My name is Mya Henderson and I am an upcoming junior at Howard University. I am currently majoring in Health Science with a double minor in biology and dance. I decided to study health science because my future career is to be a surgeon. After I graduate from Howard University with my bachelor in Health Science, I plan to further my education by applying to medical school and pursue my Doctorate in Medicine. I want my future career to be in surgery because I have always been interested in how the body works through a surgical perspective. I have always had a love for medicine and helping others. I chose this career for many reasons. My first reason, my grandma. My grandmother was a RN and when she told me her many stories of being a nurse I learned to love medicine even more. The second reason, myself. I was a premature baby at 2.64 lbs and had many risk factors for possibly not making it. The doctors worked day in and day to keep me alive and healthy. I was in the NICU for 3 months and came home on Mother's Day. The service and dedication that the doctors and surgeons provided me made me realize that I want to do this for others. Becoming a surgeon is also my way of giving thanks and giving back to my community. I see it as a thank you to the healthcare workers that have helped me throughout my lifetime whether it was the doctors that worked with me when I was a baby, my primary care doctor as a child, and even my grandmother. The impact I hope to have is to change lives inside and outside the operating room. Many African Americans don't often see people that look like them as doctors or surgeons. Being an African American, female surgeon will help encourage people that look like me that it is okay to come to hospitals or clinics to receive help. It will show them that there is someone who looks like them that can help them and know how to properly diagnose them. They will see someone who sees them for who they are and not overlook them because of who they are not. As an African American, female surgeon, I will be able to not only physically help my community but to be a voice for the voiceless. I will be able to be heard as an African American, female surgeon on the behalf of my community who may be struggling to be heard. I also will be able to inspire young African American boys and girls that they can do anything they put their minds to. Young girls often hear the phrase "you can't do a man's job." Being a surgeon at one point was only a man's job. Young girls seeing me as a role model doing a man's job can show them that they are just as equal as the young boy they sit next to in class. This and more will help impact not only my community but the medical field. The rise of more African American doctors and surgeons is only the beginning and I hope to be a role model within this surge of history.

My future goals are to graduate January 2026 from Howard University with my Bachelors of Science in Health Science. Post undergrad, I then plan to go to medical school to pursue my Doctorate of Medicine to become a surgeon. After medical school, I will start my residency and gain real life experience in the life of a surgeon. Becoming a surgeon for me is not only a dream career but a way of paying it forward. When I was first born, I was a premature baby. The doctors that helped deliver me worked day and night to make sure that I was a healthy and strong baby. When my parents first told me about how I was born, I thought a lot about how every day doctors dedicate their lives saving the lives of others including me and I wanted to dedicate my life to doing the same. I feel that becoming a surgeon is not just a dedication to others but a thank you. A thank you, to the doctors that have all had a part in keeping me as strong and healthy as I am today, a thank you to all doctors for dedicating their lives to the well-being of others, and most importantly a thank you for inspiring me to want to do what they do. Becoming a surgeon will not only help change the world through medicine but will help change the views of others. Becoming a black, female surgeon will help others like me who want to be in the medical field pursue their dreams no matter the color of their skin or their gender. Tuition for undergraduate studies is often expensive. Aside from undergrad, medical school is also an expensive institution of study. The Morgan Levine Dolan Community Service scholarship will help me be able to afford the tuition to continue my education. In being able to continue my education, this enables me to pursue my passion in medicine. Ever since I was a little girl, whenever my grandmother would tell me her stories about her days in the medical field, I always found her experiences fascinating. As I got older and learned more about the medical field, I realized that medicine was for me. In March of 2021, I was nominated to be part of the Congress for Future Medical Leaders. Attending this program helped me see my future as a surgeon as I learned what medicine is really all about and the different ways I can help save people inspired me even more. This scholarship would be a big stepping stone into the beginning of my journey to my surgical career and may even be instrumental in my endeavor to make a major medical discovery.