Growing up Muslim in a city with so much diversity like NYC is an experience like no other. But growing up as a Muslim of mixed ethnicities was difficult, especially while being named after my country Palestine. My mother is Puerto Rican and converted to Islam in her early 20s. My father is Palestinian and grew up Muslim. My 5 siblings and I were all raised in a strict Palestinian-Muslim household in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood going to public schools where a majority of the study body was Hispanic. Growing up, we didn't celebrate Christmas, go to mixed-gender birthday parties, have friends of the same sex, go to friends' houses, have sleepovers, go on class sleep-away trips or participate in other activities most of my friends thought were normal. Explaining my lifestyle and home life to friends and classmates was always frustrating because it wasn't very common that you met a Hispanic Muslim, or even a Muslim that was half-Hispanic half-Arab. It was very hard for most to understand and accept. I wasn't very welcomed by the Hispanic student population because I didn't share the same lifestyle. Nor was I very welcomed by the Arab Muslim students because I was mixed. For this reason, I worked very hard to achieve and maintain academic excellence to stand out and be acknowledged. Being able to share my ethnicity and religion with others and teach them that Islam is a religion not just for Arabs, made me proud of my identity and allowed me to mature at a very young age. I loved the attention I got for being different, even when it wasn't positive, but wanted to make it worth something. I worked hard to maintain the highest grades and set the highest goals for myself from the time I was in elementary school to this day. I wanted to earn the attention and break stereotypes and traditions of Muslim women not being successful individuals and pursuing professional careers. From about 9 years old, I've known that I wanted to be a doctor. I loved the thought of helping people and having such a respectable career. When developing my interest in surgery, everyone told me that it wasn't a job for a woman, a wife, or a mother. That I'd have to choose between having a family or a career. This made me work even harder in school and on my path to becoming a surgeon. I strive to become a deserving, hardworking, Muslim woman in the surgical field and hope to inspire others like me to do the same. Receiving this scholarship will help me pay for medical school and continue to work toward breaking stereotypes about Muslim women not being able to have both a family and a successful career.