My name is Kalei Maldonado, I'm the oldest daughter in a hispanic family, have spent most of my life in the family business hustle, and will be the first in my family to become a medical doctor once I graduate college. I've had high highs and very low lows throughout my life, but one thing that has been very consistent in my life is how tight my family and I become and how stronger our bond is when one of us is going through a struggle. Wether the struggles are physical, mental, or even financially we've managed to always be there for each other, and I've held myself to a high standard in making sure that I'm always there for those who need a helping hand. Which is why I've always had such a strong passion in working within a community. I have a huge passion in helping large groups of people, informing others to better their life, and creating an environment where everyone in this community can feel strong and healthy. With these passions I've realized that even at a young age I've loved anything to do with anything medicine, and it was no question that I knew I wanted to become a doctor. When I was younger I was always a curious girl and during my medical appointments I would always ask my doctor about what is was that they were doing and what each instrument was for. And as I've grown older and spent more time with myself on where I want to take my future I've decided that I truly do want it to be focused on helping others and the community. I love helping others, working in social groups, and to know that there is a path where I can better someone's health is a path I would love to take. I've spent so much of my life seeing how much of an impact it is when you help others and how beautiful it can be to create that safe and strong community. From volunteering at Habitat of Humanity here in Colorado to seeing the beautiful relationship continuing to grow from my families business; I know that I want to invest my future into becoming a doctor that has that focus of loving their patients, creating strong bonds with those that need my help, and having a community where we all can hold each others hand when life gets hard.

To me, community service doesn't just mean helping those in need in your community or offering a helping hand, but instead it means creating and building a better, safe, and strong environment for the future of our community. I don’t see community service as a one time help, but instead a help that will hopefully be appreciated for those in the future. When I think about community service in this mindset it makes it easy to build a stronger community through a big or smaller lens. I can recycle at home, or donate to an organization that will help thousands! I can offer to volunteer at my local shelter, or decide to cook a meal for a family in need. The focus of community service for me isn't about how big or small it is; but instead how good of a helping hand it can be for those in the future of our community. In Longmont, Colorado we have an organization called the Habitat for Humanity, where my family and I decided to help for almost more than a year. In this organization we help those in need of a comforting home. From helping those in construction with the houses being built, or helping with the weeds in order to help the builders start their building, we did it all. It was at that moment that I then realized I was going to help a future community, those in the future who were in need of a home, and hopefully these houses can help create a safe and welcoming environment for the next generations that get to live in those homes. Because I believe that community service means building and creating a safe, better, and strong environment for the FUTURE of our community I would love to become a doctor and be a part of taking care of the health for our future generations. I plan on becoming specifically a Family Doctor, a person where others can come to me, and I can guide them on having the best possible health for their future and onward. I find it beautiful and truly an honor that I get to start an education that can lead me to that path, a path where I wouldn’t be stuck in helping one single community, but helping as many as I can to better their health for the future. I believe that with this scholarship it would truly be a great step into my future, to then better the health of other communities, and their future generations.

I have lived a very blessed and privileged life. Knowing the hardships that both my parents have endured when they were my age has made me beyond grateful to know that God has put me on a path where I’m able to attend a university unlike both my parents. Everyday I wake up, thanking God that he has given my family all the energy and effort that they have used in order to give my sister and I such a blessed and beautiful life. I know not everyone has the opportunity to go to college; wether it be because they can’t afford it or because it simply isn’t an option, and to know that I have such a large and fortunate opportunity to graduate high school and start my academic career in college is all the more reason for me to go. My family life has always been centered around our faith, we know that everything that has happened throughout our life have been lessons sent out by God and we believe that all the hardships we’ve gone through in our life have a meaningful purpose that was sent by God. Although in the moment we sometimes forget that these hardships are sent from God, we come around, regroup, and have even a stronger sense of belief because every time we see that beautiful light at the end of the tunnel. During the summer of 2025 my family and I had the opportunity to volunteer for the Habitat of Humanity here in Longmont Colorado. Their goal and vision was to ultimately help families in need have a safe home to live in, with our focus being in how God wants us to live in a place where love and safety is provided 24/7. From helping with construction to painting and doing it all with my parents and younger sister has opened my eyes again to realize and know how blessed we are again to even have a home to go to at the end of the day. I know that some days are harder than others, but when you put yourself in the shoes of thoses who are less fortunate by even a small bit; it truly opens your eyes to see how many blessing we’re given by God every moment of the day. From the second you open your eyes to start your day, every breath you take, and every emotion you share with those you love my faith is forever continuously growing. And I hope I continue to build a strong foundation with my family and God as I continue my journey to college.

I have a ton of goals that I would love to achieve, from earning a degree to become a doctor to hopefully creating a platform where millions of people my age can have a safe and comfortable community to share our health and wellness goals; I would love to be able to continue to work towards these goals as I continue my academic journey through Colorado State University. I’ve found that at a young age I’ve loved everything to do with helping people, specifically in the medical/nutritional aspect. I would learn and read studies about how different diets help with specific problems, the importance of taking care of yourself through movement, and to prioritize multiple things to continue a heathy and long lifestyle. And it started to become well known that I had obtained a tremendous amount of information through all of my research and reading that I had done, which caused people within my community to come to me for advice! Of course, I wasn’t their primary medical person to go to, but whenever someone like my dad or younger sister had a question about a certain macronutrient or a specific exercise to help them with something; I was always the first person that they would go to. I never minded this and I instead embraced this passion that I had, the passion that I had on health and wellness continued on through the summer of 2025, and when I would help volunteer at the Habitat of Humanity located here in Colorado, I would be quick to inform the others who were volunteering on how to prevent injuries. A huge majority of our work was within the construction group so I wanted to give advice on how to make sure we could prevent back injuries, making sure to hold heavy items with a correct posture, and throwing reminders on how to fuel ourselves after working with the hot sun. Me trying to help my family, friends, and people that I work with has inspired me to want to help anybody and everybody. I at a young age knew that I wanted to be a doctor, but I never realized my why was because I genuinely enjoy helping others. Knowing that I can make a positive difference in their life with their physically self is something so beautiful and would give me such a meaningful accomplishment in my life. My goal to create a platform to help others with their physical and nutritional journey would be just as meaningful for me, knowing that even at a young age I was already trying to learn as much as I can so that I can help those close to me; and to think that I could then help hopefully thousands of strangers would be the ultimate goal.

At the age of 15 it was a very pivotal time for me, I was stuck between two roads; continuing to follow an unhealthy way of living or start my journey towards showing up for my health both nutritionally and physically. I knew that if i continued to live an easy life it wouldn’t necessarily mean it was going to be the healthiest for me. My nutrition was absolutely horrible and at the time I didn’t understand that if I didn’t fuel myself with the proper nutrients, my mental and physical health was going to decline as well. As a result, I decided that I had to push myself towards a healthier, stronger, and better future. I started researching about my diet as a whole, my poor sleep quality, the zero to almost no movement at all, and started to realize how they were all connected to each other. If one thing wasn’t prioritized in my life, it would create a domino effect to my overall health. From my depression to how I would only eat ultra-processed snacks, I truly realized it was all connected. So throughout the summer of 2023, I practiced healthy habits. I didn’t have a nutritionist to tell me what to do and what to avoid, but I studied and learned the habits I needed to learn in order to have a healthy strong future. From not doing cardio to finally moving everyday for 30 to even 45 minutes. I stopped consuming foods that was highly processed and instead prioritized a diet where I would have Whole Foods instead, and finally started to take my sleep seriously. Doing this alone wasn’t the easiest, especially because I was learning as I was going. Some things didn’t work out for me, other times I was pushing myself too hard and was getting overwhelmed by all the information I was consuming. Yet, I didn’t let that stop me from my goal, which was to better my physical health, my mental health, and have a solid nutrition for myself. At times I wonder how life would’ve been different if I had a nutritionist to help me and tell me what to avoid or do. Other times I wondered if I could’ve reached my goals quicker if I had a nutritionist to guide me towards my goals. And what I realized by the time that I had finally reached my goals of being able to sleep consistently for 8 hours, going from 160 pounds to 130 pounds at 16 years old, and having a Whole Foods diet was that I truly felt stronger. I had so much clarity and at the end of the day was able to love myself because of all the positive work I’d done for myself. And it made me realize that this feeling of love and accomplishment should be shared and everyone should feel this way about themselves. If I was awarded for this scholarship it would assist me in pursuing a certification to become an RDN. It would allow me to help and guide others towards a path that can better their future, and in hopes allow them to feel what I felt when I was able to achieve my goals in bettering myself and my nutrition.

Middle school was a period of my life where I would define it as a time of multiple failures hitting me in the face. It was the time where the world seemed to freeze and stop because of Covid-19, and it became a time in my life where I had nowhere else to look but up. Before I had entered sixth grade, I would hear stories about the “iconic” middle school experience. The older girls would describe it as something so mindblowing, where they finally “grew up” and were viewed as young adults. However, when it was finally my turn, it became a time where I would view myself as only a failure. During the first semester of sixth grade, before lockdown had begun, I realized how difficult the year was going to be. Homework would slowly start to pile up, and I would spend nights overthinking and becoming overwhelmed with all things middle school. And when Covid finally forced us to go into quarantine, my world shrank and became a computer screen. Then arrived seventh grade, the year where I found myself in pure isolation. Going to school through a computer screen felt like a complete void. I was in my room, physically alone, stressed, and disassociated from what my teachers would try to teach me. I was emotionally adrift, I wouldn't understand anything that my teachers would try to teach me, which would result in F’s. I knew I was always an overachiever so when I would only receive F’s in my assignments, tests, and even homework I would only view myself as a failure. Finally eighth grade arrived and when I was expecting relief from all things pandemic, it never arrived. I felt a pull from a void that developed from the years before. The thoughts of me feeling like a failure continued to punch me in the face, and it was showing in all my exams, assignments, and work that teachers would give me. The years before created a domino effect for me, all the bad habits I built throughout the years tumbled down to me, and caused me to ultimately feel like the biggest failure in my whole school. Everyone seemed to understand everything in my classes, whereas I was in the back of the class, notes empty, eyes tired from my sleepless nights, and the thoughts surrounding my mind, “failure, disappointment, lazy.” I knew I had to handle this heavy feeling of failure by admitting to myself that I couldn't climb out of this hole alone. I couldn't dig the hole anymore and instead looked up and dragged myself up if I had to. Overcoming all these bad habits I had built wasn't going to be easy, wasn’t going to be quick, and was going to be something that takes time. I had to flip the narrative of calling myself a failure and instead call myself a learner. I had to learn that failing wasn't negative, but instead a way to learn. I learned how “failing” was essential to truly learn anything and everything. To this day I have not reached the success of never failing, but instead achieved a self worth where I don’t call myself a failure. I learned that I don’t fail, but learn how to redirect myself into finding resilience.