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.