My mom, her sister, her dad, and many more people in my family including my brother and I have struggled with mental health. My mom has attempted taking her life, my mom’s sister struggles with alcohol and drug addiction, and my brother had to come home early from a church mission because of poor mental health. I am fortunate enough to not have long-lasting depression or anxiety at the moment, but I have experienced it before and have seen firsthand how it can destroy a person’s confidence and ability to live life normally. However, truly I believe I can make a difference in the lives of my family and others by furthering my education. I plan on studying nutrition, which I believe is a key component in mental health. I want to help my mom live the life she thought she'd never have and improve the lives of so many others who struggle with mental and physical health. I can do this through healthy eating habits and nutritious, energizing food choices. I regard nutrition as an important factor in a healthy lifestyle and believe improving a person’s diet can improve their overall physical and mental health. In the end, I just want my family now and my future family to have life more abundantly, and I know that improved nutrition can do that.

Diabetes runs in my mom's side of the family: her dad and several of his siblings had Type 2 Diabetes which shortened their time with us; her brother, my uncle, currently has Type 2 Diabetes; and even she is pre-diabetic. Through studying nutrition, I would learn more about nutritional methods to prevent such conditions overall improving the qualilty of the lives of people like my mom and her family. So if I am awarded this scholarship, it would add to my college fund and progress me along my path to learning more about nutrition and the improvement of millions of lives. By earning this scholarship and using it for my future education and research, I am able to not only learn for myself the benefits of improved nutrition, but educate my family, friends, future patients and their families when I become a nutritionist/dietition. Growing up, my parents made good, healthy meals to the best of their abilities. But as time has gone on and they have less energy, it is harder and harder for them to keep up with good, healthy eating habits. By going to school and learning about nutrition, I can help improve my parents' lives, my future family's lives, and the lives of future patients and others. Currently I am taking an exercise and nutrition class at a nearby community college through my high school's Running Start Program (I am able to take college cources while still in high school). I find that having assignments to exercise and document the food I eat motivates me to live a healthier lifestyle. By waking up earlier and exercising, documenting and striving to improve my food choices, and being more concious of my everyday decisions I have noticed a significant difference: I am less tired (I used to take naps and then wouldn't be able to fall asleep at night), I have more energy, and I am more productive. If I were to win this scholarship, I could improve the quality of life for so many other people simply by going to 2 more years of college (through the Running Start Program I'll graduate high school with my AA), getting—at least—my Bachelor's in nutritional science. I have always wanted to make a difference in the world, and now I can. Through research and analysis of data, I can learn how nutrition is able to better prevent, slow the progress of, and reverse Type 2 Diabetes.