From the time I was 10 years old, watching Neil Degrasse Tyson’s Cosmos, I knew I wanted to study the stars and space for the rest of my life. Throughout middle and high school, math and science classes were what I excelled at. Now, a college sophomore (with enough credits that I am considered a junior) double majoring in astrophysics and mathematics I realize I am one step closer to fulfilling my dream career of becoming a research scientist. I’ve already had a glimpse of what my future life could be like as I completed a research fellowship with one of my professors this summer. Spending my days working nine to five (and occasionally doing overnight observations from a live telescope located in Spain) analyzing data has been incredibly fulfilling. It confirmed for me that becoming a research scientist is the perfect career choice for me. In order to achieve these ultimate career goals, I must remain focused on my academic studies, moving towards obtaining my undergraduate degree. I then intend to pursue my master's degree and Ph.D. in Astrophysics. Upon graduation, I hope to work for a government-funded laboratory such as NASA, or a privately owned space or security laboratory. Although at this point I am uncertain which space subfield I will end up in, I am enjoying learning about all the different areas that are open to me, and know I plan on ensconcing myself in this field and all it offers for a long time. Last year as a freshman in college, I was awarded the Michael Albert Lewis Prize in Physics - which is presented to one or more freshman students in recognition of superior performance in Introductory Physics courses as determined by the faculty of the Physics Department at Franklin and Marshall College where I am an undergraduate student. As I mentioned above, I was also selected as a paid Hackman Summer Research Fellow for a 10 week research project. During this experience I was also able to attend the American Astronomical Society (AAS) 240th meeting which was held in Pasadena, CA with my Research mentor/Professor and fellow student researchers. Now a sophomore, I was hired to be a physics tutor on campus, and am taking more advanced courses in my majors - allowing me to get closer to achieving my career goals. I was the only freshman applicant selected to be a physics tutor this fall, because of my ability to master the material and being able to teach that material in a way that is easily understandable. My professors have asked me to work on their research during the year because of the dedication I show in class, and my peers often seek me out to help them when they don’t understand the material. As I look to attain these lofty aspirations, the largest roadblock for me is financing my education. As the daughter of a single mother, I have always been provided with the basics and sometimes the "extras", but funding a college education is expensive. I know I need to take some of the burden off of my mother. This scholarship would help take a lot of the stress off both my mother and I, and allow her to focus more on her career, her health and caring for my disabled grandmother who lives with us. Money has always been the proverbial white elephant in the room - and I know being the recipient of this scholarship would make it a mouse instead.

From the time I was 10 years old, watching Neil Degrasse Tyson’s Cosmos, I knew I wanted to study the stars and empty space for the rest of my life. Throughout middle and high school, math and science classes were what I excelled at. Now, as a rising college sophomore (with enough credits that I am considered a junior) double majoring in astrophysics and mathematics I realize I am one step closer to fulfilling my dream career of studying space as a research scientist. I’ve already had a glimpse of what my future life could be like as I have just completed a research fellowship with one of my professors this summer. Spending my days working nine to five (and occasionally doing overnight observations from a live telescope located in Spain) analyzing data has been incredibly fulfilling. It confirmed for me that becoming a research scientist is the perfect career choice for me. In order to achieve these ultimate career goals, I need to remain focused on my academic studies right now, moving towards obtaining my undergraduate degree. I then intend to pursue my master's degree and Ph.D. in Astrophysics. Upon graduation, I hope to work for a government-funded laboratory such as NASA, or a privately owned space or security laboratory. Although at this point I am uncertain which space subfield I will end up in, I am thoroughly enjoying learning about all the different areas that are open to me, and know I plan on ensconcing myself in this field and all it offers for a long time. Last year as a freshman in college, I was awarded the Michael Albert Lewis Prize in Physics - which is presented to one or more freshman students in recognition of superior performance in Introductory Physics courses as determined by the faculty of the Physics Department at Franklin and Marshall College where I am an undergraduate student. As I mentioned above, I was also selected as a paid Hackman Summer Research Fellow working on Protoplanetary Nebulae: Unraveling the Chemical Connection Between the AGB and PNe which was a 10 week research project. During this experience I also attended the American Astronomical Society (AAS) 240th meeting in Pasadena, CA with my Research mentor/Professor and fellow student researchers. I am enjoying my position as a physics tutor on campus, and where I will be taking more advanced courses in my majors - allowing me to get closer to achieving my career goals. I was the only freshman applicant selected to be a physics tutor this upcoming fall, both because of my demonstrated abilities to master the material and being able to teach that material in a way that is easily understandable. My professors have asked me to work on their research during the year because of the dedication I show in class, and my peers often seek me out to help them when they don’t understand the material. As I look ahead, my future bright and my dream career orbiting closer, the funds a scholarship such as this would provide me with would help tremendously. My mother has been a single parent my whole life, and while she has always made sure my needs were met, I have seen her struggle with finances and often the “extras’ were always just out of reach. If I could take some of that weight off her shoulders and limit the amount of private loans required to pay for the balance of my student account after the need-based grants are awarded to me from my college, we could both breathe a sigh of relief. And I would be forever grateful for that.

My mom is the strongest woman I know. Some people say she may even wear a cape. I know she’s always been my hero. I was 12 when I found out my mom had had cancer. I really wasn’t even sure what it meant at that age, at least not what the possibilities had meant for her at the time. I now know that she could have been gone even before I came to be – and I wouldn’t be here to write this essay. She is a survivor in every sense of the word. She has battled two types of cancer and won –physically, mentally and spiritually. She takes on life with undertones of joie de vivre, seeing the beauty and good in the world around her. She has subtly tried to instill this in me, enriching my life from my earliest recollection with music, dance, theatre, art, flowers and fun – weaving culture and beauty into my soul to where they have become a necessity for me to function. Our story almost stems from her cancer diagnoses, specifically Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and Thyroid cancer which are both primary cancers and which for her were diagnosed at the same time just as she was embarking on a new career. After she finished treatments – a year long ordeal with two primary cancers, multiple hospitalizations, drug reactions, infections – she took some time to recuperate and then made the courageous decision to have a child, with no spouse or significant other. Yes, she did it alone via sperm donor and I am the result. The uncertainty of what chemotherapy may have done to her reproductive system along with her age drove her to this decision, no longer content to wait for for prince charming to find her, sweep her off her feet and have children. Her desire to have a child was so strong she felt compelled to pursue the endeavor on her own. She says I am her gift from God after going through what she went through, a true blessing and I have lit up her life. Now, eighteen years later I am in college and she works hard to support me as I pursue my dreams of becoming an astrophysicist. She never complains and always makes sure my needs are met. My senior year of high school, I had a solo in the high school musical “The Theory of Relativity” which was titled “Promise Me This”. The first half of the song completely mirrored my life with my mother and spoke so strongly to me I wasn’t sure I’d be able to perform it without breaking down. The second half spoke of the character losing her mother - which honestly is my biggest fear in life – and I tried to tell myself that this is what we went through, but in reverse. I made it through my performances, albeit very emotionally and realized this strong, independent woman – my mom – has passed along those traits to me, along with a love of the arts, and the ability to recognize beauty in life, believe in miracles, and to not waste a single day.

My mom is the strongest woman I know. Some people say she may even wear a cape. I know she’s always been my hero. I was 12 when I found out my mom had had cancer. I really wasn’t even sure what it meant at that age, at least not what the possibilities had meant for her at the time. I now know that she could have been gone even before I came to be – and I wouldn’t be here to write this essay. She is a survivor in every sense of the word. She has battled two types of cancer and won –physically, mentally and spiritually. She takes on life with undertones of joie de vivre, seeing the beauty and good in the world around her. She has subtly tried to instill this in me, enriching my life from my earliest recollection with music, dance, theatre, art, flowers and fun – weaving culture and beauty into my soul to where they have become a necessity for me to function. Our story almost stems from her cancer diagnoses, specifically Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and Thyroid cancer which are both primary cancers and which for her were diagnosed at the same time just as she was embarking on a new career. After she finished treatments – a year long ordeal with two primary cancers, multiple hospitalizations, drug reactions, infections – she took some time to recuperate and then made the courageous decision to have a child, with no spouse or significant other. Yes, she did it alone via sperm donor and I am the result. The uncertainty of what chemotherapy may have done to her reproductive system along with her age drove her to this decision, no longer content to wait for for prince charming to find her, sweep her off her feet and have children. Her desire to have a child was so strong she felt compelled to pursue the endeavor on her own. She says I am her gift from God after going through what she went through, a true blessing and I have lit up her life. Now, eighteen years later I am in college and she works hard to support me as I pursue my dreams of becoming an astrophysicist. She never complains and always makes sure my needs are met. My senior year of high school, I had a solo in the high school musical “The Theory of Relativity” which was titled “Promise Me This”. The first half of the song completely mirrored my life with my mother and spoke so strongly to me I wasn’t sure I’d be able to perform it without breaking down. The second half spoke of the character losing her mother - which honestly is my biggest fear in life – and I tried to tell myself that this is what we went through, but in reverse. I made it through my performances, albeit very emotionally and realized this strong, independent woman – my mom – has passed along those traits to me, along with a love of the arts, and the ability to recognize beauty in life, believe in miracles, and to not waste a single day.

My mom is the strongest woman I know. Some people say she may even wear a cape. I know she’s always been my hero. I was 12 when I found out my mom had had cancer. I really wasn’t even sure what it meant at that age, at least not what the possibilities had meant for her at the time. I now know that she could have been gone even before I came to be – and I wouldn’t be here to write this essay. She is a survivor in every sense of the word. She has battled two types of cancer and won –physically, mentally and spiritually. She takes on life with undertones of joie de vivre, seeing the beauty and good in the world around her. She has subtly tried to instill this in me, enriching my life from my earliest recollection with music, dance, theatre, art, flowers and fun – weaving culture and beauty into my soul to where they have become a necessity for me to function. Our story almost stems from her cancer diagnoses, specifically Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and Thyroid cancer which are both primary cancers and which for her were diagnosed at the same time just as she was embarking on a new career. After she finished treatments – a year long ordeal with two primary cancers, multiple hospitalizations, drug reactions, infections – she took some time to recuperate and then made the courageous decision to have a child, with no spouse or significant other. Yes, she did it alone via sperm donor and I am the result. The uncertainty of what chemotherapy may have done to her reproductive system along with her age drove her to this decision, no longer content to wait for for prince charming to find her, sweep her off her feet and have children. Her desire to have a child was so strong she felt compelled to pursue the endeavor on her own. She says I am her gift from God after going through what she went through, a true blessing and I have lit up her life. Now, eighteen years later I am in college and she works hard to support me as I pursue my dreams of becoming an astrophysicist. She never complains and always makes sure my needs are met. My senior year of high school, I had a solo in the high school musical “The Theory of Relativity” which was titled “Promise Me This”. The first half of the song completely mirrored my life with my mother and spoke so strongly to me I wasn’t sure I’d be able to perform it without breaking down. The second half spoke of the character losing her mother - which honestly is my biggest fear in life – and I tried to tell myself that this is what we went through, but in reverse. I made it through my performances, albeit very emotionally and realized this strong, independent woman – my mom – has passed along those traits to me, along with a love of the arts, and the ability to recognize beauty in life, believe in miracles, and to not waste a single day.