Xavier from X-men has nothing on me. My superpower is persuasion through fun and humor, not boring mind control. With my superpower, I convinced three non-swimming girls to join the girls' swim team, persuaded a shy, non-athletic, non-swimming person to transform into a water polo warrior; and even convinced seven Asian students to become avid members of the Latino Student Union. Today, they are taco eating, horchata drinking, and reggaeton dancing "paisanas" (Latinas by spirit). When the water polo team was dangerously close to disbanding due to a lack of members I resolved the issue by doing some recruiting of my own. I managed to find people who were interested in joining the sport by mentioning they would make "automatic varsity", and saying water polo is the best sport since you are always refreshed because it is an aquatic sport and the team aspect of it would help them meet new friends. My greatest feat however was convincing a girl who was afraid of water to join. I managed to convince her to come to one practice and during that practice, I was always talking and joking with her to make sure she felt comfortable, and I showed her some water polo basics and how to catch and throw the ball. By the end of the practice, she understood my love for water polo and joined the team! Now, she is a thriving member of the water polo team and even agreed to join a water polo clinic with me during the summer. Besides resuscitating the water polo team, I also managed to keep the Latino Student Union afloat in a school with hardly any Latino students. I enticed several Asian students to join the club through food, or more specifically Pulparindo and other candies like it. I am proud to say they can name a variety of Hispanic food they did not know existed before. I enjoy helping people try new things and getting out of their comfort more, and enjoy even more seeing them thrive. I will to continue this trend for the rest of my life. My resilience was strengthened after the death of my grandfather when my family moved in with my grandma causing more stress, depression, and anxiety. Moving in with my grandmother increased my commute to my high school to 90 minutes. This made it more challenging for me with my Advanced Placement classes, sports, and clubs. Especially since on many days, I was running on three to four hours of sleep. To overcome this I had to better manage my time to make sure I wasted no second when I was home, eat during the car rides home, and get used to reading during the car rides. Late nights studying and learning coping methods became the norm for me. I also found ways to deal with this stress, and I am proud to report I know meditation and stretching help me get through difficult times without any breakdowns. This time has also taught me how important it is to reach out for help. I began to reach out to my teachers for additional information to clear up confusion and I started asking more questions. This was also the beginning of me collaborating with my peers more in class to figure out the answers to questions, and outside of the classroom for study group sessions. Overall, I feel more resilient and better able to cope with stress and negative emotions prior to COVID-19 and know I will carry this on into college and the rest of my academic and professional career.

The Covid pandemic brought devastation to my family when my "abuelito" was infected with COVID-19 and died. After my abuelito died, my family moved in with my grandma causing more stress, depression, and anxiety. It was a hard time for us with many arguments about responsibility and expenses between my parents and my father's siblings. Moving in with my grandmother increased my commute to my high school to 90 minutes. This made it more challenging for me with my Advanced Placement classes, sports, and clubs. To overcome this I had to better manage my time to make sure I wasted no second when I was home and late nights studying and learning coping methods became the norm for me. Adversity and obstacles have taught me that I have grit which makes me a good leader and successful in many of my efforts. My grit to get things done and lead others is who I am. It takes grit “para hacerle ganas” (to do the work), whether it is studying for the Advanced Placement (AP) Biology exam or organizing an event. Grit is my starting point to doing the work no matter the challenge. It took me a lot of grit to form our Latino Student Union club during the COVID-19 pandemic that constrained all our interactions online. I had to reach out to many students via email blasts, Instagram, and posts to the school newsletter. It took a lot of determination and resolve to learn how to run and manage a club without a person to advise me. In addition, I was challenged to learn as I went to conduct meetings, plan events, and correctly distribute work to cabinet members. It also took grit to find a club advisor and pitch my club to the Associated Student Body, despite it being a new idea and a negative predisposition of a few of the members. In short, my friends and I incited “good trouble” in my school and forced uncomfortable but important conversations and actions. I would advise that others find this grit to pursue their own goals and overcome their own obstacles. With this grit, I aspire to be California’s Surgeon General. I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and the disabled. My public health and biology classes inspire curiosity to learn more about the subjects and how I would make them relevant in my community. It fascinates me how the environment, community, and government can have such a grand impact on an individual's health. I was also a volunteer at the Planning Department in the City of Irwindale, where I learned how much consideration goes into approving the construction of buildings. This informed me of how much commercial buildings can influence the health and quality of life of residents. As a result, my volunteer work and academics at my high school and local college align with these academic interests. My role in the Latino Student Union and internship in a disadvantaged city keeps me engaged in issues of diversity, inclusion, and equity, as well as provides me the opportunity to give my perspective as a Latina in a predominantly affluent community. I would recommend that others channel what they have learned from their own adversity and find their own passion to study and pursue, and to do what they need to prepare for the educational journey.

Growing up in Latino working-class communities, I saw that many families were challenged with language and cultural competency barriers, especially since many hospitals have a limited amount of staff that speak proper Spanish. These incidents occurred at stores, schools, and doctor's offices. Unfortunately, the loss in translation communication may have caused inconvenience or more serious consequences like a misdiagnosis. Lack of healthcare affordability, negative stigma associated with visiting doctors, mistrust of the government, and little representation in medical professions present their challenges, but poor language communication exacerbates the needed health care that many Latino families require. There is also a stigma in the Latino community surrounding going to the doctor and the language barriers and cultural incompetency only exacerbate the problem. Communication between a physician and a patient is vital for the patient's comfort and peace of mind. I aspire to be California’s Surgeon General and uplift my fellow women to pursue similar dreams to diversify the healthcare community. I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and the disabled. Being a young woman of color has never been easy and today seems harder, but I determined to break glass ceilings and doors traditionally closed to people like me. I stand on the shoulder of a great woman like my mother who does everything for my sister and me. Someday, my hope is that my future daughter(s) and other young women of color also stand on my shoulders. My public health and biology classes inspire curiosity to learn more about the subjects and how I would make them relevant in my community. It fascinates me how the environment, community, and government can have such a grand impact on an individual's health. As a result, my volunteer work and academics at my high school and local college align with these academic interests. My role in the Latino Student Union and internship in a disadvantaged city keeps me engaged in issues of diversity, inclusion, and equity, as well as provides me the opportunity to give my perspective as a Latina in a predominantly affluent community. In preparation for majoring in Public Health, I have taken Advanced Placement courses in Biology and Spanish Language and Culture, in which I scored fives on both national exams. I am currently taking Advanced Placement in Environmental Science and Government/Economics to learn about the environment, economics, and politics, as well. I also enhance my knowledge in these subjects with community college courses in Public Health, Chicano/a Studies, and Computer Science including Python, an essential data science tool. I was also a volunteer at the Planning Department in the City of Irwindale, where I learned how much consideration goes into approving the construction of buildings. This informed me of how much commercial buildings can influence the health and quality of life of residents. Now each time I look at a building under construction all I can think about is how much effort was put into making sure the building would not negatively impact the health of residents. Through these efforts, I strive to become an agent of change to do something meaningful and transformative in the service of all people and work to someday shape health policy and institutions that serve everyone equitably.

Growing up in Latino working-class communities, I saw that many families were challenged with language and cultural competency barriers, especially since many hospitals have a limited amount of staff that speak proper Spanish. These incidents occurred at stores, schools, and doctor's offices. Unfortunately, the loss in translation communication may have caused inconvenience or more serious consequences like a misdiagnosis. Lack of healthcare affordability, negative stigma associated with visiting doctors, mistrust of the government, and little representation in medical professions present their challenges, but poor language communication exacerbates the needed health care that many Latino families require. There is also a stigma in the Latino community surrounding going to the doctor and the language barriers and cultural incompetency only exacerbate the problem. Communication between a physician and a patient is vital for the patient's comfort and peace of mind. I aspire to be California’s Surgeon General. I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and the disabled. My public health and biology classes inspire curiosity to learn more about the subjects and how I would make them relevant in my community. It fascinates me how the environment, community, and government can have such a grand impact on an individual's health. I was also a volunteer at the Planning Department in the City of Irwindale, where I learned how much consideration goes into approving the construction of buildings. This informed me of how much commercial buildings can influence the health and quality of life of residents. As a result, my volunteer work and academics at my high school and local college align with these academic interests. My role in the Latino Student Union and internship in a disadvantaged city keeps me engaged in issues of diversity, inclusion, and equity, as well as provides me the opportunity to give my perspective as a Latina in a predominantly affluent community. I would recommend that others channel what they have learned from their own adversity and find their own passion to study and pursue, and to do what they need to prepare for the educational journey. In preparation for majoring in Public Health, I have taken Advanced Placement courses in Biology and Spanish Language and Culture, in which I scored fives on both national exams. I am currently taking Advanced Placement in Environmental Science and Government/Economics to learn about the environment, economics, and politics, as well. I also enhance my knowledge in these subjects with community college courses in Public Health, Chicano/a Studies, and Computer Science including Python, an essential data science tool. Through these efforts, I strive to become an agent of change to do something meaningful and transformative in the service of all people and work to someday shape health policy and institutions that serve everyone equitably.

The Covid pandemic brought devastation to my family when my "abuelito" was infected with COVID-19 and died. After my abuelito died, my family moved in with my grandma causing more stress, depression, and anxiety. It was a hard time for us with many arguments about responsibility and expenses between my parents and my father's siblings. Moving in with my grandmother increased my commute to my high school to 90 minutes. This made it more challenging for me with my Advanced Placement classes, sports, and clubs. To overcome this I had to better manage my time to make sure I wasted no second when I was home and late nights studying and learning coping methods became the norm for me. Adversity and obstacles have taught me that I have grit which makes me a good leader and successful in many of my efforts. My grit to get things done and lead others is who I am. It takes grit “para hacerle ganas” (to do the work), whether it is studying for the Advanced Placement (AP) Biology exam or organizing an event. Grit is my starting point to doing the work no matter the challenge. It took me a lot of grit to form our Latino Student Union club during the COVID-19 pandemic that constrained all our interactions online. I had to reach out to many students via email blasts, Instagram, and posts to the school newsletter. It took a lot of determination and resolve to learn how to run and manage a club without a person to advise me. In addition, I was challenged to learn as I went to conduct meetings, plan events, and correctly distribute work to cabinet members. It also took grit to find a club advisor and pitch my club to the Associated Student Body, despite it being a new idea and a negative predisposition of a few of the members. In short, my friends and I incited “good trouble” in my school and forced uncomfortable but important conversations and actions. I would advise that others find this grit to pursue their own goals and overcome their own obstacles. With this grit, I aspire to be California’s Surgeon General. I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and the disabled. My public health and biology classes inspire curiosity to learn more about the subjects and how I would make them relevant in my community. It fascinates me how the environment, community, and government can have such a grand impact on an individual's health. I was also a volunteer at the Planning Department in the City of Irwindale, where I learned how much consideration goes into approving the construction of buildings. This informed me of how much commercial buildings can influence the health and quality of life of residents. As a result, my volunteer work and academics at my high school and local college align with these academic interests. My role in the Latino Student Union and internship in a disadvantaged city keeps me engaged in issues of diversity, inclusion, and equity, as well as provides me the opportunity to give my perspective as a Latina in a predominantly affluent community. I would recommend that others channel what they have learned from their own adversity and find their own passion to study and pursue, and to do what they need to prepare for the educational journey.

Like with many families, the pandemic brought tragedy to mine through the death of my grandfather. I learned that death was disproportionately higher in communities of color, striking the working class and poorer families harder. Structural racism and institutional injustices made our communities more vulnerable due to the lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare. Growing up in Latino working-class communities, I saw that many families were challenged with language and cultural competency barriers, especially since many hospitals have a limited amount of staff that speak proper Spanish. These incidents occurred at stores, schools, and doctor's offices. Unfortunately, the loss in translation communication may have caused inconvenience or more serious consequences like a misdiagnosis. Lack of healthcare affordability, negative stigma associated with visiting doctors, mistrust of the government, and little representation in medical professions present their own challenges, but poor language communication exacerbates the needed health care that many Latino families require. There is also a stigma in the Latino community surrounding going to the doctor and the language barriers and cultural incompetency only exacerbates the problem. The communication between a physician and a patient is vital for the patient's comfort and peace of mind. I experienced this situation firsthand during the pandemic, as I served as the translator between my ‘abuelita’ and her physical therapist when other family members could not accompany her to medical appointments. My simple translation made a big difference to my ‘abuelita’ getting the proper services, as she and her healthcare provider had more peace of mind and felt comfortable with each other. Unfortunately, poor language communication between healthcare providers and their patients is a common occurrence. With my language and cultural competency I aim to bridge the gap between Latino communities and health institutions. As a bilingual and bicultural Latina I have the skills to better communicate with people in low-income and Latino communities. I could also train staff to better understand the needs of the patients, so that they receive better services and information for their everyday health.I want to bridge the gap between underserved communities and make people feel safe and comfortable with their healthcare, something I believe every patient should feel. I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. Similar to Doctor Ramos and Doctor Barbara Ferrer (LA County’s Public Health Director), I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as to move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled. I have started my education in my future career by taking a public health class at Los Angeles City College and Chicanas in Modern Society class at Mission Community College. In addition, I scored a 5 in my Biology Advanced Placement exam and received an A in college class at Harvey Mudd in programming in python. I hope to use data science skills in python to find and model preventive care interventions to help disadvantaged people. I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as to move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled.

Like with many families, the pandemic brought tragedy to mine through the death of my grandfather. I learned that death was disproportionately higher in communities of color, striking the working class and poorer families harder. Structural racism and institutional injustices made our communities more vulnerable due to the lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare. Growing up in Latino working-class communities, I saw that many families were challenged with language and cultural competency barriers, especially since many hospitals have a limited amount of staff that speak proper Spanish. These incidents occurred at stores, schools, and doctor's offices. Unfortunately, the loss in translation communication may have caused inconvenience or more serious consequences like a misdiagnosis. Lack of healthcare affordability, negative stigma associated with visiting doctors, mistrust of the government, and little representation in medical professions present their own challenges, but poor language communication exacerbates the needed health care that many Latino families require. There is also a stigma in the Latino community surrounding going to the doctor and the language barriers and cultural incompetency only exacerbates the problem. The communication between a physician and a patient is vital for the patient's comfort and peace of mind. I experienced this situation firsthand during the pandemic, as I served as the translator between my ‘abuelita’ and her physical therapist when other family members could not accompany her to medical appointments. My simple translation made a big difference to my ‘abuelita’ getting the proper services, as she and her healthcare provider had more peace of mind and felt comfortable with each other. Unfortunately, poor language communication between healthcare providers and their patients is a common occurrence. With my language and cultural competency I aim to bridge the gap between Latino communities and health institutions. As a bilingual and bicultural Latina I have the skills to better communicate with people in low-income and Latino communities. I could also train staff to better understand the needs of the patients, so that they receive better services and information for their everyday health.I want to bridge the gap between underserved communities and make people feel safe and comfortable with their healthcare, something I believe every patient should feel. I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. Similar to Doctor Ramos and Doctor Barbara Ferrer (LA County’s Public Health Director), I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as to move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled. I have started my education in my future career by taking a public health class at Los Angeles City College and Chicanas in Modern Society class at Mission Community College. In addition, I scored a 5 in my Biology Advanced Placement exam and received an A in college class at Harvey Mudd in programming in python. I hope to use data science skills in python to find and model preventive care interventions to help disadvantaged people. I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as to move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled.

Like with many families, the pandemic brought tragedy to mine through the death of my grandfather. I learned that death was disproportionately higher in communities of color, striking the working class and poorer families harder. Structural racism and institutional injustices made our communities more vulnerable due to the lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare. Growing up in Latino working-class communities, I saw that many families were challenged with language and cultural competency barriers, especially since many hospitals have a limited amount of staff that speak proper Spanish. These incidents occurred at stores, schools, and doctor's offices. Unfortunately, the loss in translation communication may have caused inconvenience or more serious consequences like a misdiagnosis. Lack of healthcare affordability, negative stigma associated with visiting doctors, mistrust of the government, and little representation in medical professions present their own challenges, but poor language communication exacerbates the needed health care that many Latino families require. There is also a stigma in the Latino community surrounding going to the doctor and the language barriers and cultural incompetency only exacerbates the problem. The communication between a physician and a patient is vital for the patient's comfort and peace of mind. I experienced this situation firsthand during the pandemic, as I served as the translator between my ‘abuelita’ and her physical therapist when other family members could not accompany her to medical appointments. My simple translation made a big difference to my ‘abuelita’ getting the proper services, as she and her healthcare provider had more peace of mind and felt comfortable with each other. Unfortunately, poor language communication between healthcare providers and their patients is a common occurrence. With my language and cultural competency I aim to bridge the gap between Latino communities and health institutions. As a bilingual and bicultural Latina I have the skills to better communicate with people in low-income and Latino communities. I could also train staff to better understand the needs of the patients, so that they receive better services and information for their everyday health.I want to bridge the gap between underserved communities and make people feel safe and comfortable with their healthcare, something I believe every patient should feel. I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. Similar to Doctor Ramos and Doctor Barbara Ferrer (LA County’s Public Health Director), I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as to move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled. I have started my education in my future career by taking a public health class at Los Angeles City College and Chicanas in Modern Society class at Mission Community College. In addition, I scored a 5 in my Biology Advanced Placement exam and received an A in college class at Harvey Mudd in programming in python. I hope to use data science skills in python to find and model preventive care interventions to help disadvantaged people. I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as to move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled.

Like with many families, the pandemic brought tragedy to mine through the death of my grandfather. I learned that death was disproportionately higher in communities of color, striking the working class and poorer families harder. Structural racism and institutional injustices made our communities more vulnerable due to the lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare. Growing up in Latino working-class communities, I saw that many families were challenged with language and cultural competency barriers, especially since many hospitals have a limited amount of staff that speak proper Spanish. These incidents occurred at stores, schools, and doctor's offices. Unfortunately, the loss in translation communication may have caused inconvenience or more serious consequences like a misdiagnosis. Lack of healthcare affordability, negative stigma associated with visiting doctors, mistrust of the government, and little representation in medical professions present their own challenges, but poor language communication exacerbates the needed health care that many Latino families require. There is also a stigma in the Latino community surrounding going to the doctor and the language barriers and cultural incompetency only exacerbates the problem. The communication between a physician and a patient is vital for the patient's comfort and peace of mind. I experienced this situation firsthand during the pandemic, as I served as the translator between my ‘abuelita’ and her physical therapist when other family members could not accompany her to medical appointments. My simple translation made a big difference to my ‘abuelita’ getting the proper services, as she and her healthcare provider had more peace of mind and felt comfortable with each other. Unfortunately, poor language communication between healthcare providers and their patients is a common occurrence. With my language and cultural competency I aim to bridge the gap between Latino communities and health institutions. As a bilingual and bicultural Latina I have the skills to better communicate with people in low-income and Latino communities. I could also train staff to better understand the needs of the patients, so that they receive better services and information for their everyday health.I want to bridge the gap between underserved communities and make people feel safe and comfortable with their healthcare, something I believe every patient should feel. I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. Similar to Doctor Ramos and Doctor Barbara Ferrer (LA County’s Public Health Director), I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as to move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled. I have started my education in my future career by taking a public health class at Los Angeles City College and Chicanas in Modern Society class at Mission Community College. In addition, I scored a 5 in my Biology Advanced Placement exam and received an A in college class at Harvey Mudd in programming in python. I hope to use data science skills in python to find and model preventive care interventions to help disadvantaged people. I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as to move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled.

Like with many families, the pandemic brought tragedy to mine through the death of my grandfather. I learned that death was disproportionately higher in communities of color, striking the working class and poorer families harder. Structural racism and institutional injustices made our communities more vulnerable due to the lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare. Growing up in Latino working-class communities, I saw that many families were challenged with language and cultural competency barriers, especially since many hospitals have a limited amount of staff that speak proper Spanish. These incidents occurred at stores, schools, and doctor's offices. Unfortunately, the loss in translation communication may have caused inconvenience or more serious consequences like a misdiagnosis. Lack of healthcare affordability, negative stigma associated with visiting doctors, mistrust of the government, and little representation in medical professions present their own challenges, but poor language communication exacerbates the needed health care that many Latino families require. There is also a stigma in the Latino community surrounding going to the doctor and the language barriers and cultural incompetency only exacerbates the problem. The communication between a physician and a patient is vital for the patient's comfort and peace of mind. I experienced this situation firsthand during the pandemic, as I served as the translator between my ‘abuelita’ and her physical therapist when other family members could not accompany her to medical appointments. My simple translation made a big difference to my ‘abuelita’ getting the proper services, as she and her healthcare provider had more peace of mind and felt comfortable with each other. Unfortunately, poor language communication between healthcare providers and their patients is a common occurrence. With my language and cultural competency I aim to bridge the gap between Latino communities and health institutions. As a bilingual and bicultural Latina I have the skills to better communicate with people in low-income and Latino communities. I could also train staff to better understand the needs of the patients, so that they receive better services and information for their everyday health.I want to bridge the gap between underserved communities and make people feel safe and comfortable with their healthcare, something I believe every patient should feel. I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. Similar to Doctor Ramos and Doctor Barbara Ferrer (LA County’s Public Health Director), I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as to move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled. I have started my education in my future career by taking a public health class at Los Angeles City College and Chicanas in Modern Society class at Mission Community College. In addition, I scored a 5 in my Biology Advanced Placement exam and received an A in college class at Harvey Mudd in programming in python. I hope to use data science skills in python to find and model preventive care interventions to help disadvantaged people. I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as to move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled.

Like with many families, the pandemic brought tragedy to mine through the death of my grandfather. I learned that death was disproportionately higher in communities of color, striking the working class and poorer families harder. Structural racism and institutional injustices made our communities more vulnerable due to the lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare. Growing up in Latino working-class communities, I saw that many families were challenged with language and cultural competency barriers, especially since many hospitals have a limited amount of staff that speak proper Spanish. These incidents occurred at stores, schools, and doctor's offices. Unfortunately, the loss in translation communication may have caused inconvenience or more serious consequences like a misdiagnosis. Lack of healthcare affordability, negative stigma associated with visiting doctors, mistrust of the government, and little representation in medical professions present their own challenges, but poor language communication exacerbates the needed health care that many Latino families require. There is also a stigma in the Latino community surrounding going to the doctor and the language barriers and cultural incompetency only exacerbates the problem. The communication between a physician and a patient is vital for the patient's comfort and peace of mind. I experienced this situation firsthand during the pandemic, as I served as the translator between my ‘abuelita’ and her physical therapist when other family members could not accompany her to medical appointments. My simple translation made a big difference to my ‘abuelita’ getting the proper services, as she and her healthcare provider had more peace of mind and felt comfortable with each other. Unfortunately, poor language communication between healthcare providers and their patients is a common occurrence. With my language and cultural competency I aim to bridge the gap between Latino communities and health institutions. As a bilingual and bicultural Latina I have the skills to better communicate with people in low-income and Latino communities. I could also train staff to better understand the needs of the patients, so that they receive better services and information for their everyday health.I want to bridge the gap between underserved communities and make people feel safe and comfortable with their healthcare, something I believe every patient should feel. I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. Similar to Doctor Ramos and Doctor Barbara Ferrer (LA County’s Public Health Director), I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as to move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled. I have started my education in my future career by taking a public health class at Los Angeles City College and Chicanas in Modern Society class at Mission Community College. In addition, I scored a 5 in my Biology Advanced Placement exam and received an A in college class at Harvey Mudd in programming in python. I hope to use data science skills in python to find and model preventive care interventions to help disadvantaged people. I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as to move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled.

Adversity and obstacles have taught me that I have grit which makes me a good leader and successful in many of my efforts. My grit to get things done and lead others is who I am. Truly, it takes grit to find the energy, make the time, and stir the courage to do anything no matter how small or important the task. It takes grit “para hacerle ganas” (to do the work), whether it is studying for the Advanced Placement Biology exam or organizing an event. Grit is my starting point for doing the work no matter the challenge. It took me a lot of grit to form our Latinx Student Union club during the COVID-19 pandemic that constrained all our interactions online. I had to reach out to many students via email blasts, Instagram, and posts to the school newsletter. It took a lot of determination and resolve to learn how to run and manage a club without a person to advise me. In addition, I was challenged to learn as I went to conduct meetings, plan events, and correctly distribute work to cabinet members. It also took grit to find a club advisor and pitch my club to the Associated Student Body, despite it being a new idea and a negative predisposition of a few of the members. In short, my friends and I incited “good trouble” in my school and forced uncomfortable but important conversations and actions. Today, we need more dialogue in our society, instead of divisiveness of important subjects like race in America, gender rights, gay rights, or any other topic that stirs deep emotions in our homes, places of workshop, and schools. Grit is needed to do the hard work in shaping an informed opinion while actively listening to opposing views respectively. We must use grit to keep doing the work and fighting the good fight to overcome injustice and prejudice. At the same time, we must find the strength to have compassion for everyone no matter how far-fetched, and the power to forgive and love our neighbor. Indeed, there were and will always be setbacks and failures in my struggle for equity and justice but I was taught never to waver for the right thing by my mother and father. My plan to overcome injustice also sparked my interest in ethnic studies and public health. I want to know about other cultures as well as more of my own, because I love people and culture fascinates me. I strive to pursue a career where I can make a difference in the lives of people who are not well served. As a bilingual Latina, I hope to better engage and assist underserved people with my cultural competencies and language skills. I believe that many people would be more open to listening to someone who speaks and looks like them and better understands their needs. I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. I have started my education in my future career by taking a public health class at Los Angeles City College and Chicanas in Modern Society class at Mission Community College. In addition, I received an A in a college class at Harvey Mudd in programming in Python. I hope to use data science skills in Python to find and model preventive care interventions to help disadvantaged people. I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve the life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people.

Adversity and obstacles have taught me that I have grit which makes me a good leader and successful in many of my efforts. My grit to get things done and lead others is who I am. Truly, it takes grit to find the energy, make the time, and stir the courage to do anything no matter how small or important the task. It takes grit “para hacerle ganas” (to do the work), whether it is studying for the Advanced Placement Biology exam or organizing an event. Grit is my starting point for doing the work no matter the challenge. It took me a lot of grit to form our Latinx Student Union club during the COVID-19 pandemic that constrained all our interactions online. I had to reach out to many students via email blasts, Instagram, and posts to the school newsletter. It took a lot of determination and resolve to learn how to run and manage a club without a person to advise me. In addition, I was challenged to learn as I went to conduct meetings, plan events, and correctly distribute work to cabinet members. It also took grit to find a club advisor and pitch my club to the Associated Student Body, despite it being a new idea and a negative predisposition of a few of the members. In short, my friends and I incited “good trouble” in my school and forced uncomfortable but important conversations and actions. Today, we need more dialogue in our society, instead of divisiveness of important subjects like race in America, gender rights, gay rights, or any other topic that stirs deep emotions in our homes, places of workshop, and schools. Grit is needed to do the hard work in shaping an informed opinion while actively listening to opposing views respectively. We must use grit to keep doing the work and fighting the good fight to overcome injustice and prejudice. At the same time, we must find the strength to have compassion for everyone no matter how far-fetched, and the power to forgive and love our neighbor. Indeed, there were and will always be setbacks and failures in my struggle for equity and justice but I was taught never to waver for the right thing by my mother and father. My plan to overcome injustice also sparked my interest in ethnic studies and public health. I want to know about other cultures as well as more of my own, because I love people and culture fascinates me. I strive to pursue a career where I can make a difference in the lives of people who are not well served. As a bilingual Latina, I hope to better engage and assist underserved people with my cultural competencies and language skills. I believe that many people would be more open to listening to someone who speaks and looks like them and better understands their needs. I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. I have started my education in my future career by taking a public health class at Los Angeles City College and Chicanas in Modern Society class at Mission Community College. In addition, I received an A in a college class at Harvey Mudd in programming in Python. I hope to use data science skills in Python to find and model preventive care interventions to help disadvantaged people. I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve the life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people.

Like with many families, the pandemic brought tragedy to mine through the death of my grandfather. I learned that death was disproportionately higher in communities of color, striking the working class and poorer families harder. Structural racism and institutional injustices made our communities more vulnerable due to the lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare. Growing up in Latino working-class communities, I saw that many families were challenged with language and cultural competency barriers, especially since many hospitals have a limited amount of staff that speak proper Spanish. These incidents occurred at stores, schools, and doctor's offices. Unfortunately, the loss in translation communication may have caused inconvenience or more serious consequences like a misdiagnosis. Lack of healthcare affordability, negative stigma associated with visiting doctors, mistrust of the government, and little representation in medical professions present their own challenges, but poor language communication exacerbates the needed health care that many Latino families require. There is also a stigma in the Latino community surrounding going to the doctor and the language barriers and cultural incompetency only exacerbates the problem. The communication between a physician and a patient is vital for the patient's comfort and peace of mind. I experienced this situation firsthand during the pandemic, as I served as the translator between my ‘abuelita’ and her physical therapist when other family members could not accompany her to medical appointments. My simple translation made a big difference to my ‘abuelita’ getting the proper services, as she and her healthcare provider had more peace of mind and felt comfortable with each other. Unfortunately, poor language communication between healthcare providers and their patients is a common occurrence. With my language and cultural competency I aim to bridge the gap between Latino communities and health institutions. As a bilingual and bicultural Latina I have the skills to better communicate with people in low-income and Latino communities. I could also train staff to better understand the needs of the patients, so that they receive better services and information for their everyday health.I want to bridge the gap between underserved communities and make people feel safe and comfortable with their healthcare, something I believe every patient should feel. I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. Similar to Doctor Ramos and Doctor Barbara Ferrer (LA County’s Public Health Director), I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as to move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled. I have started my education in my future career by taking a public health class at Los Angeles City College and Chicanas in Modern Society class at Mission Community College. In addition, I scored a 5 in my Biology Advanced Placement exam and received an A in college class at Harvey Mudd in programming in python. I hope to use data science skills in python to find and model preventive care interventions to help disadvantaged people.

Adversity and obstacles have taught me that I have grit which makes me a good leader and successful in many of my efforts. My grit to get things done and lead others is who I am. Truly, it takes grit to find the energy, make the time, and stir the courage to do anything no matter how small or important the task. It takes grit “para hacerle ganas” (to do the work), whether it is studying for the Advanced Placement (AP) Biology exam or organizing an event. Grit is my starting point for doing the work no matter the challenge. It took me a lot of grit to form our Latinx Student Union club during the COVID-19 pandemic that constrained all our interactions online. I had to reach out to many students via email blasts, Instagram, and posts to the school newsletter. It took a lot of determination and resolve to learn how to run and manage a club without a person to advise me. In addition, I was challenged to learn as I went to conduct meetings, plan events, and correctly distribute work to cabinet members. It also took grit to find a club advisor and pitch my club to the Associated Student Body, despite it being a new idea and a negative predisposition of a few of the members. In short, my friends and I incited “good trouble” in my school and forced uncomfortable but important conversations and actions. Today, we need more dialogue in our society, instead of divisiveness of important subjects like race in America, gender rights, gay rights, or any other topic that stirs deep emotions in our homes, places of workshop, and schools. Grit is needed to do the hard work in shaping an informed opinion while actively listening to opposing views respectively. We are divided instead of coming together to find common ground solutions to problems that we all face like gun violence, climate change, structural racism, and assaults on our freedoms (women's rights and voting rights). We must use grit to keep doing the work and fighting the good fight to overcome injustice and prejudice. At the same time, we must find the strength to have compassion for everyone no matter how far-fetched, and the power to forgive and love our neighbor. Indeed, there were and will always be setbacks and failures in my struggle for equity and justice (for all) but I was taught never to waver for the right thing by my mother and father. My upbringing and these events also sparked my interest in ethnic studies and public health. I want to know about other cultures as well as more of my own, because I love people and culture fascinates me. I strive to pursue a career where I can make a difference in the lives of people who are not well served. As a bilingual Latina, I hope to better engage and assist underserved people with my cultural competencies and language skills. I believe that many people would be more open to listening to someone who speaks and looks like them and better understands their needs. I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. Similar to Doctor Ramos and Doctor Barbara Ferrer (LA County’s Public Health Director), I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled.

Like with many families, the pandemic brought tragedy to me through the death of my grandfather. I learned that death was disproportionately higher in communities of color, striking the working class and poorer families harder. Structural racism and institutional injustices made our communities more vulnerable due to the lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare. Growing up in Latino working-class communities, I saw that many families were challenged with language and cultural competency barriers, especially since many hospitals have a limited amount of staff that speak proper Spanish. These incidents occurred at stores, schools, and doctor's offices. Unfortunately, the loss in translation communication may have caused inconvenience or more serious consequences like a misdiagnosis. Lack of healthcare affordability, negative stigma associated with visiting doctors, mistrust of the government, and little representation in medical professions present their challenges, but poor language communication exacerbates the needed health care that many Latino families require. There is also a stigma in the Latino community surrounding going to the doctor and the language barriers and cultural incompetency only exacerbate the problem. Communication between a physician and a patient is vital for the patient's comfort and peace of mind. I experienced this situation firsthand during the pandemic, as I served as the translator between my ‘abuelita’ and her physical therapist when other family members could not accompany her to medical appointments. My simple translation made a big difference to my ‘abuelita’ getting the proper services, as she and her healthcare provider had more peace of mind and felt comfortable with each other. Unfortunately, poor language communication between healthcare providers and their patients is a common occurrence. With my language and cultural competency, I aim to bridge the gap between Latino communities and health institutions. As a bilingual and bicultural Latina, I have the skills to better communicate with people in low-income and Latino communities. I could also train staff to better understand the needs of the patients so that they receive better services and information for their everyday health. I want to bridge the gap between underserved communities and make people feel safe and comfortable with their healthcare, something I believe every patient should feel. I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. Similar to Doctor Ramos and Doctor Barbara Ferrer (LA County’s Public Health Director), I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled. I have started my education in my future career by taking a public health class at Los Angeles City College and Chicanas in Modern Society class at Mission Community College. In addition, I scored a 5 on my Biology Advanced Placement exam and received an A in college class at Harvey Mudd in programming in Python. I hope to use data science skills in Python to find and model preventive care interventions to help disadvantaged people.

Like with many families, the pandemic brought tragedy to mine through the death of my grandfather. I learned that death was disproportionately higher in communities of color, striking the working class and poorer families harder. Structural racism and institutional injustices made our communities more vulnerable due to the lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare. Growing up in Latino working-class communities, I saw that many families were challenged with language and cultural competency barriers, especially since many hospitals have a limited amount of staff that speak proper Spanish. These incidents occurred at stores, schools, and doctor's offices. Unfortunately, the loss in translation communication may have caused inconvenience or more serious consequences like a misdiagnosis. Lack of healthcare affordability, negative stigma associated with visiting doctors, mistrust of the government, and little representation in medical professions present their own challenges, but poor language communication exacerbates the needed health care that many Latino families require. There is also a stigma in the Latino community surrounding going to the doctor and the language barriers and cultural incompetency only exacerbates the problem. The communication between a physician and a patient is vital for the patient's comfort and peace of mind. I experienced this situation firsthand during the pandemic, as I served as the translator between my ‘abuelita’ and her physical therapist when other family members could not accompany her to medical appointments. My simple translation made a big difference to my ‘abuelita’ getting the proper services, as she and her healthcare provider had more peace of mind and felt comfortable with each other. Unfortunately, poor language communication between healthcare providers and their patients is a common occurrence. With my language and cultural competency I aim to bridge the gap between Latino communities and health institutions. As a bilingual and bicultural Latina I have the skills to better communicate with people in low-income and Latino communities. I could also train staff to better understand the needs of the patients, so that they receive better services and information for their everyday health.I want to bridge the gap between underserved communities and make people feel safe and comfortable with their healthcare, something I believe every patient should feel. I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. Similar to Doctor Ramos and Doctor Barbara Ferrer (LA County’s Public Health Director), I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as to move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled. I have started my education in my future career by taking a public health class at Los Angeles City College and Chicanas in Modern Society class at Mission Community College. In addition, I scored a 5 in my Biology Advanced Placement exam and received an A in college class at Harvey Mudd in programming in python. I hope to use data science skills in python to find and model preventive care interventions to help disadvantaged people.

Like with many families, the pandemic brought tragedy to mine through the death of my grandfather. I learned that death was disproportionately higher in communities of color, striking the working class and poorer families harder. Structural racism and institutional injustices made our communities more vulnerable due to the lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare. Growing up in Latino working-class communities, I saw that many families were challenged with language and cultural competency barriers, especially since many hospitals have a limited amount of staff that speak proper Spanish. These incidents occurred at stores, schools, and doctor's offices. Unfortunately, the loss in translation communication may have caused inconvenience or more serious consequences like a misdiagnosis. Lack of healthcare affordability, negative stigma associated with visiting doctors, mistrust of the government, and little representation in medical professions present their own challenges, but poor language communication exacerbates the needed health care that many Latino families require. There is also a stigma in the Latino community surrounding going to the doctor and the language barriers and cultural incompetency only exacerbates the problem. The communication between a physician and a patient is vital for the patient's comfort and peace of mind. I experienced this situation firsthand during the pandemic, as I served as the translator between my ‘abuelita’ and her physical therapist when other family members could not accompany her to medical appointments. My simple translation made a big difference to my ‘abuelita’ getting the proper services, as she and her healthcare provider had more peace of mind and felt comfortable with each other. Unfortunately, poor language communication between healthcare providers and their patients is a common occurrence. With my language and cultural competency I aim to bridge the gap between Latino communities and health institutions. As a bilingual and bicultural Latina I have the skills to better communicate with people in low-income and Latino communities. I could also train staff to better understand the needs of the patients, so that they receive better services and information for their everyday health.I want to bridge the gap between underserved communities and make people feel safe and comfortable with their healthcare, something I believe every patient should feel. The Morgan Stem Scholarship will help me fund my educational and career journey so I can focus on my goals. I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. Similar to Doctor Ramos and Doctor Barbara Ferrer (LA County’s Public Health Director), I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as to move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled. I have started my education in my future career by taking a public health class at Los Angeles City College and Chicanas in Modern Society class at Mission Community College. In addition, I scored a 5 in my Biology Advanced Placement exam and received an A in college class at Harvey Mudd in programming in python. I hope to use data science skills in python to find and model preventive care interventions to help disadvantaged people.

Like with many families, the pandemic brought tragedy to mine through the death of my grandfather. I learned that death was disproportionately higher in communities of color, striking the working class and poorer families harder. Structural racism and institutional injustices made our communities more vulnerable due to the lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare. Growing up in Latino working-class communities, I saw that many families were challenged with language and cultural competency barriers, especially since many hospitals have a limited amount of staff that speak proper Spanish. These incidents occurred at stores, schools, and doctor's offices. Unfortunately, the loss in translation communication may have caused inconvenience or more serious consequences like a misdiagnosis. Lack of healthcare affordability, negative stigma associated with visiting doctors, mistrust of the government, and little representation in medical professions present their own challenges, but poor language communication exacerbates the needed health care that many Latino families require. There is also a stigma in the Latino community surrounding going to the doctor and the language barriers and cultural incompetency only exacerbates the problem. The communication between a physician and a patient is vital for the patient's comfort and peace of mind. I experienced this situation firsthand during the pandemic, as I served as the translator between my ‘abuelita’ and her physical therapist when other family members could not accompany her to medical appointments. My simple translation made a big difference to my ‘abuelita’ getting the proper services, as she and her healthcare provider had more peace of mind and felt comfortable with each other. Unfortunately, poor language communication between healthcare providers and their patients is a common occurrence. With my language and cultural competency I aim to bridge the gap between Latino communities and health institutions. As a bilingual and bicultural Latina I have the skills to better communicate with people in low-income and Latino communities. I could also train staff to better understand the needs of the patients, so that they receive better services and information for their everyday health.I want to bridge the gap between underserved communities and make people feel safe and comfortable with their healthcare, something I believe every patient should feel. I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. Similar to Doctor Ramos and Doctor Barbara Ferrer (LA County’s Public Health Director), I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as to move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled. I have started my education in my future career by taking a public health class at Los Angeles City College and Chicanas in Modern Society class at Mission Community College. In addition, I scored a 5 in my Biology Advanced Placement exam and received an A in college class at Harvey Mudd in programming in python. I hope to use data science skills in python to find and model preventive care interventions to help disadvantaged people.

Like with many families, the pandemic brought tragedy to mine through the death of my grandfather. I learned that death was disproportionately higher in communities of color, striking the working class and poorer families harder. Structural racism and institutional injustices made our communities more vulnerable due to the lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare. Growing up in Latino working-class communities, I saw that many families were challenged with language and cultural competency barriers, especially since many hospitals have a limited amount of staff that speak proper Spanish. These incidents occurred at stores, schools, and doctor's offices. Unfortunately, the loss in translation communication may have caused inconvenience or more serious consequences like a misdiagnosis. Lack of healthcare affordability, negative stigma associated with visiting doctors, mistrust of the government, and little representation in medical professions present their own challenges, but poor language communication exacerbates the needed health care that many Latino families require. There is also a stigma in the Latino community surrounding going to the doctor and the language barriers and cultural incompetency only exacerbates the problem. The communication between a physician and a patient is vital for the patient's comfort and peace of mind. I experienced this situation firsthand during the pandemic, as I served as the translator between my ‘abuelita’ and her physical therapist when other family members could not accompany her to medical appointments. My simple translation made a big difference to my ‘abuelita’ getting the proper services, as she and her healthcare provider had more peace of mind and felt comfortable with each other. Unfortunately, poor language communication between healthcare providers and their patients is a common occurrence. With my language and cultural competency I aim to bridge the gap between Latino communities and health institutions. As a bilingual and bicultural Latina I have the skills to better communicate with people in low-income and Latino communities. I could also train staff to better understand the needs of the patients, so that they receive better services and information for their everyday health.I want to bridge the gap between underserved communities and make people feel safe and comfortable with their healthcare, something I believe every patient should feel. I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. Similar to Doctor Ramos and Doctor Barbara Ferrer (LA County’s Public Health Director), I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as to move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled. I have started my education in my future career by taking a public health class at Los Angeles City College and Chicanas in Modern Society class at Mission Community College. In addition, I scored a 5 in my Biology Advanced Placement exam and received an A in college class at Harvey Mudd in programming in python. I hope to use data science skills in python to find and model preventive care interventions to help disadvantaged people.

Like with many families, the pandemic brought tragedy to mine through the death of my grandfather. I learned that death was disproportionately higher in communities of color, striking the working class and poorer families harder. Structural racism and institutional injustices made our communities more vulnerable due to the lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare. Growing up in Latino working-class communities, I saw that many families were challenged with language and cultural competency barriers, especially since many hospitals have a limited amount of staff that speak proper Spanish. These incidents occurred at stores, schools, and doctor's offices. Unfortunately, the loss in translation communication may have caused inconvenience or more serious consequences like a misdiagnosis. Lack of healthcare affordability, negative stigma associated with visiting doctors, mistrust of the government, and little representation in medical professions present their own challenges, but poor language communication exacerbates the needed health care that many Latino families require. There is also a stigma in the Latino community surrounding going to the doctor and the language barriers and cultural incompetency only exacerbates the problem. The communication between a physician and a patient is vital for the patient's comfort and peace of mind. I experienced this situation firsthand during the pandemic, as I served as the translator between my ‘abuelita’ and her physical therapist when other family members could not accompany her to medical appointments. My simple translation made a big difference to my ‘abuelita’ getting the proper services, as she and her healthcare provider had more peace of mind and felt comfortable with each other. Unfortunately, poor language communication between healthcare providers and their patients is a common occurrence. With my language and cultural competency I aim to bridge the gap between Latino communities and health institutions. As a bilingual and bicultural Latina I have the skills to better communicate with people in low-income and Latino communities. I could also train staff to better understand the needs of the patients, so that they receive better services and information for their everyday health.I want to bridge the gap between underserved communities and make people feel safe and comfortable with their healthcare, something I believe every patient should feel. I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. Similar to Doctor Ramos and Doctor Barbara Ferrer (LA County’s Public Health Director), I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as to move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled. I have started my education in my future career by taking a public health class at Los Angeles City College and Chicanas in Modern Society class at Mission Community College. In addition, I scored a 5 in my Biology Advanced Placement exam and received an A in college class at Harvey Mudd in programming in python. I hope to use data science skills in python to find and model preventive care interventions to help disadvantaged people.

Like with many families, the pandemic brought tragedy to mine through the death of my grandfather. I learned that death was disproportionately higher in communities of color, striking the working class and poorer families harder. Structural racism and institutional injustices made our communities more vulnerable due to the lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare. Growing up in Latino working-class communities, I saw that many families were challenged with language and cultural competency barriers, especially since many hospitals have a limited amount of staff that speak proper Spanish. These incidents occurred at stores, schools, and doctor's offices. Unfortunately, the loss in translation communication may have caused inconvenience or more serious consequences like a misdiagnosis. Lack of healthcare affordability, negative stigma associated with visiting doctors, mistrust of the government, and little representation in medical professions present their own challenges, but poor language communication exacerbates the needed health care that many Latino families require. There is also a stigma in the Latino community surrounding going to the doctor and the language barriers and cultural incompetency only exacerbates the problem. The communication between a physician and a patient is vital for the patient's comfort and peace of mind. I experienced this situation firsthand during the pandemic, as I served as the translator between my ‘abuelita’ and her physical therapist when other family members could not accompany her to medical appointments. My simple translation made a big difference to my ‘abuelita’ getting the proper services, as she and her healthcare provider had more peace of mind and felt comfortable with each other. Unfortunately, poor language communication between healthcare providers and their patients is a common occurrence. With my language and cultural competency I aim to bridge the gap between Latino communities and health institutions. As a bilingual and bicultural Latina I have the skills to better communicate with people in low-income and Latino communities. I could also train staff to better understand the needs of the patients, so that they receive better services and information for their everyday health.I want to bridge the gap between underserved communities and make people feel safe and comfortable with their healthcare, something I believe every patient should feel. I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. Similar to Doctor Ramos and Doctor Barbara Ferrer (LA County’s Public Health Director), I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as to move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled. I have started my education in my future career by taking a public health class at Los Angeles City College and Chicanas in Modern Society class at Mission Community College. In addition, I scored a 5 in my Biology Advanced Placement exam and received an A in college class at Harvey Mudd in programming in python. I hope to use data science skills in python to find and model preventive care interventions to help disadvantaged people.

Like with many families, the pandemic brought tragedy to mine through the death of my grandfather. I learned that death was disproportionately higher in communities of color, striking the working class and poorer families harder. Structural racism and institutional injustices made our communities more vulnerable due to the lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare. Growing up in Latino working-class communities, I saw that many families were challenged with language and cultural competency barriers, especially since many hospitals have a limited amount of staff that speak proper Spanish. These incidents occurred at stores, schools, and doctor's offices. Unfortunately, the loss in translation communication may have caused inconvenience or more serious consequences like a misdiagnosis. Lack of healthcare affordability, negative stigma associated with visiting doctors, mistrust of the government, and little representation in medical professions present their own challenges, but poor language communication exacerbates the needed health care that many Latino families require. There is also a stigma in the Latino community surrounding going to the doctor and the language barriers and cultural incompetency only exacerbates the problem. The communication between a physician and a patient is vital for the patient's comfort and peace of mind. I experienced this situation firsthand during the pandemic, as I served as the translator between my ‘abuelita’ and her physical therapist when other family members could not accompany her to medical appointments. My simple translation made a big difference to my ‘abuelita’ getting the proper services, as she and her healthcare provider had more peace of mind and felt comfortable with each other. Unfortunately, poor language communication between healthcare providers and their patients is a common occurrence. With my language and cultural competency I aim to bridge the gap between Latino communities and health institutions. As a bilingual and bicultural Latina I have the skills to better communicate with people in low-income and Latino communities. I could also train staff to better understand the needs of the patients, so that they receive better services and information for their everyday health.I want to bridge the gap between underserved communities and make people feel safe and comfortable with their healthcare, something I believe every patient should feel. I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. Similar to Doctor Ramos and Doctor Barbara Ferrer (LA County’s Public Health Director), I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as to move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled. I have started my education in my future career by taking a public health class at Los Angeles City College and Chicanas in Modern Society class at Mission Community College. In addition, I scored a 5 in my Biology Advanced Placement exam and received an A in college class at Harvey Mudd in programming in python. I hope to use data science skills in python to find and model preventive care interventions to help disadvantaged people.

Like with many families, the pandemic brought tragedy to mine through the death of my grandfather. I learned that death was disproportionately higher in communities of color, striking the working class and poorer families harder. Structural racism and institutional injustices made our communities more vulnerable due to the lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare. Growing up in Latino working-class communities, I saw that many families were challenged with language and cultural competency barriers, especially since many hospitals have a limited amount of staff that speak proper Spanish. These incidents occurred at stores, schools, and doctor's offices. Unfortunately, the loss in translation communication may have caused inconvenience or more serious consequences like a misdiagnosis. Lack of healthcare affordability, negative stigma associated with visiting doctors, mistrust of the government, and little representation in medical professions present their own challenges, but poor language communication exacerbates the needed health care that many Latino families require. There is also a stigma in the Latino community surrounding going to the doctor and the language barriers and cultural incompetency only exacerbates the problem. The communication between a physician and a patient is vital for the patient's comfort and peace of mind. I experienced this situation firsthand during the pandemic, as I served as the translator between my ‘abuelita’ and her physical therapist when other family members could not accompany her to medical appointments. My simple translation made a big difference to my ‘abuelita’ getting the proper services, as she and her healthcare provider had more peace of mind and felt comfortable with each other. Unfortunately, poor language communication between healthcare providers and their patients is a common occurrence. With my language and cultural competency I aim to bridge the gap between Latino communities and health institutions. As a bilingual and bicultural Latina I have the skills to better communicate with people in low-income and Latino communities. I could also train staff to better understand the needs of the patients, so that they receive better services and information for their everyday health.I want to bridge the gap between underserved communities and make people feel safe and comfortable with their healthcare, something I believe every patient should feel. I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. Similar to Doctor Ramos and Doctor Barbara Ferrer (LA County’s Public Health Director), I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as to move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled. I have started my education in my future career by taking a public health class at Los Angeles City College and Chicanas in Modern Society class at Mission Community College. In addition, I scored a 5 in my Biology Advanced Placement exam and received an A in college class at Harvey Mudd in programming in python. I hope to use data science skills in python to find and model preventive care interventions to help disadvantaged people.

Language and cultural barriers between Latino patients and the medical community is an issue in today's healthcare environment. There is also a stigma in the Latino community surrounding going to the doctor and the language barriers and cultural incompetency only exacerbates the problem. The communication between a physician and a patient is vital for the patient's comfort and peace of mind. Unfortunately, many hospitals have a limited amount of staff that speak proper Spanish.Communication between a physician and a patient is vital for the patient's comfort and peace of mind. Unfortunately, many hospitals have a very limited amount of staff that speak Spanish, if not at all. I would want all hospitals and healthcare services to have translators that will close the language barrier. Patients would feel at ease and safe during an already stressful time, and healthcare service workers would . This would also put the minds of the patient’s loved ones at ease since they can trust that their loved one is well taken care of. That is important especially because some family members may be unable to visit the patient daily because of work conflicts or the sheer amount of time it would take them to arrive at the hospital. I believe that the connections formed between healthcare providers and patients are especially important to overcoming the stigma and forming strong community bonds, which I think my project will accomplish. This is especially important to me because over the pandemic I served as the translator between my grandmother and her physical therapist throughout her appointments because the other members of my family could not. It pained me to think how much more difficult her physical therapy would have been if she and her physical therapist would not have been able to communicate. I later found out that this was a prevalent problem for her friends and other members of the community. My parents even saw this happen when I was an infant and there was a family that could only speak Spanish and the hospital had to call for a translator that lived hours away to even communicate with them. I hope one day to help others besides just my grandmother, and this project would be a great way to do this. This motivation is also why I want to study Latino/Chicano studies and Public Health at university. I want to bridge the gap between poor underserved communities and make people feel safe and taken care of as a physician, something I believe every patient should feel.

Earning a grade point average of 4.487, founding and leading a club (Latino Student Union), lettering varsity in both the swim team and water polo team in my high school years, and scoring fives in three of the four Advanced Placement exams that I have taken comes from the inspiration, motivation, strength, and many late nights studying. I have become a strong, resilient, and hardworking young woman who is driven to fight for diversity and equity among all people. During my junior year, my mom and I drove 90 minutes each way in our infamous Southern California traffic. My parents tell my sister and me during hard times that we are “guerreras” (women warriors); since we come from Mayan lineage and history stemming thousands of years, our resilience can overcome anything. We just need grit and put in the work, or in my mother’s words “hecharle ganas”, despite the challenges and odds.Being a young woman of color has never been easy and today seems harder, but I am determined to break glass ceilings and doors traditionally closed to people like me. I stand on the shoulder of a great woman like my mother who does everything for my sister and me. Someday, my hope is that my future daughter(s) and other young women of color also stand on my shoulders.

My upbringing and these events also sparked my interests in ethnic studies and public health. I want to know about other cultures as well as more of my own, because I love people and culture fascinates me. I strive to pursue a career where I could make a difference in the lives of people who are not well served. As a bilingual Latina, I hope to better engage and assist underserved people with my cultural competencies and language skills. This was reaffirmed this summer when I took college courses in public health and Chicana Studies at my local community college. I realized that I want a better understanding of healthcare policy and science to make a positive impact in unserved and underserved communities and do my part to make our society a more equitable and compassionate place, as a medical doctor and/or professional. Unfortunately, many people in disadvantaged communities have higher mortality and morbidity rates from preventable chronic diseases caused by diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. As an informed socially conscious medical doctor and/or scientist, I will disseminate culturally competent information and provide the needed care to all people in these relevant formats and media. I will also address systemic and institutional injustices that undermine our country, like access to affordable healthcare, gun violence, and more healthy food choices. As a socially conscious medical professional, I will strive to be an agent of change to do something meaningful and transformative in the service of all human beings. Today, I find myself doing research and volunteer work on issues of equity, in particular issues that involve our natural and built environment. Both are social determinants of health that have a direct effect on everybody’s quality of life and life expectancy. Truly, health care should be a human right that every person must have to live their human potential. I aspire to help shape policy and institutions that everyone relies on for services and guidance to help all people. As a woman of color, I witness increasing injustices and inequities that must be transformed to truly become the “land of the free,” so that everyone does have a chance at the “pursuit of happiness.”

Like with many families, the pandemic brought tragedy to mine through the death of my grandfather. I learned that death was disproportionately higher in communities of color, striking the working class and poorer families harder. Structural racism and institutional injustices made our communities more vulnerable due to the lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare. Growing up in Latino working-class communities, I saw that many families were challenged with language and cultural competency barriers. These incidents occurred at stores, schools, and doctor's offices. Unfortunately, the loss in translation communication may have caused inconvenience or more serious consequences like a misdiagnosis. Lack of healthcare affordability, negative stigma associated with visiting doctors, mistrust of the government, and little representation in medical professions present their own challenges, but poor language communication exacerbates the needed health care that many Latino families require. I experienced this situation firsthand during the pandemic, as I served as the translator between my ‘abuelita’ and her physical therapist when other family members could not accompany her to medical appointments. My simple translation made a big difference to my ‘abuelita’ getting the proper services, as she and her healthcare provider had more peace of mind and felt comfortable with each other. Unfortunately, poor language communication between healthcare providers and their patients is a common occurrence. With my language and cultural competency I aim to bridge the gap between Latino communities and health institutions. To achieve this, I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. Similar to Doctor Ramos and Doctor Barbara Ferrer (LA County’s Public Health Director), I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as to move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled. I have started my education in my future career by taking a public health class at Los Angeles City College and Chicanas in Modern Society class at Mission Community College. In addition, I scored a 5 in my Biology Advanced Placement exam and received an A in college class at Harvey Mudd in programming in python. I hope to use data science skills in python to find and model preventive care interventions to help disadvantaged people. I also interned ​​at the City of Irwindale, where I was taken under the wing of two incredible planners who mentored me on day-to-day planning activities, including field trips of the city and its major developments, current and future. Both women also took their time explaining to me the nuances of the built and natural environment and the city planning department’s roles and responsibilities for all land use related to short- and long-term plans. These policies impact people’s social determinant of health that have a direct relationship with people’s life expectancy and quality of life. Indeed, the kindness of my two mentors inspired me to volunteer 60 hours and deepen my consideration in a career in public service to help shape policy to improve people’s lives. I aim to pay their kindness forward by becoming an impactful professional and promise to mentor young girls when my time comes to do so.

Like with many families, the pandemic brought tragedy to mine through the death of my grandfather. I learned that death was disproportionately higher in communities of color, striking the working class and poorer families harder. Structural racism and institutional injustices made our communities more vulnerable due to the lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare. Growing up in Latino working-class communities, I saw that many families were challenged with language and cultural competency barriers. These incidents occurred at stores, schools, and doctor's offices. Unfortunately, the loss in translation communication may have caused inconvenience or more serious consequences like a misdiagnosis. Lack of healthcare affordability, negative stigma associated with visiting doctors, mistrust of the government, and little representation in medical professions present their own challenges, but poor language communication exacerbates the needed health care that many Latino families require. I experienced this situation firsthand during the pandemic, as I served as the translator between my ‘abuelita’ and her physical therapist when other family members could not accompany her to medical appointments. My simple translation made a big difference to my ‘abuelita’ getting the proper services, as she and her healthcare provider had more peace of mind and felt comfortable with each other. Unfortunately, poor language communication between healthcare providers and their patients is a common occurrence. With my language and cultural competency I aim to bridge the gap between Latino communities and health institutions. To achieve this, I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. Similar to Doctor Ramos and Doctor Barbara Ferrer (LA County’s Public Health Director), I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as to move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled. I have started my education in my future career by taking a public health class at Los Angeles City College and Chicanas in Modern Society class at Mission Community College. In addition, I scored a 5 in my Biology Advanced Placement exam and received an A in college class at Harvey Mudd in programming in python. I hope to use data science skills in python to find and model preventive care interventions to help disadvantaged people. I also interned ​​at the City of Irwindale, where I was taken under the wing of two incredible planners who mentored me on day-to-day planning activities, including field trips of the city and its major developments, current and future. Both women also took their time explaining to me the nuances of the built and natural environment and the city planning department’s roles and responsibilities for all land use related to short- and long-term plans. These policies impact people’s social determinant of health that have a direct relationship with people’s life expectancy and quality of life. Indeed, the kindness of my two mentors inspired me to volunteer 60 hours and deepen my consideration in a career in public service to help shape policy to improve people’s lives. I aim to pay their kindness forward by becoming an impactful professional and promise to mentor young girls when my time comes to do so.

Like with many families, the pandemic brought tragedy to mine through the death of my grandfather. I learned that death was disproportionately higher in communities of color, striking the working class and poorer families harder. Structural racism and institutional injustices made our communities more vulnerable due to the lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare. Growing up in Latino working-class communities, I saw that many families were challenged with language and cultural competency barriers. These incidents occurred at stores, schools, and doctor's offices. Unfortunately, the loss in translation communication may have caused inconvenience or more serious consequences like a misdiagnosis. Lack of healthcare affordability, negative stigma associated with visiting doctors, mistrust of the government, and little representation in medical professions present their own challenges, but poor language communication exacerbates the needed health care that many Latino families require. I experienced this situation firsthand during the pandemic, as I served as the translator between my ‘abuelita’ and her physical therapist when other family members could not accompany her to medical appointments. My simple translation made a big difference to my ‘abuelita’ getting the proper services, as she and her healthcare provider had more peace of mind and felt comfortable with each other. Unfortunately, poor language communication between healthcare providers and their patients is a common occurrence. With my language and cultural competency I aim to bridge the gap between Latino communities and health institutions. To achieve this, I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. Similar to Doctor Ramos and Doctor Barbara Ferrer (LA County’s Public Health Director), I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as to move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled. I have started my education in my future career by taking a public health class at Los Angeles City College and Chicanas in Modern Society class at Mission Community College. In addition, I scored a 5 in my Biology Advanced Placement exam and received an A in college class at Harvey Mudd in programming in python. I hope to use data science skills in python to find and model preventive care interventions to help disadvantaged people. I also interned ​​at the City of Irwindale, where I was taken under the wing of two incredible planners who mentored me on day-to-day planning activities, including field trips of the city and its major developments, current and future. Both women also took their time explaining to me the nuances of the built and natural environment and the city planning department’s roles and responsibilities for all land use related to short- and long-term plans. These policies impact people’s social determinant of health that have a direct relationship with people’s life expectancy and quality of life. Indeed, the kindness of my two mentors inspired me to volunteer 60 hours and deepen my consideration in a career in public service to help shape policy to improve people’s lives. I aim to pay their kindness forward by becoming an impactful professional and promise to mentor young girls when my time comes to do so.

Like with many families, the pandemic brought tragedy to mine through the death of my grandfather. I learned that death was disproportionately higher in communities of color, striking the working class and poorer families harder. Structural racism and institutional injustices made our communities more vulnerable due to the lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare. Growing up in Latino working-class communities, I saw that many families were challenged with language and cultural competency barriers. These incidents occurred at stores, schools, and doctor's offices. Unfortunately, the loss in translation communication may have caused inconvenience or more serious consequences like a misdiagnosis. Lack of healthcare affordability, negative stigma associated with visiting doctors, mistrust of the government, and little representation in medical professions present their own challenges, but poor language communication exacerbates the needed health care that many Latino families require. I experienced this situation firsthand during the pandemic, as I served as the translator between my ‘abuelita’ and her physical therapist when other family members could not accompany her to medical appointments. My simple translation made a big difference to my ‘abuelita’ getting the proper services, as she and her healthcare provider had more peace of mind and felt comfortable with each other. Unfortunately, poor language communication between healthcare providers and their patients is a common occurrence. With my language and cultural competency I aim to bridge the gap between Latino communities and health institutions. To achieve this, I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. Similar to Doctor Ramos and Doctor Barbara Ferrer (LA County’s Public Health Director), I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as to move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled. I have started my education in my future career by taking a public health class at Los Angeles City College and Chicanas in Modern Society class at Mission Community College. In addition, I scored a 5 in my Biology Advanced Placement exam and received an A in college class at Harvey Mudd in programming in python. I hope to use data science skills in python to find and model preventive care interventions to help disadvantaged people. I also interned ​​at the City of Irwindale, where I was taken under the wing of two incredible planners who mentored me on day-to-day planning activities, including field trips of the city and its major developments, current and future. Both women also took their time explaining to me the nuances of the built and natural environment and the city planning department’s roles and responsibilities for all land use related to short- and long-term plans. These policies impact people’s social determinant of health that have a direct relationship with people’s life expectancy and quality of life. Indeed, the kindness of my two mentors inspired me to volunteer 60 hours and deepen my consideration in a career in public service to help shape policy to improve people’s lives. I aim to pay their kindness forward by becoming an impactful professional and promise to mentor young girls when my time comes to do so.

Like with many families, the pandemic brought tragedy to mine through the death of my grandfather. I learned that death was disproportionately higher in communities of color, striking the working class and poorer families harder. Structural racism and institutional injustices made our communities more vulnerable due to the lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare. Growing up in Latino working-class communities, I saw that many families were challenged with language and cultural competency barriers. These incidents occurred at stores, schools, and doctor's offices. Unfortunately, the loss in translation communication may have caused inconvenience or more serious consequences like a misdiagnosis. Lack of healthcare affordability, negative stigma associated with visiting doctors, mistrust of the government, and little representation in medical professions present their own challenges, but poor language communication exacerbates the needed health care that many Latino families require. I experienced this situation firsthand during the pandemic, as I served as the translator between my ‘abuelita’ and her physical therapist when other family members could not accompany her to medical appointments. My simple translation made a big difference to my ‘abuelita’ getting the proper services, as she and her healthcare provider had more peace of mind and felt comfortable with each other. Unfortunately, poor language communication between healthcare providers and their patients is a common occurrence. With my language and cultural competency I aim to bridge the gap between Latino communities and health institutions.

Like many families around the world, the pandemic brought tragedy to mine with the death of my grandfather. The pandemic taught me that untimely death was disproportionately higher in communities of color, striking the working class and poorer families harder. Structural racism and institutional injustices made our communities more vulnerable due to the lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare. I want to help make sure people do not have to choose between their health and taking care of their family. I started this journey by founding the Latino Student Union in my high school freshman year. Growing up in Latino working-class communities, I saw that many families were challenged with language and cultural competency barriers. These incidents occurred at stores, schools, and doctor's offices. Unfortunately, the loss in translation communication may have caused inconvenience or more serious consequences like a misdiagnosis. Lack of healthcare affordability, negative stigma associated with visiting doctors, mistrust of the government, and little representation in medical professions present their own challenges, but poor language communication exacerbates the needed health care that many Latino families require. I experienced this situation firsthand during the pandemic, as I served as the translator between my ‘abuelita’ and her physical therapist when other family members could not accompany her to medical appointments. My simple translation made a big difference to my ‘abuelita’ getting the proper services, as she and her healthcare provider had more peace of mind and felt comfortable with each other. Unfortunately, poor language communication between healthcare providers and their patients is a common occurrence in our communities. These life experiences serve as motivation for me to study Latino/Chicano studies and Public Health at my local community college, this summer and do an internship at a predominantly working-class Latino city called Irwindale. I strive to pursue a career where I could make a difference in the lives of people who are not well served. As a bilingual Latina, I hope to better engage and assist underserved people with my cultural competencies and language skills. I believe that many people would be more open to listening to someone who speaks and looks like them and better understand their needs. I aspire to become California’s Surgeon General like Doctor Diana Ramos. Similar to Doctor Ramos and Doctor Barbara Ferrer (LA County’s Public Health Director), I will prioritize issues of health inequities, help strengthen communities, and destigmatize mental health conditions, as well as to move culturally competent preventive care measures into underserved communities to improve life expectancy and quality of life of vulnerable people like children, the elderly, and disabled. I have started my education in my future career by taking a public health class at Los Angeles City College and Chicanas in Modern Society class at Mission Community College. In addition, I scored a 5 in my Biology Advanced Placement exam and received an A in college class at Harvey Mudd in programming in python. I hope to use data science skills in Python to find and model preventive care interventions to help disadvantaged people. My long-term goal is to bridge the gap between underserved communities and become a change agent to provide equitable and high-quality healthcare to all people. Race, income, legal status, age, or any other factor should not matter, as quality healthcare should be a human right. Public health benefits all of society, because a healthy population is good for the economy, and our social fabric, and it is the right thing to do.

Like many families around the world, the pandemic brought tragedy to mine with the death of my grandfather. The pandemic taught me that untimely death was disproportionately higher in communities of color, striking the working class and poorer families harder. Structural racism and institutional injustices made our communities more vulnerable due to the lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare. I want to help make sure people do not have to choose between their health and taking care of their family. I started this journey by founding the Latino Student Union in my high school freshman year. It took me a lot of grit to form our Latino Student Union club during the COVID-19 pandemic that constrained all our interactions online. I had to reach out to many students via email blasts, Instagram, and posts to the school newsletter. It took a lot of determination and resolve to learn how to run and manage a club without a person to advise me. In addition, I was challenging to learn as I went to conduct meetings, plan events, and correctly distribute work to cabinet members. It also took grit to find a club advisor, and pitch my club to Associate Student Body, despite it being a new idea and a negative predisposition of a few of the members. In short, my friends and I incited “good trouble in my school and forced uncomfortable but important conversations and actions. Today, we need more dialogue in our society, instead of divisiveness of important subjects like race in America, gender rights, gay rights, or any other topic that stir deep emotions in our homes, places of workshop, and schools. Grit is needed to do the hard work in shaping an informed opinion while actively listening to opposing views respectively.  Growing up in Latino working-class communities, I saw that many families were challenged with language and cultural competency barriers. These incidents occurred at stores, schools, and doctor's offices. Unfortunately, the loss in translation communication may have caused inconvenience or more serious consequences like a misdiagnosis. Lack of healthcare affordability, negative stigma associated with visiting doctors, mistrust of the government, and little representation in medical professions present their own challenges, but poor language communication exacerbates the needed health care that many Latino families require. I experienced this situation firsthand during the pandemic, as I served as the translator between my ‘abuelita’ and her physical therapist when other family members could not accompany her to medical appointments. My simple translation made a big difference to my ‘abuelita’ getting the proper services, as she and her healthcare provider had more peace of mind and felt comfortable with each other. Unfortunately, poor language communication between healthcare providers and their patients is a common occurrence in our communities. These life experiences serve as motivation for me to study Latino/Chicano studies and Public Health at my local community college, this summer and do an internship at a predominantly working-class Latino city called Irwindale. My long-term goal is to bridge the gap between underserved communities and become a change agent to provide equitable and high-quality healthcare to all people. Race, income, legal status, age, or any other factor should not matter, as quality healthcare should be a human right. Public health benefits all of society, because a healthy population is good for the economy, and our social fabric, and it is the right thing to do.

Adversity and obstacles have taught me that I have grit which makes me a good leader and successful in many of my efforts. My grit to get things done and lead others is who I am.  Truly, it takes grit to find the energy, make the time, and stir the courage to do anything no matter how small or important the task.  It takes grit “para hacerle ganas” (to do the work), whether it is studying for the Advanced Placement (AP) Biology exam or organizing an event.  Grit is my starting point to doing the work no matter of the challenge. It took me a lot of grit to form our Latino Student Union club during the COVID-19 pandemic that constrained all our interactions online. I had to reach out to many students via email blasts, Instagram, and posts to the school newsletter. It took a lot of determination and resolve to learn how to run and manage a club without a person to advise me. In addition, I was challenging to learn as I went to conduct meetings, plan events, and correctly distribute work to cabinet members. It also took grit to find a club advisor, and pitch my club to Associate Student Body, despite it being a new idea and a negative predisposition of a few of the members. In short, my friends and I incited “good trouble” in my school and forced uncomfortable but important conversations and actions. Today, we need more dialogue in our society, instead of divisiveness of important subjects like race in America, gender rights, gay rights, or any other topic that stir deep emotions in our homes, places of workshop, and schools. Grit is needed to do the hard work in shaping an informed opinion while actively listening to opposing views respectively.  We are divided instead of coming together in finding common ground solutions to problems that we all face like gun violence, climate change, structural racism, and assaults to our freedoms (women rights and voting rights). We must use grit to keep doing the work and fighting the good fight to overcome injustice and prejudice. At the same time, we must find the strength to have compassion for everyone no matter how far-fetched and the power to forgive and love our neighbor. Indeed, there were and will always be setbacks and failures in my struggle for equity and justice (for all) but I was taught never to waver for the right thing by my mother and father.