I am a young woman of many aspirations. I am an undergraduate pre-med student from Memphis, Tennessee. I am a strong advocate for young women. I am also a registered nurse who recently just passed her NCLEX-RN. It is an unusual endeavor to make the transition from nursing to medicine. But I determined I wanted to become a physician from the moment I realized that my life's purpose would be fulfilled through acquiring the depth of knowledge that medicine entails. And as the eldest daughter of an immigrant family, I made it my mission to excel in all that I do. I wish to advance my education in ways that will inspire my community. And I know that this particular path cannot be had without struggle. One of these struggles was an instance that I can recall with the clearest detail. I worked as a student nurse extern at a level one trauma center in downtown Memphis. On this particular day, I was the only extern on the medical emergency department. The unit was divided into sections, and one of them was triage–where I happened to be taking vital signs of incoming patients. Then came a man, panic in his eyes, who had a woman struggling to cling to his arm as he entered through the double doors. Thankfully, they did not have to wait long after their information was taken at the front desk to get them to triage. I went ahead and started taking the woman's vital signs. I was not sure of what was happening her. While I was wrapping the blood pressure cuff around her arm, I asked the man who brought her, who happened to be her brother, if she had any past medical history. He explained that she was recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I gathered that she was probably having a spastic episode. Fibromalgia, when left untreated, can lead to intense muscle spasms, rendering the person immobile. The woman struggled to speak and was writhing in her chair. In this moment, I was starting to realize the immensity of the situation. The emergency department was understaffed during that shift, and the nurses were on the other side where the patient beds were. I knew they had their own patient assignments. And I had my own, in some way. I felt helpless, and almost lacking. I knew I did not have the qualifications, nor the knowledge to properly help the woman. Regardless, I had to do something–anything that would prevent further harm. While the woman writhed in her chair, I slid her down to the floor using my leg. I was worried she might also have had an oncoming seizure, so I rolled her over to her side. I was operating based on what I knew on seizure precautions. I abandoned all other efforts in taking her vital signs and establishing intravenous access. My priority was getting her a bed as soon as possible. Thankfully, a nurse practitioner saw me and proceeded to help. She was able to talk with the brother and the patient as much as she could. But I took it upon myself to inform her that I was getting the patient a wheelchair. She agreed. When I got back, we settled the woman in the wheelchair and I rushed her out of triage, through another set of double doors and into the area where the beds were. "I need a bed, please!" I announced as I entered, hiding the quiver in my voice. I may have overestimated the circumstances, considering how calm the nurses began to work with me. After all, these were highly competent emergency department nurses at a level one trauma center. They see this all the time. At the end of it all, the brother came up to me with so much gratitude. He was thankful that I advocated for his sister in a way that he had never seen before. I went home with my purpose reinforced. I think about them often, and I hope they are doing better. Choosing a profession in healthcare is more than just excelling in school and passing the boards. My role as a future physician is more than just clinical obligations and prescriptions. There is the life-saving role of serving justice and advocating for the people you serve. Focusing on women's health is one of my many duties in life. I believe that becoming an OB-GYN is my way of fulfilling this duty. Winning this scholarship will grant me the opportunities to influence and educate young girls. It will give me a platform on which I can stand to provide them guidance, and inspire them to choose to become self-actualized women, realize their dreams, act with confidence, and give back to their communities. In a similar breadth that I myself choose to do as well. Through the way I lead my life, I hope to show everyone who may encounter me that women are deserving of rights and opportunities. They are deserving of good things from the world because they are worthy. I have chosen an unconventional path towards becoming a physician, but I know I have what it takes. I do not have to fit in one box nor do I have to stay in one path. This is true for every young woman. For every kind soul that helps me take another step on this chosen path, I get to help another young woman. I have done this through volunteering my time and energy to a nonprofit organization, Girls Inc. of Memphis, that focuses on the wellbeing of young girls and women. I always make sure to be myself when I interact with the young ladies. Being myself means that I act on my fervency for achieving my goals and building my community. And I hope to keep acting on this deep-seated desire in other parts of the world, well after earning my medical degree.

I am a young woman of many aspirations. I am an undergraduate pre-med student from Memphis, Tennessee. I am a strong advocate for young women. Choosing a profession in healthcare, specifically as an OB-GYN, is more than just excelling in medical school, passing the boards, and being called "Doctor." My role as a future physician is more than just clinical obligations and prescriptions. There is the life-saving role of serving justice and advocating for underrepresented groups. Focusing on women's health is one of my many duties in life. I believe that becoming an OB-GYN is my way of fulfilling this duty. Winning this scholarship will grant me the opportunities to influence and educate young girls. It will give me a platform on which I can stand to provide them the guidance and inspiration to choose to become self-actualized individuals who will realize their dreams, act with confidence, and give back to their communities. In a similar breadth I myself choose to as well. Through the way I lead my life, I hope to show everyone who may encounter me that women are deserving of rights and opportunities. They are deserving of the good things the world could offer for they are worthy. I have spent my time earning my Bachelor's degree in Nursing, as well as achieving the title of Registered Nurse. It is surely an unconventional path towards becoming a physician, but I know that I have what it takes to become one. I do not have to fit in one box nor do I have to stay in one path. This is true for every young woman. For every kind soul that helps me take another step on this chosen path, I get to help another young woman. I have done this through volunteering my time and energy to a nonprofit organization, Girls Inc. of Memphis, that focuses on the wellbeing of young girls and women. I always make sure to be myself when I interact with the young ladies. And being myself means that I show my fervency towards achieving my goals and building my community. And I hope to keep acting on this deep-seated desire well after earning my medical degree in numerous other communities of young women around the world.

I was a curious child. Always gazing upon the dark sky of scattered stars, I dreamt of becoming an astronaut as a four-year old. I wanted to get close to the stars, and possibly grab one. Or touch one, at least. After all, I was light years away from the nearest star. Later on, I realized that my juvenile desire of becoming an astronaut was actually just a manifestation of something deeper–my love for science. The pursuit of knowledge is an exciting one. No matter the topic that one may choose, it is always a worthy pursuit. And even as that four-year old who wondered about stars, I wondered about God and their existence. I am a cradle Catholic, so naturally I was taught of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. But even as I listened to the nuns, priests, and catechists, I always had this question in the back of my mind–does God exist? With almost 22 years of life experience on Earth, my resounding answer to that question is yes. My answer comes from a culmination of conclusions that I gathered from my encounters with science. I enjoyed working on experiments throughout my grade school years, and these experiments allowed me to have such encounters. One time when I was in 6th grade I was observing a single microbe under the microscope. I remembered thinking to myself, "God created you. Or rather, God has allowed you and your microbe-ancestors to thrive for possibly billions of years... for you to end up in a sample of pond of water so that I may think of you in this way." Similar thoughts have come up when I took my time to read up on string theory. Or when I found out that astrophysicists are not too certain of the limits of the observable universe. While these are just theories, I believe its components are still made by God. And I would like to point out that the tests that led to the formation of string theory or the speculations of the edge of the universe did not just materialize unprompted in the minds of scientists. Science can be certain, such that a certain amount of potassium permanganate will turn a certain amount of hydrogen peroxide into a light pink color during titration. Likewise, it is uncertain in that we humans are not aware yet of its limits. We probably will never be. But this is what has propelled our species through the billions of years it has persevered. Science is the answer to God. It was created by God. We, as a species, were gifted by God the ability to have discovered and practice science. This may be the only way we can ensure the persistence of our existence. God gifted us all our lives for years to come.