“Why is your boat floating?” As I place my styrofoam boats in the water and squirt dish soap to power them, I consider my dad’s question. Growing up, my parents raised me to be curious and delve deep into questions that interest me. Because of my parent’s influence, I plan to take this mindset with me in passing the baton to my future self by being open-minded and always trying new things–which will contribute to my success when I’m older. Academically, I plan to delve into interdisciplinary subjects that interest me in college. Despite majoring in biomedical engineering, I also want to explore the social side of the medical field. Along with the calculus, biology, physics, and engineering courses I take, I plan to take global health and medical sociology classes. The more classes I take within a variety of subject areas, the more knowledgeable the future version of myself will become about the world around me. In my personal life, I picture a better version of myself by trying new things to strengthen my faith. Even though I’m a Christian, it’s difficult to stay consistent with praying, reading my Bible, and putting God first. Since this has been a struggle, I want to use different methods of living out my religion. For me, this might be doing meditative prayers to center myself and consciously inviting God into my daily activities. Using unique ways of becoming closer to God gives me wisdom that I plan to carry with me in the future. In my future endeavors, I intend to develop by experiencing new ways of life in my travels. As an engineer dedicated to alleviating health inequities, my occupation will take me all over the world. I’ll meet people who have religions, languages, socioeconomic statuses, and life experiences that differ from mine. I plan to have insightful conversations with the people I meet to broaden my worldview. So far, I’ve gained understanding through my travels including how pizza differs greatly from German delicacies or the conventionality of staying up late in Japan. These ventures will increase my empathy for various communities and increase my passion for making medical care easily accessible to disadvantaged individuals. Despite wanting to explore my academic interests, improve through religion, and expand my cultural competence, there are financial hindrances that stand in the way of me becoming my best self. As a college freshman, my parents saved funds for my schooling. However, that amount is insufficient to cover tuition, housing, and other costs. Additionally, being an out-of-state student takes a greater financial toll on them. Since the pandemic, my dad has also assisted my elderly grandfather and great-aunt as they require help with housing arrangements and external affairs. Although I’ve applied to paid job and internship opportunities to help out, my efforts have not succeeded. These circumstances have left us requiring financial assistance to help me achieve my goals. If I receive this scholarship, the money will affect more lives than just mine. Ultimately, the BIPOC Scholars in STEM scholarship will allow me to focus on impacting others as an undergraduate. Long-term, I intend to support underserved populations by creating low-cost medical devices to improve global health. Currently, I’ve impacted my community through College Portal (a mentoring service for high schoolers) and STEM like InspirENGR (where college students expose girls to STEM careers). With your help, I plan to continue this community outreach throughout my career. Although it might look different in my various pursuits, the vision for my future self will contribute to me becoming the best scholar, person, and community servant I can be.

When it comes to fears, most children are afraid of things like the dark or monsters hiding under beds. It turns out, I wasn’t like “most children”. My biggest fear was getting cancer and having to stay in the hospital for most of my childhood. I vividly remember feeling uneasy whenever ads for St. Jude’s came on TV because I was afraid of becoming like one of the kids I saw. Little did I know, this fear nearly became a reality when trying on clothes in elementary school. A few months before going shopping, I noticed multiple lumps on my chest and knew that something was wrong. Given that my mom works in healthcare, I didn’t want to tell her my concerns about the lumps being cancerous. So, I kept it to myself. One day, while in a dressing room, my mom discovered the masses. She immediately scheduled appointments for me to be evaluated. After my examinations, I found out that I had benign tumors called fibroadenomas in my chest. The fact that they were benign allowed me to breathe. “At least it wasn’t cancer like I thought it would be”, I told myself. However, these tumors needed to be removed to prevent my chest from being deformed. Hearing I would need surgery brought up another fear of mine: death. It’s always been hard for me to process death, and I was super afraid of not waking up after surgery. To subdue my fears, I did extensive research about fibroadenomas and even watched a YouTube video of a fibroadenoma removal surgery. Still, I was petrified of what would happen. Even though my fears were great, the compassion and reassurance of my medical team was greater. The staff at Children’s National Hospital ensured I was completely comfortable before one of the scariest moments of my life. From little things like customizing the scent of my anesthesia to a blend of strawberries and birthday cake to big things like understanding my concerns and assuring me that I would be okay, the care I was shown inspired me to become just like the medical professionals who helped me. In the future, I want to become a biomedical engineer. Recently, I’ve become interested in the pediatric side of biomedical engineering after remembering how my medical staff showed up for me all those years ago. I want to show up in the same way for kids who are dealing with issues more serious than mine and eventually create cost-effective devices to aid their medical challenges. To prepare for my career, I plan to study biomedical engineering in a joint program with North Carolina State University and UNC-Chapel Hill. By engaging in programs like the Helping Hand Project to provide free prosthetic hands for those in need and CATCH at UNC to adapt toys for kids with physical disabilities, I’ll continue the cycle of kindness I was shown by my doctors and nurses. Even though new tumors have emerged years after my first surgery, I’ve used this setback to encourage myself in the pursuit of my personal and career goals. Anytime I go through something seemingly impossible, I remember that the obstacles I’ve overcome are evidence I will overcome my future challenges. I’ve realized that if I don’t undergo hardships, I can’t support those experiencing their own obstacles. Ultimately, the health challenges I’ve faced were necessary so I could help pediatric patients with theirs. I plan to use the mentality I’ve gained to pass on the same care my medical team exhibited toward me in hopes of paying it forward to the next generation.

As I’m chopping potatoes for an appetizer, I’m surrounded by the smell of roasted pork on the stove and the sound of ABBA. While working, I noticed that the other volunteers had their own roles in the operation—whether they were washing produce, prepping ingredients for a dish, or putting a meal in the oven. My family originated from small towns and farms in North Carolina where they shared what they had and provided food to other less fortunate families. At this moment during my service experience, I reflected on how I was continuing my family’s tradition of helping others. Because of their example, I’ve found it important to make an impact in a variety of ways to serve my community. Since last August, I’ve continued my family’s legacy by volunteering with the Bladensburg Community Center’s Backpack Giveaway Event, Elizabeth Seton High School’s Thanksgiving and Lenten Food Drives, IXL Math Proctoring for high school underclassmen, New Psalmist Baptist Church’s Christmas Drop-Offs, Sponsor a Family Initiative through Suburban Hospital, Bladensburg’s Senior Citizen Graduation, and LifeSmart Education’s Peer Mediator program–which I have been working with for the past year. Out of all of my volunteer experiences, I enjoyed my time with Meals on Wheels the most. No matter if I was chopping strawberries, mangoes, kiwis, and pineapples for a fruit salad, preparing onions for potato salad, or placing sandwiches and snacks in bags at the meal assembly line, I worked in a fun environment with some of the friendliest people I’ve ever met. On many occasions, I recall Justin and Nieves–my supervisors–both engaging in conversations with me about school and my plans after graduating. Given that the kitchen team was so welcoming, I was constantly reminded of the fulfillment that comes with helping my community. One quote that comes to mind regarding my Meals on Wheels experience and informs why service matters to me is by St. Vincent De Paul who said, “Let us love God…with the strength of our arms and the sweat of our brow.” Even though I enjoyed my work at Meals on Wheels, it required a lot of accuracy and patience. There were times when I wanted to take breaks and rest from preparing all of the food. However, I thought of the homebound seniors who depended on me and used them as motivation. As I’ve matured, I’ve applied St. Vincent De Paul’s quote about doing more to others than what is expected of me to additional aspects of my life. Not only do I show that I love God by putting in extra effort when making meals for seniors, but I also do it by showing up for my friends and family. Despite being tired sometimes, I give them my full attention and help out as much as I can; this is exactly what God does for me, so it’s only right to return the favor to those around me. I plan to carry on St. Vincent de Paul’s sentiment by continuing to serve others in my career. Since I’m interested in biomedical engineering and alleviating health inequities, my occupation will take me all over the world. I’ll meet people who have ethnicities, religions, languages, socioeconomic statuses, and life experiences that differ from mine. Many of these people will require treatments for their medical conditions, so these treatments need to be provided at reduced costs. To aid this issue, I’ll work with product developers to create inexpensive medical devices that are mass-distributed nationally and internationally. With this approach, I can make medical products easily accessible to everyday people and maintain an attitude of service to others.

In elementary school, I vividly remember going to Glenn Dale Golf Course to practice my golf skills during consecutive years of summer camp. I loved hitting the ball far on the range and kept coming back to the course, even after I stopped attending the camp. Shortly after, I joined the First Tee program at Paint Branch Golf Course, where I learned life skills such as integrity, respect, and perseverance that I carry with me to this day. Now, I play on my school’s varsity golf team and try to get on the range and practice at home to become better. Besides golf, I am involved in a plethora of extracurricular activities including my role as vice president of my school’s biotechnology club, the secretary of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) club, a builder on my school’s robotics team, a member of my school’s scholar, ambassador, and National Honor Society programs, and a writer for two publications: Gxrls in STEM Magazine and Student Vaccine Working Group. Furthermore, for community service, I ensure that I fulfill my hours every school year. Since my school promotes service to others as a core value, it is important that I serve my local community in multiple ways. This has meant that I can help those around me by donating food that will be distributed to people in need during holiday seasons, providing stockings stuffed with candy and toys and Christmas gifts for children as a part of a holiday toy drive, and assisting with events such as Trunk or Treat, Special Olympics, and Senior Citizen Graduations. After graduating college, I would love to give back to my community and mentor young people passionate about STEM. Since I had countless opportunities to learn from professionals when I was starting, providing youth with similar opportunities that I received would be my way of giving back to my community. Volunteering at local STEM organizations by helping kids with science experiments would also be enjoyable and rewarding for me. When more kids can foster their love for STEM, we create adults passionate about their jobs, which is what we need in our society. In addition, giving back by volunteering with First Tee, the very program that got me started in golf, would be an awesome full-circle experience. In college, I will use my time to manage everything that I will be involved in such as my academic coursework, athletic involvement, and enjoying life on campus. I truly believe in the term “student-athlete”, so academics will continue to be a top priority once I enter college. On the athletic side, I plan on playing intramural basketball and possibly even golf (depending on the college I choose) on the side. Lastly, for enjoying the college experience, I want to expose myself to city life and appreciate all that the location of the university I attend has to offer. With aspirations of becoming a biomedical engineer, being a recipient of this scholarship would alleviate the financial burden on my parents so that I can pay them back for everything that they have done for me. My family has sacrificed so much by providing me with countless opportunities to explore my interests and sending me to private schools that provided me with a quality education, so the least I could do is cover tuition costs for the university I will be attending. If I am one of the winners of this scholarship, I’ll use the money to finance my schooling and use what I learn to make a major impact on the world through the creation of groundbreaking medical technology.

When I was younger, my career aspirations changed as often as the seasons did. From chef to video game designer, my interests were constantly evolving. One field, however, stood out to me at nine years old. By this time, I had started participating in STEM competitions and established the beginning of my STEM journey. I knew I wanted to pursue a career in STEM because it is a compelling field that entails kinesthetic learning, which is my learning style. It wasn’t until 2021, months after the start of quarantine, that I realized what specific career I wanted to pursue. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, I was interested in becoming an engineer, but I wasn’t sure what specialty appealed most to me. As the pandemic continually became a part of our lives, I started thinking about possible careers in the medical field. I noticed trends in the disadvantages facing people of color and the inadequate attention they were receiving, and I knew I wanted to advocate for the impacted individuals. Because of this, I finally settled on the profession of a biomedical engineer or a mechanical engineer focusing on healthcare. In my future career as a biomedical engineer or a mechanical engineer who creates medical devices, I hope to advocate for easy access to needed medical technology for underrepresented groups and do the work to make it a reality in our country. Many people in the United States desperately require specific medical devices, medicine, or equipment for their respective conditions. It is important to provide treatments for these individuals at significant cost-reduction rates. For example, CRISPR is a novel medical technology that is a form of gene therapy. It works by using a protein called CAS-9 to “cut” the defective gene out of the gene sequence and replacing the faulty gene with “good” DNA as a substitute to decrease disease severity or sometimes even remove the entire disease. Although a technology that could help treat multiple illnesses, it is only in clinical trials and costs thousands of dollars. To alleviate the cost, I would work to lower the prices of essential medical equipment that can dramatically improve one’s quality of life. The pharmaceutical industry is driven by monetary gain, so using a more selfless approach and helping those who need prescription drugs and technology acquire them at a significantly lower cost will do just that. In addition, I would give back to my community and mentor young people with a passion for STEM. Since I had countless opportunities to learn from professionals when I was starting, providing youth with similar opportunities that I received would be my way of giving back to my community. Volunteering at local STEM organizations by helping kids with science experiments would be a fun and rewarding experience for everyone involved. When more kids can foster their love for STEM, we create adults who are passionate about their jobs and helping those around them in their careers, which is what we truly need in our society. Doing good in our communities will impact the world, precisely what I want to accomplish in my career.

On May 21, 1971, Marvin Gaye released an album titled “What’s Going On” that featured an opening track with the same name. Released after the Civil Rights Movement and during the Vietnam War, the song highlights social and political unrest that primarily impacted African Americans. His lyrics paint a picture of racial injustice that still persists to this day and shows us ways to combat the issue. Spreading love and striving to understand others are imperative messages in the song that resonate with me. In the second verse, Gaye sings, “We don't need to escalate You see, war is not the answer For only love can conquer hate” This verse exemplifies the desperate need for love to prevent hatred. The reason why there is so much violence and negativity in the world is on account of animosity that people have with other individuals. Since we are all going through wars (mental, emotional, spiritual, or even literal), spreading love and kindness to those around us to stops the spread of hatred, which can manifest itself into racism. To perpetuate this notion, I treat others with benevolence to create the change I want to see in the world. In the fourth verse, Gaye continues, “Oh, you know we've got to find a way To bring some understanding here today” As members of various communities, we need to ensure that we are having open discussions with each other to gain perspective. By doing this, we can extend empathy and truly understand where someone is coming from. When we seek to hear others’ points of view, we avoid discord and embrace our differences rather than dispute over them. As someone who prioritizes open-minded communication, I talk to people with differening viewpoints and understand why someone might have a certain opion instead of judging them.