I am the person I am today because of my mother’s resilience as a single parent. When I was just one year old, she made the heartbreaking decision to send me from The Gambia to Senegal to be raised by her mother's family, so she could work and provide for me. Even before my birth, she was fighting cultural battles. While pregnant with me, she divorced my father to ensure I would have a better life. In Gambian culture, this was considered a disgrace, and as a result, her family disowned her. Left without any support system, she had no choice but to separate from me to ensure our survival. Because of our early separation, I grew up believing my mother was one of my aunts who visited every few months. I only learned the truth about our relationship as I got older. At 12, I immigrated to America to reunite with her and my premature newborn sister. I was overwhelmed with excitement. To me, America represented a land of unlimited opportunity where I could pursue a higher education and become whoever I dreamed of being. However, upon arriving in America, I effectively became an adult overnight. In 2017, my mother was diagnosed with breast and cervical cancer, along with kidney disease. As the eldest of five siblings, she carried the responsibility, deeply rooted in Gambian culture, of caring for her family whenever her parents could no longer do so. The immense pressure of supporting relatives both in the U.S. and abroad took a devastating toll on her physical and mental health. Over the years, her condition worsened as she was also diagnosed with depression and bipolar disorder. Eventually, she lost the ability to walk and began suffering frequent seizures. These hardships forced me to develop a profound sense of resilience and responsibility. At 12, unable to speak English, I had to navigate a new country while caring for my sick mother and sister. By 15, I took on a job to help pay our bills while remaining focused on school, knowing that academic excellence was my only path to earning the scholarships I needed for a better future. At every grade level, I worked to stay at the top of my class while actively participating in extracurricular activities and sports. Among my proudest achievements was being the only student in my eighth-grade English as a Second Language class to graduate. Today, I continue to support my family financially while funding my own education. Since my mother has been unable to work since 2017, we rely on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and food stamps to make ends meet. Balancing multiple low-wage jobs with my college coursework is a constant challenge, driven by the fear of falling into the same cycle of poverty and illness that claimed my mother's health. This fear fuels my determination to succeed and my commitment to ensuring that my mother’s sacrifices for our family were not in vain. As I matured, I have come to view my family’s struggles through a broader lens, recognizing them as systemic challenges faced by many underserved communities. This realization has shaped my academic path. I understand that socioeconomic status, access to resources, and environmental factors contribute to healthcare disparities. I am studying Data Science to pursue a career in public health, where I can leverage big data to analyze health records and evaluate the social determinants of health. My family’s firsthand experience with illness and intergenerational poverty has deepened my commitment to this field, fueling my passion to contribute to meaningful, data-driven solutions for those who face similar barriers.

Growing up as an immigrant, I witnessed how financial instability and healthcare disparities can strain families. When my mother was diagnosed with breast and cervical cancer while also battling kidney disease, she worked multiple low-wage jobs to support us. This took a devastating toll on her health, revealing to me how deep economic hardship and unequal access to healthcare are intertwined. At 12, I immigrated to the U.S. to reunite with my family. As I adjusted to a new country, learned English, and navigated unfamiliar education systems, I also helped care for my mother and my premature newborn sister. Balancing school, work, and family responsibilities taught me resilience, adaptability, and the power of education as a tool for change. Today, I continue to help support my family while pursuing my own education, knowing that knowledge is the key to breaking cycles of poverty. These experiences gave me a purpose to address the systemic inequalities that leave vulnerable families without the support they need. I am now studying Data Science with a focus on public health because I want to use data to address the social determinants of health that disproportionately affect underserved communities. My family’s struggles ignited in me a commitment to create meaningful and data-driven solutions that improve access and opportunity for others. For example, I am an advocate for non-native English speakers in my jobs. Whether through leadership, service, or my future career, my purpose remains the same. I want to transform my experiences into opportunities for others.