Upon earning my college degree, I will complete and pass my NCLEX exam to become a registered nurse. After passing the exam, I will begin my career as a registered nurse, using the education and skills I have learned throughout my studies to advocate for better medical education and affordable healthcare in underserved communities. As a mother, I am constantly learning new ways to help others and teach them how to be prepared for anything life throws at them. This purpose drives my ambition to become a nurse with the goal of supporting and helping others. My desire to help communities that lack medical resources whether it be access to accurate health information or financial assistance for life-saving treatments. While I may not have grown up in an underserved community, I did lack essential medical resources. Staying with my grandma, who has high blood pressure and diabetes, I witnessed the emotional and financial challenges many people face when managing their health. I witnessed her take countless medications and spend hundreds of dollars on essential treatments. I remember going to the Walmart pharmacy and watching her pay over $200 dollars for medicine she could not live without. My mom also had to rely on Medicaid to provide medical care for my sister and me, but this limited us from certain urgent cares. Firsthand experiences like these resonated with me and fueled my urge to go into the nursing field and help others that may be in the same situation. At 17 I got the first-hand experience of the importance of medical financing. I gave birth to my son without the financial burden of medical expenses for both of us. My son then unexpectedly spent one week in the NICU, and if I did not have medical insurance, I would have been hit with an unexpected bill. Additionally, I received a $600 bill in the mail which I did not have to worry about because my son and I both were covered by Medicaid. This experience emphasized the importance of medical resources especially in unpredictable situations. Experiences like this has made me realize just how valuable affordable health care is. It is a luxury that not everyone is lucky to have. I could not imagine having to choose between going to the doctor and facing extreme medical bills or staying home with no knowledge of what could be going on with my body and possibly allowing my symptoms to worsen. No one should ever have to feel the pressure of having to make that decision. The hard reality of it all is that many people have to make this decision every day. Many children, babies, and elderly have to go through these things every single day because they lack both the knowledge of healthcare resources and affordable medical care. This sad truth is creating a passion within me. My passion is to create change. I will be in the position that allows me to help put a stop to this heartbreaking reality that surrounds us. For me it's more than enough reason to do something. It offers me a path to pursue so I can make a real difference. This reality is something that so many people have to go through alone. I will dedicate time and effort to turn this painful reality into something better and I will ensure that those people know that they are not alone. I will use my degree to play a vital part in improving these communities by volunteering my time, working in clinics, and mentoring others on healthcare information. I will educate and empower individuals through social media by connecting them to resources and spreading medical awareness, ensuring I help these communities to the best of my ability. Gaining my college degree is not just a personal goal; it is a tribute to those who reside in communities with a lack of quality healthcare. Many studies have highlighted the tragic deaths that have occurred due to medical malpractice as well as not having the money to afford necessary treatments. I have the strong desire to lead my community and help them as much as I can, with the goal of guiding them to a healthier lifestyle. My main focus is to help those in greatest need by partnering with organizations like Red Cross to provide aid for those communities that may have recently experienced a tragic loss. I am currently a high school senior, applying for many scholarships in hopes of graduating from Southern University with no debt. Receiving this scholarship will allow me to focus more on my studies without the financial burden, enabling a stress-free school year fully dedicated to gaining as much medical knowledge as possible and ultimately striving for success. Success, to me, is defined by the impact I have on others. Success is the smiles of those I help, whether it is through a simple compliment or providing crucial medical resources. I know I can make a difference where it is needed most, and the gratitude of those who it affects is the greatest and only success I will need. To conclude, my future plans of emerging into the medical field and advocating for those that cannot advocate for themselves are intensely fueled by personal experiences and a heavy drive to help those in need. Becoming a nurse is more than a career to me. It is my call to duty, to aid, to educate, to advocate. Being presented with this scholarship will not only support my academic goals but it will also allow me to impact those communities in a positive way. The scholarship will always serve as a reminder to myself to keep pushing forward and I can strive for greatness. My greatness will spill over into those communities ensuring they too can rise and grow through the hardships of being medically disadvantaged. Thanks to your support I will be able to do what is closest to my heart, uplifting and helping others in any way I possibly can.

School is stressful. I wake up at 6:00 a.m. five days a week and spend seven hours of my day learning loads of material I must remember each day. It's very hard on my mental health, and that does not include home life and relationships. Over my four years of high school, I have noticed that my mental health is a common factor in how much I study and, ultimately, my grades as a whole. If I feel down, my grades are down, and I have no energy to study. However, if my mood is up, then so are my academic goals and effort. The key to ensuring that my grades will remain where I would like them to be despite my mental health was to first identify the source of the problem. My mental health is easily affected due to my being very sensitive when it comes to others' words and actions. It's also easily affected by my overthinking and overworking. If I want to prioritize my mental health while keeping good grades I would have to eliminate the sources of my problems. I took a nontraditional route when it came to my mental health. I decided not to do much research about my feelings as not everyone has the same feelings. No one in this world can be the equivalent to me so I had to research myself. Or in other words, study who I am. That was harder than I thought. As much as I thought I knew myself I was pleasantly surprised when I couldn't find the words to write down on that piece of paper. The description list of myself was short but I took it one by one and got to work. I recently had gotten out of a very bad relationship that showed on my report cards. That was the first time I ever failed a class, and I was heartbroken. But it was so hard building the courage to get to my desk and study when I could barely lift my hand to wipe my tears. I knew the healing process would be long and tedious, but I took it day by day. I focused more on myself, began exercising, and soon learned that I had a love for it. As of today, exercising is still a great way to detach from my problems and better my mental health. Next on the list was tackling at-home conflict. Around that time my family and I were relocating to another family member's house following a house fire. While the fire was a large sinkhole in my life the way my family's relationships were affected over that time caused more damage to my mental health. This task was much harder. I could not give up on my family but how could I better my mental health without causing any more long-term effects on the family? That's when I found my love for scholarships. One day I got on my laptop and searched for scholarships to detach from the family conflict without causing too much trouble and benefiting my academic career at the same time. That list was long, but it changed me for the best. Those habits that I learned to better my self-care have helped my mental health drastically. With that being said my grades have drastically changed. I retook the class that I failed and passed with an A! I even got all A's in my first semester of senior year! Instead of ignoring my mental health needs. I embraced them and used them to better my academic performance.

Attending college was always a big deal to me. I got good grades, studied long nights and by my sophomore year, I thought I had my future all planned out. I would go to college, and get a degree or maybe even two. Succeed in my career and advance in life from there. But on September 9th,2023 when I saw that positive test it was like my future was flushed down the toilet. Becoming a single mother is no young girl's dream and the negative connotation from society does not make it any better. I have experienced so many life-changing events after becoming a young mother that have inspired me to move further into my education despite my new circumstances. I started a social media account gaining over 100 thousand followers from mothers around the world, I went to school 5 days a week experiencing labor pains until the day I gave birth, and I experienced unfair judgment from strangers in various locations because of my age. These experiences while both negative as well as positive. Were turned into a lesson for me. From every funny stare I get to every new follower I gain it is a push for me to work even harder to provide for myself as well as my child. I have put in efforts to make a difference in this world for teenage mothers through my social media accounts and it is time I use those same efforts to advance in my secondary education options. Winning this scholarship is a huge goal for me as I come from a lower-income family. Raised by a single mother with two kids living in a one-bedroom apartment dealt with many hardships growing up. I watched my mother with no college degree try her hardest for her children. I do not want the same outcome for my child and future children. Having a child young has taught me a valuable lesson about selfishness. It would be selfish of myself if I didn't at least try to go to college for my child. I can not fall into the shallow end of the pool and take my child with me. No matter the cost or hassle my goal will be achieved. I want to become a registered nurse. Completing two years of pre-nursing and hopefully getting accepted into a nursing program using this scholarship to lift the financial burden off of my back. My child did not ask to be brought into this world. But it is my duty as a mother to give him the best experience in this world that I can.

Growing up as someone who’s always found her way to the hospital from a simple rash to a severe asthma attack. I became more aware of the medical professionals and hospital staff that I observed as well as their responsibilities in the hospital. From LPNs checking me in to physicians determining my diagnosis to even the janitors who collected the tissue-filled trashcans from each room. Everyone in the hospital had an important responsibility that keep the hospital running at a smooth paste. One common denominator that I always seemed to notice was that I was always seen by a registered nurse. While I knew the physician would make my diagnosis and prescribe medicine. The registered nurses were the ones who performed those nasal swabs and asked those questions to help the physician make those diagnoses. Without the help of those registered nurses, the physicians would be on their own, and in a medical setting, no one can be on their own. They are all a team so without the help of those nurses, I would not be well today. Millions of people would not be well today if it weren’t for the nurses that helped them. That statement is why I want to pursue a degree in nursing I want to be a part of a team to help people in the best way that I can. I want to assist physicians and I want to help patients so they can get better. Not everyone is blessed to have the best health. And not everyone is blessed with the hands to help those who do not have the best of health. So I know that if I have a purpose to help those people out, I should do it. Not everyone in my community will have the same purpose as me so I should use my gift to help the people in my community. My ultimate goal is to provide peace to everyone. My goal is to eliminate the worry from mothers praying over their sick children, to grandmothers, fathers, sisters, and uncles. Family needs just as much comfort as a patient needs care. That is what it takes to be a nurse. And that is what I am willing to spend my time doing. A nurse doesn’t only swab noses and install IVs. They are comforters as well. I will provide comfort. I will make the hospital a safe place. I will provide hope.

Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to make a difference. I believed my purpose in life was to help people. I never knew how, but I knew it was what I was called to do. One day, I wanted to be a lawyer to defend people; the next, I wanted to be an environmental activist to protect the planet we live on. Now, at 18 years old, I finally know how I want to make a difference. One day, while in the car with my mother, my mind was in a fog. I got the burning urge to finally decide what I wanted to go to college for. I have decided that I want to go to Southern University to pursue a bachelor's degree in nursing. I plan to become a registered nurse either specializing in pediatrics focusing on the NICU unit or working on the labor and delivery unit. This decision was well thought out following an important occasion that occurred in my life. Giving birth and then watching my son get transported to the NICU by ambulance, at only 17 years old at the time, I sat watching my first child be hooked up to so many tubes, feeling helpless that my baby was hurting and I couldn't take the pain away. I sat in his room feeling sadness all over while also having to heal from what my body just experienced. I did not know what to do. My nurses helped me throughout it all, from teaching me the simple tricks of motherhood to helping me get dressed to visit my son in the NICU. A shadow was cast overhead from all of the parents praying that their babies would make it out of the NICU. Our babies live in the hands of doctors and nurses who went through years of schooling to take care of children that aren't theirs. That to me was my testimony. From then on I knew what I wanted to major in. I met so many NICU nurses and felt so inspired. They helped my baby but also helped me. I felt so happy walking out of the hospital with my healthy baby all thanks to those nurses. This inspired me so much. However, my drive does not stop there. Eventually, I would love to level up my career. I will be using my years of clinical experience as a nurse to eventually go to medical school. While this route will be extremely challenging, I am determined to accomplish my goal. Not for myself but for those women and future babies to enter the world.

Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to make a difference. I believed I could help people. I never knew how, but I knew I wanted to. One day, I wanted to be a lawyer to defend people; the next, I wanted to be an environmental activist to protect the planet we live on. Now, at 18 years old, I know how I want to make a difference. One day,while I was in the car with my mother, my mind was in a fog. I got the burning urge to finally make the decision of what I wanted to go to college for. I have decided that I want to go to Southern University to pursue a bachelors degree in nursing. My plan is to become a registered nurse, then go to Louisiana Health in New Orleans for medical school. After, I will complete my neonatal-perinatal fellowship. My ultimate goal is to become a neonatologist. After watching my son get transported to the nicu by ambulance, a 17 year old junior at the time, I sat watching my first child be hooked up to so many tubes, feeling helpless that my baby was hurting and I couldn't take the pain away. I sat in his room feeling the sadness all over from all the parents praying that their babies will make it out of the nicu. I met so many nicu nurses and neonalogists and felt so inspired. They helped my baby but also helped me. I felt so happy walking out of the hospital with my healthy baby all thanks to those nurses and doctors. This inspired me so much. However my drive doesn't stop there. If my plan allows me I want to be a double board-certified doctor. After becoming certified in neonatology, I will pursue additional training to become an Obstetrician-Gynecologist. I have read so many horror stories from black women being treated terribly by their doctors and nurses just for the color of their skin. As a black teenage mom I definitely see what those poor women went through. The practice of Obstetrician gynecology is all about women health. Those women go to feel safe, to know their bodies are ok. I want to be a safe place for those women. As well as for the pregnant women that come in. Both of these fields are extremely challenging, but I am determined to accomplish my goal. Not for myself but for those women and future babies to enter the world.

Being born to a teen mother, I saw firsthand the sacrifices my mother made for me when it comes to her career choices. She had to drop out of high school just to take care of me. She later got her GED but couldn't continue college and work to afford child care. Witnessing this I promised myself thought I would not fall pregnant as a teenage because I knew I didn't want to experience that. But after becoming pregnant my junior year of high school everything in my life shifted so much. I went to school every day swollen feet and tired. I walked the entire campus trying to get to class on time. After giving birth I was determined to not fall behind on my school work. It was difficult doing online school while healing from an episiotomy and caring for a newborn, especially while being a single mother dealing with my son's absent father. I emailed my teachers, took my exams, and completed my junior year a week early defying the odds of teen moms. Over the summer while everyone talked about their plans for college, I heard people say they were going to become nurses and lawyers and I felt discouraged. I thought I would never be able to go to college and complete long career paths because I have to care for a child. I felt a deep sense of disappointment in myself. The disappointment and guilt I had really weighed me down. I looked to my mother for advice, because even if her plans didn't go the way she wanted she was my biggest inspiration. She always encouraged me and told me I can do whatever I want. Always by my side I felt inspired to make her proud. With senior year approaching I had to make the decision of how I would continue my studies. I transferred to online school and have been waking up at 6:00am to get as much work done as I could before my son wakes up. Going through my day changing diapers, whipping throw up, breastfeeding, pumping all while maintaining A's and B's in my classwork. By now most seniors had their career choices picked out. Except me. I was stuck. I had a dream but I thought it would be to complicated with a child. I feared I would waste my time. So when asked what I wanted to major in college I replied to everyone "Business" I have no interest in Business my true interest was becoming a doctor. Today with my 4 month old son I now have decided that no matter what and no matter how hard, how much money I may have to spend I will follow my passion. So while my career choices feel affected I know I will not change them just because I became a teen mother.

Growing up with a single mother I always watched my mom do everything all by herself. But no matter how much it cost, how hard she had to work, or how long it may have taken she would always get things done. She was like a superwoman to me, the most hard working independent woman I had even seen and I always wanted to be just like her. It wasn't until I became a single teen mom that I truly became just like her. I found myself having to decide between the things I want and the thing my baby needs just like she did for me. I found myself giving up things for my son. Instead of going to pep rallies, becoming a cheerleader,and going to Friday night games, I stay at home rocking my baby to sleep covered in baby vomit and patiently waiting for the rare nights when my baby is sleep and I finally get to have me time. Although I have experienced these hardships watching my mother overcome these obstacles have shaped me to become the best mother I can be. Each sleepless night is a constant reminder of what my mother did for me. Each breath I have taken since becoming a mother has been a constant reminder of my mother.Every diaper I change, every sacrifice I make, every time I look at my child I get reminded of my mother looking at me just like that. So much struggle and stress and yet all I saw was my happy mom. These reminders impact me deeply, so deeply that it has given me purpose. I always knew I wanted to go to college, have a career and take years to just get great at my career! That was very important to me but now that I am a mother my future career is even more important now. I am determined to provide for my child and give him many opportunities that my mother gave me even more. I know I missed out on some things because I had a single mom and I do not want to single my son out because I am a single mom. In conclusion growing up with a single mother has shaped me to be a determine and strong minded, independent young lady. Her hard work has influenced me to become hard working not only to provide for not just my son but to also to provide for myself so I can have the future I imagined even before I became a mom.

My medical career goal may not be what you're usually use to hearing. No I do not want to be a nurse or a doctor or an ultrasound technician I want to do something else. My goal is to be the mastermind behind the work of these geniuses. I aim to become a healthcare administrator. My role would be focused more on the business side of running hospitals. Many may not see this as a medical career but I do, because without well running hospitals where will all the doctors and nurses work to save lives. Being an African American student learning and researching about what's happening in the world I have stumbled across many racially enforced incidents happening in the healthcare field. There has been many reports of pregnant African American women coming into hospitals where they expect to be cared for by hospital staff to help them bring life into the world just to have their pain being ignored. This has not only been a problem among patients but among the staff as well. Researchers have found that many Asians, Latinos, and African American healthcare staff have been exposed to aggression from patients who would rather be cared for by white staff. This can be caused by representation matters. These white patients would rather have someone like them help them because they believe since they are the same race they understand each other on the same scale. All of these reasons lead me to my answer to why racial diversity is important in healthcare. Representation is a huge reason why closely followed by diversity of staff perspective and advancement of ideas. Patients of color have shown better healthcare satisfaction when being treated by a physician of color because of the representation it brings among them. It makes the patient feel as if they can trust their physicians more. Diversity of staff perspective can be simply translated to more diverse ideas coming from all the different staff. If the hospital was full of all the same physicians there would be no different perspectives giving no advancement in healthcare technology or diagnoses. For example while all doctors are educated on the auto immune disease sickle cell anemia. African American doctors are more likely to experience it for themselves meaning they can give better advice on what to do or they may just be able to spot it faster than other doctors. This example doesn't mean that any doctor can't do it the example shows why diversity is important among those doctors.

Zendaya Coleman has been on my television screen,iPad screen, phone screen, all screens since I was a little girl! I have watched her act on the tv screen, sing on YouTube, and pose for the large cameras for magazine shoots. I admire all of her many talents because it's very hard to be so good at so much especially from a young age, but the one that I admire the most is her acting. When I was a little girl I had the dream of being an actor. I always wanted to be in theater class and tried out for musicals at my school even though I knew I wasn't the best at singing. Watching Zendaya being a child actor kept me motivated.She wasn't like the other child actors on my television screen I seen her more often in more fun roles that I myself would love to star in. She was on KC undercover playing a teenage spy which was the coolest to me because I loved playing spy games.She was in the movie zapped which I watched over and over again.But what was really impact to me was watching her on Shake it up. I loved dancing I was actually very good at it and I wanted to take my dancing skills professional along with acting.So watching her dance her heart out on the big television screen was just proof to me that if Zendaya can do it I can as well! Now being older with newer dreams I still follow Zendaya's acting career because she is still going even with a very busy career now.Still appearing on television screens, still doing what is her passion. That's what I want for myself.No matter what career I have I want to be as persistent as Zendaya in he acting career.

If I could have everyone in the world read just one book it would be The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. Rated four and a half stars this book is about has been a huge recommendation amounts readers. The book follows two characters, the seemingly perfect Alicia Berenson who not only has been convicted of killing her husband but is as the book states "the silent patient" and a criminal psychotherapist Theo Faber who is her weirdly obsessed psychiatrist. The book is a good pick for everyone in the world because it is like watching a movie in your head with well written fast paced chapters as well as very well detailed writtings. My personal review on the book is that it's a five star read for thriller readers! It kept me on the edge of my seat which is why I want everyone in the world to read it. I would like to know everyone's opinions on the two main characters as well as their opinions on the plot twist at the end. The book is also very easy to access for anyone in the world. Not to mention it's free. The book can be found online and can be downloaded and read on the kindle app It's also read as an audiobook on YouTube. Which is another plus because the book is so well written you can listen to it while doing other activities. In my opinion the book's ending could have war like effect the worlds if everyone read.

Having someone very influential in your life is very important for teenagers. Teenage boys and teenage girls go through so many changes from the ages of 13-19 that can make them want to give up. Things like arriving to high school, applying to colleges, getting their first jobs and etc. It's great to have someone influential in their lives because it gives them motivation that no matter what life throws at them they will get through it like that influential person in their lives did. My mother is very influential in my life. She was a young single mother at the age of 16. Even with this large road block she was still able to provide for me. When I entered highschool I was exposed to so many new personalities and people that I soon became lost there was so much there that I didn't get to experience in middle school because I was online due to the could pandemic. This was not on me causing me to become lost...i couldn't find my own personality I slowly began trying to be like everyone else. But I turned to my mother for much needed advice because I knew she went through her years of highschool. Her advice helped me because it also involved personal experience from when she was in highschool.so because of my mom my 9th grade self found who she truly was.Now in the eleventh grade if I ever feel lost I remember that she got through it so I can too! Another way I learned from the experiences my mom gave me was that even in my hardest darkest days I will always have her by my side.At the age of 16 I fell pregnant with a baby boy. I was upset at myself for what happened I was scared I wouldn’t be able to go to college I was scared my life was going to be just like my mom’s. While she is the most influential in my life her life motivates me to do better! Not be exactly like her. I expressed this all to my mother and she explained that just because we both fell pregnant at 16 doesn’t mean our experience will be the same.She compared her experience to what mine could be if I work harder than she did. Without my mom my teen years would’ve been the hardest aspect of my life.She had helped me and built me to keep my head up and stay motivated.

Robotic cardiac surgery is more of a newer technology that inspires me about the way in which technology can make the world a better place. Robotic cardiac surgery is the use of tiny robot controlled tools to perform heart surgery. This surgery saves lives and gives people another chance to live again. Without this type of technology many lives would not be saved.There are many patients out there that need intensive heart surgery and without this surgery fate would be their near future. This technology inspires me because it shows me how advanced the world is. It also shows me that if investors can make robot heart equipment to save lives there are many technological innovations that could be made to make the world a better place. Another technology that inspires me about the way in which technology can make the world a better place is the creation of electric cars. Electric cars help keep gas fumes out of the Earths atmosphere all in all keeping the Earth healthy.The Earth is our home we can not continue to harm our home.So the development of electric cars shows me that technology can make the world a better place.Electric cars a physically making our world a better place by making it healthier. Both Robotic cardiac surgery and electric cars are two examples that stick out to me when thinking of technology that not only is making the world a better place but inspiring me that the world can be a better place with technology.