Derived from a blend of unquenchable curiosity and an intrinsic desire for justice, my dream has taken a defined form, guiding me towards the specialized field of forensic psychology. As the name suggests, Maha Dotani, a rising sophomore at the Metropolitan State University Of Denver, I delve into my studies and pursuits as passionately as I approach my dream - to become a forensic psychologist. Embarking on the Psychological Studies Program has strengthened the roots of my aspiration, re-awakening my childhood fascination with the human mind, particularly driven by the intriguing world of crime and criminology. When most children were learning to navigate real-life responsibilities, I was engrossed in understanding why people committed offenses that disrupted societal harmony. My dream of becoming a forensic psychologist resonates profoundly with my desire not only to comprehend the quintessence of criminal behavior but also to leverage this understanding into preventive interventions. Crime and the consequent aftermath are undeniable realities, and I view prevention as the optimal mechanism to mitigate these unfortunate incidences. By studying the cognitive and behavioral drivers behind crime, I envision myself spearheading research to forecast and prevent criminal activities and contributing my knowledge to the justice system to abate the increasing crime rates. However, my passion for fulfilling this dream stems not just from my fascination with criminology but also from an inherent sense of service. My Middle Eastern origins and Asian roots instill a deep-seated regard for community safety and general welfare, inspiring me to create a safer world as a woman, an advocate, and a hopeful change-maker. Every grade I earned and every psychology class I took during my first year of college has served as stepping stones towards fulfilling my dream. My solid college GPA of 3.5 does not just reflect academic competence but also marks the unwavering tenacity and determination to actualize my dream, thriving despite challenges. The academic rigor at the Metropolitan State University of Denver has been a rewarding journey in itself, refining my analytical capabilities and broadening my understanding of the human psyche and its complexities. Yet, the road towards fulfilling my dream stretches far beyond college education. The NE1 NE-Dream Scholarship would be invaluable in serving as a catalyst in my endeavor to diminish the barriers between me and my goal. Aided by this scholarship, I can access the diverse opportunities that a robust education system offers while also alleviating the financial constraints that continuously pose substantial hindrances. Furthermore, the scholarship instills an invaluable virtue - recognizing and rewarding persistence and effort, which will indeed be a source of incessant inspiration as I tread the path to my dream. In conclusion, I am passionate about fulfilling my dreams because I believe in the advanced society it would engender. A society where behaviors are understood and crime is prevented before it occurs, and justice reflects an intermix of empathy and fairness. My name is Maha Dotani, and my dream is to forge a safer world through the lens of forensic psychology. This dream may require relentless efforts and unwavering commitment but rest assured, I am prepared to navigate these tides, fortified by persistence, passion, and the NE1 NE-Dream Scholarship - determined to traverse from dreaming to achieving.

My future career in forensic psychology is a compelling journey into the intersection of psychology and the legal system. This field captivates many individuals, myself included, driven by a profound interest in unraveling the complexities of human behavior, mental processes, and their implications in the context of crime and justice. The inspiration for pursuing a career in psychology or human development often stems from a fascination with understanding the intricacies of the human mind. The desire to explore the factors influencing behavior, societal dynamics, and the psychological underpinnings of criminal activities lays the foundation for an interest in forensic psychology. This field offers a unique lens through which one can delve into the intricacies of human behavior within the legal framework. I recall always being fascinated with the human mind and why it’s capable of doing things. It led me to a search for answers, the dedication to study it, and how psychology and crime are intertwined. A psychology degree, particularly in forensic psychology, holds immense potential for impact within the criminal justice system. One of the critical roles of forensic psychologists is in criminal profiling, using their understanding of psychological patterns to assist law enforcement in investigations. Additionally, these professionals assess the mental state of individuals involved in legal proceedings, providing crucial insights that inform legal decisions. Beyond the courtroom, forensic psychologists contribute to crime prevention strategies and rehabilitation efforts within correctional facilities. Their expertise becomes instrumental in addressing the psychological factors contributing to criminal behavior, paving the way for more effective rehabilitation programs. A psychology degree serves as a gateway to a multifaceted career, with forensic psychology offering a unique blend of psychological insights and legal applications. The potential achievements with a psychology degree in this context are far-reaching – from enhancing the understanding of criminal behavior to actively contributing to creating a more just and secure society. Aspiring forensic psychologists embark on a path where their passion for unraveling the mysteries of the human mind aligns with the pursuit of justice, making a meaningful impact on individuals and the broader community. This scholarship will help me achieve my future goals and my hope to one day help create the world a better and safer place day by day. I couldn't be happier to be able to go to school for something I'm so incredibly passionate about. It's something many people take for granted and is something many people can't afford. This scholarship will help me immensely, and I'm so thankful to be considered. Thank you.

My name is Maha Dotani, and I am a freshman at the Metropolitan State University of Denver. I am a first-generation student in my family; my family immigrated from Pakistan and had me a few years later. Since then, they have worked so hard to give me a good life and ensure that I will have a promising future. Unfortunately, college is a financial burden that makes it difficult to see my future as anything but blurry. This scholarship will help me relieve that burden so I can pursue the education my parents worked so hard for me to have, so I can pursue my dream career as a forensic psychologist and make my parents proud. I am following my bachelor's in psychology because psychology has always been my passion. Ever since I was in middle school, I've been fascinated by the human mind. Learning why we do the things we do and what drives people to their actions is something I want to spend the rest of my career doing. Some of my strengths are that I am very passionate and dedicated to every aspect of my life. If I put my mind to something, I will accomplish it. That also is one of my weaknesses. Sometimes, I become too stubborn and headstrong, which can take a toll on me. Sometimes, stepping back and breathing is okay, and I have to learn how to do that. My favorite book is The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley. It's a fantastic murder mystery, which I've read over five times by now. I enjoy things that engage my interests and make me think for an answer. I love any mystery or crime book, but this is my favorite. It has the perfect amount of detail, dialogue, and characters that make you second guess whether they are capable of what they seem…. As a Muslim, my most outstanding achievement is reading the Quran. I know it doesn't sound like the biggest deal, but I have struggled with my religion and genuinely accepted it. I always felt as if I didn't belong in Islam or that I wasn't good enough. As I grow older, I am finally building my connection with God and Islam. It's made me truly happier, and every day, I love to learn more and more about my religion. Reading the Quran has been so enlightening, and it's a step towards me regaining my identity as a Muslim. I'm proud of my progress, and it's one of the best things to have happened to me.

My favorite way to help others is by listening to them and using that knowledge to aid them later when the opportunity presents itself. For example, last week my mom said that she was going to mop the floors after she came home from work, but I know how tired she gets after a whole day or work. So, I went ahead and got all the cleaning done before she came home because I knew it would take something off of her plate and offer her some relief from her after work activities. Listening is a lot more than just hearing the words coming out of someone's mouth. For me it's the ability to hear what they are saying and being able to comprehend it. Some people listen just to respond, but I listen to know how a person is feeling and whether they want me to give them advice, or they just want to talk to me and have me hear them out. Either way comprehension is key when it comes to listening to someone because something they say can be perceived in a hundred different ways and I would never want to misinterpret something.

The field of study I want to go into is forensic psychology. My goal after I graduate is to be able to work with a firm in which I can use my knowledge to work in the criminal justice system. I've been wanting to be in this career field since I was in 6th grade and I've been surrounded by a lot of influence in psychology because of my mom's bachelor degree in the subject. Psychology is a wide field with many opportunities to help people who can't help themselves. I can help people understand their thoughts and behaviors, and in turn learn new things that can help me in any research or studies I want to pursue. I want to do good in this world and I feel like having a career in psychology can help me get access to the resources I need to aid others. People are complex and their habits, brain development, and environment all are a part of what makes them who they are. Sometimes they need help with something they’ve been through or something they know about them needs help or listening to. Mental health has had a stigma around it ever since it was a thing heard of by society, and that means that people can be reluctant to get help. I want to be able to be a part of what gets rid of that stigma and shows that mental health isn’t a bad thing, it's something that needs to be taken seriously and talked about without people thinking it's a controversial topic. I would love to earn this scholarship because I know that one day I can get to a place where I can achieve real change in this world, even if it's one patient at a time.

The pandemic has affected my family financially and health wise. My dad lost his job due to COVID and had to be put on unemployment until he could find another one. My mom was also at risk for losing her job as well because her employers were very careless with how they handled COVID in the workplace. In the last 20 years my dad has had 14 back surgeries, had his spleen removed, and had a pacemaker put in him. This means that he is extremely immuno-compromised and if he gets COVID it could be fatal so being careful around him was something incredibly crucial. My mom also has the same issue, she had a spinal fusion surgery in February and she has rheumatoid arthritis and she takes very intense treatment to deal with it and that also makes her immuno-compromised. Financially we have gone through a lot too, my dad losing his job, and my mom had to be put on leave without pay for 9 weeks after her spinal fusion surgery. Her workers-comp fell through and we struggled a lot during that time, with little to no income or support. I’m glad that we’ve managed to climb out of that struggle a little bit, but we still have so many financial/health issues that it's hard to keep up and it's probably something we will have to deal with for a long time. This has made me work even harder in my life so I can create a better life for me and my family. We are persevering and we will continue to do that because nothing in life comes easy and it's a hard lesson to learn but one that is needed.

I've had to overcome a lot of obstacles in my life. I believe that it's made me stronger and more diverse in my experiences. Applying for higher education is something I am able to do because I worked hard, got good grades, participated/volunteered in my community, and showed my potential to be great. I'm grateful to say that I've excelled in almost every area I've been in. I am passionate about being good at almost anything I can so I have the experience for it whenever I need it. The field of study I want to go into is forensic psychology. My goal after I graduate is to be able to work with a firm in which I can use my knowledge to work in the criminal justice system. I've been wanting to be in this career field since I was in 6th grade and I've been surrounded by a lot of influence in psychology because of my mom's bachelor degree in the subject. I take this subject very seriously and I take classes, read books, articles, and watch documentaries on the subject to further my knowledge. This scholarship gives me the opportunity to go to a college where the psychology program can give me a good chance to advance to a psychology degree once I complete my bachelors and then masters. Psychology is a wide field with many opportunities to help people who can't help themselves. I can help people understand their thoughts and behaviors, and in turn learn new things that can help me in any research or studies I want to pursue. I want to do good in this world and I feel like having a career in psychology can help me get access to the resources I need to aid others. People are complex and their habits, brain development, and environment all are a part of what makes them who they are. Sometimes they need help with something they’ve been through or something they know about them needs help or listening to. Mental health has had a stigma around it ever since it was a thing heard of by society, and that means that people can be reluctant to get help. I want to be able to be a part of what gets rid of that stigma and shows that mental health isn’t a bad thing, it's something that needs to be taken seriously and talked about without people thinking it's a controversial topic. I would love to earn this scholarship because I know that one day I can get to a place where I can achieve real change in this world, even if it's one patient at a time.

I believe this scholarship should be awarded to me because of my strong passion for psychology. I've been wanting to be in this career field since I was in 6th grade and I've been surrounded by a lot of influence in psychology because of my mom's bachelor degree in the subject. Psychology is a wide field with many opportunities to help people who can't help themselves. I can help people understand their thoughts and behaviors, and in turn learn new things that can help me in any research or studies I want to pursue. I want to do good in this world and I feel like having a career in psychology can help me get access to the resources I need to aid others. People are complex and their habits, brain development, and environment all are a part of what makes them who they are. Sometimes they need help with something they’ve been through or something they know about them needs help or listening to. Mental health has had a stigma around it ever since it was a thing heard of by society, and that means that people can be reluctant to get help. I want to be able to be a part of what gets rid of that stigma and shows that mental health isn’t a bad thing, it's something that needs to be taken seriously and talked about without people thinking it's a controversial topic. I would love to earn this scholarship because I know that one day I can get to a place where I can achieve real change in this world, even if it's one patient at a time.

I want to become a psychologist so I can better understand people and how our minds work. I want to make a positive impact in this world by increasing awareness of the reality of mental illness and how it should be taken seriously and never ignored. Psychology is a wide field with many opportunities to help people who can't help themselves. I want to do good in this world and I feel like having a career in psychology can help me get access to the resources I need to aid others. Mental health has had a stigma around it ever since it was a thing heard of by society, and that means that people can be reluctant to get help. I want to be able to be a part of what gets rid of that stigma and shows that mental health isn’t a bad thing, it's something that needs to be taken seriously and talked about without people thinking it's a controversial topic. I would love to earn this scholarship because I know that one day I can get to a place where I can achieve real change in this world, even if it's one patient at a time. I want my legacy to be as a hard-working successful woman who made the best out of the opportunities given to her. I want that to be my legacy because I am a first-generation American in my family, and because of that I had to weave through a new world where my parents didn't have much knowledge. I want to become someone that not only I'm proud of, but they are too and I want to make sure that's an impression I leave in this world.

An example of my leadership is when I ran a club for kids so they could participate in fun activities and make new friendships. Being a leader means that you have to be confident in yourself and your team's capability, a leader also needs to reassure their team in difficult times to encourage them to always keep working, they need to be hardworking and have an equal and mutual respect for their team members. This has shown me the experience of teamwork and leadership and how I could change peoples lives in a positive way. I can use this experience to obtain leadership experience when I get into my career goals. A great leader is someone who motivates their teammates and keeps everything moving. A leader isn't supposed to sit back and watch everyone do the work, they are supposed to participate and encourage people to put in the effort because it pays off. Leadership is important because it is such an important skill to have when it comes to work, personal life, and with family and friends. It's important to me because it gives me the chance to show my potential and capability whether it's a personal aspect of my life or professional. I enjoy letting people know that I've got their back and that I'm not afraid to take point on something. Responsibility isn't something I'm afraid of and I"m grateful for any leadership opportunities I earn.

When I was 14, my cousin was going through a lot, she was depressed and borderline suicidal. I had no idea how to help her, I was a middle schooler with little to no knowledge of the concepts she was going through. She was closer to me than a cousin, she was like a sister to me and all I wanted to do was make her feel better. So I did research on depression and how it can be caused, treated, who goes through it, and how to help someone who is suffering from it. I educated myself so I can better understand what she was going through because I was afraid that she would reach a point where she couldn't handle things anymore. I've seen a lot of loss in my life and to think that it could happen to someone I consider a sister scared me. My family and I helped her through her depression and got her the help she needed. I'm proud of myself for this because I educated myself on a concept I didn't know about and kept an open mind about mental health ever since. I've been advocating for mental health ever since and I'm so glad that I made this opportunity for myself so I can help others. This turned around my life because I realized just how much a person can go through. If I were to ever go through something like this, I would know how to recognize what I'm going through and ask for help and support. This experience has done so much for me in my effort to learn about mental illness and the signs that can come with it. If I, or someone close to me were to experience this I'm grateful to know that I would be able to see some of the signs.

I want to one day become a successful forensic psychologist. I've been wanting to be in this career field since I was in 6th grade and I've been surrounded by a lot of influence in psychology because of my mom's bachelor degree in the subject. I take this subject very seriously and I take classes, read books, articles, and watch documentaries on the subject to further my knowledge. This scholarship gives me the opportunity to go to a college where the psychology program can give me a good chance to advance to a psychology degree once I complete my bachelors and then masters. Psychology is a wide field with many opportunities to help people who can't help themselves. I can help people understand their thoughts and behaviors, and in turn learn new things that can help me in any research or studies I want to pursue. I want to do good in this world and I feel like having a career in psychology can help me get access to the resources I need to aid others. People are complex and their habits, brain development, and environment all are a part of what makes them who they are. Sometimes they need help with something they’ve been through or something they know about them needs help or listening to. Mental health has had a stigma around it ever since it was a thing heard of by society, and that means that people can be reluctant to get help. I want to be able to be a part of what gets rid of that stigma and shows that mental health isn’t a bad thing, it's something that needs to be taken seriously and talked about without people thinking it's a controversial topic. I would love to earn this scholarship because I know that one day I can get to a place where I can achieve real change in this world, even if it's one patient at a time.

I like to give back to my community as well by participating in food drives and I volunteer at an assisted living home. During COVID so many people have struggled with being able to afford food for themselves and their families, so by working at food drives I love that I can help these people get back on their feet. At assisted living homes, people get lonely. Their families try to visit as often as they can but sometimes it's not enough and it leads to people becoming depressed and it's not good for their help. I volunteer there so I can spend time with them and help them out with whatever they need. I’ve built so many friendships and learned so many things, and I’ve realized that the people there are so much happier and brighter when they are surrounded by other people who want to talk to them. I love to give back because I was raised to be a good caring person, and I’m grateful for that. I also participate in helping my community by joining marches to support BLM, LGBTQ+, Me too, and Pro-choice movements. It’s important for me to be able to show support for my community and share my voice on topics that matter, topics that some people don’t have access to speak about. This helps people because it shows them that there are people out there that care about them and want them to be able to be themselves.

Giving is important to me because it gives me a sense of peace and accomplishment. Things like giving compliments and seeing people's smiles when they say thank you is something that’s enough to put a smile on my face as well. I like to give back because as people it's what we do to take care of each other, to take care of people we sometimes don’t even know. I like to give back to my family and friends by always helping them whether they ask for it or not. Sometimes people are too afraid to ask for help and that’s okay, I’ll be there to help them no matter what. I like to give back to my community as well by participating in food drives and I volunteer at an assisted living home. During COVID so many people have struggled with being able to afford food for themselves and their families, so by working at food drives I love that I can help these people get back on their feet. At assisted living homes, people get lonely. Their families try to visit as often as they can but sometimes it's not enough and it leads to people becoming depressed and it's not good for their help. I volunteer there so I can spend time with them and help them out with whatever they need. I’ve built so many friendships and learned so many things, and I’ve realized that the people there are so much happier and brighter when they are surrounded by other people who want to talk to them. I love to give back because I was raised to be a good caring person, and I’m grateful for that.

I think a way to live a long healthy life is putting my needs first and prioritizing myself. I’ve had tendencies to put others before myself and neglect my needs but I can’t keep doing that because it’s not healthy. Another way to take care of myself is the obvious one everyone says, diet and exercise. It’s important to eat healthy and still have those fun cheat days where I can indulge in what I want. It’s also important to keep a good exercise regimen in which I can do things like weightlifting, cardio, and aerobics. Keeping it mixed up and interesting is a good way to keep up motivation so I don’t get bored easily. Physical health isn’t the only thing we have to take care of, we also have to take care of our mental health. Again it's important to prioritize ourselves so we don’t get burnt out and crash and burn. Having support and people you can talk to is a really important part of life. You’ve also got to let people know that if you can talk to them, they can also talk to you. The respect and effort in relationships and friendships should be equal.

I act locally to make positive change in my community by volunteering at food banks to give back to people who can’t afford meals for themselves or their families. I help organize food sections and I have stations where I direct people to any type of food they are in need of. I also volunteer at an assisted living facility for elderly people and people who are in rehabilitation. I help create food menus for people with specific needs like allergies or intolerances. I also clean up rooms in a specific wing of the facility, and generally I’m around to help anyone who needs it. Participating in my community means so much to me because not everyone has the opportunity to do that. I hope that while doing this I’m making change for myself and my community one day at a time. I also shop from small businesses to help support them and to stop supporting big corporations who take advantage of people who work for them and make them what they are. Supporting small businesses means supporting people with families and a passion to be entrepreneurs. During this pandemic they’ve struggled so it's important to help them get back on their feet. The thing I’m most glad that I had the opportunity to do was participating in BLM, Women’s rights, and LGBTQ+ movement marches. I wanted to show my support and how strongly I believe in these causes. Not everyone has the luxury of having these types of marches in their state or country even, so using my voice for the people who don’t have one is something I’m very passionate about.

Something that changed my life wasn't something that I thought would ever happen to me. When I was 14, my cousin was going through a lot, she was depressed and borderline suicidal. I had no idea how to help her, I was a middle schooler with little to no knowledge of the concepts she was going through. She was closer to me than a cousin, she was like a sister to me and all I wanted to do was make her feel better. So I did research on depression and how it can be caused, treated, who goes through it, and how to help someone who is suffering from it. I educated myself so I can better understand what she was going through because I was afraid that she would reach a point where she couldn't handle things anymore. I've seen a lot of loss in my life and to think that it could happen to someone I consider a sister scared me. My family and I helped her through her depression and got her the help she needed. I'm proud of myself for this because I educated myself on a concept I didn't know about and kept an open mind about mental health ever since. I've been advocating for mental health ever since and I'm so glad that I made this opportunity for myself so I can help others. This turned around my life because I realized just how much a person can go through. If I were to ever go through something like this, I would know how to recognize what I'm going through and ask for help and support.

Friendship means having people who can support me and I can do the same for me. Friendship is just as important as family and friends can sometimes stick around longer. Honestly, loyalty, fun, and trust are all things that a friendship can be made out of and I believe the friendships I have included those. I feel like I’m around family when I’m with my friends, they make me feel safe and heard. I love that we can always talk to each other about anything and always be understanding about each other's situation. Friendship is more than just what you can do for each other, it's also what you can do together. Having friends means endless fun like sleepovers, amusement parks, and going to the movies. I’m thankful to have my friends and I know that I wouldn't have gotten this far with this much motivation without them. Even when my friends are in a different state than me, I know we will still be just as close as we were when we lived in the same state.

I keep a growth mindset by being open minded with myself and others. The world is constantly changing and people along with it, and it's important to embrace people for who they are, and to accept myself for who I am. A growth mindset isn’t hard to maintain when you have people in your life who support that same mindset as well, and I’m very lucky to have just that. I know that a lot of people are stuck in a cycle of negative thoughts with others and themselves and I’ve been at that point a few times in my life. The biggest time I ever felt confusion with myself was when I was struggling with mental health issues but I wasn’t very educated on the topic, so a part of me was in denial. I now embrace my feelings and how I can manage it in a healthy way, but I couldn’t have done it if I hadn’t accepted the concept of mental health and how it impacts me and others.

Patience is important to me because everyone has different ways of understanding things and it's important to be understanding of that. I have no idea of what is going on in someone else's life, and I never want to assume anything either, so being patient when communicating with people is crucial. It's also important to me to be patient, because I make mistakes sometimes just like any other person. There are days where I blame myself for the mistakes I’ve made, but then I realize that there's nothing wrong with messing up sometimes as long as I learn from it and become better. I need to be patient with myself because I’m not perfect and I know that I am going to deal with obstacles in my life whether it be personally, job, or school. I need to be able to know that I can hold myself up and reassure myself that I can move on from this and that I shouldn’t be so tough on myself for every little thing.

I practice self-care by making sure I get enough alone time. Sometimes I can get overwhelmed, either by people or environments, and when that happens the only way to feel better is to be by myself and cool down. I can get stressed easily because I’m a senior in high school and the responsibilities are piling on top of me, so I don’t get that much time for self care but when I do, I take it seriously. I like to read a lot, listen to podcasts, clean, and organize, so those things really help me destress and feel more in control of the things happening around me. This impacts my life by making me realize that people take things too seriously sometimes, and they forget to take care of themselves and take well needed time for themselves.

An example of my leadership is when I ran a club for kids so they could participate in fun activities and make new friendships. Being a leader means that you have to be confident in yourself and your team's capability, a leader also needs to reassure their team in difficult times to encourage them to always keep working, they need to be hardworking and have an equal and mutual respect for their team members. I learned that all of this is crucial to have a functioning and efficient team where people feel comfortable enough to share their ideas and communicate better. All of these things can help me when I go to college so I can balance classwork, jobs, internships, and any position where I'm a leader. I'm hoping to one day advance to high levels of my future forensic psychologist career and that includes being a leader to a lot of people, managing work, and the environment. Applying these skills are important to me because I want to be a good leader and make people feel like they have a safe space where they can do their work and achieve their own goals.

Efforts to make equity in my world are so important to me, especially as a first-generation American in my family. They never had the opportunities I had to make a difference for the better good. Before COVID happened, I participated in BLM and Women’s marches which gave me the chance to participate in something bigger than me. It made me feel like I could help achieve something big and help to bring light to an issue that has been going on for too long. I am so glad that I was given the chance to use my voice to represent the people who couldn’t. The women’s march was something specifically important to me, because I am a woman and I’m grateful to be in a place where I haven’t yet been discriminated against because of my gender. However, I still know that there are apparent issues that need to be discussed. We all realize the impacts of misogyny and the patriarchy and as a young woman, It's my job to help fix this issue for me, others, and the people to come after us. BLM was something that brought so many people together and showed what humanity can positively do for each other. Unfortunately there were people who completely disagreed with the idea and just didn’t see the point. Again, it's our job to create a better and equal world, and we can’t do that without sharing our opinions and stories to help others understand why this is something that needs action to be taken. I was able to stand up for communities and show my support, and it will always be something I'm glad I can have the opportunity to do.

I stay true to myself by taking care of myself because that's something people forget to do often. I don’t put more than what I can handle on my plate because if I get too overwhelmed, then I can’t do anything and I’m afraid of letting others and myself down because I don't stay true to my word. I think people can often lose sight of themselves by trying to please others but it's important to always be yourself and others might not like that and that's okay because that means they’re not the right person to be in your life.

I think the quality I value most in myself is my stubbornness. Now I know that most people see that as a negative quality but I see it as something that makes me headstrong and confident. I never back down because I know that it's something that won’t get me anywhere in life. I value it because it's easy for people to take advantage of each other in this world, and having a strong personality that won’t allow that to happen is crucial. This will help my life journey because it means I’m willing to fight for what I want whether it be a good grade, good job, or just wanting to have a good future. I’m glad that I’m assertive because as a woman sometimes people expect me to be soft spoken, let other people take the lead, and not speak up but that is not who I am.

I believe this scholarship should be awarded to me because of my strong passion for psychology. I've been wanting to be in this career field since I was in 6th grade and I've been surrounded by a lot of influence in psychology because of my mom's bachelor degree in the subject. I take this subject very seriously and I take classes, read books, articles, and watch documentaries on the subject to further my knowledge. This scholarship gives me the opportunity to go to a college where the psychology program can give me a good chance to advance to a psychology degree once I complete my bachelors and then masters. Psychology is a wide field with many opportunities to help people who can't help themselves. I can help people understand their thoughts and behaviors, and in turn learn new things that can help me in any research or studies I want to pursue. I want to do good in this world and I feel like having a career in psychology can help me get access to the resources I need to aid others. People are complex and their habits, brain development, and environment all are a part of what makes them who they are. Sometimes they need help with something they’ve been through or something they know about them needs help or listening to. Mental health has had a stigma around it ever since it was a thing heard of by society, and that means that people can be reluctant to get help. I want to be able to be a part of what gets rid of that stigma and shows that mental health isn’t a bad thing, it's something that needs to be taken seriously and talked about without people thinking it's a controversial topic. I would love to earn this scholarship because I know that one day I can get to a place where I can achieve real change in this world, even if it's one patient at a time. Thank you for your consideration.

This is a graphic design project I created from scratch to show the duality of nature and how it can be formed by any shape, but still seen as something beautiful and life-like. This has shown me that there are so many paths and so many ways to get to the same goal. Everyone is different and I think art is a great way to show how someone perceives things. I love how it's something so simple as a bird, but when you zoom in (especially on the beak) you can see each individual triangle I had to make and fill in with a beautiful bright color. I made this with hard work and passion and I believe that it should be seen by others.

I want to become a psychologist so I can better understand people and how our minds work. I want to make a positive impact in this world by increasing awareness of the reality of mental illness and how it should be taken seriously and never ignored. I'm glad that people my age know that this is something important to talk about, and we are all collectively trying to make this world a better place for us and the generations to come.

Something that makes me happy is my family because spending even the smallest amount of time with them makes us enjoy every moment. I'm blessed to have an amazing family and that we have healthy relationships and that makes me happy because not everyone has that, so I never take it for granted.

My best skill is my organization because I always make sure things in my life like my room, schoolwork, responsibilities are in order so I can make sure things are done efficiently. I'm improving on it by not procrastinating anymore the way I usually do. Yes, I do keep things organized but sometimes I put off doing things and I am actively working on getting better at that.

My favorite way to help others is by listening to them and using that knowledge to aid them later when the opportunity presents itself. For example, last week my mom said that she was going to mop the floors after she came home from work, but I know how tired she gets after a whole day or work. So, I went ahead and got all the cleaning done before she came home because I knew it would take something off of her plate and offer her some relief from her after work activities. I enjoy helping people because their reactions always make me feel good and I believe that people who do good things have good things happen to them.

Something that motivates me is my family because they show me that there can be more to life than working paycheck-to-paycheck and stressing over things that are hard to change. They make me want to be hard working and successful so in the future I can take care of them the way I've always wanted to. I'm so thankful for them and everything they do for me, so I want to show them their efforts will not go to waste.

Something I've learned about myself is that no matter what I can always overcome obstacles that come in my way. I find that very valuable about myself because in life if you don't overcome challenges they just pile up. That makes for an incredibly difficult life and one that I don't want, so I'm glad that I have the ability to do something that can only make me a better and stronger person.

I want my legacy to be as a hard-working successful woman who made the best out of the opportunities given to her. I want that to be my legacy because I am a first-generation American in my family, and because of that I had to weave through a new world where my parents didn't have much knowledge. I want to become someone that not only I'm proud of, but they are too and I want to make sure that's an impression I leave in this world.

Your true potential isn't shown by the things you've done in the past, it's shown by the attitude you have towards the future, so no matter what you should never let your past impact your future negatively