Every night, hearing the jingle of keys, I sprinted with my grandparents and brother to our room and locked the door. The constant yells and shattering of objects had me huddled in the corner of the room with my eyes shut tight. The alcohol was always taking over him. My father was a doting one; he would get me anything I wanted and loved me like no other, but he was flawed. The screams that rattled throughout the house scared me, and all I could do was sleep in the hope that it would be over the next morning. A child shouldn’t have to cower in fear, especially at the expense of their own parents. These fears were a constant reminder in my head that I needed to be perfect. Making one small mistake had me hiding, scared that I was going to be punished. Even after getting out of that miserable situation, I was never able to truly recover. Waking up in a sweat after getting nightmares, reminding me of those awful times. I vowed to never become that type of person; I was going to do good in the world. Freshly out of quarantine, I was determined to academically exceed and solely focused on my grades. From starting college courses during freshman year through Early College Academy, accumulating 18 courses, to taking a total of eight AP courses. Working my way through challenging times, understanding that this was for my future. At that time, I thought that grades were king and that it was the only thing that mattered. I believed that getting good grades was the only way to set up my future to help others. But I was wrong. Clubs—that’s where I needed to be in order to give back to the community and become the righteous person that I always strived to be. Getting accepted into the National Honor Society opened new doors for me as I was able to make a difference in my community. From volunteering at multiple elementary schools, making a connection with the kids and allowing them to experience their childhood, to creating Thrift N’ Drift, a passion project where I raised awareness about the effects of fast fashion. Establish a community closet and clothes swaps for our marginalized community, where they can save their money on necessities by being able to shop at our closet. Being recognized for my work and being appointed as the 2024’-2025’ NHS president. Being able to give back and help out the community will never halt in my life. Even as I go to college, I chose to major in pharmacy, as being in the medical field is another one of my goals in order to do good in the world. My actions all stemmed from the goal of becoming a righteous person in society. Taking an unfortunate event of my past and allowing it to become a motivating factor in my life today.

I was a curious kid, always mixing up random concoctions with ingredients around my house. Whether it be baking soda or shampoo, I was always mixing new things to see if there would be a reaction. At that time, I didn’t even know that my actions were called experiments. When something would get thicker or start to bubble, my little brain was always wondering, “Why?” and “How?” Taking my passion of creating concoctions, I started to make slime for fun and gave them out to my friends. Everything about slime fascinated me. The different inclusions that I added to each slime made them all different textures. Adding clay made it smoother and adding shaving cream made it fluffier. With my hobby, I wanted to find answers and started to watch videos on the science behind slime. The idea and concept of science has always been my strong suit, proving my abilities in my chemistry class. Even when sitting in the farthest seat from the board, every word that came out of my teacher’s mouth mesmerized me. From putting on goggles before a lab to seeing how different solutions react to the flame of the bunsen burner, everything about chemistry enticed me. Taking my curiosity to the next level, I decided to enroll in AP Chemistry my senior year. Wanting to dive deeper into the concepts of solubility, acid and bases, and a multitude of other topics contributing to the holistic view of chemistry. Significantly harder than regular chemistry, AP has driven me to work harder than ever. Staying up late nights to study difficult concepts before an exam. With all these concepts, there is still lots of chemistry that I can’t comprehend. I may not have passed my AP chemistry exam, but it drives me to learn more so that I can fully grasp each concept. My failure makes me want to push harder so that I won't fail again, and if I do, it will push me even farther. I want to continue to learn and explore my love for chemistry. The desire to know more and to even hone in on a certain aspect of chemistry, pharmaceutical sciences. I didn't choose this major one day on a whim; it took me months to finally decide what I wanted to do in the future. I am a Vietnamese American, so there was always the stereotype that we either become doctors or engineers. People would always say that becoming a doctor was the path to success and stability. Back then, I would just nod my head in agreement, but as I started to mature, I realized that becoming a doctor wasn't my cup of tea. I realized that I enjoyed chemistry a lot more than biology. I finally found my path once I discovered that I could pursue pharmacy. In the beginning, I wasn't too sure if my decision was the right one, but my decision was sealed once my mother said that she would be proud of me no matter what path I chose.

The constant yells and shattering of objects had me huddled in the corner of the room with my eyes shut tight. The alcohol was always taking over him. My father was a doting one; he would get me anything I wanted and loved me like no other, but he was flawed. The screams that rattled throughout the house scared me, and all I could do was sleep in the hope that it would be over the next morning. Everything was too normal; it was calm in my home, and my father was caring, as if he didn’t remember what happened the night before. A child shouldn’t have to cower in fear, especially at the expense of their own parents. These fears were a constant reminder in my head that I needed to be perfect. Making one small mistake had me hiding, scared that I was going to be punished. Even after getting out of that miserable situation, I was never able to truly recover. Waking up in a sweat after getting nightmares, reminding me of those awful times. I vowed to never become that type of person; I was going to do good in the world. Growing up, I reinforced the idea that I needed to be a good kid so that I could become a righteous person. I never got in trouble as a kid, as the fear from my past still hadn’t healed. I would always try to get on the teacher's good side, scared that if I did anything bad, they would begin to hate me. Not only was I obedient, I decided at that young age that as I grew up, I wanted to become a good-hearted person, and that is what I did. Freshly out of quarantine, I was determined to academically exceed and solely focused on my grades. From starting college courses during freshman year through Early College Academy, accumulating 18 courses, to taking a total of 8 AP courses. At that time, I thought that grades were king and that it was the only thing that mattered. I believed that getting good grades was the only way to set up my future to help others. But I was wrong. Clubs—that’s where I needed to be in order to give back to the community and become the righteous person that I always strived to be. Getting accepted into the National Honor Society opened new doors for me. From volunteering at elementary schools, making a connection with the kids, to creating Thrift N’ Drift, a passion project where I raised awareness about the effects of fast fashion. Establishing a community closet and clothes swaps for our marginalized community, where they can save their money on necessities. Being recognized for my work and being appointed as the 2024’-2025’ NHS president. Having an unfortunate childhood led me to join UNICEF, advocating for children’s struggles with poverty and abuse. Their struggles hit too close to home; I wanted to be able to help them, raising money and donating necessities. Wanting to do more, I applied for executive board, getting appointed as vice president, and creating new events to maximize profit for the children in need. Being able to give back and help out the community will never halt in my life. Even as I go to college, I chose to major in pharmacy, as being in the medical field is another one of my goals in order to do good in the world.

My family was not the most fortunate, as we had to live paycheck to paycheck. I was raised in a one-bedroom apartment until my father was able to get a better job and was able to buy a bigger house, but that did not last long. My mom and father got divorced, and my mom got full custody. This meant that she had to take care of me, my brother, and my grandparents all by herself. It was hard moving from having a house full of luxuries to having basically nothing, but it was for the better. My mom had to work three jobs in order to keep up with rent and have enough money to feed us. I saw how hard she was working, and I knew that it was all for me because she wanted me to have a better life. Having such a strong mother taught me to be ambitious and to take advantage of opportunities around me. I not only take advantage of the academic opportunities; I also take advantage of the extracurricular opportunities. I pushed myself to join the Early College Academy, taking college courses within the high school curriculum, allowing me to graduate with an associate degree. I take the most rigorous courses available, challenging myself while also being able to boost my GPA. Academics are not the only factor in high school. I have strived for board positions within all the clubs I am in as I want to build up my resume, which will allow me to stand out within all the other college applications. Higher education has always been a goal of mine, as I want to give back to my mother, who worked so hard for me. Striving to become a pharmacist to do good in the world.