Ever since I was a little kid, I always knew that I was destined for greatness. When I was six years old, I made a speech in front of my entire elementary school about how when I grew up I wanted to be a doctor. Ever since then, I knew I wanted to be in the medical field. I always had different ideas about which specific career I wanted. Throughout middle school, I knew that I for sure wanted to be a doctor, but the specialty was still a question to me. At the end of ninth grade, I knew that oncology was going to be my specialty being that my sister was struggling with cancer. I became her caretaker and was very invested in cancer. In twenty years I plan to have completed medical school and be done paying off any debts school may have caused me. I want to be working in a hospital as an oncologist with a high success rate because I want nothing more than to help people who have been diagnosed with cancer. It's important for me to be able to help people by becoming an oncologist. I will use that knowledge to educate people on that disease. I want to be able to let people know their possible cancer symptoms so that they will be able to get treatment early on so their families aren't hurt by their pain and suffering. Cancer does cause many families to suffer, especially when there's a weak support system. I want to be able to build a supportive community for my patients which would be optional. They would be able to go there and feel the support of their fellow cancer patients. In addition to the patient group, I would also like there to be a group for their families because I know it can be just as hard on the families as it is on the patients. My purpose in becoming an oncologist is not for the money, but to help people. Once I know that I have helped people and saved some lives, I will know I have succeeded. I will know when I have succeeded when I have my clinic where people without healthcare or people who can't afford treatment can come and get treated for cancer and other sicknesses can be cared for. I will know I have succeeded when I have my once sick patients come back healthy and back to their old lives. I want to be the change in the world. As I said once before, "I want to be a doctor when I grow up."

The medical field is an amazing field with many branches. Medicine is an amazing thing that has progressed so much over the years. I want to be someone who helps the medical field progress. I want to be an oncologist due to my first-hand experience with cancer. Cancer can have a tremendous toll on not only a person but on their families too. As far as we know, cancer has no cure. The only way to treat it is through chemotherapy or radiation therapy. I want to help create another form of treatment. And if I can't find another treatment I want to be able to help figure out what one specific treatment someone can do so that they don't have to be constantly experimented on. Doctors may go to school for several years, but that doesn't mean that they know everything. There are so many things that doctors don't know. Every disease we know of today was once discovered. All of the medicines we have was made by a doctor who saw the disease and wanted to treat it. Since cancer is such a big disease, doctors and medical officials are constantly trying to figure out treatments. This often involves them testing different chemotherapies and radiation therapies on people. I want to be one of the people who can help people go through one treatment that can save or at least prolong their lives. If possible, I would also want to travel the world and give out medical help to people around the world. Not every country is as fortunate as the United States with its healthcare. Millions of people don't have a form of healthcare, and I would love to travel the world and give people who need it healthcare. Even if it turns out to be something as cleaning their wounds, I would know that I helped someone who needed it. I want to be someone who helps others out with their health, and the healthcare field would help me with that. Being able to fly people out to get the treatment they need for their cancer would be a dream come true. I know many people can't afford treatment, but I want to be able to pay for it. Oncology is a very important career in the medical field. Without oncologists, people would be dying earlier than necessary. This career can help better the world in so many ways by creating future nurses, doctors, and other medical professionals.

Every school has events that need to be thrown, but many don't think about who's behind those events. I am proud to say that I am one of the people behind them. For the past two years, I have been an appointed member of my high school's associated student body. We have a key role in how the events people want play out. For example, for our homecoming fair we all had to help set up different areas of the school. The set up of this event took approximately five hours. We spent five hours working non-stop to ensure that all the other students were able to enjoy. This is just an example of one of the many events we had going on that day. Being a leader is a crucial part in life. Many people just want an easy job like following instructions given by someone else, but I would prefer to be the person giving out instructions. Growing up, I had to do everything anyone older than me said even if I didn't agree with it. I feel like that is why I want to be a leader; so I can make and follow my own rules. I've always been told that I have the qualities of a leader, and I want to honor that. Leadership is one thing that many people lack. If I were able to be a leader, I would know that I'm not just another face out there. I would know that I'm special and that I have a quality that many people lack. Leadership is what I've known my whole life, and what I want to continue to know as long as I live. To lead is to be unique. To lead is to show authority. To lead is to help guide others on a path. Leadership is a noble quality I believe everyone should have.

Every day you see someone smile, but do you ever wonder what hides behind it? A smile can symbolize many things, but for many, it represents a false persona used to cover up how they are suffering on the inside. Mental health is an epidemic that is very often covered by a smile. I am one of the millions of people who suffer from mental health issues, but growing up I've been told that I don't have mental health issues because I'm "too happy" or "don't have anything to be upset about". Many nights I go to sleep wondering how my life would be different if I weren't so afraid to step out of my comfort zone or stop thinking so much about what people think. These are just a few issues I think about daily. My mental health goes as far as body dysmorphia. I always think about how maybe I would be happier if I looked like society's version of beauty. "Maybe if my teeth were straight and I was fifty pounds lighter people would like me." Instead of trying to be happy, I am so consumed by how society views me. I worry that when I go to college I won't be accepted by others because of the way I look, but that doesn't matter because all people see is a girl who's always smiling and happy because that's what my smile masks. But I do always remind myself that I have friends who care about me for my personality and not my looks. I remind myself that even though I may not always be accepted by the people I want, I have people who genuinely care about me and want to see me do great no matter how I look. I wonder why I don't get to get out and see the world. That's because I am so anxious that if I leave my house someone is going to see me and talk about me. I get anxious that my outfit looks bad. I start to get scared and lose my breath because I don't want to be an outcast. I still fight that fear that I have learned and still want to venture off. I want to go out and explore the world. I want to get a good education so I can get a good job so that I am able to travel. I want to be the person who's very insecure about their body who faces their fear and goes to the beach in a bikini because I know that people's opinions don't matter. I am determined to become an oncologist, and I know I can do it no matter what my thoughts say. My thoughts may tell me, no, but I am going to fight them. I may be worried about the future, but I won't let that stop me from being a doctor. When I smile, that is something I think about; being the person who I can't be now that I want to be. My life should not revolve around my mental health, and my goal in life is to prove to myself that I am more than my mental issues. One day I will beat this thing called mental health one day, but for now, I take it one day at a time. Every day I am one step closer to being the amazing person I know I can be. One day, my smile will show someone who is confident and happy with themselves, but for now, I take it one day at a time.

On May 17, 2020, at 12:27 a.m. we got the call. The Long Beach Memorial Hospital called to inform us that they were unable to resuscitate my older sister. I screamed and cried in my mother's arms because my sister was my best friend. I felt as though I could not move on, but here I am nearly two years later still here. At first, I couldn't enter the room where we cohabitated and spent hours having deep conversations with each other. Although I still can't spend extended periods in that room, I can still go in. When she first passed, I was so heartbroken. I cried in hopes that my prayers would make her come back, but that did not work. I would look back on pictures of her and think, "Why not me? Why did it have to be her?" Over the summer, it was kind of rough. She would always take me out and we would go on sister dates. It was weird for me not to be going somewhere every week, but I did make do. My friends were my biggest support system other than my mom. My friends and I would have small hangouts now and then. This meant so much to me because they helped fill the space in my head. With having them around, I had other things to think about than being in a quiet home that would have been loud only a year ago. I still would think about her, but now I would reminisce on the good times and not just think about how much I missed her. My sister's death has motivated me to want to become an oncologist. Although my sister wasn't the first person in my family to have cancer, she was the closest one to me and I want to be someone who helps people fight that awful disease that takes away beautiful people every day.

Every day you see someone smile, but do you ever wonder what hides behind it? A smile can symbolize many things, but for many, it represents a false persona used to cover up how they are suffering on the inside. Mental health is an epidemic that is very often covered by a smile. I am one of the millions of people who suffer from mental health issues, but growing up I've been told that I don't have mental health issues because I'm "too happy" or "don't have anything to be upset about". Many nights I go to sleep wondering how my life would be different if I weren't so afraid to step out of my comfort zone or stop thinking so much about what people think. These are just a few issues I think about daily. My mental health goes as far as body dysmorphia. I always think about how maybe I would be happier if I looked like society's version of beauty. "Maybe if my teeth were straight and I was fifty pounds lighter people would like me." Instead of trying to be happy, I am so consumed by how society views me. I worry that when I go to college I won't be accepted by others because of the way I look, but that doesn't matter because all people see is a girl who's always smiling and happy because that's what my smile masks. But I do always remind myself that I have friends who care about me for my personality and not my looks. I remind myself that even though I may not always be accepted by the people I want, I have people who genuinely care about me and want to see me do great no matter how I look. I wonder why I don't get to get out and see the world. That's because I am so anxious that if I leave my house someone is going to see me and talk about me. I get anxious that my outfit looks bad. I start to get scared and lose my breath because I don't want to be an outcast. I still fight that fear that I have learned and still want to venture off. I want to go out and explore the world. I want to get a good education so I can get a good job so that I am able to travel. I want to be the person who's very insecure about their body who faces their fear and goes to the beach in a bikini because I know that people's opinions don't matter. I am determined to become an oncologist, and I know I can do it no matter what my thoughts say. My thoughts may tell me, no, but I am going to fight them. I may be worried about the future, but I won't let that stop me from being a doctor. When I smile, that is something I think about; being the person who I can't be now that I want to be. My life should not revolve around my mental health, and my goal in life is to prove to myself that I am more than my mental issues. One day I will beat this thing called mental health one day, but for now, I take it one day at a time. Every day I am one step closer to being the amazing person I know I can be. One day, my smile will show someone who is confident and happy with themselves, but for now I take it one day at a time.