Doesn’t everyone’s mommy take so much medicine every day? Since I could remember I would watch my mother guzzle down handfuls of pills every morning and night. When I was young, I just thought “this is mommy’s medicine” and that it was a normal part of being a mother. As I got older, I learned the truth - that my mother had to have a kidney transplant the year before she gave birth to me. I learned that she had gotten very sick, very quickly, endured six months of dialysis and then my grandfather donated a kidney to her. My family never made this a big deal to me and tried to treat it as a “normal” part of our lives. It was not until I was older that I really began to understand the severity of my mother’s condition or how it really impacted all of our lives. It was around the time that the COVID pandemic began, that the fragile state of my mother’s health due to her kidney disease and transplant came to fruition for me. Suddenly, we all had to be on high alert as to where we were going, who we were seeing, and what germs we were bringing into the house. I would hear my parents say, this could be deadly if my mother got sick. Suddenly, I was scared. Scared to bring germs into the house, scared for my mother to get sick, and scared for her life. Even when presented with the opportunity to go back into school full time the decision was made for me to continue school online to mitigate possibly bringing home the virus. This impacted my social life, especially being a middle schooler. Viruses and germs continue to impact my social life because I always have to think twice before inviting friends over and make sure they are healthy so that I do not run the risk of my mother getting sick from them. Presently, while I am finishing up my senior year and getting ready to go off to college my mother is on the threshold of once again needing a kidney transplant. Last year when she began to get sick and show signs of going back into kidney failure it began to once again impact our daily lives. She can no longer work full-time as a teacher which impacts us financially. Watching her do one small task and then have to lay down and sleep for hours to recuperate breaks my heart. I am scared of the day when she has to go on dialysis or get another transplant. It just does not seem fair that kidney disease robs my mother and so many others of the ability to enjoy life to the fullest like they should. The Caring for Carrie (C4C) Kidney Advocacy Scholarship would help fund my tuition to reach my goal of a software engineer. As a software engineer, one of my goals is to work on an app that would help kidney patients maintain proper fluid and electrolyte balance within their bodies. I know how carefully my mother has to watch her fluid intake, as well as, her potassium and phosphorus levels. If kidney patients had an easier way to self-monitor these levels at home they not only will feel better but may be able to maintain their kidney function for a longer period of time before having to go on dialysis. Receiving the C4C scholarship, can make it possible for me to help kidney patients around the world feel better and enjoy more quality family time.