I am both ashamed and proud of my determination. Despite being told science wasn’t for me, I continue taking interest. Despite being told I was not smart enough to be a doctor, I am continuing my education in the pre-med track. Science has been my favorite subject since the leap day of 2008 when I found out the orbit of Earth around the Sun was the reason for the extra day in February. I fell in love with science, though it kicked me in the face at every step. I fail more times than I care to admit. Concepts that seem easy to others have me cracking my head open at midnight. With all the determination I have in me, I study to master the concepts. I became really secure with my abilities in science. My determination is certainly something that I pride myself with. Though my determination is something I feel pride for, it is also something I feel ashamed of. I feel ashamed that I believe I can accomplish my goals. Admitting to people that I really believed I had a chance at a career in STEM always came with the possibility that I would get a laughing response.These reactions made me doubt if I was good enough to achieve my goals. These laughs, I realized, diminished with every step towards my goal I accomplished. Proving my peers and superiors wrong became a pattern with each increasing accomplishment. Looking into the inequities that people of color face in the medical field, both as workers and patients, only fueled my passion. I want to be part of the increasing diversity in the medical field. I want to be an example for the youth to follow in the future. More than anything I want to create a safe space for patients. Joining the mental wellness committee at my school and being part of establishing the first student-led wellness center not only helped me get to a better place mentally, but gave me the confidence to continue in my journey to pursue a higher education. I will always find moments where I am ashamed of my determination, however it is not something I experience often anymore. Without it, I would not have the resilience to take on a career in science. When feeling ashamed of my determination, I am constantly reminded everything I put my mind to is within my reach.

Being open-minded is the epitome of being educated. To never reject an idea, to always accept facts. Being open-minded is not only important to achieve success in the science field, but to achieve success in life. Just how people shifted their views from believing the Earth was flat to being round, I want to make sure I can adjust to any advancements made in life. This means not to cling on to beliefs proven wrong. The fear of being wrong is something that holds people back, and to live up to my potential, my open-mindedness needs to overshadow that fear. In 2019 I had a life changing encounter, not only for me, but for my best friend. Scared for rejection from friends and family, she kept her sexuality a secret for years One day as we were watching a movie she blurted out, “I am bisexual.” Seeing her eyes in fear of what my reaction would be broke my heart completely and I could not understand why. At that moment I did not know what to say, so instead I hugged her. The lack of security she had while telling me made me feel not only like a terrible friend, but a terrible member of society. Not being explicitly homophobic is not always enough to make others in the LGBTQ+ community feel safe and welcome. She told me, “Since you never expressed your thoughts, I had no idea what your reaction would be.” From that day on I made sure all my friends knew my stance on the LGBTQ+ community, and on many subjects pertaining to rights and society. I do not want others to be scared to tell me things. I want to create a welcoming and safe space for them to express their thoughts. The biggest part of achieving this would be to keep an open mind. Not only do I want to keep an open mind in my field, but in life too. I want to be informed of what's going on in the world, of others’ cultures, and of others’ lives. Being open-minded means not judging someone for their beliefs, sexuality, gender, and past actions, and being there for them no matter what. I always try to understand others’ point of view and consider everyone’s opinion valid. Part of life is to continue learning, expanding your mind. If at any point I believe I am done learning, my education would have been a botched effort.