Navigating life with sickle cell anemia has not only fostered resilience but also instilled a fervent desire to contribute meaningfully to the scientific understanding and treatment of hematological disorders. This journey is not just a personal struggle but a shared experience with countless others facing similar challenges. I endure relentless pain, akin to skin aflame, fragile bones, and a relentless stabbing sensation in my chest, leaving me in perpetual exhaustion. It’s pain where I cannot sit for too long, stand for too long, or lay for too long, and despite my entreaties, no one seems to understand. In pursuit of my goal, my high school education has been meticulously aligned with my aspirations. Witnessing firsthand the impact of healthcare professionals on patients during my surgical internship at Henry Ford has solidified my resolve. I have actively sought out and excelled in medical and STEM-related courses, like Molecular and Cellular Biology, Medical Skills, and Medical Terminology, equipping myself with the foundational knowledge essential for a career in pediatric hematology. Additionally, at age 15, I earned my Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) license, demonstrating a commitment to hands-on patient care and furthering my understanding of the healthcare ecosystem, which I plan to continue in my educational career after my undergraduate. After completing my undergraduate STEM degree, I plan to pursue advanced studies in medicine, focusing on pediatric hematology. This trajectory will involve gaining admission to a reputable medical school, where I can delve into the intricacies of hematology, hematologic disorders, and advanced medical research. Furthermore, my commitment extends beyond the classroom. I aspire to engage in research initiatives focused on sickle cell anemia, collaborate with experienced professionals, and actively participate in clinical trials that aim to explore potential cures and treatments. By aligning my educational goals with practical experiences, I seek to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and hands-on application, preparing myself comprehensively for a career as a pediatric hematologist. Sickle Cell Anemia poses a substantial financial hurdle on my path to becoming a pediatric hematologist. The constant hospital visits, medications, and medical procedures have added a tower of medical bills, some of which surpass $100,000, to my family’s account. My family cannot afford to pay for my undergraduate, let alone medical school, because of them. The Bright Light scholarship will be instrumental in helping me achieve these goals. Financial support will alleviate the burden of educational expenses, allowing me to focus more intently on my studies and extracurricular pursuits. It will enable me to access essential resources, participate in research opportunities, and continue my hands-on work in healthcare settings. With this scholarship, I am confident that I can further my education and professional training, ultimately contributing to the understanding, treatment, and eventual cure of pediatric hematological disorders. This journey is not merely a career path but a calling to make a meaningful impact on the lives of those affected by sickle cell anemia. My journey with sickle cell anemia has inspired and propelled me toward a career as a pediatric hematologist. My educational goals are intricately woven into this aspiration, with a commitment to pursuing an undergraduate STEM degree, followed by advanced studies in medicine. The intersection of my personal experiences, academic achievements, and professional aspirations converge in a singular purpose – to contribute to the understanding, treatment, and eventual cure of pediatric hematological disorders. This journey is not merely a career path but a calling to make a meaningful impact on the lives of those affected by sickle cell anemia.

Born in Ghana, West Africa, I grew up in a very close-knit community. My grandma instilled in me the value of giving back and never forgetting where you came from, so it became a part of who I am. Growing up in a low-income family and an alcoholic husband, she struggled to raise her five kids, one of whom she adopted. Selling oranges for one pesewa (Ghanaian coin currency) was insufficient to send her kids to school, pay the bills, and provide food for the household, so she resorted to the church for help. My grandma often told me that without the church and the people in the community, her family would have never made it that far. She made sure to pay it forward by cleaning the church every Sunday, helping with events, and doing everything she could to uplift other low-income families in any way she could. Seeing the value of community service firsthand, I vowed to pour into any community/ environment I find myself. Upon moving to the United States, I immediately joined the Student Red Cross, allowing me to volunteer in different places across Michigan and help plan blood drives and fundraisers. Wanting to expand my horizon, I helped out in Assisted living, such as Mary's Senior Center, and Staffing companies like Dreamers HealthCare and Staffing, as a representation of the treatment I would like my grandma to receive one day because, as she always said, what goes around comes around. Seeing the sparkle and warmth in the eyes of the people reminds me of how interconnected we are as a race because by helping whom you think of as a "stranger," you enable them to help someone else. By a small church in the middle of nowhere in Accra, Ghana, approximately 5,439 miles away from Detroit, helping my grandma raise her family sometime in the 1900s enabled me to make a change in the lives of many in terms of food drives, providing clothing, care, cleanup, and many more. In the near future, I plan to accomplish my dream of creating an organization that helps provide low-income families with housing and all the necessities of daily living. I have started working towards this goal by saving as much as I can from my job as a Certified Nursing Assistant and researching the legalities needed to put in place for such an organization. With the support of my family and community, I am inching closer to my goal every day.

As a girl born in Ghana, West Africa, my transition to America was a mind-boggling experience. Having to transition from the girl whose voice was dimed to less than a whisper, the girl who was told she was only suitable for fulfilling the desires of the 40-year-old man who comes to strip her childhood away when she has her period, the girl who was told to be sweet and shy, to submit, to be reduced to the kitchen. The girl who wanted to be out on the field and have a voice but was shut down and bound to feed the men. The girl who couldn’t dream. Upon transitioning to America, I had only heard the word coach when my Ghanaian male classmates were on the field. It was a word so close but yet out of reach. My first day on the field was nerve-racking. With so many mistakes made, I felt I didn’t belong, but my coach wouldn’t budge. After multiple failed attempts at being a midfielder, I finally found my feet and my people. Beginning every game with Coach Yost’s inspirational pep talks that always sent chills down my back and our “BE AGGRESSIVE” chant, I felt empowered. I had a voice. My team wouldn’t let me stay small; instead, they made me believe I could be loud, be aggressive, and I could be anyone I wanted. They taught me what it meant to commit. To wake up at 5 am every morning to train, to run multiple laps around the field, to practice throwing the ball so many times that the sound of it hitting your net is the ringing tune in your head. Commitment is knowing you are the game, knowing you lose only when you stay down, and knowing no matter how long it takes, you stick to it. Lacrosse taught me you’re nothing without your team. If one person loses, you all lose. For your single deed, doesn’t tell the man you are because there’s no lone hand in the game we play. Teamwork is helping your fellowman score when it seems hopeless. It’s forgetting yourself till the game is over, and fighting for the team. Lacrosse also taught me it takes discipline to sturdy your feet in your values, commit, and put your team before you. The impact of lacrosse didn’t end there. Being born with Sickle cell anemia, my capabilities are restricted, and I’m in the hospital a lot. But through what lacrosse has instilled in me, I am even more inspired to push those boundaries. I believe the kitchen is not my purpose instead, being a pediatric hematologist and one day finding a cure for sickle cell is. I hate seeing kids like me suffer because their doctors are clueless, so I decided I could brood over the fact that my condition hinders my abilities and restricts me from doing everyday tasks, and accept it as my fate, or I could decide to change my story. I have made it my objective to persevere and get the education needed from the best to accomplish my dream. I learned a lot from my surgical internship at Henry Ford, and I am currently working on publishing a children's book for kids with sickle cell because I know how hard it was for me to understand my disease at such a young age. Lacrosse, the game I once thought wasn't made for someone like me, ended up helping me through all the hurdles, giving me a much-needed lifeline.

I was born in Ghana, West Africa. After birth, I was diagnosed with a chronic disease called Sickle Cell Anemia, a disorder that makes red blood cells misshapen and break down. With sickle cell, red blood cells contort into a sickle shape and die early, leaving a shortage of healthy red blood cells. They are also very sticky, causing them to clog my veins and block blood flow, inducing pain. Growing up, I saw many kids like me hanging onto life. Nine-year-old me was very confused. However, fourteen-year-old me finally understood my disease and what I was up against. No matter how often I explained my pain, no one understood. Pain that feels like my skin is on fire to the point where I cannot touch it. My bones are constantly shattering, and my muscles are diced carelessly. Pain where I cannot sit for too long, stand for too long, or lay for too long. Pain that feels like my heart is being ripped out of my chest, and I am being stabbed continuously. Pain with no breaks. Constant, never-ending fatigue. I am overwhelmed by the opinions of my family and doctors because everyone is clueless. The hospitals don’t care enough because they view sickle cell as "benign," even though we spend most of our lives in the hospital. When asked my pain level, and I say a ten, they say, "well, you are not crying, so you must be fine." However, when I cry, they say, "you are exaggerating." When asked again, and I say a 9, they say, "well, you are probably not, so think well before you answer." The doctors predicted multiple organ failure and nerve damage due to clotting. I had pneumonia and was more likely to have acute chest syndrome, which could lead to death. Furthermore, after six months of having tics, I was diagnosed with Functional neurological disorder. I love school; however, I couldn't go for 3 months due to the constant pain. Sickle cell has taught me to keep pushing. I learned that everything has an end and to give life meaning because it is precious. I discovered that even though I cared about others immensely, I came first. I recognized it is okay not to be okay and learned to celebrate the little things in life because I do not know when my next pain episode may be. Sickle cell helped me realize what friendship really is. I learned to balance school, health, social life, and my mental health all at once. I learned that everyone runs their own race at their own pace. I learned to just be. When I came to the US, I realized that my doctors in Ghana lacked training and resources. I also discovered that my doctors in the US have the resources to help my disease, but they do not want to put their money towards it because they feel my disease is "benign." I hate seeing kids like me suffer because their doctors are clueless, so I said to myself, "I can sit and sulk about my pain and how hard life is," or I could do something to change it. I aspire to be a pediatric dermatologist, so I have made it my objective to get the education needed from the best and work extremely hard to accomplish my dream. I learned a lot from my surgical internship at Henry Ford, and I am currently working on publishing a children's book for kids with sickle cell because I know how hard it was for me to understand my disease at such a young age.

I was born in Ghana, West Africa. After birth, I was diagnosed with a chronic disease called Sickle Cell Anemia, a disorder that makes red blood cells misshapen and break down. With sickle cell, red blood cells contort into a sickle shape and die early, leaving a shortage of healthy red blood cells. They are also very sticky, causing them to clog my veins and block blood flow, inducing pain. Growing up, I saw many kids like me hanging onto life. Nine-year-old me was very confused. However, fourteen-year-old me finally understood my disease and what I was up against. No matter how often I explained my pain, no one understood. Pain that feels like my skin is on fire to the point where I cannot touch it. My bones are constantly shattering, and my muscles are diced carelessly. Pain where I cannot sit for too long, stand for too long, or lay for too long. Pain that feels like my heart is being ripped out of my chest, and I am being stabbed continuously. Pain with no breaks. Constant, never-ending fatigue. I am overwhelmed by the opinions of my family and doctors because everyone is clueless. The hospitals don’t care enough because they view sickle cell as "benign," even though we spend most of our lives in the hospital. When asked my pain level, and I say a ten, they say, "well, you are not crying, so you must be fine." However, when I cry, they say, "you are exaggerating." When asked again, and I say a 9, they say, "well, you are probably not, so think well before you answer." The doctors predicted multiple organ failure and nerve damage due to clotting. I had pneumonia and was more likely to have acute chest syndrome, which could lead to death. Furthermore, after six months of having tics, I was diagnosed with Functional neurological disorder. I love school; however, I couldn't go for 3 months due to the constant pain. When I came to the US, I realized that my doctors in Ghana lacked training and resources. I also discovered that my doctors in the US have the resources to help my disease, but they do not want to put their money towards it because they feel my disease is "benign." I hate seeing kids like me suffer because their doctors are clueless, so I said to myself, "I can sit and sulk about my pain and how hard life is," or I could do something to change it. I aspire to be a pediatric dermatologist, so I have made it my objective to get the education needed from the best and work extremely hard to accomplish my dream. I learned a lot from my surgical internship at Henry Ford, and I am currently working on publishing a children's book for kids with sickle cell because I know how hard it was for me to understand my disease at such a young age. Sickle cell has taught me to keep pushing. I learned that everything has an end and to give life meaning because it is precious. I discovered that even though I cared about others immensely, I came first. I recognized it is okay not to be okay and learned to celebrate the little things in life because I do not know when my next pain episode may be. Sickle cell helped me realize what friendship really is. I learned to balance school, health, social life, and my mental health all at once. I learned that everyone runs their own race at their own pace. I learned to just be.

I was born in Ghana, West Africa. After birth, I was diagnosed with a chronic disease called Sickle Cell Anemia, a disorder that makes red blood cells misshapen and break down. With sickle cell disease, red blood cells contort into a sickle shape and die early, leaving a shortage of healthy red blood cells. They are also very sticky, causing them to clog my veins and block blood flow, inducing pain. Growing up, I saw many kids like me hanging onto life. Nine-year-old me was very confused. However, fourteen-year-old me finally understood my disease and what I was up against. No matter how often I explained my pain, no one understood. Pain that feels like my skin is on fire to the point where I cannot touch it. My bones are constantly shattering, and my muscles are diced carelessly. Pain where I cannot sit for too long, stand for too long, or lay for too long. Pain that feels like my heart is being ripped out of my chest, and I am being stabbed continuously. Pain with no breaks. Constant, never-ending fatigue. I am overwhelmed by the opinions of my family and even my doctors because everyone is clueless. The hospital is not trying hard enough because they view sickle cell as "benign," even though we spend most of our lives in the hospital. When I am asked my pain level, and I say a ten, they say, "well, you are not crying, so you must be fine." However, when I cry because the pain is too much, they say, "you are exaggerating." When I am asked my pain level, and I say a 9, they say, "well, you are probably not, so think well before you answer." The doctors said I have a higher chance of multiple organ failure and nerve damage due to clotting. I had pneumonia and was more likely to have acute chest syndrome, which could lead to death. Furthermore, after six months of having tics, I was diagnosed with Functional neurological disorder. I love school; however, I have not been there in 2 months due to the constant pain. Sickle cell has taught me to keep pushing. I learned that everything has an end and to give life meaning because it is precious. I discovered that even though I cared about others immensely, I came first. I recognized it is okay not to be okay and learned to celebrate the little things in life because I do not know when my next pain episode may be. When I came to the US, I realized that my doctors in Ghana lacked training and resources. I also discovered that my doctors in the US have the resources to help my disease, but they do not want to put their money towards it because they feel my disease is "benign." I hate seeing kids like me suffer because their doctors are clueless, so I said to myself, "I can sit and sulk about my pain and how hard life is," or I could do something to change it. I aspire to be a pediatric hematologist, so I have made it my objective to get the education needed from the best and work extremely hard to accomplish my dream. I learned a lot from my surgical internship at Henry Ford, and I am currently working on publishing a children's book for kids with sickle cell because I know how hard it was for me to understand my disease at such a young age. Thank you for the opportunity to write for this scholarship.

Being raised in an African household is a different kind of life. I was born and raised in Ghana West Africa.When i was 12 i had to fly 10 for hours across the world to the United States. And when I started middle school here, i was really surprised. Because in the US, if a student gets the answer to a question wrong, they don't get whipped. Rather, the teacher just asks someone else and class continues. But in Ghana if a student got the answer to a question wrong, they were whipped with the wood from a sugar cain. This piece of wood came in all sizes, and we were whipped to the point where we had all these marks on our skin. When I was born, i was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia. I was usually the sick one in my class, whenever any new virus or disease came, i was the first to get it in my family, why, because i have a very weak immune system. As i said earlier, school life in Ghana was harsh and they made us compete for the first position. So every student was cracking their brains and learning so hard just to get that first spot, because if you weren't in the 1st - 5th, you were whipped. And mind you there were about 45 students in each class. I was always the first, sometimes second but never third. One day i had a sickle cell crisis and my mom rushed me to the hospital. When we got there, i saw all these kids bandaged up, most of them hanging on by a thread, all suffering from sickle cell but they couldn't do anything about it. That was when I decided to become a pediatric Hematologist. A pediatric Hematologist is someone who treats blood related diseases like sickle cell and cancer in kids. This has been my life long goal. I'll say sickle cell has been more of a blessing than an obstacle. I mean sometimes i have to miss school because i am in the hospital, or admitted, or in crisis of some sort. But without sickle cell, i wouldn't have learnt so much valuable lessons. One of the things I learnt is to always trust the process. No matter how long, no matter what you're going through, no matter how much it hurts, always trust the process. I also learnt not to judge, because sometimes with sickle cell whenever my friends want to hangout, and i suddenly had i crisis so i had to cancel, they end up thinking i just didn't want to hangout with them and i was making stuff up. But the thing is you never know what someone is going through so never judge them, and always give people a second chance. One more thing that I learnt was to always see the good in people. Because sometimes someone might be going through something at home, they might be having a bad day, or a bad month you never know. So they tend to cover up their sadness with aggression and trigger all those emotions into anger and rage. So no matter how bad a person seems on the outside, look deeper because we all have a good side. To sum it all up, sickle cell has changed my view of life, it has made me stronger, i fight for more every day and i study really hard so I can achieve my goals. That way little to no kids in Ghana will be dying from sickle cell, and they can live their lives.