Hello! My name is Cambria Kautenburger - I am a senior at Paradise Valley High School in Phoenix, Arizona! I have many passions and around my campus I am known for my leadership as choir board president, varsity swim captain, and a member of the National Honors Society and Tri M Musical Honors Society. I also am a young queer woman! I have struggled a lot with my identity surrounding sexuality and find it hard to see representation as a bisexual/asexual spectrum girly. Being involved in choir and musical theatre, I often find myself surrounded by other young queer people. It is truly magical and I am thankful for the opportunity every day as I create a safe space for other kids. Although not being out to my family, I feel at ease speaking about my sexuality to peers or other members of the queer community. In my future, I hope to serve the queer community. I am on the lengthy road to becoming an OBGYN physician! I hope to serve the underserved and make "women's health" a phrase of the past. I hope to educate queer people on their sexual health and wellbeing. I hope to create a safe space for the Transgender Community and other gender queer people where their gender identities are often disregarded because of their anatomy they were born with. I hope to be a safe space for queer women and trans people alike making sure to have accessible and affirming healthcare. In high school, I have grown to realize that every single one of my friends is queer (this is not an exaggeration haha). Some of my friends have been in my life since kindergarten and since then have come out as queer. I love to think that there has always been some invisible string tying me to the queer community. Now as a young adult, I hope to continue to be a welcoming and trustworthy person for other queer people whether it be at work or school. My own dad came out to me as pansexual a year or two ago. It meant the world to me and I now understand why he shares so many of my passions for repro healthcare and queer rights. I hope to be a part of a new generation of healthcare providers who can move on past the homophobia and transphobia that has always existed and has since been strengthened by the HIV/AIDS Crisis under the Reagan Administration. I want to be the young queer doctor who make a queer patients feel safe, understood, and respected. Thank you so much for your time and consideration to support me on my costly journey to med school! - Cambria Kautenburger

In 2006, my mom found out she was pregnant at 17 years old and dropped out of high school. Her and my dad figured things out with the help of very supportive family members. My mom and I lived with my grandma for most of my early childhood and my mom went back to school! My mom went to nursing school as a single mom with a young daughter. She has worked as an RN ever since and has made a living to support both of us. I admire my mother so much as I am now the age she was when she had me and cannot imagine being in that situation. I am motivated to pursue higher education not only because of this advantage it gave my mom but strongly because I want to serve underserved populations in healthcare and learn the stories of others. I carefully selected my major at Arizona State University as I knew it would fulfill both of these needs. I am a member of the College of Health Solutions pursuing a bachelor's of science in Medical Studies (on the pre-med track). The CoHS focuses a lot on serving those in need, representing diversity in sciences, and understanding cultural aspects of health. I am excited to pursue medicine as I want to get to know my patients and use science based practices to help them be happy and healthy. I am interested in OBGYN as a specialty as I want to support reproductive health and educate people on their bodies. Specifically, the underserved, unhoused, and LGBTQ+ community who often are not supported by practitioners or not included in research. On the topic of research, I hope to be involved in many clinical/medical studies throughout my higher education. In this field of science, it is jarring how often women, people of color, and the queer community are disregarded from studies. Medical research simply needs to be applicable to all populations or it is near useless for patients. More people are deterred form his career field because of fiscal concerns with crushing student debt rather than the effort and compassion that it takes. I firmly believe that undergrad and med school should be more affordable. It breaks my heart every day knowing that one of my largest concerns about my upcoming higher education is affording it. This scholarship would further support me in my higher education journey to serving those in healthcare who need it the most. Thank you so much for your consideration! - Cambria Kautenburger

Growing up, I was surrounded by a family of public school educators. Both of my dad's parents and my dad were all educators in the valley. They served kids in need and educated those with speech or reading delays as well as kids on the autism spectrum. My grandma worked at a Title One school teaching kids, whose second language was English, to read, write, and communicate. My grandpa taught for 30 years and also worked with children on the spectrum but ultimately fell in love with teaching fourth graders at my Liberty Elementary School about the Grand Canyon and fourth-grade math. To this day, random adults out in public recognize my grandpa and fondly remember him as "Mr. K". I myself attended Liberty Elementary School and became involved with the wonderful gifted program and the performing arts! I still remember my grandpa playing the guitar for students in the cafeteria at lunch and bringing his pet tortoises into classrooms. He retired by the time I would have been in his class but, even now as a senior at Paradise Valley High School, my teachers and substitute teachers all recognize my last name because of Mr. K. At PVHS, I have found my place as the captain of the swim team, the choir president, and the American Sign Language Club officer. From childhood, my grandparents have instilled this love for teaching in me. At swim, I lead clinics and teach technique to my teammates. In choir, I teach music theory, lead my section, and answer countless questions. As a part of the ASL Club, I get to help teach peers things that are brand new to them! Helping others and teaching people about things I am passionately interested in has been so fulfilling for me. Especially as a senior, it continues to blow my mind how many people I get to interact with and educate every single day. Outside of school, I have followed in my family's footsteps and found joy in serving the underserved. Two years ago, I became a lifeguard and swim instructor for the City of Phoenix. The whole learning process was so incredible and I was excited to have my first job. When it came time to apply for a position, I was placed at a pool in an incredibly low-income and high-crime area. I applied here despite the safety concerns of my mother in part because my high school swim coach ran the facility but I also wanted to provide for the kids of this area. Cortez Pool is located on Dunlap and the I-17 and we have a lot of low-income or recently immigrated families. As a swim teacher, I got to know hundreds of kids each summer. I can remember so many of them now and the memories we all made. It is hard to see kids who are at such an economic disadvantage wearing clothes in the pool or searching around for empty aluminum cans to sell. However, I knew I could make a difference for them by teaching them how to swim and be safe around water. Drowning is in fact the leading cause of death of children ages 1-4 and I prevented so many kids from becoming a part of that statistic while having fun along the way. After high school, I am attending Arizona State University - Downtown where I will major in Medical Studies on the pre-medical school track. I want to become an OBGYN physician and hope to educate people on their reproductive health as well as serve underserved communities.