When it comes to schoolwork, I can typically reign the controls of my assignments and get them done pretty quickly. But when I’m not in control, my world begins to deteriorate. I usually go into panic mode because I don’t understand what the question is asking and my anxiety takes over my psyche. I then began to procrastinate as a coping mechanism of relaxing and trying to calm myself down. But that only ever makes it worse by leaving me less time and forcing to speed through what I’ve got. Throughout school, this happened to me quite frequently and it kept me stuck sometimes with those horrid letter ‘B’s. Every day felt exigent, like any minute the world would erupt like Pompeii. Every task I was assigned, every question that was asked, and every note I was told to play felt critical. If I messed up, that was it. I would be sent to exile, never to return home. There's been too many instances in my life where I wanted to drown, like shutting down and not speaking during interviews because I felt like nothing I said made since and almost cried, quieting and almost stopping auditions because I felt like every eye was shooting me down, not eating for weeks because of the thought of the past coming back to get me, and even missing the first day of high school because deep down I was internally panicking and didn't even realize it although everyone else could and was worried. Despite all that I've gone through, I have found a couple of alternatives for some of the milder episodes. Plus the idea of having something to look forward can push you on in life and not make me want to go backwards if you know what I mean. This is the main reason why I want to become a pharmacist. I know so many have anxiety and go through excruciating times like me and there's so much to live for and do in this world. I want to guide people on their journey in the right direction and stop them from abusing drugs for motivation. When I get my degree in 5 years using the fast track program at my college, I will open my half medical half holistic pharmacy to provide people with alternative methods for several health issues that may have them popping pills for years that may come with dreadful side effects and have the patient take several more medications to take care of that. I also really want to travel the world to learn about medicines and herbal tricks from other countries, master the knowledge, and bring it back to educate others on ways that could be better for them and improve their lives. Similar to anxiety, there's so many elderly people and children, like my aunt who died from cancer, who are so paranoid and terrified to go to doctors and pharmacists for their medical concerns because they don't want to fall down a medication rabbit hole or be placed in the hospital for who knows how long with doctors doing who know what to them. To be able to obtain my degree would be a dream to be able to be a doctor people can trust to help, solve their issues, and possibly tone down their anxiety events.

Imagine hearing news about a family member being diagnosed with lung cancer, yet refusing to go to the hospital due to financial insecurity and fear that their temporary stay would become an indefinite expenditure. Up until the last month of her life, my aunt avoided seeking medical attention for these two reasons and feared how she may be treated behind closed doors. Unfortunately, her fears weren’t unfounded as many older community members would appear fine and become suddenly immobilized after consecutive hospital stays. This fear is based on two prominent aspects of marginalized communities in healthcare; (1) limited ability to pay for medical expenses and (2) distrust in the medical community following years of institutionalized racism. This situation is one of several occurring within my high school hometown and the surrounding area. Here, the majority of the citizens are poor, black, and elderly. Despite their disadvantages, though, the community somehow always comes together, claiming everyone as a family. But the world around us doesn't see our students and children making all A's and spending their hours providing community service to make the world a better place. They see thugs and gangsters who should not have the same privilege as their students who are essentially just like us on the inside. I feel that the worst part of all this is that it's not even the students partaking in this type of behavior, but rather the adults. They seem to be trying to spread their ideals to the students, almost to continue the stigma they've created for us. As an African American female in STEM, I have done everything I could to show the world that that’s not who we are. I became an athlete, a dancer, a singer, an artist, and a state board member. I've even obtained my associates degree in science in high school. This all has driven me to want to become a pharmacist within 6 years through Presbyterian College's fast track program so I can build my own pharmacist to reach everyone, especially those in a rural community who cannot afford or reach their destination in time so that everyone can have fair healthcare. I was shocked to learn that in the area of pharmacy, African Americans make up less than 8% of the profession. It was also noted that the lack of diversity in medicine has led to great disparities in health care. Knowing this, I would do my best to learn from my peers, encourage collaboration among peers, have dialogues about our differences and most importantly change any negative perceptions about the care and needs of ethnically diverse groups of people which may open the eyes to others about the realities and challenges facing diverse groups of people. Once I graduate with my PharmD, I plan to serve all of the people in the community in a manner that creates trust and open communication about their health and medicine. My goal is to be able to educate minorities about their health and medicines. With more diversity in health care, we can represent within our own communities by providing quality health care to those who might not otherwise be served. Moreover, I want to travel abroad to learn and eventually open my own half holistic pharmacy for alternative solutions. I couldn’t live knowing that there are so many others like my aunt who cannot afford or live in fear of what physicians may do to them. So it is my goal to break these health disparities and bring assurance to families that their loved ones will be taken care of.

Hello! My name is Kendis Green ever since elementary school, I’d always been fascinated by the idea of all things STEM. Science has and always will be my favorite subject, next to history of course. What I’d always found interesting was the idea of creation; by putting random ingredients together, it’s always possible to form something new and what’s cooler is that one day by experimenting, you just might save the world with this creation. Well, that’s exactly what I wanted to do along with staring at periodic tables all day because there’s something so satisfying about that organization and the way it’s set up. So after doing miles of research in high school, I ended up stumbling upon a job I would’ve never considered which was pharmacy. I’d always seen it as the “Walgreens job.” But NO! It’s so much more than that. I never knew how deep a field could get until I found this career. So moving forward in college, I decided that this would be my major! Next, you need to know that I’m part of the group Million Women Mentors where we promote the field of STEM through different events such as our famous symposium that we do every year and gather STEM, mainly female, speakers to come out and share their experiences within the field. The college females who are apart of MWM as well don’t usually attend our meeting as much because they’re loaded with assignments. But they always give back however, by sharing their experiences with the audience and it’s always so fascinating to see how intelligent and creative they are in their field to find a problem and make deep connections that could change the world. Once I get to Presbyterian College, I’m going to strive to use my time and do the same thing to start my path of research and bring my findings to not only the symposium but those in need through scientific events as well and hopefully shine some light into a community deserving more for their people. In twenty years, I see myself working as an informatic pharmacist and running a distinctive, half-holistic, half-medical pharmacy that serves a wide range of customers. At the same time, I would love to find a way to make health care a priority for those in rural communities. Of all groups of people and areas, they’ve got it the worse as most citizens cannot pay for it, nor travel to the nearest hospital in time because it’s really not that close. If I can find a way to break these disparities and find a solution, I will do all I can to make a difference and make sure everyone can stay healthy. I want to be able to do research and hopefully a type of study abroad where I can learn and synthesize knowledge from others to be able to break health disparities and bring clients together to show them that not every treatment has to be an over the top prescription to heal the body. With all these goals in mind, I strive to use my degree in pharmacy to make the world a better place. To reach out to all people, bring all communities together with fair healthcare and bring a great shift to the world, that is my dream!

Video Essay

Some people might not think much about the actual trip to school. But for some, it may be nearly as painful as torture—and I'm not just referring to having to get out of bed in the morning and face the day. I'm talking about feeling the chilly breeze and gusts against your skin when there's nothing you can do about it. Many students in schools, particularly those in rural areas, lack access to basic winter clothing items like sweaters or pants without holes in them. My mother has several anecdotes to tell my siblings and me about how, on numerous occasions when she was on bus duty, she saw students who were sent in only their shorts and without jackets and were forced to spend the remainder of the day in a freezer-like classroom. If they do have jackets at all, it's usually because an older sibling tried to keep them warm. At other times, some households would need to seal gaps in their walls with their extra garments to stay warm. My grandma experienced that as well during her childhood. We took matters into our own hands as a family, which motivated me to consider founding an organization. We gathered our old clothing and gave it to our mother so she could give it to her students. That helped those kids with their problems, but it's not a solution for everyone. After becoming enlightened, I devised a scheme in which a group of individuals would gather reusable clothes from various areas, deliver them to the school in tidy bundles, and set up a closet similar to a costume shop where the kids could "shop" for what they needed. To spread this throughout my district, I thought about collaborating with other organizations such as local Beta Clubs to get more people involved and have others contribute to the community as well. I could accomplish this once I genuinely had all the necessary supplies. For the time being, though, it's a good start to just provide clothes to anyone who appears to need them. Still, I'm not new to this whole process. Since I was a little child, I have always volunteered to collect toys and clothing for charitable causes, such as the Shoebox Project at my church, Families Helping Families in my own home, and the Angel Tree through the schools. I've always enjoyed lending a hand to people, especially those in my community. So now, through clubs like Student Government Associations, Leo Club, Beta Club, and just on my own, I try to do as much as I can to make the world a better place. I could accomplish this once I genuinely had all the necessary supplies. For the time being, though, it's a good start to just provide clothes to anyone who appears to need them. Still, I'm not new to this whole process. Since I was a little child, I have always volunteered to collect toys and clothing for charitable causes, such as the Shoebox Project at my church, Families Helping Families in my own home, and the Angel Tree through the schools. I've always enjoyed lending a hand to people, especially those in my community. So now, through clubs like Student Government Associations, Leo Club, Beta Club, and just on my own, I try to do as much as I can to make the world a better place.

Popularity always wins out over merit in the clubs I belong to, including Leo Club. In this case, my title is simply "representative," but my behavior does not reflect that. For instance, since this was the first year of the club, we had to brainstorm during one of our sessions for an activity that would both be feasible and beneficial in uplifting the spirits of our students and the community. The majority of the officers were at a loss for words, while the rest were more interested in brainstorming ideas that would make the kids laugh than in offering any insight into the community. So my sister, a well-deserved officer, brainstormed on what could bring the citizens together and give them a chance to thrive as one and the lightbulb lit up. We devised the Great Griffin Grab, a variation on The Big Grab, in which participants would gather, erect various stations, and offer for sale or donation their handmade or vintage things. We all agreed to do this, and my sister and I took the initiative to run the remainder of the meeting as soon as we got to work. We weren't sure what more we needed to do because neither of us had ever attended one of these events in person. We inquired about the opinions and general additions of the others. In the end, we partitioned the board according to the event schedule, the things we could supply, including chairs and tables, and the specifications of the suppliers. We also have a portion set out for entertaining extras like games, food trucks, and music. After determining what we needed, we divided up the kids into places they had to go, individuals we needed to talk to, and decorations we needed to make. The teachers felt they knew the finest places to call, so we even let them continue with the food. Even though the planning took weeks, we seemed to move quickly and effectively through the process. When the Great Griffin Grab finally happened, my sister and I were among with just nine of the club's twenty students and all of our advisors. However, it didn;t matter because we quickly arranged the tables in the gym and in front of the school, assigning people to their assigned roles such as helpers, poster spinners, and table monitors. We were ready for every citizen that soon emerged and set up, far more than I had anticipated for our first event. Assisting everyone with setting up their stuff and then watching them interact with the customers was such a blast. Handmade jewelry and bracelets, baked delicacies, and old furniture were all available at the stations. We even had support from a nearby fish fry business. Everything about the event was fantastic, and I was thrilled to her that everyone had a great time. They were so enthralled that they kept asking, even weeks after, when we would do it again. It was incredible to watch everyone gather at an event we planned for them, grinning, and wanting more. What I especially loved was the fact that even with only a few people, we all pulled through, had fun, and did phenomenal hosting. I genuinely felt as though I had done something to help the indiviaduals I care about. With the disheartening health crisis going on with smaller town, it makes me want to do even more. As a future pharmacist, I want to give back and I plan to do it through serving this rural community and breaking racial disparities within the field of medicine.