Friday, March 13th: the last day when life seemed normal. The last day when I could see groups of my friends together, without a mask in sight. The last day before I would have to go into isolation. COVID-19 made me fear for my life and the lives of my family members every single day. As most of my family worked in the healthcare field during the pandemic, I could only wonder, "Will we all be okay?" Seeing the number of deaths rise drastically made me only question the fragility of the world. Again, I would ask myself, will we all be okay? But while the outside world seemed to crumble around me, I thought about what I could do to keep my own world together. I felt my sanity slipping away, piece by piece, day by day. But I used my time in isolation to reflect on myself. That is what I believe held me together. In my solitude, I realized by being constantly surrounded by other people, I never spent time to really know myself. I thought a lot about what I wanted to accomplish in my future and what I could do now to help me achieve my goals. In my times of isolation, I wanted to immerse myself in my passions, which is why I have gotten involved in organizations surrounding women's rights and wellbeing. For days, I found myself reading research about racial disparities in health. I spent my time developing an organization to help Black and Latinx students excel in the medical field. I wanted to take advantage of the time given to me to not only benefit myself but make an impact on the lives of those around me. It was throughout this period of isolation, that I truly realized there were two types of people in this world: the people who take a negative situation and allow it hinder their growth and the people who embrace a negative situation and use it to help them grow. You cannot always control the world around you, and you cannot predict what will happen. The only thing you can control is the choices you make. This is not to say that excelling during this time is as easy as I may be making it seem. I certainly had difficulties in preserving my mental and physical health. There will be bad days, but I choose to not let them invalidate the great progress I have already made. Those bad days and these tough times are stepping stones to better days and easier times.

I remember the very first time I realized I was black. Being a seven year old girl surrounded by mostly white kids, I never really noticed that I was different. It wasn't until my teacher sat us all down for history class on the Civil Rights Movement, that I realized a lot of people had paved the way for me to sit in that very classroom amongst my white classmates. That day sparked a drive in me to learn more about myself, my history, and how I can use that knowledge to create something meaningful. The more I began to study, the more I felt liberated. I thrived on knowing that I was investing in myself every single time I learned about topics that influenced our world, such as policies regarding women's health issues. Education has made me feel connected to the world, and it has provided me with an area in my life to flourish and feel successful. Education has led to other opportunities in my life like being selected to attend the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy or travelling to the United Arab Emirates to learn more about economic, environmental, and cultural sustainability. While all of this does sound like education has always been a positive influence in my life, I can assure you that wasn't always the case. There were plenty of instances where I felt like education was a burden. There were - and still are - moments where I would put aside actually learning the material because I felt that all that mattered to anyone was just getting an A. I used to tear myself down if I got anything below an A+ because I had the crippling feeling that I was just a failure. I still cope with those feelings today, but I constantly remind myself how incredibly lucky I am to be receiving an education. My love-hate relationship with education keeps me grounded, but empowers me to push past my limits.

My name is Elizabeth Soyemi, but most people call me Liz. I am a Nigerian-American female with two older brother, a mom, and a dad. I am involved in quite a few extracurriculars at my schools, and I study hard to be the best version of myself academically, i can be. However, outside of school, I like to drive around my neighborhood, eat a bunch of food, talk with my friends, watch YouTube videos, go to work with my friends, you know, average teenage things. But beyond those things, I have deeper aspirations and bigger goals. One of my biggest dreams is to eventually become an Obstetrician / Gynecologist. In having the blessing of being an OB/GYN, I can combine two strong passions of mine: empowering women and medicine. It is through my parents that I learned a lot about the field of healthcare, more specifically the field of medicine, and fell in love with it. I want to empower other women, both younger and older, the way my own mother has empowered me in her career of being a nurse, by giving them the strength, care, and courage they need to be the best version of themselves. When I become an Obstetrician/Gynecologist, one major accomplishment I hope to achieve will be to open a women's health clinic that will specifically focus on helping women in low-income areas to give them adequate healthcare and to expose them to other opportunities they may need. These opportunities can range from potential job prospects or networking events, affordable childcare centers, patient navigators, and other resources. In this clinic, I would also take in young women in these low-income areas who have an interest in the field of medicine, and give them the opportunity to participate in a paid internship at this clinic. This way, they can gain first-hand experience with the field of medicine, specifically gynecology. I would also hope to host enrichment programs at this clinic that would educate young women about social issues, such as gender inequality and pregnancy discrimination, and educational ventures such as college preparation and scholarship opportunities. Now, I understand that the road to achieving this dream is not easy at all. Becoming a physician take years of dedication, school, patience, and endurance. I always am mentally preparing myself and making sure I fully understand what I want to do. I am also making sure that I have experience in the field I want to go to. I am currently a Research Intern in Dr. Yee's lab at Northwestern University. We are currently studying the significance of a patient navigator on women's postpartum health (specifically low income women). I am also on BELLAs, which is a female empowerment organization on my school, and we work to raise awareness on women's rights issues. I currently run a program I started called Med4Minorities that works to expose minorities to the field of healthcare, specifically the field of medicine. I believe that these extracurriculars I am in will help me strengthen the person I am and want to be. I also currently have a part-time job at Walmart, where every single shift, I learn how to be more patient with people and be sympathetic to their concerns. I am also planning on or taking classes that can help me prepare for my pre-medicine journey, such as Medicinal Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, BC Calculus, Methods in Scientific Inquiry, and Pathophysiology. As you could probably tell at this point, I have big hopes for myself, and I know my journey won't be as easy as I am making it sound, but I will get there, I know I will. I would be more than grateful if you could help assist me in this lifelong venture.