It's funny how growing up in Hawaii the season change was minimal. The weather gets cooler or hotter but mostly we don our slippers throughout the year. But the rituals we created brought us comfort and joy. When the fall festivities started, bring in the lattes. Pumpkin latte to celebrate that fall was in full swing. Or cozying up with the Maple Pecan Latte to remind us that Christmas is ever etching closer. The iced Gingerbread Oat milk Chai gets one in the holiday spirt brings warmth to my soul. Takeout for the family means we are savoring the meaningful holiday moments hot or cold it's warming out hearts. Bringing a treat to the secretary at work is a must. Though regionally, any drink in Hawaii can be coupled with Thai walls; a bit of sweetened condensed milk lining the cup for sweet kick of flavor. This takes the beloved Pumpkin latte to a new level. There are at least 35 stores on Oahu including the airport. So long waits at the airport for holiday travel are at least tolerable since most flights require a 2 hour check in time. Starbucks is at the gate so it is it's the perfect time to sip and relax while reading a book. And the Airport Starbucks opens earlier than most eateries which is great if the flight is early. After holiday shopping is another opportunity to indulge. With over half a dozen shops in Waikiki alone it's time to relax your feet and reward ourself with a treat. If we aren't surfing then we are at Starbucks surfing the internet. And don't forget the shopping for sales at Ala Moana shopping center, the 8th largest shopping center in the United States. With several stores we are sure to stop in at least twice. The sound of the water in the Koi ponds lining the walk ways with lush tropical foliage make a soothing relaxing spot to sip a latte. Or the Center court with open air entertainment viewed from the second floor with crowds of people over looking the stage is another opportunity to enjoy the brew. But our favorite is sunrise trips to the beach at Waikiki. To avoid traffic and secure a parking stall, a sunrise trip to the beach is a must. We sit on the shore and watch the surf while shooting the breeze with friends. A Pumpkin Latte with walls is my sunrise ritual. Once the sun is up we all hit the surf.

When my mother was 16 and her sister was 17 their dad sent them to learn tailoring because “girls didn't need an education.” Her sister was married within the year. Both girls ended up marrying and divorcing and raising 3 children as single moms. My mother valued education and as a single mom and eventually went to night school which led to a good job. In order to get a good job she also endured invasive cosmetic procedures which did not help her health. My mother died young and did not get to see her children graduate from college, which was her wish. No one could make me laugh like my brother. Once he told jokes to my sister and I for an hour and a half we had to beg him to stop as our stomachs hurt from laughing so long. I recently moved to the continental USA and was planning to visit him this summer as the weather improved. Sadly, I am writing this the day after my brother’s funeral. It was unexpected and sudden. My brother was the best and the brightest having a Mensa IQ. At one time he was a straight A student and was attending Purdue at the time to become a computer programer. But when he lost his job he dropped out of school and never returned and ended up working as a driver to support his family. He died this year impoverished and in poor health. A medical bracelet might have saved my brother's life. To honor my brother, I am looking for grant opportunities to provide transportation services and medical bracelets for his community. This will help them access healthcare and emergency assistance since the nearest health services were 30 miles away and he lived in government subsidized housing. It won't be the first time I have been involved in grants for the betterment of the community. This scholarship will help me as my husband had to retire early due to disability thereby shrinking his retirement. I had to be brave to go back to school. But since I made it this far I decided to go all the way and pursue a doctorate in acupuncture. Acupuncture is moving toward integration with other health care providers and a doctorate will provide me with the skills to do that. Bringing alternative healing to my community, especially in an area where invasive cosmetic procedures are prevalent. Cosmetic acupuncture offers a natural and holistic approach to enhancing beauty and well-being, which can be particularly appealing to those who are wary of invasive procedures. I am in a prime position to establish a successful clinic specializing in women's health, especially given the high birth rate and demand for fertility services in my area. Offering comprehensive care tailored to women’s needs could make a significant impact on the health and well being of the community. A doctorate in acupuncture is geared for working in Integrative medicine. This will help me to work with other health care providers who provide care for my clients. I especially like working with pregnancy and would like to offer services for prenatal, labor, and post natal. Acupuncture can work with or with out western interventions during labor. It can treat retained placenta, high blood pressure, preeclampsia, mal-positions of the fetus and much more. It can facilitate labor by ripening the cervix. With high rate of labor induction it can reduce the need to prolonged pitocin which will reduce adverse reaction. Every women and child deserves a safer birth.

I am committed to working with women, children, seniors and underserved populations by making a positive impact by volunteering at the yearly community health fairs and children’s asthma fair where I taught self- help asthma techniques. I shared my passion about health when I spoke to an adoptive parent group about infertility and to the Multiple Sclerosis Society. My gentle massage techniques are utilized offering free massages weekly for seniors at the local Community Center. As a former doula, I network with Normal Birth Hawaii, an organization which empowers women to have a normal birth. My passion for herbs drove me to create and become president of a non profit organization that researched and secured grants for the growing of Moringa, a healthful and useful herb. We were hopeful to promote jobs growing Moringa in an economically depressed area. I have also provided community style acupuncture at the homeless shelter where most of the residents were affected by drug addiction. When I became President of my husband's construction company it became a vehicle for good. It was involved with initiating a carpenter's apprenticeship program. We helped to secure grants to repair homes for those in financial need. When our family construction closed it's doors, due to my husband’s disability, all the tools were donated to a church as a lending closet for those who needed tools to work. My skill set as an acupuncturist is a valuable skill set that can greatly benefit underserved populations, particularly in rural areas where access to healthcare services may be limited. This year we are moving to a rural community 45 minutes from medical facilities. They have limited access to specialists due to the long distances to healthcare facilities. Even the county jail has no drug program which has resulted in the death of an inmate. My expertise can help fill this gap by providing accessible and effective healthcare options such as community acupuncture. Community acupuncture can help for addictions suicide and depression. "Be the change you want to see in the world," said Mahatma Ghandi. By applying for grants to provide IV services at the county jail it could save a life. Rural areas have higher higher than average rates of depression, suicide, and addictions. There is much research that acupuncture is well positioned to help in those conditions. We know that providing health services can improve these statistics as we have seen programs that serve these marginalized populations thereby improving their health status.

I live in a state that criminalizes a woman who is pregnant and has taken a substance deemed harmful to the fetus. I would like to see that legislation changed. Because when women are forced to not seek prenatal care it is a worse crime. Not that the women are committing a crime. But it's unethical to put someone in the position to choose between jail and prenatal care. The infant deserves better. My acupuncture teacher Ms Schuetter made a significant impact through her work with a 501(c)(3) organization in another state providing prenatal care to homeless women. By combining nursing and acupuncture skills to help these vulnerable women they were addressing drug addiction issues and providing birth control options. The women were highly motivated to conquer their drug addiction in order to keep their babies. A high percentage usually had subsequent pregnancies. She not only improved the health and well-being of the women and infant but also helped prevent subsequent pregnancies. Such interventions resulted in cost savings for the state by reducing the need for additional social services. It's a holistic approach that addresses both immediate health concerns and long-term societal implications. After high school my friend pregnant with her first child was told to abort her child and that it had Down's syndrome. She did not abort and the child was born without Down’s syndrome.. The decision whether to continue with the pregnancy must have been profoundly difficult. But my friend stayed true to her convictions despite medical advice. This story underscores the complexity of prenatal testing and the importance of supporting individuals in making deeply personal decisions about their pregnancies. My friend's experience is a powerful example of how medical diagnoses can sometimes be incorrect, and how every individual life is precious regardless of any perceived challenges or disabilities. It's wonderful that she chose to trust her faith and continue with her pregnancy, ultimately defying the initial prognosis. I have a strong belief in the importance of family and the value of life, which aligns with many faith traditions, not just mine. With my skills I am committed to supporting families as an acupuncturist, especially during fertility pregnancy labor and post natal. Being pro life is not just supporting options to abortion but supporting the whole journey. As I practice acupuncture I have already encountered individuals facing difficult decisions regarding their health and family planning. My ability to provide support, guidance, and holistic care can be incredibly meaningful in helping them navigate these challenges with confidence and peace of mind. Community acupuncture is one way that I can do that. POCA is a movement that is helping to meet the social challenges of drug addiction and addressing the opioid crisis. This is one way acupuncture can reach pregnant populations that are being marginalized due to legislation in my state and I can do something about it. References Nichols, K. (2008, May 13). Moms-to-be get on a better path. Star Bulletin. Retrieved from https://archives.starbulletin.com/2008/05/13/features/story01.html POCA.org

Doing math in his head all day, my carpenter husband was a whiz at math. His work was accurate and things fit together well. When I look at houses, I see the need to use caulking to fill in 1/4 inch gaps of sloppy work. I know that their math was off. I love math. Save yourself the embarrassment and unnecessary work. Shopping trips turned into a game of guessing the change. If our son could guess what the change from the cashier was, it was his. Calculating in his head before the cashier gave us the change, my son learned to calculate change quickly. My husband still catches mistakes from the cashier. Who doesn’t love saving money? I love math. When my husband was unable to work, I wanted to go back to college. To refresh my math I completed a chapter a day in an Algebra book. The first few chapters were redone several times. Eventually, we moved closer to a college so that I could attend. I passed the placement exam so I did not end up in remedial math. Hard work paid off. Besides saving me time and money, it helped me to get a degree that I love. I love math. My first degree was in culinary and we had to do math in class daily. I was the only one in class who did their calculations without a calculator. I never had to run around the kitchen looking for a calculator. I love math. As an intern there was limited produce, reducing recipe sizes. saved the day. I I love math. I needed an associate degree to apply to acupuncture school. It seemed like two unrelated fields. But, the things I learned in culinary school helped me to be a better acupuncturist. In acupuncture school, I use math to calculate the herbal percentages in herbal formulas. Who knew all that culinary math would pay off? Blending my culinary skills with my herbal skills enables me to reach more people with this amazing medicine. Making edible herbal products is a goal to make herbal medicine more agreeable. Math is making this possible. From candy to food to medicine, math is the magic behind it all. That is why I love math.

Small communities are tight knit and don't take kindly to outsiders. Nevertheless, I saw deep needs that I thought my family could lend a hand in solving. An economically-challenged zone with a native ethnicity that subsisted on large tracts of federal lands had a vast untapped potential. People were not pressed to work since they had free housing. The housing was free but the upkeep was not. The buildings were over 80 years old with holes in the floor that could easily lose a small child. A grant to bring repair work to these families for decent living conditions was in order. Our company was in a position to be on the board to make this a reality, which it did. Many of these families lived on large farms that mainly lay untilled. Jobs were scarce so we rallied commitments of over 300 acres for farming with U.S. contracts to grow as much as they could. They were excited to be a part of something big. The unused land needed to be cleared. Again, we found grants, this time for co-ops, in effort to procure equipment to clear the land. Unsuccessful in uniting them in a co-op resulted in the project's failure to launch. They wanted to remain small scale farmers and helping the community as a whole with jobs for all was shelved. We also were involved in initiating an apprenticeship program. Unfortunately, there were not enough candidates that could pass the drug test. This was a big problem in an area of high unemployment. A sad farewell was given to the community. My husband fell ill and our family called us away to be caregivers. Our business doors closed forever and we donated our company equipment to a nearby church as a lending closet to help those who wanted to work. Most of my sewing and knitting supplies were donated to a thrift store where everything was free. In my mind's eye I see one of the grandmother's knitting something from the yarn I had donated just before I left. These highlights are a few incidents that have shaped my thinking. Currently, I have since scaled back to smaller projects that only involve myself. Having never lived around poverty, I saw what poverty was like. I now see the world with new eyes and also know that I have my limitations yet my vison now sees that opportunities are limitless. Recently I called a woman who told me her husband had died two days earlier and that a neighbor had pushed her into a railing. She could barely walk and was wincing in pain. I walked up her stairs with no lighting in the dark. The stairs were so termite eaten I could have fallen through. I was able to treat her for her injury. But the state of her house impacted me. Planning for retirement takes vision. The house was in shambles and had never had a single repair for years. And she was living in an unsafe condition and it was beyond repair. A simple solution would be sell the house and take the proceeds from the sale and build a cottage onto her daugther's house. And I learned that knowledge is power to change things for the better. I went back to school to improve my skill set and to change the world in new ways. I have used these skills at a local homeless shelter and the local senior center. The Veteran’s center, a few blocks away from my home seems like the best fit for my skills for my next project.