As a child, I suffered from severe asthma induced by childhood obesity. My pediatrician taught my mother and me the importance of health through interactive treatments, one being My Plate. Her impact still resonates in my everyday life by affecting my habits such as my dietary and exercise practices. This interaction sparked my fascination with the medical career field. My love for medicine developed further as I moved into my adolescence. I began to join clubs in high school such as HOSA: Future Health Professionals, and during my senior year, I joined medical mentorship. Both clubs exposed me to different aspects of healthcare. As a competitor in HOSA, I was able to research vaping and its effects on minority teens. Participating in this category introduced me to the importance of highlighting and managing health disparities. Through medical mentorship, I was able to shadow an Obstetrician- Gynecologist where I gained clinical experience and witnessed collaboration within a healthcare setting. From that collaboration, the physician was able to provide optimal patient treatment through efficiency. As I moved into my undergraduate studies, I continued to foster my love for medicine. During my first semester, I attended the National Association of Medical Minority Educators (NAMME) conference. I was elated to take part in this event due to this conference being the first major pre-health symposium I attended as a student. At this conference, I was able to view various research projects, and I networked with a women’s healthcare specialist who dealt with policy. During our conversation, she explained the impact she makes concerning women’s healthcare through formulating hospital policies. Through this interaction, I was introduced to healthcare administration, and how I could make a change in women’s health with this career. ` My passions lie in healthcare policy, specifically dealing with women’s health and wellness. This passion was ignited by my longing to end the silent epidemic of black mothers and infant mortality rates. Through policy, I would be able to implement protocols that emphasize health equity and effective ways to handle high-risk pregnancies in a healthcare setting. Novartis Career Readiness Program will provide me with mentorship that will be used to show how I can maximize my impact as a future healthcare professional. Additionally, the mentorship offered will further my passion for becoming an Obstetrician-Gynecologist and women’s healthcare policy maker by networking me with professionals in my projected career choice. I hope to connect my two career passions of becoming an OB-GYN and women’s healthcare policy.

Throughout my life, I have endured many hardships. One particular hardship that I endured took place during the 2019-2020 year. As I mentioned those years, you may have automatically thought “Covid,” but I will be telling a different story. Fortunately, Covid-19 didn’t affect my family as much as others. On the other hand, my grandfather became very ill. I have lived with him, my grandmother, my great-grandmother, and my mom all my life. With him taking on an illness, my family and I were in a state of panic. He has kidney failure and heart complications. There was even one period when we thought he was going to die. I remember walking in on my mother sobbing. I instantly had a feeling of doubt, I thought the worst had happened, and he passed, but thank goodness he had not passed. Images of me losing my grandfather bulldozed over me. Not only was I thinking about him being gone, but how would the family function with the “provider” absent. Since I have lived with him my whole life, it would be awkward to experience home life without him there. These thoughts distracted me day in and day out in my life. The disturbing intrusions began to affect my school work and activities. I reached a point where I had no motivation to achieve. I began to procrastinate severely, and in some cases, I didn’t complete assignments at all. I stopped practicing my dance routines regularly and working on my golf technique. I wasn’t performing my weekly room cleaning tasks and general laundry duty. I even developed unhealthy eating habits; either I wouldn’t eat and starve or eat until the point of uncomfortableness. I never told family members that I was dealing with this to save them the extra burden. It was tough for me to express these feelings to my friends as well. I didn’t want my problem to become their problem. I had grown accustomed to masking or hiding the way I truly feel, but in this case, it got harder and harder each day. This big decline in my routine, I felt similar to a failure. My thoughts of failure made me attracted to looking at other people’s successes. I would compare myself constantly and downplay myself. I completely threw out my past accomplishments and the future goals I had set. There was a constant habit of telling myself, “I can do it tomorrow.” Saying that over-and-over sprouted never-ending a feeling of running out of time. To make matters worse, I never put my mental health first. I succumbed to feelings of depression, a deep, inescapable abyss. I successfully combated these sensations with a couple of months of therapy and self-intervention. Pushing myself to finish the junior year with a 4.0 or higher became a priority. Increasing my involvement with my extracurriculars became important. I won’t say that my situation is completely better, but it is certainly manageable. I completed this school year with a 4.1, and I am excelling in my current outside-of-school programs. I have also formulated new opportunities for my future. I have learned so much from this experience. One of the critical lessons I learned was, there is always a chance to do better. Throughout this hardship, I felt like there was no room for improvement; this was it. However, I had to reverse that inner chatter and give myself another chance. When I gave myself another chance, I taught myself it was okay to make hiccups and fix them in due time. That it was okay to stumble, give yourself time to brush off, then continue to progress upwards.

Throughout my life, I have endured many hardships. One particular hardship that I endured took place during the 2019-2020 year. As I mentioned those years, you may have automatically thought “Covid,” but I will be telling a different story. Fortunately, Covid-19 didn’t affect my family as much as others. On the other hand, my grandfather became very ill. I have lived with him, my grandmother, my great-grandmother, and my mom all my life. With him taking on an illness, my family and I were in a state of panic. He has kidney failure and heart complications. There was even one period where we thought he was going to die. I remember walking in on my mother sobbing. I instantly had a feeling of doubt, I thought the worst had happened, and he passed, but thank goodness he had not passed. Images of me losing my grandfather bulldozed over me. Not only was I thinking about him being gone, but how would the family function with the “provider” absent. Since I have lived with him my whole life, it would be awkward to experience home life without him there. These thoughts distracted me day in and day out in my life. The disturbing intrusions began to affect my school work and activities. I reached a point where I had no motivation to achieve. I began to procrastinate severely, and in some cases, I didn’t complete assignments at all. I stopped practicing my dance routines regularly and working on my golf technique. I wasn’t performing my weekly room cleaning tasks and general laundry duty. I even developed unhealthy eating habits; either I wouldn’t eat and starve or eat until the point of uncomfortableness. I never told family members that I was dealing with this to save them the extra burden. It was tough for me to express these feelings to my friends as well. I didn’t want my problem to become their problem. I had grown accustomed to masking or hiding the way I truly feel, but in this case, it got harder and harder each day. This big decline in my routine, I felt similar to a failure. My thoughts of failure made me attracted to looking at other people’s successes. I would compare myself constantly and downplay myself. I completely threw out my past accomplishments and the future goals I had set. There was a constant habit of telling myself, “I can do it tomorrow.” Saying that over-and-over sprouted never-ending a feeling of running out of time. To make matters worse, I never put my mental health first. I succumbed to feelings of depression, a deep, inescapable abyss. I successfully combated these sensations with a couple of months of therapy and self-intervention. Pushing myself to finish the junior year with a 4.0 or higher became a priority. Increasing my involvement with my extracurriculars became important. I won’t say that my situation is completely better, but it is certainly manageable. I completed my second semester of junior year with a 4.1, and I am excelled in my current outside-of-school programs. I have also formulated new opportunities for my future. I have learned so much from this experience. One of the critical lessons I learned was, there is always a chance to do better. Throughout this hardship, I felt like there was no room for improvement; this was it. However, I had to reverse that inner chatter and give myself another chance. When I gave myself another chance, I taught myself it was okay to make hiccups and fix them in due time. That it was okay to stumble, give yourself time to brush off, then continue to progress upwards. Now I am a senior with a 3.9 cumulative grade point average, and I have over 45 hours of community service. After high school, I will be seeking higher education at Spelman College. I will earn a Bachelor's Degree in health sciences and use the degree to go to medical school. Continuing, I will graduate as well as complete my residency to become an Obstetrician/ Gynecologist. Later on, I plan to open private practices around the United States and a women's hospital with the collaboration of Beaumont Hospital. While being a medical practitioner, I will also partake in women's health advocacy. Using my knowledge of the female reproductive system and body, I can empower and inspire change within our country. Even though I have these goals to reach, I still have to get through college. Coming from a single-parent household, it will be hard to pay the expenses of college. My mother has always been a strong force in my life. Seeing her being a superhero has inspired me to excel in school. My grandfather was another influence in my life. Sadly he passed away on September 13, 2021. Losing him became another motivator to pursue my passion. By me winning this scholarship, it will not only help me save on the cost of schooling, but it will contribute to my great cause, The cause of change through advocacy, leadership, knowledge, and hard work. Winning this investment will give me a foundation to build off. I believe

Throughout my life, I have endured many hardships. One particular hardship that I endured took place during the 2019-2020 year. As I mentioned those years, you may have automatically thought “Covid,” but I will be telling a different story. Fortunately, Covid-19 didn’t affect my family as much as others. On the other hand, my grandfather became very ill. I have lived with him, my grandmother, my great-grandmother, and my mom all my life. With him taking on an illness, my family and I were in a state of panic. He has kidney failure and heart complications. There was even one period where we thought he was going to die. I remember walking in on my mother sobbing. I instantly had a feeling of doubt, I thought the worst had happened, and he passed, but thank goodness he had not passed. Images of me losing my grandfather bulldozed over me. Not only was I thinking about him being gone, but how would the family function with the “provider” absent. Since I have lived with him my whole life, it would be awkward to experience home life without him there. These thoughts distracted me day in and day out in my life. The disturbing intrusions began to affect my school work and activities. I reached a point where I had no motivation to achieve. I began to procrastinate severely, and in some cases, I didn’t complete assignments at all. I stopped practicing my dance routines regularly and working on my golf technique. I wasn’t performing my weekly room cleaning tasks and general laundry duty. I even developed unhealthy eating habits; either I wouldn’t eat and starve or eat until the point of uncomfortableness. I never told family members that I was dealing with this to save them the extra burden. It was tough for me to express these feelings to my friends as well. I didn’t want my problem to become their problem. I had grown accustomed to masking or hiding the way I truly feel, but in this case, it got harder and harder each day. This big decline in my routine, I felt similar to a failure. My thoughts of failure made me attracted to looking at other people’s successes. I would compare myself constantly and downplay myself. I completely threw out my past accomplishments and the future goals I had set. There was a constant habit of telling myself, “I can do it tomorrow.” Saying that over-and-over sprouted never-ending a feeling of running out of time. To make matters worse, I never put my mental health first. I succumbed to feelings of depression, a deep, inescapable abyss. I successfully combated these sensations with a couple of months of therapy and self-intervention. Pushing myself to finish the junior year with a 4.0 or higher became a priority. Increasing my involvement with my extracurriculars became important. I won’t say that my situation is completely better, but it is certainly manageable. I completed my junior year with a 4.1, and I excelled in my current outside-of-school programs. I have learned so much from this experience. One of the critical lessons I learned was, there is always a chance to do better. Throughout this hardship, I felt like there was no room for improvement; this was it. However, I had to reverse that inner chatter and give myself another chance. When I gave myself another chance, I taught myself it was okay to make hiccups and fix them in due time. That it was okay to stumble, give yourself time to brush off, then continue to progress upwards.

After high school, I will be seeking higher education. I will use my knowledge of women's health to educate young women and become an advocate for stopping women's disparities in society. I wish to major in biology with a focus on pre-medical. Majoring in Biology will teach me the science of life, the process of organisms, and how they generate energy to move, grow, and reproduce. Also, majoring in Biology allows students to conduct various research projects and gain laboratory hours. A biology major will give me the experience needed to go onto medical school. Continuing, I will graduate as well as complete my residency to become an Obstetrician/ Gynecologist. Later on, I plan to open private practices around the United States and a women's hospital with the collaboration of Beaumont Hospital. While being a medical practitioner, I will also partake in women's health advocacy. Using my knowledge of the female reproductive system and body, I can empower and inspire change within our country.

https://youtu.be/lmIPru3MZdg

Throughout my life, I have endured many hardships. One particular hardship that I endured took place during the 2019-2020 year. As I mentioned those years, you may have automatically thought “Covid,” but I will be telling a different story. Fortunately, Covid-19 didn’t affect my family as much as others. On the other hand, my grandfather became very ill. I have lived with him, my grandmother, my great-grandmother, and my mom all my life. With him taking on an illness, my family and I were in a state of panic. He has kidney failure and heart complications. There was even one period where we thought he was going to die. I remember walking in on my mother sobbing. I instantly had a feeling of doubt, I thought the worst had happened, and he passed, but thank goodness he had not passed. Images of me losing my grandfather bulldozed over me. Not only was I thinking about him being gone, but how would the family function with the “provider” absent. Since I have lived with him my whole life, it would be awkward to experience home life without him there. These thoughts distracted me day in and day out in my life. The disturbing intrusions began to affect my school work and activities. I reached a point where I had no motivation to achieve. I began to procrastinate severely, and in some cases, I didn’t complete assignments at all. I stopped practicing my dance routines regularly and working on my golf technique. I wasn’t performing my weekly room cleaning tasks and general laundry duty. I even developed unhealthy eating habits; either I wouldn’t eat and starve or eat until the point of uncomfortableness. I never told family members that I was dealing with this to save them the extra burden. It was tough for me to express these feelings to my friends as well. I didn’t want my problem to become their problem. I had grown accustomed to masking or hiding the way I truly feel, but in this case, it got harder and harder each day. This big decline in my routine, I felt similar to a failure. My thoughts of failure made me attracted to looking at other people’s successes. I would compare myself constantly and downplay myself. I completely threw out my past accomplishments and the future goals I had set. There was a constant habit of telling myself, “I can do it tomorrow.” Saying that over-and-over sprouted never-ending a feeling of running out of time. To make matters worse, I never put my mental health first. I succumbed to feelings of depression, a deep, inescapable abyss. I successfully combated these sensations with a couple of months of therapy and self-intervention. Pushing myself to finish the junior year with a 4.0 or higher became a priority. Increasing my involvement with my extracurriculars became important. I won’t say that my situation is completely better, but it is certainly manageable. I completed junior with a 4.1, and I excelled in my extracurriculars. I have also formulated new opportunities for my future. I have learned so much from this experience. One of the critical lessons I learned was, there is always a chance to do better. Throughout this hardship, I felt like there was no room for improvement; this was it. However, I had to reverse that inner chatter and give myself another chance. When I gave myself another chance, I taught myself it was okay to make hiccups and fix them in due time. That it was okay to stumble, give yourself time to brush off, then continue to progress upwards.

At a very young age, I had creative juices flowing through me. I was involved in theatre, film acting, and dance. These spaces allowed me to combat the adversity I faced as a kid. That was the beautiful part of it, I no longer had to be put into a box, I was able to explore. I started dancing at the early age of 3, and from there on I fell in love. I continued to do all genres of dance until the age of 15, and from there I only pursued tap, afro beats, and hip hop. From being told I didn't have a "dancer's body" to being told my kinky/curly hair was "inappropriate" for class, I had gain confidence. I gained this confidence through hard work which taught me how to shine in spaces with adversity. Moreover, Acting gave me a new look at life and allowed me to be more eloquent in my feelings. The performing arts have indoctrinated me on how to be more secure within myself, and I would love to share these teachings with my community and the world. In the future, I plan on opening my own company for the arts. This company would be reachable for all students and demographics. I will give my students space where they feel comfortable to share their creative needs. Through the performing arts, I will inspire others to share their talents with other communities unlike their own. I will touch lives by reassuring society that it is stellar to be creative, and they don't have to follow everyone else's path, only follow their aspirations.

During my junior year of high school, my multicultural literature class and I read "Homegoing" by Yaa Gyasi. This book began with two sisters, Effia and Esi, born in Cape Coast, Ghana. Esi was sold into slavery, while Effia was raised in solitude. Throughout the book, we follow these sisters and the generations that proceed. Esi and her future generations dealt with many hardships of living in America. On the other hand, Effia and her generations lived in Ghana with their cultural traditions. Towards the end of the book, Esi's final descendant goes back to Ghana and visits the Cape Coast Castle. He connects with his heritage and finds his true self. As an African-American, reading this book has inspired me to dig deep into my family tree. I have asked questions about my mother's and father's sides of the family dealing with their heritage. Additionally, I plan on taking a "23 and Me" test to further my research on my ethnic background. I understand the importance of knowing your exact heritage, but unfortunately, many African- Americans don't have access to this information because of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Reading "Homegoing" by Yaa Gyasi inspired me to begin my self-exploration journey, and discover my true beggings.

On September nineteenth twenty-twentyone, Lizzo released a song titled, "Truth Hurts". When I first listened to this masterpiece, I was infatuated with the musicality as well as the message. In the song, Lizzo discussed how she was let down many times, but she made a big comeback. When I was listening, I had just gone through a break-up with my boyfriend. I was insecure and wasn't practicing self-care. I wasn't eating enough and I stopped putting effort into my schooling. Listening to this song inspired me to start my self-care journey, and accomplish my goals. My motto was to remember truth hurts, and we all go through problems. While listening to this song I would either work out, complete school assignments, or perform my daily facial routine. I began to see progress every day. Whether it was my physical physique or my grades changing to all A's, I felt jubilant. This song inspired me to love myself no matter the circumstance. "Truth Hurts" inspires me the most because it gives me a reason to become a better version of myself. Through listening to this song, I have grasped a sense of who I am.

In my utopian black society, mental health would no longer be recognized as an ignorable hurdle, but one where people seek help. Black people wouldn't stigmatize themselves or be stigmatized by peers for simply fighting their inner demons. Mental health would be so successful that suicide rates for black men, women, and youth would not progressively increase but decrease. Black men and boys would not have the "toxic masculinity" strain on them. They would be able to cry and exhibit emotions without being called "weak" or "women like". Black women and girls could express their anger without being put into the "angry black women" stereotype. The black community as a whole would be able to admit the generational trauma passed down, and formulate measures to advance us in a better direction. As a black woman who struggles with high functioning depression, body dysmorphia, and binge eating disorder, I can truthfully say it is a struggle. For the longest, I combated myself by saying "it's just a phase and it will pass", but this phase in fact didn't pass. All throughout freshman and sophomore year I looked at myself in disgust. I thought there was something solely wrong with me. I remember standing in the mirror for minutes straight telling myself how ugly I was. That I was a failure, and no one would ever love me. I never opened up to anyone about these intrusive thoughts I was having for the sake of me getting called "crazy". Instead, I turned to food as an escape, and this began to put my health in jeopardy. Thankfully, I finally reached out and gained a therapist. Now I'm in better mind space, and my health is progressively growing. I no longer feel the need to bag all my feelings in. Not only is mental health a disparity in the black community, but it is prevalent in other P.O.C communities as well. The way that we can combat this is by erasing the taboo aura around mental health. The more we incorporate it into our daily conversation, the better off we will be. These actions can be as small as reaching out to a long-lost friend or taking a self-care day. Also, when P.O.C parents create safe spaces for their children to come to them, the children will be more sustainable to talk. There is a need for more people of color advocates in the mental health realm so others know they are not alone. We as a whole need to understand that it is okay to be weak in certain situations and ask for help. The more we change these ignorant ideologies put on P.O.C people, we will then get a tremendous change in our mental health rates.

A tech-related project that I plan on completing is igniting my own Youtube channel. On this channel, I want to discuss fashion, mental health tips, and makeup tutorials. This channel will give me a space to express myself on the internet. Us as Christians we have to have faith in God and believe that he will set us on the right path. Tech + faith to me means displaying your testimonies on cyberspace to inspire people on gaining their faith in God. Technology can give Christian students a way to spread the gospel, and as a community encourages each other to strengthen our faith in God.

At a very young age, I had creative juices flowing through me. I was involved in theatre, film acting, and dance. These spaces allowed me to combat the adversity I faced as a kid. I was no longer "fatty" or "ugly girl", I was whoever I chose to be. That was the beautiful part of it, I no longer had to be put into a box, I was able to explore. First, the theatre opened my eyes to so many different lives other than mine. I remember playing an orphan in the play "Annie". In real life, I wasn't an orphan, but through vigorous training, I got a glimpse of what that life felt like. From there on I was grateful for things in my life no matter if they were small or big. Following that, dance is an outlet I use to express my emotions. I started dance at the early age of 3, and from there on I fell in love. I continued to do all genres of dance until the age of 15, and from there I only pursued tap, afro beats, and hip hop. Even though dance was a safe space for me to express myself, I still faced obstacles. From being insecure that I didn't have a "dancer's body" to being told my kinky/curly hair was "inappropriate" for class, I had to find a way to gain confidence. I gained this confidence through hard work in my dance moves, this taught me to always shine in spaces that are not necessarily built for me to shine. Finally, acting allowed me to turn my hardships and raw feelings from life into art. I cultivated how to connect myself to the character to better understand. Acting gave me a new look at life and allowed me to be more eloquent in my feelings. The performing arts have indoctrinated me on how to be more secure within myself, and I would love to share these teachings with my community and the world. In the future, I plan on opening my own company for the arts. This company would be reachable for all students of any age, any gender, any sexual orientation, any religion, and any social-economical background. I will give my students space where they feel comfortable to share their creative needs. Through the performing arts, I will inspire others to share their talents with other communities unlike their own. I will touch lives by reassuring society that it is stellar to be creative, and they don't have to follow everyone else's path, only follow their aspirations.