Selflessness is often mistaken for a grand sacrifice, but I believe it is actually a daily commitment to the people around us. While many people define selflessness by grand gestures or front-page news stories, I have learned that the truest form of service happens in the quiet, unnoticed moments of a normal day. While my formal volunteer hours at the local food pantry and local library have shaped my ethics and strong responsibility to provide for those in need, it is the small, daily habits of helping peers are the moments that truly define my character. I believe that an extraordinary life of service is built from a collection of ordinary acts of kindness. Selflessness isn't a one-time event; instead it is a daily practice. I often find myself going above and beyond to make others' lives easier or better in any way possible. I don’t feel forced or obligated to do this but it comes to me naturally. Whether it be in the classroom where a classmate is struggling to understand a problem or my part-time job where a coworker is becoming overwhelmed with the amount of orders, I am always ready to lend a hand. Not because I will necessarily earn anything in return but because I want others to succeed as well. That is what selflessness is about. It is committing to acts of service for the greater good of the world. I would rather work to assist others and restore a balance to problems even if I am feeling down or don’t earn anything from it. To me, putting others before myself comes easily. This natural selflessness is due to the experiences and lessons taught to me by my elders whom I hold a deep respect for. My parents, teachers, and bosses have instilled in me the crucial values of hard work, perseverance, dedication, and compassion which allows me to embody selflessness in every environment I am in. I want to provide others with these same values in order to encourage them to persevere and keep going in difficult times. My selflessness also extends beyond traditional stereotypes or biases. I am ready to help any and all living things. This is because everything in the world deserves to be treated and seen with genuine care and compassion. Ultimately the actions don’t have to be wide impacting or extraordinary. These qualities don’t measure how selfless one is. Instead, it is the everyday small interactions which actually make a difference in an individual's day, making it easier or more enjoyable. These small, consistent actions form the foundation of how I intend to impact my community as a college student and professional. I plan to continue my formal community service throughout college and further adulthood as well as helping or problem-solving with my classmates and coworkers.This is how I have embodied selflessness since childhood and will do so for the entirety of my life.

When it comes to our health, the healthcare system tends to neglect some services. A profound injustice in global healthcare is that millions of people suffer from preventable visual impairment simply because of where they live or what they can afford. Standard adult health insurance policies are not required to cover routine vision care. Eye care is simply not a priority because health insurance was historically created to support rare emergencies. Due to this, routine health maintenance like vision checks are completely left uncovered. While the understanding of vision and equipment used to support it is advancing, the healthcare system is not. Basic yearly eye exams should not be reserved for the wealthy. As an aspiring optometrist, I refuse to accept leaving serious vision impairments untreated due to a lack of geographic or financial access as inevitable due to an outdated, flawed healthcare system. As previously stated, eye care is often overlooked, but I developed a special interest in the field starting at a young age. When I was in 8th grade, I had to do research on optometry for a school project. What originally was just another assignment turned into a long term career goal. I have always had poor vision, needing glasses beginning in primary school. I always appreciated the work that my eye doctors did for me providing me with the gift of clear sight and wanted to provide others that same opportunity but I discovered a serious policy flaw. Since standard health insurance classifies adult vision care as a "supplementary benefit", millions of low-income individuals are completely uncovered for routine exams and corrective lenses.This is due to the lack of affordable and accessible optometrists throughout the world. I began to notice the effects of this policy while conversing with peers. This is because many didn’t attend routine vision screenings, only having the test provided by their pediatrician or school nurse. While this is a measure of vision, it isn’t the most precise or comprehensive option. It cannot provide the tools necessary to immediately improve vision like optometrists do. Making these improvements in a timely manner is crucial as inaction can lead to irreversible vision loss and even a decline in overall health. Although the centralized, high-cost model of traditional optometry is normalized, it doesn’t have to be. I plan to change this by dismantling and replacing it with an affordable, mobile care system. Instead of forcing uninsured low-income patients to attend normal high-cost clinics, I’d create a system which connects these individuals to affordable and low-cost diagnostic technologies. I plan to build a program that supplies community centers and local schools with remote appointments held by certified high-quality optometrists. By creating a digital model for vision tests, initial screenings can be performed throughout the country for a fraction of the traditional price which can then connect them to local, more affordable in-person options. Along with this I would advocate for cheaper contact lenses and glasses by promoting this model to local businesses and government officials. This would allow me to earn the proper funding to actually make my vision a reality, eradicating the insurance troubles and making vision care accessible to anyone, regardless of their ability to pay. This approach will completely reshape the future of public health. My goal is for a person’s socioeconomic status or lack of vision insurance to never dictate their quality of sight. Clear vision is the foundation for academic and economic success which shapes a more sufficient, equitable society for all. Eye care isn’t a reactive luxury, it is a proactive universal right.

To read is to weaponize the mind, an early verity introduced to me through vibrant identity-exploring picture books. Throughout my life, books have taught me that literacy is more than an academic tool. My journey began as a young child where I vividly remember my mother teaching me how to read “Goodnight Moon” or “But Not the Hippopatumus”. I found myself drawn to books, often rereading them several times a day and begging to get more at the library. This is where my love for reading began. This love grew when I started reading young adult novels like In the Time of the Butterflies, a story of three sisters' courageous act of political resistance, the quiet but chaotic internal conflict of Me vs. Me, and Educated, where literacy became a lifeline for the author. Books became more than a tool for learning or entertainment but rather the ultimate tool for overcoming both societal barriers and internal conflicts. Throughout these specific pieces, I learned that freedom requires both internal resilience and the courage to challenge external constraints. By funding my continued education, this scholarship will allow me to continue using literacy not just to navigate my own academic and career growth, but to build a purposeful future dedicated to critical thinking and determination where I will continue to promote the importance of literacy. My goals for the future aren’t exactly “picture-perfect”, but they are a part of an honest and real story shaped by the literature I have consumed. My ambition is ultimately to become an optometrist and open up my own practice, but before I can do that I must attend college and earn my Bachelor of Science. Similar to storytellers, eye care is fundamentally about changing how a person navigates their environment. As Tara Westover used higher education in Educated to gain the clarity needed to take control of her life, optometry can restore a similar sense of lucidity and independence to individuals. Furthermore,a rigorous healthcare field requires winning the daily, internal mental battle like Gabby Wolf in Me vs. Me by Sarah Mlynowski. Pushing past self-doubt and anxiety to master complex sciences and ace college classes is crucial to my success within the field. Ultimately, much like the Mirabal sisters in In the Time of the Butterflies who fought to give their community a clearer sense of nationwide freedom, I want to use my practice to empower others through the gift of restored vision. By ensuring my patients have both the ability to see and accessible literacy resources, I will help them read, analyze, and clearly see the path to their own futures. Eye care and reading go hand in hand. The next generation must have healthy, clear vision in order to learn how to read and ultimately develop a passion for literacy like I have. Without reading, the world's stories cannot be shared. In the Time of The Butterflies, Educated, and Me vs Me are all very different books. They are different genres, occur in different time periods, and environments, but they have all made an impact on me and how I developed my goals for the future. With strong women at the center of each of these stories, I can see myself. They have been a major part in shaping who I am and allowing me to create my own story. Books have inspired me and I want to provide that same gift of literacy along with clear vision to children throughout my community and beyond, so they can develop their own goals and stories.

The modern student is expected to be high achieving, resilient, and balanced. However, such can’t exist without prioritizing mental health. As a student-athlete, mental health is important. For a long time, I treated mental health as a secondary priority until the pressure of balancing my classes and track forced me to realize mental wellness is necessary to my success. By prioritizing my own mental well-being and advocating for mental health awareness in my school and sport, I am working to build a community where success is measured by both our achievements and our health. Many students, especially as they grow older, tend to put more expectations on themselves to be the best at everything. I know I have. This often leads to stress, severe disappointment, and burnout. For most, it feels impossible to balance sufficient sleep with school work, studying, and extracurriculars. I have felt this stress plenty of times. It was enhanced throughout high school as I became a student-athlete. In freshman year, I began participating in track and field which became a full-time commitment. It also became extremely important to me to get the fastest times. This became unhealthy and unmanageable with school. In junior year, I often struggled with time management. Between taking three AP classes, studying for the SAT, and having daily practices, I started to crumble. While I love being busy, everything piled up. My mental health began to deteriorate which affected me, my performance, and my relationships. I realized it was time to focus on taking care of my mental health before it worsened. When I did, I felt relieved. Finally the classes no longer felt like a burden, SAT prep became easier, and I was running faster. A clear, grounded mind was the answer to my issues. This is what has driven me to advocate the importance of mental health to other students who may be facing similar problems. To address mental health within my communities, I often tell others my experience as detailed above. By telling my friends at school, they feel comfortable to open up about their own personal struggles. Together, we support each other as it’s comforting to know you are not alone and things can get better. As for my track team, I have been the captain since the beginning of junior year. With this, I use my position of leadership to guide my younger teammates by giving them advice for how to manage school work and their sport. I also always remind them of their training in order to motivate them and prevent them from getting inside their head. Often before races, nerves arise and their mental health suffers the most so doing this is helpful in calming down. In situations where my peers experience a disappointing score on a test or a bad race, I always remind them to focus on what is right in order to protect their mental health. These approaches are successful in practicing mental wellness and advocating for more discussions on mental health. Mental health is important for everyone, but especially students. We have busy lives so it is easy to get overwhelmed. As a student myself, it is my goal to continue to advocate for focusing on and improving the youths mental health. In doing so, we can create a stronger minded world and allow people to see the potential which is usually blocked by these negative thoughts. Academic achievements are important but there will never be true success if students have poor mental health.

Growing up in New Jersey means experiencing an entire world of diverse cultures and landscapes without ever having to travel far. From the shores down south to the mountains up north. Our state is also a true melting pot which has allowed me to build deep friendships with people of all backgrounds. Living in the vibrant, compact city of Hoboken has amplified this experience, enabling me to explore many other diverse local cities, all within the same county, like Jersey City, Bayonne, Union City, Secaucus, which is where I attend High Tech High School, and many others. This rich environment has not only shaped my worldview, but has also instilled in me a profound gratitude for the countless perspectives and places New Jersey has given me. Navigating the unique mix of urban and suburban communities throughout New Jersey has taught me how to adapt, connect, and appreciate the wealth of human experience right in my backyard. Although living in New Jersey has been and is a pleasure, I have experienced hardships throughout my life. A major challenge was growing up in a single parent household for most of my life. My father has been largely absent. Even when he was living with us, he was rarely present in my daily activities, appointments, school and extracurricular activities. Despite his behavior, choices and absence, I remained focused and dedicated to my academic and personal goals. I also leaned on my mother, older brother, other family and friends for support and care to get through anything. They were always there for me. They’d always encourage me, which provided me the motivation to stay focused, participate in sports and other activities, take on hobbies, and maintain good grades each year. In the near future, I am looking to continue track at a D1 level school and pursue a career in optometry. I have dedicated myself to these goals due to my passions for biology, healthcare, and running. I have taken the steps in high school to advance my skills in these aspects, but this scholarship would help make the difference in dreaming and actually achieving my goals. It would help lift the heavy financial burden off my shoulders. It is especially difficult for a single parent household. Tuition, fees and possible athletic costs can be a lot. It could help if I have to dorm as well. With this scholarship, I would have less worry about the financial part and I could fully dedicate myself to my studies, career-building internships, community service, and working on my athletic goals. My ultimate goal is to leverage my education to be able to give back to the very community that raised me and beyond, specifically by creating affordable accessible eye care, mentorship programs, and youth track clubs for those in local communities. This investment in my education is an investment in the future of New Jersey and beyond, and I am ready to prove that your belief in me will yield a profound return.

A child’s potential should never be restricted by their location or family’s income. In my community, the lack of accessible youth sports meant I missed out on the opportunity to start track at a young age. This is what fuels my determination to create a better future for the next generation. While I am pursuing a career in optometry to protect children's vision, my commitment to my community extends far beyond clinic walls. I also plan to bridge the athletic gap I experienced as a child by establishing affordable and widely available high-quality youth track programs that give every kid a fair starting line. My passion for optometry began in eighth grade. After conducting research on the occupation for a school project, I knew this was for me. I have always wanted to give back and provide others with the care they need. This began in middle school when I started volunteering at my community pantry. Being able to serve those in need was important to me as I wanted to make their lives better by preparing their bags of food. By becoming an optometrist, I would be able to serve my community in a bigger way, providing them the gift of clear sight. Vision is extremely important for everybody but especially children as these are the most fundamental years of formative growth. They need clear vision to see the boards and screens while in school, excel in extracurriculars, and ultimately make any vision corrections before they worsen. I want to provide more accessible and more affordable eye care to families in need. A major reason why vision problems go uncorrected is because families just cannot afford or access optometrists. Similarly, this issue exists within my other passion. I was always an athlete. I began playing soccer and softball at five years old in local recreational leagues. I went onto play soccer during my freshman year of high school but this wasn’t my true calling. That year I joined the track team. I fell in love with the sport. I never expected running to bring me such joy, but it did. Now for the near future, I have my sights set on continuing to run in college but my long term goal is to give back to my community through youth run clubs and programs. I never got to explore my passion for running competitively at a young age. Although I went on runs with my mom throughout town, it wasn’t the same experience or feeling I get from track or cross country meets. Racing is exhilarating and I want to make sure these programs are available and affordable. This is because I want the opportunity to exist for children of all backgrounds and oftentimes youth club sports can be quite costly due to gear, traveling, and training expenses. Instead, my program would utilize free community parks and tracks. I would also seek sponsorships from local businesses for funding along with urging local schools to incorporate athletics programs. Any healthy individual needs clear vision and physical activity. To help the future generation and provide opportunities starting at a younger age, I would combine my two biggest passions, optometry and running. At the future local youth track meets I hope to host, I’d also promote my clinic with free vision screenings. Having good vision is especially important for athletes so this would be perfect as it would be accessible and free of cost. My goal is to make it easier for all to live healthier, happier lives and have the choice to start track early if they want to.

Going into high school, I fully expected a future in broadcasting. I believed my calling was to investigate and tell the world's stories until a fundamental moment in my eighth-grade health class. That year, I did a project on Optometry. Instead of solely looking through the camera lens which captured human experiences, I began to explore the lenses that provide physical sight to see them. Now, as a high school senior, my long-term goal has evolved: become a licensed Doctor of Optometry while also creating content to promote public health literacy. In order to successfully execute this dual-path plan, I have devised a roadmap of short-term goals like pursuing a pre-medical education with limited media resources and a realistic undergraduate budget. Executing this dual-path plan requires me to follow a strict timeline over the next four years. Academically, the resources necessary to earn my Bachelor of Science include access to University laboratories, Optometry admission prep materials, and clinical shadowing and internships under licensed optometrists. Creatively, my content creation resources and time allocated are intentionally lackluster in order to focus on my academics. I will utilize hardware I own such as my smartphone, a basic ring light, and a wireless lavalier microphone. I will also leverage free or low-cost editing programs such as Canva and CapCut. Doing so will allow me to have a creative outlet where I can pursue my content creation on the side while putting in more money to further my education and getting closer to becoming a licensed Optometrist. Along with time and effort, my goals require a large amount of money. College is expensive and optometry school is even more taxing. Then I would eventually have to upgrade my content creation tools once they become broken or outdated. Cameras, microphones, and lighting can be costly upon already expensive University costs. That is why I have a realistic budget that ensures my digital ambitions don't jeopardize my academic or financial stability. This involves allocating the majority of my funds to essential educational costs like tuition, textbooks, and lab fees and setting aside a strict budget of a few hundred dollars for content equipment. Along with this budget, I will get a part time job while studying and fund academic costs through any scholarships I can earn and apply for financial aid. Ultimately, I will manage both of my goals effectively and equally without putting myself in a financially unstable position. While it would be perfect for everything to go to plan, this isn't a realistic mindset. Analyzing my goals from all angles requires acknowledging how difficult time management and the uncertainty of social media will be. Pre-medical sciences demand long hours spent in labs or studying for exams while content creation requires consistency. Due to this, I will treat content creation as a disciplined, scheduled creative outlet. I will produce videos in batches on weekends using a structured upload calendar. Furthermore, I have considered alternative paths for my creative, digital ambitions. If my social media account stalls, my main career goal of becoming an Optometrist remains intact. As for broadcasting, I will simply shift from global digital platforms to options like segments at advisory boards or local news outlets and health journals. Ultimately, that ordinary project in eighth grade allowed me to see a world where healthcare extends beyond the walls of a local clinic. Through structured milestones, a strict budget, and preparedness, I will spend the next several years acquiring the tools necessary to provide the gift of sight and improve public health literacy, one lens at a time.

I crossed the finish line, hands on my knees. For a second I couldn’t tell if my chest was heaving from the run or from whatever had been holding me back the whole year. I glanced at the timer. Suddenly the previous season had made sense. That 800 meter win after an injury-plagued sophomore year was the moment I stopped letting doubts control me. Growing up in Hoboken with my mom and older brother, life never felt simple. My dad was in and out, so every responsibility fell upon my mom. We’re middle class, but being raised by a single parent meant money and time were tight. Early on, I learned to keep trying even when things were messy. I also learned to look out for others by taking on household tasks to help my mom. Those small, everyday responsibilities shaped how I cope with bigger setbacks now. High school track started as something fun, a way to hang out with friends and stay in shape. By sophomore year I wanted more, I wanted to be elite. The pressure showed up in my races. Toward the end of the season my calf completely gave out on me. Physically I felt broken. Mentally, it felt like confirmation of every regret I’d carried about not starting earlier or not working harder. After the injury, I kept replaying my mistakes. It became hard to train or even show up sometimes. That one race had changed the tone. I had been working through the doubts and then something clicked. I set a major personal record and actually won. The confidence from that single race didn't fix everything, but it brought back the freshman year joy. It turned my sadness into momentum. From then on I committed more seriously to training, and the small improvements started piling up. Winning wasn’t just about a medal; it proved I could recover from bad seasons and keep pushing forward. My mom’s belief in me kept pushing too. She wanted me to continue because she knew track mattered to me. Her support made the difference between giving up and trying again. That’s part of why I care so much about this sport. I want to reach the level of the greats I look up to. I also want to use whatever influence I earn to create real opportunities for younger kids who don’t have access to organized track programs. I wish I’d had that earlier, so I want to build it for others. Academically I’m aiming for a Bachelor of Science and a future as an optometrist, while staying involved in track whether that be through coaching youth or working with college programs. I also plan to create content to reach more people and show them what’s possible. This scholarship would ease the financial strain that sits under all my plans. Paying for college while trying to compete at a higher level is a huge weight, especially in a single-parent household. With support, I could focus on school and training without constant anxiety about tuition and gear. I could also take steps toward the programs I want to build for young athletes. That 800 meter race taught me that a single moment can change everything. With help, I can keep building on that moment and give other kids the chance I wish I’d had.