I undoubtedly believe that communities, and everyone within them, can reach their full potential with the help and guidance of others, notably businesses, whether they are small businesses or startups. Together, a company and its community can achieve remarkable progress on any project undertaken, provided that they possess clear goals and the will to succeed. I am pursuing a degree in Computer Science because I aspire to put in place an enterprise developing and programming medical devices capable of diagnosing and treating patients without requiring highly invasive medical procedures to save lives. But that's not all, with the money I make, I aspire to donate a portion to non-profit organizations fighting hunger and diseases in underprivileged areas or communities. In the long term, I plan to use my future well-established reputation to advocate for the much-needed change in the way of perceiving and addressing the issue of hunger notably at the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund, and others organizations fighting impunity, inequality, and crises globally.
However, I do not wait to do everything in the future. You see, the issue of education, health, and nutrition is of great interest to me, as it will be at the center of many projects that my future company will initiate. That's why I decided to take a Nutrition and Health course last Fall semester. There, I learned that many college students are among those who lack the right nutritional balance in their diets, and countless are malnourished. Forty-one percent of university students are food insecure. Malnutrition and diet imbalance, then cause many health issues among these students. Studies show that most of these college students that are affected are from minority groups; many are immigrants. Females students are also most impacted by food insecurity. I also found out that many universities across the nation establish food banks where anyone eligible can go stock up. These food items are donations made to support those who lack them. That is why I donated. Not because I am rich, but because I can identify myself with these unfortunate college students. I also volunteered to work five hours at the Georgia State University's food bank serving students with items they were looking for as they came to stock up. My donation was an act of compassion, but it also foreshadows my intentions for the future.
Although I was born and raised in Kinshasa, the political capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, social disparities were visible to everyone. The country is one of the poorest on earth, with one of the highest illiteracy rates. The infant mortality rate is very high. The average Congolese citizen lives with one American dollar per day. The politicians own all the big businesses and control all the sectors of the economy- they are incredibly wealthy, while the populations are impoverished. They embezzle billions of American dollars each year, while soldiers, teachers, and nurses are unpaid. The country has no infrastructures while politicians own castles worth millions of dollars in Europe where their families carelessly live.
In Congo, I woke up every day at 4:00 AM to attend classes. Taking inspiration from Eleanor Roosevelt, who said that "the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams," I worked harder than any student in my class, and I academically outperformed them all.
My family and I arrived in Atlanta, Georgia, in February of 2012. My life in the United States was not as easy as I had difficulties adapting. Going from the Congo to an English-speaking country was complicated. My conscious was not quiet at all, continually reminding me of my previous academic achievements. I just was not used to being mediocre. These feelings of frustration motivated me a lot. Even though English represented a barrier against my dreams of the future, I kept working hard, and to my joy, the hard work paid off.
One year later, my comprehension of the English language improved significantly! I took tests such as Georgia's Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests, Benchmark tests, and End-of-Course Tests. I passed them all brilliantly. I graduated from high school with honors, and eight years after arriving in the United States; here I am, a senior at Georgia State University. I regularly make the President and Dean's list, and I have the grade point average to show for it. On May 27th, 2017, I successfully became the first person ever in my family to graduate from High school. The following semester, I continued my education through college with the help of local businesses' scholarships awarded to me. Knowledge is crucial for advancing in life, but I was only able to progress because local companies offered me the opportunity. My story is unique, but there are others like me. I believe that such cases highlight the positive impacts that local enterprises may have on the lives of many youths in their communities.
I moved to the United States at age thirteen. At the age of fifteen, I possessed my first computer with access to the internet. It was after moving to the United States that I had realized how technologically advanced the world is. I was then determined to make an impact technically. However, it was only after my high school graduation that I had decided to be a computer science major at Georgia State University. Last Summer at Georgia State University campus, I worked as a Supplemental Instructor (S.I.) Leader, tutoring my peers. Now, I am working with the TRIO Student Support Services at Georgia State University to help my peers in the subjects of Database, Systems-Level programming, Data Structures, and Principles of Computer Science.
The egg can evolve to a chick if fertilized. The same way that my ambition to innovate by effectively establishing a company that conceives, manufactures, and programs medical devices, which would save many lives while improving the quality of care, will come to life with the experience gained while programming complex systems throughout my college years.