The problem facing the world right now is healthcare. In the United States the cost of medical care has become too expensive for most people to afford. Constantly when faced with the predicament of seeking medical attention for an urgent matter people will actually debate if a trip to the hospital or clinic is going to be worth the bill they receive. No one should ever weigh the cost of their own health and life to monetary value. The fact that people do means there is a serious issue of the privatization and monetization of medicine. Healthcare should be about making the patients healthier not profit. Two problems which came to light during the pandemic was how some countries still needed aid in rolling out vaccines and just how devastating mental health issues are across the world. Some countries needed help producing vaccines for tuberculosis, HPV and polio even before the pandemic. A way we can fix many of these issues is to breakdown our healthcare system and completely reinvent it. I believe we as whole (not just medical staff) can make a huge change by creating better health programs to make healthcare affordable and focus on sending aid to other countries in need. We can send over vaccines we never use as well. In 2010 162 million doses of the flu vaccine were produced but only 90 million people got vaccinated. That's 72 million vaccines we could've sent over to help and that's only the flu! We could also create more free health clinics in many neighborhoods for low-income communities and screen for any signs of decline in mental health so we can treat and help patients as soon as we see they need help. They'd receive medical and psychological care before it's too late.

Stanley Tookie Williams. I’m not sure if it’s a controversial choice considering he co-founded the crips gang but he went on to correct his mistakes and did great things. I never knew of Tookie Williams until I read his book “Blue Rage” in high school. He was someone who genuinely recognized the error of his ways and did everything he could in his lifetime to amend his mistakes. Though it was difficult Tookie even arranged a peace treaty between the two gangs the Bloods and the Crips. Tookie was also nominated for five Nobel peace prizes and one Nobel literature prize. I had come from a household full of anger and violence as well. When I saw that even the co-founder of the crips could find redemption and make the conscious choice to be a better person it opened my eyes to the realization that it isn’t our environments that determine who we are. It is all up to use as individuals how we react to our environment and misfortunes. It also taught me that everyone can change no matter the mistakes. It is never too late to be a better person and help society or the world. And for that reason Stanley Tookie Williams will always stand out as the most memorable.

I grew up in an abusive household. My father at one point had stabbed my mother in the cheek and with tears in my eyes I cried under my covers until I fell asleep. My dad was arrested shortly after but even with jail time my mom still loved him. Despite things he would do to my sister and I they stayed together. In 2013 when I turned eighteen years old my dad threw my stuff out and told me that I was a man now and to find my own place. I didn’t have the benefit of other family to rely on. Luckily I did have my own really beat up car and that became my home for about 3 months. In order to eat I would usually eat any leftovers that remained at my job at Starbucks. To shower I would use the showers at the 24 hour gym. Staying in school during that time was incredibly difficult as I had to work in order to continue having basic necessities. I’d break down into tears almost every week, but I was determined to continue my life no matter the adversity. I strongly believed even then that when you are put into horrible situations like that you get to see who you really are. Eventually a friend of mine rented out a house and invited me to live with him. And once I had saved enough money I went to a medical assisting school and graduated second in my class. It took everything and I was just so ecstatic to have gotten my certificate and start a job which would provide stability. Now, I have come back to college in the hopes of becoming a physician. I feel that having struggled so much to get to this point in my life was actually blessing. As now I have the mental fortitude to handle whatever workload I need in order to succeed. When I make it to medical school, I’ll remember everything I went through and continue to let it drive me. Once I’m a physician I hope to create a program which would help students like myself who are in tough and horrible situations and set up a scholarship for them. I never want anyone to give up on their dreams and want people in a struggle to know they’re not alone and that they CAN make it.

Looking For Alaska by John Green. I had heard so many great things about the author John Green and was curious to see how good his books were. A friend had recommended I begin by reading his book looking for Alaska as it had a great message about life. I went to my nearest Barnes and Noble and bought the hardcover version and to my surprise I couldn't put the book down. I finished the book in three days. I was surprised at how in this book I could picture myself there with the characters and caught myself laughing and feeling everything they were experiencing. It was a surreal reading experience I hadn't felt before. What made me love this book so much was the ending. At the end of the book the character Alaska dies in a car accident involving a truck. It is unclear to authorities and Alaska's friends in the book whether she drove into the truck on purpose or if it was an actual accident. The book leaves this ambiguous on purpose. The moral was in life you may not always find the answers to lingering questions or alternate choices you could've made. In fact there are so many uncertainties in life but you have to continue on. Not every question in your life will be answered. From wondering what could've been said to a crush, what if you stopped someone from going somewhere to prevent their death, to the question of what happens after we die, these uncertainties are just a part of living. It was a powerful message that I never forgot and has actually helped me continue on in life whenever I am afraid of decisions like moving or accepting new jobs. In the face of uncertainty, can you keep going? I can.

My goal is for anyone in a bad place in life to know that it isn't impossible to get out of it and still succeed in their dreams. So long as you remained determined and have the discipline and fortitude, you can survive anything and go on to accomplish anything you want. The day I turned eighteen my dad kicked me out and threw all my stuff out onto the street. We didn't have the best relationship and it had reached it's boiling point for him. My family wasn't exactly around to help me and I had to couch surf and eat any leftovers I could from jobs I worked to feed myself. When I got a car I finally had a place to sleep without bothering anyone to see if I could spend the night with them. When I eventually got my situation to be more stable, I realized my job wasn't cutting it enough and that without going farther in my education I wouldn't be able to go further than the jobs I had at the time. So I quit and dedicated myself to a medical assisting program. Though I nearly went broke doing so I graduated second in my class. I fell in love with the medical field and felt pure joy whenever I could help patients who experienced trauma or were going through their own rough patches in life. My goal is to graduate and become a Doctor who not only helps patients but anyone who is struggling in life. I want to not only help people heal in terms of health but also motivate them through any hardship they're experiencing. I want to be the proof that no matter how difficult the environment you're in or what struggles you face, you CAN achieve your dreams. You CAN accomplish what goals you have. If ever I meet anyone dealing with adversity I want to help guide them and set up a program which gives them any support they need. I want to build a community where everyone builds each other up and always pays it forward. Lord knows sometimes all anyone ever needs is just someone to believe in them. I plan on being that someone.

Coming from a background of very little income and immigrants, the hospital seemed scary and expensive. At times of serious health crisis my family would debate on whether or not the hospital was worth the financial trouble. My parents and grandma would also be uncomfortable going because of the language barrier. They spoke Spanish, but not so many of the staff spoke Spanish. My family felt that if my siblings and I knew Spanish and spoke it that we would be mistreated and this led them to teaching us only english. When I finish college, I will be the first in my family to do so. If I make it and accomplish my dream of becoming a physician, I want to change that fear my family had. I want to make the hospital a safe place for all and create a program that would help with the cost of care for any underrepresented group. I never want anyone to debate on cost when what really matters is their health. College has also been a struggle for me in the beginning. Without going into too much detail I was homeless during the beginning of college. I had to eat out of trash cans and eat leftovers from my job to get by. When I finally bought a car I didn’t have to worry about asking a friend for a couch to sleep on, I would just sleep in the car. Eventually I was lucky that when my friend rented a place he invited me to be his roommate. I didn't have anyone to rely on to help me financially or guide me on why education was so important. After saving and working many jobs I dedicated myself to a Medical Assisting program. I quit my jobs at the time to be a full time student and passed with flying colors. When I was hired for my first clinic I felt I had finally found where I wanted to be and my passion for healthcare grew. Never in my life have I ever wanted to become something so badly and had a dream of helping everyone I can during the process, and after finishing medical school. I can't wait to give back to my communities and be an example for my family that the world isn't as scary as they fear it to be.

Don't worry about the money when it comes to working. If you stay positive and find enjoyment in what you do, the money is just a bonus. I found these words to be very true. I think there's a lot of advice about stocks, savings accounts, and retirement accounts. Despite those helpful tips, the lesson of working in what you're passionate about trumps them all. If you are doing what you love you never worry about how many hours you put in. You never worry about what your income is like. I feel that if you do what makes you happy you are so ecstatic and passionate that you'll put in more hours of work than you would a job you didn't like. Meaning your passion will not only provide fulfillment but more income as well. It has definitely led me to finding my passion and made me much happier in the work I do.