I have lost both my grandfathers, and come close to losing my mother. This inspired me to continue my education because my grandfather on her side came from complete poverty, and she was the first generation of her family to attend college. They both worked so hard for my family to be able to afford my education my whole life, and my mother was an educational researcher. Since I was little she has been inspiring me to pursue science, and I've wanted to; I always wanted to be a biologist, and that is still what I plan on studying. She is the sole reason I considered science a possibility for me. When I was in middle school, she got breast cancer roughly a year before my grandfather's dementia and Parkinson's started progressing at a much faster rate. My grandfather was Deaf his whole life as a result of childhood meningitis, and he grew up on a farm with no access to learn ASL and was barely able to understand his teachers in high school. He persevered through continuing to be denied jobs on account of his hearing and struggled to prove his worth. He used his lip-reading skills and little hearing he did have to impress the employer who ended up supporting him for the rest of his career - the owner of a small car dealership in Dallas who saw his promise in accounting. He gained statewide, then national acclaim for his skills, something that was never recognized by teachers who forced him to the back of their classrooms when he was in high school. He truly was able to excel once given the opportunity, and once he found a respectful workplace he stayed loyal to them his whole life. His life truly was fascinating, but the thing is: I learned all of his story from my mother. We were never able to communicate when I was little, he couldn't hear the pitch of my voice and his hearing aids were degrading, so she was the one who told me his life's story. By the time I was old enough to talk to him, he had forgotten it. My mother thought it was important for me to feel connected to the skills and achievements of my ancestors, however near or far, and let it feel empowering to me to be able to learn from them. Even though much of my family's history I've learned in retrospect, and often after it has affected all our lives, there's a power to information about where you came from that shapes who you feel you can be. If my grandparents thrived with no resources, imagine what I could do with what they've passed down for me? I'm lucky to still have my mother in my life, she's inspired me to keep pursuing environmental research and try to change the world for the better. My grandfather's end of life care and loss disrupted my middle school education, as well as my mother's first cancer treatment, during which we relied heavily on my grandmother's temple for my education and support. My mother's second round of cancer treatments caused me to miss several weeks of my junior year of high school. I don't regret being by her side for that, and I'm hoping to continue to do so whenever she needs me. With what my family has taught me I truly believe I can use my education as a force for positive change, and I would be grateful for any help I can get.