I suffer from ADHD. Not affected, not inculcated. I suffer from it. At an early age, before I understood why I felt the ways I did, why everything was so confusing and frustrating, I was violent. I would kick and scream and assault my teachers. In the third grade, my parents and I took the risk of medicating, and it revolutionized my life. I felt in control of my head, and I could finally begin coming into my own. During this time of hardship, one of my teacher reached out her hand to me: Mrs. Nichole. She was my teacher for two years at my time at Oak View Elementary, and she was instrumental in helping me overcome my mental illness by inspiring my dreams. She learned that I had a passion for Veterinary, and decided to contact her friend, who worked at a veterinary clinic. She set up a puzzle with nine pieces, and I'd get a piece everytime I had good behaviour. And in a couple of months, the puzzle was finished. It was a cold, cool morning I absconded through the van doors, into the sterile arms of the vetrinary clinic. It was a cold, cool building, like a beautiful castle of science and health. I can't remember her face anymore; but I remember walking past the visitation, past the check-up table with its glossy metallic sheen, and past the double doors into the operating room. I remember this so well, blood, every which way. On the table, a dog on anesthesia, and by its side? Doctors, working tirelessly. It was only a neutering, but I never knew it to be such a brutal scene. But seeing it first hand, at such a young age, left a positive impact on me. It made me realize the kind of sacrifice needed, the kind of work needed, to do these things we take for granted. We went around the facility, looking at all the dogs and cats and lizards and chicks, in their kennels or concrete cells. But all in all, I think that image is what stuck with me. Afterwards, I finally realized what it means to be responsible, and to work hard for these things. I became medicated, I chose to be; and although it is painful and exhausting, I still work for my future. I overcame my own issues, of my own volition, because I learned about the world around me. That sentiment has always been with me, learning more is always better. And now, I want to learn even more, and for that? I need your help, to really idealize these things in my head.

I have always had a deep passion for biology and the sciences. I wish to join the fight against starvation and instability in the best ways I can, innovating in agriculture and genetic modification. I want to become a biotechnological researcher, and really make change where it matters, focusing into farming practices and pollution control. To put it simply, I want to look at a meadow, and take a deep breath of air; pure and free from our own folly. Works such as Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut have left their impact on how I choose to view the world, and how I should tackle the challenges it proposes. This scholarship will give me the opportunity to go to college, despite being a first generation student, and give my passions a truly academic touch. Once I graduate, I wish to work as a research assistant and learn even more under someone in the profession. Then, well, only the future can hold. As something to show off my creative prowess, I will share a work of mine, my novel. What I will present to you is not the finished or publish product, but a glimpse into just how dedicated I truly am.

As a STEM student, true to heart, I idolize Jonas Salk, the man who never wanted a podium. I plan to go into Biological Studies, specifically into biotechnology, in this world that is beginning a second green revolution. Like me, all those years past, Jonas wanted to better the world with his research. I plan to do the same. I wish for a world full of proper and positive genetic engineering that feeds the world without making the rivers run green with algae and throw carbon into our atmosphere. A world where children bask in the shade of trees, with sunny blue skies and clean air, with clean foods and potable water from the lakes. We, as a species, are destroying ourselves while stopping good change with ignorance and fear. We need more people fighting for a better future. We need more scientist figuring out solutions, We need more teachers giving information to students. We need more educated politicians putting in their word to the people. We need the government to subsidy what really matter. We need Americans to realize that our way of life has no future, a debt reaching above 30 trillion. What we need, above all else, are more people in the STEM career. That is why I am here, I will fight for these things, and create a better world for everyone; from the high-reaching skyscrapers down to the wild bungalow. My family simply cannot afford college, but we are just barely out of reach for poverty-based financial assistance, and we need help. That is why I am here, I will plead and fight for my own future. I have focused myself in academics, because that is where I know I will shine. That is why I am here, I am proficient in the STEM line of academics. This scholarship is perfect for me. I have long since been passionate for biology, first starting in elementary school with a fascination for veterinary. Eventually, it became marine biology, the rumors of coral reefs and the deep ocean. But, through my classes my views expanded, and expanded, and expanded, until it reached a pinnacle. I realized that, above all, my passion didn't settle within a single field, but as an all encompassing curiosity in all life. So, instead of looking even farther out, I looked closer, into the real workings of each cell. Microbiology and cell physics, biostatistics and bioengineering, and eventually, biotechnology. Genetic modification, industrial application, agricultural prowess. Biotechnology has been walking alongside humans for generations, first starting with basic farming. Selective breeding; genetic modification. Crop trading; industrial application. Broad-spectrum pesticides; agricultural prowess. But now, another turn of the wheel has come, and death may have come knocking with it. Biotechnology must change something, quickly. And that change will come with my generation of scientists, and that generation needs financial aid from you. Now, I ask you. Will you invest in our shared future? Or will we truly fall into ruin?