Growing up in an Igbo household, I was nurtured with a deep appreciation for the love of family, the warmth of community, and the life-changing power of education. I am grateful for the love my parents placed in my heart for where I come from and for the people around me. To love something is to cherish it deeply and to desire, above all else, to see it thrive and succeed. Since a young age, I have shown my love for my community by using my academic skills to help students flourish in their educational journeys. The desire to help those around me prosper has been one I have carried throughout my journey in life, as my parents were often role models for the impact a helping hand can have in a person's journey. My first teaching session was in primary school, and I would help my juniors with math sums by doing the problems in the sand during lunch break. We did them in the sand, not because of a lack of resources but to foster a playful atmosphere around challenging math problems, turning daunting equations into delightful adventures. The experience was a lighthearted showcase of the fun that can be experienced while learning and the community of scholars that thrive when they work together. I came to the United States at 17, departing from my parents and siblings in Nigeria. Two years ago, I began my adventure at community college, where an unexpected opportunity awaited me. During my second semester, I was honored to be appointed the first chemistry student instructor in the college. This role involved helping students during class time and fostering an external supportive environment where students could thrive beyond the classroom. I would then take the initiative to become the first chemistry peer tutor in my college, a time in my life where I would truly put into practice the fundamental concept of 'growth mindset.' As a peer tutor, my ultimate priority was to help students gain confidence in themselves as learners and realize that they can adapt to new situations by continuing to try again and refusing to let their challenges diminish them. While academic success holds undeniable value, it is the transformative journey of learning and growth that truly enriches our lives and shapes our character. My story has always been about helping my community find joy in the journey of learning and find the inner perseverance that will carry them across the finish line. Education was always a top priority in the eyes of my parents, a sentiment echoed in many Nigerian households, and for good reason. Education is a definite path to a future where individuals can sustain themselves through their own efforts and, in turn, contribute to the communities that molded them. Despite the challenges of being away from home, the prospect of what I could one day offer to my family and community fills me with a profound sense of joy and gratitude for my journey. Ultimately, I aspire to further my education in medical school, and receiving this scholarship would be an enormous help in that pursuit. I would put the funds towards paying for part of my tuition and the MCAT exam and preparation. My love for learning pushes me to further my education, and the joy I feel from helping my community pushes me to do so in a medical setting. This scholarship would be one of the first stepping stones on my path towards a future as a physician, and I will forever be grateful for the opportunity it provides me as a recipient.

Goals are like constellations guiding our journeys; they illuminate our deepest values and light the path to a vibrant and fulfilling future. My goals are diverse in timing and category. Firstly, I wish to uplift my family and community using skills I have learned from my walk of life. This goal is both short-term and long-term. I am working towards adding to my community by volunteering as a tutor in underserved neighborhoods. In the future, I aspire to make a more significant impact wherever I can; I hope to be able to increase my efforts in science communication and work with programs that help underserved youth get into good colleges or training programs. My other goal is to embrace the different paths I desire and embrace my hobbies outside of education. I aim to develop my artistic skills and dream of using the proceeds from my art sales to support education programs across multiple communities. I am currently a chemistry major and desire to develop my research skills and knowledge into tools that would add to the scientific society. I am most interested in protein folding and how studying this mechanism allows for medicine development and disease treatment. This research aligns with my goal to become a healthcare professional in the future. I plan on attending medical school to one day become an attending physician. This desire of mine originates from the passion I feel for the study of the science of the human experience. I have always maintained an interest in how our biology works and the chemistry that occurs behind the scenes to hold the whole operation together. I am also filled with joy when I can lend my skills to the improvement of another person's quality of life. I would consider it a great honor to have a hand in the improvement of anyone’s health and vitality. My goal as a physician involves using my position to continue to plant seeds of success in my community and to continue to advocate for better resources that enable minorities to reach career heights that they would otherwise shy away from. Representation Representation carries an incredibly immense influence, often overlooked in its capacity to inspire. Ultimately, I hope to use whatever position I find myself in to show other members of my community that it is possible to live in a world where your future goals are now your present reality.

The essence of humanity flourishes when our communities are carefully nurtured and thoughtfully developed. My first experience of community was within my family. I am the second of four children born to two Nigerian parents. My parents were often away hard at work, leaving my older sister and me to take care of my younger siblings. Taking care of two children as children ourselves was challenging, yet when I look back on those days, I am filled with a deep sense of joy rather than despair. During the days helping my younger sister with homework or drawing Naruto comics for my little brother, I realized I loved helping other people and sowing seeds of happiness wherever I could. The wonders of science have always fascinated me. It started with a curiosity about the elements on the periodic table and led to a fascination with protein configurations and their potential for disease treatment. Combining my love for science with my dedication to helping others led me to study chemistry with the goal of attending medical school. I desire to continue helping people throughout my educational journey; during my first two college years, I tutored my fellow students in chemistry and biology and earned an Outstanding Tutor award nomination. This summer, I am tutoring students in my neighborhood, and I hope to spread a love for sciences within my community. Underprivileged communities often learn to shy away from STEM courses due to the history of a barrier to passage into the field; I hope to encourage the youth around me to dream big and let their vision for their future guide their journeys. I also aspire to take part in research during my undergraduate year and continue to do research as a medical student. I am interested in working with proteins, particularly investigating their folding and using them in drug discovery and creation. I am grateful to have been born in an era marked by significant progress in medicine. Contributing even in a minor role to this ongoing innovation would be an honor. I ultimately desire to serve my community with the skills I learn throughout my journeys. My paramount goal is to research and implement ways of affordable and viable drug transport to countries requiring aid. As I continue working towards my vision for my future, I continue to find clarity in the simple moments. Whether it's a walk in my neighborhood or a heartfelt two-hour chat with my siblings, I am reminded of my motivation. My pursuit of this dream stems from my desire to leave a positive impact in my little corner of the world and because the joy of uplifting my community is a feeling I never want to lose.

My journey to college marked the beginning of a double-edged independence and self-sufficiency. I rely on my earnings from work to pay for transportation, meals, and housing, and to afford all of these, I have held three positions within my college simultaneously. I work as a peer tutor for chemistry, biology, and Spanish - I also work as a lab assistant and student ambassador. Maintaining these jobs has given me skills I will forever be grateful for, but there are times when I wish for the privilege of the choice of whether to work or not. I am a low-income student and rely on myself for support within the school year; I do not hold the luxury of treating school as a full-time job. My days would involve juggling the responsibilities of being a full-time student while grappling to accomplish twenty work hours each week. I would constantly think about assignments that needed completing along with the session plans for students I tutor that needed polishing. Every Monday morning, I spend three hours assisting a professor with lab activities and experiments, and then I enjoy a twenty-minute break before I rush to attend my English class. After the English class, I often enjoy a snack to recover some of my morning energy and then proceed to the group tutoring session I run for two hours. The week would drum along the same rhythm, and I would find that only Sunday remained as a day that was completely my own, where no work was required, and I could truly focus on studying and self-care. Semesters are nothing short of exhausting, but they are also incredibly rewarding. Tutoring has given me the skills of patience, and communication, and has helped me grow so much as a learner. As a lab assistant, I learned the vital importance of group work and have been able to develop as a scientist and team member. As a student ambassador, I had the opportunity to network with many interesting people, and I am grateful for all the wonderful people I have connected with along the way. As a student worker, I have to balance the hours I put in for my jobs with the hours required to succeed in my education. This balancing act imparts real-life skills that will be helpful when I graduate, but excelling in both work and school has proved incredibly tiring. I would be immensely grateful if the relentless pressure to work could be reduced by any amount. It would be a blessing if I did not have to panic about where I would get funds for my monthly bus pass after missing a few hours at work. This scholarship would be an incredible help as it would ultimately allow me to spend more time on my schoolwork and less time hunting down work hours for the week. Being independent and self-sufficient is something I will always cherish, but I deeply long for the extra time to also care for myself and find moments of true relaxation.

I would consider it a great privilege to bring a dream from the depths of my mind into the streets of reality. To accomplish one’s goals takes help; a person alone can have a vision, but it would take a team of people to execute a desire. I was born with an incredible support system of people who have helped me throughout my educational journey. My parents have worked tirelessly to grant me and my three siblings the privilege of an education they never had, all to see that we do not miss out on the opportunity to make our dreams reality. The strain of finances is omnipresent and unrelenting, and it would be an incredible blessing to lessen the pressure that accompanies funding my education. This scholarship will help me go to classes without worrying about where my next meal will come from or how I will be able to afford the MCATs after paying for my health insurance. The dream I have for myself involves a journey to medical school as I wish to use my time here on earth to help make a difference wherever I can – even if it is in a single hospital in rural Pennsylvania. I also wish to take part in research – particularly involving proteins and their role in genetic diseases. I recognize that the privilege of financial stability comes with another great privilege – time. In community college, I worked three jobs to pay for bills, housing, and transportation, and at the end of the day, I did not have any time to invest in research experience. This scholarship will help me free up space in my life for fulfilling extracurriculars that will help me along my medical journey. The extra time will also allow me to grow in my other passion – art. As much as I consider myself a science enthusiast, I also see myself as a visual artist. My goal in the arts is to develop my skills to the point where I can use my art to help people – whether it be through using my art for science communication or donating funds from the sales of my art towards medical research and clinics in underfunded neighborhoods. The pressure of finances has been present for as long as I can remember, but it has never functioned to dampen the vision I have for my future. To dream is to allow oneself to envision a world crafted from one's wants and goals without restriction, and while every person has dreams, it is a great privilege to actualize those desires. This scholarship will help me live the life I could only ever dream of and work towards a future that manifests my vision, and I will be forever grateful for the privilege.

The piercing Botswana sun shone through the window, brightening the tiny room and its surfaces. I laid my back on the cool brick wall that granted mercy from the relentless heat of the desert summer and provided a chill that calmed my system. Sitting on the twin bed across from me, engrossed in a mobile game, my little sister argued with my younger brother about which Pokémon was the ultimate starter. My older sister moderated the chaos by berating them both, which resulted in explosive bursts of laughter from us four. At the time, it felt like that moment would last forever. The peace I felt in those hours resonates in me years later. It brought the sense of belonging, the serenity of community, and the quietness of tomorrow. I have been longing for such a feeling ever since. I grew up surrounded by family in the warm desert of Botswana, and I do everything I can to one day return to that family and grant them a livelihood that brings about comfort and not anxiety. I am studying life sciences in college in an effort to gain admission to medical school. I take classes from anatomy to psychology, which enable me to build the foundation necessary for my clinical future. With this profession I believe that feeling of peace I have been longing for will be restored in myself and in my community. As a physician I hope to be able to return to my home country and work in science communication and volunteer at wellness facilities. I hope to partake in research while in America and work in drug discovery to develop vaccines that are capable of being transported and stored safely and effectively. One of the major issues facing treatment in Africa is the means of medicine distribution and, therefore I hope to attain an education that will enable me to work on solving the issue. I wish to serve as a source of hope for those in my country, including my siblings, cousins, friends, and neighbors. Too often, we are reminded of the limits to one's path due to their upbringing and financial situation. This burden from the restriction of possibility is built into young minds and often stunts their passions and desire to dream. I hope to achieve great things and use that achievement as a motivator for those who will come after me. I desire to serve as a symbol that one's circumstances do not equate to one's prospects and achievements.