Growing up in Alaska gives you a unique appreciation for your community. I’m young and haven’t had the chance to travel much, but I have gone to large cities for conferences like Huston and Nashville. From my limited experience in those large cities people don’t have the same respect and connection with each other as they do in Alaska. People ignore each other You grow up with the same people, everyone knows everyone. Growing up in such a small community means you see everyone’s struggles and hardships and everyone can see yours. We get to rally around each other and up lift one another up, we go out of our way to help each other because they would do the same for you. Growing up in Alaska has given me a passion for healthcare and community service. I started volunteering at age 13 with an organization called Health Occupations Students of America and that organization gave me the opportunity to serve my community and get unique experience in healthcare at a young age. I began my career in healthcare at age 16. I’ve seen the struggles Alaskan resident’s face from the solitude,mental illness, drug addiction, homelessness. I strive to always go above and beyond to help any one I can, because I know they would do the same for anyone else. I want to continue my career in healthcare and continue to advocate for my community. I also want to continue my career in public health. I believe everyone has a right to healthcare, and as I further my career I hope to bring healthcare to areas that don’t have adequate and safe healthcare. I am currently working a full time job as an assistant and receptionist at Arctic Chiropractic and I am also a full time surgical technology and honors student at UAA. Unfortunately, all of my earnings go to paying my bills to support myself. I want to limit the financial burden me and my family must face. I know my dad is more than happy to take on that burden, but he deserves to retire. He’s spent the last 40 years working to support our family and give us the life he and my mom never got to have. I want him and my mom to be able to relax and enjoy the life they built for their children and themselves. My parents have had a difficult life and have worked very hard to get to where they are now and I want them to be able to enjoy their life while they are still young.