The community systematically denied underserved communities a full opportunity to get proper rights and facilities to live a good life. In the world, underserved communities usually need more attention from the volunteers since the government and the community do not contribute much to help them. With growing awareness of the number of people in the United States who are uninsured or lacking access to health care, many welfare organizations are paying more attention to the underserved. Working in an underserved community will enable me to understand their struggles more. That will allow me to be more motivated and help me plan for the future. Volunteering with underserved communities can provide me with significant insights into patient communication and understanding of the issues patients in these communities face. Empathetic and effective patient communication is a crucial skill to have for medical students and physicians, so having an early experience can greatly help me in the future. Offering help in an underserved community is also a good overall experience for any Premed student. Those who are interested in helping others love working in these communities a lot more. I am one of those people who love helping the ones in need as much as I can. It gives me a sense of relief knowing that I helped someone. Volunteering and helping underserved people will keep me happy and satisfied. This practice of working with underserved communities not only helps us but also them. Our time and effort towards their welfare will give them a better and healthier future. This is one of the main reasons that drive me towards volunteering in underserved communities.

Out in the streets, countless women fight an unspoken war every day. Being assaulted, molested, and violated under the open sky with barely anyone willing to save them. There is no haven for women anywhere since most horrific incidents occur inside their homes and offices by people they trust and love. In several developing and underdeveloped countries, including India, girls are killed before birth; their only mistake is being born a girl. Moreover, even some successful and educated people still think, "a girl does not need higher education since her only job is to cook and raise children." While the government does need to initiate strict laws for their safety and security, we also need to be cautious of wrongdoers. Fortuitously, as society is advancing, the importance of empowering women is increasing essentially. People finally realized that women and men are equal. It is a huge step towards empowering women. Despite the accomplishments, there is a lot to improve. That is when empowering them gets necessary because most of them get discouraged systematically from an early age. Hence, it often gets ignored that an educated girl can live life on her terms and change the world for the better. As responsible citizens, we must take that first step. Every girl needs and deserves to get educated. Teach one, teach all, and open new pathways for her bright future. As Malala Yousafzai claims, "...one pen, one child and one teacher can change the world." For women to continue being brave and pursue their education, their safety is also necessary. "Safety" includes creating a safe, survivable environment for women all over. Ensure a safe, holistic environment and regular health check-ups. We focus on empowerment now and then, but how will we initiate the steps mentioned above? When there are no women left? A small skill is enough to ensure the demands of empowering women. Be it gardening, sewing, or craftsmanship. Society needs to share new ideas with them and help them learn because women's empowerment begins with small initiatives. Beyond all, we need to raise our voices. Stand up for every woman and help decrease the prevalent gender disparity in all the strata of society. At every step, we tend to imply restrictions on women. Now is the time to change the equation. We need to give them their deserved freedom; that starts from within us. Women empowerment starts within our families, workplaces, and neighborhoods. We need to appreciate the superheroes who encourage and inspire us. To bring the change we wish for, we need to broaden our minds and see what great achievers women can become.

What is your aim in life? I dropped my head onto the desk as I read the assigned essay prompt I dreaded every school year. Unsure of my answer, I have always forged a goal with the help of my parents or a guidebook. Teachers usually ask us, students, the question to know what we want to fight to achieve in life. Unfortunately, I never knew how to answer that. My mom always told me she wanted me to be a successful doctor, and that became the basis of my essays for several years. I had my interests but nothing seemed to intrigue me enough to consider it worthy enough to :fight to achieve". I frequently question, what is my aim? Do I keep on following what my parents want me to do? Who do I want to be? What do I want to fight for? It took me 17 years to finally edge closer towards the answer to that question. Even though I did not know the definite answer since childhood, everyone advised me to pursue my career in STEM education. I researched a lot to find something I was interested in; The journey of figuring out a career goal was challenging. I had many inspirations; Starting from the accomplishments of the elders to the creativity and enthusiasm of my juniors. I was an excellent student in the STEM subjects but that has never been enough to know who I wanted to be. The event that sparked my decision was the series of deaths of all my grandparents and elderly relatives in only seven months. Being so far away from home and not seeing them for years was miserable for my family and me. That made me feel the pain of separation for the first time. The guilt and regret of not being by their side at their last moments started piling up every time I got the news of their death. The only person I was able to accompany was my paternal grandfather. He was in the hospital for approximately a month before passing away. I went to the hospital almost every day after school. Sitting by his bedside and watching him get weaker every day, suffering through all those painful tests, slowly forgetting about all of us as time passes were very traumatizing. I knew I couldn't help any of them. Even if I studied to be a doctor, I could not help my loved ones thousands of miles away. That's why I want to work towards making a difference in the medical field. So that even the ones far away from me, even the unfortunate, can get proper medical attention. Furthermore, when I found out that the doctors could not examine the actual reason behind him not improving, I told myself that I want to be someone who can find the answers to the most complicated questions. I want to be someone who not only works towards helping a handful but the entire world as a whole. That is what led me deeply researching Biomedical engineering. A lot of people grow to love something that eventually becomes their career goal. However, my aim came from a series of tragedies. Even though I am passionate about bioengineering, my motivation to move forward is to help others. No matter how challenging it is, I dedicated myself to pursuing my studies in Biomedical Engineering; to help others live a healthy and happy life. Now, if someone asks, I can finally say that I want to be a Biomedical Engineer. The experience was painful but it helped me realize what my true aim in life is! I can subsequently decide the thing that has stayed undecided for 17 years.

Born and raised in a family with highly educated people, I was always expected to get higher education while holding on to my roots which include my culture, religion, and family morals. Being from an immigrant family and as an immigrant myself, me and my loved ones have high ambitions to make my life along with the lives of countless others better. I was raised in an environment where people were welcoming and kind towards each other and eventually my ambitions and future goals also included those characteristics. My intended field of study, Biomedical Engineering, is a comparatively new topic introduced to this world. Yet, the experts in this field are some of the most needed in recent years; moving towards the future. My main focus in studying Biomedical Engineering is to research the most complicated and newly introduced problems scientists are trying to solve in the field of medical science. I want to find the best and most accessible cure(in terms of geography and affordability) for those diseases so that people can afford it despite their financial status and location. Every day we hear news about countless people suffering through unexplainable problems that medical science still could not find the cure or even the treatment for. Many more have been discovered in recent years. Let’s take Covid- 19 as an example. In the past two years, people have been living in fear of this virus. Even though vaccinations have been invented, we still couldn’t stop this war against Covid-19. Every time we take a step forward to destroy it, we end up encountering something even stronger. Countless scientists and researchers are working day and night to find a permanent solution to this devastating problem. I want to be a part of those scientists and researchers that are sacrificing their own lives and freedom to save strangers. Their dedication is what inspires me every day to work towards being a Biomedical Engineer despite knowing how hard and confusing that path will be. As my long-term goal, I want to do my Masters and my Ph.D. post-graduation alongside carrying on with the research opportunities given to me. I want to succeed in my journey to help the entire humanity. Success is never easy, especially when it includes humanity. No matter the thorns that come in my way, I want to move towards that path and make positive changes in the world of medical science.

I am Faizah Ahmmed, a US immigrant and a rising college freshman. I was born and raised in Bangladesh. However, I came to NYC and have been living here since 2016 so I am still pretty new to the USA. Since my roots have always been in Bangladesh, I was raised with completely different ideals from most US students. I came to the United States shouldering the expectations of hundreds of people. Since I was in Bangladesh for 13 years of my life, I am fluent in speaking, reading, and writing both Bangla and English. I can also understand Hindi and in the process of learning Spanish and Korean little by little. Due to being from a developing country, cooking, embroidery, cultural arts and crafts are what I was taught since childhood which eventually turned into my stress relievers. I love to improve my skills during my free time. The Mortar Scholarship Program is kindly awarding talented immigrants and/or first-generation Americans knowing how much we students and our parents struggle for higher education. Our parents and guardians bring us to the USA for a better future but to get a better future, we are all expected to work hard in addition to having talent and money. I am not only an immigrant but am also from a low-income family. Despite that, I have a lot of ambition thanks to my parents’ hard work and toils. I intend to get my Bachelor's, Masters and Ph.D. one day to be able to help people around the world. Thanks to my consistent ambition, I am currently an aspiring Biomedical Engineer and on my way to starting a new chapter of my life at the University of Rochester. Unfortunately, I still have to pay thousands every year from my pocket to cover my fees. That means I have to get loans and trying to pay off those loans turns into a wall between me and my future goal. I believe my ambition, needs, and hard work are some of the most important factors for me to be qualified for this scholarship. I have seen and still am observing my parents struggling day and night to fulfill our needs. Awarding me this scholarship will not only help me and my family with paying for college but also the world of medical science. I am aiming to research and develop instruments/cures in the medical world that will help millions around the world.