On April 14, 2020, my family huddled silently in front of a laptop in my bedroom. My grandma was in one frame on the screen - my aunt and cousin were in another. Together and apart, we watched my dad, dressed in full PPE, sit at my unconscious grandfather’s bedside in the ICU. He had COVID-19, and in a surreal moment, we were saying our final goodbyes over Zoom. It was the most horrible day I’ve ever lived through – overshadowing even February 14, 2020, just two short months before, when my family lost our home and everything we owned in a devastating house fire. After my grandpa’s death, it was incredibly hard for me to talk about, read about, or watch anything about COVID-19. I was full of emotions I had no idea how to process – anger, fear, sadness, and worst of all, helplessness. One of the most important people in my life had died because we were misinformed and under-educated – and it infuriated me. In time, I got over my aversion to anything COVID-19 related, and was surprised to discover that I was actually fascinated by the world of public health and its big-picture impact on humanity. The pandemic changed life for everyone – but it actually changed the direction of my life. Now, I’m determined to channel my love of math and science – and my painful personal experiences – into becoming an epidemiologist. I intend to find solutions to global health problems, and make a positive difference in the world. I work very hard to maintain my 4.3 GPA and to perform at the highest level in my athletics and extracurricular activities so I can get accepted to a college with a competitive public health program that can put me on the path to achieve these goals. Today, I’m excited about the potential impact I could make through my future work – whether it's continuing to fight the variants of COVID-19, finding ways to slow the spread of re-emerging viruses like monkeypox, or exploring other developing public health threats – like the loss of access to comprehensive reproductive health care on the health of women. One barrier to this dream is the reality that my family is still recovering from the financial strain of our house fire. Both my brother and I will be in college next year, and having to divert funds my parents normally would have been saving for college to reestablish a home has left us in a place no one wants to be in their senior year. My dream is big – but so is the price tag of the education I need to achieve that dream. I know the John J. Costonis Scholarship would make my goals much more attainable, and would greatly relieve the stress and anxiety on my family and I after a really hard two years. But more importantly, it would put me on a path to be able to make a positive difference in the world.. I hope that you’ll consider me as a candidate for this scholarship, so I can continue to work toward my goals.