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Isabella Lee

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Bio

Hi I'm Isabella Lee ! This fall I will be a senior at Coronado High School, Henderson, NV., just outside of Las Vegas. I participate in several clubs and activities. Some of those are National Honor Society (NHS), Blood Drive Coordinator, Key Club, Hope Squad, Varsity Quiz, Archery, FMP/HOSA-Future Medical Professionals. I played the viola for seven years. In my free time I like to read manga. I love doing community service at my church, local elementary school, and on campus. In my free time I like to advocate for teens mental health awareness, thrift, go on adventures with my friends, and play video games. That's a little bit about me !!!

Education

Coronado High School

High School
2022 - 2026

Miscellaneous

  • Desired degree level:

    Doctoral degree program (PhD, MD, JD, etc.)

  • Majors of interest:

    • Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Other
    • Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences, Other
    • Medicine
    • Health and Medical Administrative Services
    • Pharmacology and Toxicology
    • Education, General
    • Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
    • Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants
  • Not planning to go to medical school
  • Career

    • Dream career field:

      Medicine

    • Dream career goals:

    • Blood drive coordinator and assistant

      Vitalant Blood
      2023 – Present2 years

    Sports

    Archery

    Varsity
    2019 – Present6 years

    Research

    • Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences, Other

      Vitalant Blood — Blood drive coordinator and blood drive assistant
      2023 – Present

    Arts

    • Del Webb Middle School and Coronado High School

      Music
      2019 – 2025
    • Coronado High School

      Theatre
      2022 – 2023

    Public services

    • Volunteering

      Hope Squad — Hope Squad member
      2022 – Present
    • Volunteering

      Elise L Wolff Elementary School — After school homework helper
      2022 – 2024
    • Volunteering

      St. John the Baptist Church — prepared food before festival, worked booth during festival
      2018 – Present
    • Volunteering

      Vitalant Blood — Blood drive coordinator
      2025 – Present

    Future Interests

    Volunteering

    Philanthropy

    Leading Through Humanity & Heart Scholarship
    1. I'm an unnatural leader, I know that is a contradiction but that's the best description I have. I may be shy from the outside but once I'm comfortable or the stakes are high I'm not afraid to take charge and do what's right. The experiences or values I've gained that shaped me to being passionate about human health and wellness is doing so many extracurriculars that are community service based. Key Club, NHS, FMP/HOSA, and my passion project child the blood drives. I run the blood drives at our school and we currently raise the most blood in the coast from our high school and save countless lives. Seeing these drives first hand and now leading them as the blood drive coordinator has allowed me to see first hand how the process of helping people in a medical setting is. Helping people makes me feel like I have a purpose and being able to do that as a career would be a perfect match for me. 2. Empathy is having the ability to read the room and realize the bigger picture, it's what differentiates robots from humans. Something that cannot be taught is having genuine empathy and the health care system can struggle if it lacks it. It's so crucial to have empathy when in health care to realize everyone is just a person. Every patient is a child of someone, whether biologically or spiritually, and everyone has a purpose to be here and to be helped. It can be so easy to be stone cold when in the medical field and loose sight of actual goals, helping people and saving lives. I would like to become a nurse, maybe an ER nurse or doctor, that helps people in dire situations. Doing that I feel like would allow me to have a job I love, and, help people get out of rough situations. I would ensure that my work is done through a human centered lens by trying to never loose sight of myself and the true meaning of health care. I vow that nurse, doctor, or surgeon I will make sure to listen to patients first and be at a human level with them instead of thinking myself as someone better just because of schooling. While school, I believe, is the best thing someone can do to grow smarter. I also know being human is equally as valuable as it allows us to be real. Being human, especially in such a sterile field, is important to make the patient(s) feel safe and able to communicate. When someone walks into the emergency room the first thing they need to do is communicate why they are here. Making an inviting space where people can talk about their issues makes the jobs of everyone on board easier and helps the patient reach a solution faster. This scholarship would help me greatly and I would be so thankful to win it and I promise I will do good with it.
    YOU GOT IT GIRL SCHOLARSHIP
    1. The "YOU GOT IT GIRL" scholarship will help me achieve my goals of being the first in my family to attend and finish college. The money would go to helping me afford college and overall be an amazing addition. 2. I've done ballet, swim, and archery across my life. I did ballet and swim from seven years old to fifteen years old and I've been doing archery since I was twelve. Archery is something I'm super passionate about and have attended competitions with my club/state team where we have placed through NASP. I've become the social media coordinator for our team and became best friends with all the captains on the team and other teams. 3. A time we faced a challenge was when our bows didn't fit the requirements for the competition so thirty minutes beforehand we had to adjust our bows using plastic knives, car keys, and wonky lighters. Even though we were stressed out we kept our cool and managed to finish adjusting in time to compete. This helped our team bond and overcome a tricky situation. 4. Someone I admire was the girl who was coach from my freshman year to my junior year and her name was Eclipse. She is amazing and in every way the perfect leader. She was strict on our skills but never forgot to let us have some fun. Everyday I'd walk in excited to see her and learn from her. Her skills were amazing and usually carried our team to glory. Even when she'd get upset or disappointed she kept her cool pretty well and made sure the team was all good mentally and physically. 5. This scholarship would go towards me affording college and being able to do archery at whichever school accepts me and whichever school I can manage to afford. I would put this money to amazing use and make sure to finish school and bring honor to whichever archery team I am apart of. If there is any remaining money I could also put it towards getting new strings and after I hope to spread hope by teaching more people how to shoot. 6. I really need this scholarship in order to attend college and I believe every cent counts. I've worked incredibly hard on and off the range and want to make sure I can attend the best college I can afford and become the first in my family to graduate. 7. I will one hundred percent pursue archery in college as I've fallen in love with the sport since I saw the Disney movie, "Brave", it makes me feel so peaceful and free and I'd never quit it entirely. I plan to apply to colleges and if they have an archery team try and get into them or maybe create a team on my own.
    Marcia Bick Scholarship
    Growing up as a mixed student is tricky but growing up with mixed cultures is the unnoticed challenge. My family makes me feel like sometimes I'm too white and sometimes I'm too asian. Same as when I'm at school. I work incredibly hard to balance both sides and make it through the day peacefully. I've been in seven clubs, varsity quiz, archery, musicals, nhs, key club, hope squad, fmp/hosa, blood drives, and more events that benefit the community either on or off campus. I've always wanted to go to college to become a doctor or a nurse and help people even more. I've worked so hard every year to do extracurriculars and work hard to keep my GPA high. However, something that I've struggled deeply with is paying for college. The cost of college overall has increased over the years and with this I feel as if my chances of going to the schools I'd love to attend are out of reach. However, I know if I can win some scholarships and apply to everything I'm eligible for I have a chance at being able to attend college without going into massive debt that I'll be stuck with for decades. I want to go to college and live the American dream everyone discusses. I want to be able to afford a house and start a family and help my future generations attend college as well. I will work hard and claw my way to the top if I have to in order to attend college and I'll make sure I do it no matter what. I will work hard no matter what and make sure to better myself and the community around me in order to achieve my goals and this scholarship would help me significantly by helping me afford college what I believe is the gateway to success. Thank you for reading and please consider me for this scholarship.
    Crowned to Lead HBCU Scholarship
    A time I was stronger than I realized was when I had to run a major event at my school called the Color Run. The Color Run is an activity through Hope Squad about mental health awareness through fun games and running around the school throwing colored powder. At this event I was the Vice President of Hope Squad and ran the activities booths. Teaching what Hope Squad was, a peer to peer suicide prevention team, along with how to spread hope through listening and kind words. While I was setting up a girl I've known since freshman year showed up with her mom and started complaining how her booth hadn't been set up yet. Now usually I'm against escalating things but this event everyone worked on since the beginning of the year. I did something I didn't expect myself to do and stood up to her and told her it was her own fault her booth was mixed up since she didn't do the paperwork. She looked shocked that I'd said something and her mom even tried to interfere but luckily my advisor showed up and sorted it out. Afterwards I got really nervous and took a break by myself but then I realized we had planned this event all year and I was about to let a random bully ruin it for me. So, I picked myself up put on a smile and went back outside to help run the event. It took a lot of effort but after the day had finished we had spread so much hope and joy it was worth it. I realized that day I had become an even better leader who wasn't going to let people walk all over her. I have used this to help myself be better at speaking up and making sure to do what my heart tells me and what's right for myself and my peers.
    Sloane Stephens Doc & Glo Scholarship
    My story could be summed up by three key things. Extracurriculars, people, and mistakes, however, those are not unique on their own so I've ought to explain. People have made both good and bad impressions but I've definitely learn from both, more from the bad if anything. My middle school and freshmen year I was timid and got pushed around by people who I thought were my friends. This helped me grow to be a more confident person and to raise my standards in friends. Surrounding myself with diverse people made me see things differently in general and inspired me to lead instead of simply following. Extracurriculars were my favorite part of the school day since middle school. My freshmen year I was apart of seven activities, my schools archery team, varsity quiz, Key Club, Hope Squad, FMP, blood drives, and the school musical. I was also apart of my schools orchestra from freshman year to junior year. These activities tightened my schedule and showed me discipline when it came to making it on time to events and planning things. Since then I've joined NHS which helped me do even more community service. Throughout my time I'm also acquired quite a few positions within this activities. Sophomore year I was my key clubs spirit leader / saa, Hope Squad treasurer, and archery team's social media manager. Junior year I because the vice president of my Hope Squad, stayed my archery team's social media manager, fmp/hosa blood drive coordinator, and overall upped my leadership game. This year, my senior year, I'm on the Hope Squad board as an executive member, the lead for our schools blood drives, still the archery social media manager, and our varsity quiz team's sergeant at arms. These positions allowed me to lead and branch out of my original comfort zone into new fields. Mistakes I've made alone the way are plentiful. I've procrastinated and missed deadlines, I've fought with people who were just trying to help me, and I've forgotten to take care of myself when I needed it most. I guess the point of this story and how these things shaped how I am today is that I've become a more humble person who isn't afraid to make and admit to making mistakes. Overall I'm more resilient when it comes to tough situations that I would've crumbled to in the past and I'm so glad. As a person I believe I've shaped up to be a confident leader who is thankful for everything I've accomplished and for everything and everyone I have in my life. I'm proud of myself as a person and I personally think I do my best in everything I try to do and while it may not be award winning or stellar compared to the masses I know I try my best everyday to be the best version of myself I can be.
    Gregory A. DeCanio Memorial Scholarship
    200+ hours of service, multiple blood drives that saved lives, and HOSA/FMP trainings from professionals. This show's I'm passionate about emergency services and community involvement in multiple ways. To elaborate I've gotten 200 plus hours by volunteering at my church, through NHS, Key Club, and Hope Squad. I love to help people and make sure I do my part to help my community. My passion for emergency services comes from my love for helping people. FMP/HOSA is our schools future medical professionals club and teaches first aid, CPR, how to use a defibrillator, pack a wound a more. I believe these to be essential things as an emergency can happen anywhere at anytime and knowing how to do these basic revival methods are life saving. Through blood drives that I host we average eighty to one hundred and ten donations a drive. If you didn't know one blood donation can save up to three lives and is beneficial for the donor as well. I currently do three blood drives over the summer and four on campus during the school year. Community interest I love to do because one helpful hand can help a community and it's amazing to reach out and help people. It also helps me as I feel rewarded after working hard especially when helping people who really need it. Through key club I volunteered at schools and tutored kids. I also helped run 5th grade dances, parties, and events which gave me experience with working with teachers and kids. Through NHS I made cranes for cancer patients and also volunteered to help people out. In Hope Squad, our peer to peer suicide prevention squad, I made sure to reach out to peers and speak out about mental health. Hope Squad is especially rewarding because I've made so many friends through this and it's been really nice to find a community of people who also want to combat the issue of teen mental health awareness. My educational and career goals aren't in stone. I think I'd like to major in nursing as of now but I've always had the urge to do more, maybe by being a doctor, or doing something I'm also passionate about like becoming a teacher or professor. My dual psychology teacher once told us that he became a teacher in order to pay back education not the system. This is something I feel similar to, I'd love to help the youth in any sort of way somewhere in my life and payback the community essentially. Being a teenage is tough and the good teachers and guidance along the way it would've been way harder to make it through high school so I want to make sure I do something for the future generations. My pursuits will positively impact the communities as I'll be able to help people physically, mentally, or any other form no matter what I do. I would like to say I'm a compassionate person who always puts family and friends above myself or work. Meaning I'd love to dive into a field meant to save lives whether that means physically or mentally solving their sickness. I know I'll do great things wherever I graduate and having this scholarship would help me pay in order to make my dreams come true.
    SnapWell Scholarship
    During middle school I dealt with someone who was in lack of a better words a terrible person. He made me doubt myself in every aspect of my life and lead me into a dark mindset and period of my life. Going into my freshmen year I wanted to help others but didn't make myself a priority and never truly let others in. I learned over time that helping others was great and all but the real problem I needed to face, help, was myself. I wouldn't learn this until my junior year a while after the first bad guy. I learned this harsh truth when I broke up with my first boyfriend. We dated for a year and a few months and it was in the moment an amazing relationship. But then I realized he didn't respect my boundaries and didn't really care about how I felt. He didn't like the same hobbies or things I did and instead of being okay with that or supporting me he took it personally and didn't like me doing my hobbies or made me feel bad about doing so. I realized he didn't really have my interests really in his heart. For my own mental and emotional health I broke things off with him and took time to work on myself. This was incredibly hard at the time but I realized it was the best thing for me to do and oddly enough I don't regret it, as much as I thought I would. I took time for myself and realized how real friends should treat you, partner or regular friend, with respect. Taking time for my physical health came twice. First after realizing my knee was bad and for the betterment of my health I should stop dancing. I took ballet classes for years and loved the things I learned but as I advanced I started to fall behind my peers and eventually realized my knee was weaker than it should've been and would fall out of place. The next time was after my breakup where I started to work out more and explore. Things that I couldn't do I was finally able to do and explore on my own freely. I learned from all these experiences that I can be a stronger and more independent person. It has shaped the way I think about life and my future in all aspects. I want to be a kinder person who helps people and does their part to better society. I also hope that at least one person whether it's a stranger or a family member can be helped by me to avoid similar issues in the future in their own relationships.
    I Can and I Will Scholarship
    I'm a member of Hope Squad, now this might sound off topic but if you're familiar or not familiar I'll give a quick explanation. Hope Squad, is a peer to peer suicide prevention squad that advocates for teen mental health. Last year, my junior year, I served as the vice president and through that saw many mental health struggles and found ways to help those in need. During this I learned I loved helping people and how to be a better listener. My personal experience with mental health was a roller coaster of emotions. In middle school after coming out of COVID which didn't seem to help anyone socialize, I found myself in a parasitic relationship with someone who I thought was my friend. He manipulated me into thinking I wasn't good enough, that I was ugly, stupid, and an overall waste of space. I being the naive and caring person I was allowed him to say these things because I knew he had things going on in his own home life. During this time my mental health struggled and I had a point where I was incredibly sad. I finally built the courage to tell him to stop and blocked him from doing or saying these hurtful things to me. Going into my freshmen year I promised I'd never let that happen again and that I'd work to help others that's when I joined Hope Squad. I never felt like I could talk about what happened with other people and only wanted to focus on helping others. But throughout the years of being apart of Hope Squad I realized I could be open and it made communication easier and it helped people understand my view points better. My experience with mental health influenced my belief that nobody is truly evil or out to harm you but it also taught me there are genuine good people willing to help and listen. Relationship wise after my interesting time in middle school I was extremely and am slightly still afraid of letting people in or fully trusting them. However, I've gotten way better at it so I'll let myself off the hook for that one. As far as it affecting my aspirations it made me want to help people more whether physically as a nurse, doctor, or some other medical professional, or mentally as a therapist, counselor, or school advisor. I'd say overall my experience with mental health as made a stronger person who is better at regulating my emotions and slowly is getting better at letting people in a realizing, I need to help myself first, before helping others.
    "Most Gen Z Human Alive" Scholarship
    Being Gen Z is possibly one of the strangest and amazing generations to be apart of. I know many generations probably have this idea but I'd say as far as technology goes Gen Z has gone through many drastic changes very fast. Growing up buying DVDS and going to Red Boxes outside of Walgreens was wrapping up, things felt more physical and the internet was a balanced place. Now as a teenager going into my senior year everything I do from work, to school, to planning social hangouts is done online. I've even found myself bonding with people through Instagram reels. I feel connected and disconnected to people more than ever. Disconnected because digital communication lacks physicality but closer and connected because I feel as if I can find someone's personality through their Instagram story or a photo dump. Personally, I got into social media later than everyone else and made my account at the end of middle school. When I got it I realized how much it means to people to maintain an "image" or idea. I also saw how it can be used for good by posting missing posters for pets or people who usually are found in a few days since most people at my school have many mutuals. Being in Gen Z is also good as it allows me to talk to people who are far away. For example during the summer my boyfriend goes to Canada which is around a twenty-four hour drive from where we live. Having the ability to send each other reels, messages, and FaceTime makes the distance better as we can share each other photos and stories from our perspectives in real time. Being Gen Z is amazing as it allows me to connect with people no matter where I am.
    Cariloop’s Caregiver Scholarship
    As a first-born, first-gen, wasian, white and asian person, I've learned to be a giver to my family and my community to make my family proud. I am a caretaker of my sister, mother, and father. With my sister I make sure to help her with her schooling and help her socialize. She struggles to socialize and get along with other people so helping her is crucial to avoid her being judged. With my mother I help her around the house and teach her how to use modern technology as she sometimes struggles with it. Finally with my father I try and hang out with him when he's not at work which can be hard as he's gone for long periods of time. Recently, my dog passed away. Charlotte, my French bulldog, was my everything and for seven years I took care of her. Through thick and thin I wanted her life to be the best it possibly could. I cleaned her, fed her, bathed her, and when she started to get sick went with her to surgery and other procedures. I was more than her owner or person but I was her parent. She was the light of my life and the day I lost her I lost a part of myself. Caring after people has shaped me to be a more empathetic person who knows how to read people physically and emotionally. There are unspoken things that are signs someone needs help or a shoulder to cry on and I've learned to master that talent of picking up the signs. Caring for Charlotte, who suffered with bad vision, allergies to every medication I got, and lengthy battles against poor genetics was rough. I learned how to be gentle to someone in recovery and I learned how to try and be happy even in terrible circumstances. The day she passed I made sure that the last thing she saw would be me happily holding her. When I cried from falling, or breaking up, or fighting with family she knew I was sad and would stay by my side. I knew I had to be by her side in her final moments and that was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Receiving this scholarship would help me pay for college and allow me to make better circumstances for my own future and my kids futures. I need this scholarship and anything else I can get especially as my parents told me my college funds have changed drastically to practically zero. I want to pursue a higher education and be the first in my family to graduate and pave a road for my sister and make my family proud.
    David Foster Memorial Scholarship
    Mr. Poleski, my freshmen AP Human Geography teacher. I know I'm not alone in admiring how amazing he is as a teacher and confidant. He was my introduction into high school and as a head of the AP team at my school a person I'll wave goodbye to as I graduate. He made learning more than sitting in a classroom, he made it an experience that used teamwork and creativity to accomplish. He helped push kids to things they'd never imagine accomplishing. He also helped chaperone one of the first field trips I went on and gave me a new sense of freedom. Even though he's a freshmen instructor he's still someone everyone on campus can come to for advice or help. He genuinely cares about his students and makes sure everyone is well physically and even more so mentally. I remember during our freshman year that a student in our class passed away from suicide. He was crushed but even though that was the case he made sure other students were okay and allowed to process it. From my own personal experience to the things I hear from other students he's amazing through and through. Mr. Poleski changed how I approach life in two ways. Firstly, that teachers can and should be a safe space to talk to, but more over he changed how I view myself. He helped us build confidence to take AP exams, while being realistic about our strong suits. He made sure to help us at our lows and remind us to come down to earth if we were getting ahead of ourselves. I remember in his class he would outline for everyone areas they excelled at and needed to improve on. In a world full of teachers who throw a textbook at you and rush off without answering questions having him as one my first instructors in high school gave me hope for the future. Hope that even though these exams were tricky and sometimes I'd get a question I didn't understand, I'd have the confidence to try any idea and work through it. I hope that one day I can be a teacher in a way, someone who helps others grow and learn and feel confident about their abilities even in stressful situations like an AP exam. Mr. Poleski allowed me to view the world as a more empathetic and understanding geographer, that is educated about the world but also the people in it.
    Female Musician Scholarship
    Success is subjective, someone who has never achieved greatness may deem success as simple as making lunch. For some people getting out of bed in the morning is a great success or having the ability to sleep that night. For me someone I look up to in my life that embodies pure success is my father. He works a regular job as a car salesman and clocks in early and comes home late. Even though it's not the most exciting or high paying he enjoys his work. His family came from North Korea, his father escaping at a young age and eventually made enough to allow my father and uncles come to America. The place of opportunities and fresh starts. Since this scholarship is about music I think it's critical to bring up music. I've played the viola for seven years and it has taught me so many things being apart of orchestras for a decent chunk of my life. Having to take responsibility with showing up to rehearsals, concerts, and out of school trips. Making sure to raise funds for the groups trips and overall expenses. Similar to my father I feel like success comes from hard work as a group. Without his team my dad wouldn't be able to sell cars as successfully and without my orchestra group I doubt we would be as coveted and successful. Just last year our top group went to Carnegie Hall and it was due to the support of the entire orchestra program that it was possible. I know some people deem success as how much money someone makes, how nice their things are, how popular they appear, even to who they surround themselves with. But, I believe that success is in the eye of the beholder. It comes with being able to be happy with what is happening in that moment at that moment. When my dad has his occasional day off or manages to come home before everyone is asleep he always shares how "blessed" he feels. Even though we all make jokes at how corny it is, he makes himself and others feel a bit more positive even after a grueling day of work. I hope that one day when I'm older and hopefully with a quote on quote successful job, I'll not only be financially well off to help my parents live peaceful lives in retirement but also to feel "blessed" even after a long day, content with my work.
    Joseph A. Monachino Memorial Scholarship
    Work ethic is important to me because of my family background. Similar to Mr. Monachino my grandfather was an immigrant who had to deal with a challenging situation, leaving North Korea. My grandfather or as I called him, hal-abeoji, also passed away from cancer, leukemia, when I was seven. However, that fueled my passion to help people even more and remember where my family came from. Thus far, my educational journey has been pretty good. I'm going to be a senior and currently I have taken 6 APS, 8 Honors classes, 1 Dual Credit class, and have played an instrument for 7 years, and I plan to take more. From all these challenging courses I learned to never back down and to never give up. No matter how many all nighters I had to do or exams I had to study for I never gave up on trying to do my best even when I knew the odds of success were low. Connected to my educational journey, but that I'd argue made a larger impact on me was my extracurriculars. I've been in my school's musical that won state competition (2023), on my school's Hope Squad for three years, on my school's Key Club (service club) for three years, on my school's Varsity Quiz Team, FMP Club, and Archery Team for three years, plus one year on NHS. Out of these easily my most impactful experiences come from Archery, Hope Squad, and FMP. Through archery I found a team that allowed anyone from expert to beginner to try and shoot. Going to competitions as a team allowed me to cheer on my teammates, practice good sportsmanship, and learn a useful skill. Hope Squad, our school's suicide prevention team, has impacted me heavily. Helping my peers deal with their mental health and on occasion bringing them away from the edge of potential suicide is something that feels so minuscule in the moment but afterwards your hit with the reminder that was a human life you saved with words. Mental health in Nevada was a low priority but with the introduction and popularization of mental health support more lives are being saved. Finally, FMP, the Future Medical Professionals club. Since freshmen year I've been helping the Blood Drive team, a smaller branch of FMP, run blood drives. Next year, as a senior I'm taking over as Blood Drive Coordinator, the highest rank within the blood drive branch. Blood drives, are where we ask for donations from students and the community to donate blood. We have four blood drives during the school year and three during the summer. Each blood donation saves up to three human lives, and that's why it is easily the most impactful experience I've had. Being able to help run these events where we usually get 80-100 donations a drive is so impactful not just to me but to the community. My plan for the future is simple, to help as many people as possible. Currently I'm thinking about becoming a nurse. This would be a blend of who I've become a person who helps the community and has a passion for medicine. This scholarship is important to me as it would help pay for college, I have a blessed life and know how lucky I am. My parents want me to fund college on my own so I know the value of money, meaning I desperately need every scholarship I can get. I would be a first generation student as neither of my parents finished college and would be proud to lead the way for my younger sibling.
    Charles Bowlus Memorial Scholarship
    Cancer sucks. No real way to sugar coat that especially when you lose someone close to you. When I was seven years old I lost my grandfather to leukemia, blood cancer, and it was really difficult. I wish I could've spent more time with him or gotten to know him better. There was always a language barrier between us. He spoke Korean and I spoke English. However, this didn't stop us from hanging out in the summer eating warm peaches by the pool, we'd count bugs and let cicadas and beetles have the leftovers. Those warm memories will always be a reminder of how gentle and kind he was and that no matter how good a person or how bad a person is, it won't determine their outcome. Losing a family member to cancer influenced my career aspirations, making me want to be in a way a cure. Helping people is something I feel good about whether through volunteer work or just being a friend to lean on. I feel like in my generation it can seem like everyone is out for themselves to make the most money, be the most influential, show off the nicer things in life. While I understand that, it doesn't mean helping people isn't possible. I hope to study medicine and help those in need. I would love to be the person who can tell family members of a loved one something can be done to heal or at least extend their mother, father, sister, brother, uncle, aunt, or grandfathers life. Time is so precious and having good health can make or break how much a person has. Other than medicine I've also learned from his death that there are bigger things is life than work. My grandfather was an incredibly hard worker, he defected from North Korea with his father and with some luck and hard work made a better life for my father and eventually moved to the United States of America, a place of opportunity. Even with the struggle of war service, defecting from one of the most, if not the most, dangerous places on the planet, he was still a family man who raised three sons and took care of his wife, my grandmother. He paved their futures and in a way paved mine to be able to have all the opportunities I could possibly have. So not only does his life and his death influence my career aspirations and goals but it affects how I perceive life as a whole.
    Compassion in Action Future Medical Leaders Scholarship
    Being a biracial student, is like being a hotpot. A collage of different traditions and cultures, good and bad from each. It didn't feel like a big deal until high school. It was easier before clicks started to form between asians who could speak the language, those born in the "homeland", and those who looked more the part. As a half Korean and half White student who has more tan skin and is often confused for being Hispanic, Filipino, or something completely different it can be tricky fitting the "classic" mold. Something that added to this pressure was religion and how it felt to be possibly judged for it. In my high school the mormon population is high and sometimes it can affect relationships by not having the same faith or practices. Everyone gets along, and I have plenty of friends no matter belief or race. However, I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel left out when it came to certain things. Sometimes, I felt ignorant for not understanding different religions and I still hope to improve on that by widening my horizons. This hasn't changed my faith though, attending church and being with a community with open arms helps a lot. Even if I'm not among my peers at church I'm among a blessed family that I've been lucky enough to meet. Being biracial is a curse and a blessing. You get the benefits of mixed cultures which opens plenty of doors, but you also have the issue of being "too white" or "too asian". My father was born and raised for a decent part of his life in Korea. I don't speak the language, and I've never actually been. However, that doesn't stop me from practicing traditions in Korean life. When meeting other asian or biracial asian students this can be tricky as some, in a way, whether on purpose or not, find it taboo to not speak the language fully. Another blessing though, is having the ability to relate to my mother's side as well. Dinner is always interesting in our home, sometimes it's traditional meals with rice or kimchi on the side, and on the other side it can be home cooked spaghetti with warm bread. I want to pursue a career in medicine for two reasons. Firstly to help those in need and give to the people. Secondly, for the security of my family so my parents can enjoy life without worries. That is how being a biracial student is and how my relationship with God is still just as strong as it would've been without those hurdles.
    Isabella Lee Student Profile | Bold.org