I was diagnosed with cancer at a young age; 4 to be exact. I never quite understood the severity of my illness then nor fully now. I know the facts of course; I had Wilms' Tumor, I went through chemotherapy and radiation, I was sick for an extended period of time, I lost my kidney as a result of cancer, and I survived. But to be honest, I never fully and truly understood the emotional impact of my illness on myself or my parents as well. My mother tells me that I knew I was sick but never anything more than that. I mean, how is a 4-year-old supposed to know how severe cancer is? As my mom states, I was the happiest sick girl there could ever be; I would help clean my port cheerfully and watch intently as the phlebotomist drew my blood for a multitude of tests that had to be run. I quite literally had no clue and maybe that was for the best. Trying to figure out your identity in your childhood is hard enough, even without the severe illness that I endured at a young age and the consequences of that. The real issue to me is not that I went through cancer or that I even lost a kidney; it's the fact that I can’t locate any memories in my mind. It's quite hard to feel like you survived and had this incredible feat of beating stage 3 cancer when you cannot remember one bit of it. I feel as if that’s why I have gravitated so heavily to medicine. If I can’t understand it from a personal level, then the closest thing is from a professional level. Learning how cancer cells mutate and spread across the body in school has made me feel more connected to my cancer diagnosis than ever before. The opportunity to share with my classmates and show them the various CT scans of my tumor and doctor’s notes as well has helped tremendously. Medicine is the one thing that helps me fully understand what I went through as a child. It’s not the pictures, the first-hand sources, or even the scars; it’s the simple fact that I can learn more about cancer, research to my heart’s content, and help children who are facing the same illness as me. By becoming a doctor and possibly a pediatric oncologist in the future, I believe that I can make a difference through my career. By treating children with cancer and potentially curing them, it allows them to survive and make more of an impact in the world, however that may be. I also believe that if I choose to conduct research as well, I can make even more of an impact through my career. Many doctors are able to conduct clinical research so that they can use real tissues and cases to discover various ways to cure different diseases. This is how scientists created the modern vaccines that we have, eradicated numerous diseases, and so much more. If I can make just a tiny contribution towards a cure for cancer, then I know that this will make a difference in healthcare and perhaps the quality of life of future generations as well. This is the difference that I want to make in the future because of my battle with cancer and my dedication to treating children with the same disease.

Having been diagnosed with cancer at the age of four, I’ve been in and out of hospitals for an extended period of time. My battle with cancer has led me to want to be a doctor and I am actively pursuing that by double majoring in Biological Sciences and Neuroscience at the University of Chicago on the pre-med track. But when I am not in school studying or hanging out with friends, I spend those other moments volunteering. Because I’ve wanted to be in the medical field for so long, I’ve volunteered in local clinics and hospitals throughout high school and college. For example, at my college, I am a part of a club called Med Life which partners with local clinics in Southside Chicago to bring better healthcare to those areas. This club has been such a great source of community service and I love that I’m able to give back to the community. All in all, the moments in the hospital, shadowing the doctors, and interacting with patients further affirmed my desire to be a doctor and pushed me to continue this journey. When not volunteering at hospitals and clinics, I also volunteer at my church. I’ve worked with the children’s church to help lead the children through prayer, different activities to learn more about God and much more. I also was a part of the Praise Dance Ministry for many years which was quite important to me because dance is one of my passions. This volunteering also helped bring me closer to God in so many ways and has guided me throughout my formative years. After college, I plan on attending medical school and continuing to volunteer in the free time that I will have. I believe that giving back to the community that supported you is very important, especially when many people do not have the same opportunities as others. When becoming a doctor in the future, I am quite interested in volunteering with Doctors Without Borders and traveling to various places, such as third-world countries, to bring valuable healthcare and aid to these areas. I also know that being a doctor will allow me to do much more for the community, such as volunteering at local clinics, doing pro-bono work, etc. I will be given many opportunities to do community service and I plan on taking advantage of those. Overall, I have already involved myself in community service thus far and I plan on continuing my service. I believe that it’s important to give blacked to your community and help out people who might not have the same opportunities as yourself. I’m excited to see what other services I might be involved with in the future and how I can help uplift the community in the future.

Ever since I was young and in middle school, I was obsessed with the hype around the Starbucks fall drinks. From the classic Pumpkin Spice Latte to the more interesting Apple Crisp Macchiato, I was in love with it all. Watching various lifestyle YouTubers try these drinks each fall warmed my heart like never before. Being at that age of change and awkwardness, I gravitated toward the pristine lives of these YouTubers. I couldn’t wait to get to high school and college where I believed that everything was going to be better, especially with a Starbucks drink in my hand. When I finally convinced my mom to take me to Starbucks to try one of the coveted fall drinks, I was ecstatic. This would be my first step towards “greatness,” in my 13-year-old eyes of course. When I went up to the counter and ordered the Pumpkin Spice Latte, it was like a dream come true. It was finally happening. I swear that that first sip changed my life. Ever since that first Starbucks drink, it became a tradition for my mom and I to go to Starbucks weekly, trying various drinks throughout the years. But when fall came around, I always eventually went back to that first taste, that first feeling of comfort, the Pumpkin Spice Latte. Throughout the rest of middle school and high school, that drink kept me grounded and made me feel like me. Time passed and suddenly I was getting on a plane to go to the University of Chicago where I would spend the next four years. It suddenly hit me that a big change was coming. No longer would I see my friends and family every day, sleep in my bed, or just be in Texas. I didn’t know what to think. Suddenly I was uncomfortable in the skin I had felt amazing in for so many years. Having to figure out how to make new friends, how to handle college classes, and so much more was daunting to me. I got off the plane feeling nervous, frightened, and unaware of what was to come next. Getting on campus and moving in was its own ordeal and when my parents finally left, it felt like a brick hit my chest. I felt alone. Sure I had my roommates and people I had met during Orientation Week, but nothing concrete, nothing substantial. I was simply going through the movements, going to class, doing my homework, nothing more, nothing less. It wasn’t until I noticed the red and orange leaves falling on the ground that it clicked. It was fall. The season of change, the season of comfort, and most importantly, the season of Starbucks fall drinks. I left class in a hurry, went to the nearest Starbucks on campus, and got what I knew my heart desired; a Pumpkin Spice Latte. With that first sip, I felt all the comfort in the world and was grounded in reality. I realized that even though things change and I may not feel the most comfortable at all times, the fall drinks at Starbucks would always be there, to comfort me, to ground me, and to make me feel like me.

My passion for healthcare started at an unusually young age, but with being diagnosed with cancer at the age of four, it was some what warranted. It’s quite hard to not become infatuated with healthcare when it suddenly and quickly became my new world when I was just four years old. Surprisingly enough, being in and out of hospitals for months on end, going through chemotherapy, surgery, and even radiation didn’t scare me. It only heightened my newfound love and admiration for healthcare and what the doctors were doing in the background. After I beat cancer and began to grow up with a relatively “normal” life, I did everything and anything I could to be in medical spaces and truly experience the background of healthcare. I applied to every shadowing experience I could, went to a highschool specifically for healthcare, and am now majoring in Biology and Neuroscience at the University of Chicago (UChicago) on the pre-med track. All of the countless experiences, hours, and even years I spent learning about healthcare led me to want to be a pediatric oncologist. There’s simply no other route that resonates with me as much as this one does. In addition, the experiences I went through at a young age are truly unique and makes me the perfect person to be a pediatric oncologist. To be able to fully connect with children with cancer and also help them beat the disease is all I want in this life, and what I truly believe my purpose is as well. This scholarship would help me fulfill my lifelong dream of becoming a physician and be able to achieve what I know I was put on this Earth for. Additionally, I also do work while attending school. I work in the Undergraduate Admissions office at the University of Chicago, conducting tours, connecting with prospective students, and just providing information about the student experience at UChicago. As for balancing both school and my work, I have never had an issue on which to prioritize because I am very good at time management. Furthermore, I believe that having this job has prepared me for the rest of college and possibly medical school as well. I think being able to balance both school and a job is a very hard task, but this job has prepared me not just for the rest of college, but for life as well.

The brain. It awakens in the dawn of a new light, birth. It grows and grows, wrinkles as time passes, like skin. It learns and develops new concepts in itself. Neurons fire and connect to create new pathways. Memories appear and become stored so the brain can look back in itself to remember. The brain becomes conscious of itself and wonders how it got here. How it controls an entire human being. How it even has the capabilities to be present in this moment. How it can be alive. The brain is a fascinating organ, being quite small compared to the magnitude of concepts that it can contain. Even as us humans have developed greatly from the caveman times, we still do not fully understand what goes on in the brain. How come some people can think words in their minds and others can only see pictures? How can the brain be sentient of itself? Did the brain essentially name itself? How can the control center of the body be so unexplored? There are so many questions that arise when thinking about this wrinkled, little organ. To understand the nature of our universe, it’s important to learn how the brain has developed this nature and adapted to be where it is right now. This is what I want to learn; the inner-workings of the brain and what minute processes go on in a day-to-day basis to make humans function the way we do. Not just the biological processes, but how those biological processes make creative ideas. How the left and right hemispheres of the brain come together to create personality, interests, intelligence, and so much more. How and why the brain is so advanced that it is conscious of not just it’s surroundings, but of itself. One of the ways I plan to further explore these ideas is by studying at the University of Chicago, one of the world’s leading research universities and a private liberal arts college. I intend on double majoring in biological sciences and neuroscience to further expand my knowledge about the brain and what goes on in the human body as a whole. Already just being at the University of Chicago for my first quarter, I have learned an extensive amount about how to apply various methods of learning to one concept. I am able to think about humans from various points of view; a biological view, a humanities view, and a mathematical view. Taking chemistry this year helped expand my knowledge of the chemical processes that happen throughout the body and also in the brain. In addition, taking Human Being and Citizen expanded my knowledge as to why humans work the way they do. By reading the Iliad, The Symposium, The Epic of Gilgamesh, and so much more, I am able to analyze what motivates humans to do certain things in times of war, despair, and just regular circumstances. I believe this education will help me tremendously when further studying how the brain works because I understand the human side of the brain and can see how chemical processes in the brain lead humans to make certain decisions. Earning this scholarship would help continue my exploration of these concepts and gain further education. Taking away the stress of a financial burden would help me be able to focus solely on my studies and learn truly, how the brain works. There are so many “how” questions that need to be answered, and I want to answer those questions. Investigating the complex pathways it has developed, the biological and chemical processes, and the instinct drilled into the brain is just one way to understand why the universe is the way it is.

I was diagnosed with cancer at a young age; 4 to be exact. I never quite understood the severity of my illness then nor fully now. I know the facts of course; I had Wilms' Tumor, I went through chemotherapy and radiation, I was sick for an extended period of time, I lost my kidney as a result of cancer, and I survived. But to be honest, I never fully and truly understood the emotional impact of my illness on myself or my parents as well. My mother tells me that I knew I was sick but never anything more than that. I mean, how is a 4-year-old supposed to know how severe cancer is? As my mom states, I was the happiest sick girl there could ever be; I would help clean my port cheerfully and watch intently as the phlebotomist drew my blood for a multitude of tests that had to be run. I quite literally had no clue and maybe that was for the best. I have no memory of going through the process, which in a sense is sort of isolating. When at the summer camp I attended for cancer survivors, called CampIHope, I realized a commonality between everyone else. They all were very aware of their cancer journeys and were able to talk openly about what they had gone through in-depth while I could not recollect one memory. It led to feeling disconnected from my diagnosis as I could not connect with the campers/cancer survivors for whom the camp was for. I made friends based on us both having the same type of cancer, but that’s as far as the connection went. Truly, the only raw memory is from my parents and the plethora of photos they have from the journey. Other than that, it's hard to connect to the idea of cancer. What's the point of "spreading my story" when I can't even remember my supposed story? I always felt like my cancer was something missing from me. Like the vacant cavity where my kidney used to be, I don't look like I had cancer or even remember the treatments. It's been hard trying to figure out that piece of the puzzle. Trying to figure out your identity in your childhood is hard enough, even without the severe illness that I endured at a young age and the consequences of that. The real issue to me is not that I went through cancer or that I even lost a kidney; it's the fact that I can’t locate any memories in my mind. It's quite hard to feel like you survived and had this incredible feat of beating stage 3 cancer when you cannot remember one bit of it. I feel as if that’s why I have gravitated so heavily to medicine. If I can’t understand it from a personal level, then the closest thing is from a professional level. Learning how cancer cells mutate and spread across the body in school has made me feel more connected to my cancer diagnosis than ever before. The opportunity to share with my classmates and show them the various CT scans of my tumor and doctor’s notes as well has helped tremendously. Medicine is the one thing that helps me fully understand what I went through as a child. It’s not the pictures, the first-hand sources, or even the scars; it’s the simple fact that I can learn more about cancer, research to my heart’s content, and help children that are facing the same illness as me.

The dream version of my future self is a determined, kind, and witty pediatric oncology physician working with children dealing with the same disease I once had.

With my diagnosis of cancer, I became aware of a lot of things at a young age: the healthcare system, being black in that system, and the effects of cancer. Because I was in a hospital in my formative years, I became infatuated with medicine and wanted that to play a big part in my life as I got older. I took every opportunity to get in the door, such as shadowing surgeries at hospitals, obtaining a research internship, and attending a high school that focused on health professions. As I delved deeper into what medicine contained, I couldn’t help but stumble upon how African-Americans, and more specifically African-American women, were treated in the system that I had grown to love. Seeing how people like me were not believed by doctors, died when it could’ve been easily avoided, and just simply not listened to sparked a feeling in me that was greater than I had ever felt before. The thought that I could do what I loved and also help my people drove me to be fully committed to the medical field to right these wrongs through being an upstander and building up my community. I feel as if being an upstander and building up your community go hand-in-hand: you cannot do one without the other. A lot of the things that I am planning and have done as an upstander simultaneously build up my community as well. For example, as an upstander I fight against racism, stand up for what I believe in, and don’t give in. I have attended many protests in Dallas to fight against racism, most notably the George Floyd protests. In addition, I have completed community service through the National Honor Society (NHS), my church, and others which have added up to a total of 184 hours. I am also an up stander not just through my experiences as a black woman, but also in my experiences as a cancer survivor. I volunteer at a camp for children that have been impacted by cancer called CampIHope for a week which is very fulfilling. I am also planning on hosting toy and bandana drives for children with cancer in my first year at the college I am attending, the University of Chicago, to advocate for the childhood cancer community and raise awareness. Furthermore, to me, being an upstander isn’t just what I am doing right now, but what I plan to do in the future. My goal is to become a doctor and fight against racial stereotypes and medical disparities from within. I want to educate my peers on their medical biases and make sure that minorities are treated fairly. Many times, these racial biases in medicine start in medical school with myths that have somehow become facts and are ingrained in the curriculum that future doctors learn such as black people having a higher pain tolerance than other races. It is important to me to educate my peers about these racial biases so that they do not become prejudiced doctors unknowingly and treat all of their patients fairly which in turn helps build up my community. All in all, it is important to stand up for what you believe is right. Being able to be an upstander and build up my community is so powerful and has given me a sense of accomplishment. To see that what I do has a positive impact on people’s lives has made me never regret doing what I thought was right. The world would be much better if everyone was an upstander.

I was diagnosed with cancer at a young age; 4 to be exact. I never quite understood the severity of my illness then nor fully now. I know the facts of course; I had Wilms' Tumor, I went through chemotherapy and radiation, I was sick for an extended period of time, I lost my kidney as a result of cancer, and I survived. But to be honest, I never fully and truly understood the emotional impact of my illness on myself or my parents as well. My mother tells me that I knew I was sick but never anything more than that. I mean, how is a 4-year-old supposed to know how severe cancer is? As my mom states, I was the happiest sick girl there could ever be; I would help clean my port cheerfully and watch intently as the phlebotomist drew my blood for many tests that had to be run. I quite literally had no clue and maybe that was for the best. I have no memory of going through the process, which is sort of isolating. At the summer camp I attended for cancer survivors, CampIHope, I realized a commonality between everyone else. They all were very aware of their cancer journeys and were able to talk openly about what they had gone through in-depth while I could not recollect one memory. It led to feeling disconnected from my diagnosis as I could not connect with the campers/cancer survivors for whom the camp was. I made friends based on us both having the same type of cancer, but that’s as far as the connection went. Truly, the only raw memory is from my parents and the plethora of photos they have from the journey. Other than that, it's hard to connect to the idea of cancer. What's the point of "spreading my story" when I can't even remember my supposed story? I always felt like my cancer was something missing from me. Like the vacant cavity where my kidney used to be, I don't look like I had cancer or even remember the treatments. It's been hard trying to figure out that piece of the puzzle. Trying to figure out your identity in your childhood is hard enough, even without the severe illness that I endured at a young age and the consequences of that. The real issue to me is not that I went through cancer or that I even lost a kidney; it's the fact that I can’t locate any memories in my mind. It's quite hard to feel like you had this incredible feat of beating stage 3 cancer when you cannot remember it. I feel as if that’s why I have gravitated so heavily to medicine. To truly understand from a different perspective what I went through. If I can’t understand it from a personal level, then the closest thing is from a professional level. Learning how cancer cells mutate and spread across the body in school has made me feel more connected to my cancer diagnosis than ever before. The opportunity to share with my classmates and show them the various CT scans of my tumor has helped tremendously. Medicine is the one thing that helps me fully understand what I went through as a child. It is the only thing that comes close to filling the vacancy left by my childhood battle. It’s not the pictures, the first-hand sources, or even the scars; it’s the simple fact that I can learn more about cancer, research to my heart’s content, and help children that are facing the same illness as me.

I was diagnosed with cancer at a young age; 4 to be exact. I never quite understood the severity of my illness then nor fully now. I know the facts of course; I had Wilms' Tumor, I went through chemotherapy and radiation, I was sick for an extended period of time, I lost my kidney as a result of cancer, and I survived. But to be honest, I never fully and truly understood the emotional impact of my illness on myself or my parents as well. My mother tells me that I knew I was sick but never anything more than that. I mean, how is a 4-year-old supposed to know how severe cancer is? As my mom states, I was the happiest sick girl there could ever be; I would help clean my port cheerfully and watch intently as the phlebotomist drew my blood for a multitude of tests that had to be run. I quite literally had no clue and maybe that was for the best. I have no memory of going through the process, which in a sense is sort of isolating. When at the summer camp I attended for cancer survivors, called CampIHope, I realized a commonality between everyone else. They all were very aware of their cancer journeys and were able to talk openly about what they had gone through in-depth while I could not recollect one memory. It led to feeling disconnected from my diagnosis as I could not connect with the campers/cancer survivors for whom the camp was for. I made friends based on us both having the same type of cancer, but that’s as far as the connection went. Truly, the only raw memory is from my parents and the plethora of photos they have from the journey. Other than that, it's hard to connect to the idea of cancer. What's the point of "spreading my story" when I can't even remember my supposed story? I always felt like my cancer was something missing from me. Like the vacant cavity where my kidney used to be, I don't look like I had cancer or even remember the treatments. It's been hard trying to figure out that piece of the puzzle. Trying to figure out your identity in your childhood is hard enough, even without the severe illness that I endured at a young age and the consequences of that. The real issue to me is not that I went through cancer or that I even lost a kidney; it's the fact that I can’t locate any memories in my mind. It's quite hard to feel like you survived and had this incredible feat of beating stage 3 cancer when you cannot remember one bit of it. I feel as if that’s why I have gravitated so heavily to medicine. If I can’t understand it from a personal level, then the closest thing is from a professional level. Learning how cancer cells mutate and spread across the body in school has made me feel more connected to my cancer diagnosis than ever before. The opportunity to share with my classmates and show them the various CT scans of my tumor and doctor’s notes as well has helped tremendously. Medicine is the one thing that helps me fully understand what I went through as a child. It’s not the pictures, the first-hand sources, or even the scars; it’s the simple fact that I can learn more about cancer, research to my heart’s content, and help children that are facing the same illness as me.

My dream in life is to become a pediatric oncologist. I had cancer when I was four and I essentially want to want to give back to the people that gave so generously to me. I also greatly enjoy medicine and finding out how the body works so just being a doctor, in general, would make my life feel complete.

My passion for biology and the healthcare industry came at an early stage in my life. This stemmed from my cancer diagnosis at just four years old. At a young age, it is hard enough figuring out your body for what it is when it’s healthy, let alone when it is sickly and battling cancer. As a result, being in the hospital 24/7 can either pull or push you away from that environment and for me, I was drawn in immediately. From helping clean my port to watching intensely as my blood was being drawn, there was no detaching from this world that had become a part of me so young. But, this was just the start of my story. You can’t just observe to be in healthcare; you have to actually do something - and I want to accomplish amazing tasks in the world of healthcare in my future. There are so many ways to provide a positive impact in healthcare but I want to dedicate my future career to cancer research. My goal is to become a pediatric oncologist and do research on various types of cancers to figure out ways to destroy them in the shortest amount of time possible. In addition, in 2018, 17 million people were diagnosed with cancer and many more were affected by this terrible diagnosis. Figuring out a way to cure, and more importantly, prevent this disease, would create a large positive impact on the mortality rate and diagnosis rate of various cancers. To make a positive impact on healthcare, it does not just have to be with a specific disease like cancer; it can also include more diversity in the healthcare field, better tests, better efficiency, and so much more. Another positive impact I want to make in the healthcare field is to introduce more diversity in all ways of healthcare. Many times in these settings, there are dismissals of a patient because of their race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and so much more. An oath does not prevent racial and other biases that healthcare professionals can harbor within themselves. In addition, as seen many times before, many pregnant black women are dismissed because of racial biases that convince that healthcare worker that black women have a high pain tolerance and the pain she’s feeling is not extreme. That can lead to a multitude of consequences such as a black woman dying or experiencing near death because of complications that were overlooked as a result of these biases, or this patient gaining a fear of hospitals because of these actions. Furthermore, it is not just racial biases that affect the healthcare industry but also biases against sexual orientation and even religion as well. These biases that are ingrained in the way medicine is taught negatively affect the healthcare industry and in turn make people not trust the people that are supposed to help them. It is important to make these minorities feel comfortable because you can’t help someone that doesn’t want to be helped. In conclusion, there are so many ways to positively impact the healthcare industry, but in the future, I want to focus on cancer research and eliminating minority biases in these spaces. These are problems very close to my heart and being able to contribute at least a tiny bit to both of these issues during my lifetime would be a great accomplishment. These are the positive impacts I wish to contribute to the healthcare industry in the future and even if it doesn’t solve it, my impact will be seen in the aftermath.

I used to always think that everyone had someone or some type of support system. Something to lean onto when times are rough but that's not the case for everyone and especially not for my friend. Covid-19 took a lot of support systems away from people and broke a lot of people as well. It's important to show up for the people you care about because you never know how they are truly doing. My friend went through a tough time during the pandemic and came out of it lonelier than ever. His stepmom passed which led his father to have to focus all of his energy on his kids and leave no time for my friend. He also moved out of his mother's house because she had a boyfriend move in. He broke up with his girlfriend after a long time of trying to make it work and his "best friend" ghosted him. "When you're at your worst they're not there and you discover that they don't care." This lyric by singer Rex Orange County was the newfound reality for my friend. He had no one to lean on until I started making the effort to communicate with him and during this time I had no knowledge of anything that had gone on in the past year. When I learned about what had gone on I was shocked that he pushed through all of that and was still here today. To go through all of that trauma in one year is unbelievable and makes for a very strong person and I am very proud of him. His story impacted me so much as it brought the idea to me that not everyone has someone. Not everyone has someone they go to when they need to cry or when they need help. Some people have nothing and many people that are as privileged as I am don't understand that. It showed me that often behind closed doors people are struggling and it is my job as a compassionate human to be able to be there for that person. Even if they don't want help. Even if they refuse to acknowledge it you want to help them before it's too late. Those troubles can put a lot of weight on someone's shoulders and even more if they feel alone. You don't want to figure it out when it's too late. I now feel that I should be more willing to help people with their troubles and do more for my community. Donate to homeless and women's shelters. Be kinder and friendlier to my classmates. Be nicer to my environment and treat everyone with respect, even the people that have wronged me. Even if you think you know what's going on in someone's life, it's always deeper than that.