Losing my mother at a young age was not easy. Neither was it watching my dad try to pick up all the pieces by himself. However, I could not let him do it on his own- my older brother and I had made the decision to step up. In addition to supplemental chores, we excelled at school to increase our scholarship opportunities to decrease financial strain on our father and were so blessed to have graduated Katy High school with honors and serving in our community though National Honor Society. Volunteering at Katy Christian Ministries regularly was always an amazing experience for me, and getting to know people in my community only grew my love towards them! Taking care of my younger brother was another opportunity I have been blessed with to help make our new family dynamic more cohesive while also allowing my dad to spend on other needs, rather than on after school care. I have loved watching my little brother grow into a young man who loves and cares for everyone around him in such a gentle way. I carry these memories with me the same way I cherish the memories I have of my sweet mother. Losing her so early in life has also taught me to love the people I have around me well and not take a single moment for granted by acting on every opportunity so that I do not look back in regret. With that said, I took a couple work opportunities that have helped me to stay afloat and help my dad financially, since he already does so much for me. I have worked as both a Resident Assistant for two years and a pharmacy technician while keeping a college semester GPA above 3.25. A lesson I have learned is to work diligently in an honest manner, and it will pay off no matter how difficult it may seem in the small and mundane tasks. Like Iliana, I enjoy many activities but primarily staying physically active. From my track days in high school until now as a senior- I have loved playing volleyball and soccer and recently pickleball! I found that it is a way to bring communities of people together - which is what I want to do with my career in public health. I want ro bring families and friends together by maintaining a holistic lifestyle through physical activity, healthy eating habits and caring for people's mental health.

Being the only minority and black girl in my middle school in Brazil nearly drove me to my own suicide. Thus, discrimination has had the greatest impact on me and my dream career. I faced heaps of microaggressions and direct racist attacks, not only by students, but also teachers. Fortunately, I had my family to help me throughout a childhood that I missed out on due to trauma from racism and bullying. Funny enough, growing up in Brazil before moving to the United States as a teenager really instilled a passion for caring for the immediate needs of others because I also saw the major differences within the healthcare system, both cost and treatment for patients immediately. My passion for pharmacy only grew over the years. During my senior year of high school, I was accepted into the Pharmacology/Pharmacy Technician program at Miller Career and Technology Center which included an internship to earn a Pharmacy Technician Certification. Unfortunately, due to my mother’s battle with cancer, which she unfortunately passed away from later on, and my father being at high risk of contracting COVID-19, I was not able to partake in the class or the internship. Although this missed opportunity initially discouraged me, I have not given up on the desire to earn a Pharmacy Technician Certification. In fact, I am even more determined. I am currently studying Biology as my major, with Chemistry and Entrepreneurship as my double minors. Since I am on the Pre-Pharmacy track, I plan on earning a Pharm.D. degree from UNT’s Health Science Center after graduating from University of North Texas with my biology degree. Then, I would like to go a step further by becoming an actual, practicing pharmacist and dispensing medication to patients in need. My dream is to open my own practice, possibly after working in retail or in a clinical pharmacy for years. I would love to open up my own pharmacy so that I can develop personal relationships with my patients beyond other pharmacies and ensure their holistic wellbeing. I intend on working in this field so that I may help people in my community, and possibly even outside of it, with health issues by providing them with medicine necessary to live life to the full. Eventually, I look forward to helping minorities who have been underdiagnosed and ignored by a healthcare system that is meant to help them achieve prime health, considering the fact that I have an understanding of how discrimination affects people, even in the medical field, since my mother was a victim of that. I am willing to sacrifice years of my life to studying and learning about how systems have failed people and methods to improve the health of our community and help heal the world, person by person. In the past, I have been discouraged by criticism even if it were constructive, simply because I was a hypersensitive person- courtesy of my experiences as a child. Over the past year though, I have met with a couple counselors and many friends to talk about my wellbeing. Consequently, I have opened up to their comments and opinions concerning areas of my life that need improvement, which has allowed me to see myself from a different perspective and thus allow me to seek self improvement. Additionally, not only will I be open to correction, but I will also be sure to call out biased behavior, whether I am certain it will directly affect someone or not. This will be a use of time that I particularly look forward to, so that other people have healthier experiences.