During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has allowed me to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has allowed me to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has allowed me to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

As a result of growing up in an abusive home, I have struggled my entire life with major depressive disorder (MDD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and recurrent suicidal ideations and attempts. When I began my sophomore year of college in the fall of 2019, I was in a deep spell of depression, battling suicidal thoughts nearly every day, and desperately wanting to end my life. After a very difficult Christmas break where I intentionally overdosed twice on my medication and attempted suicide by inhaling cleaning solutions, I found myself in the psychiatric ward at Central DuPage Hospital for the entire month of February. Following my stay in Illinois, I was discharged to the state of Michigan where I spent an additional two months in intensive inpatient rehabilitation. When I was finally discharged for the last time in April 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had just begun and I was incredibly fearful of what the future might hold for me. Though the last several years have been incredibly difficult for me, the constant support of my closest friends and mentors (both inside and outside of school) has allowed me to obtain a certain amount of stability and peace and, while the future remains uncertain, I am confident that I have surrounded myself with a host of loving human beings who will always be there to support me, and especially when life circumstances become difficult. Because of my journey, I want to pursue a career in which I can be an encouragement and support to those who struggle with depression and other mental health disorders, constantly reminding them that they have an important purpose, even if they are unable to see it. Over the past two years, I have been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, which serves Latino residents residing in or near the Timber Lake Apartments in the West Chicago area. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton, my participation in this program has not only allowed me to help middle and high school students thrive in the classroom but, even more importantly for me, given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of those who are experiencing difficulties in their personal lives. Largely as a result of my own struggles with major depression and suicidal ideation and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad. In this way, I am confident that I can use my story and experiences to meaningfully impact those both inside and outside of the traditional scope of medicine.

As a college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish. Upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program to serve others through discovery and hands-on compassion. Following that program, and to combine my love of medicine, my desire to care for those around me, and to show my gratitude for how much I have been given as a citizen of this country, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as by developing vaccines to help prevent the spread of diseases unique to these communities. The heart of giving entails providing to someone else what somebody was already gracious enough to do for me, particularly being a mentor for and speaking into my life. While the past two years have been difficult in at least some capacity for all of us, they have been particularly difficult for me: I was in the hospital for several months after trying to take my own life in 2020. Though medication and therapy were beneficial in the process of recovery, it is those who have chosen to be a part of my life - no matter how uncomfortable, difficult, or costly - that have been responsible for the greatest amount of healing that has taken place. Throughout the long and arduous journey, I have had professors who have chosen to take up a small portion of my daily pain and walk alongside me through the difficulties. Both my Biology- and Spanish-major advisors have been especially kind and willing to provide support and encouragement to me outside of the times that they have made available to the wider student population, including texting me encouraging Bible verses and devotionals over school breaks that tend to be some of the loneliest times of the year, providing me with a place to stay when I did not have one, and even offering meals to me. All without mentioning the continued support of my closest friends, I could never have ever attained the level of emotional and spiritual stability that I currently experience. Because of what these incredible human beings have done for me, I am committed to doing the same for others. At Holland Hospital, I have the opportunity to accompany patients enduring great physical pain and ailment by offering them the gift of food, a gift, or even just a simple, kind smile. And at Puente del Pueblo, I have been able to become a role model to and speak into the lives of many socioeconomically disadvantaged students. In these small ways, I have been able to use the strength of others to impact the lives of those around me meaningfully.

As a college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish. Upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as hands-on compassion. Following that program, and to combine my love of medicine, my desire to care for those around me, and to show my gratitude for how much I have been given as a citizen of this country, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as by developing vaccines to help prevent the spread of diseases unique to these communities. The heart of giving entails providing to someone else what somebody was already gracious enough to do for me, particularly being a mentor for and speaking into my life. While the past two years have been difficult in at least some capacity for all of us, they have been particularly difficult for me: I was in the hospital for several months after trying to take my own life in 2020. Though medication and therapy were beneficial in the process of recovery, it is those who have chosen to be a part of my life - no matter how uncomfortable, difficult, or costly - that have been responsible for the greatest amount of healing that has taken place. Throughout the long and arduous journey, I have had professors who have chosen to take up a small portion of my daily pain and walk alongside me through the difficulties. Both my Biology- and Spanish-major advisors have been especially kind and willing to provide support and encouragement to me outside of the times that they have made available to the wider student population, including texting me encouraging Bible verses and devotionals over school breaks that have a tendency to be some of the loneliest times of the year, providing me with a place to stay when I did not have one, and even offering meals to me. All without mentioning the continued support of my closest friends, I could never have ever attained the level of emotional and spiritual stability that I currently experience. Because of what these incredible human beings have done for me, I am committed to doing the same for others. At Holland Hospital, I have the opportunity to accompany patients who are enduring great physical pain and ailment by offering them the gift of food, a gift, or even just a simple, kind smile. And at Puente del Pueblo, I have been able to become a role model to and speak into the lives of many socioeconomically disadvantaged students. In these small ways, I have been able to use the strength of others to meaningfully impact the lives of those around me.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has allowed me to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

As a result of growing up in an abusive home, I have struggled my entire life with major depressive disorder (MDD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and recurrent suicidal ideations and attempts. When I began my sophomore year of college in the fall of 2019, I was in a deep spell of depression, battling suicidal thoughts nearly every day, and desperately wanting to end my life. After a very difficult Christmas break where I intentionally overdosed twice on my medication and attempted suicide by inhaling cleaning solutions, I found myself in the psychiatric ward at Central DuPage Hospital for the entire month of February. Following my stay in Illinois, I was discharged to the state of Michigan where I spent an additional two months in intensive inpatient rehabilitation. When I was finally discharged for the last time in April 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had just begun and I was incredibly fearful of what the future might hold for me. Though the last several years have been incredibly difficult for me, the constant support of my closest friends and mentors (both inside and outside of school) has allowed me to obtain a certain amount of stability and peace and, while the future remains uncertain, I am confident that I have surrounded myself with a host of loving human beings who will always be there to support me, and especially when life circumstances become difficult. Because of my journey, I want to pursue a career in which I can be an encouragement and support to those who struggle with depression and other mental health disorders, constantly reminding them that they have an important purpose, even if they are unable to see it. Over the past two years, I have been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, which serves Latino residents residing in or near the Timber Lake Apartments in the West Chicago area. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton, my participation in this program has not only allowed me to help middle and high school students thrive in the classroom but, even more importantly for me, given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of those who are experiencing difficulties in their personal lives. Largely as a result of my own struggles with major depression and suicidal ideation and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad. In this way, I am confident that I can use my story and experiences to meaningfully impact those both inside and outside of the traditional scope of medicine.

To me, the heart of giving entails providing to someone else what somebody was already gracious enough to do for me, particularly, being a mentor for and speaking into my life. While the past two years have, undoubtedly, been difficult in at least some capacity for all of us, they have been particularly difficult for me. I was in the hospital for several months as a result of overdosing and trying to take my own life in early February 2020. While I do not think that it would be particularly helpful for me to get into all of the specifics as to why the circumstances in my life led me to this breaking point, it is sufficient to say that I was in a very dark place and felt as though I was a burden to everyone that I met, was hated by my family and friends, and would be better off dead. Though medication and therapy were certainly beneficial in the process of recovery, I believe that it is those who have chosen to be a part of my life - no matter how uncomfortable, difficult, or costly - that have been responsible for the greatest amount of healing that has taken place in my life. Furthermore, through these people I have seen the hand of God in my life, reminding me time and time again that my life has a purpose and, for that reason, He has chosen to leave me on this Earth. Because of what these human beings have done for me, I am committed to doing the same for others. At Holland Hospital, I had the opportunity to accompany patients who were enduring great physical pain and ailment by offering them the gift of food, a gift, or even just a simple kind smile. At Puente del Pueblo, an afterschool program that serves the children of Latinx residents residing in or near the Timber Lake Apartments in West Chicago, I have been able to become a role model for many of the students; whether that be helping them with their academics, playing with them before the bus arrives, or even talking with them about the difficulties that they and their families are experiencing, I have been able to become an integral part of their lives. Concerning my involvement at my home school, Wheaton College, I lead a team of nearly fifty people in raising a variety of organic produce that is subsequently delivered to local food pantries. Because of this resource, hundreds of community residents have been able to have access to healthy fruits and vegetables that they might otherwise not have had available to them. As a whole, each of these volunteer experiences has provided me with the motivation and desire to meaningfully impact the field of medicine, no matter where it is found. In conclusion, my educational journey, volunteer work, and countless other experiences that I cannot even begin to mention have all contributed to changing the way that I view the world and increased the amount of compassion that I both feel and display towards those living within it. Because of this, I now deeply desire to walk alongside and give back to these communities, all in the ultimate pursuit of justice, mercy, and goodness. Together, each of these experiences has enabled me to become a person that is deeply committed to serving others with a heart that will not give up until that task is completed.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has allowed me to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

As a result of growing up in an abusive home, there were many painful things that I both heard and saw that helped contribute to my choice of career. Whether that be my father constantly telling me that I would never amount to anything, that nothing that I cared about or my life mattered, or that I did not deserve any of my friendships, I felt deeply hurt and degraded as a child. Because of that pain, I have struggled my entire life with severe anxiety and depression, something that has been the cause of multiple psychiatric hospitalizations and numerous prescription drug overdoses. As I began my sophomore year of college, I was in a deep spell of depression, battling suicidal ideations and thoughts nearly every day, and desperately wanting to end my life. Despite this pain, I felt afraid and ashamed to share this pain with others, all out of fear of being rejected. When I tried to make jokes during class and greet every student with a smile, it looked like I was happy and had my life together. Little did anyone realize how deep my level of depression was and how much pain I felt inside every single day. After an extremely stressful holiday season that saw three suicide attempts, I knew that I needed help - and far more than anything that I was currently receiving. With a lot of hesitation and reluctance, I told a professor with whom I was very close about what had happened and, she, in turn, told the director of the counseling center that I was in desperate need of help. That same night, the director called me over the phone, calmed me down, and set up a meeting with her the day I returned to campus. Upon returning to campus, I met with the director three times a week and was able to sit down with her to discuss the events that were going on in my academic and personal life. In addition to seeing this counselor, I was able to make use of the school chaplain. In the weeks that I did not receive guidance from my counselor, I received the spiritual support that I needed from the chaplain and his assistants. After leaving the offices of these professional supporters, I felt a large amount of anxiety taken off my shoulders. Yet, when circumstances demanded additional help, my school directed me to an off-campus counseling center with whom I met for nearly ten hours a week. When this outside counseling center failed to work, I was admitted into an inpatient psychiatric hospital where I stayed for nearly two months. Throughout the last two years, there has been nothing but supportive and caring people that have accompanied me on every step of this long and arduous process. Because of the many difficult things that have happened in my life during the past two years and the host of gracious people that have given of themselves to help me, I am committed to using that power and strength to help others. In addition to my own personal and emotional struggles, my volunteer experience left no doubt in my mind that I pursue a career in addiction and behavioral medicine. My experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world, something that shaped me into a more loving and compassionate person, as well as one who desired to make a difference. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different than I did. The nature of the hospital’s surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latino community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to alleviate a portion of that suffering. The opportunity that I had to serve others who were going through trying circumstances by offering them the gift of flowers, food, or a simple, kind smile, was incredibly rewarding and further fueled my desire to serve those in the community and world around me. As a whole, my volunteer experience at Holland Hospital (along with the others that I cannot even begin to mention) has given me a mindset that has forced me to recognize that I am no better than others. Together with these lessons and realizations, my STEM and liberal arts education have pushed me to pursue a career where I can serve others who are experiencing pain and difficulty, whether or not I can relate directly to them at all times. As I forced myself to listen to the stories of others in the hospital who were in situations very different from my own, the sense of empathy and compassion that I felt forced me to recognize that I did not have all of the answers and that I did not always see the world and those around me in the correct way. In contrast to my time before volunteering, I am now much more ready to listen to the experiences of others and am also far less ambitious to assert my own assumptions and opinions. By combining my Spanish-speaking abilities, knowledge and problem-solving skills from my STEM education, the pain of my childhood, and the lessons learned from my time spent as a volunteer in the hospital, I am confident that I will be able to compassionately and effectively serve those who are suffering, whether that be domestically or abroad.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has allowed me to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

As a college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish. Upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as hands-on compassion. Following that program, and to combine my love of medicine, my desire to care for those around me, and to show my gratitude for how much I have been given as a citizen of this country, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as by developing vaccines to help prevent the spread of diseases unique to these communities. Because of this personal and career goal, I have specifically chosen to pursue a STEM major, recognizing that the coursework within areas such as biology, chemistry, and physics will best provide me with the necessary knowledge and skills needed to make an impact on the people that I hope to, one day, serve. Whether that be microbiological and immunological knowledge that can be utilized in creating vaccines, knowledge of human anatomy and physiology to successfully perform surgical operations and procedures, or knowledge of magnetic fields and torque to develop alternative sources of clean energy, my STEM education will allow me to effectively and compassionately serve those who have less than I do. In this way, my STEM field of study will most effectively allow me to achieve my personal and career goal of serving others. In addition to my STEM coursework, I have been able to learn things in my non-STEM courses that have greatly enhanced my STEM education. Out of all my non-STEM courses, my Spanish studies have proven to be the most personally transformative. As a result of these courses, not to mention my time spent tutoring Latino students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, serving the local Spanish-speaking population at Holland Hospital, establishing and maintaining a garden that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to intercity Chicago residents, or my nearly eight years of workplace experience translating work instructions into Spanish for non-English speaking employees, I have improved in my ability to converse with and relate to the Hispanic culture, something that will greatly enhance my effectiveness overseas. In conclusion, my STEM courses have been greatly influenced and strengthened by the courses that I have taken outside of STEM, particularly my Spanish courses. By coupling my knowledge of biochemistry, anatomy, physiology, immunology, and physics with the Spanish language and cultural skills that I have learned, I am confident that I will be able to meaningfully impact those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In this way, my STEM education can be directly used to serve those in the community and world around me and to do so with a heart that will not give up until that task is completed.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility towards those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Puente del Pueblo (not to mention Holland Hospital), God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities. Over the past two years, I have been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, which serves Latinx residents residing in or near the Timber Lake Apartments in West Chicago. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has not only allowed me to help high school students thrive in the classroom but, even more importantly, has given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into their lives. Largely as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since I began serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, someone who comes from a largely white, suburban community in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community at Holland Hospital, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad. In conclusion, my educational journey, volunteer work, and countless other experiences that I cannot even begin to mention have all contributed to changing the way that I view the world and increased the amount of compassion that I both feel and display towards those living within it. Because of this, I now deeply desire to walk alongside and give back to these communities, all in the ultimate pursuit of justice, mercy, and goodness. Together, each of these experiences has enabled me to become a person who is deeply committed to serving others with a heart that will not give up until that task is completed.

As a result of growing up in an abusive home, I have struggled my entire life with major depressive disorder (MDD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and recurrent suicidal ideations and attempts. When I began my sophomore year of college in the fall of 2019, I was in a deep spell of depression, battling suicidal thoughts nearly every day, and desperately wanting to end my life. After a very difficult Christmas break where I intentionally overdosed twice on my medication and attempted suicide by inhaling cleaning solutions, I found myself in the psychiatric ward at Central DuPage Hospital for the entire month of February. Following my stay in Illinois, I was discharged to the state of Michigan where I spent an additional two months in intensive inpatient rehabilitation. When I was finally discharged for the last time in April 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had just begun and I was incredibly fearful of what the future might hold for me. With everything that was going on around me, I was still able to sit down and analyze the past three months of my life; above all, I realized that the system in which I had been a patient was insufficient in addressing the root causes of my depression. In the short space below, I do not have time to get into very many, if any, of the details surrounding my story, but my experience certainly left me determined to restructure the mental health treatment system by separating patients into more individualized groups during crisis stabilization as well as allow patients to play a greater role in designing their own treatment programs. By allocating patients to groups that are more specific in addressing their specific condition, the relevant educational programs can be more specialized and prevent individuals from being readmitted to the hospital soon after their initial discharge. Because of my personal journey, I want to pursue a career in which I can be an encouragement and support to those who struggle with depression and other mental health disorders, constantly reminding them that they have an important purpose, even if they are unable to see it. Along with the death of my cousin and close friend, experience serving the Latinx community at Holland Hospital, time spent mentoring students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, and several other experiences that I cannot even begin to mention, I have altered my choice of career. Whereas before I was pursuing a career in dentistry, I am now committed to becoming a missionary doctor to impoverished and under-resourced regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as by developing vaccines to help prevent the spread of diseases unique to these communities. In this way, I am confident that I can use my story and experiences to meaningfully impact those both inside and outside of the traditional scope of medicine.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has allowed me to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has allowed me to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has allowed me to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

Why give back when the giver is not at all directly benefiting from the work that he or she does? And, what is the purpose of helping people that they don't even know or will likely never see again? The answers to these questions and others very similar can be effectively summed up in three different ways. First and perhaps most obviously, giving back to the community greatly benefits those living in the surrounding community. Without the work of volunteers in everything from hospitals, to tutoring, to clean-up projects, many of the services that support in-need and at-risk individuals in our communities would not be possible, almost certainly leading to societal instability and breakdown. Furthermore, giving back strongly unifies the community and its citizens around a similar cause and desire, raising a sense of oneness, camaraderie, and unity in a world constantly being torn apart and divided. Second, giving back does, in fact, greatly benefit the individual doing the giving. Statistics show that people who volunteer tend to live healthier lives, both physically and mentally, and often have longer lifespans, as well as experience prolonged psychological well-being. Whether that comes in the way of implanting new values such as patience and resilience within an individual, learning how to communicate effectively with those who do not share similar opinions and worldviews or even helping one realize a passion or interest that they did not know they had, giving back is of great benefit to the individual. Thus, giving back gives a sense of purpose and identity to an individual in a way that nothing else even comes close to replicating. Third, giving back increases your connection with your community. When you give back to the community, you are able to get to know the people living there and, more than likely, cultivate new friendships and relationships with those whom you may have otherwise never met. As you form these friendships, you will almost necessarily become a more empathetic and caring person who seeks to listen and learn from the experiences of others. Of the three reasons listed that, I believe, fully capture the beauty of giving back, I believe that this third reason is the greatest of them all. Without this link between the individual and the other community members, the long-term success of these communities is greatly compromised. In this way, giving back benefits each party involved and empowers a new generation to make a positive impact in their communities.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has allowed me to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has allowed me to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

Of all of the experiences in my life, none was as personally transformative as my time spent as a volunteer at Holland Hospital. Not only did this experience allow me to effect meaningful change in the community around me, but it also changed me as a person in ways greater than I could have ever thought. Perhaps more than any other experience in my life, it was this opportunity that provided me with the motivation and desire to serve under-resourced communities, both domestically and abroad. My experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world, something that shaped me into a more loving and compassionate person, as well as one that desired to make a difference. In addition to growing up in an abusive home, I regularly fought the restrictions of the school and church in which I was raised. Among their many restrictions, these institutions told me that I could not serve those who looked different than I did and could not participate in activities not tied to the church. However, as a part of the curiosity that accompanied my high school studies of the Spanish language and culture, I chose to disregard their rules and, instead, serve at the nearby hospital. The patients and coworkers that I met there pushed me to see a world to which I had for so long been blinded, something that brought me an incredible amount of freedom. My three years in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different than I did. The nature of the hospital’s surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. The opportunity that I had to serve others who were going through extremely difficult circumstances by offering them the gift of flowers, food, or even just a simple, kind smile, was incredibly rewarding and fueled my desire to serve those both in the communities and world around me who were in similar circumstances. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of the Hispanic culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to alleviate a portion of that suffering. As a whole, my volunteer experience has implanted within me an attitude of empathy and compassion, a mindset that has forced me to recognize that I am no better than others. All without mentioning my time spent tutoring Latinx students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, establishing and maintaining a campus garden that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to intercity Chicago residents, or my nearly eight years of workplace experience translating instructions into Spanish for non-English speaking employees, the experience of volunteering at Holland Hospital provided me with the motivation to make a lasting impact on the field of medicine in underserved communities. In conclusion, my time as a volunteer at Holland Hospital opened my heart to the experiences of others, lessened my desire to assert my own assumptions and opinions and forced me to reevaluate the ideas that I had taken as fact for so long. For this reason, my volunteer experience at Holland Hospital, perhaps more than any other experience in my life, not only left a positive impact on those whom I served but also changed me in ways more profound than I could have ever thought. It is because of this experience that I have become a person deeply committed to serving others both in the communities and the world around me with a heart that will not give up until that task is completed.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

As a result of growing up in an abusive home, there were many painful things that I both heard and saw that helped contribute to my choice of career. Whether that be my father constantly telling me that I would never amount to anything, that nothing that I cared about or my life mattered, or that I did not deserve any of my friendships, I felt deeply hurt and degraded as a child. Because of that pain, I have struggled my entire life with severe anxiety and depression, something that has been the cause of multiple psychiatric hospitalizations and numerous prescription drug overdoses. As I began my sophomore year of college, I was in a deep spell of depression, battling suicidal ideations and thoughts nearly every day, and desperately wanting to end my life. Despite this pain, I felt afraid and ashamed to share this pain with others, all out of fear of rejection. When I tried to make jokes during class and greet every student with a smile, it looked like I was happy and had my life together. Little did anyone realize how deep my level of depression was and how much pain I felt inside every single day. With the recent increase in awareness of the importance of mental health, I feel that being able to recognize depression - even when it looks to be the opposite - is critical in giving the proper treatment to those suffering from this illness around us. As one nurse recently told me, the brain is a part of the body like any other and it too can become sick. Because the brain is one of the most important organs in the body, it must be recognized as so and receive the proper treatment and care that it deserves. Though small, I have already begun to take several steps in order to foster awareness about depression in the surrounding community. Personally, I have both done and encouraged others to be more open with their friends, family, and support network about how they are doing in their emotional lives. In addition, I have enlightened my peers about the prevalence of depression, its warning signs and symptoms, and its often genetic component. In this way, I have helped others to see depression for what it really is - and even how hidden it can be. In these ways, I have been able to take depression, an illness with which I have struggled my entire life, and use it as a tool to teach others in the surrounding community about the severity of depression, something that will allow mental illnesses such as depression to be better recognized and treated in the future.

As a soon-to-be college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish. Upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as hands-on compassion. Following that program, and to combine my love of medicine, my desire to care for those around me, and to show my gratitude for how much I have as a citizen of this country, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as by developing vaccines to help prevent the spread of diseases unique to these communities. In this way, I am confident that I will be able to take my career in medicine and meaningfully impact those both inside and outside of its traditional scope. Of all my experiences, my time spent as a volunteer pushed me most toward wanting to make a difference in the field of medicine. My experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world, something that shaped me into a more loving and compassionate person, as well as one that desired to make a difference. The opportunity that I had to serve others who were going through extremely difficult circumstances by offering them the gift of flowers, food, or a simple, kind smile, was incredibly rewarding and fueled my desire to serve those both in the communities and the world around me who were in similar circumstances. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different than I did. The nature of the hospital’s surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only internalize the experiences of others but also ask myself what I could do to alleviate a portion of that suffering. As a whole, my volunteer experience at Holland Hospital, all without mentioning my time spent tutoring Spanish-speaking students at Puente del Pueblo, maintaining a garden that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to intercity Chicago residents, or my nearly eight years of workplace experience translating instructions into Spanish for non-English-speaking employees, has given me an attitude of empathy and compassion, a mindset that has forced me to recognize that I am no better than others. In this way, my volunteer experience at Holland Hospital provided me with the motivation to make a lasting impact in the field of medicine.

As a result of growing up in an abusive home, I have struggled my entire life with major depressive disorder (MDD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and recurrent suicidal ideations and attempts. When I began my sophomore year of college in the fall of 2019, I was in a deep spell of depression, battling suicidal thoughts nearly every day, and desperately wanting to end my life. After a very difficult Christmas break where I intentionally overdosed twice on my medication and attempted suicide by inhaling cleaning solutions, I found myself in the psychiatric ward at Central DuPage Hospital for the entire month of February. Following my stay in Illinois, I was discharged to the state of Michigan where I spent an additional two months in intensive inpatient rehabilitation. When I was finally discharged for the last time in April 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had just begun and I was incredibly fearful of what the future might hold for me. With everything that was going on around me, I was still able to sit down and analyze the past three months of my life; above all, I realized that the system in which I had been a patient was insufficient in addressing the root causes of my depression. In the short space below, I do not have time to get into very many, if any, of the details surrounding my story, but my experience certainly left me determined to restructure the mental health treatment system by separating patients into more individualized groups during crisis stabilization as well as allow patients to play a greater role in designing their own treatment programs. By allocating patients to groups that are more specific in addressing their specific condition, the relevant educational programs can be more specialized and prevent individuals from being readmitted to the hospital soon after their initial discharge. Because of my personal journey, I want to pursue a career in which I can be an encouragement and support to those who struggle with depression and other mental health disorders, constantly reminding them that they have an important purpose, even if they are unable to see it. Along with the death of my cousin and close friend, experience serving the Latinx community at Holland Hospital, time spent mentoring students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, and several other experiences that I cannot even begin to mention, I have altered my choice of career. Whereas before I was pursuing a career in dentistry, I am now committed to becoming a missionary doctor to impoverished and under-resourced regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as by developing vaccines to help prevent the spread of diseases unique to these communities. In this way, I am confident that I can use my story and experiences to meaningfully impact those both inside and outside of the traditional scope of medicine.

As a soon-to-be college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish. Upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as through hands-on compassion. Following that program, and to combine my love of medicine, my desire to care for those around me, and to show my gratitude for how much I have as a citizen of this country, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as by preventing the spread of diseases unique to these communities. In this way, I believe that I will be able to take my career in medicine and meaningfully impact those both inside and outside of its traditional scope. Because of this personal and career goal, I have specifically chosen to pursue a STEM major, recognizing that the coursework within areas such as biology, chemistry, and physics will best provide me with the necessary knowledge and skills needed to make an impact on the people that I will one day serve. Whether that be microbiological and immunological knowledge that can translate into creating vaccines, knowledge of the human body to successfully perform surgical procedures, or knowledge of torque and magnetic fields to generate alternate sources of clean energy, my STEM education will allow me to effectively and compassionately serve those who have less than I do. Coupled with my volunteer experiences tutoring Hispanic students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, caring for the local Spanish-speaking population at Holland Hospital, establishing and maintaining a garden for intercity Chicago residents, and my nearly eight years of translating work instructions into Spanish for non-English speaking employees, I am confident that my STEM field of study will most effectively allow me to achieve my personal and career goal of serving others. As of right now, I do not have the funding to complete the last semester of my undergraduate degree (or continue my education any further) and am unsure as to when - or even if - I will be able to finish it without any outside funding. Because winning this scholarship would provide me with the financial support needed to continue my education, allow me to already begin setting aside funds for my future work, and empower me in fulfilling my lifelong devotion to living abroad and working in underserved communities abroad, I feel that I am deserving of the Sherwood Family scholarship.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has allowed me to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has allowed me to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

As a result of growing up in an abusive home, I have struggled my entire life with major depressive disorder (MDD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and recurrent suicidal ideations and attempts. When I began my sophomore year of college in the fall of 2019, I was in a deep spell of depression, battling suicidal thoughts nearly every day, and desperately wanting to end my life. After a very difficult Christmas break where I intentionally overdosed twice on my medication and attempted suicide by inhaling cleaning solutions, I found myself in the psychiatric ward at Central DuPage Hospital for the entire month of February. Following my stay in Illinois, I was discharged to the state of Michigan where I spent an additional two months in intensive inpatient rehabilitation. When I was finally discharged for the last time in April 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had just begun and I was incredibly fearful of what the future might hold for me. With everything that was going on around me, I was still able to sit down and analyze the past three months of my life; above all, I realized that the system in which I had been a patient was insufficient in addressing the root causes of my depression. In the short space below, I do not have time to get into very many, if any, of the details surrounding my story, but my experience certainly left me determined to restructure the mental health treatment system by separating patients into more individualized groups during crisis stabilization as well as allow patients to play a greater role in designing their own treatment programs. By allocating patients to groups that are more specific in addressing their specific condition, the relevant educational programs can be more specialized and prevent individuals from being readmitted to the hospital soon after their initial discharge. More generally, because of my personal journey I want to pursue a career in which I can be an constant encouragement and support to those who struggle with depression and other mental health disorders, constantly reminding them that they have an important purpose, even if they are unable to see it. Along with the death of my cousin and close friend, experience serving the Latinx community at Holland Hospital, time spent mentoring students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, and several other experiences that I cannot even begin to mention, I have altered my choice of career. Whereas before I was pursuing a career in dentistry, I am now committed to becoming a missionary doctor to impoverished and under-resourced regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as by developing vaccines to help prevent the spread of diseases unique to their communities. In this way, I am confident that I can use my story and experiences to meaningfully impact those both inside and outside of the traditional scope of medicine.

To me, the heart of perseverance entails providing to someone else what somebody was already gracious enough to do for me, particularly, being a mentor for and speaking into my life. While the past two years have, undoubtedly, been difficult in at least some capacity for all of us, they have been particularly difficult for me. I was in the hospital for several months as a result of overdosing and trying to take my own life in early February 2020. While I do not think that it would be particularly helpful for me to get into all of the specifics as to why the circumstances in my life led me to this breaking point, it is sufficient to say that I was in a very dark place and felt as though I was a burden to everyone that I met, was hated by my family and friends, and would be better off dead. Though medication and therapy were certainly beneficial in the process of recovery, I believe that it is those who have chosen to be a part of my life - no matter how uncomfortable, difficult, or costly - that have been responsible for the greatest amount of healing that has taken place in my life. Furthermore, through these people I have seen the hand of God in my life, reminding me time and time again that my life has a purpose and, for that reason, He has chosen to leave me on this Earth. Because of what these incredible human beings have done for me, I am committed to doing the same for others. At Holland Hospital, I had the opportunity to accompany patients who were enduring great physical pain and ailment by offering them the gift of food, a gift, or even just a simple kind smile. At Puente del Pueblo, an afterschool program that serves the children of Latinx residents residing in or near the Timber Lake Apartments in West Chicago, I have been able to become a role model for many of the students; whether that be helping them with their academics, playing with them before the bus arrives, or even talking with them about the difficulties that they and their families are experiencing, I have been able to become an integral part of their lives. Concerning my involvement at my home school, Wheaton College, I lead a team of nearly fifty people in raising a variety of organic produce that is subsequently delivered to local food pantries. Because of this resource, hundreds of community residents have been able to have access to healthy fruits and vegetables that they might otherwise not have had available to them. As a whole, each of these volunteer experiences has provided me with the motivation and desire to meaningfully impact the field of medicine, no matter where it is found. In conclusion, my educational journey, volunteer work, and countless other experiences that I cannot even begin to mention have all contributed to changing the way that I view the world and increased the amount of compassion that I both feel and display towards those living within it. Because of this, I now deeply desire to walk alongside and give back to these communities, all in the ultimate pursuit of justice, mercy, and goodness. Together, each of these experiences has enabled me to become a person that is deeply committed to serving others with a heart that will not give up until that task is completed.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

For me, recovery entails not only the restoration of oneself but also a desire to assist in that of others. As a result of struggling my entire life with major depressive disorder, I have been in and out of several psychiatric hospitals my entire life; however, throughout the long and arduous journey, I have had several mentors and friends who have chosen to take up a portion of my daily pain and walk alongside me through the difficulties, no matter the personal cost. Whether that be professors providing me with a place to stay when I did not have one over school breaks, an older couple at church bringing me into their family, and the continued support of my closest friends, I could never have ever attained the level of emotional and spiritual stability that I currently experience without these people. Because of what these incredible human beings have done for me, I am committed to doing the same for others. At Holland Hospital, I have the opportunity to accompany patients who are enduring great physical pain and ailment by offering them the gift of food, a gift, or even just a simple, kind smile. And at Puente del Pueblo, I have become a role model to and speak into the lives of many socioeconomically-disadvantaged students. In these small ways, I have been able to use the strength of others to impact the lives of those around me meaningfully, something I believe to be the true definition of recovery.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility towards those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Puente del Pueblo (not to mention Holland Hospital), God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities. Over the past two years, I have been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, which serves Latinx residents residing in or near the Timber Lake Apartments in West Chicago. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has not only allowed me to help high school students thrive in the classroom but, even more importantly, has given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into their lives. Largely as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since I began serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, someone who comes from a largely white, suburban community in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad. In conclusion, my educational journey, volunteer work, and countless other experiences that I cannot even begin to mention have all contributed to changing the way that I view the world and increased the amount of compassion that I both feel and display towards those living within it. Because of this, I now deeply desire to walk alongside and give back to these communities, all in the ultimate pursuit of justice, mercy, and goodness. Together, each of these experiences has enabled me to become a person that is deeply committed to serving others with a heart that will not give up until that task is completed.

To me, the heart of giving entails providing to someone else what somebody was already gracious enough to do for me, particularly, being a mentor for and speaking into my life. While the past two years have, undoubtedly, been difficult in at least some capacity for all of us, they have been particularly difficult for me. I was in the hospital for several months as a result of overdosing and trying to take my own life in early February 2020. While I do not think that it would be particularly helpful for me to get into all of the specifics as to why the circumstances in my life led me to this breaking point, it is sufficient to say that I was in a very dark place and felt as though I was a burden to everyone that I met, was hated by my family and friends, and would be better off dead. Though medication and therapy were certainly beneficial in the process of recovery, I believe that it is those who have chosen to be a part of my life - no matter how uncomfortable, difficult, or costly - that have been responsible for the greatest amount of healing that has taken place in my life. Furthermore, through these people I have seen the hand of God in my life, reminding me time and time again that my life has a purpose and, for that reason, He has chosen to leave me on this Earth. Because of what these human beings have done for me, I am committed to doing the same for others. At Holland Hospital, I had the opportunity to accompany patients who were enduring great physical pain and ailment by offering them the gift of food, a gift, or even just a simple kind smile. At Puente del Pueblo, an afterschool program that serves the children of Latinx residents residing in or near the Timber Lake Apartments in West Chicago, I have been able to become a role model for many of the students; whether that be helping them with their academics, playing with them before the bus arrives, or even talking with them about the difficulties that they and their families are experiencing, I have been able to become an integral part of their lives. Concerning my involvement at my home school, Wheaton College, I lead a team of nearly fifty people in raising a variety of organic produce that is subsequently delivered to local food pantries. Because of this resource, hundreds of community residents have been able to have access to healthy fruits and vegetables that they might otherwise not have had available to them. As a whole, each of these volunteer experiences has provided me with the motivation and desire to meaningfully impact the field of medicine, no matter where it is found. In conclusion, my educational journey, volunteer work, and countless other experiences that I cannot even begin to mention have all contributed to changing the way that I view the world and increased the amount of compassion that I both feel and display towards those living within it. Because of this, I now deeply desire to walk alongside and give back to these communities, all in the ultimate pursuit of justice, mercy, and goodness. Together, each of these experiences has enabled me to become a person that is deeply committed to serving others with a heart that will not give up until that task is completed.

Because of my commitment to healthcare and research, the ability to print fully functional human organs and limbs is the piece of technology about which I am most excited. Though researchers have already begun to embark on this journey, there are many components of this piece of technology that have yet to be perfected. For example, in 2019, a team of researchers in Tel Aviv was the first to successfully bioprint a 3D human heart; however, this model lacked some of the necessary vascular infrastructure needed for this organ to be used in full-blown organ implants. Furthermore, researchers at the University of Würzburg were able to successfully use progenitor cells to produce blood vessels and other connective tissues under highly controlled laboratory conditions. Yet, like above, these were unable to be developed and deemed functional inside of the bioprinted heart produced in Tel Aviv. Thus, despite the great amount of progress being made in this field, there is yet much that remains to be done. The benefits of this piece of technology would be of unrivaled benefit to humanity. In addition to those with medical emergencies who need organ implants, this technological advancement would improve the lives of those returning from service as well as those born with debilitating injuries. Between the years 2001 and 2018, the Department of Defense (DOD) reported that more than 1,500 veterans who had returned home from Iraq and Afghanistan had missing or greatly damaged limbs. No doubt, a machine capable of producing fully-functioning limbs would provide injured veterans the needed mobility to enjoy full and complete lives after returning home from overseas. More than just veterans, this technological advancement would help children and infants who suffer from birth defects and other birth-related complications. According to the CDC, approximately 1 in every 1,900 children is born with a stunted, missing, or otherwise dysfunctional limb. Using the 3.79 million births reported by the CDC in 2018 for reference, that yields an estimate of nearly 2,000 children and infants who are born with a limb defect annually. Surely, a machine capable of bioprinting human organs, body parts, and limbs would allow these children to achieve their full potential and experience the happiness that they deserve in their lives. Finally, this technological advancement would greatly improve the lives of those living in third-world countries who have little to no access to the technology needed to grow human organs in the laboratory. A device capable of producing functional body parts would greatly improve the healthcare systems of these countries. By being able to successfully bioprint human organs and limbs, those who live with handicaps and few material resources to change their situation (a large number of people in third-world countries) could receive affordable help and, as a result, live their life with the mobility and happiness of being injury-free.

To me personally, the song that has the most beautiful and important message is entitled "Five More Minutes" by Scotty McCreery (Seasons Change, 2018, Universal Music Publishing Group), an American country music singer. While the song highlights several impactful and important life experiences, such as fishing by the creek when his mother called for supper, his first date, or his final high school football game, the final stanza is what I find to be the most powerful: "At eighty-six, my grandpa said, 'There's angels in the room' All the family gathered 'round, knew the time was comin' soon With so much left to say I prayed, Lord, I ain't finished Just give us five more minutes" McCreery realizes that, at the end of our lives, what will not matter are our personal accomplishments, our income, or our worldly treasures, but rather the invaluable - and irrecuperable - time that we have with the ones we love. After losing my best friend several years ago to a train accident and my most beloved grandparent to old age within the past year, I am able to more fully appreciate and internalize McCreery's reaction to being in the room with his dying grandfather: "just give us five more minutes."

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

I love math because it is one of the most powerful tools that we as human beings have to decipher the truth from reality objectively - or at least one of our best chances to do so. One specific way in which numbers allow us to do this occurs every day in the professional world with the tool and power of statistical analysis. Whether it be electrical engineering, astrophysics, agricultural sciences, or even market research, nearly every field relies on the truths conveyed by the numbers as used in the scientific method. In my own personal research at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL (that of investigating hepatic transcription differences between male and female mice and its implications for treating fatty liver disease and diabetes type two Mellitus), I use statistics daily in order to validate my findings from Western Blot, real-time PCR (qPCR), placental nuclei purification, and even DNA/RNA extraction, to draw conclusions, put them into the larger context of my research, and ultimately inform my principal investigator of what next steps and/or implications the findings that my research has for the larger community of genetic medicine. In this way, statistical analysis is an invaluable tool for research because, without it, conclusions would be arbitrary, progress would be far slower, and we would have drastically fewer societal advancements than we currently enjoy in the modern world.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latino community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latino community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have occurred within my heart, concerning how I view God and my place within the world, and my responsibility toward those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As a result of my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latino community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Primarily as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latinx community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

As a college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish. Upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as hands-on compassion. Following that program, and to combine my love of medicine, my desire to care for those around me, and to show my gratitude for how much I have been given as a citizen of this country, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as by developing vaccines to help prevent the spread of diseases unique to these communities. Because of this personal and career goal, I have specifically chosen to pursue a STEM major, recognizing that the coursework within areas such as biology, chemistry, and physics will best provide me with the necessary knowledge and skills needed to make an impact on the people that I hope to, one day, serve. Whether that be microbiological and immunological knowledge that can be utilized in creating vaccines, knowledge of human anatomy and physiology to successfully perform surgical operations and procedures, or knowledge of magnetic fields and torque to develop alternative sources of clean energy, my STEM education will allow me to effectively and compassionately serve those who have less than I do. In this way, my STEM field of study will most effectively allow me to achieve my personal and career goal of serving others. In addition to my STEM coursework, I have been able to learn things in my non-STEM courses that have greatly enhanced my STEM education. Out of all my non-STEM courses, my Spanish studies have proven to be the most personally transformative. As a result of these courses, not to mention my time spent tutoring Latino students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, serving the local Spanish- speaking population at Holland Hospital, establishing and maintaining a garden that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to intercity Chicago residents, or my nearly eight years of workplace experience translating work instructions into Spanish for non-English speaking employees, I have improved in my ability to converse with and relate to the Hispanic culture, something that will greatly enhance my effectiveness overseas. In conclusion, my STEM courses have been greatly influenced and strengthened by the courses that I have taken outside of STEM, particularly my Spanish courses. By coupling my knowledge of biochemistry, anatomy, physiology, immunology, and physics with the Spanish language and cultural skills that I have learned, I am confident that I will be able to meaningfully impact those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In this way, my STEM education can be directly used to serve those in the community and world around me and to do so with a heart that will not give up until that task is completed.

As a college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish. Upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as hands-on compassion. Following that program, and combining my love of medicine, my desire to care for those around me, and to show my gratitude for how much I have been given as a citizen of this country, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as by developing vaccines to help prevent the spread of diseases unique to these communities. Because of this personal and career goal, I have specifically chosen to pursue a STEM major, recognizing that the coursework within areas such as biology, chemistry, and physics will best provide me with the necessary knowledge and skills needed to make an impact on the people that I hope to, one day, serve. Whether that be microbiological and immunological knowledge that can be utilized in creating vaccines, knowledge of human anatomy and physiology to successfully perform surgical operations and procedures, or knowledge of magnetic fields and torque to develop alternative sources of clean energy, my STEM education will allow me to effectively and compassionately serve those who have less than I do. In this way, my STEM field of study will most effectively allow me to achieve my personal and career goal of serving others. In addition to my STEM coursework, I have been able to learn things in my non-STEM courses that have greatly enhanced my STEM education. Out of all my non-STEM courses, my Spanish studies have proven to be the most personally transformative. As a result of these courses, not to mention my time spent tutoring Latino students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, serving the local Spanish- speaking population at Holland Hospital, establishing and maintaining a garden that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to intercity Chicago residents, or my nearly eight years of workplace experience translating work instructions into Spanish for non-English speaking employees, I have improved in my ability to converse with and relate to the Hispanic culture, something that will greatly enhance my effectiveness overseas. In conclusion, my STEM courses have been greatly influenced and strengthened by the courses that I have taken outside of STEM, particularly my Spanish courses. By coupling my knowledge of biochemistry, anatomy, physiology, immunology, and physics with the Spanish language and cultural skills that I have learned, I am confident that I will be able to meaningfully impact those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In this way, my STEM education can be directly used to serve those in the community and world around me and to do so with a heart that will not give up until that task is completed.

As a college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish. Upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as hands-on compassion. Following that program, and to combine my love of medicine, my desire to care for those around me, and to show my gratitude for how much I have been given as a citizen of this country, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as by developing vaccines to help prevent the spread of diseases unique to these communities. Because of this personal and career goal, I have specifically chosen to pursue a STEM major, recognizing that the coursework within areas such as biology, chemistry, and physics will best provide me with the necessary knowledge and skills needed to make an impact on the people that I hope to, one day, serve. Whether that be microbiological and immunological knowledge that can be utilized in creating vaccines, knowledge of human anatomy and physiology to successfully perform surgical operations and procedures, or knowledge of magnetic fields and torque to develop alternative sources of clean energy, my STEM education will allow me to effectively and compassionately serve those who have less than I do. In this way, my STEM field of study will most effectively allow me to achieve my personal and career goal of serving others. In addition to my STEM coursework, I have been able to learn things in my non-STEM courses that have greatly enhanced my STEM education. Out of all my non-STEM courses, my Spanish studies have proven to be the most personally transformative. As a result of these courses, not to mention my time spent tutoring Latino students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, serving the local Spanish- speaking population at Holland Hospital, establishing and maintaining a garden that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to intercity Chicago residents, or my nearly eight years of workplace experience translating work instructions into Spanish for non-English speaking employees, I have improved in my ability to converse with and relate to the Hispanic culture, something that will greatly enhance my effectiveness overseas. In conclusion, my STEM courses have been greatly influenced and strengthened by the courses that I have taken outside of STEM, particularly my Spanish courses. By coupling my knowledge of biochemistry, anatomy, physiology, immunology, and physics with the Spanish language and cultural skills that I have learned, I am confident that I will be able to meaningfully impact those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In this way, my STEM education can be directly used to serve those in the community and world around me and to do so with a heart that will not give up until that task is completed.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility towards those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As the result of both my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and my time at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. As part of the curiosity that accompanied my high school studies of Spanish, I pushed myself to step outside the boundaries in which I felt comfortable and serve the underprivileged Latino community at the nearby hospital. This work provided me with so much more than numerous learning opportunities - it gave me many close friendships that have continued until today. The patients and coworkers I met pushed me to see a world I had been blinded to for so long, something that brought me an incredible amount of freedom. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different than I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latino community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. Though I had initially planned on pursuing dentistry, I now desire to combine my love of medicine and my desire to serve others by becoming a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas and, using my medical knowledge, Spanish language skills, and compassion, improve the lives of the people living in these communities. Whether that be directly serving the people of God or those who are not currently his, God may choose to use this work to bring others to him. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, my engagement with the Spanish-speaking community in the greater Chicagoland area has also been a source of life-giving joy and strength in my life. Over the past two years, I have been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, which serves Latino residents residing in or near the Timber Lake Apartments in the West Chicago area. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton, my participation in this program has not only allowed me to help middle and high school students thrive in the classroom but, even more importantly for me, given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of those who are experiencing difficult things. Largely as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since I began serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latino community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad. In conclusion, my educational journey, volunteer work, and countless other experiences that I cannot even begin to mention have all contributed to changing the way that I view the world and increased the amount of compassion that I both feel and display towards those living within it. Because of this, I now deeply desire to walk alongside and give back to these communities, all in the ultimate pursuit of justice, mercy, and goodness. Together, each of these experiences has enabled me to become a person that is deeply committed to serving others with a heart that will not give up until that task is completed.

As a college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish. Upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as hands-on compassion. Following that program, and to combine my love of medicine, my desire to care for those around me, and to show my gratitude for how much I have been given as a citizen of this country, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as by developing vaccines to help prevent the spread of diseases unique to these communities. Because of this personal and career goal, I have specifically chosen to pursue a STEM major, recognizing that the coursework within areas such as biology, chemistry, and physics will best provide me with the necessary knowledge and skills needed to make an impact on the people that I hope to, one day, serve. Whether that be microbiological and immunological knowledge that can be utilized in creating vaccines, knowledge of human anatomy and physiology to successfully perform surgical operations and procedures, or knowledge of magnetic fields and torque to develop alternative sources of clean energy, my STEM education will allow me to effectively and compassionately serve those who have less than I do. In this way, my STEM field of study will most effectively allow me to achieve my personal and career goal of serving others. In addition to my STEM coursework, I have been able to learn things in my non-STEM courses that have greatly enhanced my STEM education. Out of all my non-STEM courses, my Spanish studies have proven to be the most personally transformative. As a result of these courses, not to mention my time spent tutoring Latino students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, serving the local Spanish- speaking population at Holland Hospital, establishing and maintaining a garden that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to intercity Chicago residents, or my nearly eight years of workplace experience translating work instructions into Spanish for non-English speaking employees, I have improved in my ability to converse with and relate to the Hispanic culture, something that will greatly enhance my effectiveness overseas. In conclusion, my STEM courses have been greatly influenced and strengthened by the courses that I have taken outside of STEM, particularly my Spanish courses. By coupling my knowledge of biochemistry, anatomy, physiology, immunology, and physics with the Spanish language and cultural skills that I have learned, I am confident that I will be able to meaningfully impact those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In this way, my STEM education can be directly used to serve those in the community and world around me and to do so with a heart that will not give up until that task is completed.

As a result of growing up in an abusive home, I have struggled my entire life with major depressive disorder (MDD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and recurrent suicidal ideations and attempts. When I began my sophomore year of college in the fall of 2019, I was in a deep spell of depression, battling suicidal thoughts and ideations nearly every day, and desperately wanting to end my life. After a very difficult Christmas break where I intentionally overdosed twice on my medication and attempted suicide by inhaling cleaning solutions, I found myself in the psychiatric ward at Central DuPage Hospital for the entire month of February. Following my month-long stay in Illinois, I was discharged to the state of Michigan where I spent an additional two months in intensive inpatient rehabilitation. When I was finally discharged for the last time in April 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had just begun and I was incredibly fearful of what the future might hold for me. With everything that was going on around me, I was still able to sit down and analyze the past three months of my life; above all, I realized that the system in which I had been a patient was insufficient in addressing the root causes of my depression. In the short space below, I do not have time to get into very many, if any, of the details surrounding my story, but my experience certainly left me determined to restructure the mental health treatment system by separating patients into more individualized groups during crisis stabilization as well as allow patients to play a greater role in designing their own treatment programs. By allocating patients to groups that are more specific in addressing their specific condition, the relevant educational programs can be more specialized and prevent individuals from being readmitted to the hospital soon after their initial discharge. Because of my personal journey, I want to pursue a career in which I can be an encouragement and support to those who struggle with depression and other mental health disorders, constantly reminding them that they have an important purpose, even if they are unable to see it. Along with the death of my cousin and close friend, experience serving the Latinx community at Holland Hospital, time spent mentoring students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, and several other experiences that I cannot even begin to mention, I have altered my choice of career. Whereas before I was pursuing a career in dentistry, I am now committed to becoming a missionary doctor to impoverished and under-resourced regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as by developing vaccines to help prevent the spread of diseases unique to their communities. In this way, I am confident that I can use my story and experiences to meaningfully impact those both inside and outside of the traditional scope of medicine.

When I reflect on my life, I can see many ways in which my family has contributed to who I am today. Although some of these contributions were positive, I think that the most personally transformative ones were negative. Despite having a large number of negative family influences, I have been and will continue to be able to grow independently of these influences and use those experiences to become an empathetic and compassionate person. As a result of growing up in an abusive home environment, there were many painful things that I both heard and saw. Whether it be my father constantly telling me that I would never amount to anything, that nothing that I cared about mattered in any way, or that I did not deserve any friendships, I felt deeply hurt. On top of the pain inflicted on me, the abuse that my mother experienced at the hands of my father hurt equally as much. In addition to hurting me with his words, my father frequently told my mother that she was a horrible mother, that she never did anything important, and that nobody cared about her. The pain of seeing my mother constantly being abused at the hands of my father left a lasting impression on me, one that, I decided, would change me entirely as a person. After seeing and feeling the pain inflicted by my father, I decided that I was not going to continue this pattern of abuse any longer. Seeing both physical and emotional abuse carry itself out for generations, I was determined to end this cycle of abuse and never treat a woman in the same way as did my dad, grandfather, and great-grandfather. I was motivated to end the trend of men punching their spouses, slamming their heads against the wall, pushing spouses down the stairs while pregnant, and taking them for a “ride” to endlessly beat them. I was not going to end up constantly telling women that they did not matter and that nobody loved them. And I was going to begin that change with me, right now. More than just pushing me to be different as a person, these experiences gave me the desire to pursue a career in healthcare. By utilizing the pain of my childhood, I was able to channel my work ethic into not only obtaining grades that granted me acceptance to the school of my dreams but also allowing me to finance this dream. Because nobody in my family had ever pursued a college education nor had an interest in taking care of others, I decided to enroll at Wheaton College, the school that, I believed, would best prepare me for my future career and mold me into the compassionate person that I desired to be. In retrospect, my family has greatly contributed to who I am as a person today. Whether it be pushing me to pursue a different career, becoming a person who treats women with respect, or some other facet of my life that I cannot even begin to mention in this short space I can see the influence of my family in both my educational and personal journeys. In this way, I was able to — and will continue to — use my experiences to become a different person, one who exhibits empathy and compassion towards and meaningfully impacts the lives of others.

Because of my commitment to healthcare and research, the ability to print fully-functional human organs and limbs is the piece of technology about which I am most excited. Though biomedical researchers have already begun to embark on this journey, there are many components of this piece of technology that have yet to be perfected. For example, in 2019, a team of researchers in Tel Aviv were the first to successfully bioprint a 3D human heart; however, this model lacked some of the necessary vascular infrastructure needed for this organ to be used in full-blown organ implants. Despite current limitations, this piece of technology would be of unrivaled benefit to humanity. In addition to those with medical emergencies who need organ implants, this technological advancement would improve the lives of those returning from service as well as those born with debilitating injuries. Between 2001 and 2018, the Department of Defense (DOD) reported that more than 1,500 veterans who had returned home from Iraq and Afghanistan had missing or greatly damaged limbs. No doubt, a machine capable of producing fully-functioning limbs would provide injured veterans the needed mobility to enjoy full and complete lives after returning home from overseas. In addition to veterans, this technological advancement would help children and infants who suffer from birth defects and other birth-related complications. According to the CDC, approximately 1 in every 1,900 children is born with a stunted, missing, or otherwise dysfunctional limb. Using the 3.79 million births reported by the CDC in 2018 for reference, that yields an estimate of nearly 2,000 children and infants who are born with a limb defect annually. Surely, a machine capable of bioprinting human organs, body parts, and limbs would allow these children to achieve their full potential and experience the happiness that they deserve in their lives.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility towards those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As the result of both my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and my time at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latino community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Largely as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since I began serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latino community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility towards those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As the result of both my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and my time at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different from I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latino community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Largely as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since I began serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latino community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility towards those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As the result of both my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and my time at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different than I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latino community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Largely as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since I began serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latino community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility towards those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As the result of both my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and my time at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different than I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latino community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, I have also been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, over the past two years. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of middle and high school students who are experiencing difficult things. Largely as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since I began serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latino community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

As a soon-to-be college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish. Upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as through hands-on compassion. Following that program, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as by developing vaccines to help prevent the spread of the diseases unique to these communities. In this way, I am confident that I will be able to meaningfully impact others, both inside and outside the traditional contexts of medicine. Of all my experiences, perhaps my time spent as a volunteer pushed me most towards wanting to make a difference in the field of medicine. My experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world, something that shaped me into a more loving and compassionate person, as well as one that desired to make a difference. The opportunity that I had to serve others who were going through extremely difficult circumstances by offering them the gift of flowers, food, or even just a simple, kind smile, was incredibly rewarding and fueled my desire to serve those both in the communities and the world around me who were in similar circumstances. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different than I did. The nature of the hospital’s surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As a whole, my volunteer experience at Holland Hospital, all without mentioning my time spent tutoring Spanish-speaking students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, maintaining a garden that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to intercity Chicago residents, or my nearly eight years of workplace experiencing translating work instructions into Spanish for non-English-speaking employees, has given me an attitude of empathy and compassion, a mindset that has forced me to recognize that I and my culture are no better than others. In this way, all of my volunteer experiences have provided me with the motivation to make a lasting impact on the field of medicine in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad.

As a soon-to-be college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish. Upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as through hands-on compassion. Following that program, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as by developing vaccines to help prevent the spread of the diseases unique to these communities. In this way, I am confident that I will be able to meaningfully impact others, both inside and outside the traditional contexts of medicine. Of all my experiences, perhaps my time spent as a volunteer pushed me most towards wanting to make a difference in the field of medicine. My experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world, something that shaped me into a more loving and compassionate person, as well as one that desired to make a difference. The opportunity that I had to serve others who were going through extremely difficult circumstances by offering them the gift of flowers, food, or even just a simple, kind smile, was incredibly rewarding and fueled my desire to serve those both in the communities and the world around me who were in similar circumstances. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different than I did. The nature of the hospital’s surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once-foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As a whole, my volunteer experience at Holland Hospital, all without mentioning my time spent tutoring Spanish-speaking students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, maintaining a garden that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to intercity Chicago residents, or my nearly eight years of workplace experiencing translating work instructions into Spanish for non-English-speaking employees, has given me an attitude of empathy and compassion, a mindset that has forced me to recognize that I and my culture are no better than others. In this way, all of my volunteer experiences have provided me with the motivation to make a lasting impact on the field of medicine in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad.

Power in the Unforeseen: A Story of Service and Transformation Out of all of my achievements, none has been as personally transformative as was my time spent as a volunteer at Holland Hospital in Holland, Michigan. More than any other, this experience pushed me to pursue a career where I could serve in under-resourced communities and, in that way, bring change to the field of medicine no matter where it is found. My experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world, something that shaped me into a more loving and compassionate person, as well as one that desired to make a difference. In addition to growing up in an abusive home, I regularly fought the restrictions of the school and church in which I was raised. Among their many restrictions, these institutions told me that I could not serve those who looked different than I did and could not participate in activities that were not tied to their church. However, as a part of the curiosity that accompanied my high school studies of the Spanish language, I chose to disregard their rules and, instead, serve the under-resourced Latino community at the nearby hospital. The patients and coworkers that I met there pushed me to see a world to which I had for so long been blinded, something that brought me an incredible amount of freedom. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different than I did. The opportunity that I had to serve others who were going through extremely difficult circumstances by offering them the gift of flowers, food, or even just a simple, kind smile, was incredibly rewarding and fueled my desire to serve those both in the communities and world around me who were in similar circumstances. As a whole, my volunteer experience at Holland Hospital, all without mentioning my time spent tutoring Spanish-speaking students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, maintaining a garden that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to intercity Chicago residents, or my nearly eight years of workplace experiencing translating work instructions into Spanish for non-English-speaking employees, has given me an attitude of empathy and compassion, a mindset that has forced me to recognize that I am no better than others. Not only did this attitude of empathy and compassion change the way that I viewed the world and my responsibilities towards those living in it, but it also altered my choice of career. As I sat and listened to the stories of patients and co-volunteers who came from very different cultures and had very different experiences, I began to realize, for the first time in my life, that the financial and economic resources that were available to me as a child, someone who was raised in a predominantly white, suburban communities were not equally available to those of many minority groups – even those who lived very close proximity to my childhood home. More than any other, it was this realization that was responsible for my decision to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to use my medical knowledge and Spanish-language skills to not only provide hands-on compassion but also actively research ways in which I can better the lives of those living in these communities, such as by developing vaccines to help prevent the spread of diseases unique to their communities. In this way, my volunteer experience at Holland Hospital, perhaps more than any other volunteer experience, provided me with the motivation to make a lasting impact on the field of medicine, whether domestically or abroad. In conclusion, my time spent serving the local Spanish-speaking population at Holland Hospital has proven to have been one of the most transformative experiences in my life and pushed me to pursue a career where I could serve those who do not have access to resources that should be available to all. In this rather unique way, my volunteer experience at Holland Hospital, and in the greater Spanish- speaking community, has allowed me to become a person that is deeply committed to serving others with a heart that will not give up until that task is completed.

In order to achieve academic success in college, I have had to develop study strategies that extend outside of the classroom and penetrate into all of life. Perhaps, my Spanish studies serve as the single best example of how I have altered my study strategies to this end. When I entered college, I was rather incompetent in my Spanish-speaking proficiency and general knowledge of the Hispanic culture. Even though I had won the Spanish award during my senior year of high school (an award given to the best Spanish student in the school) and had befriended several native Spanish speakers at my after-school job, including my then estranged Dominican-born cousin, my grammar and speaking skills were mediocre at best. On my first day of college-level Spanish, my professor walked into the classroom speaking very rapidly, in a foreign accent, and playing her guitar to a tune that I could not recognize. After experiencing that first class — the first time in my life where I felt entirely lost and confused during school — I realized that, if I was going to have success in my Spanish classes, I was going to have to change my approach and adopt new study strategies in order to succeed. Of all of the study strategies that I have tried, what I have found to be most helpful in my learning of the Spanish language is incorporating the language and culture into life outside of the classroom. Whether that be making friends with Spanish-speaking classmates at school, committing to going to a Spanish-speaking church, volunteering at a hospital serving a predominantly Latino population, or even choosing to shop at the local Mexican supermarket, I am adamant that this approach is crucial if one is to make appreciable strides in learning the Spanish language and culture.

Among the many important words and phrases that I have heard, the wisdom of cherishing the time that we have with others is, perhaps, the most important. Through the incredibly painful loss of someone that had been so close to me, I learned lessons that changed how I thought about others, how I acted towards them, and who I was. By way of this experience, I learned the importance of valuing the time that I have been given with others because I never know when that person will be taken away from me. While this trial brought brokenness, it brought about a realization, change, and healing inside that only something of this caliber could provide. In the nearly two years that have passed since this incident, I have become a radically different person. Despite its incredible pain, the loss of my close friend sowed seeds in my life, seeds that forever changed my values and priorities. As I examined my life and all of the areas in which I fell short, none stood out more than the area of friendships. I saw friendships that I had used solely for my own popularity, benefit, and happiness. I had formed friendships that were only based on what I could receive and never what I could give. At that moment, something in my mind was forever changed. I vowed to never again use friendships for my happiness, but as a way to encourage. I vowed to never again use friendships so that I could receive, but so that I could give. With this vow, I finally understood the weight of the phrase “cherish your time,” something that allowed me to take this phrase to heart and make it the cornerstone of my life.

This past year, I spent my entire Christmas break, writing essay after essay for the various biomedical summer research internship programs to which I was applying, including - but not limited to - schools such as Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt, the University of Michigan, and Mayo Clinic. Altogether, I wrote application essays for more than thirty programs, all in the hope that this would greatly bolster my chances of being accepted into at least one of these hard-to-come-by research experiences. As springtime arrived in Chicago, I had heard from the last of these thirty-or-so programs and all had given me the same answer: no. With all these emotions running through my mind, I knew that I could not just continue to sit around, grumble, and speculate on all the different ways in which I could have responded to the prompts on the applications. The next couple of nights, I pined the internet for any possible job and/or research internship opportunity that I could think of with the goal of being able to have at least something that I could show for all the work that I had put into finding something for the summer. Even though the vast majority of opportunities had deadlines that had already closed, I applied to any and every opportunity that was still open. After completing one of my final applications, I received an email from the University of Georgia asking to schedule an interview over Zoom© for the following week. Three days later, as I was sitting in one of my final class sessions taking notes and mentally beginning to prepare for moving out of my college-owned dormitory, a notification surfaced on my phone screen from the University of Georgia: “I am pleased to inform you…”

As a soon-to-be college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish. Upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as through hands-on compassion. Following that program, and in order to combine my love of medicine, my desire to care for those around me, and to show my gratitude for how much I have as a citizen of this country, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as by preventing the spread of diseases unique to their communities. In this way, I believe that I will be able to take my career in medicine and meaningfully impact those both inside and outside of its traditional scope. Because this scholarship would provide me with the financial support to complete my education and, more importantly, help me achieve my personal goal of serving under-resourced communities, I feel that I am deserving of the Bold Goals Scholarship.

After being in and out of psychiatric hospitals for years due to suffering from major depressive disorder (MDD) as well as recurrent suicidal ideations and attempts, I have become aware that hospitals and mental health crisis treatment centers often fail to appropriately treat mental health, a rising epidemic across the United States, Canada, and the larger world. Based on my own experiences, I am committed to improving the field of medicine by restructuring the current mental health treatment system so that patients are separated into groups tailored to their specific conditions rather than being grouped into large and unspecialized clusters. When I was discharged from the doors of Central DuPage Hospital on February 27, 2020, I immediately began to critically analyze the past month of my life. Above all, I realized that the department in which I had lived for the last month was largely ineffective in identifying and initiating treatment for the root causes of my depression. Being admitted to the same hospital for the second time in as many weeks because of a drug overdose, I immediately knew that I would be transferred to the Behavioral Health Services (BHS) division following my discharge from the medical center, something that made me extremely frustrated and moved to voice following my eventual release from the hospital. During my stay in the crisis unit the week prior, I became aware that the system in place was insufficient to treat my particular mental health condition. Despite the cleanliness of the facility, the kindness of the social workers and nurses, and the wisdom of the psychiatrist and physicians, I noticed an overall lack of attention to the requests of those who filled the hospital beds. Even though many of the group sessions had the potential to be incredibly valuable, I found it frustrating that I could not design my own individual recovery plan. Since I had been on the same floor less than forty-eight hours before, I felt that I was in an especially unique position to assess which treatment methods would and would not work for me. Unfortunately, the social workers and nurses with whom I spoke did not seem to be willing to entertain the idea that the way in which they had been treating me and my depression was not the most appropriate method to achieve the desired results. As I sat in the mandated group activities and lessons for almost three weeks straight and listened to the stories of nearly every patient who came onto and left my unit, I realized that my reason for being in the hospital was far different than the other patients. While nearly every individual on the unit suffered from some form of substance or alcohol abuse, I was there for almost an entirely different reason: severe anxiety and depression. Among the many reasons why this was particularly frustrating, the fact that the hospital was attempting to use the same program for people suffering from very different problems did not make any sense to me. Of the many changes that I would like to make to the current mental health treatment system, I think that one, very practical change that would greatly increase the effectiveness of inpatient crisis stabilization centers is, instead of placing all patients in the same facility and subjecting them to the same treatment, patients need to be segregated into smaller, more personalized groups, each addressing a different problem such as substance abuse, alcohol abuse, PTSD and other war-related traumas, eating disorders, anxiety and depression, and minor behavioral disorders like Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). By allocating patients to groups that are more specific to address their specific condition, the relevant educational programs can be more specialized and prevent individuals from being readmitted to the hospital soon after their initial discharge. In conclusion, restructuring the current mental health treatment system by separating patients into different, more individualized groups during crisis stabilization would allow hospitals and other inpatient crisis treatment centers to more appropriately respond to the needs of their patients, not to mention putting them on the road to true recovery much sooner than currently is the case. By way of this relatively simple modification to the current infrastructure, I am confident that the needs of patients in the mental health community, a rapidly expanding arena in the field of healthcare, can be more appropriately and adequately met.

As a soon-to-be college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish and, upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as hands-on compassion. Following that program and to combine my love of medicine, my desire to care for those around me, and to show my gratitude for how much I have been given as a citizen of this country, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as by developing vaccines to help prevent the spread of diseases unique to their communities. Because of this personal and career goal, I have specifically chosen to pursue a STEM major, recognizing that the coursework within areas such as biology, chemistry, and physics will best provide me with the necessary knowledge and skills needed to make an impact on the people that I hope to one day serve. Whether that be microbiological and immunological knowledge that can be utilized in creating vaccines, knowledge of human anatomy and physiology to successfully perform surgical operations and procedures, or knowledge of torque and magnetic fields to develop alternate sources of clean energy, my STEM education will allow me to effectively and compassionately serve those who have less than I do. In this way, my STEM field of study will most effectively allow me to achieve my personal and career goal of serving others. In addition to my STEM coursework, I have been able to learn things in my non-STEM courses that have greatly enhanced my STEM education. Out of all my non-STEM courses, my Spanish studies have proven to be the most personally transformative. As a result of these courses, not to mention my time spent tutoring Latino students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, serving the local Spanish- speaking population at Holland Hospital, establishing and maintaining a garden that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to intercity Chicago residents, or my nearly eight years of workplace experience translating work instructions into Spanish for non-English speaking employees, I have improved in my ability to converse with and relate to the Hispanic culture, something that will greatly enhance my effectiveness overseas. In conclusion, my STEM courses have been greatly influenced and strengthened by the courses that I have taken outside of STEM, particularly my Spanish courses. By coupling my knowledge of biochemistry, anatomy, physiology, immunology, and physics with the Spanish language and cultural skills that I have learned, I am confident that I will be able to effectively care for those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In this way, my higher education can be directly used to serve those in the community and world around me and do so with a heart that will not give up until that task is completed.

I possess the characteristics and attributes of receptiveness, a detailed-oriented mentality, and empathy, three qualities essential to having success as a medical professional. As a biology major, there have been numerous times in which I have made either errors in procedure, handled something in an unsafe manner, or not accomplished a task in the most efficient manner. However, during those times I have displayed receptiveness in that I took responsibility for my actions, recognized that I could be wrong, listened to the instructive feedback, and changed my patterns accordingly. In addition to possessing the attribute of receptiveness, my detail-oriented mindset is something that has allowed me to achieve academic success in both the classroom and research laboratory. Finally, I believe that I possess and exhibit the attribute of empathy. My three years spent as a volunteer at Holland Hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different than I did. Since that experience, I have been able to empathize with people in a host of diverse situations, including those struggling with mental illness, my next topic. As a result of myself struggling with severe depression and suicidal thoughts my entire life, I have not only been able to relate to and comfort those who struggle with this sickness, but I have made it my mission to develop medication and technology that can help those suffering from its effects. Because I possess the necessary characteristics and attributes of receptiveness, a detail-oriented mentality, and empathy, I believe that I will be able to have a bright future as a professional in the field of medicine.

Healing in Brokenness During our lives, we often hear words and phrases that fail to take full effect until something powerful forever changes our lives. Growing up, I frequently heard the advice to “cherish my time,” but these words never seemed to fully register in my mind until the day my close friend and cousin was removed from my life. By way of this painful experience, I truly learned the importance of valuing the time that I have with others. Roughly four years ago, my life was forever changed with one message. As I packed up my things and headed for the door at my summer job, I looked at my phone and saw a message from one of my friends enter my screen. In shocking disbelief, I turned off the radio in my car and began the long car ride back to my home muttering the words of the text: “Sammy just passed away.” As I drove, I began to play snapshots of the incident inside my head: Sammy driving towards the train tracks, no yellow railroad crossing sign to alert her, Sammy’s final breath as she felt the train make contact with the passenger door of her white Ford Fusion, and her mother watching it all take place behind the old, glass window of their small, farm house. Despite its incredible pain, the loss of my close friend sowed seeds in my life, seeds that forever changed my values and priorities. As I examined my life and all of the areas in which I fell short, none stood out more than the area of friendships. I saw friendships that I had used solely for my own popularity, benefit, and happiness. I had formed friendships that were only based on what I could receive and never what I could give. At that moment, something in my mind was forever changed. I vowed to never again use friendships for my happiness, but as a way to encourage. I vowed to never again use friendships so that I could receive, but so that I could give. With this vow, I finally understood the weight of the phrase “cherish your time,” something that allowed me to take this phrase to heart and make the cornerstone of my life. I promised myself that I would no longer spend countless hours working, studying, and watching television, but I would, instead, spend them with those of whom I deeply loved. When I was with my friends, I would enjoy every moment with them and pour into them as much as I physically could outside of the times that we could spend together. I promised to do everything that I possibly could to establish living, lasting, and meaningful relationships with other human beings. Among the many important words and phrases that I have heard, the wisdom of cherishing the time that we have with others is, perhaps, the most important. Through the incredible painful loss of someone that had been so close to me, I learned lessons that changed how I thought about others, how I acted towards them, and who I was. By way of this experience, I learned the importance of valuing the time that I have been given with others, because I never know when that person will be taken away from me. While this trial brought brokenness, it brought about a realization, change, and healing inside that only something of this caliber could provide.

Roughly four years ago, my life was forever changed with one phone call. As I packed up my things and left my summer job, I looked at my phone and saw a message from one of my friends enter my screen. In shocking disbelief, I turned off the radio in my car and began the long car ride back to my home muttering the words of the text: “Sammy just passed away.” In the nearly two years that have passed since this incident, I have become a radically different person. As I examined my life and all of the areas in which I fell short, none stood out more than the area of friendships. I saw friendships that I had used solely for my own popularity, benefit, and happiness. I had formed friendships that were only based on what I could receive and never what I could give. At that moment, something in my mind was forever changed. I vowed to never again use friendships for my happiness, but as a way to encourage. I vowed to never again use friendships so that I could receive, but so that I could give. I promised to do everything that I possibly could to establish living, lasting, and meaningful relationships with other human beings. Through the incredibly painful loss of someone that had been so close to me, I learned lessons that changed how I thought about others, how I acted towards them, and who I was. By way of this experience, I learned the importance of valuing the time that I have been given with others because I never know when that person will be taken away from me. While this trial brought brokenness, it brought about a realization, change, and healing inside that only something of this caliber could provide.

In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, my engagement with the Spanish-speaking community in the greater Chicagoland area has also been a source of life-giving joy and strength in my life. Over the past two years, I have been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, which serves Latino residents residing in the West Chicago area. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College, my participation in this program has given me the opportunity to speak into the lives of those who are hurting. Largely as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since I began serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latino community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

This scholarship would help me meet both my career and personal life goals. In order to combine my love of medicine, my desire to take care of others around me, and to show my gratitude for how much I have as a citizen of this country, my goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of Latin and South American in order to share the love of my Savior with the underprivileged and hurting. As pertaining to my career, this scholarship would help to get me through my undergraduate and graduate school programs with their many textbooks and laboratory expenses. I would also greatly appreciate this scholarship because, with the lack of funding that is frequently a consequence of working in the mission field, I will likely have to use my already thinly stretched personal funds to finance much of my work. In addition to the career goals with which this scholarship would help, it would also help me meet my personal life goal of living abroad in an underserved community as well as push me along in my journey to becoming the compassionate and understanding person that I desire to be. For these reasons, winning the Youssef University’s College Life Scholarship would greatly help me accomplish my personal and career goals of serving others and, for those reasons, I feel that I deserve this award.

During our lives, we often hear words and phrases that fail to take full effect until something powerful forever changes our lives. Growing up, I frequently heard the advice to “cherish my time,” but these words never seemed to fully register in my mind until the day my close friend and cousin were removed from my life. By way of this painful experience, I learned the importance of valuing the time that we are given with others because we never know when that person will be taken away from us. Roughly two years, my life was forever changed in one phone call. Not even a week after school commenced for the year, I was at my summer job and finishing my regular nine to five shift. As I packed up my things and headed for the door, I looked at my phone and saw a message from one of my friends enter my screen: “Sammy just passed away.” Despite its incredible pain, the loss of my close friend sowed seeds in my life, seeds that forever changed my values and priorities. I saw friendships that I had used solely for my own popularity, benefit, and happiness. I had formed friendships that were only based on what I could receive and never on what I could give. At that moment, I vowed to never again use friendships for my own happiness, but as a way to encourage and give. When I was with my friends, I would enjoy every moment with them and pour into them as much as I physically could outside of the times that we could spend together. I promised to do everything that I possibly could to establish living, lasting, and meaningful relationships with other human beings.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility towards those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As the result of both my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and my time at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities. As a soon-to-be college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish. Upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as through hands-on compassion. Following that program, and in order to combine my love of medicine, my desire to care for those around me, and to show my gratitude for how much I have as a citizen of this country, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as through preventing the spread of the diseases unique to their communities. In this way, I believe that I will be able to take my career in medicine and meaningfully impact those both inside and outside of its traditional scope.

Over the past two years, I have been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, which serves Latino residents residing in or near the Timber Lake Apartments in the West Chicago area. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton, my participation in this program has not only allowed me to help middle and high school students thrive in the classroom but, even more importantly for me, given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of those who are experiencing difficult things. Largely as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since I began serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latino community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

During our lives, we often hear words and phrases that fail to take full effect until something powerful forever changes our lives. Growing up, I frequently heard the advice to “cherish my time,” but these words never seemed to fully register in my mind until the day my close friend and cousin were removed from my life. By way of this painful experience, I learned the importance of valuing the time that we are given with others because we never know when that person will be taken away from us. Roughly two years, my life was forever changed in one phone call. Not even a week after school commenced for the year, I was at my summer job and finishing my regular nine to five shift. As I packed up my things and headed for the door, I looked at my phone and saw a message from one of my friends enter my screen: “Sammy just passed away.” Despite its incredible pain, the loss of my close friend sowed seeds in my life, seeds that forever changed my values and priorities. I saw friendships that I had used solely for my own popularity, benefit, and happiness. I had formed friendships that were only based on what I could receive and never on what I could give. At that moment, I vowed to never again use friendships for my own happiness, but as a way to encourage and give. When I was with my friends, I would enjoy every moment with them and pour into them as much as I physically could outside of the times that we could spend together. I promised to do everything that I possibly could to establish living, lasting, and meaningful relationships with other human beings.

As a soon-to-be college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish. Upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as through hands-on compassion. Following that program, and in order to combine my love of medicine, my desire to care for those around me, and to show my gratitude for how much I have as a citizen of this country, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as through preventing the spread of the diseases unique to their communities. In this way, I believe that I will be able to take my career in medicine and meaningfully impact those both inside and outside of its traditional scope.

Over the past two years, I have been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, which serves Latino residents in the West Chicago area. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton College (IL), my participation in this program has not only allowed me to help middle and high school students thrive in the classroom but, even more importantly for me, given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of those who are experiencing difficult things. Largely as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since I began serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latino community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

As a soon-to-be college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish. Upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as through hands-on compassion. Following that program, and in order to combine my love of medicine, my desire to care for those around me, and to show my gratitude for how much I have as a citizen of this country, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as through preventing the spread of the diseases unique to their communities. In this way, I believe that I will be able to take my career in medicine and meaningfully impact those both inside and outside of its traditional scope. There have been many events in my life that have contributed to my personal transformation as well as pushed me towards pursuing a career in medicine, those in my educational, personal, and volunteer experiences being among the greatest. By using the skills that I have acquired and developed in my research, my Spanish language skills, and my knowledge of medicine, I hope to be able to effectively serve those who are in underprivileged and often-forgotten communities abroad. Together, these experiences have enabled me to become a person that is deeply committed to serving others - whether inside or outside of traditional medicinal contexts - with a heart that will not give up until that task is completed. In this way, I hope to bring change to those both inside and outside of the traditional boundaries of medicine.

In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, my engagement with the Spanish-speaking community in the Chicagoland area has been a source of life-giving joy and strength in my life. Over the past two years, I have been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, which serves Latino residents in the West Chicago area. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton, my participation in this program has not only allowed me to help middle and high school students thrive in the classroom but, even more importantly for me, given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of those who are experiencing difficult things. Largely as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since I began serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latino community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

As a college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish. Upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as through hands-on compassion. Following that program, and in order to combine my love of medicine, my desire to care for those around me, and to show my gratitude for how much I have as a citizen of this country, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as through preventing the spread of the diseases unique to their communities. In this way, I believe that I will be able to take my career in medicine and meaningfully impact those both inside and outside of its traditional scope. Because of this personal and career goal, I have specifically chosen to pursue a STEM major, recognizing that the coursework within areas such as biology, chemistry, and physics will best provide me with the necessary knowledge and skills needed to make an impact on the people that I will one day serve. Whether that be microbiological and immunological knowledge that can translate into creating vaccines, knowledge of the human body to successfully perform surgical procedures, or knowledge of torque and magnetic fields to generate alternate sources of clean energy, my STEM education will allow me to effectively and compassionately serve those who have less than I do. In this way, my STEM field of study will most effectively allow me to achieve my personal and career goal of serving others. In addition to my STEM coursework, I have been able to learn things in my non-STEM courses that have greatly enhanced my STEM education. Out of all my non-STEM courses, my Spanish studies have proven to be the most transformative. As a result of these language courses, not to mention my time spent tutoring Hispanic students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, serving the local Spanish-speaking population at Holland Hospital, establishing and maintaining a garden for intercity Chicago residents, or my nearly eight years of translating work instructions into Spanish for non-English speaking employees, I have improved in my ability to converse with and relate to the Hispanic culture, something that will greatly enhance my effectiveness overseas. In conclusion, there have been many events in my life that have contributed to my personal transformation as well as pushed me towards pursuing a career in medicine, those in my educational, personal, and volunteer experiences being among the greatest. By using the skills that I have acquired and developed in my research, my Spanish language skills, and my knowledge of medicine, I hope to be able to effectively serve those who are in underprivileged and often-forgotten communities abroad. Together, these experiences have enabled me to become a person that is deeply committed to serving others - whether inside or outside of traditional medicinal contexts - with a heart that will not give up until that task is completed. In this way, I hope to bring change to those both inside and outside of the traditional boundaries of medicine.

During our lives, we often hear words and phrases that fail to take full effect until something powerful forever changes our lives. Growing up, I frequently heard the advice to “cherish my time,” but these words never seemed to fully register in my mind until the day my close friend and cousin were removed from my life. By way of this painful experience, I learned the importance of valuing the time that we are given with others because we never know when that person will be taken away from us. Roughly two years, my life was forever changed in one phone call. Not even a week after school commenced for the year, I was at my summer job and finishing my regular nine to five shift. As I packed up my things and headed for the door, I looked at my phone and saw a message from one of my friends enter my screen: “Sammy just passed away.” Despite its incredible pain, the loss of my close friend sowed seeds in my life, seeds that forever changed my values and priorities. I saw friendships that I had used solely for my own popularity, benefit, and happiness. I had formed friendships that were only based on what I could receive and never on what I could give. At that moment, I vowed to never again use friendships for my own happiness, but as a way to encourage and give. When I was with my friends, I would enjoy every moment with them and pour into them as much as I physically could outside of the times that we could spend together. I promised to do everything that I possibly could to establish living, lasting, and meaningful relationships with other human beings.

During our lives, we often hear words and phrases that fail to take full effect until something powerful forever changes our lives. Growing up, I frequently heard the advice to “cherish my time,” but these words never seemed to fully register in my mind until the day my close friend and cousin were removed from my life. By way of this painful experience, I learned the ultimate meaning of life and the importance of valuing the time that we are given with others because we never know when that person will be taken away from us. Roughly two years, my life was forever changed in one phone call. Not even a week after school commenced for the year, I was at my summer job and finishing my regular nine to five shift. As I packed up my things and headed for the door, I looked at my phone and saw a message from one of my friends enter my screen: “Sammy just passed away.” Despite its incredible pain, the loss of my close friend sowed seeds in my life, seeds that forever changed my values and priorities. I saw friendships that I had used solely for my own popularity, benefit, and happiness. I had formed friendships that were only based on what I could receive and never on what I could give. At that moment, I vowed to never again use friendships for my own happiness, but as a way to encourage and give. When I was with my friends, I would enjoy every moment with them and pour into them as much as I physically could outside of the times that we could spend together. I promised to do everything that I possibly could to establish living, lasting, and meaningful relationships with other human beings.

As a soon-to-be college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish. Upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as through hands-on compassion. Following that program, and in order to combine my love of medicine, my desire to care for those around me, and to show my gratitude for how much I have as a citizen of this country, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as through preventing the spread of the diseases unique to their communities. In this way, I believe that I will be able to take my career in medicine and meaningfully impact those both inside and outside of its traditional scope. As a result of growing up in an abusive home, I am estranged from my father and the remainder of my family. My mother, the only family member with whom I have spoken or had contact inside of the past two years, is just concluding a year-long substance abuse program. Currently, I receive no financial assistance with both my academic and personal expenses and have been alone in paying these expenses for more than six years. Though I work nearly fifty hours a week on top of school and many more hours during the summer, the funds that I have saved are nearly exhausted. Up to this point, I have been able to finance my tuition with money that I had saved since seventh grade and a financial aid package from school that included a grant and two federal loans. However, even after financial assistance, my annual costs are nearly $30,000. In addition to these tuition payments, I have many personal needs that I have neglected for a very long time due to these limited financial resources. Winning the Focus Forward scholarship would be especially meaningful to me for three specific reasons. First, this scholarship would provide me with the financial support needed to continue my education and, ultimately, complete my graduate degree with its many textbook and laboratory expenses. Second, due to the lack of funding that is frequently a consequence of working overseas, I will likely have to use my already thinly stretched funds to finance much of my work. For this reason, this scholarship would allow me to, realistically, begin setting aside funds for this future work. Yet, even more significant to me than the two reasons given above, this scholarship would empower me in fulfilling my lifelong devotion to living abroad in an underserved community. Because this scholarship would provide me with the financial support to complete my education and, more importantly, help me achieve my personal goal of serving under-resourced communities, I feel that I am deserving of the Focus Forward Scholarship.

Upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as through hands-on compassion. Following that program, and in order to combine my love of medicine, my desire to care for those around me, and to show my gratitude for how much I have as a citizen of this country, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as through preventing the spread of the diseases unique to their communities. In this way, I believe that I will be able to take my career in medicine and meaningfully impact those both inside and outside of its traditional scope. Because of this personal and career goal, I have specifically chosen to pursue a STEM major, recognizing that the coursework within areas such as biology, chemistry, and physics will best provide me with the necessary knowledge and skills needed to make an impact on the people that I will one day serve. Additionally, my time spent tutoring at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, serving the local Spanish-speaking population at Holland Hospital, or my nearly eight years of workplace experience translating instructions into Spanish for non-English speaking employees, have improved my ability to converse with and relate to those of the Latino culture, something that will greatly enhance my effectiveness overseas. Together, each of these experiences has uniquely enabled me to become a person that is deeply committed to serving others - whether inside or outside of traditional medicinal contexts - with a heart that will not give up until that task is completed.

In addition to my educational experiences, several events in my personal life have pushed me towards pursuing a career in the service of others. First, as a result of growing up in an abusive home and seeing the physical, emotional, and verbal attacks that my father regularly inflicted on my mother, not to mention his attacks on me and my siblings, I have suffered from major depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and recurrent suicidal ideations and attempts. Furthermore, I have spent significant time in psychiatric hospitals, most recently in the spring of 2020, when I was in Central DuPage Hospital for three months after attempting to take my life by overdosing on my medication. After being in psychotherapy daily and meeting with a psychiatrist weekly for the past eleven months, I have only begun the process of holistic healing and I recognize that the journey ahead of me remains long. However, by learning healthy coping skills, developing safe and healthy boundaries with family, and choosing to let the future define me, I have already taken large steps in better situating myself concerning the past. Because of my personal journey, I want to pursue a career in which I can be an encouragement and support to those who struggle with depression and other mental health disorders, constantly reminding them that they have an important purpose, even if they are unable to see it. Over the past two years, I have begun to accomplish this goal while being a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, which serves Latino residents residing in or near the Timber Lake Apartments in the West Chicago area. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton, my participation in this program has not only allowed me to help middle and high school students thrive in the classroom but, even more importantly for me, given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of those who are experiencing difficult things. Largely as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since I began serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latino community in Holland, Michigan (which I do not have space to describe here), my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

In addition to majoring within a field where many employment opportunities are available to me following graduation as well as applying to all - and literally all - scholarships available to me, I find the issue of student loans to be of utmost importance. Student loans are something that most college students feel that they are powerless to control and, unfortunately, many use that irking as a justification to take out large sums of money from banks and other third-party companies, many times without considering how withdrawing such large sums of money may affect their financial options in the future. According to U.S. News and World Report, within the last ten years alone, the average student loan debt has risen nearly 25 percent, from 24,000 in 2009 to over 30,000 in 2019 (Kerr, 2020). Like applying for and using a credit card, understanding the financial details of loans is critical, especially since the interest rates on these loans vary dramatically, not to mention the expectations for when that sum of money is expected to be repaid. With an average student loan interest rate of around 5.8 percent (NerdWallet) and the reality that it takes most students twenty years (240 payments) to repay their loans (EducationData.Org), students end up paying more than 67 percent in interest alone on their loans. While majoring in fields such as STEM and law almost inevitably will require some amount of loans, all students must understand the long-term financial ramifications of taking out these interest-accumulating dollars. Because of this, I aggressively compare the loans available to make the wisest decision about the money that I need to achieve my degree.

In addition to majoring within a field where many employment opportunities are available to me following graduation as well as applying to all - and literally all - scholarships available to me, I find the issue of student loans to be of utmost importance. Student loans are something that most college students feel that they are powerless to control and, unfortunately, many use that irking as a justification to take out large sums of money from banks and other third-party companies, many times without considering how withdrawing such large sums of money may affect their financial options in the future. According to U.S. News and World Report, within the last ten years alone, the average student loan debt has risen nearly 25 percent, from 24,000 in 2009 to over 30,000 in 2019 (Kerr, 2020). Like applying for and using a credit card, understanding the financial details of loans is critical, especially since the interest rates on these loans vary dramatically, not to mention the expectations for when that sum of money is expected to be repaid. With an average student loan interest rate of around 5.8 percent (NerdWallet) and the reality that it takes most students twenty years (240 payments) to repay their loans (EducationData.Org), students end up paying more than 67 percent in interest alone on their loans. While majoring in fields such as STEM and law almost inevitably will require some amount of loans, all students must understand the long-term financial ramifications of taking out these interest-accumulating dollars. Because of this, I aggressively compare the loans available to make the wisest decision about the money that I need to achieve my degree.

Roughly two years, my life was forever changed with one phone call. As I packed up my things and got inside my car at my summer job, I looked at my phone and saw a message from one of my friends enter my screen. In shocking disbelief, I turned off the radio in my car and began the long car ride back to my home muttering the words of the text: “Sammy just passed away.” As I drove, I began to replay snapshots of the incident inside my head: Sammy driving towards the train tracks, Sammy’s final breath as she felt the train make contact with the passenger door of her white Ford Fusion, and her mother watching it all take place behind the old, glass window of their small farmhouse. In the nearly two years that have passed since this incident, I have become a radically different person. Despite its incredible pain, the loss of my close friend sowed seeds in my life, seeds that forever changed my values and priorities. As I examined my life and all of the areas in which I fell short, none stood out more than the area of friendships. I saw friendships that I had used solely for my own popularity, benefit, and happiness. I had formed friendships that were only based on what I could receive and never what I could give. At that moment, something in my mind was forever changed. I vowed to never again use friendships for my happiness, but as a way to encourage. I vowed to never again use friendships so that I could receive, but so that I could give. With this vow, I finally understood the weight of the phrase “cherish your time,” something that allowed me to take this phrase to heart and make it the cornerstone of my life. I promised myself that I would no longer spend countless hours working, studying, and watching television, but I would, instead, spend them with those whom I deeply loved. When I was with my friends, I would enjoy every moment with them and pour into them as much as I physically could outside of the times that we could spend together. I promised to do everything that I possibly could to establish living, lasting, and meaningful relationships with other human beings. Among the many important words and phrases that I have heard, the wisdom of cherishing the time that we have with others is, perhaps, the most important. Through the incredibly painful loss of someone that had been so close to me, I learned lessons that changed how I thought about others, how I acted towards them, and who I was. By way of this experience, I learned the importance of valuing the time that I have been given with others because I never know when that person will be taken away from me. While this trial brought brokenness, it brought about a realization, change, and healing inside that only something of this caliber could provide.

Introduced commercially by the Cambridge Instrument Company in 1965, the scanning electron microscope enabled researchers and students alike to enter a cellular universe that was previously unknown to science, and one that, without unlocking, science could not have progressed. With the invention of this piece of technology, scientists could, for the first time, examine the cell and its many organelles that were previously unknown to science. The ability to engage the cell and its many functioning components opened many new fields of science, including the possibility of looking at cancer, a disease that continues to be highly investigated. Thanks to this piece of equipment, knowledge of the cell grew, and, as a result, the path of higher education and research was altered. Because of this piece of technology, college and even high school biology courses have never been the same. Whereas, before, material was limited to what could be observed with the simple or compound microscope, the invention of the scanning electron microscope opened the world of the cell and paved the way for many modern findings, such as the synthesis of ribosomal subunits and the replication of DNA. The invention of this piece of technology moved scientists from the extracellular to the intracellular and all of its complexities where modern science continues to work. While it would appear that this piece of equipment should have answered many questions, it, perhaps, raised more questions than it did answers. This piece of technology created advancements in the medical world unrivaled by any other modern invention of science. Without the invention of this extraordinary piece of equipment, the world of the cell would, likely, still be inaccessible to the human eye and much of the information regarding the formation of proteins would continue to be unknown to modern research.

After being in and out of psychiatric hospitals as the result of suffering from severe anxiety and depression, I have recognized that hospitals and crisis centers fail to appropriately treat mental health, a rising epidemic across the United States. Based on my experiences, I would improve healthcare by changing the mental health treatment system so that patients are separated into groups tailored to their specific disorder, something that would allow systems to be much more effective in treating mental health. Among the many changes that I would like to make to the system, I think that one, very simple change would greatly increase the effectiveness of inpatient crisis stabilization centers. Instead of placing all patients who struggle with the thought or behavior patterns into the same facility and subjecting them to the same treatment, I think that patients need to be separated into several groups, each addressing a different problem such as substance abuse, alcohol abuse, PTSD and other war-related trauma, eating disorders, anxiety and depression, and minor behavioral disorders. In conclusion, I believe that restructuring the mental health treatment system by separating patients into groups during crisis stabilization that specifically address different categories of disorders would allow hospitals and inpatient crisis treatment centers to more appropriately treat the diseases and disorders of patients and put them on the road to true healing much sooner than currently is the case. By way of these changes, I believe that the needs of those in the mental health community, a growing field in the area of healthcare, can be both more appropriately and better met.

In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, my engagement with the Spanish-speaking community in the greater Chicagoland area has also been a source of life-giving joy and strength in my life. Over the past two years, I have been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, which serves Latino residents residing in or near the Timber Lake Apartments in the West Chicago area. In addition to allowing me to assist middle and high school with their academics, my participation in this program has, even more importantly, given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of these students. Largely as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since I began serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latino community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

Of all my experiences, perhaps my time spent as a volunteer pushed me most towards wanting to make a difference in the field of medicine. The patients and coworkers that I met there pushed me to see a world to which I had for so long been blinded, something that brought me an incredible amount of freedom. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different than I did. The nature of the hospital’s surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latino community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to alleviate a portion of that suffering. As a whole, my volunteer experience at Holland Hospital, all without mentioning my time spent tutoring Spanish-speaking students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, maintaining a garden that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to intercity Chicago residents, or my nearly eight years of workplace experiencing translating work instructions into Spanish for non-English-speaking employees, has given me an attitude of empathy and compassion, a mindset that has forced me to recognize that I and my culture are no better than others. In this way, my volunteer experience at Holland Hospital provided me with the motivation to make a lasting impact on the field of medicine.

Of all my experiences, perhaps my time spent as a volunteer pushed me most towards wanting to make a difference in the field of medicine. The patients and coworkers that I met there pushed me to see a world to which I had for so long been blinded, something that brought me an incredible amount of freedom. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different than I did. The nature of the hospital’s surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latino community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to alleviate a portion of that suffering. As a whole, my volunteer experience at Holland Hospital, all without mentioning my time spent tutoring Spanish-speaking students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, maintaining a garden that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to intercity Chicago residents, or my nearly eight years of workplace experiencing translating work instructions into Spanish for non-English-speaking employees, has given me an attitude of empathy and compassion, a mindset that has forced me to recognize that I and my culture are no better than others. In this way, my volunteer experience at Holland Hospital provided me with the motivation to make a lasting impact on the field of medicine.

What are my post-graduation and career plans? As a soon-to-be college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish. Upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as through hands-on compassion. Following that program, and in order to combine my love of medicine, my desire to care for those around me, and to show my gratitude for how much I have as a citizen of this country, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as through preventing the spread of the diseases unique to their communities. In this way, I believe that I will be able to take my career in medicine and meaningfully impact those both inside and outside of its traditional scope. Why specifically have I chosen STEM? Because of this personal and career goal, I have specifically chosen to pursue a STEM major, recognizing that the coursework within areas such as biology, chemistry, and physics will best provide me with the necessary knowledge and skills needed to make an impact on the people that I will one day serve. Whether that be microbiological and immunological knowledge that can translate into creating vaccines, knowledge of the human body to successfully perform surgical procedures, or knowledge of torque and magnetic fields to generate alternate sources of clean energy, my STEM education will allow me to effectively and compassionately serve those who have less than I do. In this way, my STEM field of study will most effectively allow me to achieve my personal and career goal of serving others. In addition to my STEM coursework, I have been able to learn things in my non-STEM courses that have greatly enhanced my STEM education. Out of all my non-STEM courses, my Spanish studies have proven to be the most transformative. As a result of these language courses, not to mention my time spent tutoring Hispanic students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, serving the local Spanish-speaking population at Holland Hospital, establishing and maintaining a garden for intercity Chicago residents, or my nearly eight years of translating work instructions into Spanish for non-English speaking employees, I have improved in my ability to converse with and relate to the Hispanic culture, something that will greatly enhance my effectiveness overseas. What experiences have pushed me to pursue a career in medicine? Of all my experiences, perhaps my time spent as a volunteer pushed me most towards wanting to make a difference in the field of medicine. My experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world, something that shaped me into a more loving and compassionate person, as well as one that desired to make a difference. In addition to growing up in an abusive home, I regularly fought the restrictions of the school and church in which I was raised. Among their many restrictions, these institutions told me that I could not serve those who looked different than I did and could not participate in activities not tied to the church. However, as a part of the curiosity that accompanied my Spanish studies, I chose to disregard their rules and serve the under-resourced Latino community at the nearby hospital. The opportunity that I had to serve others who were going through extremely difficult circumstances by offering them the gift of flowers, food, or a simple, kind smile, was incredibly rewarding and fueled my desire to serve those both in the communities and world around me who were in similar circumstances. The patients and coworkers that I met there pushed me to see a world to which I had for so long been blinded, something that brought me an incredible amount of freedom. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different than I did. The nature of the hospital’s surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latino community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to alleviate a portion of that suffering. As a whole, my volunteer experience at Holland Hospital, all without mentioning my time spent tutoring Spanish-speaking students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, maintaining a garden that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to intercity Chicago residents, or my nearly eight years of workplace experiencing translating work instructions into Spanish for non-English-speaking employees, has given me an attitude of empathy and compassion, a mindset that has forced me to recognize that I and my culture are no better than others. In this way, my volunteer experience at Holland Hospital provided me with the motivation to make a lasting impact on the field of medicine.

As a result of growing up in an abusive home, there were many painful things that I both heard and saw that lead me towards pursuing a career in the mental health field. Whether that be my father constantly telling me that I would never amount to anything, that nothing that I cared about or my life mattered, or that I did not deserve any of my friendships, I felt deeply hurt and degraded as a child. Because of that pain, I have struggled my entire life with major depressive disorder (MDD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and suicidal ideations and attempts, something that has been the cause of multiple psychiatric hospitalizations and numerous prescription drug overdoses. When I began my sophomore year of college in August of 2020, I was in a deep spell of depression, battling suicidal thoughts nearly every day, and desperately wanting to end my life. Despite this pain, I felt afraid and ashamed to share this pain with others, all out of fear of rejection. After I attempted to take my life three separate times during Christmas break, I was admitted to Central DuPage Hospital in February of 2020. After being released three months later, attending psychotherapy daily, and meeting with a psychiatrist weekly for the past eleven months, I recognize that I have only begun the process of holistic healing and that the journey ahead of me remains long. However, by learning healthy coping skills, developing safe and healthy boundaries with family, and choosing to let the future define me, I have already taken large steps in reconciling with my past. Because of my personal journey, I want to pursue a career in which I can be an encouragement and support to those who struggle with depression and other mental health disorders, constantly reminding them that they have an important purpose, even if they are unable to see it. In this way, I hope to use my story and experiences to meaningfully impact both the lives of those in the communities and the world around me.

Over the past two years, I have been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school high school program, Puente del Pueblo, which primarily serves Latino residents residing in or near the Timber Lake Apartments in the West Chicago area. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton, my participation in this program has not only allowed me to help middle and high school students thrive in the classroom but, even more importantly for me, given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of those who are experiencing both personal and economic hardship. Since I began serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latino community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad.

As a soon-to-be college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish and, upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as hands-on compassion. Following that program and to combine my love of medicine, my desire to care for those around me, and to show my gratitude for how much I have been given as a citizen of this country, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as by developing vaccines to help prevent the spread of diseases unique to their communities. Because of this personal and career goal, I have specifically chosen to pursue a STEM major, recognizing that the coursework within areas such as biology, chemistry, and physics will best provide me with the necessary knowledge and skills needed to make an impact on the people that I hope to one day serve. Whether that be microbiological and immunological knowledge that can be utilized in creating vaccines, knowledge of human anatomy and physiology to successfully perform surgical operations and procedures, or knowledge of torque and magnetic fields to develop alternate sources of clean energy, my STEM education will allow me to effectively and compassionately serve those who have less than I do. In this way, my STEM field of study will most effectively allow me to achieve my personal and career goal of serving others. In addition to my STEM coursework, I have been able to learn things in my non-STEM courses that have greatly enhanced my STEM education. Out of all my non-STEM courses, my Spanish studies have proven to be the most personally transformative. As a result of these courses, not to mention my time spent tutoring Latino students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, serving the local Spanish- speaking population at Holland Hospital, establishing and maintaining a garden that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to intercity Chicago residents, or my nearly eight years of workplace experience translating work instructions into Spanish for non-English speaking employees, I have improved in my ability to converse with and relate to the Hispanic culture, something that will greatly enhance my effectiveness overseas. In conclusion, my STEM courses have been greatly influenced and strengthened by the courses that I have taken outside of STEM, particularly my Spanish courses. By coupling my knowledge of biochemistry, anatomy, physiology, immunology, and physics with the Spanish language and cultural skills that I have learned, I am confident that I will be able to effectively care for those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In this way, my higher education can be directly used to serve those in the community and world around me and do so with a heart that will not give up until that task is completed.

Because of my commitment to healthcare and research, the ability to print fully functional human organs and limbs is the piece of technology for which I am most excited and have hope for a brighter future for all. Though researchers have already begun to embark on this journey, there are many components of this piece of technology that have yet to be perfected. For example, in 2019, a team of researchers in Tel Aviv were the first to successfully bioprint a 3D human heart; however, this model lacked some of the necessary vascular infrastructure needed for this organ to be used in full-blown organ implants. Furthermore, researchers at the University of Würzburg were able to successfully use progenitor cells to produce blood vessels and other connective tissues under highly controlled laboratory conditions. Yet, like above, these were unable to be developed and deemed functional inside of the bioprinted heart produced in Tel Aviv. Thus, despite the great amount of progress being made in this field, there is yet much that remains to be done. The benefits of this piece of technology would be of unrivaled benefit to humanity. In addition to those with medical emergencies who need organ implants, this technological advancement would improve the lives of those returning from service as well as those born with debilitating injuries. Between the years 2001 and 2018, the Department of Defense (DOD) reported that more than 1,500 veterans who had returned home from Iraq and Afghanistan had missing or greatly damaged limbs. No doubt, a machine capable of producing fully-functioning limbs would provide injured veterans the needed mobility to enjoy full and complete lives after returning home from overseas. More than just veterans, this technological advancement would help children and infants who suffer from birth defects and other birth-related complications. According to the CDC, approximately 1 in every 1,900 children is born with a stunted, missing, or otherwise dysfunctional limb. Using the 3.79 million births reported by the CDC in 2018 for reference, that yields an estimate of nearly 2,000 children and infants who are born with a limb defect annually. Surely, a machine capable of bioprinting human organs, body parts, and limbs would allow these children to achieve their full potential and experience the happiness that they deserve in their lives. Finally, this technological advancement would greatly improve the lives of those living in third-world countries who have little to no access to the technology needed to grow human organs in the laboratory. A device capable of producing functional body parts would greatly improve the healthcare systems of these countries. By being able to successfully bioprint human organs and limbs, those who live with handicaps and few material resources to change their situation (a large number of people in third-world countries) could receive affordable help and, as a result, live their life with the mobility and happiness of being injury-free.

Because of my commitment to healthcare and research, the ability to print fully functional human organs and limbs is the piece of technology about which I am most excited. Though researchers have already begun to embark on this journey, there are many components of this piece of technology that have yet to be perfected. For example, in 2019, a team of researchers in Tel Aviv were the first to successfully bioprint a 3D human heart; however, this model lacked some of the necessary vascular infrastructure needed for this organ to be used in full-blown organ implants. Furthermore, researchers at the University of Würzburg were able to successfully use progenitor cells to produce blood vessels and other connective tissues under highly controlled laboratory conditions. Yet, like above, these were unable to be developed and deemed functional inside of the bioprinted heart produced in Tel Aviv. Thus, despite the great amount of progress being made in this field, there is yet much that remains to be done. The benefits of this piece of technology would be of unrivaled benefit to humanity. In addition to those with medical emergencies who need organ implants, this technological advancement would improve the lives of those returning from service as well as those born with debilitating injuries. Between the years 2001 and 2018, the Department of Defense (DOD) reported that more than 1,500 veterans who had returned home from Iraq and Afghanistan had missing or greatly damaged limbs. No doubt, a machine capable of producing fully-functioning limbs would provide injured veterans the needed mobility to enjoy full and complete lives after returning home from overseas. More than just veterans, this technological advancement would help children and infants who suffer from birth defects and other birth-related complications. According to the CDC, approximately 1 in every 1,900 children is born with a stunted, missing, or otherwise dysfunctional limb. Using the 3.79 million births reported by the CDC in 2018 for reference, that yields an estimate of nearly 2,000 children and infants who are born with a limb defect annually. Surely, a machine capable of bioprinting human organs, body parts, and limbs would allow these children to achieve their full potential and experience the happiness that they deserve in their lives. Finally, this technological advancement would greatly improve the lives of those living in third-world countries who have little to no access to the technology needed to grow human organs in the laboratory. A device capable of producing functional body parts would greatly improve the healthcare systems of these countries. By being able to successfully bioprint human organs and limbs, those who live with handicaps and few material resources to change their situation (a large number of people in third-world countries) could receive affordable help and, as a result, live their life with the mobility and happiness of being injury-free.

During our lives, we often hear words and phrases that fail to take full effect until something powerful forever changes our lives. Growing up, I frequently heard the advice to “cherish my time,” but these words never seemed to fully register in my mind until my cousin was removed from my life. By way of this painful experience, I learned the importance of valuing the time that I have with others, something that brought me a sense of healing in the middle of brokenness. Roughly two years, my life was forever changed in one phone call. As I packed up my things and headed for the door at my summer job, I looked at my phone and saw a message from one of my friends enter my screen. In shocking disbelief, I got inside my car and began the long ride back to my home, all the while muttering the words from the text: “Sammy just passed away.” As I drove, I began to play snapshots of the incident inside my head: Sammy driving towards the train tracks, Sammy’s final breath as she felt the train make contact with the passenger door of her white Ford Fusion, and her mother watching it all take place behind the old, glass window of their small farmhouse. Among the many important words and phrases that I have heard, the wisdom of cherishing the time that we have with others is, perhaps, the most important. By way of this experience, I learned the importance of valuing the time that I have been given with others because I never know when that person will be taken away from me. While this trial brought brokenness, it brought about a realization, change, and healing inside that only something of this caliber could provide.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility towards those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As the result of both my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and my time at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different than I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latino community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. Though I had initially planned on pursuing dentistry, I now desire to combine my love of medicine and my desire to serve others by becoming a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas and, using my medical knowledge, Spanish language skills, and compassion, improve the lives of the people living in these communities. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, my engagement with the Spanish-speaking community in the greater Chicagoland area has also been a source of life-giving joy and strength in my life. Largely as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. My participation in this program has not only allowed me to help middle and high school students thrive in the classroom but, even more importantly for me, given me the opportunity to speak into their lives. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since I began serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures, such as not having access to many of the resources that were available to me, being someone who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latino community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad. In conclusion, my educational journey, volunteer work, and countless other experiences that I cannot even begin to mention have all contributed towards changing the way that I view the world and increased the amount of compassion that I both feel and display towards those living within it. Because of this, I now deeply desire to walk alongside and to give back to these communities, all in the ultimate pursuit of justice, mercy, and goodness. Together, each of these experiences has enabled me to become a person that is deeply committed to serving others with a heart that will not give up until that task is completed.

As a result of growing up in an abusive home, there were many painful things that I both heard and saw that lead me towards pursuing a career in the mental health field. Whether that be my father constantly telling me that I would never amount to anything, that nothing that I cared about or my life mattered, or that I did not deserve any of my friendships, I felt deeply hurt and degraded as a child. Because of that pain, I have struggled my entire life with major depressive disorder (MDD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and suicidal ideations and attempts, something that has been the cause of multiple psychiatric hospitalizations and numerous prescription drug overdoses. When I began my sophomore year of college in August of 2020, I was in a deep spell of depression, battling suicidal thoughts nearly every day, and desperately wanting to end my life. Despite this pain, I felt afraid and ashamed to share this pain with others, all out of fear of rejection. After I attempted to take my life three separate times during Christmas break, I was admitted to Central DuPage Hospital in February of 2020. After being released three months later, attending psychotherapy daily, and meeting with a psychiatrist weekly for the past eleven months, I recognize that I have only begun the process of holistic healing and that the journey ahead of me remains long. However, by learning healthy coping skills, developing safe and healthy boundaries with family, and choosing to let the future define me, I have already taken large steps in reconciling with my past. Because of my personal journey, I want to pursue a career in which I can be an encouragement and support to those who struggle with depression and other mental health disorders, constantly reminding them that they have an important purpose, even if they are unable to see it. In this way, I hope to use my story and experiences to meaningfully impact both the lives of those in the communities and the world around me.

What are my post-graduation and career plans? As a soon-to-be college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish. Upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as through hands-on compassion. Following that program, and in order to combine my love of medicine, my desire to care for those around me, and to show my gratitude for how much I have as a citizen of this country, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as through preventing the spread of the diseases unique to their communities. In this way, I believe that I will be able to take my career in medicine and meaningfully impact those both inside and outside of its traditional scope. Why specifically have I chosen STEM? Because of this personal and career goal, I have specifically chosen to pursue a STEM major, recognizing that the coursework within areas such as biology, chemistry, and physics will best provide me with the necessary knowledge and skills needed to make an impact on the people that I will one day serve. Whether that be microbiological and immunological knowledge that can translate into creating vaccines, knowledge of the human body to successfully perform surgical procedures, or knowledge of torque and magnetic fields to generate alternate sources of clean energy, my STEM education will allow me to effectively and compassionately serve those who have less than I do. In this way, my STEM field of study will most effectively allow me to achieve my personal and career goal of serving others. In addition to my STEM coursework, I have been able to learn things in my non-STEM courses that have greatly enhanced my STEM education. Out of all my non-STEM courses, my Spanish studies have proven to be the most transformative. As a result of these language courses, not to mention my time spent tutoring Hispanic students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, serving the local Spanish-speaking population at Holland Hospital, establishing and maintaining a garden for intercity Chicago residents, or my nearly eight years of translating work instructions into Spanish for non-English speaking employees, I have improved in my ability to converse with and relate to the Hispanic culture, something that will greatly enhance my effectiveness overseas. Why Specifically Am I Applying for This Scholarship? Winning the A Push Forward Scholarship would be especially meaningful to me for three specific reasons. First, this scholarship would provide me with the financial support needed to continue my education and, ultimately, complete my graduate degree with its many textbook and laboratory expenses. Second, due to the lack of funding that is frequently a consequence of working overseas, I will likely have to use my already thinly stretched funds to finance much of my work. For this reason, this scholarship would allow me to, realistically, begin setting aside funds for this future work. Yet, even more significant to me than the two reasons given above, this scholarship would empower me in fulfilling my lifelong devotion to living abroad in an underserved community. Because this scholarship would provide me with the financial support to complete my education and, more importantly, help me achieve my personal goal of serving under-resourced communities, I feel that I am deserving of the A Push Forward Scholarship.

As a result of growing up in an abusive home, there were many painful things that I both heard and saw that helped contribute to my choice of career. Whether that be my father constantly telling me that I would never amount to anything, that nothing that I cared about or my life mattered, or that I did not deserve any of my friendships, I felt deeply hurt and degraded as a child. Because of that pain, I have struggled my entire life with severe anxiety and depression, something that has been the cause of multiple psychiatric hospitalizations and numerous prescription drug overdoses. As I began my sophomore year of college, I was in a deep spell of depression, battling suicidal ideations and thoughts nearly every day, and desperately wanting to end my life. Despite this pain, I felt afraid and ashamed to share this pain with others, all out of a fear of being rejected. When I tried to make jokes during class and greet every student with a smile, it looked like I was happy and had my life together. Little did anyone realize how deep my level of depression was and how much pain I felt inside every single day. After an extremely stressful holiday season that saw three suicide attempts, I knew that I needed help - and far more than anything that I was currently receiving. With a lot of hesitation and reluctance, I told a professor with whom I was very close about what had happened and, she, in turn, told the director of the counseling center that I was in desperate need of help. That same night, the director called me over the phone, calmed me down, and set up a meeting with her the day I returned to campus. Upon returning to campus, I met with the director three times a week and was able to sit down with her to discuss the events that were going on in my academic and personal life. In addition to seeing this counselor, I was able to make use of the school chaplain. In the weeks that I did not receive guidance from my counselor, I received the spiritual support that I needed from the chaplain and his assistants. After leaving the offices of these professional supports, I felt a large amount of anxiety taken off my shoulders. Yet, when circumstances demanded additional help, my school directed me to an off-campus counseling center with whom I met for nearly ten hours a week. When this outside counseling center failed to work, I was admitted into an inpatient psychiatric hospital where I stayed for nearly two months. Throughout the course of the last two years, there has been nothing but supportive and caring people that have accompanied me on every step of this long and arduous process. Because of the many difficult things that have happened in my life during the past two years and the host of gracious people that have given of themselves to help me, I am committed to using that power and strength to help others. In addition to my own personal and emotional struggles, my volunteer experience left no doubt in my mind that I pursue a career in addiction and behavioral medicine. My experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world, something that shaped me into a more loving and compassionate person, as well as one that desired to make a difference. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different than I did. The nature of the hospital’s surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latino community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to alleviate a portion of that suffering. The opportunity that I had to serve others who were going through trying circumstances by offering them the gift of flowers, food, or a simple, kind smile, was incredibly rewarding and further fueled my desire to serve those in the community and world around me. As a whole, my volunteer experience at Holland Hospital (along with the others that I cannot even begin to mention) has given me a mindset that has forced me to recognize that I am no better than others. Together with these lessons and realizations, my STEM and liberal arts education have pushed me to pursue a career where I can serve others who are experiencing pain and difficulty, whether or not I can relate directly to them at all times. As I forced myself to listen to the stories of others in the hospital who were in situations very different from my own, the sense of empathy and compassion that I felt forced me to recognize that I did not have all of the answers and that I did not always see the world and those around me in the correct way. In contrast to my time before volunteering, I am now much more ready to listen to the experiences of others and am also far less ambitious to assert my own assumptions and opinions. By combining my Spanish-speaking abilities, knowledge and problem-solving skills from my STEM education, the pain of my childhood, and the lessons learned from my time spent as a volunteer in the hospital, I am confident that I will be able to compassionately and effectively serve those who are suffering, whether that be domestically or abroad.

What are my post-graduation and career plans? As a soon-to-be college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish. Upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as through hands-on compassion. Following that program, and in order to combine my love of medicine, my desire to care for those around me, and to show my gratitude for how much I have as a citizen of this country, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as through developing vaccines to help prevent the spread of the diseases unique to these communities. In this way, I believe that I will be able to take my career in medicine and meaningfully impact those both inside and outside of its traditional scope. Why specifically have I chosen STEM? Because of this personal and career goal, I have specifically chosen to pursue a STEM major, recognizing that the coursework within areas such as biology, chemistry, and physics will best provide me with the necessary knowledge and skills needed to make an impact on the people that I will one day serve. Whether that be microbiological and immunological knowledge that can translate into creating vaccines, knowledge of the human body to successfully perform surgical procedures, or knowledge of torque and magnetic fields to generate alternate sources of clean energy, my STEM education will allow me to effectively and compassionately serve those who have less than I do. In this way, my STEM field of study will most effectively allow me to achieve my personal and career goal of serving others. In addition to my STEM coursework, I have been able to learn things in my non-STEM courses that have greatly enhanced my STEM education. Out of all my non-STEM courses, my Spanish studies have proven to be the most transformative. As a result of these language courses, not to mention my time spent tutoring Hispanic students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, serving the local Spanish-speaking population at Holland Hospital, establishing and maintaining a garden for intercity Chicago residents, or my nearly eight years of translating work instructions into Spanish for non-English speaking employees, I have improved in my ability to converse with and relate to the Hispanic culture, something that will greatly enhance my effectiveness overseas. Why Specifically Am I Applying for This Scholarship? Winning the Carmen V McMillan Memorial Scholarship would be especially meaningful to me for three specific reasons. First, this scholarship would provide me with the financial support needed to continue my education and, ultimately, complete my graduate degree with its many textbook and laboratory expenses. Second, due to the lack of funding that is frequently a consequence of working overseas, I will likely have to use my already thinly stretched funds to finance much of my work. For this reason, this scholarship would allow me to, realistically, begin setting aside funds for this future work. Yet, even more significant to me than the two reasons given above, this scholarship would empower me in fulfilling my lifelong devotion to living abroad in an underserved community. Because this scholarship would provide me with the financial support to complete my education and, more importantly, help me achieve my personal goal of serving under-resourced communities, I feel that I am deserving of the Carmen V McMillan Memorial Scholarship.

As a soon-to-be college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish. Upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as through hands-on compassion. Following that program, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as by developing vaccines to help prevent the spread of the diseases unique to their communities. In this way, I am confident that I will be able to meaningfully impact others, both inside and outside the traditional contexts of medicine. Of all my experiences, perhaps my time spent as a volunteer pushed me most towards wanting to make a difference in the field of medicine. My experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world, something that shaped me into a more loving and compassionate person, as well as one that desired to make a difference. The opportunity that I had to serve others who were going through extremely difficult circumstances by offering them the gift of flowers, food, or a simple, kind smile, was incredibly rewarding and fueled my desire to serve those both in the communities and world around me who were in similar circumstances. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different than I did. The nature of the hospital’s surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to alleviate a portion of that suffering. As a whole, my volunteer experience at Holland Hospital, all without mentioning my time spent tutoring and mentoring Spanish-speaking students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, maintaining a garden that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to intercity Chicago residents, or my nearly eight years of workplace experiencing translating work instructions into Spanish for non-English-speaking employees, has given me an attitude of empathy and compassion, a mindset that has forced me to recognize that I and my culture are no better than others. In this way, all of these volunteer experiences have provided me with the motivation to make a lasting impact on the field of medicine in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether domestically or abroad, and to doing so with a heart that will not give up until that task is completed.

Roughly two years, my life was forever changed with one call. As I packed up my things and got inside my car at my summer job, I looked at my phone and saw a message from one of my friends enter my screen. In shocking disbelief, I turned off the radio in my car and began the long car ride back to my home muttering the words of the text: “Sammy just passed away.” As I drove, I began to replay snapshots of the incident inside my head: Sammy driving towards the train tracks, Sammy’s final breath as she felt the train make contact with the passenger door of her white Ford Fusion, and her mother watching it all take place behind the old, glass window of their small farmhouse. In the nearly two years that have passed since this incident, I have become a radically different person. Despite its incredible pain, the loss of my close friend sowed seeds in my life, seeds that forever changed my values and priorities. As I examined my life and all of the areas in which I fell short, none stood out more than the area of friendships. I saw friendships that I had used solely for my own popularity, benefit, and happiness. I had formed friendships that were only based on what I could receive and never what I could give. At that moment, something in my mind was forever changed. I vowed to never again use friendships for my happiness, but as a way to encourage. I vowed to never again use friendships so that I could receive, but so that I could give. With this vow, I finally understood the weight of the phrase “cherish your time,” something that allowed me to take this phrase to heart and make it the cornerstone of my life. I promised myself that I would no longer spend countless hours working, studying, and watching television, but I would, instead, spend them with those whom I deeply loved. When I was with my friends, I would enjoy every moment with them and pour into them as much as I physically could outside of the times that we could spend together. I promised to do everything that I possibly could to establish living, lasting, and meaningful relationships with other human beings. Among the many important words and phrases that I have heard, the wisdom of cherishing the time that we have with others is, perhaps, the most important. Through the incredibly painful loss of someone that had been so close to me, I learned lessons that changed how I thought about others, how I acted towards them, and who I was. By way of this experience, I learned the importance of valuing the time that I have been given with others because I never know when that person will be taken away from me. While this trial brought brokenness, it brought about a realization, change, and healing inside that only something of this caliber could provide.

As a soon-to-be college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish and, upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as hands-on compassion. Following that program and to combine my love of medicine, my desire to care for those around me, and to show my gratitude for how much I have been given as a citizen of this country, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as by developing vaccines to help prevent the spread of diseases unique to their communities. Perhaps above all to me, giving back encompasses giving to someone else what somebody was gracious enough to do for me, particularly, being a mentor for and speaking into my life. While the past year has, undoubtedly, been difficult in at least some way for all, it was particularly difficult for me: I was in the hospital for several months as a result of overdosing and trying to take my own life in early February 2020. While I do not think that it would be particularly helpful for me to get into all of the specifics as to why the circumstances in my life led me to this breaking point, it is sufficient to say that I was in a very dark place and felt as though I was a burden to everyone that I met, was hated by my family and friends, and would be better off dead. Though medication and therapy were certainly beneficial in the process of recovery, I believe that it is those who have chosen to be a part of my life, no matter how uncomfortable, difficult, or costly, that have been responsible for the greatest amount of healing. Throughout the long and arduous journey, I have had several professors who have chosen to give of themselves, take up a small portion of my daily pain, and walk alongside me through the difficulties, no matter the level of uncomfortableness or inconvenience. Both my Biology- and Spanish-major advisors have been especially kind and willing to provide support and encouragement to me outside of the times that they have made available to the wider student population, including texting me encouraging Bible verses and devotionals over school breaks that have a tendency to be some of the loneliest times of the year, providing me with a place to stay when I did not have one, and even offering meals to me. If it were not for these people, I do not think that I could have reached the present level of stability that I have concerning my mental health. Because of what these incredible human beings have done for me, I am committed to doing the same for others. At Holland Hospital, I had the opportunity to bring even the smallest morsel of comfort to the lives of patients who were enduring great physical pain and ailment by offering them the gift of food, a gift, or even just a simple kind smile. At Puente del Pueblo, an afterschool program that serves the children of Latino residents residing in or near the Timber Lake Apartments in West Chicago, I have been able to become a role model for many of the students. Whether that be helping them with their academics, playing with them before the bus arrives, or even talking with them about the difficulties that they and their families are experiencing, I have been able to become an integral part of their lives. With regard to the campus garden at Wheaton College, I led a team of nearly fifty people in raising a variety of organic produce that is subsequently delivered to local food pantries. Because of this resource, hundreds of community residents have been able to have access to healthy fruits and vegetables that they might otherwise not have had available to them. As a whole, each of these experiences has provided me with the motivation and desire to bring change to the field of medicine, no matter where it is found.

As a soon-to-be college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish. Upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as through hands-on compassion. Following that program, and in order to combine my love of medicine, my desire to care for those around me, and to show my gratitude for how much I have as a citizen of this country, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as through preventing the spread of the diseases unique to their communities. In this way, I believe that I will be able to take my career in medicine and meaningfully impact those both inside and outside of its traditional scope. Because I grew up in an abusive home, I am estranged from my father and the remainder of my family. My mother, the only family member with whom I have spoken or had contact inside of the past two years, is just concluding a year-long substance abuse program. Currently, I receive no financial assistance with both my academic and personal expenses and have been alone in paying these expenses for more than six years. Though I work nearly fifty hours a week on top of school and many more hours during the summer, the funds that I have saved are nearly exhausted. Up to this point, I have been able to finance my tuition with money that I had saved since seventh grade and a financial aid package from school that included a grant and two federal loans. However, even after financial assistance, my annual costs are nearly $30,000. In addition to these tuition payments, I have many personal needs that I have neglected for a very long time due to these limited financial resources. Winning the 2021 Art of Giving Scholarship would be especially meaningful to me for three specific reasons. First, this scholarship would provide me with the financial support needed to continue my education and, ultimately, complete my graduate degree with its many textbook and laboratory expenses. Second, due to the lack of funding that is frequently a consequence of working overseas, I will likely have to use my already thinly stretched funds to finance much of my work. For this reason, this scholarship would allow me to, realistically, begin setting aside funds for this future work. Yet, even more significant to me than the two reasons given above, this scholarship would empower me in fulfilling my lifelong devotion to living abroad in an underserved community. Because this scholarship would provide me with the financial support to complete my education and, more importantly, help me achieve my personal goal of serving under-resourced communities, I feel that I am deserving of the 2021 Art of Giving Scholarship.

As a soon-to-be college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish. Upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as through hands-on compassion. Following that program, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as by developing vaccines to help prevent the spread of the diseases unique to their communities. In this way, I am confident that I will be able to meaningfully impact others, both inside and outside the traditional contexts of medicine. Of all my experiences, perhaps my time spent as a volunteer pushed me most towards wanting to make a difference in the field of medicine. My experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world, something that shaped me into a more loving and compassionate person, as well as one that desired to make a difference. The opportunity that I had to serve others who were going through extremely difficult circumstances by offering them the gift of flowers, food, or a simple, kind smile, was incredibly rewarding and fueled my desire to serve those both in the communities and world around me who were in similar circumstances. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different than I did. The nature of the hospital’s surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latinx community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to alleviate a portion of that suffering. As a whole, my volunteer experience at Holland Hospital, all without mentioning my time spent tutoring Spanish-speaking students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, maintaining a garden that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to intercity Chicago residents, or my nearly eight years of workplace experiencing translating work instructions into Spanish for non-English-speaking employees, has given me an attitude of empathy and compassion, a mindset that has forced me to recognize that I and my culture are no better than others. In this way, all of my volunteer experiences have provided me with the motivation to make a lasting impact on the field of medicine in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether domestically or abroad.

During the last few years of my life, tremendous personal and spiritual changes have taken place within my heart, concerning both how I view God and how I view my place within the world and my responsibility towards those who inhabit it. Of the shifting priorities and values that have occurred, none has been greater than the supernatural implantation of a soul-based hunger to serve those who have not had access to resources that should be available to all. As the result of both my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital and my time at Puente del Pueblo, God has implanted within me a deep yearning to serve those in underserved and under-resourced communities. In the first place, my experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world and pushed me towards becoming a physician. As part of the curiosity that accompanied my high school studies of Spanish, I pushed myself to step outside the boundaries in which I felt comfortable and serve the underprivileged Latino community at the nearby hospital. This work provided me with so much more than numerous learning opportunities - it gave me many close friendships that have continued until today. The patients and coworkers that I met pushed me to see a world to which I had for so long been blinded, something that brought me an incredible amount of freedom. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different than I did. The nature of the hospital surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latino community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to walk alongside and accompany that community. As I saw how much I had been given by God as a citizen of this country in comparison to how few freedoms many citizens of other countries enjoy, I was moved to show my gratitude by way of compassion that costs me something. Though I had initially planned on pursuing dentistry, I now desire to combine my love of medicine and my desire to serve others by becoming a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas and, using my medical knowledge, Spanish language skills, and compassion, improve the lives of the people living in these communities. Whether that be directly serving the people of God or those who are not currently his, God may choose to use this work to bring others to him. In addition to my time spent volunteering at Holland Hospital, my engagement with the Spanish-speaking community in the greater Chicagoland area has also been a source of life-giving joy and strength in my life. Over the past two years, I have been a part of Wheaton Bible Church’s after-school program, Puente del Pueblo, which serves Latino residents residing in or near the Timber Lake Apartments in the West Chicago area. Initially brought to my attention shortly after enrolling at Wheaton, my participation in this program has not only allowed me to help middle and high school students thrive in the classroom but, even more importantly for me, given me the opportunity to be an older role model and speak into the lives of those who are experiencing difficult things. Largely as a result of my own struggles with depression and the support that has been offered to me by older mentors both inside and outside of Wheaton College, including an older Hispanic couple at Wheaton Bible Church, I am devoted to providing someone else with the same support that was given to me. From my own experiences, I know and recognize that reaching out in an effort to receive such desperately needed help can often be incredibly difficult, especially since this affliction affects each and every moment of one’s life. Since I began serving at Puente del Pueblo, I have grown in my awareness of the difficulties encountered by students of minority cultures. More specifically, I have grown in my recognition that many minority groups typically do not have access to many of the resources that were available to me, being something who comes from a largely white, suburban community in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Coupled with my experience serving the underserved Latino community in Holland, Michigan, my time spent at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago has furthered my desire to serve those in under-resourced communities, both in the United States and abroad. In conclusion, my educational journey, volunteer work, and countless other experiences that I cannot even begin to mention have all contributed towards changing the way that I view the world and increased the amount of compassion that I both feel and display towards those living within it. Because of this, I now deeply desire to walk alongside and to give back to these communities, all in the ultimate pursuit of justice, mercy, and goodness. Together, each of these experiences has enabled me to become a person that is deeply committed to serving others with a heart that will not give up until that task is completed.

As a result of growing up in an abusive home, I have struggled my entire life with major depressive disorder (MDD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and recurrent suicidal ideations and attempts. When I began my sophomore year of college in the fall of 2019, I was in a deep spell of depression, battling suicidal thoughts nearly every day, and desperately wanting to end my life. After a very difficult Christmas break where I intentionally overdosed twice on my medication and attempted suicide by inhaling cleaning solutions, I found myself in the psychiatric ward at Central DuPage Hospital for the entire month of February. Following my stay in Illinois, I was discharged to the state of Michigan where I spent an additional two months inside of intensive inpatient rehabilitation. When I was finally discharged for the last time in April 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had just begun and I was incredibly fearful of what the future might hold for me. With everything that was going on around me, I was still able to sit down and analyze the past three months of my life; above all, I realized that the system in which I had been a patient was insufficient in addressing the root causes of my depression. In the short space below, I do not have time to get into very many, if any, of the details surrounding my story, but my experience certainly left me determined to restructure the mental health treatment system by separating patients into more individualized groups during crisis stabilization as well as allow patients to play a greater role in designing their own treatment programs. By allocating patients to groups that are more specific in addressing their specific condition, the relevant educational programs can be more specialized and prevent individuals from being readmitted to the hospital soon after their initial discharge. Because of my personal journey, I want to pursue a career in which I can be an encouragement and support to those who struggle with depression and other mental health disorders, constantly reminding them that they have an important purpose, even if they are unable to see it. Along with the death of my cousin and close friend, experience serving the Latinx community at Holland Hospital, time spent tutoring and mentoring students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, and several other experiences that I cannot even begin to mention in the space here, I have altered my choice of career. Whereas before I was pursuing a career in dentistry, I am now committed to becoming a missionary doctor to impoverished and under-resourced regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as by developing vaccines to help prevent the spread of diseases unique to their communities. In this way, I am confident that I can use my story and experiences to meaningfully impact those both inside and outside of the traditional scope of medicine.

In my first year of college, this professor (who I will not name) entered my life in a rather unexpected way. Because we were dissecting marine invertebrates as a part of my introductory biology course, this professor, a well-known and respected name in the field of invertebrate zoology, offered to teach my laboratory section. Though I remember sitting through her tirelessly long pre-lab lectures and praying for the moment that they would end, it was not until after one of my final laboratory sessions commenced that we first interacted. Flustered that drawing plant and flower specimens were taking far longer than anticipated, I became noticeably agitated and bothered. While frantically scratching down a messy sketch in my notebook in an attempt to finish my task and leave the laboratory, this professor approached me and disclosed that she greatly admired my attention to detail in my work. From that moment onward, I believe that I felt the first real connection that I had ever had to an instructor, a relationship that continued to deepen and flourish in the year that followed. Entering my sophomore year of college, I chose to take a research methods course with this professor in order to fulfill the course requirement for the biology major. In addition to bringing her homemade English scones to class nearly every day, several things that she did deeply resonated with me. During our very first laboratory period, she asked us to contemplate the words “be still” in silence in excess of fifteen minutes. After asking each of us to share out thoughts on the matter, she emphasized the importance of being present in each and every moment, something that she reiterated time and time again throughout the semester and all of its busyness. Perhaps even more importantly, she challenged us to make those words ones that we lived by and demonstrated in our daily life. Second, the lecture period when she instructed my classmates and me to look outside the window and stare into the millions of snowflakes as they floated in the air and eventually became one with the damp sidewalk. While she certainly used this opportunity to again state the importance of being fully present in the moment, the focus of this exercise was to remind me and my classmates of how unique each of the burdens that we carry are and the importance of never underestimating or downplaying the trials that one of our brothers or sisters is experiencing. Though seemingly ordinary and perhaps nothing overtly special, it was the unexpected learning moments such as these that distinguish this professor from all the ones that I have had throughout my educational journey. While these two moments certainly laid the foundation of our relationship, especially in regard to establishing profound respect for her, what she said to my classmates and me concerning her priorities has never left my mind. Though it is expected that every college professor be committed to winning students over to their major, that mindset could not have been further from the truth with my professor. In all of the chaos of midterms week, she told each and every one of us that she did not care at all about what our major was or, even, where we ended up in life; instead, she cared more about the people that my classmates and I became than anything that she taught - or could teach - us throughout the semester. It was because of these words that I consider this unnamed professor the most influential and impactful teacher that I have had in my decade-and-a-half educational journey.

Healing from Brokenness During our lives, we often hear words and phrases that fail to take full effect until something powerful forever changes our lives. Growing up, I frequently heard the advice to “cherish my time,” but these words never seemed to fully register in my mind until the day my close friend and cousin was removed from my life. By way of this painful experience, I truly learned the importance of valuing the time that I have with others. Roughly two years, my life was forever changed in one phone call. Not even a week after school commenced for the year, I was at my summer job and finishing my regular nine to five shift. As I packed up my things and headed for the door, I looked at my phone and saw a message from one of my friends enter my screen. As my eyes rolled over the screen and tried to take in what I was reading, the gravity of the situation did not register within my mind. Confused and alarmed, I messaged another friend who, in turn, assured me that the words of my other friend were correct. In shocking disbelief, I turned off the radio in my car and began the long car ride back to my home muttering the words of the text: “Sammy just passed away.” As I drove, I began to play snapshots of the incident inside my head: Sammy driving towards the train tracks, no yellow railroad crossing sign to alert her, Sammy’s final breath as she felt the train make contact with the passenger door of her white Ford Fusion, and her mother watching it all take place behind the old, glass window of their small, farm house. In the nearly two years that have passed since this incident, I have become a radically different person. The priorities of sports, money, and career that enslaved my mind during my middle and highschool years were pushed to the background. The bitter thoughts that I had felt towards many of my friends left my mind and attention. The spite that I felt for fellow classmates dissipated. The resentment that I had for my school and church faded. Everything that had previously filled my mind was now gone and had been replaced by a deeper sense of who I was in the world in which I lived. My priorities had shifted from what I could do for myself to now what I could do for others. My bitterness and spite had turned into sorrow. And my resentment was transformed into compassion and empathy. Despite its incredible pain, the loss of my close friend sowed seeds in my life, seeds that forever changed my values and priorities. As I examined my life and all of the areas in which I fell short, none stood out more than the area of friendships. I saw friendships that I had used solely for my own popularity, benefit, and happiness. I had formed friendships that were only based on what I could receive and never what I could give. At that moment, something in my mind was forever changed. I vowed to never again use friendships for my happiness, but as a way to encourage. I vowed to never again use friendships so that I could receive, but so that I could give. With this vow, I finally understood the weight of the phrase “cherish your time,” something that allowed me to take this phrase to heart and make the cornerstone of my life. I promised myself that I would no longer spend countless hours working, studying, and watching television, but I would, instead, spend them with those of whom I deeply loved. When I was with my friends, I would enjoy every moment with them and pour into them as much as I physically could outside of the times that we could spend together. I promised to do everything that I possibly could to establish living, lasting, and meaningful relationships with other human beings. Among the many important words and phrases that I have heard, the wisdom of cherishing the time that we have with others is, perhaps, the most important. Through the incredible painful loss of someone that had been so close to me, I learned lessons that changed how I thought about others, how I acted towards them, and who I was. By way of this experience, I learned the importance of valuing the time that I have been given with others, because I never know when that person will be taken away from me. While this trial brought brokenness, it brought about a realization, change, and healing inside that only something of this caliber could provide.

My gold-dyed hair as well as the not-shown latex black horse head, oversized plastic glasses, golden bead neckclasses, and the impossible-to-show homecoming victory for our sophomore class represented our school mascot, the Chargers!

During our lives, we often hear words and phrases that fail to take full effect until something powerful forever changes our lives. Roughly two years, my life was forever changed in one phone call. Not even a week after school commenced for the year, I was at my summer job and finishing my regular nine to five shift. As I packed up my things and headed for the door, I looked at my phone and saw a message from one of my friends enter my screen. As my eyes rolled over the screen and tried to take in what I was reading, the gravity of the situation did not register within my mind. Confused and alarmed, I messaged another friend who, in turn, assured me that the words of my other friend were correct. In shocking disbelief, I turned off the radio in my car and began the long car ride back to my home muttering the words of the text: “Sammy just passed away.” As I drove, I began to play snapshots of the incident inside my head: Sammy driving towards the train tracks, no yellow railroad crossing sign to alert her, Sammy’s final breath as she felt the train make contact with the passenger door of her white Ford Fusion, and her mother watching it all take place behind the old, glass window of their small farmhouse. In the nearly two years that have passed since this incident, I have become a radically different person. Despite its incredible pain, the loss of my close friend sowed seeds in my life, seeds that forever changed my values and priorities. As I examined my life and all of the areas in which I fell short, none stood out more than the area of friendships. I saw friendships that I had used solely for my own popularity, benefit, and happiness. I had formed friendships that were only based on what I could receive and never what I could give. At that moment, something in my mind was forever changed. I vowed to never again use friendships for my happiness, but as a way to encourage. I vowed to never again use friendships so that I could receive, but so that I could give. With this vow, I finally understood the weight of the phrase “cherish your time,” something that allowed me to take this phrase to heart and make it the cornerstone of my life. I promised myself that I would no longer spend countless hours working, studying, and watching television, but I would, instead, spend them with those whom I deeply loved. When I was with my friends, I would enjoy every moment with them and pour into them as much as I physically could outside of the times that we could spend together. I promised to do everything that I possibly could to establish living, lasting, and meaningful relationships with other human beings. Among the many important words and phrases that I have heard, the wisdom of cherishing the time that we have with others is, perhaps, the most important. Through the incredibly painful loss of someone that had been so close to me, I learned lessons that changed how I thought about others, how I acted towards them, and who I was. By way of this experience, I learned the importance of valuing the time that I have been given with others because I never know when that person will be taken away from me. While this trial brought brokenness, it brought about a realization, change, and healing inside that only something of this caliber could provide.

What are my post-graduation and career plans? As a soon-to-be college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish. Upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as through hands-on compassion. Following that program, and in order to combine my love of medicine, my desire to care for those around me, and to show my gratitude for how much I have as a citizen of this country, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as through preventing the spread of the diseases unique to their communities. In this way, I believe that I will be able to take my career in medicine and meaningfully impact those both inside and outside of its traditional scope. Why specifically have I chosen STEM? Because of this personal and career goal, I have specifically chosen to pursue a STEM major, recognizing that the coursework within areas such as biology, chemistry, and physics will best provide me with the necessary knowledge and skills needed to make an impact on the people that I will one day serve. Whether that be microbiological and immunological knowledge that can translate into creating vaccines, knowledge of the human body to successfully perform surgical procedures, or knowledge of torque and magnetic fields to generate alternate sources of clean energy, my STEM education will allow me to effectively and compassionately serve those who have less than I do. In this way, my STEM field of study will most effectively allow me to achieve my personal and career goal of serving others. In addition to my STEM coursework, I have been able to learn things in my non-STEM courses that have greatly enhanced my STEM education. Out of all my non-STEM courses, my Spanish studies have proven to be the most transformative. As a result of these language courses, not to mention my time spent tutoring Hispanic students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, serving the local Spanish-speaking population at Holland Hospital, establishing and maintaining a garden for intercity Chicago residents, or my nearly eight years of translating work instructions into Spanish for non-English speaking employees, I have improved in my ability to converse with and relate to the Hispanic culture, something that will greatly enhance my effectiveness overseas. Why Specifically Am I Applying for This Scholarship? Winning the Lillie Award would be especially meaningful to me for three specific reasons. First, this scholarship would provide me with the financial support needed to continue my education and, ultimately, complete my graduate degree with its many textbook and laboratory expenses. Second, due to the lack of funding that is frequently a consequence of working overseas, I will likely have to use my already thinly stretched funds to finance much of my work. For this reason, this scholarship would allow me to, realistically, begin setting aside funds for this future work. Yet, even more significant to me than the two reasons given above, this scholarship would empower me in fulfilling my lifelong devotion to living abroad in an underserved community. Because this scholarship would provide me with the financial support to complete my education and, more importantly, help me achieve my personal goal of serving under-resourced communities, I feel that I am deserving of the Lillie Award.

As a result of growing up in an abusive home, there were many painful things that I both heard and saw that helped contribute to my choice of career. Whether that be my father constantly telling me that I would never amount to anything, that nothing that I cared about or my life mattered, or that I did not deserve any of my friendships, I felt deeply hurt and degraded as a child. Because of that pain, I have struggled my entire life with severe anxiety and depression, something that has been the cause of multiple psychiatric hospitalizations and numerous prescription drug overdoses. As I began my sophomore year of college, I was in a deep spell of depression, battling suicidal ideations and thoughts nearly every day, and desperately wanting to end my life. Despite this pain, I felt afraid and ashamed to share this pain with others, all out of a fear of being rejected. When I tried to make jokes during class and greet every student with a smile, it looked like I was happy and had my life together. Little did anyone realize how deep my level of depression was and how much pain I felt inside every single day. After an extremely stressful holiday season that saw three suicide attempts, I knew that I needed help - and far more than anything that I was currently receiving. With a lot of hesitation and reluctance, I told a professor with whom I was very close about what had happened and, she, in turn, told the director of the counseling center that I was in desperate need of help. That same night, the director called me over the phone, calmed me down, and set up a meeting with her the day I returned to campus. Upon returning to campus, I met with the director three times a week and was able to sit down with her to discuss the events that were going on in my academic and personal life. In addition to seeing this counselor, I was able to make use of the school chaplain. In the weeks that I did not receive guidance from my counselor, I received the spiritual support that I needed from the chaplain and his assistants. After leaving the offices of these professional supports, I felt a large amount of anxiety taken off my shoulders. Yet, when circumstances demanded additional help, my school directed me to an off-campus counseling center with whom I met for nearly ten hours a week. When this outside counseling center failed to work, I was admitted into an inpatient psychiatric hospital where I stayed for nearly two months. Throughout the course of the last two years, there has been nothing but supportive and caring people that have accompanied me on every step of this long and arduous process. Because of the many difficult things that have happened in my life during the past two years and the host of gracious people that have given of themselves to help me, I am committed to using that power and strength to help others. In addition to my own personal and emotional struggles, my volunteer experience left no doubt in my mind that I pursue a career in addiction and behavioral medicine. My experience as a volunteer at Holland Hospital forced me to reexamine the lenses through which I had, for so long, viewed the world, something that shaped me into a more loving and compassionate person, as well as one that desired to make a difference. My three years spent in this hospital allowed me to see the pain of others, opened and filled my heart with a compassion that I had never known, and forever changed the way that I saw others, particularly those who looked different than I did. The nature of the hospital’s surroundings allowed me to serve the local Latino community and, for the first time in my life, I saw hurting people behind the once foreign language and culture. Whereas my time before volunteering was characterized by a superiority complex and lack of compassion, my work forced me to not only think about the experiences of others but also share in the pain that has been a part of their culture for centuries as well as ask myself what I could do to alleviate a portion of that suffering. The opportunity that I had to serve others who were going through trying circumstances by offering them the gift of flowers, food, or a simple, kind smile, was incredibly rewarding and further fueled my desire to serve those in the community and world around me. As a whole, my volunteer experience at Holland Hospital (along with the others that I cannot even begin to mention) has given me a mindset that has forced me to recognize that I am no better than others. Together with these lessons and realizations, my STEM and liberal arts education have pushed me to pursue a career where I can serve others who are experiencing pain and difficulty, whether or not I can relate directly to them at all times. As I forced myself to listen to the stories of others in the hospital who were in situations very different from my own, the sense of empathy and compassion that I felt forced me to recognize that I did not have all of the answers and that I did not always see the world and those around me in the correct way. In contrast to my time before volunteering, I am now much more ready to listen to the experiences of others and am also far less ambitious to assert my own assumptions and opinions. By combining my Spanish-speaking abilities, knowledge and problem-solving skills from my STEM education, the pain of my childhood, and the lessons learned from my time spent as a volunteer in the hospital, I am confident that I will be able to compassionately and effectively serve those who are suffering, whether that be domestically or abroad.

My favorite scientist is Dr. Travis S. Taylor, an aerospace engineer, optical scientist, science fiction author, and television personality on many series such as The Tesla Files, In Search of Monsters, and Rocket City Rednecks, just to name a few. He is my favorite because he rigidly adheres to the scientific method, but is also open to nontraditional explanations for the more mystical elements of human existence, including being willing to call in a rabbi in his most recent series, The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch, when he attempts to stimulate a portal on the ranch. Dr. Taylor is someone whose passion for science and relentless search for answers I admire and hope to emulate in my own career in the future, whether that be domestically or abroad.

In addition to my educational experiences, several events in my personal life have pushed me towards pursuing a career in the service of others. First, as a result of growing up in an abusive home and seeing the physical, emotional, and verbal attacks that my father regularly inflicted on my mother, not to mention his attacks on me and my siblings, I have suffered from major depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and recurrent suicidal ideations and attempts. Furthermore, I have spent significant time in psychiatric hospitals, most recently in the spring of 2020, when I was in Central DuPage Hospital for three months after attempting to take my life by overdosing on my medication. After being in psychotherapy daily and meeting with a psychiatrist weekly for the past eleven months, I have only begun the process of holistic healing and I recognize that the journey ahead of me remains long. However, by learning healthy coping skills, developing safe and healthy boundaries with family, and choosing to let the future define me, I have already taken large steps in better situating myself concerning the past. Because of my personal journey, I want to pursue a career in which I can be an encouragement and support to those who struggle with depression and other mental health disorders, constantly reminding them that they have an important purpose, even if they are unable to see it.

As a soon-to-be college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish and, upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as hands-on compassion. Following that program and to combine my love of medicine, my desire to care for those around me, and to show my gratitude for how much I have been given as a citizen of this country, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as by developing vaccines to help prevent the spread of diseases unique to their communities. Because of this personal and career goal, I have specifically chosen to pursue a STEM major, recognizing that the coursework within areas such as biology, chemistry, and physics will best provide me with the necessary knowledge and skills needed to make an impact on the people that I hope to one day serve. Whether that be microbiological and immunological knowledge that can be utilized in creating vaccines, knowledge of human anatomy and physiology to successfully perform surgical operations and procedures, or knowledge of torque and magnetic fields to develop alternate sources of clean energy, my STEM education will allow me to effectively and compassionately serve those who have less than I do. In this way, my STEM field of study will most effectively allow me to achieve my personal and career goal of serving others. In addition to my STEM coursework, I have been able to learn things in my non-STEM courses that have greatly enhanced my STEM education. Out of all my non-STEM courses, my Spanish studies have proven to be the most personally transformative. As a result of these courses, not to mention my time spent tutoring Latino students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, serving the local Spanish- speaking population at Holland Hospital, establishing and maintaining a garden that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to intercity Chicago residents, or my nearly eight years of workplace experience translating work instructions into Spanish for non-English speaking employees, I have improved in my ability to converse with and relate to the Hispanic culture, something that will greatly enhance my effectiveness overseas. In conclusion, my STEM courses have been greatly influenced and strengthened by the courses that I have taken outside of STEM, particularly my Spanish courses. By coupling my knowledge of biochemistry, anatomy, physiology, immunology, and physics with the Spanish language and cultural skills that I have learned, I am confident that I will be able to effectively care for those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In this way, my higher education can be directly used to serve those in the community and world around me and do so with a heart that will not give up until that task is completed.

As a soon-to-be college senior, I am double majoring in Biology and Spanish and, upon graduation, I plan to pursue graduate school and an MD-PhD program so that I can serve others through discovery as well as hands-on compassion. Following that program and to combine my love of medicine, my desire to care for those around me, and to show my gratitude for how much I have been given as a citizen of this country, my career goal is to become a missionary doctor to impoverished regions of the Spanish-speaking Americas. While there, I hope to provide not only medical care but also actively research ways through which I can better the lives of those living there, such as by developing vaccines to help prevent the spread of diseases unique to their communities. Because of this personal and career goal, I have specifically chosen to pursue a STEM major, recognizing that the coursework within areas such as biology, chemistry, and physics will best provide me with the necessary knowledge and skills needed to make an impact on the people that I hope to one day serve. Whether that be microbiological and immunological knowledge that can be utilized in creating vaccines, knowledge of human anatomy and physiology to successfully perform surgical operations and procedures, or knowledge of torque and magnetic fields to develop alternate sources of clean energy, my STEM education will allow me to effectively and compassionately serve those who have less than I do. In this way, my STEM field of study will most effectively allow me to achieve my personal and career goal of serving others. In addition to my STEM coursework, I have been able to learn things in my non-STEM courses that have greatly enhanced my STEM education. Out of all my non-STEM courses, my Spanish studies have proven to be the most personally transformative. As a result of these courses, not to mention my time spent tutoring/mentoring Latinx students at Puente del Pueblo in West Chicago, serving the local Spanish-speaking population at Holland Hospital (an experience that I can only mention in the space provided here), establishing and maintaining a garden that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to intercity Chicago residents, or my nearly eight years of workplace experience translating instructions into Spanish for non-English speaking employees, I have improved in my ability to converse with and relate to the Hispanic culture, something that will greatly enhance my effectiveness overseas. In conclusion, my STEM courses have been greatly influenced and strengthened by the courses that I have taken outside of STEM, particularly my Spanish courses. By coupling my knowledge of biochemistry, anatomy, physiology, immunology, and physics with the Spanish language and cultural skills that I have learned, I am confident that I will be able to effectively care for those in underserved and under-resourced communities, whether that be domestically or abroad. In this way, my higher education can be directly used to serve those in the community and world around me and to do so with a heart that will not give up until that task is completed.