![user profile avatar](https://static.bold.org/profilePictures/untitleddesign18aca9ed2e7e940e580ed689a4d987086.webp)
Hobbies and interests
Badminton
Research
Biomedical Sciences
Medicine
Advocacy And Activism
Reading
Contemporary
Adult Fiction
Romance
I read books multiple times per week
Megan Luong
1,465
Bold Points1x
Finalist![user profile avatar](https://static.bold.org/profilePictures/untitleddesign18aca9ed2e7e940e580ed689a4d987086.webp)
Megan Luong
1,465
Bold Points1x
FinalistBio
Hey there!
My name is Megan Luong, and I am a current third-year at Elsik High School. During the three years that I have been in secondary school, I have become immensely active in several organizations, establishing leadership roles and acquiring an array of responsibilities to ensure that the groups run smoothly.
As my secondary schooling is coming to a close, I will pursue a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. I believe that preventative care will remedy the vast health challenges that individuals encounter daily. Coming from a disadvantaged community, I have refined characteristics that allow me to advocate for underserved individuals and empower them to become the successors of tomorrow's future.
I'm a huge supporter of organizations like Best Buddies and the Houston Food Bank and have been serving there for a few years now. Through my contributions to these organizations, I hope to seal gaps and allow individuals to find their purpose in society.
Education
Elsik High School
High SchoolMiscellaneous
Desired degree level:
Doctoral degree program (PhD, MD, JD, etc.)
Majors of interest:
- Biochemical Engineering
- Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Other
- Biology, General
- Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology
- Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
Career
Dream career field:
Medical Practice
Dream career goals:
Pediatric Cardiologist
Office Intern
LAMBDA Engineers PLLC2022 – 20231 year
Sports
Tennis
Junior Varsity2022 – 2022
Arts
- Ceramics2022 – 2023
Public services
Volunteering
Houston Food Bank — Community Volunteer2022 – PresentVolunteering
American Red Cross — Recruitment Team: Team Member2021 – 2021
Future Interests
Volunteering
Philanthropy
Women in Healthcare Scholarship
“Con, you cannot wear a tampon.” my mom whispers faintly as she folds my sweaters into orderly stacks. It was the summer of my sophomore year, and my mom’s friend invited us to go swimming with her family, but I just got my period. As one would expect, I was slapped with misery and welp out of the room, slamming onto the couch.“Megan, get ready!”, my brother, Bryan, says eagerly. “Megan’s sick. She isn’t able to go with us, con!” my mom shouts from the room – a statement, concise yet vague for shielding seemingly “private” matters. This was the relief she turned to when discomfort was sensed. Witnessing this reaction from my mom wasn’t unusual. She's a conservative woman who grew up with the belief of maintaining traditions which proved to overwhelm my unorthodox request: asking to use a tampon.
Shame. My first period was when my shameful instincts appeared: sliding a pad underneath my sleeve - a security blanket that gave me the vast capacity to execute “secretive” movements about my private matters.
I was embarrassed to accept that from December 18th, 2019, I would have to countenance knife-stabbing cramps, unwavering hormonal imbalances, and spontaneous blackouts that chaperone a cycle. It saddened me deeply to witness families commemorate the invigorating commencement of womanhood as if it were a celebratory juncture because, in my family, the emergence of womanhood is kept hidden on the unembellished basis that womanhood is composed of effable abstractions.
For a time, I pondered why blurting out such words as “I’m on my period!” was such a sacrilegious act to which my mom had to utilize secret codes. After all, they were just words – letters placed together to form a meaning or even several meanings. If not for Coach Lightener and the life lessons that illuminated the vacant and unproclaimed freshman I exhibited, I don’t think I would ever have deciphered the trajectory to the meaning of selling oneself short. When I did, however, digested the idea behind those words, I found that they were strongly associated with hindrances of womanhood.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton once said, “The best protection any woman can have is courage.", but what protection did I harbor when all of her efforts led to me sliding a pad up my sleeve and being ashamed for releasing blood? To answer this, I would say none because, for a long time, I exhibited a lack of courage when the talk of womanhood surfaced.
Inflamed. As inflamed as I was about embarrassment controlling my life, an impulse hit me, guiding me into the room where my mom and brother stood. I mutilate the security blanket accompanying all feelings of shame. With that, I exclaimed, “I’m on my period!”. Laughter and disgusted expressions eroded the room, but it was then I realized that having a voice – one which I will use to corrode the unyielding boundaries women must live by without their consent – was worth the price of humiliation.
I did not know then, but this humiliation I experienced served as a precursor to the goals and objectives that I have set for myself: to educate young and vulnerable females across the globe to be aware of themselves, to understand that their voices matter, and that there are limitless opportunities awaiting their presence. Majoring in nursing, I will rewire and retwist the strands that have been left tangled in society and tell young girls that just because they are on their periods should not mean that they are hindered from taking part in activities, whether that would be career-related or not.
Sammy Ochoa Memorial Scholarship
“Con, you cannot wear a tampon.” my mom whispers faintly as she folds my sweaters into orderly stacks. It was the summer of my sophomore year, and my mom’s friend invited us to go swimming with her family, but I just got my period. As one would expect, I was slapped with misery and welp out of the room, slamming onto the couch.“Megan, get ready!”, my brother, Bryan, says eagerly. “Megan’s sick. She isn’t able to go with us, con!” my mom shouts from the room – a statement, concise yet vague for shielding seemingly “private” matters. This was the relief she turned to when discomfort was sensed. Witnessing this reaction from my mom wasn’t unusual. She's a conservative woman who grew up with the belief of maintaining traditions which proved to overwhelm my unorthodox request: asking to use a tampon.
Shame. My first period was when my shameful instincts appeared: sliding a pad underneath my sleeve - a security blanket that gave me the vast capacity to execute “secretive” movements in relation to my private matters.
I was embarrassed to accept that from December 18th, 2019, I would have to countenance knife-stabbing cramps, unwavering hormonal imbalances, and spontaneous blackouts that chaperone a cycle. It saddened me deeply to witness families commemorate the invigorating commencement of womanhood as if it were a celebratory juncture because, in my family, the emergence of womanhood is kept hidden on the unembellished basis that womanhood is composed of effable abstractions.
For a time, I pondered why blurting out such words as “I’m on my period!” was such a sacrilegious act to which my mom had to utilize secret codes. After all, they were just words – letters placed together to form a meaning or even several meanings. If not for Coach Lightener and the life lessons that illuminated the vacant and unproclaimed freshman I exhibited, I don’t think I would ever have deciphered the trajectory to the meaning of selling oneself short. When I did, however, digested the idea behind those words, I found that they were strongly associated with hindrances of womanhood.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton once said, “The best protection any woman can have is courage.", but what protection did I harbor when all of her efforts led to me sliding a pad up my sleeve and being ashamed for releasing blood? To answer this, I would say none because, for a long time, I exhibited a lack of courage when the talk of womanhood surfaced.
Inflamed. As inflamed as I was about embarrassment controlling my life, an impulse hit me, guiding me into the room where my mom and brother stood. I mutilate the security blanket accompanying all feelings of shame. With that, I exclaimed, “I’m on my period!”. Laughter and disgusted expressions eroded the room, but it was then I realized that having a voice – one which I will use to corrode the unyielding boundaries women must live by without their consent – was worth the price of humiliation.
I Can Do Anything Scholarship
Pursuing nursing, I will establish coalitions, widening the entrance to universally adequate healthcare - the impulse that drives me to serve the community on levels that not only positively influence lives but also institute sustainable plans that direct people toward a healthier lifestyle.