If I were selected for the KC MedBridge Scholarship I would use the funds to help pay for my schooling at UC Davis. These scholarship funds would help me pay for university without needing to worry about using money that could be used to take care of my family. My family doesn't earn much income and it gets a little difficult to live comfortably at times. I try my best to earn my own money to help pay for my own necessities and support my sisters. I have disabled older sister that cannot work so my parents spend a lot of money to keep her healthy. Of course, we prioritize her health and will always spend the money necessary to keep her healthy. With this scholarship reward I can fund my own ambitions without my family needing to worry about me.

I'm Cristian Flores, a Mexican-American, from a small town in the Central Valley of California named Atwater. The most important thing to me is my family, I love them dearly. My sisters mean the world to me, I really enjoy taking care of and teaching my younger sister. I have a 4.3 weighted G.P.A. for all four years of high school, I took part in Cross Country, Soccer, Track, Link Crew, Youth 2 Youth, and Leadership, and Hispanic Youth Leadership Club. Youth to Youth Mentoring is a program where I got the opportunity to mentor young junior high students. For example, I served as a guidance counselor for these students. They were able to share their difficulties in life while I sat and listened to them. Afterwards, I gave helpful advice and encouragement to help them through their difficulties. One student in particular was very unconcerned with giving effort and uninterested with participating. I realized that this student may be depressed and in order to help them I would need to understand the underlying problem. After getting to know each other I discovered this student felt they didn’t have a real reason to put effort into life much less academics. I related to him because at one point in life I also felt the effort I gave was useless and it was not worth trying. Fortunately, someone in my life was there to lift me up and help me back on my feet. Now it was my turn to lead someone out of the dark cave I was once in. First I explained I used to be in the same situation as them but that it is important to change your mindset to succeed in life. In addition to that, I described how having determination and setting a goal will be crucial to keep moving forward. Furthermore, I made it clear that putting effort into their life and academics is investing into their future. After a few moments of letting the information process my mentee looked at me, agreed, and told me they would begin to try in life. It wasn’t until the next time I would see them that I realized I had a positive influence on my mentee. Participating in discussions, speaking with confidence, and listening to others became a good habit for them. They were even excited to show me how their grades were improving in all subjects. To sum up, I was able to steer my mentee’s life in the right direction. I will always use my ability to help others in need.