My most significant accomplishment to date was having the ability to teach myself how to do things independently at a certain age. I once had a dream of becoming a gymnast and going to the Olympics just like Simone Biles and Gabby Douglas. So as a 9-year-old, I took the initiative to teach myself how to do flips exactly like her. I watched over 1,000 tutorial videos on YouTube and mimicked the moves. Because I was a quick learner, I was doing backflips and front flips in no time. I am a successful tumbler today because I taught myself skills, technique, and the etiquettes of tumbling. In addition to my gymnastic prowess, I have also taught myself how to do my own hair, specifically how to braid it. Just like tumbling, I started learning how to braid using YouTube in 2020 during quarantine. I have gotten better every year and I no longer have to pay anyone to do my hair because I can do it myself. I have increased my skills so much that I do others hair and charge money to help pay for my college education. My family brags about my to others and it’s the highest compliment to my skills. This is why these 2 specific accomplishments have been significant to me. They have shaped my personal growth and development by teaching me independence, determination, and perseverance. Although it is not as grand as me getting accepted to the National Chinese Honor Society, or being a Chinese assistant teacher, but it defines my character, fortitude, determination, innovative nature, ability to think outside of the box, and strength of my independence. Speaking og being a Chinese assisstant teacher, that is one of my honorable mentions. I am a black girl that speaks Mandarin Chines, a unicorn in education, but I love the culture, community and having the ability to communicate with a segment of the population that most people do not have the opportunity to learn their language in high school. As a person who is slightly introverted and hates public speaking, taking on this opportunity to be a student teacher was a great challenge. Most of the lessons and quizzes that I taught and provided to students were all in Mandarin Chinese. With much of the language being symbols, the challenge was overwhelming, but I never allowed that to stop me. I had taken 4 years of Mandarin at that point and was ready to test my fluency by helping others. Upon going through the experience, I found I was more fluent than I thought. One of my roles as a Chinese assistant teacher was starting each class period in the morning the same way they do in China, which requires the whole class standing up and reciting the date in Chinese. What if leading them, I said the wrong thing, or did a procedure the wrong way, it could affect what the students learned drastically. I was nervous, almost terrified to take on this huge leadership role, but I knew that it was the perfect opportunity to help me get out of my shell, step outside my comfort zone, and finally become a part of something significant to my character. Thankfully I was not only successful, but responsible for various black students, speaking Chinese inside of their homes and deciding to pursue the language further in college. Overall, this experience provided confidence, extroversion, interpersonal skills, and maturity. Without this experience, I do not think I would be as comfortable with projects and panels that involved public speaking. I often got nervous speaking in front of large crowds in fear of stuttering and slurring my words, but working with underclassmen helped me realize that we are all humans and that there is absolutely no reason to fear speaking to people, who at the end of the day are just like you. I will enter Spelman college in the fall with no fear of speaking publicly, advocate for others, or be the leader that I am destined to be. Being a Chinese assistant teacher dissolved my insecurities and gave me the courage that I needed to go forward in leadership.

I am an African American female and where I’m from, there aren't nearly enough doctors and nurses who are people of color. So as a senior in high school, I plan to graduate in May and pursue college in the fall of 2023 studying on a pre-med track to chase after my dream and passion of becoming a neurologist. I hope to start my journey in college and successfully work my way through 8 years of school ( including college and medical school). Although most people go into medicine purely for the money, my interest in becoming a physician goes deeper than having a prosperous profession. Instead, it's about becoming an African American neurologist and wanting to set an adequate example and standard for young black youth by letting them know that there are doctors who have the same skin color as them. It is a well-known fact that in the U.S., there is a shortage of African American doctors. This is one of the biggest problems in this country and I believe it is crucial to employ more black doctors. But there is a reason why most African Americans do not pursue medicine. The hard truth has to do with systematic racism. It gives us African Americans insufficient educational opportunities, weak support systems and lower incomes. As a student coming from a low-income family, it is hard to achieve a dream like becoming a neurologist when the system doesn’t help me do so. I, as a student, must take out thousands of loans to go to a good college that would prepare me for medical school. Becoming a neurologist is my dream profession and it's going to take a lot of time, money, hard work, dedication, perseverance, and patience to get there. But I am prepared and I am ready to take on the challenge. Because it is the lack of these black doctors that contribute to the inequalities in healthcare that affect people of color. It is a fact that black men have the shortest life expectancies, black women have the highest maternal mortality rates, and black babies have the infant mortality rates. Why is this? There is often racial bias in pain assessment and treatment when white doctors are examining black patients. White doctors often overlook their African American patients' pain and this can lead to death. This is exactly why African American patients prefer African American doctors over white doctors. It is very reasonable for black patients to feel as though black doctors would better understand their concerns than a white doctor would, seeing how it can often be difficult describing your pain to those who do not share the same racial background as you. With that being said, giving this exposure to my black community is one of the things I wish to accomplish by becoming a neurologist. It is with my education, that I shall prevail and triumph in setting foot in the medical field, with my black community rooting for one of their own as I take on the challenge of fighting against inequality, imbalance, and all of the odds that may not be in my favor as a black woman. Because the key to success is to focus on goals, not obstacles. Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Indeed I shall change the world, Nelson Mandela.