1. I deserve this scholarship because I am the best student you'll come across; I believe that of all the scholarship applicants, I shine the brightest with unmatched skills, talents, and academic success. I am deserving of this scholarship, and I firmly believe that I am in greatest need of this scholarship, which is something no one can take away from me. 2. My ultimate academic goal is to graduate college as early as possible as it would make a wonderful conversation starter at parties and showcase my absolute intelligence to others. As for my career goal, I plan on leaving all behind and moving to Tokyo, Japan, as moving there will help me pursue my dream career of becoming an Oshiya (A trained professional that pushes people onto trains). 3. An obstacle that I overcame was the time that I had to run for my life from mother nature. It occurred as I was walking home one day, and out of nowhere, it began to rain heavily. Unprepared for such an event, I began to run to seek shelter, but there was nowhere to hide. As the rain began to soak my clothes, I had to muster up the courage to make it out of such an obstacle.

"You have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis" was the words I remember hearing at the age of thirteen as my endocrinologist read back my blood work results. After giving a brief rundown on what exactly is Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, how it affects my body, and prescribing me a daily dose of Levothyroxine, I left the office with a small victory in my never-ending medical journey. You see, since the age of eleven, I've dealt with a never-ending wrap sheet of symptoms that include chronic fatigue, hair loss, depression, headaches, weakness, muscle aches, the list can go on and on. I visited several doctors at the time, and no one could find out what was possibly going on with me. One doctor suggested taking more vitamins, another said my symptoms were just a part of puberty, and I even had one doctor say that I was faking my symptoms. Yes, I was totally faking the symptoms that were making my life absolutely miserable and prevented me from enjoying and missing out on the things I loved (Note the hint of sarcasm). Fast forward to 2022, I'm now twenty, a sophomore in college, I still have Hashimoto's, and a few more diagnosed medical conditions (Fibromyalgia, Hypothyroidism, and CAEBV). Though what separates me from Gabriella at thirteen and Gabriella at twenty is two things, resilience, and perseverance. I can say that dealing with medical issues and the symptoms that it brings has definitely tested me physically, mentally, and emotionally. I can say that it has certainly bent me, but it was not broken me as a person, it has shaped me into the woman I am today. I can thank resilience and perseverance for giving me the strength to get back up on my own two feet and turn the struggles in my life into my very strengths. An example of this was being able to start my own baking business during the start of the COVID pandemic. In my community, lockdown restrictions made it difficult to go out and find a part-time job, as many places either shut down or completely stopped hiring. To add to this my fragile autoimmune system didn't make it any better, and I was most of the time cooped up at home. I started noticing that many of the people in my neighborhood were using food and grocery delivery services a lot more frequently. After seeing this, I took my love for baking, my desire to find a job, my fragile autoimmune system, and my absolute boredom from being stuck at home to create a delivery baking business. I started baking fresh loaves of zucchini bread and safely delivering them locally to nearby friends and family. After receiving positive feedback, my baking businesses started expanding to all corners of my community and even cross country as people began requesting that it be shipped out of state. To make a long story short, never in million years did I think that I would start a baking business during a worldwide pandemic. Though with the help of resilience and presence, I'm able to accomplish much more than the boundaries that others and even sometimes I place on myself. The struggles of my life have been a true testimony to my strength. Not physical strength, but mental and emotional strength that has led me to discover the person that I am today, medical issues and all. The struggles in my life have helped me realize that I'm a hard-working, humble, passionate, and resilient young woman who sees her struggles through a new and improved mindset.

In the wise words of the late and great Maya Angelou, "I can be changed by what happens to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it." Resilience is a characteristic that I value in myself and is something that has and is helping me immensely in my life journey. I see resilience as the ability to get up from the trials of life, make a recovery, and use those very trials of life as strengths. To me, resilience has played a starring role in my life as it has allowed me to overcome a number of trials and setbacks. The greatest trial in my life journey is the multiple medical conditions that affect me physically, mentally, and emotionally. When I was thirteen years old, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition called Hashimoto's thyroiditis, a condition that affects my autoimmune system and thyroid. This condition led me to have to be withdrawn from school, hospitalized a number of times, and eventually seek medical treatments in several states. Fast forward to 2022, and I'm currently twenty years old, a sophomore in college, and still dealing with different medical conditions. So far, I've been medically diagnosed with Hashimoto's, Hypothyroidism, Fibromyalgia, and CAEBV (Chronic Active Epstein-Barr Virus), which to some, I'm a walking medical miracle. Throughout my life, people have questioned and doubted how I'm possibly able to move forward in my life, and the simplest reply I give them each time is one word, resilience. It was resilience that pushed me to pass middle school despite being in the hospital, it was resilience that gave me peace in times of great uncertainty, it was resilience that gave me the motivation to pursue a college education, and it is resilience that gives me hope in times when I'm battling my illnesses. The character of resilience has quite literally saved my life and is the reason why I carry on towards my goals in life. Resilience is a characteristic I value and is a characteristic that I encourage others to grasp firmly. I believe that everyone has the power of resilience within them, as I often tell others of my story as an example of this. Resilience has given me the ability to take the trials of my life and turn them into strengths and passions. It has placed a desire within me to pursue a college degree and eventually obtain a career in the medical field, which is something I never thought about doing when I was younger. Just like the wise words of Maya Angelou, my trials may have changed me, but because of resilience, I refuse to be reduced by my trials, and I'm able to get back up on my own two feet.

The question of "How do you aspire to make a positive impact in the world" is a question I'm all too familiar with as I've heard it in many different ways, from middle school questionnaires to high school essays. Each time I would usually reply with the all too familiar answer of wanting to help others and; make a positive change in my community, if not the world. Although, these last three years of my life have made me stop to think about how I truly want to positively impact the world. I believe that all people are capable of using their life experiences, struggles, and traumas as a powerful force for positive change. To be honest, when I first thought this, I couldn't imagine that my struggles could ever lead to positive change, but upon recognizing that I had the power to make positive changes in the world around me, I started to take on a new mindset. I used to have this fixed mindset where I saw my hopes and dreams with tunnel vision, which left me feeling anxious, fearful, worn, and weary. I let my struggles define me, and I used to make this ongoing list in my head of all my challenges and struggles, which I thought prevented me from making a positive change in this world. I'm a first-generation college student, I'm struggling to pay for college, and I'm dealing with illnesses that affect my psychical and mental health, and I could go on and on. Though, little did I know that these challenges that I faced and am facing are the very source of how I want to positively impact the world. Being a first-generation college student has motivated me to encourage other future first-generation college students to pursue their educational dreams through feedback, encouragement, and support. Struggling to pay for college has opened my eyes and has inspired me to help fund future students by one day setting up a scholarship funding program. Dealing with multiple illnesses has shaped me and has placed a desire within me to pursue a degree in psychology and one day a career in the mental health care field. All of these experiences, challenges, and struggles have led me to the very ways of how I want to positively impact the world. While it may seem simple, my new mindset towards positive impact and change is all but a small step towards the goals and aspirations I have for the world around me.