I was born in Ghana, West Africa, and raised there for 13 years. Although I have little recollection of it, my mom often brings up that when I was little, I would play with my friends as a doctor to diagnose and prescribe medicine for them. While in middle school in Ghana, I often told myself that I would grow up to become a doctor. In truth, this dream did not feel achievable until I took an anatomy and physiology class during my senior year in high school at John Glenn. My teacher said something that sparked my interest: "Medicine either slows down, speeds up, or completely stops a body function." With this simplified explanation of medicine and its function, I got curious. The concept was simple enough to understand, making me believe it would not be too complicated. In my subsequent chemistry courses in college, I learned more about how these three functions are carried out through communication between atoms and electrons. With my new armor of knowledge and my ever-growing curiosity, I decided to major in pharmacy. I wanted to learn and know all there was to know about how drugs react in the body, and I wanted to know how they could save lives. With my decision made, I began researching the different pharmacy disciplines. Although I want to start my career in a community hospital or retail pharmacy, I do not want to stay in one place for more than two years. When I learned about compounding pharmacy, I felt I had found what I sought. I saw myself doing it for years and could envision traveling to different countries to discover the various methods of compounding medicine specific to that country. Besides being able to travel and learn while working, perhaps my uncle is my biggest motivation to pursue this professional path. He is an alcoholic and addicted to cigarettes despite knowing his consumption of both things triggers his psychosis. He is unable to stay sober entirely, but his psychosis gets worse when he consumes alcohol or smokes while simultaneously consuming his medication for his symptoms. We have tried several medicines, but none of them have worked, and trying to cut all drinking and smoking altogether causes an even worse relapse. These experiences increased my awareness of the importance of compounding pharmacy and solidified my goal of pursuing a doctorate in pharmacy. After achieving this, I aim to travel and assist individuals like my uncle, who cannot access or afford personalized healthcare. The human body is strong but incredibly delicate, and the 0.1% difference between DNAs that determine an individual's appearance and body constitution equally determines their body's responses to drugs that are generally harmless to most people. In the future, I want to make up and account for this 0.1% difference as a certified, knowledgeable, and capable health professional.

As a human with desires and goals, the only thing I always hope I have and wish I could control is time. But lost time is never found again, so I have learned to give myself grace and practice passing on the baton to a new version of myself each year, believing that I have done my part to the best of my ability in the previous year. When I imagine an older me, I see someone who has lived a life that was spent learning and helping others. Consequently, the three things I would like to do for my older self are to establish myself as an entrepreneur, travel to every country at least once, and earn a PhD in Pharmacy. During the 2020 pandemic quarantine, an idea took hold in my heart and head. I drew up a plan for a company project called Infinite Love. I developed Infinite through my passions for art, technology, and humanitarian endeavors. The five divisions have a united goal to improve various aspects of society that have the most effect on people and encourage people to love. These five divisions are: Make and Create with Love advocates the beauty of African print clothing and the proper disposal and recycling of plastic and glass in oceans through recycling them into jewelry; Code with Love promotes coding and Computer Science to provide better prospects for children in third-world countries; Star with Love guides people to enter the entertainment scene smoothly; Entrepreneur with Love guides entrepreneurs to be their best; Love You, Too brings beauty through makeup and encourages awareness through special talk show series. In June of this year, I launched my first product, a pair of handmade bracelets, under the brand "Made with Love" on my business social media accounts. As I will be taking my steps one at a time to launch all the divisions successfully, I predict I won't be done establishing myself as an entrepreneur until I am at least 60. Another lifetime goal I have and promise to fulfill is visiting each country at least once. I have always been curious about the many cultures, languages, and customs. As such, if circumstances allow, I would love to visit each country once, whether through a scholarship or using the money I earn from working. I have checked Morocco off my list and hope to check China off my list soon. My last goal is one that I will perhaps achieve very soon. After graduating from high school, I have been attending a community college with financial aid, scholarships, and grants I have received from generous donors, such as this scholarship, to support my pursuit of an Associate in Science and complete my prerequisites for admission into a Doctor of Pharmacy program. I am preparing to transition into a Doctor of Pharmacy program while finishing my Associate's degree. As the daughter of immigrants, I have only lived in the United States since I was 13; sometimes, I find it hard to see myself completing my PhD. My parents have just enough to support our family of six, and transferring to a university to complete my PhD will put a tremendous financial strain on my family. With this scholarship, I will receive much-needed support to help me achieve my PhD. Although my goal is to use my unending passion for higher education to help as many people as possible, I also hope it will provide me with the financial freedom I need to achieve my other goals and give back to the community.

Hello! My name is Ida Akoto-Wiafe. I am a sixteen-year-old high school junior at John Glenn High School in Michigan. I was born in Ghana and lived there till I joined my parents in the United States when I was thirteen. I love doing a large variety of activities; however, I am most passionate about coding, dancing, learning new languages, and making art- my definition of art includes singing, songwriting, drawing, creating, and designing. Before coming to the United States, I believed rumors that said the United States had gold-lined streets. After coming here, I naturally knew that they were rumors somehow; but again, they weren't. The United States does have gold-lined pathways, but to find them, you need to search. These gold-lined pathways are opportunities. There are countless opportunities in the United States that you need to search for to find: you need to want a gold-lined street to get one. I looked for such a pathway, and I found one. Last year, right before the pandemic hit, my mom talked to me about selling the bracelets I made. I love making bracelets, and my mom thought it would benefit me if I made them and sold them to my classmates. I thought about this and decided to create a company. I named my company Infinite Love: I chose this name because I hope my company can spread love to children in third-world countries. I have seen many children in Ghana end up as criminals because they did not get the opportunity to have better prospects. I divided Infinite Love into five divisions: each division is responsible for a goal and role in fulfilling Infinite Love's vision to "Do it all together with and for love." These five divisions are: -Make and Create with Love This division is to advocate the proper disposal of plastic. We support using plastic to make beads, which we use to make jewelry. We also advocate for African print clothing and hope to spread the beauty it brings. -Code with Love This division promotes coding and Computer Science. We hope to provide better prospects for children in third-world countries by giving them the chance to find a passion for Information, Communication, Technology (ICT). -Star with Love This division is for the arts. A lot of the time, children in third-world countries are not able to chase their passion for dancing, acting, and singing. This division aims to help them enter into the entertainment circle smoothly. -Entrepreneur with Love This division is to train others like me. It is to guide them and help them become the very best entrepreneurs they can be. It is also to teach them to give back to the community when they become successful. -Love You, Too This division is for those who love to bring beauty through makeup. This division also aims to give helpful skincare tips that can help make skins glow and teach about loving your skin. I hope to be able to give back to society by initiating each of the divisions. Make and Create with Love was the first division to launch: it launched on April 1st, 2020. I am currently planning on launching Code with Love by finding a tech company to cooperate with because I will not be able to afford the computers the kids will need for learning computer science. The development of Make and Create with Love has been slow due to Covid restrictions: since the launch till now, I have been able to sell three bracelets, which earned $31. To receive this scholarship will mean putting my website, business logo, and advertisements in progress: I can also get a much better computer for my business. I hope you and your team can see the potential of Infinite Love.

I come from Ghana, a country in West Africa. Ghana used to be called Gold Coast, and the population is about 30.42 million. I used to wake up each day at 5 am: I would sweep a huge compound; get ready for school, and return home from school around 6 pm. We children always devoted ourselves to school and nothing else. I was in a good household; I did not have to sleep on the streets or worry about what I would eat when I came back home from school. Other kids my age, however, slept on the streets and had nothing to eat. Most of these kids are orphans who are outcasted by society and have nowhere to go. When I was still back in my country, I would sometimes give a loaf of bread or a pack of biscuits to these kids. I felt guilt towards them because I lived in comfort while they struggled to live past every day. Afterward, my mom and dad got approved to have my younger brother and me join them in the United States. Being able to come to the United States has been the biggest blessing in my life. I have been lucky enough to have this world full of possibilities open to me; again, I felt guilty because not all children were fortunate like I was to have parents in the United States. I have been here for almost four years now: my goal is to go back and help these children. I got introduced to Computer Science and coding during my first year in the United States. I became interested in all it encompassed and learned more about how it aids our daily lives. Last year, I launched my own company- Infinite Love; Infinite Love has five divisions- Make and Create with Love; Code with Love; Star with Love; Entrepreneur with Love; and Love You, Too. Recently, I have been working on initiating Code with Love. Code with Love is a project under Infinite Love. What I aim to do with Code with Love is educate these children in Computer Science. I hope I can help them have better prospects. Getting this grant will help me further my education and also launch the project. I will be able to approach more companies for funding for these children. Though I know about Computer Science, I am yet to become a licensed programmer. I hope to further my studies in Computer Science and teach these children the knowledge I learn. The future programmers and Computer Scientists who may build the next big thing could come from Ghana.

People always say, "the more, the merrier,"; I never believed in that saying because I am introverted and too much socialization drains me. However, I do know and understand that it does not take a single person to build a company up. No matter how smart or outstanding that person is, there is going to be a point where this person is going to need the succor of others. I knew that to reach the goals set for Infinite Love, I was going to need the succor of peers who had the same thinking and objectives I had. Infinite Love is a company I launched on Instagram on April 1st, 2020. I choose April Fool's Day because I love the beginning of spring and the day is a day to be lighthearted. There are five divisions to Infinite Love; our objective is to give back to communities-struggling communities-each division has a designated goal. Make and Create with Love-the role and goal is taking plastic and turning them into beads with technology to reduce plastic waste and advocate for African print clothing. Code with Love-the role and goal is to help disadvantaged children and people find their passion in computer science and also research how computer science aids in finding a cure for cancer. Star with Love-the role and goal is helping talented people who want to but can't enter the entertainment field enter successfully. Entrepreneur with Love-the role and goal is to advocate for students with aspirations to own a business have a relatively easy journey. Love You, Too-the role and goal is to make people more beautiful with simple tips about caring for your body and face. Infinite Love's objective is summed up in the phrase, "Do it all with and for love." What we aim to do is to spread the love for arts, computer science, and helping others. I have recently started to build up a team to be able to make the management of all these divisions efficient. The group, including me, will comprise six people-three boys, three girls-each one of five of the members will be in charge of managing a division and I will oversee all the work they do. Let's face it. Sixteen-year-old adolescents aim to develop their own identities to prepare for turning eighteen and becoming adults. This phase is when we care more about what we think and what we want; we experiment, rebel, have personal fables, have imaginary audiences, and become "self" -ish. After mastering up a lot of courage, I began to advocate for Infinite Love and talk about it to my classmates every single chance I got. There has been a lot of admiration and respect from my peers. My close friends have supported me very much in this cause. But so far, my Instagram followers are only over seventy. I started the recruiting process three weeks ago, asking classmates and peers who are responsible if they would like to join me in this mission. They were all full of praises and encouraging words, but in the end, they said no. They were overwhelmed by my ideas. I get it; talking to me about these ideas wouldn't exactly be pleasant because I give out specific rules which they would have to follow upon becoming a member of Infinite Love. I have asked three boys so far-they all said no-and two girls-one said no, and the other is still unsure. This rejection has led me to doubt myself and almost give up on my dream; the only thing that kept me from giving up was seeing peers younger than me, my age, and older than me present their ideas during the National Honor Society of High School Scholars'-(NSHSS)-annual Be-More-A-Thon. NSHSS is an organization that is co-founded by the great-nephew of Alfred Nobel, Cleas Nobel; the organization supports high school scholars into becoming leaders. Seeing the ideas of the ten finalists made me inspired to keep on with my journey. I have contacted several of the finalists; I am working with one of the finalists and winners of the $10,000 scholarship grant to provide computer science education to orphans in Ghana. Ghana is the country I am originally from so this has become a passion project for me to help these children through initiating Code with Love. This rejection by my classmates redirected me to find others as motivated as I am to be able to share my ideas with. Without being rejected, I would have worked with people who did not quite understand my need to help others whenever, however, and wherever I could.

I am a high schooler, the quiet nonsocial type, the bookworm type, the type that is labeled as a "good student." I have never been someone who wants to be a high achiever in the social circle; talking to me is a chore. I have never seen the need or importance of being social; to me, having a few good friends is enough. I started to see what was wrong with this viewpoint after an encounter with failure. That's right; the cause of my failure was none other than my outlook on being social. I like to think that I have a lot of business acumen, but when faced with questions like how do you get the word across to people about your business? I become abysmal. I launched a business called Infinite Love on my Instagram page on April 1st, 2020. It must sound like goods news except that it wasn't because I had under fifty followers at the time I launched. The goal of Infinite Love is simple; to "do it all with and for love." There are five parts to Infinite Love; each part has a designated role and goal in helping to make daily lives fulfilling. Make and Create with Love-the role and goal is taking plastic and turning them into beads with technology to reduce plastic waste and advocate for African print clothing. Code with Love-the role and goal is helping disadvantaged children and people find their passion in computer science and also research how computer science aids to cure cancer. Star with Love-the role and goal is helping talented people who want to but can't enter the entertainment field enter successfully. Entrepreneur with Love-the role and goal is to advocate for students with aspirations to own a business have a relatively easy journey. Love You, Too-the role and goal is to make people more beautiful with simple tips about caring for your body and face. What went wrong? The plan is perfect, but the execution was not well planned; I ended up with only seven likes on the launch post. After that, I sat down and thought about what I had done wrong. The answer was that I know too few people and I am not social; no one would know about what I am trying to do. I knew if I wanted Infinite Love to work, I would have to do some work, starting with me. It has not been easy trying to connect with people in the middle of the pandemic. I have learned that being academically educated is just as important as being socially educated. This failure has empowered me to learn how to be socially educated; it has not been without complications, but I have been able to reach seventy-nine followers; I am sure there is more to come. I am currently working hard to advertise and advocate for Infinite Love and this scholarship could be a key decider in another failure or success.