Growing up in a predominately white town as a Black Haitian-American Woman was an interesting experience. Besides my family, my surroundings had little to no individuals who looked like me or represented my culture. As 1 of 8 students of color in my High School graduating class, I sometimes felt extremely isolated and disconnected from my roots. As a result, I knew that when I went to college, I wanted to go to a diverse school that would allow me to find the communities that I had been searching for during my upbringing. I was intrigued by the notion of a large campus and ended up committing to Rutgers University in New Brunswick. As any freshman in college, it naturally took me a while to get acclimated to the new environment and as a result, I was not involved until my Sophomore year. The summer before my second year at Rutgers, I set goals for myself. I set out to become as involved as I possibly could – and that is exactly what I did. As soon as I was back at school, I joined the Rutgers Chapter of the NAACP and shortly after that, I was appointed the Community Service/ Coordination Chair. Additionally, I became a member of the West Indian Student Organization where I met other Caribbean students and interned to be the Community Service Chair as well and was ultimatly given the position. Finally, toward the end of the year, I was elected Vice President of Sisters With Values, the Black Womans Collective at Rutgers, after interning for the position all year. All three of my leadership positions had two commonalities – they allowed me to be part of the commmunities that I had hoped to find upon entering college and they allowed me to serve the community while doing so. Being a student leader is no easy task, but I managed to jugle all of these roles while maintaining my 4.0 GPA during the semester. The motivation to aquire these positions stemmed from a deep rooted passion I have for community service. As an active member of my community, I planned food drives, hosted educational events and raised awareness for important issues our community continues to face. I am proud to say that I have learned more about my culture, made lifelong connections and contributed to helping my community this year. I plan to continue to do so by obtaining my Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice and pursuing a Law degree shortly after my undergraduate education ends. I still have goals – in my eyes, the work is not done yet. As an attorney, I want to help underrepresented communities and make them feel seen and heard, just as I have done as a student leader. If awarded this scholarship, it will bring me one step closer to these goals by alleviating some of the financial stress associated with funding my undergraduate education. Thank you so much for you consideration.

The letter “C” has always been a part of my family. My sister Clarissa, my parents Claude and Claudine, and me, Claire. However, in 2019, a new “C” forced its way into my family – Cancer. Never in a million years would I have imagined that I would get such a twist of fate. I always thought that I would have a normal high school experience. I enjoyed going to school, learning, making new experiences and memories with my friends. When all of that was taken away from me so abruptly, my world imploded.  I remember the day everything changed; I knew something was wrong. I was in my World History class when I got the worst headache I had ever experienced. I felt faint and fatigued, the floor seemed to move and sway below me and I was losing my balance just as I did days before on a walk home which, to me, was out of the ordinary. I went home early that day.  A series of misdiagnoses followed. The letter “C” reared its head once again except this time, it stood for “convinced”. After spending three days at home, my mom was convinced it was the flu. My pediatrician was convinced I had low iron deficiency, prescribed me iron supplements, and told me to come back the next day — I was convinced my life was about to take an unexpected turn.  I ended up going to the emergency room. “B positive is your blood type. Which is something we will have to do a lot of in the next couple of hours as we figure out what's going on with you”. This is what the doctor at my local hospital said to me. Obviously, it was a faint attempt at a joke to lighten the air, but it only made me more anxious. In the next few days, one ambulance ride and hospital transfer later, I was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, otherwise known as A.L.L – a cancer of the blood which affects less than 200,000 people in the United States per year. My life had shattered with three words: “You have cancer”. I was fifteen.  Everything said after that sentence became intangible in my head, I was frozen with shock and fear of what was to come. I never realized how terrifying the feeling of helplessness could be. I was told I would be on a two-and-a-half-year treatment plan. I would miss school, I wouldn’t experience the rest of my freshman or sophomore years of high school in person, I wouldn’t be “normal” for a while, but I told myself that it would be okay – that I would be okay. After I got discharged from the hospital, I focused on catching up in school instead of dwelling on cancer treatment and managed to finish my Sophomore and Junior years with honors grom home as well as finish my two-and-a-half-year treatment plan in July of 2021. The letter “C” may stand for cancer, but it also stands for courage and capability. I choose to believe everything happens for a reason and obstacles are meant to be broken. Cancer was the worst thing that ever happened to me, but it taught me a lot. It taught me strength, persistence, and the value of life – and that is something I will never forget. I believe that I am capable of great things – that I was given a second chance at life. Now, it's a matter of what I chose to do with it.  Thank you for your consideration.

My name is Claire Labady. I am a Haitian-American 18-year-old senior in high school. Both my parents are immigrants from Haiti. My educational goals include studying business at Rutgers University and then continuing my education at a Law School when I will study to become a Corporate Lawyer. My story includes a difficult obstacle I have faced in my life which would be during my freshman year of High School when I was diagnosed with Leukemia. The letter “C” has always been a part of my family. My sister Clarissa, my parents Claude and Claudine, and me, Claire. However, in 2019, a new “C” forced its way into my family – Cancer. Never in a million years would I have imagined that I would get such a twist of fate. I always thought that I would have a normal high school experience. I enjoyed going to school, learning, making new experiences and memories with my friends. When all of that was taken away from me so abruptly, my world imploded.  I remember the day everything changed; I knew something was wrong. I was in my World History class when I got the worst headache I had ever experienced. I felt faint and fatigued, the floor seemed to move and sway below me and I was losing my balance just as I did days before on a walk home which, to me, was out of the ordinary. I went home early that day.  A series of misdiagnoses followed. The letter “C” reared its head once again except this time, it stood for “convinced”. After spending three days at home, my mom was convinced it was the flu. My pediatrician was convinced I had low iron deficiency, prescribed me iron supplements, and told me to come back the next day — I was convinced my life was about to take an unexpected turn.  I ended up going to the emergency room. “B positive is your blood type. Which is something we will have to do a lot of in the next couple of hours as we figure out what's going on with you”. This is what the doctor at my local hospital said to me. Obviously, it was a faint attempt at a joke to lighten the air, but it only made me more anxious. In the next few days, one ambulance ride and hospital transfer later, I was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, otherwise known as A.L.L – a cancer of the blood which affects less than 200,000 people in the United States per year. My life had shattered with three words: “You have cancer”. I was fifteen.  Everything said after that sentence became intangible in my head, I was frozen with shock and fear of what was to come. I never realized how terrifying the feeling of helplessness could be. I was told I would be on a two-and-a-half-year treatment plan. I would miss school, I wouldn’t experience the rest of my freshman or sophomore years of high school in person, I wouldn’t be “normal” for a while, but I told myself that it would be okay – that I would be okay. After I got discharged from the hospital, I focused on catching up in school instead of dwelling on cancer treatment and managed to finish my Sophomore and Junior years with honors from home as well as finish my two-and-a-half-year treatment plan in July of 2021. The letter “C” may stand for cancer, but it also stands for courage and capability. I choose to believe everything happens for a reason and obstacles are meant to be broken. Cancer was the worst thing that ever happened to me, but it taught me a lot. It taught me strength, persistence, and the value of life – and that is something I will never forget. I believe that I am capable of great things – that I was given a second chance at life. Now, it's a matter of what I chose to do with it.  Though I am healthy now, it came at a price – as everything usually does. The hospital bills for my chemotherapy, procedures and surgeries took an unexpected, tremendous toll on my family's finances which made the budget for my college education a little bit smaller. If awarded this scholarship, I would use the money to help fund my undergraduate college tuition which would help me immensely in getting one step closer to becoming the entrepreneur and business owner that I have every intention of becoming. Thank you for your consideration.

When I was younger, my family used to take summer vacations to Long Beach Island. We would go to the beach and while my sister was making sandcastles, I was collecting seashells. At the end of the trip, we would pack the car with our luggage and I would always leave with about 100 more seashells than I had arrived with. I'm not entirely sure why, but at five years old, I saw those seashells as a business opportunity. I would decorate them to the best of my ability and go around my father's job selling them to his employees. Perhaps it was my charm or my business strategy, who's to say, but I made a good amount of money that summer (for a five-year-old). This sparked my idea for my summer business, Isabelle's Shells, as well as my passion for creating businesses. So as you can tell, I knew I wanted to have a career in business from a very young age. It is hard to explain, but I was just drawn to it. Since Isabelle's Shells, I have created two other small businesses; Crafted by Claire and Sapphire Sun Co. Crafted by Claire was a store idea I had in middle school. I have always been a creative person so I thought, why not turn my creativity into a profitable business? I went to my local Michales, purchased some air-dry clay, and started to make personalized crafts for my customers. Sapphire Sun Co. has been my most profitable business idea so far. It was a project I was passionate about so, I started it in December of my junior year of high school. I sold jewelry online and even designed my own website. I made a good amount of money in sales but for me, it wasn't really about the money at all, it was more about the process of trial and error and testing myself to see if I could achieve success, and if not, to see what I could do better the next time. So, in conclusion, if there's a college major or career path that I'm most passionate about, it would be business and entrepreneurship. I find the entire process so fascinating; from creating ideas to seeing them come to life before my eyes. It somehow comes naturally to me, and I feel as though I was meant to enter into a business career path. If awarded this scholarship, I would use the money to help fund my undergraduate college tuition which would help me immensely in getting one step closer to becoming the entrepreneur and business owner that I have every intention of becoming. Thank you for your consideration.