I knew I wanted to be a doctor since the 7th grade. When I entered the 7th grade, I made many connections with great people. I was Vice President of my class and had strong relationships with my peers. I always made sure to make people smile and be the first person to sit with someone at lunch or during class. In the 7th grade, there was only one new girl. In my fashion, I got to know her. In our suburban public school, she was very outspoken about her identity and interests. I continued living my carefree days sending smiles and positive gestures her way, until months later, when I received a notification that she had taken her own life. I was shocked and surprised. I never imagined that she would take her life. I always saw her giggling with friends and living her life happily. I soon realized that there are wounds that nobody can see, that are just as deadly and debilitating. Around the time of her death, I was enrolled in a rain and cognitive science class at Columbia University's S-PREP program. This class was my first introduction to the biological factors involved in mental illness. I learned that common mental illnesses, like anxiety and depression, can result from problems with the communication between particular neurons in the brain. I was fascinated by how different medicines like Xanax and Zoloft can help people recover from their mental illnesses by altering chemical levels. I realized that depression was not a synonym for someone experiencing sadness but for a condition that can be helped with therapy and medical treatment. I always heard people saying: "I have PTSD from taking the stairs." or "I'm so depressed, my phone died." or "She's so bipolar!" This class helped me realize that these phrases were more than temperamental adjectives but serious diagnoses. I took this information with me as I entered high school. Another close friend felt her world crumbling. She often hyperventilated and had panic attacks. She ignored her symptoms because she was scared that people would call her weak or patronize her. I reminded her that she was not alone and encouraged her to seek help. The school psychologist was booked. Other people were also experiencing extreme stress and had difficulty processing its effects. I realized that because you can't see the wounds and scars mental illnesses leave, the more it is dismissed, and the more people ignore their symptoms. When I grasped this concept, I made it one of my goals to research and advocate for adolescent mental health issues. It clearly is true that teenagers have "something to be stressed about" if 1 in 3 teenagers experience anxiety and 1 in 5 are depressed. Since then, I have conducted multiple data science research studies about environmental effects on stress levels in teens and adults. I observed doctors evaluating teens suffering mental health crises in the ER. A lot of the students seemed to be seeking help and validation from their peers. I wanted to help them. I understood them. And from that moment on, I realized that I wanted to become a psychiatrist to help children and teenagers specifically. I wanted to connect with the teenagers in hard-to-reach places, the teenagers who smiled while experiencing those terrible invisible wounds. I wanted to reach them before they died, like my friend in the 7th grade. I knew then I would be the type of psychiatrist to help people live healthy, dignified lives by practicing medicine, contributing to research, and increasing global mental health awareness.

I knew I wanted to be a doctor since the 7th grade. When I entered the 7th grade, I made many connections with great people. I was Vice President of my class and had strong relationships with my peers. I always made sure to make people smile and be the first person to sit with someone at lunch or during class. In the 7th grade, there was only one new girl. In my fashion, I got to know her. I continued living my carefree days sending smiles and positive gestures her way, until months later, when I received a notification that she had taken her own life. I was shocked and surprised. I never imagined that she would take her life. I always saw her giggling with friends and living her life happily. I soon realized that there are wounds that nobody can see, that are just as deadly and debilitating. Around the time of her death, I was enrolled in a brain and cognitive science class at Columbia University's S-PREP program. This class was my first introduction to the biological factors involved in mental illness. I learned that common mental illnesses, like anxiety and depression, can result from problems with the communication between particular neurons in the brain. I was fascinated by how different medicines like Xanax and Zoloft can help people recover from their mental illnesses by altering chemical levels. I realized that depression was not a synonym for someone experiencing sadness but for a condition that can be helped with therapy and medical treatment. I always heard people saying: "I have PTSD from taking the stairs." or "I'm so depressed, my phone died." or "She's so bipolar!" This class helped me realize that these phrases were more than temperamental adjectives but serious diagnoses. I took this information with me as I entered high school. I immediately noticed that Students fully booked the school psychologist. People were also experiencing extreme stress and had difficulty processing its effects. I realized that because you can't see the wounds and scars mental illnesses leave, the more it is dismissed, the more people ignore their symptoms. Since then, I have conducted multiple data science research studies about environmental effects on stress levels in teens and adults. I observed doctors evaluating teens suffering from mental health crises in the ER. As I continued to analyze different interactions and relationships, I was able to see how members of different demographic groups approach and react to mental health. As an executive committee member of the Diversity Awareness Initiative for Students (DAIS) organization, I led a key discussion about this delicate topic in 2020. We had people from all races, ages, sexual orientations, and backgrounds come to talk about the prompt: "How are you?- An online checkup about mental health." I learned that many students of color still could not talk about their mental illnesses with their parents or family because it was seen as "fake" or "made up." A lot of the students seemed to be seeking help and validation from their peers. I understood them. And from that moment on, I realized that I wanted to become a psychiatrist to help children and teenagers specifically. I wanted to connect with the teenagers in hard-to-reach places, the teenagers who smiled while experiencing those terrible invisible wounds. I wanted to reach them before they died, like my friend in the 7th grade. I knew then I would be the type of psychiatrist to help people live healthy, dignified lives by practicing medicine, contributing to research, and increasing global mental health awareness.

I knew I wanted to be a doctor since the 7th grade. I was Vice President of my class and had strong relationships with my peers. In the 7th grade, there was only one new girl. In our suburban public school, she was very outspoken about her identity and interests. I never imagined that she would take her life. I soon realized that there are wounds that nobody can see that are just as deadly and debilitating. Around the time of her death, I was enrolled in a cognitive science class at Columbia University's S-PREP program. I realized that because you can't see the wounds and scars mental illnesses leave, the more people ignore their symptoms, the more it is dismissed. When I grasped this concept, I made it one of my goals to research and advocate for adolescent mental health issues. Since then, I have conducted multiple data science research studies about environmental effects on stress levels in teens and adults. As I continued to analyze different interactions and relationships, I was able to see how members of different demographic groups approach and react to mental health. Many students of color still could not talk about their mental illnesses with their parents or family because it was seen as "fake" or "made up." Many of the students seemed to be seeking help and validation from their peers. And from that moment on, I realized that I wanted to connect with the teenagers in hard-to-reach places, the teenagers who smiled while experiencing those terrible invisible wounds. I wanted to reach them before they died, like my friend in the 7th grade. I knew then I would be the type of psychiatrist to help people live healthy, dignified lives by practicing medicine, contributing to research, and increasing global mental health awareness.

The world deserves leaders. I want to forge a headway in medicine to deconstruct the stigma surrounding communities of color and bolster mental health awareness. To do this, I want to explore the psychology and how people think. I want to learn the intersections of race with policy by exploring world public health and political science. I would implement permanent funding for children who do not have access to devices and increase funding for public schools. I have volunteered, collaborated, and raised funds to purchase devices to access online mental health resources specifically for the TriCommunity Youth Agency (TriCYA), serving underserved and homeless youth. During the COVID pandemic, I was able to study from multiple online sources and various video platforms. But I was saddened when I realized that most of the TriCYA students did not have a computer or device that they could use to access online resources for STEM internships and programs. I chose to focus my Girl Scout Gold Award project on helping improve access to online education among students in need by supplying them with technological devices. I founded a new organization called TeensShareTech to support my local community. I was able to create my first website and link instructional videos so each teen could learn the basics of email, Google Docs, and Google Sheets. I hope I continue to impact many in my community and my TriCYA friends. I know that this is only the first step in my journey of the marathon of creating better mental health outcomes for people of color. As I step into the next phase as a vibrant young Afro-Latina woman, I am looking for a community of peers and mentors that will guide me in finding the right skills and tools to help me further equality and intersectionality.

During the spring of my sophomore year, I executed an independent research project. At this time, COVID-19 had just started to make tremendous changes to how my country and community were able to sustain themselves. I realized that the pandemic increased mortality, caused extensive job loss, and threw many families into poverty. I pondered how the pandemic affected the stress levels of individuals of different communities. As I wanted to use my research to advocate for people in lower-income communities, my initial research hypothesis focused on establishing whether income level was a strong predictor of stress levels. I learned about how a global pandemic can affect those of us who possess certain demographic descriptors differently. I also realized that learning the steps and skills required to create, facilitate, analyze, and publish peer-reviewed research and use that knowledge to help people brought me joy. Throughout this process, I learned the importance of preparation and advocacy. Furthermore, my ambition and determination enabled my success in completing this study. Through my strong time management and communication skills, I made the most of my limited time in the classroom that spring to finish this project. I found a steeper increase in stress in low-income groups than in high-income groups. The satisfaction of completing such a large-scale project with occasional teacher guidance was eclipsed only by the knowledge that my research was not merely a scientific discovery but could be used to advocate for the people in my community. I hope to use my research as a form of activism in the future. The skills that I have learned so far and the skills that I will learn in future physician-scientist programs will help me grow into a leader who can use data effectively to create policy changes that make the world a better place.

During the height of the Black Lives Matter Movement in 2020, I spoke up about the micro and macro aggression they have experienced at school. I decided the best way to help the future black students at my school was to change the school policy. As an influence in the Black Affinity Group, I helped collaborate with the Handbook Revision Committee to ensure that the alterations made in the student handbook were more equitable and included nondiscrimination rules the school could follow. I helped organize group demonstrations and teaching modules. The Handbook Revision Committee and the principal collaborated to update the student handbook. The student handbook now includes ways to discipline students for homophobic, racist, or sexist acts and any other inappropriate and offensive language toward peers. Our new system prioritizes learning from mistakes rather than expulsion through the restorative justice protocol my school adopted. The first step I helped direct was hosting an all-school assembly where students could identify any racism they may have encountered at school. We then created an Instagram account to reveal racist injustices that have occurred at our school for years. This exposé was meant to hold people in the school administration accountable for their actions and words. I also found it important to heal our Black Affinity Group members by hosting restorative circle sessions, which created a safe environment to recover from any racist encounters. I am delighted that my school’s Black Affinity Group influenced and initiated this significant change to my institution. I learned to advocate for myself and others who also experience racism daily. Furthermore, I also learned that educating someone about their actions is not incriminating. It is a learning experience. I prioritize the growth of other people and myself through sharing our experiences and options.

The world deserves leaders. I want to forge a headway in medicine to deconstruct the stigma surrounding communities of color and bolster mental health awareness. To do this, I want to explore the psychology and how people think. I want to learn the intersections of race with policy by exploring world public health and political science. I would implement permanent funding for children who do not have access to devices and increase funding for public schools. I have volunteered, collaborated, and raised funds to purchase devices to access online mental health resources specifically for the TriCommunity Youth Agency (TriCYA), serving underserved and homeless youth. During the COVID pandemic, I was able to study from multiple online sources and various video platforms. But I was saddened when I realized that most of the TriCYA students did not have a computer or device that they could use to access online resources for STEM internships and programs. I chose to focus my Girl Scout Gold Award project on helping improve access to online education among students in need by supplying them with technological devices. I founded a new organization called TeensShareTech to support my local community. I was able to create my first website and link instructional videos so each teen could learn the basics of email, Google Docs, and Google Sheets. I hope I continue to impact many in my community and my TriCYA friends. I know that this is only the first step in my journey of the marathon of creating better mental health outcomes for people of color. As I step into the next phase as a vibrant young Afro-Latina woman, I am looking for a community of peers and mentors that will guide me in finding the right skills and tools to help me further equality and intersectionality.

Since the 9th grade, I had to adjust my life to a completely different environment. I came from the New York suburbia. I was used to green fields and ice skating after school on Friday nights. I traveled from my peaceful environment to a more bustling atmosphere. I found one place that makes me enthralled, a place I was able to reconnect with, the MET. At the MET, I explored different cultures and fantastic art while learning about different periods. My passion for going to the met and looking at the artifacts of other cultures helped me realize my deep interest in anthropology. After going periodically for about four years now, I will share one of my favorite pieces since freshman year. This painting is "Indian Village at Dawn " by Jules Tavernier. Jules Tavernier was a French artist who traveled to the United States to depict the encounters between white colonizers and Native Americans in North America and Hawaii. I find it fascinating how this artifact gives insight into the cultural reaction between the different groups of French and Native American peoples. I am drawn to this painting as it houses Tavernier's stories and viewpoint. Furthermore, I always wanted to see the Native American's perspective. What would they change? This painting inspired my interest in the stories of other cultures. It made me reflect on my own beautiful Haitian and Puerto Rican cultures, and I want to learn about more types of people. My interest in anthropology sparked and paired with my love for medical sciences. I want to learn to understand the people I will work to heal. And as an aspiring psychiatrist, the anthropology of mental health. I want to comprehend how policies affect different groups of people in modern history.

When I was an impressionable child, people would assert to me about the contradiction of my parent's professions. They told me that my father should be a doctor and my mother should be a nurse. Unfortunately, I did not have the words to respond to this claim, but only to internalize its meaning. As a child, my thoughts assumed that gender roles were binary due to my understanding of the world around me. Some individuals in society inherited this limited view of gender, as represented through Marlylin's upbringing in Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng. Marylin aspired to be a doctor, like me, but as a child girl in 1952. She encountered several sexist experiences in her academic journey. An example was when Marylin was in middle school. She yearned to take the technology class only offered to the boys. Women took home economics to learn how to prepare as future housewives. Her principal, Mr. Tolliver, relayed that she would be a distraction to the boys in the class and that she was too weak to manage the machines in the lab. Sexist internalizations were present in Mr. Tolliver's decision to limit Marylin from achieving her educational desires due to the misogyny that he has inherited and projected on a young, growing girl. This scene impacted me because it motivated me to commit to my dreams and take advantage of society's progress since the 50s. I solidified my dream to become a mental health professional. I would be the type of psychiatrist to help people live healthy, dignified lives by practicing medicine, contributing to research, and increasing global mental health awareness. I knew I would work towards being a courageous doctor like Marylin would have been if her society had been more accepting.

I knew I wanted to be a doctor since the 7th grade. When I entered the 7th grade, I made many connections with great people. I was Vice President of my class and had strong relationships with my peers. I always made sure to make people smile and be the first person to sit with someone at lunch or during class. In the 7th grade, there was only one new girl. In my fashion, I got to know her. She was a smart and beautiful girl from another town a few miles away. In our suburban public school, she was very outspoken about her identity and interests. I continued living my carefree days sending smiles and positive gestures her way, until months later, when I received a notification that she had taken her own life. I was shocked and surprised. I never imagined that she would take her life. I always saw her giggling with friends and living her life happily. I soon realized that there are wounds that nobody can see, that are just as deadly and debilitating. Around the time of her death, I was enrolled in a rain and cognitive science class at Columbia University's S-PREP program. This class was my first introduction to the biological factors involved in mental illness. I learned that common mental illnesses, like anxiety and depression, can result from problems with the communication between particular neurons in the brain. I was fascinated by how different medicines like Xanax and Zoloft can help people recover from their mental illnesses by altering chemical levels. I realized that depression was not a synonym for someone experiencing sadness but for a condition that can be helped with therapy and medical treatment. I always heard people saying: "I have PTSD from taking the stairs." or "I'm so depressed, my phone died." or "She's so bipolar!" This class helped me realize that these phrases were more than temperamental adjectives but serious diagnoses. I took this information with me as I entered high school. Another close friend felt her world crumbling. She often hyperventilated and had panic attacks. She ignored her symptoms because she was scared that people would call her weak or patronize her. I reminded her that she was not alone and encouraged her to seek help. The school psychologist was booked. Other people were also experiencing extreme stress and had difficulty processing its effects. I realized that because you can't see the wounds and scars mental illnesses leave, the more it is dismissed, and the more people ignore their symptoms. When I grasped this concept, I made it one of my goals to research and advocate for adolescent mental health issues. It clearly is true that teenagers have "something to be stressed about" if 1 in 3 teenagers experience anxiety and 1 in 5 are depressed. Since then, I have conducted multiple data science research studies about environmental effects on stress levels in teens and adults. I observed doctors evaluating teens suffering mental health crises in the ER. As I continued to analyze different interactions and relationships, I was able to see how members of different demographic groups approach and react to mental health. As an executive committee member of the Diversity Awareness Initiative for Students (DAIS) organization, I led a key discussion about this delicate topic in 2020. We had people from all races, ages, sexual orientations, and backgrounds come to talk about the prompt: "How are you?- An online checkup about mental health." I learned that many students of color still could not talk about their mental illnesses with their parents or family because it was seen as "fake" or "made up." A lot of the students seemed to be seeking help and validation from their peers. I wanted to help them. I understood them. And from that moment on, I realized that I wanted to become a psychiatrist to help children and teenagers specifically. I wanted to connect with the teenagers in hard-to-reach places, the teenagers who smiled while experiencing those terrible invisible wounds. I wanted to reach them before they died, like my friend in the 7th grade. I knew then I would be the type of psychiatrist to help people live healthy, dignified lives by practicing medicine, contributing to research, and increasing global mental health awareness.

As part of the Regular and Advanced Laboratory and Research Methods courses I took in 10th and 11th grade, I executed an independent research project that began during the spring of my sophomore year. At this time, COVID-19 had just begun to make tremendous changes to the way my country and community were able to sustain themselves. I realized that the pandemic not only increased mortality but caused extensive job loss and threw many families into poverty. I closely watched credible news sources to learn how the pandemic was affecting not just my local community, but others as well. I noticed that many of the events the news highlighted could be extreme stressors for some, which led me to ponder how the pandemic affected the stress levels of individuals of different communities. This initial curiosity motivated me to develop a research study. As I wanted to use my research to advocate for people in lower-income communities, my initial research hypothesis focused on establishing whether income level was a strong predictor of stress levels. Through this study, not only did I learn about how a global pandemic can affect those of us who possess certain demographic descriptors differently, I also realized personally that learning the steps and skills required to create, facilitate, analyze, and publish peer-reviewed research and using that knowledge to help people brought me joy and fulfillment. For example, as part of the research process, I had to draft and present my project proposal to my school's IRB committee. To make sure that my project was executed to the highest ethical standard, I had to collaborate with the Head of School, School Nurse, and Head of the Science department. I felt immensely proud to display my ambitious plans to the school faculty, a sense of accomplishment that motivated me throughout the process. Throughout this process, I learned the importance of preparation and advocacy. Furthermore, my organizational skills and determination enabled my success in completing this study. Through my strong time management and communication skills, I was able to make the most of my limited time in the classroom that spring to finish this project. I found that there was a steeper increase in stress in low-income groups than in high-income groups. The satisfaction of being able to successfully complete such a large-scale project with occasional teacher guidance was eclipsed only by the knowledge that my research was not merely a scientific discovery but could be used to advocate for the people in my community. My hope is to use my research as a form of activism in the future. I believe that the skills that I have learned so far and the skills that I will learn in this BS/MD program will help me grow into a leader that can use data effectively to create policy changes that make the world a better place.

The world deserves leaders. I want to forge a headway in medicine to deconstruct the stigma surrounding communities of color and bolster mental health awareness. To do this, I want to explore psychology and how people think. I want to learn the intersections of race with policy by exploring world public health and political science. I would implement permanent funding for children who do not have access to devices and increase funding for public schools. I have volunteered, collaborated, and raised funds to purchase devices to access online mental health resources specifically for the TriCommunity Youth Agency (TriCYA) serving underserved and homeless youth. During the COVID pandemic, I was grateful to be able to study from multiple online sources and various video platforms. But I was saddened when I realized that most of the TriCYA students did not have a computer or device that they could use to access online resources for STEM internships and programs. I chose to focus my Girl Scout Gold Award project to help improve access to online education among students in need by supplying them with technological devices. I founded a new organization called TeensShareTech to support my local community. I was able to create my first website and link instructional videos so each teen could learn the basics of email, Google Docs, and Google Sheets. I am very proud of TeensShareTech, and I hope I continue to impact many in my community and my TriCYA friends. This time also inspired me to research how stressors, such as lack of food, adequate technology, and access to quality health care, affected the stress levels of underserved communities of color. I measured different income brackets’ increase in stress due to the coronavirus pandemic. In the Journal of Student Research, I published my findings that lower-income people experienced the steepest increase in stress. I know that this is only the first step in my journey of the marathon of creating better mental health outcomes for people of color. My next phase as an impassioned young Afro-Latina woman will be continuing my education at Columbia University, a community of peers and mentors that will guide me into finding the right skills and tools to help me solve this problem. I will explore my interests in health sciences while finding time to give back to my community. My passion for community service and helping the underserved has been motivated even more by the political and environmental devastation in Haiti and Puerto Rico. This conflict has affected their society and how biological forces have impacted the spread of diseases and their mutations. One of the most important aspects that I will bring to doctoring is communicating compassion for the patient's feelings, views, and cultures. To explore this interest, I will utilize the communication and empathy skills I have refined by completing my TeensShareTech initiatives. One of the most powerful aspects of this experience was learning how medical innovations can help specific demographics. I look forward to participating in future research opportunities and fellowships to further my research in mental health.

When I entered the 7th grade, I made many connections with great people. I was Vice President of my class and had strong relationships with my peers. I always made sure to make people smile and be the first person to sit with someone at lunch or during class. In the 7th grade, there was only one new girl. In my fashion, I got to know her. She was a smart and beautiful girl from another town a few miles away. In our suburban public school, she was very outspoken about her identity and interests. I continued living my carefree days sending smiles and positive gestures her way, until months later, when I received a notification that she had taken her own life. I was shocked and surprised. I never imagined that she would take her life. I always saw her giggling with friends and living her life happily. I soon realized that there are wounds that nobody can see, that are just as deadly and debilitating. Around the time of her death, I was enrolled in a brain and cognitive science class at Columbia University's S-PREP program. This class was my first introduction to the biological factors involved in mental illness. I learned that common mental illnesses, like anxiety and depression, can result from problems with the communication between particular neurons in the brain. I took this information with me as I entered high school. Another close friend felt her world crumbling. She often hyperventilated and had panic attacks. She ignored her symptoms because she was scared that people would call her weak or patronize her. I reminded her that she was not alone and encouraged her to seek help. The school psychologist was booked. Other people were also experiencing extreme stress and had difficulty processing its effects. I realized that because you can't see the wounds and scars mental illnesses leave, the more it is dismissed, and the more people ignore their symptoms. When I grasped this concept, I made it one of my goals to research and advocate for adolescent mental health issues. Since then, I have conducted multiple data science research studies about environmental effects on stress levels in teens and adults. I observed doctors evaluating teens suffering from mental health crises in the ER. As I continued to analyze different interactions and relationships, I was able to see how members of different demographic groups approach and react to mental health. As an executive committee member of the Diversity Awareness Initiative for Students (DAIS) organization, I led a key discussion about this delicate topic in 2020. We had people from all races, ages, sexual orientations, and backgrounds come to talk about the prompt: "How are you?- An online checkup about mental health." I learned that many students of color still could not talk about their mental illnesses with their parents or family because it was seen as "fake" or "made up.". And from that moment on, I realized that I wanted to become a psychiatrist to help children and teenagers specifically. I wanted to connect with the teenagers in hard-to-reach places, the teenagers who smiled while experiencing those terrible invisible wounds. I wanted to reach them before they died, like my friend in the 7th grade. I knew then I would be the type of psychiatrist to help people live healthy, dignified lives by practicing medicine, contributing to research, and increasing global mental health awareness.