I had never experienced anything like a bump on my forehead or a paper cut, so hearing that I had been diagnosed with a mild concussion completely rocked my world and I was unprepared for what was to come. My entire middle school experience consisted of visits to the school nurse, bullying, blinding migraines, and many uneaten meals. Whenever I decided to eat, my portion sizes doubled and so did the weight gain. My metal state increasingly became worse and I began to feel as though I was not good enough in anything that I did. As the numbers on the scale continued to rise, my confidence plummeted, and I no longer enjoyed going to school or family gatherings. Although I endured these hardships, my academics were still my number one priority. I would often stay up until 3 in the morning studying and completing assignments even though I had to wake up in the next hour for school. Prior to the attack, I was a bright student who often challenged myself, so in fourth grade, I read 100 books. When I brought this to my teacher's attention, she encouraged every single student to do the same, and it became a fun activity among our classroom. By the end of the school year, the entire Language Arts department had participated in the challenge, and I was recognized by my principal for the encouragement of students in an inner-city community to enjoy reading. I am a leader and the qualities that I possess are passion, resilience, determination, self-control, and optimism. I have become a Questbridge finalist, received the College Board African American Recognition Award, attended Brown University's pre-college program, been accepted into Stanford University's Math and Physics pre-college program, and became the first female African American student to be president of my high school's technology club. Although I am a member of the Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society, I enjoy giving back to my community. After reading articles about how children suffered academically during the pandemic, I created a non-profit tutoring service called Kykoo's Korner in May 2021. I conducted sessions via Zoom after school and my local library on the weekends. I tutored students in grades kindergarten through fifth grade on subjects such as mathematics, reading and science. With the knowledge that I gained from an ID Tech coding camp conducted in the University of Miami in sixth grade, in which I was the youngest and only female camper, I taught my students the basics of coding with the time that was left in our sessions. Witnessing their academic growth brought me joy and I hope to demonstrate this amazing quality when I attend the University of Central Florida, as it has always been my dream to become a Knight. I still experience frequent migraines as of today, however, I am grateful that I have had the ability to accomplish so many amazing things in my academic career. The only image that haunts me now is the person I was before, and it only makes me proud of the person I am today.

I am of Haitian descent on both sides of my family. From a young age, I would spend a few weekends at my Haitian grandmother’s house helping my aunts make meals to feed the homeless. Seeing their faces light up when we handed them the plate of hot food along with a cold bottle of water made me smile and think about how fortunate I am. To expand on this wonderful feeling, I joined clubs like National Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta Honor Society to help others on a community level and an academic level. I am glad to be able to witness how community service has the power to uplift individuals and strengthen our society as a whole. Experiences such as the weekends from my childhood and participating in community service projects now have ignited my passion for continuing to give back in the future and to make a lasting impact on my community and beyond. I believe that giving back is a value that has shaped my life and I have been fortunate enough to combine my academic and service abilities. Balancing my participation in communal work within several clubs, being president of the Gator Technology Club, and my rigorous coursework has allowed me to work on my time management and leadership skills, which I hope to demonstrate when I attend university. I am a firm believer in shaping individuals like myself to give back so we can go out into the world and pay it forward. During the pandemic, I noticed that there was an overwhelming number of students worldwide and most importantly, in my community, who struggled academically due to the pandemic. Therefore, in May 2021, I created a tutoring service called Kykoo’s Korner. At the time, there were still social distancing guidelines, so I conducted my sessions via Zoom or practiced social distancing at my local library. I tutored students in grades kindergarten through fifth grade who struggled in subjects such as mathematics, reading and science. I purchased plenty of workbooks, printed out worksheets and taught them content that kept them a year ahead. And on Fridays, I would bring candy to my in-person students to celebrate their hard work. Witnessing the academic growth of the students I taught brought me the same joy I felt as a little girl, when I would pass out food to the homeless. I still conduct sessions and I would love to continue this practice while studying computer science in college. Looking forward, I wish to help my community become more academically successful.