am still resilient, creative, and brilliant. Ever since I have been a child I have gone to predominantly white schools, so when faced with different options of colleges it was easy to choose to go to an HBCU. There is a saying at Howard University, "Pick an HBCU, take a break, and you have the rest of your life to be a minority." I wanted to get a better understanding of my community and its wonderful history. An HBCU would give me a home away from home because of its community and the support it gives you.

From my school bus window, I watched busy pedestrians walk past a woman dressed in a tattered red coat sitting outside the Greyhound bus station, holding a sign that read “Homeless, can you spare some change?” Finally, a young woman stopped and gave her a dollar. According to Source of the Spring, our local news source has a high concentration of homeless people in downtown Silver Spring. When I read this report, it made me sad. I immediately thought about the lady in red. I became determined to find a way to help. I was not able to determine where the lady in red slept every night; but I soon discovered that many of the homeless people in downtown Silver Spring slept and received meals at Interfaith Works, a local homeless shelter. In an effort to effectuate change, I decided to use my summer job money to purchase hygiene and cleaning items to donate to the center. I also partnered with my family and friends to assist me with making this a recurring community service project. During the pandemic, I learned how to make masks and started something like a business. Every mask a person buys another gets donated to a local shelter. Over the course of the pandemic, I have donated over 200 masks to Interfaith Works to help the workers and others keep themselves safe. Also, all masks are handmade and washable so everyone is able to reuse these masks. Not all my donated masks go to Interfaith Works, but to other local shelters like A Wider Circle. The woman in red inspired me to start a movement to change my community and give back to those in need.

From my school bus window, I watched busy pedestrians walk past a woman dressed in a tattered red coat sitting outside the Greyhound bus station, holding a sign that read “Homeless, can you spare some change?” Finally, a young woman stopped and gave her a dollar. If I could change one thing about the community where I live, it would be to find a way to help homeless people living on the streets in Silver Spring, Maryland. According to Source of the Spring, our local news source, there is a high concentration of homeless people in downtown Silver Spring. When I read this report, it made me sad. I immediately thought about the lady in red. I became determined to find a way to help. I could not determine where the lady in red slept every night; but I soon discovered that many of the homeless people in downtown Silver Spring slept and received meals at Interfaith Works, a local homeless shelter. In an effort to effectuate change, I decided to use my summer job money to purchase hygiene and cleaning items to donate to the center. I also partnered with my family and friends to assist me with making this a recurring project. I created a drive in my community to help collect perishable food, hygiene, and cleaning products. At the end of every week I took everything that has been collected and took it to one of my local shelters or a shelter in Virginia called Second Story, a shelter for homeless youth especially young girls in the DMV area. During the pandemic, I learned how to make masks and started something like a business. For every mask that a person buys another gets donated to a local shelter. Over the pandemic, I have donated over 200 masks to Interfaith Works to help the workers and others keep themselves safe. All masks are handmade and washable so everyone is able to reuse these masks. Not all my donated masks go to Interfaith Works, but to other local shelters like A Wider Circle. Also, my friends and I had sandwich-making "parties", where we made over 150 sandwiches some with meat and with none. We kept the sandwiches refrigerated and took them to the Interfaith Works Shelter the next day. The woman in red inspired me to start a movement of change my community and give back to those in need.

Growing up an only child and living with my mom, I often felt very lonely and isolated. My dad and half-siblings lived in different houses, cities, and states. I was left alone listening to my endless thoughts and doubting all of my decisions. I never had someone my age to help me understand how and why this world works the way it does. I did not have a best friend or many friends at all. The loneliness took over until I discovered a passion and love for books. Books became my friends. They provided a feeling of serenity. My love for books helped me to appreciate and understand my emotions fully. Reading helped me analyze why certain circumstances and events caused me to experience mixed emotions of happiness, sadness, curiosity, frustration, and anger. Books have shown me the importance of friendship, family, and being myself. The School for Good and Evil series by Soman Chainani is an imaginative tale of two girls that show the importance of friendships. Sophie with her good deeds and beauty and Agatha with her nasty looks and antisocial personality were both sent to the School for Good and Evil. Despite their differences, they learned to depend on each other and discovered the keys to surviving the strict and rigorous challenges of the school. The girls' differences brought them together. While I identified more with Agatha, I envisioned my life through the eyes of both girls. This book series helped fuel my self-confidence and ability to express myself to others. After reading about Agatha and Sophie’s true display of loyalty and friendship to each other, I cried and wished for a similar friendship of my own. I continued to struggle to form genuine friendships. In seventh grade, I transferred from private school to public school, which left me even more alone and unable to infiltrate the “friend cliques” that had already been formed in the lower grades. Despite these challenges, I persevered by continuing to achieve academic excellence in all courses and earned the high distinction and honor of being the “top reader” among my peers in both seventh and eighth grade. Eventually, I met one of my current close friends, Imogene, in the school library. Imogene and I immediately clicked. We had so much in common. We enjoyed reading the same books, and listening to the same music, but most importantly, I was able to be myself around Imogene. She encouraged me to try new things and meet new people. My friendship with Imogene caused me to reflect on Agatha and Sophie’s friendship. My friendship with Imogene brought me inner peace and solace. Over time, I have cultivated more friendships and strengthened my relationship with my dad and immediate family. No matter what, I know that my dad and family all love me and will always have my best interest in mind. Books are my friends and I will always be grateful for the life lessons and experiences they have taught me. Books are never just a pastime, they are adventures waiting to be experienced. “You could be great. You could rattle the stars. You could do anything if only you dared.”- Sarah J. Maas.

I created an original drawing titled, "Kyoto Dream".

When I was still a baby, I was rushed to the hospital after going into anaphylactic shock. The doctors ran some test to understand why this happened and asked my mom what she had before breast-deeding me. My mom told the doctor that she had yogurt and so they test me for any food sensitivities or allergies. From the test they found out that I not only had a sever dairy allergy, but nut allergy, egg allergy, and an allergy to pollen and grass. Everytime I tell my friends I have these allergies they ask me, how have I survived till now? All I can say in response is, I just have to be extremely careful with what I touch and what I eat. Over the past couple of years my dairy sensitivity has lessened, but over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic the sensitivity has increased. I used to just have a little reation when the bread was buttered on a sandwich and now my body can barely handle eating one third of the sandwich without having to take medication. My food sensitivies and allergies has made an impact on my future career choice. Most people only look at how an allergy effects a person outwardly an not inwardly. Having allergies comes with a lot anxiety. I am currently a sophomore at Howard University majoring in psychology. Being in this major will teach me about human behavior and mental processes. This major will give me some of the tools to achieve my dream. These tools will help me understand the human mind and how we process things while doing different things. My dream is to become a child development psychologist, primarily focusing on children's cognitive and emotional development. This scholarship will help me reach my career and educational goals. Throughtout high school I have been saving up money for college from my part-time job, lifeguarding. Once I saw the bill I knew that money would defintly not be enough. I am planning to contiue working while earning my Bachlor's degree, but I know that it will be hard to juggle these two. This scholarship will assist me by lowering the cost of college and the amount of time I would need to work. In this way, I will be able to keep my main focus on my education and not on how I will be able to pay for it. This will help allow me to have time to find and do research and internship oppertunities.

Growing up an only child and living with my mom, I often felt very lonely and isolated. My dad and half-siblings lived in different houses, cities, and states. I also moved from school to school up until high school. I was left alone listening to my endless thoughts and doubting all of my decisions. I never had someone my age to help me understand how and why this world works the way it does. I did not have a best friend or many friends at all. The loneliness took over until I discovered a passion and love for books. Books became my friends. They provided a feeling of serenity. My love for books helped me to appreciate and understand my emotions fully. Reading helped me analyze why certain circumstances and events caused me to experience mixed emotions of happiness, sadness, curiosity, frustration, and anger. Books have shown me the importance of friendship, family, and being myself. This has helped me get out of my shell to others and has helped me be able to express my emotions. I am still a little introverted, but I am still working on it. I am currently a sophomore at Howard University majoring in psychology. Being in this major will teach me about human behavior and mental processes. This will get my foot in the door into the psychology world. This major will give me some of the tools to achieve my dream. These tools will help me understand the human mind and how we process things while doing different things. My dream is to become a child development psychologist, primarily focusing on children's cognitive and emotional development relating to trauma. I want to help kids thrive through every phase of their development. In this career, I want to also help the underserved or underrepresented. Becoming an advocate to show the importance of child therapy, especially in disadvantaged communities. There are health disparities that are a result of racism, poverty, residential segregation, and unequal access to health care. In psychology, when working with others who are underserved or underrepresented you have to consider the emotional and psychological scars that could possibly have. In helping these people I would like to create an open and welcoming atmosphere for my patients, never rushing them whenever they are with me so any and all needs are addressed. Additionally have many different time options for the patients so they do not have to squeeze their appointment into their schedules.

The most inspiring book that I have read would be, The School for Good and Evil series by Soman Chainani an imaginative tale of two girls that show the importance of friendships. Sophie with her good deeds and beauty and Agatha with her nasty looks and antisocial personality were both sent to the School for Good and Evil. Despite their differences, they learned to depend on each other and discovered the keys to surviving the strict and rigorous challenges of the school. The girls' differences brought them together. While I identified more with Agatha, I envisioned my life through the eyes of both girls. This book series helped fuel my self-confidence and ability to express myself to others. After reading about Agatha and Sophie’s true display of loyalty and friendship to each other, I cried and wished for a similar friendship of my own. I cried because I saw myself through these characters in this book. I struggled to form genuine friendships. In seventh grade, I transferred from private school to public school, which left me even more alone and unable to infiltrate the “friend cliques” that had already been formed in the lower grades. Despite these challenges, I persevered by continuing to achieve academic excellence in all courses and earned the high distinction and honor of being the “top reader” among my peers in both seventh and eighth grade. Throughout the many challenges that life has thrown my way, I have developed self-love. I believe in myself and I am determined to reach for the stars, set high goals, and pursue all of my dreams.

Since I was young, I was surrounded by people that do not look like me. I was in a space full of their culture such as listening to their music and hearing their history, not my own. I wanted to go to a school that would not put me back in this situation and would have me surrounded by professors and students that look like me. I have asked different people in my family, how was their college experiences? They have all said they had a good college experience, but wish they had gone to an HBCU, especially when getting their Bachelor’s degree. Throughout my first year at Howard University, I was surrounded by people that not only look like me but share the same or similar cultures. I have learned so much about myself and my culture's history. I am so happy that I chose to go to a HBCU and forwent the idea of going to a PWI. For me the meaning of social justice is the practice of helping others to decrease the toll their issues are taking on them. Social justice also helps promote equality and access to equal opportunity. Being a psychology major I see that psychology and social justice, to me, are parallel or relevant to each other. They are because the both have a goal of decreasing the suffering of others and helps people in societies understanding the underlining problems that are happening in their communities. In the area I live in there is a big homeless population, since I was young, I have volunteered with organizations. While helping with these organization I have helped the homeless get their necessary groceries, clothing and meals. Over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, I created a small business creating masks for adults and children. For each mask that was sold one mask was donated to my local shelter, A Wider Circle in Silver Spring, MD. Over 200 masks were donated to this organization during this time. Sometimes I set up a stand outside my house where I not only sold the masks, but collected perishable food that was donated to Interfaith Works in Silver Spring, MD. More recently I wanted to create lunch for the homeless, but because of pandemic organization only allow sandwich donations. So I got my friends and had a sandwich making party, where we created around 100-110 sandwiches. To help keep the community together we have to work together to help alleviate or solve our issues.