Fa'atalofa atu le pa'ia ma le mamalu a lenei komiti As a Pacific Islander attending college, I am honored and blessed. As the eldest child in my family, I am grateful to be a role model for my siblings. I want to show the younger generation and the future of our Pasifika people that anything is possible. Through my education, I want to showcase my Samoan heritage to the world. I feel that as a Pacific Islander who is currently in college, it is my job to help guide others like me to be successful in their academic journeys. I come from a family with a strong emphasis on education, however, previous generations could not experience that because of the cost. Instead, finding work and working hard was what they had to do. Fortunately, I attended school through a program in which the City of Long Beach created for 2020 high school graduates to attend our local community college for free. There I received my associate degree in Kinesiology and became a first-generation college graduate. Currently, at Chaminade University of Honolulu, I am enrolled in the BSN program as a second-year student. In my time at LBCC, I was on a team that helped launch a MANA program. The intention was for students of Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage to excel academically, and to assist in building a solid foundation within their local communities. I was always proud to see many Pacific Islanders attending school with me because I knew that getting a degree and proving ourselves was what we were all there to do. We Pacific Islanders should continue to go to school, to be informed about new and relevant topics in which we may be affected. Things from which the future of our people can benefit. Higher education will enable us to better understand the problems and concerns faced by our Pasifika people and contribute to the resolution. We can use our degrees to get better-paying employment doing what we love. Though Pacific Islanders are a small percentage in America compared to other ethnic groups, we hold an even bigger heart and love for our own. If we continue to support education, we will be able to access the resources we need to make schooling more affordable for people like us. We will be viewed as future medical professionals, teachers, law enforcement, and government officials. We only need to maintain our self-confidence and passion to get the results we desire. I think I'm deserving of this scholarship because I am hard-working and goal-driven. I put a lot of effort into my coursework to continue to maintain a GPA that is within academic standing. This scholarship will help me advance in my endeavor to become a nurse. The passing of my grandparents was what inspired this career. I was devastated to lose three of them because I held them so dear to me. Becoming a nurse to help patients in any way I can to alleviate stress from their loved ones is my ambition. The proverb "It takes a village" means a lot to me because I have experienced it firsthand. I rely on my village to help me through challenging times. I want to be able to do the same for another village. It is my goal to always serve wholeheartedly with faith, humility, and respect. By accomplishing this, I want to make my aiga proud. I pray that God will continue to bless you and use you to carry out his works! Fa'afetai me le avanoa. Ma le fa’aaloalo lava, Soifua ma ia manuia