I am a nonbinary student planning on entering the medical sciences. I am majoring in biochemistry, and I want to minor in a foreign language and attend medical school abroad, most likely in Germany. I am hoping to specialize in toxicology, and work at a hospital lab to assist nurses and doctors in diagnosing and treating poisonings and exposure to harmful chemicals. Specifically, I want to represent those of us often sidelined by the medical field, and make sure that we are listened to and treated just as well as anyone else. Almost half of all LGBTQ people have experienced medical gaslighting (47%), and many more have reported open disrespect, discrimination, and bias. 29% of transgender people who had recently seen a doctor (within the past year) reported being refused examination or care due to their real or perceived gender identity. I myself have dealt with open hostility, misgendering, and refusal of care by people who were handling sensitive medical situations and information, and should have had nothing but my best interests at heart. This situation in the medical field is absolutely unacceptable, and a massive change is needed. LGBTQ people deserve the best possible medical care, especially considering the massive prevalence of mental illness and stress-based medical issues among the community. I want to be a voice for change in the medical community. I am just one person, but as a specialist, I would be able to advocate for my peers more effectively, and argue for equal treatment whenever necessary. Transgender people often do not receive adequate care for their specific needs. In a small study at three different American medical schools, only 71.3% of students said they were comfortable participating in the care of transgender people, and only 27% of students expressed confidence in their knowledge of transgender health needs. Put simply, that is not nearly enough. If we are to be treated equally, than we should have access to the medical care we require so we can continue fighting for our rights, and our doctors should be fully knowledgeable and confident when it comes to our needs. I will do my level best to advocate for my community whenever possible, in education, my work, and beyond. Hopefully I, and people like me, can ultimately effect greater change in our chosen fields and the word as a whole, through determination, education, and a willingness to help others whenever possible. Sources: Mastroianni, Brian. “Nearly Half of LGBTQ People Report Experiencing Medical Gaslighting.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 13 Aug. 2023, www.healthline.com/health-news/new-study-finds-47-of-lgbtq-people-experience-medical-gaslighting#LGBTQIA+-people-face-challenges-accessing-medical-care-. Mirza, Shabab Ahmed, and Caitlin Rooney. “Discrimination Prevents LGBTQ People from Accessing Health Care.” Center for American Progress, 18 Jan. 2018, www.americanprogress.org/article/discrimination-prevents-lgbtq-people-accessing-health-care/. Schabath, Matthew B., et al. “Medical Student Readiness to Treat LGBTQ Patients.” ASCO Publications, Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2 June 2022, Medical student readiness to treat LGBTQ patients.

I am a nonbinary student from Minnesota, and I was disowned by my parents during spring break of 2023.I have always been up front about my identity, and have never been interested in hiding my queerness or staying quiet while there is still so much injustice in the world. My life has been made difficult by my identity in many ways, from bullying and even sexual assault by my peers, to systemic discrimination when seeking jobs, to the aforementioned disownment. However, I have never let it get me down, and I have kept fighting the good fight as long as I have been able. I am active in community protests and activism, and work with my local LGBT association to keep pushing forwards and fighting for our rights. We deserve equal standing in the world to everyone else, and I refuse to let narrow-minded and outdated views slow me down. I am a student in biochemistry seeking a minor in German. I want to enter medical school abroad, preferably in Germany or Ireland, and specialize in toxicology, the study of poisons and antidotes. I have been fascinated by this subject since I was fourteen, and by medical science as a field even longer. I work incredibly well in lab settings, as well as with languages and reading efficiently, and have excellent grades in those subjects, barring a difficult semester when the aforementioned disownment occurred and I had to rapidly piece my life back together. I have taken a gap year, and am incredibly excited to be getting back into school and doing what I love. I only hope that I can get enough scholarships and financial aid to go on my own, now that my parents will no longer assist me.

I am nonbinary and specifically identify as gender fluid. I typically use they or he pronouns, but sometimes I use she, or more expansive options such as neopronouns like ae/aer. I have questioned my gender since 7th grade and fully came out in 10th grade as genderfluid and bisexual. I often faced disbelief or open disrespect from teachers and staff at my school, being casually misgendered and deadnamed, and ignored when I pointed out the issue. In my first year of college, my parents, who had thus far been paying for my college with the money we had saved up, disowned me. They had initially been somewhat accepting of my identity, but when I informed them that I was seeking top surgery for gender affirmation and my mental health, they told me that I was not ready. They believed I was too young to know for certain or to want gender-affirming care, and that I should wait until I was twenty-five. The argument escalated, and I fled to my partner's house. When she went to collect my things, they had already been packed by my parents. This has left my financial future uncertain. I do not know if they are willing to continue paying for my college tuition or help me in any way, and even if they were, the few times they have attempted to contact me show that they simply want their perfect "daughter" back. I can't give them that, not without sacrificing everything I am, and have fought to become. I am applying for scholarships and financial aid so I can pursue my goals without forcing myself back into the closet to appease my family. I am a biochemistry major planning on attending medical school, preferably abroad in Germany, as I have an interest in the German language and will hopefully be minoring in it. If all goes well, I may even move there permanently. I am planning to study toxicology in medical school, and I want to become a toxicologist or possibly a phlebotomist. I have had an interest in the medical sciences since I was twelve, and I have been deadset on this specific goal since I was fifteen. I plan on using my skills to assist other LGBTQ+ people seeking medical attention and gender-affirming care. Transgender people are often ignored, dismissed, or outright disrespected by those who are supposed to take care of us. Even regular checkups can become uncomfortable or outright hostile. I have had horrible experiences when seeking care from regular doctors, and this is not an uncommon occurrence. Having someone in their corner with the skills to help effectively can make all the difference for a trans person seeking healthcare. I want to be that someone. I am going to help LGBTQ+ people gain more footholds in the medical sciences, so our existence isn't outright dismissed by those who have our lives in their hands.

Mental health issues run very strongly in my family. My mother has anorexia nervosa, as does her mother, and my paternal grandmother struggled with schizophrenia her whole life long. I have been in therapy from an early age to manage severe anxiety, later compounded by depression. I am on medication and have been since middle school, and I use a variety of activities such as martial arts, video games, cooking and baking to maintain my mental well-being. Later on, after a series of traumatic incidents during 9th and 10th grade that left me with a case of CPTSD, I began taking specialized therapy such as EMDR to manage and overcome my trauma. I learned more coping mechanisms, developed an interest in meditation and mindfulness, and focused even deeper on my Kung Fu training, both for self-defense and mental health. I also began swimming regularly as a form of exercise and meditation, which helped quite a bit. My mental health was stable during my senior year, after fully escaping a person involved with my aforementioned trauma. I was taking my meds, doing well in my PSEO classes, and I have a girlfriend who I love more than anything. I was raised to know that my mental well-being comes first. If it is doing poorly, it is extremely difficult to do anything well. I had also witnessed firsthand the effects of poor mental health and refusal to address it my whole life, throughout my family and the friends I made. My first year in college carried three severe blows to my mental health. First, I was stalked and harassed by a considerably older student, who had developed an obsessive interest in me and refused to take no for an answer, even lying to others and saying we were in a relationship. After obtaining a school no-contact order, and moving dorms to avoid further incident, the next blow came. During winter finals, my brother was diagnosed with a form of bone cancer, an osteosarcoma growing in his right shoulder. He had to undergo intensive chemotherapy and treatment, often in the hospital every week for days at a time. I supported my family as best I could, but my friends helped remind me to take time for myself, and continue developing my hobbies and interests so I was more prepared to handle the situation. Finally, the third blow. Over spring break of 2023, my family disowned me for being transgender. I am nonbinary and genderfluid, and while my family initially seemed accepting, once I voiced a need to transition for my mental health, specifically, obtaining top surgery, they rejected me. I was thrown out of the house, and when my girlfriend went to collect my things two days later, everything was packed in garbage backs and tossed onto the front step. I was left reeling, unable to see my brother and terrified for my future. My identity has never been a problem for my mental health, aside from the dysphoria produced by my feminine chest and voice. I love being who I am, and I absolutely refuse to compromise my identity and mental health for the sake of being my family's perfect "daughter." After being disowned, I sought therapy from my school's mental health services, sought disability services to assist me in my classes, and have put my mental health first and foremost with the help of my partner. Right now, taking care of myself is paramount. I am taking care of myself and recovering every day, so I can come back even stronger.

A calm, competent toxicologist who uses their skills and work to support their community and those around them.

I am a queer person, specifically, I am bisexual and genderfluid. Unfortunately, my parents recently disowned me and threw my partner of three years and I out of the house because I wanted top surgery, also known as breast reduction surgery, which would make my body align with my gender identity and make me much more comfortable as myself. They blamed my partner, saying she had pressured me to be trans and change my body when that wasn't the case at all. I have always been most comfortable when I am outside of the gender binary, neither man nor woman. I still fully intend to transition, and I refuse to hide who I am or be anything less than fully myself. I am autistic and received an official diagnosis when I was about thirteen or fourteen. My autism, among other things, contributes to my extremely fast reading speed and high reading comprehension. I was able to read on my own by the time I was two, and I still read voraciously. I can seem offbeat or "strange" to many people, especially those who don't know me well, and some of my behaviors such as stimming can come off as odd. However, these behaviors and my autism are a part of me, and they don't make me any less of a person, or less worthy of love or self-expression. I have many hobbies and passions that I enjoy pursuing. I worked freelance as a gardener in my spare time. I trained in Kung Fu for eight years and achieved the rank of second-degree black belt. I have taken piano, swimming, and singing lessons, I draw, bake, embroider and weave. I was in the blacksmithing club for a year in high school, taught by my chemistry teacher, who jury-rigged a forge in the back of his classroom. I use these talents in many ways, and I especially enjoy making people happy with the things I create. My major is in biochemistry, and I intend on going to medical school to study toxicology. I want to help people by treating cases of poisoning and researching new cures and antidotes. This is one of my deepest passions, sparked by reading books on medical cases and pathology when I was eleven. I plan to fight for the future of LGBTQ+ people, especially in states that discriminate against us and refuse to see us for who we are. I want to make it so every queer person has the opportunities they need to have a happy, fulfilled life. I am involved in my campus GSA, and routinely attend protests and meetings to fight for my and other's rights. I will use my many various talents and interests in any way I can, to give back to the communities who have supported me through my various hardships.

My name is Mercury Herndon, and I am 18 years old, use they/them pronouns, and study at Oklahoma State University. I am interested in going into toxicology, and plan to enter med school and become a toxicologist, or possibly a phlebotomist. I have been certain that I wanted to enter medical school since I was about eleven years old, when I began reading books about unique medical cases and how different areas of medical study worked. These were gifts from my grandfathers, both of whom are neurovirologists. This sparked a strong interest in the medical field from a young age. I was originally interested in pathology and forensic sciences, but unfortunately, coroner's offices and pathology are woefully unregulated and uncredited in many parts of the United States. I want to make sure my future and career are steady so I can support the people around me who need it, while also making a difference with my work. Accidental poisoning is still very common, especially in small children, and I want to develop and use new treatments and technologies to help people recover. I settled on toxicology when I was about fifteen. I find how the body reacts to different substances extremely interesting, and I still enjoy reading about unique medical cases and conditions in my spare time. I enjoy studying the different types and classes of toxins, their mechanisms, and the best possible treatments, and I especially enjoy it when I get to work in this field directly. I have always been one to be interested in hands-on work, and I find myself happier in a laboratory than in any other setting. It's a way to discover new things and learn about the old, in a way that works for my style of learning. I think I want to be primarily a hospital worker, so I can deal with cases directly, and diagnose and treat patients who need it. Research is very interesting, but hospitals are still massively understaffed, especially when it comes to specialists. I think I could do a lot of direct good in that way, and still encounter a lot of interesting cases and challenges, so I can keep learning and developing my skills. I need constant challenges, and oftentimes when I encounter a puzzle I will spend days at a time hyper-focused on it. I sincerely hope I am able to continue studying, and do what I love.

1. I am an autistic, gender-fluid, nonbinary person who is currently a freshman at Oklahoma State University. I swim, I play video games, I work with our queer club to celebrate events and connect with other marginalized people, and I love, love, love science and heavy metal. I've been interested in pathology and toxicology since I was about 12 years old. 2. I'm majoring in biochemistry, minoring in German, and hoping to pursue a medical degree in toxicology. I want to do my medical school in Germany if possible, given that I have family there, and a strong fondness for Rammstein and other German metal bands. Hopefully, I will work in a hospital's toxicology lab, or in a research lab studying the mechanisms of poisoning and new antidotes. 3. I am a nonbinary person, as I mentioned, and after a series of disagreements with my parents over my identity and transition, I was effectively disowned during spring break of 2023. I've already struggled with my identity and people taking advantage of me and my vulnerability as a queer person throughout my life, and I am determined to not let it stop me. If I want to continue going to college, I need a way to pay for it that doesn't rely on family. 4. Originally, my family agreed to help me pay for the parts of my tuition not covered by my existing scholarships. After my being thrown out by them, my status and financial help from them is up in the air. I am applying to as many scholarships as I can, and anything that is not covered by my scholarships I will work to cover, or get federal loans for. 5. It originally started as a way for me to vent my anger after escaping a physically and sexually abusive "friendship." It felt like the music understood the sheer rage and pain I was feeling, and singing my lungs out to it helped me stay sane. After I was on my way to recovery, I explored the world of heavy metal more, experimented with punk fashion, and began to understand it as something that can help marginalized people express their feelings in a way they and others can understand and enjoy. The music can be a call to action and to fight the systems of oppression that bind us and a way to express the complex emotions that come with living in today's world when you have no power in it. It's pure self-expression, and the fact that not everyone sees it as socially acceptable is an important part of it. I don't ever want to tone myself down, for society or anyone or anything else.

My grandmother hid her dementia until it was far too obvious to hide anymore. My grandma Cathy was a very intelligent person, having worked as a medical stenographer at a time where women were expected to stay at home full time. She spoke Russian, French, and Mandarin as well as she spoke her native English. She loved rock and roll, especially Elvis, and she had a strong creative spark, along with a powerful drive to learn. However, by the time my father was 17, there were cracks. Catherine had fits of anger and strong paranoia, and by her own admission disliked men and distrusted other women. Ultimately, my father was forced to leave home at 17, and attended college at Johns Hopkins. This drove a wedge between him and his younger siblings, and my grandfather, Grandpa Bob, remained oblivious to all of this. I only have one true memory of my grandmother. My family had me later in life, and she was slipping further. I was four when I last saw her, she was visiting my family, which was rare due to the distance. My family lives in Minnesota, and my grandparents resided in Mississippi. My memories are hazy, but I just remember her seeming so very tired all of the time from everything. Her memory was going as well, she couldn’t remember my age, or sometimes even my name, but she lit up when she saw me and remembered that she had a granddaughter. I was too young to understand why Grandpa Bob seemed so disinterested in her, or why she never seemed to remember things quite right. When I was around ten, the mask broke completely. It came out that Catherine’s paranoia was worse than anyone had realized, and she had formed an unshakable belief that my grandfather, her husband of fifty years, was a serial killer, specifically the Zodiac killer. She had stacks of literature and newspaper clippings about the case, had taken samples of his handwriting from crosswords, and even at one point hired a P.I. to tail him. She held this belief to the end of her days. I honestly wish I was kidding. Catherine was placed in a home for patients of dementia and Alzheimers, and taken good care of. I did not see her again in person, but she was well taken care of, with my grandfather visiting her, though he did so less and less as time went on. Given that they lived in Mississippi, and she didn’t remember I existed, my parents thought it would be less painful if I didn’t see her. My family just carried on without her, as best we could. In 2019, we received news that she had been diagnosed with cancer. It was inoperable, and while they were doing some radiation therapy, the process was intensely stressful for a patient who couldn’t understand or remember what was happening or why. My family began quietly preparing for a funeral, but she held on until 2021, when she was diagnosed with COVID-19. My family video called her then, for the first time in a long time. She gained a little bit of lucidity towards the end, and smiled weakly when she saw her grandchildren. The next week, in late spring, she passed. My grandfather carried on quickly, and married his former gardener on New Year’s Day of 2022. There had been little love in their marriage towards the end, even before the worst of her condition came out. The memorial was a mess. It was held over Zoom, and filled with pointless diatribes, self-serving memories, and towards the end, a good bit of arguing. I found myself mourning for someone I never got to have a relationship with, someone who was strong, intelligent, and brave, but who was passed over by her family and her husband, ignored, and treated as irrelevant by the people who had loved her. I learned that dementia is a slow thing, and by the time you notice it taking hold, it has often already done massive, irreparable damage to the memory and psyche. I learned that it is also a very lonely thing to feel, when you don’t remember anyone around you, and don’t trust anyone at all. It is something that I would never, ever wish on anyone, and I sincerely hope that my research in the future will help the people suffering it, even if only a little bit. No one deserves that heartbreak, and no one deserves to forget and be forgotten in turn.