As someone whose family has been directly affected by health disparities with black women, I want to advance health equity by becoming a civil rights lawyer. Because Black women's health issues are overlooked, this unfortunate fact led to the deaths of both my aunt and grandmother and has affected people in my immediate family such as my younger sister. My aunt, only 29 years old, passed away due to a heart arrhythmia that should have been caught with a pacemaker. Unfortunately, her doctors dismissed her instances of fainting as being dehydrated and some even thought that she was faking it. Unfortunately, my aunt, a mother to a daughter barely a year old and about to begin her career as a nurse, fainted for the last time and passed away. Her death, although it was well over a decade ago, still disrupts our family. When I was younger, I was so frustrated with our medical system that someone could be brushed off for something that may be insignificant for doctors but can be life or death. My grandmother passed away from a similar cause: health disparities. My grandmother had breast cancer and was able to have some of her cancerous tumors removed by doctors. However, they neglected to remove all of it, and her cancer came back. At this point in her life, she was much weaker and was unable to fight it off. Watching someone you love slowly die in front of you is a horrible feeling. As my grandmother had taken care of my aunt's daughter since her death, it sent shock waves through her, as this was someone who had a role as a mother in her life. Our family had been deeply affected by someone's negligence towards black women, and I had a drive within me to make sure that my reality wasn't someone else's. Growing up, I was always told not to dismiss my health issues in front of doctors, because if you don't take your problems seriously, who will? However, there are times when you're unable to advocate yourself based on your age. My younger sister, who was about 6 years old at the time was diagnosed with double pneumonia. Although she was incredibly sick, a doctor insisted that she'd be fine and it was just the flu. My mother, who refused to accept that answer, ended up taking her to another doctor who revealed that she had double pneumonia. If my mother hadn't insisted on ensuring the health of my sister, she would have died, a fact that I think about constantly. It's incredibly distressing that there are still so many instances of black women not being properly treated for their medical issues. As someone who is currently pursuing not only a degree in political science but also plans to achieve a master's degree in public policy, I want to help current and future black women through our legislature. I also plan to attend law school to become a civil rights lawyer in order to advocate for groups such as myself who have been directly affected by bias in medicine.

When you look at me, you may already make assumptions about who you think I am. You may assume how you think my voice sounds. You may assume how many siblings I have, what animals I like, my grades, or how many friends I have. It's understandable. In a world where we equate people's worth based on their appearance, it makes sense. To answer the hypothetical questions, yes my voice is high. I have one sibling. I love cats. I am incredibly proud of the work I've put in to achieve my grades. I am incredibly blessed to have so many friends that I can trust and support me. A not-so-secret quirk about me is that I love books. I love everything about them. I have a fascination with the way that seemingly random words can come together to form a sentence. I love the way that one book can have such an effect that it could start a war, it could bring peace, could save someone's life, or it even inspire an entirely new way of thinking. It would only be natural that I started my high school year frequenting my high school library. I started to come in so frequently that the librarians knew me by name. Eventually, my librarian offered me the opportunity of library helper. I loved volunteering in my library. I got to be surrounded by books, put books away, and be surrounded by other book lovers. The library was always a place of comfort for me when I was younger. It was a place where the sole purpose was to be a quiet space and to have books. As far as I'm concerned, that's one of humanity's greatest inventions. As one can imagine, volunteering was incredibly therapeutic for me. I was able to help out the library and help out the school. Since volunteering, I've started volunteering at a local library. I'm able to help even more since it isn't in a school setting. As well as helping out at more libraries, I've also grown as a person. Being put in an environment where I'm able to trust my instincts and I know that I have a safe space within my school, I've looked for ways to help out others who may not have this same opportunity as me to have a safe spot in my school. I've become more nurturing as a person and more understanding. The staff at my library are one of my favorite parts of the school. Contrary to many high schoolers, I love school! I have great teachers, a great school building and great friends. I love being involved in clubs, especially Black Student Union, where I am a proud member. BSU is a great club where students can go to relax, do their homework and meet others who share their same interests or passions. As well as loving the clubs that my school has to offer, I love music! I've been in concert, symphonic and marching band throughout high school. Seeing the band grow and change has been one of the best experiences of my high school career. As well as being in the marching band, I've also been section leader for 2 years. Although I love music, my real passion is helping people. Therefore, I'd love to be a therapist. The academic journey to become a therapist is incredibly daunting. As well as obtaining a doctorate, you also have to get a master's, and additional licenses. This scholarship would help ease some of the financial burdens of over 6 years of post-secondary education.