In this picture it portrays a young health professional with a stethoscope in his hand, eager and ready to make an impact in their community. However, there’s more than meets the eye to this picture. It also exhibits a healthcare professional who cares about his work and is passionate and dedicated to achieving his goal. To me this picture is significant to me for a myriad of reasons from diversifying healthcare to simply being a positive influence in someone's life, this picture reminds me that I can achieve great goals in everything. Firstly, one of the main things that this picture tells me is that this is an example of being a trailblazing change agent in their workforce. For example, I enrolled in a medical assistant program offered through my school district where I achieved the second-highest score district-wide to earn my EKG Technician certification, and one of the few African Americans to receive my CMA certification simultaneously. Furthermore, I plan on continue my pursuit by majoring in nursing this Fall. Currently, in the United States, only 9% of registered nurses are men and only 10% of those are African-American. I want to change these statistics and encourage others to do the same. I have a desire to help those who are ill, injured, or ignored and to encourage wellness for those who are healthy. I want to provide compassionate care and ensure that my patients feel comfortable dialoguing with me. This picture and past experiences have shown me that If I’ve done it before then I can do it again. Therefore, if selected for this scholarship, I promise to pay it forward by mentoring and encouraging others, and by investing my time and talent in underserved communities. Growing up, I have witnessed family members struggle to manage chronic and acute health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, asthma, and cancer. Unfortunately, there are very few healthcare providers and healthcare facilities in the community where my grandmother, aunt and younger cousins live. Due to a lack of access to quality care, some of my family members are struggling to complete their activities of daily living secondary to the chronic effects of unmanaged illness. For example, my grandma went to the hospital for diverticulitis, and although she was treated, she left with new problems as a result of a lack of intentionality, responsibility, and dedication to doing the best job possible. It is really disturbing to see that their health and lifestyle could have been drastically improved, if there was someone who could have intervened sooner or if there were better access to quality care. It hurts me to know that they didn’t have the support that was just outside of arms reach. Trips to help Lousisiana to visit my family have opened my eyes to healthcare disparities that exist in underserved communities. I strongly believe that the neighborhood that you live in should not dictate your health outcomes. I am a firm believer in Luke 12:48 which reads “To whom much is given, much is required”. Moreover, I believe that our God-given talents, skills, knowledge, and time are not for personal benefit alone. For this reason, I will pursue a degree in healthcare and become a trailblazing change agent for my family and in my community. This is my calling and my purpose. As a result, I know that as I begin the next phase of my life I will not deviate from these values because this is how I was raised - “I’m not new to this but I’m true to this”.

Imagine living a life where you never know where your next meal will come from or having to stretch meals for days to slightly subdue your lingering hunger. The North Texas Food Bank(NTXFB) is a nonprofit organization that serves to solve this problem by helping the less fortunate by providing domestic individuals with food that is sustainable and healthy and foreign countries with dehydrated food packs that can be heated up with boiling water to create a delicious, cost-efficient, and nutritious meal, for those who are in hard to reach and low-agricultural areas. Frequently, with the NAACP and Jack and Jill of America, we all come together as groups or separately to encourage our communities to help eradicate the problem of food insecurity. I like volunteering at NTXFB because their main focus has been something that I've seen many people suffer from. Although this may be something only seen in TV commercials, for many people worldwide, this bizarre and unimaginable situation is an unmotivating reality every day. In my own life, I've experienced firsthand how lacking essential tools like food can hinder students' learning due to insufficient nutrient consumption; as a child, I used not to eat enough, causing me to have difficulty some days focusing in class and getting my work done, but also resulting in me being much smaller and skinnier than many of my peers. Knowing this, I feel that it's my duty to help alleviate the effects of food insecurity by combating this problem on the frontlines, so as few people as possible have to encounter this paralyzing circumstance. Additionally, one of the main reasons why this is so prevalent today is because many of the victims of this travesty are raised in an environment where they mainly experience poverty and rarely get the opportunity or assistance needed to improve their socioeconomic status. ending in many people staying at the same socioeconomic level that they were unfortunately born into. However, if everyone made known the gravity of this devastating situation and committed to volunteering or donating consistently, then this highly contractable disease could be honestly stopped dead in its tracks. First of all, doing this will not only help empower future generations and help them not be distracted by trying to figure out when the next time they will get the chance to eat but instead be able to have a distraction-less environment to learn and thrive in. Also, this will help the people of today experiencing this tragic circumstance gain access to a critical resource that can help them make an incredible difference in their communities and surrounding areas. As a result, I committed to assisting this unfortunate population by filling and sealing bags, which essentially the person who fills and packages food paks with delicious dehydrated foods into boxes to be shipped across the globe. I choose to solve this problem because adequate food intake is something significant to me since, without proper nutrition, your hunger can be a debilitating symptom that can hinder your ability to focus, help you transcend yourself and other people's lives around you, and change the world in a meaningful and positive way. Ultimately, this experience has made me more grateful and appreciative of the things that I have been blessed with. Therefore my goal is to help people move from the receiving side to the giving side one step at a time. Hopefully, this will give more people the platform to showcase and share their talents and abilities with the world, making it a better place for everyone.

Imagine living a life where you never know where your next meal will come from or having to stretch meals for days to slightly subdue your lingering hunger. The North Texas Food Bank(NTXFB) is a nonprofit organization that serves to solve this problem by helping the less fortunate by providing domestic individuals with food that is sustainable and healthy and foreign countries with dehydrated food packs that can be heated up with boiling water to create a delicious, cost-efficient, and nutritious meal, for those who are in hard to reach and low-agricultural areas. Frequently, with the NAACP and Jack and Jill of America, we all come together as groups or separately to encourage our communities to help eradicate the problem of food insecurity. I like volunteering at NTXFB because their main focus has been something that I've seen many people suffer from. Although this may be something only seen in TV commercials, for many people worldwide, this bizarre and unimaginable situation is an unmotivating reality every day. In my own life, I've experienced firsthand how lacking essential tools like food can hinder students' learning due to insufficient nutrient consumption; as a child, I used not to eat enough, causing me to have difficulty some days focusing in class and getting my work done, but also resulting in me being much smaller and skinnier than many of my peers. Knowing this, I feel that it's my duty to help alleviate the effects of food insecurity by combating this problem on the frontlines, so as few people as possible have to encounter this paralyzing circumstance. Additionally, one of the main reasons why this is so prevalent today is because many of the victims of this travesty are raised in an environment where they mainly experience poverty and rarely get the opportunity or assistance needed to improve their socioeconomic status. ending in many people staying at the same socioeconomic level that they were unfortunately born into. However, if everyone made known the gravity of this devastating situation and committed to volunteering or donating consistently, then this highly contractable disease could be honestly stopped dead in its tracks. First of all, doing this will not only help empower future generations and help them not be distracted by trying to figure out when the next time they will get the chance to eat but instead be able to have a distraction-less environment to learn and thrive in. Also, this will help the people of today experiencing this tragic circumstance gain access to a critical resource that can help them make an incredible difference in their communities and surrounding areas. As a result, I committed to assisting this unfortunate population by filling and sealing bags, which essentially the person who fills and packages food paks with delicious dehydrated foods into boxes to be shipped across the globe. I choose to solve this problem because adequate food intake is something significant to me since, without proper nutrition, your hunger can be a debilitating symptom that can hinder your ability to focus, help you transcend yourself and other people's lives around you, and change the world in a meaningful and positive way. Ultimately, this experience has made me more grateful and appreciative of the things that I have been blessed with. Therefore my goal is to help people move from the receiving side to the giving side one step at a time. Hopefully, this will give more people the platform to showcase and share their talents and abilities with the world, making it a better place for everyone.

Imagine living a life where you never know where your next meal will come from or having to stretch meals for days to slightly subdue your lingering hunger. The North Texas Food Bank(NTXFB) is a nonprofit organization that serves to solve this problem by helping the less fortunate by providing domestic individuals with food that is sustainable and healthy and foreign countries with dehydrated food packs that can be heated up with boiling water to create a delicious, cost-efficient, and nutritious meal, for those who are in hard to reach and low-agricultural areas. Frequently, with the NAACP and Jack and Jill of America, we all come together as groups or separately to encourage our communities to help eradicate the problem of food insecurity. I like volunteering at NTXFB because their main focus has been something that I've seen many people suffer from. Although this may be something only seen in TV commercials, for many people worldwide, this bizarre and unimaginable situation is an unmotivating reality every day. In my own life, I've experienced firsthand how lacking essential tools like food can hinder students' learning due to insufficient nutrient consumption; as a child, I used not to eat enough, causing me to have difficulty some days focusing in class and getting my work done, but also resulting in me being much smaller and skinnier than many of my peers. Knowing this, I feel that it's my duty to help alleviate the effects of food insecurity by combating this problem on the frontlines, so as few people as possible have to encounter this paralyzing circumstance. Additionally, one of the main reasons why this is so prevalent today is because many of the victims of this travesty are raised in an environment where they mainly experience poverty and rarely get the opportunity or assistance needed to improve their socioeconomic status. ending in many people staying at the same socioeconomic level that they were unfortunately born into. However, if everyone made known the gravity of this devastating situation and committed to volunteering or donating consistently, then this highly contractable disease could be honestly stopped dead in its tracks. First of all, doing this will not only help empower future generations and help them not be distracted by trying to figure out when the next time they will get the chance to eat but instead be able to have a distraction-less environment to learn and thrive in. Also, this will help the people of today experiencing this tragic circumstance gain access to a critical resource that can help them make an incredible difference in their communities and surrounding areas. As a result, I committed to assisting this unfortunate population by filling and sealing bags, which essentially the person who fills and packages food paks with delicious dehydrated foods into boxes to be shipped across the globe. I choose to solve this problem because adequate food intake is something significant to me since, without proper nutrition, your hunger can be a debilitating symptom that can hinder your ability to focus, help you transcend yourself and other people's lives around you, and change the world in a meaningful and positive way. Ultimately, this experience has made me more grateful and appreciative of the things that I have been blessed with. Therefore my goal is to help people move from the receiving side to the giving side one step at a time. Hopefully, this will give more people the platform to showcase and share their talents and abilities with the world, making it a better place for everyone.

For the last quarter of my life, I’ve thought I wanted to be a Biomedical engineer. However, taking a quick survey/ interview with an Ai bot revealed to me what my passion has truly been ever since I came out of the womb: becoming a pediatrician. One of my main drivers of this decision has been that right out of the womb I’ve always been in and out of the doctor's office and have observed what pediatricians do daily. Relying on Bible scriptures like Isaiah 53:8 and 1 Peter 2:24, prayer, and experiencing the joy and relief that comes from coming in sickly and being taken care of firsthand, has been an integral part of choosing this career. In the same way, learning about the body, how it works, how to cure the diseases that plague it, and all of its interesting intricacies has been very exciting and eye-opening as I've traversed my k-12 years. Most importantly, I want to become a pediatrician because it allows me to use what I’ve learned through the years to take the happiness that I received as a child and be able to gift that to other children and parents that I hope to eventually serve, making this career choice feel more like a calling rather than just a career. The main thing that made me realize a pediatrician’s importance is that in healthcare you must learn about the body and how it works, and It turns around and helps you to learn to love and take care of yourself and others. I want to pursue nursing as a pathway to care for others who cannot care for themselves, especially in the pediatric department. This would allow me to apply my dedication to my future career and my commitment to my academics to help others and make the world a better place for all. Lastly, my ultimate goal is to be able to research a new cure for a disease in hopes of helping solve something that is a detriment for most people with God’s help and influence. Also, I want to establish a joint practice in the sense that it will allow me to be financially free, provide a comfortable life for my family, and hopefully create a Medical empire with my relatives and close friends. Most importantly, excelling at whatever I do in a faith-based manner such that my success is recognized in who I truly serve rather than as the doctor myself is very important to me as a person and whatever I do in my life.

For the last quarter of my life, I’ve thought I wanted to be a Biomedical engineer. However, taking a quick survey/ interview with an Ai bot revealed to me what my passion has truly been ever since I came out of the womb: becoming a pediatrician. One of my main drivers of this decision has been that right out of the womb I’ve always been in and out of the doctor's office and have observed what pediatricians do daily. Relying on Bible scriptures like Isaiah 53:8 and 1 Peter 2:24, prayer, and experiencing the joy and relief that comes from coming in sickly and being taken care of firsthand, has been an integral part of choosing this career. In the same way, learning about the body, how it works, how to cure the diseases that plague it, and all of its interesting intricacies has been very exciting and eye-opening as I've traversed my k-12 years. Most importantly, I want to become a pediatrician because it allows me to use what I’ve learned through the years to take the happiness that I received as a child and be able to gift that to other children and parents that I hope to eventually serve, making this career choice feel more like a calling rather than just a career. The main thing that made me realize a pediatrician’s importance is that in healthcare you must learn about the body and how it works. In turn, it helps you to learn to love and take care of yourself and others. I want to pursue nursing as a pathway to care for others who cannot care for themselves, especially in the pediatric department. Maintaining high grades will allow me to show the information I am learning in the material. I sometimes feel like my grades are a reflection of my ability to understand and be excellent at whatever I do. It allows me to show my dedication to my future career and my commitment to my academics. My long-term dream is to research a new cure for a disease in hopes of helping solve something that is a detriment for most people with God’s help. Also, I want to establish a joint practice that will allow me to be financially free, provide a comfortable life for my family, and hopefully create a Medical empire with my relatives and close friends. Most importantly, excelling at whatever I do in a faith-based manner such that my success is recognized in who I truly serve rather than as the doctor myself is very important to me and whatever I do in my life. All in all, in life I want to be someone who is known for following and sharing Christ unapologetically, being dedicated and driven to achieve my goals, and someone who is a leader, chill, personable, respectful, and loving to everyone I meet. I’ve worked towards these goals through high school by consistently being on the Dean’s list at Dallas College, becoming the President of the North East Dallas Chapter of Jack & Jill Inc., accumulating over 600 hours of community service, and most importantly cultivating a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ above all else, just to name a few. Romans 8:38, one of my favorite Bible scriptures, states “If God is for us, then who can be against us?” is so important to me because it serves as a daily reminder that no matter what I go through, as long as I keep God first, then nothing will ever be able to stop me from living the fulfilling life that God wants me to live.

For the last quarter of my life, I’ve thought I wanted to be a Biomedical engineer. However, taking a quick survey/ interview with an Ai bot revealed to me what my passion has truly been ever since I came out of the womb: becoming a pediatrician. One of my main drivers of this decision has been that right out of the womb I’ve always been in and out of the doctor's office and have observed what pediatricians do daily. Relying on Bible scriptures like Isaiah 53:8 and 1 Peter 2:24, prayer, and experiencing the joy and relief that comes from coming in sickly and being taken care of firsthand, has been an integral part of choosing this career. In the same way, learning about the body, how it works, how to cure the diseases that plague it, and all of its interesting intricacies has been very exciting and eye-opening as I've traversed my k-12 years. I want to become a pediatrician because it allows me to use what I’ve learned to take the happiness that I received as a child and gift that to other children and parents that I hope to serve, making this career feel more like a calling rather than just a career. Additionally, In life, I want to be someone who is known for following and sharing Christ unapologetically, dedicated and driven to achieve my goals, and someone who is a chill, personable, respectful, responsible, and loving leader to everyone I meet. I’ve worked towards these goals throughout my life by consistently being on the Dean’s list at Dallas College, becoming the President of the North East Dallas Chapter of Jack & Jill, accumulating over 600 hours of community service, and most importantly cultivating a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ above all else, just to name a few. Furthermore, being awarded this scholarship will help provide me with the peace and stability of not having to worry about if have enough money to continue school, but instead allow me to focus on doing the best I can in school and foster lifelong relationships that I wouldn’t have otherwise. Lastly, Romans 8:38, one of my favorite Bible scriptures, which states that “If God is for us, then who can be against us?” is so important to me because it serves as a daily reminder that no matter what I go through in life, as long as I keep God first, then nothing will ever be able to stop me from living the fulfilling life that God wants me to live. Overall, during this unforeseen and bumpy period in my life the soft skills that I have acquired through my relationship with God, and throughout these past couple of years have not only helped me grow as a person; but also establish a courageous, flexible, persistent, resilient, and patient mindset; changing my perspective about life from hopeless to hopeful; which has been the ultimate driver in my decision to pursue a career in the field of nursing.

Imagine it’s after school and you’re riding home on the bus. Routinely, most of the people have gotten off. Consequently, the subtle but well-known metallic, leathery, industrial aroma of the bus begins to fill your nostrils, and the smoothness of the bus ride with all its calming and relaxing sways and bumps induces an irresistible rush of sleepiness, bringing you into a relaxing slumber as you watch the buildings, street signs, and lavish houses go by. Suddenly, the bus violently sways just a little too hard, and yielding to the laws of physics, your body leans to the side. Boom! You aggressively hit your head on the metal window frame inducing a wave of concussion symptoms. Shortly after notifying my parents about this grievance we all loaded up into the car, and headed for the emergency room; upon arrival and close careful examination of my head, mental functions, and capabilities, I received the diagnosis: six words that I hoped to never hear, “It’s likely you have a concussion.” At this moment it felt like my world had been shaken again. I’ve had 3 concussions before this when I was 6 months, 14 years, and 15 years old, and at that moment round 4 commenced. Ready. FIGHT! 2 months into this grueling battle a sneaky breach of normalcy launched a full-blown attack on my psychological health and wellbeing. I hadn’t recovered from the concussion when OCD hit me with a clean haymaker, knocking me out of the ring. However, I refused to give up or tap out; fighting for my peace, calmness, and clarity of thought, I began searching for strategies to combat these elusive and damaging symptoms. Through the power of prayer and faith, on January 8th at 2 PM, there was a powerful, fierce, relieving, and life-changing knockout punch delivered to my concussion symptoms. 1…2…3. Win: Jackson Abernathy! I walked out of my room, relieved, at peace, and delivered, I declared “I’m made whole again… this was all worth it’….’ Thank You Jesus Christ’”. In conclusion, for the last quarter of my life, I’ve thought I wanted to be a Biomedical engineer. However, after being interviewed by an Ai bot, it revealed what my passion has truly been ever since I came out of the womb: becoming a pediatrician. Having a history of being sickly as a child, and experiencing what it's like to be treated by a pediatrician firsthand, has pushed me to pursue becoming a pediatrician because it'll allow me to use what I’ve learned to take the happiness that I received as a child and gift that same joy to others that I hope to eventually serve, making this career feel like a calling rather than just a career. Additionally, I want to be known for following Christ unapologetically, dedicated to achieving my goals, and a chill, personable, respectful, and responsible leader. I’ve worked towards these goals by consistently being on the Dean’s list at Dallas College, becoming the President of my Jack & Jill chapter, accumulating over 600 hours of community service, and most importantly cultivating a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ above all else, just to name a few. Overall, during this unforeseen and bumpy period in my life the soft skills that I have acquired through my relationship with God, and throughout these past couple of years of brain injuries have not only helped me grow as a person; but also establish a courageous, flexible, persistent, resilient, and patient mindset; changing my perspective about life from hopeless to hopeful; which has been the ultimate driver in my decision to become a pediatrician.

Imagine it’s after school and you’re riding home on the bus. Routinely, most of the people have gotten off. Consequently, the subtle but well-known metallic, leathery, industrial aroma of the bus begins to fill your nostrils, and the smoothness of the bus ride with all its calming and relaxing sways and bumps induces an irresistible rush of sleepiness, bringing you into a relaxing slumber as you watch the buildings, street signs, and lavish houses go by. Suddenly, the bus violently sways just a little too hard, and yielding to the laws of physics, your body leans to the side. Boom! You aggressively hit your head on the metal window frame inducing a wave of concussion symptoms. Shortly after notifying my parents about this grievance we all loaded up into the car, and headed for the emergency room; upon arrival and close careful examination of my head, mental functions, and capabilities, I received the diagnosis: six words that I hoped to never hear, “It’s likely you have a concussion.” At this moment it felt like my world had been shaken again. I’ve had 3 concussions before this when I was 6 months, 14 years, and 15 years old, and at that moment round 4 commenced. Ready. FIGHT! 2 months into this grueling battle a sneaky breach of normalcy launched a full-blown attack on my psychological health and wellbeing. I hadn’t recovered from the concussion when OCD hit me with a clean haymaker, knocking me out of the ring. However, I refused to give up or tap out; fighting for my peace, calmness, and clarity of thought, I began searching for strategies to combat these elusive and damaging symptoms. Through the power of prayer and faith, on January 8th at 2 PM, there was a powerful, fierce, relieving, and life-changing knockout punch delivered to my concussion symptoms. 1…2…3. Win: Jackson Abernathy! I walked out of my room, relieved, at peace, and delivered, I declared “I’m made whole again… this was all worth it’….’ Thank You Jesus Christ’”. As a result, for the last quarter of my life, I’ve thought I wanted to be a Biomedical engineer. However, after being interviewed by an Ai bot, it revealed what my passion has truly been ever since I came out of the womb: becoming a pediatrician. Relying on Bible scriptures like Isaiah 53:8, 1 Peter 2:24, and prayer, I want to become a pediatrician because it allows me to use what I’ve learned to take the happiness that I received as a child and gift that same joy to other children and parents that I hope to serve, making this career feel like a calling rather than just a career. Additionally, In life, I want to be someone who is known for following Christ unapologetically, dedicated to achieving my goals, and a chill, personable, respectful, and responsible leader. I’ve worked towards these goals by consistently being on the Dean’s list at Dallas College, becoming the President of the North East Dallas Chapter of Jack & Jill, accumulating over 600 hours of community service, and most importantly cultivating a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ above all else, just to name a few. Lastly, noticing the resilience that my parents have exhibited in their lives built on a foundation of HBCUs has inspired me to want to go to an HBCU as well. Personally, I want to go to North Carolina A&T because I’ve witnessed their campus life and culture firsthand; furthermore, they’re one of the best fitting HBCUs, where I can further my education, while also creating lifelong relationships.

For the last quarter of my life, I’ve thought I wanted to be a Biomedical engineer. However, taking a quick survey/ interview with an Ai bot revealed to me what my passion has truly been ever since I came out of the womb: becoming a pediatrician. One of my main drivers of this decision has been that right out of the womb I’ve always been in and out of the doctor's office and have observed what pediatricians do daily. Relying on Bible scriptures like Isaiah 53:8 and 1 Peter 2:24, prayer, and experiencing the joy and relief that comes from coming in sickly and being taken care of firsthand, has been an integral part of choosing this career. In the same way, learning about the body, how it works, how to cure the diseases that plague it, and all of its interesting intricacies has been very exciting and eye-opening as I've traversed my k-12 years. Mainly, I want to become a pediatrician because it allows me to use what I’ve learned to take the happiness that I received as a child and gift that to other children and parents that I hope to serve, making this career feel more like a calling rather than just a career. Additionally, In life, I want to be someone who is known for following and sharing Christ unapologetically, dedicated and driven to achieve my goals, and someone who is a chill, personable, respectful, responsible, and loving leader to everyone I meet. I’ve worked towards these goals throughout my life by consistently being on the Dean’s list at Dallas College, becoming the President of the North East Dallas Chapter of Jack & Jill, accumulating over 600 hours of community service, and most importantly cultivating a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ above all else, just to name a few. Furthermore, being awarded this scholarship will help provide me with the peace and stability of not having to worry about if have enough money to continue school, but instead allow me to focus on doing the best I can in school and foster lifelong relationships that I wouldn’t have otherwise. Lastly, Romans 8:38, one of my favorite Bible scriptures, which states that “If God is for us, then who can be against us?” is so important to me because it serves as a daily reminder that no matter what I go through in life, as long as I keep God first, then nothing will ever be able to stop me from living the fulfilling life that God wants me to live.

For the last quarter of my life, I’ve thought I wanted to be a Biomedical engineer. However, taking a quick survey/ interview with an Ai bot revealed to me what my passion has truly been ever since I came out of the womb: becoming a pediatrician. One of my main drivers of this decision has been that right out of the womb I’ve always been in and out of the doctor's office and have observed what pediatricians do daily. Relying on Bible scriptures like Isaiah 53:8 and 1 Peter 2:24, prayer, and experiencing the joy and relief that comes from coming in sickly and being taken care of firsthand, has been an integral part of choosing this career. In the same way, learning about the body, how it works, how to cure the diseases that plague it, and all of its interesting intricacies has been very exciting and eye-opening as I've traversed my k-12 years. Mainly, I want to become a pediatrician because it allows me to use what I’ve learned to take the happiness that I received as a child and gift that to other children and parents that I hope to serve, making this career feel more like a calling rather than just a career. Additionally, In life, I want to be someone who is known for following and sharing Christ unapologetically, dedicated and driven to achieve my goals, and someone who is a chill, personable, respectful, responsible, and loving leader to everyone I meet. I’ve worked towards these goals throughout my life by consistently being on the Dean’s list at Dallas College, becoming the President of the North East Dallas Chapter of Jack & Jill, accumulating over 600 hours of community service, and most importantly cultivating a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ above all else, just to name a few. Furthermore, being awarded this scholarship will help provide me with the peace and stability of not having to worry about if have enough money to continue school, but instead allow me to focus on doing the best I can in school and foster lifelong relationships that I wouldn’t have otherwise. Lastly, Romans 8:38, one of my favorite Bible scriptures, which states that “If God is for us, then who can be against us?” is so important to me because it serves as a daily reminder that no matter what I go through in life, as long as I keep God first, then nothing will ever be able to stop me from living the fulfilling life that God wants me to live.

Imagine it’s after school and you’re riding home on the bus. Routinely, most of the people have gotten off. Consequently, the subtle but well-known metallic, leathery, industrial aroma of the bus begins to fill your nostrils, and the smoothness of the bus ride with all its calming and relaxing sways and bumps induce an irresistible rush of sleepiness, bringing you into a relaxing slumber as you watch the buildings, street signs, and lavish houses go by. Suddenly, the bus violently sways just a little too hard, and yielding to the laws of physics, your body leans to the side, and then boom! You aggressively hit your head on the metal window frame inducing a wave of dizziness and other concussion symptoms. Shortly after notifying my parents about this grievance we all loaded up into the car, and headed for the emergency room; upon arrival and close careful examination of my head, mental functions, and capabilities, I received the diagnosis, and it was the six words that I hoping to never hear, “It’s likely you have a concussion.” At this moment it felt like my world had been shaken again. I’ve had 3 concussions prior to this when I was 6 months old, 14 years old, and 15 years old, and at that moment round 4 commenced. Ready. FIGHT! Around 2 months into this grueling battle an unexpected and sneaky breach of normalcy had launched a full-blown attack on my psychological health and wellbeing. I had not recovered from the concussion when the OCD hit me with a clean haymaker, knocking me out of the ring; I couldn’t go to sleep yet I struggled to wake resulting in multiple tardies, a lack of concentration, and full-blown panic attacks. However, I refused to give up or tap out; I was determined to push on, fighting for my peace, calmness, and clarity of thought while searching for strategies to combat these elusive and damaging symptoms from multiple head injuries. However, on January 8th at 2 PM, I was ready to fight this battle with all my might and I retreated to my room to pray. Through the power of prayer and faith, there was a breakthrough, a powerful and enlightening knockout punch. 1…2…3. Ning! NIng! Ning! I walked out of my room, relieved, at peace, and delivered, declaring “I’m made whole again… this was all worth it.” Overall, this unforeseen and bumpy period in my life the soft skills that I have acquired from it through my relationship with God, and throughout these past couple of years of brain injuries have not only helped me grow as a person; establish a more courageous, flexible, persistent, resilient, and patient mindset; changed my perspective on life from hopeless to hopeful; and have helped me tremendously in continually coming out triumphant over all of the trials and tribulations that I’ve faced in my life. Lastly, I’ll never forget that with God no matter what you go through or what you may face in life, always remember that if you put your faith and trust in God then you will never have to worry about anything because you will always overcome and have victory over with, through, for, and because of God in your situation even when it seems impossible, or that all hope is lost, make sure you run to and cling onto God, and know that God has your back in everything no matter what and that everything will be alright. Thank You Jesus Christ.

For the last quarter of my life, I’ve thought I wanted to be a Biomedical engineer. However, taking a quick survey/ interview with an Ai bot revealed to me what my passion has truly been ever since I came out of the womb: becoming a pediatrician. One of my main drivers of this decision has been that right out of the womb I’ve always been in and out of the doctor's office and have observed what pediatricians do daily. Relying on Bible scriptures like Isaiah 53:8 and 1 Peter 2:24, prayer, and experiencing the joy and relief that comes from coming in sickly and being taken care of firsthand, has been an integral part of choosing this career. In the same way, learning about the body, how it works, how to cure the diseases that plague it, and all of its interesting intricacies has been very exciting and eye-opening as I've traversed my k-12 years. Mainly, I want to become a pediatrician because it allows me to use what I’ve learned to take the happiness that I received as a child and gift that to other children and parents that I hope to serve, making this career feel more like a calling rather than just a career. Additionally, In life, I want to be someone who's known for following and sharing Christ unapologetically, dedicated, and driven to achieve my goals, and someone who is a chill, personable, respectful, responsible, and loving leader to everyone I meet. I’ve worked towards these goals throughout my life by consistently being on the Dean’s list at Dallas College, becoming the President of the North East Dallas Chapter of Jack & Jill, accumulating over 600 hours of community service, and most importantly cultivating a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ above all else, just to name a few. Furthermore, being awarded this scholarship will help provide me with the peace and stability of not having to worry about if have enough money to continue school, but instead allow me to focus on doing the best I can in school and foster lifelong relationships that I wouldn’t have otherwise. Lastly, Romans 8:38, one of my favorite Bible scriptures, which states that “If God is for us, then who can be against us?” is so important to me because it serves as a daily reminder that no matter what I go through in life, as long as I keep God first, then nothing will ever be able to stop me from living the fulfilling life that God wants me to live.