Up until 2020, I was the healthiest person in my family, made of steel my mother would say. However, In August of 2020, I began to experience pain in random extremities, starting with my right leg. After a month of this off and I went to my pediatrician, who ran blood tests. The next day I was called into Cincinnati Children's Hospital with The News. I had immature blood cells in my bloodstream which led to immediate admission for a month. I then got a bone marrow aspirate which determined that I had B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. I did a more standard treatment of Methotrexate, Doxorubicin, Vincristine, and Peg Asparaginase. While becoming adjusted to my new reality, I also had to not only treat a small infection that caused an abscess to form in my sacrum. All this coupled with the fact I still had to finish senior year and apply to college it was not the most fun time of my life. Come to the end of my Induction period I still have .078 MRD in my marrow, which meant I was not in remission. Consolidation was much worse than induction. To begin, I was given a child-sized port (at almost 18) that not only was hard to access but left an enormous scar. I was prescribed Augmentin to help take care of the abscess which caused gastroparesis and gastritis. This inability to move food past my stomach mixed with neuropathy, skin sensitivity, and joint pain left me for the most part unconscious from the beginning of December till December 19th. This led to an impromptu 2-week admission, TPN, and a large number of pain killers being pumped into me, the pain was so bad that even getting my blood pressure taken was enough to bring me to tears. However, after my endoscopy where we discovered the problem, I was given a large regimen of meds to take and it was all syrups, sickly sweet syrups. This meant I could go home, I was released 2 days before Christmas and after that things slowly started looking up. January came and I was back for a clinic visit with labs and somehow, between the main campus and a smaller campus, I contracted asymptomatic COVID-19. This meant that not only was my final consolidation bone marrow aspirate was postponed for over a week, but that my limited freedom to roam my house was snipped at the bud and I was quarantined to my room. And to top it all off, once I got my results, I still was not MRD negative, which led to the next step: T-cell therapy. This process began at the end of January, getting a temporary PICC placed in my neck for 2 days to filter through my blood 4 times to collect enough T-Cells to be sent off for modification. Then was the waiting game. Finally, in March, it was time for my month-long stay to receive these re-engineered T-Cells. They were designed to kill my B-cells, which if successful would lead to remission. The month passed, and I was free to leave 2 weeks early. While this all happened I still had the hope to eventually go to law school and help women in low income, high-risk environments, and overcoming this only made me more passionate to create a large difference, which this scholarship would help me achieve by funding my education. Two days ago, April 20th 2021, I finally got the results of my most recent bone marrow aspirate which revealed I was finally in remission. 7 months later and I survived. :)

While I am more of a television viewer than a film watcher, one film that easily tops the list of my favorite films is Legally Blonde. Legally Blonde is a cult classic about a Blonde fashion major who applies and gets into Havard law School to follow her ex-boyfriend who recently broke up with her because she wasn't the type of girl lawyers were with. She then, after she finds out her ex has a new girlfriend, proceeds to work hard and gets top of her graduating class while also winning the first criminal case she is assigned after she learns that the professor only hired her to his firm because he found her attractive. This film is my favorite of all time not only because it's about law but because it breaks the sexist stereotype that women are either attractive or smart, not both. Elle Woods, the main character, manages to become valedictorian of her criminal law class, win a high profile court case, save her friends dog from her abusive ex, and grow as a person while using skills she learned from being in a sorority and still caring about fashion and her own personal interests. It's things like the bend and snap and her being in a particular sorority that helps poke holes in the prosecutor's story, but also gaining the trust of the defendant enough to learn her alibi. The best part is in the end, she doesn't get back with her ex, but rather, finds a man who will support her endeavors and doesn't want her to change who she is. This huge shit in female representation makes Legally Blonde my favorite movie.

The mistreatment of lower-income communities, specifically women who are in high-risk environments who are either victims of sex crimes or sex trafficking or have to turn to sex work as a last resort to provide for their family. One of the many ideas that is particularly important to me would be the creation of safe havens for those who come from lower-income areas. Safe havens make it easier for those who are at higher risk of becoming homeless or being abused. There are many individuals in our society who can’t afford to pay medical or pay legal fees to fight against crimes that are acted on them. Inherently, this aid would help with homelessness, decrease rates of sex work, help prevent sex trafficking, and indirectly help with the frequency of drug use and overdose. Sadly, these social issues are intertwined and by rearranging our country's military budget along with the circulation of useless currency like the penny, we could put the money now available to give back to the lower class communities that build the working class. This goal is largely inspired by my experience being a woman in America and learning about how our "Justice" system lets successful men with lots of money get away with horrendous sexual crimes that scar people for life. While this is not a specifically women's issue it disproportionally affects women more than men. A very specific and infamous example of this happening is the Brock Turner case. In this case, two college students caught offender Turner sticking miscellaneous objects up an unconscious women's vagina. While he was found guilty on all 5 counts he was being charged with, he was only sentenced to 6 months and got out after 3 for good behavior. Before and during the sentencing, he was sympathized with by many media sources and by his family saying he would hardly eat and how he was a Stanford swimmer and this would ruin his life and career. However, with this empathy shown towards the assistant, they neglected to acknowledge that his punishment was of his own devices. He not only ruined the woman who he assaulted's life but his own. He played the victim throughout the case when he is the only one to blame. But even with all of this evidence, not only did he get a light sentence, this is in the case of someone who had the resources to press charges. While everyone in America has the right to an attorney, legal assistants provided by the state are often not given enough time to prepare for a case, often only getting 30 minutes before a case. With better policies and legal resources, I want to provide better resources for people who are victims of sexual assault so they have a higher chance of getting justice for the wrongs done to them. Financial burden should not prevent women from getting justice for the trauma they are given.

Society can more efficiently and effectively empower women by making it easier for them to achieve justice for sexual crimes that happen against them. One of the many ideas that is particularly important to me would be the creation of safe havens for those who come from lower-income areas. Safe havens make it easier for those who are at higher risk of becoming homeless or being abused. There are many individuals in our society who can’t afford to pay medical or pay legal fees to fight against crimes that are acted on them. Inherently, this aid would help with homelessness, decrease rates of sex work, help prevent sex trafficking, and indirectly help with the frequency of drug use and overdose. Sadly, these social issues are intertwined and by rearranging our country's military budget along with the circulation of useless currency like the penny, we could put the money now available to give back to the lower class communities that build the working class. This goal is largely inspired by my experience being a woman in America and learning about how our "Justice" system lets successful men with lots of money get away with horrendous sexual crimes that scar people for life. While this is not a specifically women's issue it disproportionally affects women more than men. A very specific and infamous example of this happening is the Brock Turner case. In this case, two college students caught offender Turner sticking miscellaneous objects up an unconscious women's vagina. While he was found guilty on all 5 counts he was being charged with, he was only sentenced to 6 months and got out after 3 for good behavior. Before and during the sentencing, he was sympathized with by many media sources and by his family saying he would hardly eat and how he was a Stanford swimmer and this would ruin his life and career. However, with this empathy shown towards the assistant, they neglected to acknowledge that his punishment was of his own devices. He not only ruined the woman's, who is referred to as "Jane Doe" and "Emily Doe" to keep her as protected as she can be, life but his own. He played the victim throughout the case when he is the only one to blame. But even with all of this evidence, not only did he get a light sentence, this is in the case of someone who had the resources to press charges. While everyone in America has the right to an attorney, legal assistants provided by the state are often not given enough time to prepare for a case, often only getting 30 minutes before a case. With better policies and legal resources, I want to provide better resources for people who are victims of sexual assault so they have a higher chance of getting justice for the wrongs done to them. Financial burden should not prevent women from getting justice for the trauma they are given. By instilling better solutions for lower-income and high-risk women, not only are we truly being intersectional, but we create the ability to grow our already established systems to eventually help all women.

Due to the fact that the school I am attending doesn't offer a pre-law class but rather a pathing, I have decided to major in history. I chose history because my goal for becoming a lawyer would be to help institute more programs, policies, and safe houses to protect people, more specifically women, in high-risk areas that are victims of sex crimes, sex trafficking, or have become reliant on sex work to make ends meet. I felt history would be useful due to the fact that by learning about history I can learn about previous and current policies that have their shortcomings. By learning why they aren't effective for my areas of focus would allow me to produce stronger ideas to further provide for underrepresented communities. One of the many ideas that is particularly important to me would be the creation of safe havens for those who come from lower-income areas. Safe havens make it easier for those who are at higher risk of becoming homeless or being abused. There are many individuals in our society who can’t afford to pay medical or pay legal fees to fight against crimes that are acted on them. Inherently, this aid would help with homelessness, decrease rates of sex work, help prevent sex trafficking, and indirectly help with the frequency of drug use and overdose. Sadly, these social issues are intertwined and by rearranging our country's military budget along with the circulation of useless currency like the penny, we could put the money now available to give back to the lower class communities that build the working class. This goal is largely inspired by my experience being a woman in America and learning about how our "Justice" system lets successful men with lots of money get away with horrendous sexual crimes that scar people for life. While this is not a specifically women's issue it disproportionally affects women more than men. A very specific and infamous example of this happening is the Brock Turner case. In this case, two college students caught offender Turner sticking miscellaneous objects up an unconscious women's vagina. While he was found guilty on all 5 counts he was being charged with, he was only sentenced to 6 months and got out after 3 for good behavior. Before and during the sentencing, he was sympathized with by many media sources and by his family saying he would hardly eat and how he was a Stanford swimmer and this would ruin his life and career. However, with this empathy shown towards the assistant, they neglected to acknowledge that his punishment was of his own devices. He not only ruined the woman's, who is referred to as "Jane Doe" and "Emily Doe" to keep her as protected as she can be, life but his own. He played the victim throughout the case when he is the only one to blame. But even with all of this evidence, not only did he get a light sentence, this is in the case of someone who had the resources to press charges. While everyone in America has the right to an attorney, legal assistants provided by the state are often not given enough time to prepare for a case, often only getting 30 minutes before a case. With better policies and legal resources, I want to provide better resources for people who are victims of sexual assault so they have a higher chance of getting justice for the wrongs done to them. Financial burden should not prevent women from getting justice for the trauma they are given.