The loss of my grandfather when I was 14 years old shaped my life in ways I could not even imagine. We were very close and his death was sudden, leaving no time to prepare, although I am not sure you can ever really prepare for something like that. All of my firsts he would miss. His death gave me the courage and strength I never knew I possessed to gather myself, hone my future goals, and work feverishly to make him proud. My grandfather had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma just about a year prior to his untimely death. He was a veteran, having served in the Vietnam War. My dad would take off work every Friday to take him to the VA for chemotherapy. Now you may think we knew he was sick, so why did I say his death was unexpected? In November of 2019, his health had improved and he was deemed cancer free, on the road to recovery. Our family was elated and we could finally breathe a sigh of relief. He was as stubborn as a mule and we just knew he could beat his cancer. Then the call we never thought would happen happened. It was a Saturday afternoon just before Thanksgiving and I remember it well because I had just finished a swim meet. My dad received a call saying my grandfather was at home and experiencing difficulty breathing. An ambulance had been called. My dad rushed over to him and found him gasping for air with the EMS team already there and trying to get him comfortable before heading to the hospital. This would be the last time anyone would talk to him. He was taken to the hospital, intubated, and never recovered. The doctors could not understand what was happening but knew he was very sick. He was in the ICU and began to experience cardiomyopathy, blood clots in his legs, and kidney problems, none of which he had previously. The hospital was so perplexed that they were consulting cardiologists at regional hospitals to try to find an answer, but none would come. His condition continued to decline and he ultimately succumbed to this unknown illness about a week later on December 1, 2019. Unknown yet to the world, but within a month of his death we would begin to hear about COVID 19. I have to wonder if he died due to undiagnosed COVID infection as most of his symptoms were consistent with what we soon would come to know as a COVID 19 infection. One thing was evident and that was despite being cancer free, his immune system was suppressed by his recent chemotherapy, which would have made him more susceptible to any infection. The death of my grandfather left an undeniable whole in my heart. He would miss my sweet 16, teaching me how to drive, proms, and my high school graduation. I knew he would be cheering me on even though he could not be here physically but it would all be different. I spoke at his funeral service and despite being only 14 and super shy, I felt it was my duty to speak and my parents did not deny me that right. I remained composed and spoke of a grandpa who was loving and caring and about how much I would miss him. There was not a dry eye in the house and it was the bravest thing I had ever done. That was the moment I came to the realization that even though it would be difficult, I could persevere and fight to make him proud. I made up my mind that day and never looked back. I would get my license, go to prom, graduate high school, and begin college. I graduated cum laude with a 4.0 GPA and I knew I had made him proud. I volunteered throughout my high school years, giving back at the very hospital where he had succumbed to his illness. I decided to follow a career in medicine, hoping to become a physician and give back to my community and beyond, partially in his honor. The sudden loss of my grandfather during an influential age in my life allowed me to focus on serving others and making him proud. I have achieved everything I have put my mind to thus far and I expect to graduate college as a physician, hoping to specialize in Neonatology. Knowing he would not be here to celebrate my wins made me fight harder to ensure he would be impressed by my accomplishments. I will forever fight to serve my community, make a difference, and make him a proud grandpa!

Imagine being able to graduate college with a degree in medicine and provide care to our youngest, most vulnerable patients. Becoming a Neonatologist and working to save innocent preemies, giving them a fighting chance at a well deserved life would be my dream career. I currently attend Mount St. Mary's University in Maryland majoring in Biology with a pre-medicine focus. I am determined to make my dream a reality and look forward to the day I get to help babies in their fight for survival. I have always enjoyed working with children and have a personal connection to a baby who was born prematurely. My mother went into labor at 29 weeks gestation causing my brother to be delivered 11 weeks early. It was touch and go in the beginning and my brother would ultimately spend almost 3 months in the NICU. Watching my brother grow up and have a normal life was attributable to the entire care team at York Hospital. Their compassion coupled with excellent medical care provided the setting needed for him to overcome adversity, and not only grow, but thrive. This personal experience along with my love of children led to my decision to become a Neonatologist. After serving in many capacities, I found my most rewarding volunteerism came from helping children. As a runner, I have served as the anchor for Healthy Kids Running Series races, providing encouragement and support to the children running the race. This amazing program introduces children from a young age to physical fitness in the hope it leads to a healthy lifestyle. I have helped run intermediate track meets for my school. My Rho Kappa Social Studies Honor Society fundraised to buy a book for every student in one of our underprivileged elementary schools to help keep the children reading over the summer months. Lastly, I volunteered at York Hospital on the pediatric floor, playing with the children who were hospitalized trying to keep their mind off their medical situation, even if only for a short time. All of these life experiences have led to my decision to continue to serve the public and give back in any capacity to my community through medicine. This scholarship would help provide the funds needed to support my dream of becoming a physician, specializing in Neonatology. My college degree would further allow me to provide servitude to my community as a physician for many years to come. Attaining this scholarship would allow me to pay forward my servitide toward others, furthering the mantra I choose to live by, service above self. I appreciate the opportunity to apply for your generous scholarship. My desire to become a Neonatologist and serve our smallest patients fuels my passions to succeed in college and make my dream become a reality. I look forward to the future with enthusiasm and optimism to provide strength and courage to the littlest patients in my community, allowing them to succeed in life just as was done for my little brother.

Service above self Is a mantra I have always lived by. I have volunteered in various capacities since a young age and enjoy helping others. This way of life has led to my desire to help others in my future career in medicine. I would love nothing more than to graduate medical school as a physician, specializing in Neonatology, preserving my place in servitide toward others for the remainder of my life. I began serving others when I joined Girl Scouts in kindergarten. My troop leader was very active and promoted helping others any chance she got. We donated cookies to local senior centers and troops overseas. We sat and talked with senior citizens who were residents at nursing homes and sang Christmas carols to them at Christmas time. We collected school supply donations for children in need and coloring books and crayons for children who were hospitalized. The church ladies taught us how to sew and we made blankets for local shut ins. Church dinners were staffed by the Girl Scouts as we helped cook, wrap silverware, serve, and wash dishes to support the church. We made toiletry kits for homeless shelters and donated our time serving popcorn and hot chocolate to benefit the park service. Our most lasting servitide involved starting a garden for our local park that is still being planted and maintained to this day for the better good of the community. Learning to give of myself to assist others became a life long journey and it was a high that made me want more. Once I started high school, I volunteered with our local healthy kids running series program, serving as the anchor for children's races, providing encouragement for the children to do their best and finish the race. This program is important to me as a runner because it starts children running at an early age and helps promote lifelong fitness. I would also volunteer in various capacities within the honor societies I was involved in. I helped usher for school musicals, run intermediate track meet days, and read to elementary school children during parent teacher conferences. We fundraised to buy each child in one of our underprivileged elementary schools a summer reading book to help keep them engaged and actively reading over the summer. As I began to realize I loved helping children, my future career thoughts began to take further shape. My career choice became evident after I began volunteering at my local hospital on the pediatric floor. I looked forward to Sunday mornings spending time playing with the kids and helping take their minds off being hospitalized, even if only for a moment. I knew my future in medicine would involve children. After shadowing in the NICU at the same hospital, I knew I wanted to help our youngest, most vulnerable patients by becoming a Neonatologist. In college, I still find ways to give back and support my collegiate community. I am looking forward to the positive impact I will soon have on the world through my chosen career as a Neonatologist. The impact of becoming a physician and giving back to my community and beyond will allow my fulfillment of my servitude to others throughout the rest of my life.

Determination is the grit of our soul that allows us to become anything in life we want to be. We need determination to overcome different experiences in our lives and I have used detemination in my education and athleticism. Many experiences come together to bring a full picture of who we are and what we are to become. I am determined to become a Neonatologist and to give back to my community and beyond, serving the youngest members of our society, allowing them to have a fighting chance at a long and fulfilling life. Many challenges come our way in life. Although not my own personal challenge, my brother was born at 29 weeks gestational age, posing a challenge for my family. Not only did he have to overcome his prematurity to survive and thrive, my family, including myself, had to overcome what looked like a very different path chosen for us in life, going against the norm. This challenge allowed our family to become closer and work together in overcoming Carson's newborn health journey which took many months for him to be cleared to come home and years of further monitoring. Another personal experience where I needed to show determination was in athletics. I tried several sports before I found my niche. I began running at age 9 and found I truly loved it and was even pretty good at it! As a sophomore, I quit field hockey to pursue cross country. I was joining a female team already stacked with talent and knew it would not be easy. I quickly found I was able to score points for the team, placing in the top 7 during meets. I was enjoying this new found high when post season began and I contributed to my team, helping them win a county title. As we prepared for districts, I was told by my coaches that I would not race at districts but would go as an alternate. One of the girls who had run as a freshman, but had not placed higher than me during the regular season, would take my place at districts and states due to her team seniority. I was upset and frustrated but wanted to show a team player mentality, so I went to support my team who ultimately won a district title. We would go on to states, where I also was not chosen to run, and placed as the third best female team in the state. Learning to rise above this challenge where I was treated unfairly by my coach was difficult but the resilience I showed in the face of adversity led me to be a better person. I continued running in high school and am now a Division 1 cross country and track and field athlete in college. I could have easily given up because I was definitely discouraged, but found a way to rise above and keep going. I have even found that running is a great stress reliever and continues to help me relax and overcome adversity daily. My resiliency to overcome challenges I have faced in life has given me the determination to succeed at anything I put my mind to. I know I want to become a physician specializing in Neonatology and that is the goal I will attain. I have learned to face hardship and troubling circumstances with my family in light of my brother's premature birth and rose above unfair circumstances in athletics. These hard times have made me a better, more determined person, willing to share my talent with the world as a future physician.

Imagine being just over 4 years old and discovering your brother is being born early, at 29 weeks gestational age to be exact. I don't remember a lot from that time other than the adults in my family were all upset. We spent the better part of 3 months visiting my brother in the NICU until he was finally deemed ready to come home. I recall the time spent in the NICU with fond memories, talking to the nurses and doctors, as I was a bit of a social butterfly at that age. It would only be later on that I would realize the magnitude of this situation and how my brother being born unexpectedly early would change the course of my life forever. Remembering those times spent visiting my brother in the NICU would help shape my future career goal of becoming a Neonatologist. I love science and the realm of discovery it can uncover and helping others through volunteerism. I began volunteering in my local hospital on the pediatric floor just prior to the start of my senior year in high school. I loved spending Sunday mornings there playing with the children and keeping their minds occupied from their hospitalization, even if only for a moment in time. After spending a day shadowing in the very NICU my brother spent time in, I knew Neonatology was the profession for me. I was blessed to be able to round with the doctor and nurses who took loving care of my brother almost 14 years earlier. I also experienced a Caesarian section birth from start to delivery and watched the care team whisk the young baby away to be evaluated in the NICU, much like I imagined happened for my mother on the very morning my brother was born. I felt the compassion and desire to help these newborn babies exhibited by the care team and knew I wanted to help in any way possible. I am currently a rising sophomore at Mount St. Mary's University in Maryland, majoring in biology with a pre-medicine focus. I work hard in college and am looking forward to entrance into medical school and one day specializing in Neonatology. I will relish the day I am able to give back to my community and beyond as a physician and impact the lives of the young preemies who will one day cross my path. My current focus on my biology degree and upcoming scientific research could lead to a potentially life altering medicinal discovery. I can only hope to be successful enough to be involved in research that could change this world for the better. Becoming a Neonatologist is my dream and I am determined to make that dream a reality. My strong love of science and need to make a difference in this world has brought me to medicine. My brother's untimely experience of being born prematurely has spawned my specialty focus into Neonatology. Becoming a physician and serving the public would impact not only my local community, but my outreach would allow me to serve others in need throughout the world. I just want to be able to provide comfort, support, and medicine to the youngest, most vulnerable population to allow them a fighting chance to what may have been an untimely start to their precious lives.

Dr. Bell, Neonatologist, is a title I one day hope to have. My lofty, but attainable, career goal has been long rooted in my psyche from a young age, beginning when my brother was abruptly born at 29 weeks gestational age. I hope to use my love for science to attain a career as a physician and make a future impact on my community and beyond by caring for our youngest, most vulnerable, patients. I was just over 4 years old when my mother went into premature labor with my brother. It was a scary time for the adults and I didn't realize the magnitude of the situation bestowed upon our family. I knew we would go to the hospital almost nightly for 3 months until my brother was finally safe to come home. I can recall talking to the doctors and nurses and feeling sad for all the babies confined to what appeared to be a prison cell, although it was just an incubator. Little did I realize at the time, but my subconscious would not let me forget this experience during my later years and I would remember the compassion the nurses and doctors possessed in caring for these patients. I was always a good student in school and gravitated toward science. I loved biology and chemistry and even excelled in high school anatomy and physiology. I enjoyed dissection and learning about the functions of the body. I would engage in a heavy science track in high school, taking AP and honors courses whenever offered, concluding with an over 4.0 GPA. Two experiences during my senior year solidified my desire to become a Neonatologist. The first was an amazing opportunity to shadow in the NICU for a day and the ability to collaborate with the very nurses and physician who cared for my brother almost 14 years earlier. I rounded with the care team and was even able to experience a Caesarian section from start to delivery. I watched as the team cared for the tiny preemie and whisked him away to the NICU for further evaluation. In August at the start of my senior year I also began volunteering on the pediatric floor of the same hospital. I continued my service there until March and enjoyed every moment spent with the children trying to take their mind off being hospitalized, even if only for a moment. Both of these experiences allowed me to realize working in medicine and with children was the profession for me. My love of science and the possibility of new discoveries and advancements in medicine lends to my future career as a physician. I am interested in reseach in science with the goal of one day becoming published, or most importantly, making a potentially life altering scientific discovery. My education with respect to research and my future career would lend to a life of servitide toward others. Community and world impact would be one where I use research to discover new therapies and use my knowledge gained from my education to protect and help babies in need. I dream of the day when I become a Neonatologist and all of my hard work and dedication to my eduation is realized. Science is the vessel to take me to my future career in medicine and I love the intetest that science sparks in discovery, knowing anything can be possible. I know I will be able to make an impact on my community and beyond through medicine and helping give newborn babies a chance at survival to live their greatest future lives.

Dr. Riley Bell, Neonatologist is in my future. How do I know this and how am I so confident I can make my dreams become a reality? I am a dedicated freshman student athlete at Mount St. Mary's University who works hard, always putting my best foot forward. I multi-task well and never give up, even though I have faced adversity in the past. I am determined to obtain my undergraduate degree in biology and go to medical school, becoming a physician specializing in Neonatology. Throughout my high school tenure, I ran varsity track and cross country while taking AP and honors courses, graduating with a 4.0 GPA and cum laude honors, in the top 7% of my class. I worked a part time job, volunteered at my local hospital on the pediatric floor on Sunday mornings, and was a member of several honor societies including National Honor Society, Rho Kappa Social Studies Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society, and National French Honor Society. I was a member of varsity club and played the flute in the symphonic and marching bands. My hard work has continued into college where I still work part time and run Division I indoor track, outdoor track, and cross country. I am a member of the honors college and made Dean's list during my first semester at the Mount. It may seem as if this all came easy to me, but there was a time when I struggled with severe anxiety which I had to face and overcome in order to be successful. My anxiety started in middle school and became debilitating the beginning of my freshman year. I found myself feeling socially awkward and difficult to express myself in certain situations. It was hard for me to look at adults and speak or ask questions. I would worry if I would look stupid if I got somewhere early or feel out of place if I didn't know anyone where I was going. When covid hit the second half of my freshman year of high school, I retreated into my shell along with most of the country who felt isolated and abandoned. It would take time to pull myself out of this dark place, but with the help of an amazing counselor, I was able to navigate through my anxiety and find my niche in a world that looked different to everyone immediately after covid challenged our societal beliefs. Knowing that I always wanted to be involved in medicine, I realized my love for children and babies during my latter high school years. I shadowed in the NICU and found it exciting and exhilarating. I knew I was smart enough and brave enough, but could I overcome my anxiety disorder and be able to talk to people, as needed in the realm of medicine. Being able to suppress my anxiety through counseling has been a blessing and has helped propel me toward my future career goals. Becoming a physician and specializing in Neonatology is my lifelong dream. I have the tools at my disposal to make my dreams a reality. Having overcome adversity by minimizing my anxiety has cleared the way for my success. I am determined to make my goals come true and possess the determination, compassion, and grit to become the best doctor I can and serve my community and beyond for the remainder of my lifetime!

Everyone experiences adversity at some time in their life. The challenges faced can range from minor to life threatening but each episode has the potential to disrupt our foundation at its core. How we work to overcome adversity is important to our future. My family faced tremendous adversity when my brother was born at 29 weeks gestational age, an ordeal which would shake up our lives and allow us to work hard to face our fears head on. Although I was just under 4 years old at the time, I remember how worried and upset my parents were at the untimely arrival of my brother. A time that was supposed to be filled with joy was full of angst. Only once I was older and heard the stories would I realize how trying this time had been for our family. The myriad of tests my brother would endur including heart scans to look for defects, eye exams to look for retinopathy of prematurity, and neurological tests looking for abnormal brain wave function or seizures. There was blood sugar checks by pricking his heel numerous times a day and light treatment for jaundice where I saw him wearing cool sunglasses not even understanding the magnitide of the condition. We would visit him almost everyday for the 3 months he resided in the NICU until he was finally cleared to come home with a heart monitor. As previously mentioned, my views of this family adversity were quite different at different stages of my life. When my brother was first born, I really had no idea that this was an adverse event at all! I knew he was in the hospital but for all intensive purposes, it appeared to me as if he was doing fine and getting great care. I was aware my mom would cry alot, but she had just had a baby and I really did not give it a second thought. Once I grew up and heard discussions of when my brother was born, I knew that this event had changed my family dynamic and represented a trying time in all our lives. To now know the enormity of this event and how it would structure our future family dynamics was eye opening! My brother would come out of this ordeal with very minimal effects, mostly ADD/ADHD although learning to deal with the behavior associated with these conditions would be a life long lesson. My perception of life was forever changed with the birth of my brother at 29 weeks gestational age. We have learned as a family to overcome this adversity and continue to help my brother on his road to recovery. His behavioral effects from his preemie status are something be receives counseling and extra help for in school. We are so blessed that this unfortunate ordeal did not result in physical malformations or anatomical defects. All life is precious and sacred. To have been blessed by the birth of a brother and learn to overcome the adversity of his untimely birth have undoubtedly put a strain on our family dynamics. My brother not only survived the ordeal but has thrived throughout life with very little effects of his prematurity. I have learned to be strong in the face of adversity and overcome life challenges through the love and support of my family. This experience has led me to my life path of becoming a physician specializing in Neonatology to assist families in overcoming the adversity my family faced and giving these young, precious babies a fighting chance at a long and healthy life.

Medicine has always been my passion. I have consistently lived my life by the mantra service above self and love volunteering in any capacity, but especially helping children. These combined passions have led to my desire to become a physician specializing in Neonatology, allowing service in my community by helping our youngest, most vulnerable patients. I am a current freshman undergraduate student at Mount St. Mary's University in Maryland studying biology with a pre-medicine focus. I am a dedicated student athlete who made Dean's list following my first college semester while part of the honors program. I compete at the Division 1 level in two sports, cross country and track and field. I understand the dedication needed to be successful in both athletics and academics and know I will succeed at becoming a physician after obtaining my bachelor's degree in biology. Why medicine and why Neonatology you may ask? Medicine has always been a staple in my family as my mother is a pharmacist. She is proud to be a respected healthcare professional who has been able to provide a service to her community for the last 22 years. Neonatology appeared in my subconscious from the young age of 4. My brother was born at 29 weeks gestational age and I remember spending time in the NICU with my parents visiting him for his three month stay. As I got older, I found volunteering an essential part of my life and especially enjoyed helping children. I have assisted children in many capacities including serving as an anchor for the Healthy Kids Running Series races and volunteering Sunday mornings at my local hospital on the pediatric floor playing with children. Just prior to my senior year I shadowed one of the NICU physicians who had cared for my brother 13 years earlier. I rounded with the nurses and physicians and was thrilled to see a Caesarean section from start to finish as we whisked the baby to the NICU for care and treatment. This extraordinary experience only solidified my love for Neonatology and my career aspirations of becoming a Neonatologist. My education is of utmost importance to me. I have set the bar high with respect to my career goals, but through my dedication, know they are attainable. I have continued to serve my community through volunteerism throughout my life, starting at a young age. My servitude to others will only continue as I follow my educational dreams as I am always looking for a way to help my community, especially children. My education will afford me the opportunity to treat these newborn babies and give them a fighting chance at a long, healthy life.

Creation is a tricky subject where lines are drawn in the sand. You are either on one side or the other and there is rarely a gray area. The side of the line I choose to be on is no secret, but is complicated. Although I was brought up as a child of Methodist religion, attending church and Sunday school, I do not believe there is a God who created heaven, Earth, and the human race. I am a science major and enjoy all types of science. As I started middle school and learned about Darwin's theory of evolution, it just made sense. There was scientific proof through fossil records that men transformed from apes. We see evolution in all types of species even to this day through environmental adaptation. After further reading the Origin of the Species by Charles Darwin, I was as convinced as he was that the human race evolved as a species, as other species have transformed throughout time. There was physical, tangible evidence of this, which is not the case in believing God created the heavens and human race. The Bible and other religious works are the only words we have to believe in a higher creation and without physical evidence, I am not a believer in this form of creationism. Another reason I chose to not believe in a God created society is my disbelief of the wonders of God. Despite learning about God and the bible in Sunday school as a young child, I was skeptical. I was always encouraged to pray to God and he would listen, help, and heal. But when trying times were bestowed onto my family, was God there to help? I never felt connected to my religion or to God. This disconnect left the door open for doubt which would inevitably lead to my desire to find other more rational explanations for the story of creation. It did not take much of a leap for me to invest in Darwin's theory of evolution and the Big Bang Universe creation theory when presented to me in middle school. Belief in a religion and a Creator who designed heaven and earth, including the human race is a widely accepted theory. For me, personally, this is a theory I cannot subscribe too. Despite being raised in a Christian household, I truly submit to the atheistic views that their is no aforementioned God who created the world in which we live in. I wholeheartedly believe in science and scientific proof as it relates to the creation of our Universe and human race. Although my position may not be a popular one, I truly feel that tangible evidence based on science speaks for itself and that scientific proof will always sway my beliefs with respect to Creation.

My passion for healthcare has been engrained into my life from an early age. I come from a family immersed in healthcare, including my mother who is a pharmacist. I would like to become a physician and specialize in Neonatology which stems from my brother's untimely entry into this world at 29 weeks gestational age. I have always worked hard and achieved better results the busier I am. I am a current undergraduate student at Mount St. Mary's University, am a two-sport athlete running cross country and track and field, and currently work a part time job while attaining Dean's list following my first college semester. As I previously stated, medicine has always been part of my life. What made me decide on a career in medicine was my joy and love of helping others. Beginning with Girl Scouts, I learned that service above self was a mantra in which I wanted to live my life. I have completed volunteer service in various aspects like helping out at church, sewing blankets for shut-ins, making toiletry kits for homeless shelters, and planting a garden to produce fruits and veggies for our community. I have cleaned the school campus by picking up litter with my cross country team and served as the race anchor for the Healthy Kids Running Series to provide encouragement for a healthy lifestyle through physical activity. I volunteered in various aspects through different clubs at my school ushering for the musical, buying books for children in one of our underprivileged elementary schools, and running junior achievement stations for underclassmen. During my senior year of high school, I volunteered Sunday mornings at my local hospital on the pediatric floor playing with the children who were hospitalized. All of these experiences allowed me to help others, as I would be doing with a career in medicine as a physician. Following my volunteer service at the same hospital my brother was born in all those years earlier coupled with his experience in the NICU, neonatology really spoke to me. I completed a shadowing experience with one of the same physicians who was on my brother's care team at the start of my senior year in high school. I was able to round with the staff who cared for those tiny babies and see a C-section from start to completion where we whisked the baby away to the NICU. It was such an amazing experience, and I knew that this is how I wanted to spend my life, giving back to these babies and their families and providing them a chance to live and thrive. I work best when I am busy. I getter better grades and seem to be able to have a better focus. I am currently working part time while in college in a job that I have held for over 2 years while graduating cum laude in high school with a 4.0 GPA while simultaneously running track and cross country and playing the flute in band. It is hard, for sure, but it is what I know, and how I function to the best of my abilities in all aspects of my life. I am looking forward to continuing to find volunteer opportunities while in college while continuing my other obligations. I have always been a dedicated student, but also an employee, volunteer, and athlete. Although it is very difficult at times to find a balance between work, school, athletics, and volunteerism, I find this is where I excel. I look forward to my future career in Neonatology as a physician, giving back to my community.

Many careers have an impact on the world, but medicine may be one of the most impactful. The outreach of medicine is necessary to keep us well. The discovery of new vaccines and treatments can have a lasting effect on life expectancy and quality of life. Technological advances in medicine have saved many lives and have been a crucial staple in my choice of career. My career aspirations are to become a Neonatologist and help treat and protect the youngest, most vulnerable patients in this world affording them an opportunity at a meaningful future life. I am a dedicated student athlete who currently attends Mount St. Mary's University as a freshman. During my high school tenure, I posted a 4.0 GPA while taking AP and honors classes, graduated cum laude in the top 7 percent of my class, was a member of Varsity club as a two sport athlete, running cross country and track and field, and was a member of National Honor Society, French Honor Society, Rho Kappa Social Studies Honor Society, and Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society. I also played flute in the symphonic and marching bands and dedicated my high school years to volunteering at my school and in my community to help those in need. As a college freshman, I currently have a 3.44 GPA, making Dean's list after the fall semester while a member of the honors program. I run both track and cross country for the Mount. I give everything I have to my academia and work diligently to achieve the goals I set for myself. This is how I know with confidence I will be successful in my pursuit of becoming a physician. Why Neonatology, you may ask? My love for helping babies stems from the unpredictable event of my younger brother being born at 29 weeks gestational age. Although I was little, I can still remember the care and compassion provided by the staff in the NICU where he resided for 3 months after his untimely birth. Before beginning my senior year in high school, I had the amazing opportunity to shadow one of the doctors who had cared for my brother 14 years earlier. This experience only solidified my desire to work in medicine in the NICU. I also spent most Sunday mornings during my senior year volunteering at the hospital on the pediatric floor playing with the children while they were hospitalized. My positive impact on the world through my career would be the joy of helping others, especially babies. I would love to also conduct medical research in an effort to help make a discovery that could one day alter medicine as we currently know it. I look forward to the day I can say "I did it" and become a physician specializing in Neonatology who provides care to sick babies in my community and beyond.

I am an avid reader and love movies. I prefer mystery when reading or philosophical books but love romantic comedies and dramas when watching a movie. I have always used the wisdom obtained from books, whether through academia or not to help shape my academic goals. Movies have taught me compassion and helping others which is also a lifelong goal as I follow the service above self motto throughout my life. I am a committed student who looks forward to my career aspirations knowing I have the desire and drive to help others in need. One movie that I love that comes to mind is Simon Birch. I know it is an older movie, but it has a timeless lesson. Simon never really fit in and only had his best friend, Joe. Friendship is important in life and to have those in your corner means everything. It also provides a meaningful lesson of being yourself and not being concerned with what others think of you. Each person has their own originality and what you bring to the table should be celebrated for its uniqueness. It is a story of being loved by people who are strangers but have your best interest in mind and become family. It is also a story about a greater purpose in life as Simon always believed he was born small and put here by God for a reason. His small stature and demeanor with the children saved many lives, but ultimately caused him to succumb to his injuries. This story is about love, compassion, friendship, companionship, leadership, and divinity, showing we are all here to serve a purpose in our lives under the direction of God. This movie has shaped my goals as it relates to my higher purpose in life as well as with respect to compassion for others, lending toward a career in medicine. I am a dedicated student athlete who currently attends Mount St. Mary's University in Maryland. I am a freshman with a 3.44 GPA who made Dean's List during my first semester while part of the honors program and studying biology with a pre-medicine focus. I run cross county as well as track and field in college, as I did in high school. My ultimate career aspirations are to become a doctor, specializing in Neonatology, allowing me to help the youngest, most vulnerable population in my community and beyond. I am excited to continue my servitude toward others through volunteerism as well as through my future career. This amazing scholarship would help me fulfill my dreams and continue to shape my goals of compassion toward others in my community and beyond.

Success is not defined by any one measure. It may be as simple as a smile when you succeeded in making someone happy. It may be a degree from a college or university. It may be a thank you received from helping someone in need. Success takes all shapes and forms and cannot always be quantitated. This scholarship would help provide the success needed for me to graduate college with a medical degree, specializing in Neonatology, while simultaneously helping decrease my student loan debt. I live my life performing servitude toward others. I have volunteered in my community and beyond in various capacities throughout my life, starting at a young age. My volunteerism provides joy and purpose to my life. It allows me to feel successful while helping others who may not have the means to achieve the success they desire in life. Working with the Healthy Kids Running Series program and providing support to the children running the race was important to me. I enjoyed running and working with the children. I provided encouragement to the kids running the races each week in fall and spring, cheering them onward while running alongside the children in the back to keep them moving and finish the race. This program strived to provide an outlet for children while teaching the basics of competition and providing a strong foundation for a healthy, active lifestyle. The parents were so appreciative for my help and the sheer joy on the faces of those children when they realized they could push through and complete the race was worth it. The children were successful in completing the race and I was successful in providing support to them to hopefully inspire a love for running or physical fitness in their future lives. Another successful venture in my life has been my volunteerism at my local hospital on the pediatric floor. I spent Sunday mornings of my senior year helping prepare rooms for occupancy and clean and organize the toy room for the children. My favorite and most rewarding part of the help I provided was getting to play with the children who were hospitalized, providing them some normalcy during an unfortunate circumstance. Some of these children were frequent fliers to the hospital due to chronic conditions and some were there for acute reasons, like surgery. The sheer joy on their faces provided enrichment to my life and helped define my life successes. This experience left me longing to help more children and was one of the deciding factors which led me to focus on a career in medicine.   Success looks like a lot of things in my life. It is the satisfaction I receive from helping those in need, especially children. I also revel in academic success as evidenced by my 4.0 GPA in high school and a 3.44 GPA after my first semester of college at Mount St. Mary's University as part of their honors program. This amazing scholarship opportunity would allow me to realize success through my future career by providing a degree in medicine while simultaneously decreasing my student loan debt, giving me a head start in my adult life.

Service above self is the motto I choose to live by. I have always been involved in my community and beyond since a young age and cherish my interactions helping others. My servitude began at a young age and has continued throughout my life, into adulthood. I look forward to serving my community to the best of my ability in the future and let my generosity toward others lead to a life of fulfillment. I joined a Daisy Girl Scout troop at a young age and continued with Girl Scouts until I started middle school. Our troop leader introduced and immersed us in a life of servitude. We learned at a young age how valuable we could be to our community if we took the time to help others in need. A few of our community service projects included making toiletry kits for the homeless shelters in our community, collecting coloring books and crayons for Caitlyn's Smiles to provide to children in the hospital, and collecting clothes for our local Good Will. We helped the church ladies sew quilts to provide to shut-ins, served and cleaned up during church fundraising dinners, and collected school supplies for our community students. At Christmas, we spent valuable time with the seniors at a local senior living facility and volunteered to sell hot chocolate and popcorn to raise money for our park system. We even started a garden at our local park to provide food for the community which is still being cared for and continued to this day! I found helping others to be exhilarating and would continue to look for ways to help my community after leaving the troop. Once I started middle and high school, I began to venture out and seek other opportunities to assist anyone in need. I had started running cross country and track and worked with the Healthy Kids Running Series program to serve as the anchor for the race, providing support and encouragement to the children to keep running and complete the race. This program helps promote a healthy lifestyle through physical fitness while teaching children competitiveness, skills that will stay with them for a lifetime. I also helped run intermediate track meets through Varsity club, read to children during parent teacher conferences at my elementary school with Rho Kappa, served as an usher for our school musical with National Honor Society, and led Junior Achievement stations for underclassmen with French Honor Society. Our cross country team helped set an example and keep our campus clean by picking up litter after practices and volunteering for 5K races held on campus. I also helped fundraise to purchase a book for each child in one of our underprivileged elementary schools to provide summer reading materials for children who may not have the means to obtain one, helping ease the summer reading slide. My most important service came during my senior year of high school where I spent Sunday mornings at my local hospital volunteering on the pediatric floor playing with the children who were hospitalized to try to take their mind of being there, even if only for a moment. My servitude has prepared me for a life of service to others. I have decided to continue helping others through the medical field, becoming a Neonatologist. My service above self mantra will always continue to guide my life and I look forward to continuing to assist those in need in my community and beyond.

Imagine your brother being born at 29 weeks gestational age. Although I was just 3 and a half years old at the time and did not fully embrace the magnitude of the situation, I knew that my brother could not come home from the hospital for 3 months. This experience would help mold my career aspirations of wanting to help others by becoming a Neonatologist. I have always been passionate about science and knew I wanted to pursue a degree in science with a pre-medicine focus. During high school, I gravitated toward biology and decided this would be my collegiate course of study. I am currently a freshman at Mount St. Mary's University majoring in biology while on a pre-medicine track. I love biology, including microbiology, which is important in research and medicine. I also really enjoyed the honors Anatomy and Physiology course I took in high school and really have a desire to learn how the body functions. During my first semester at the Mount, I took a psychology course and found the topic exhilarating. Although I want to specialize in Neonatology, I am fully engrossed in any study that provides insight into the human body. While at Mount St. Mary's University, I am currently a part of the honors program. This program culminates in a research project and I relish the opportunity to complete research in the field of biology as it may relate to the human body. I would love nothing more than to be published and most importantly, have my research lead to an important discovery someday. My love for helping others, especially children, began at a young age through my volunteer work with Girl Scouts. As I started high school, I found it rewarding to work with children, as I did through the Healthy Kids Running Series, serving as the anchor for the race and encouraging the children to keep moving, thus leading to a healthy lifestyle. At the start of my senior year, I spent Sunday mornings volunteering on the pediatric floor of my local hospital playing with the children and taking their mind off their hospitalization, even if only for the moment. A shadowing experience in the same NICU my brother resided at birth with one of the physicians on his care team, sealed my decision to specialize in Neonatology. I have always been drawn to the sciences, especially biology. It has been a lifelong dream to help others, realizing in my latter years of high school that I really wanted to focus on children. My brother's unfortunate entry into this world led me to Neonatology and during my shadowing experience, I felt at home. I look forward to the day I graduate with my biology degree, get accepted into medical school, and become a Neonatologist, helping our youngest, most vulnerable patients have a chance at life.

Access to affordable healthcare for all should be a birth right. However so many people in this country and the world do not have access to quality healthcare and may not even have any available healthcare. I live my life via the mantra service above self and volunteer to help others in need whenever possible. My career aspirations of becoming a Neonatologist will realize my dream of helping those in need, our most vunerable babies, while working as an activist to change the views of healthcare in our society, making exceptional healthcare available to everyone in need. My passion for lending a hand to others in need began as young as kindergarten. I joined Girl Scouts and was blessed to have a very involved troop leader who instilled kindness and servitude in her pupils. We performed various acts of generosity toward others including helping serve and clean up fundraiser church dinners, making quilts with the elder church ladies to deliver to shut-ins, and collecting school supplies for children in our school district. We visited senior living facilities to spend time with residents at Christmas, donated food to our local senior center, collected clothing for good will, gathered crayons and coloring books for hospitalized children, and made toiletry kits for our community homeless shelters. This love of helping others would only continue as I moved into middle school and high school where I volunteered with the Healthy Kids Running Series, serving as a race anchor encouraging kids to not give up and finish the race, thus promoting a healthy lifestyle. I also worked to pick up litter on our school campus with my cross country team, helped coordinate intermediate track meets, worked with underclassmen at junior achievement events, and fundraised to purchase a book for every child in one of our underprivileged elementary schools to help prevent the summer reading slide for families who may not have had the means to buy books. My most meaningful service to date was volunteering at my local hospital spending Sunday mornings on the pediatric floor playing with children to take their minds off their hospital stay. My brother's unfortunate entry into this world at 29 weeks gestational age furthered my desire to work in medicine and make sure children have the access they need to exceptional healthcare. The care provided to those precious babies by the amazing NICU team astounded me. I had an amazing opportunity at the start of my senior year in high school to shadow the same physician in the exact NICU that cared for my brother all of those years earlier. These experiences have only strengthened my desire to help others through medicine. I am currently an undergraduate student at Mount St. Mary's University studying biology with a pre-medicine focus. My goal is to become a Neonatologist, working to save our youngest members of society, offering them a chance at a wonderful, meaningful life. I will work diligently to continue my servitide toward others outside of my degree and focus on making healthcare affordable and accessible through healthcare reform. Everyone deserves to have access to quality healthcare, but our babies are the most at risk and deserve to grow up to further change the world, which may not be possible without Neonatologists and the availability of healthcare.

Everyone has a unique financial situation. Needing loans to pay for college is a big decision, leading to years of debt. This scholarship would help go a long way in achieving my career goals. My dream is to get an undergraduate degree in biology and continue my journey in medical school, training to become a Neonatologist. My parents are members of the societal middle class. They began saving money through a 529 college savings plan when I was little, allowing for some money toward my college education, but with the rising costs of college tuition, it is not nearly enough. My mother has a doctorate in pharmacy and understands the burden of college loans. She is currently still paying off her $130,000 debt she accumulated 20 years ago upon graduation of pharmacy school. Although we have a good life, the student loan debt my family has been saddled with has led to less money available to help pay for my college education. Any scholarship I can receive would help me be able to attain my goal of becoming a physician while decreasing my growing student loan debt. I am currently enrolled at Mount St. Mary's University where I am majoring in biology with a pre-medicine focus. I chose the Mount as my undergraduate college home because they were able to offer me a renewable generous academic scholarship to help me succeed in my goals. Due to little financial aid being available because of my parent's income, this school offered me the best way to have the least amount of loans while providing a high quality education to prepare me for my future in medical school and goal of becoming a physician. Achieving this scholarship would help me further attain my goal of becoming a Neonatologist. There are lots of rewarding jobs that have a positive impact on society. Medicine can be so rewarding and helping others in my community will always lead to positive outcomes. I am interested in Neonatology because my brother was born at 29 weeks gestational age. I have always been drawn to children and shadowing in the NICU prior to my senior year in high school strengthened my desire to work with preemies. My dream of becoming a Neonatologist will help these young, vulnerable patients get a chance at a long and prosperous life. Although my financial situation may look different from others, I am still in need and deserving of financial aid to assist in my pursuit of a college degree, thus helping to minimize my student loan debt. Being awarded this scholarship would help pay my tuition and assist in my dream of becoming a Neonatologist. I look forward to the day when I can work diligently to support and save our youngest members of society, making a positive impact on our community and beyond.

My favorite tarot card is the sun. It exudes happiness and contentment. It is a positive card that can mean good fortune. I choose to live my life thinking positive thoughts which is one reason the sun is my favorite tarot card. There was a time where I did not put much thought into tarot card readings. I felt that there was no possible way a deck of cards could have the confidence and foresight to portray the past, present, and even future. As I have grown older and wiser and experienced heartache, I have found comfort in the tarot card deck to help guide my future decisions. I have always had an amazing intuition but having a tarot card reading has been able to take any situation I may be experiencing to a whole new level and lead me to a better understanding equipped with the tools necessary to make crucial decisions. Everyone at some point in life experiences struggles. The sun tarot card can foreshadow good things and positive outcomes to current struggles. The positivity of the sun card appearing promotes hope that there is a way out of a dark situation. The sun represents optimism and we should all be optimistic in our lives. Positive thoughts breed positive actions and behaviors. With respect to finances, the sun can mean abundance. When the sun appears in a reading, you could be blessed financially. In romance, the sun can tell of contentment and delight in a relationship. Again, if there is some discord, the sun appears to tell you there will be a positive end to a situation. The sun in the upright position is almost always positive. When the sun appears in a reading in the reverse position, it may mean there is a blockage or some uncertainty or less clarity in a situation. It may also represent the inability to see how blessed you are with the positive aspects of life or things you already have. The sun is still overall positive, it just might mean you are needing clarity or to look for what positivity already exists in your life. The sun is my favorite tarot card in the tarot deck due to its meaning of optimism and pleasantries. I believe everyone should have a glass half full mentality and despite unavoidable life struggles, the sun card appears to remind us that a positive mindset can take us far in life, and that is a message we can all afford to hear and follow!

My immediate family has always felt acclimated to the medical field. Athough my parents have constantly encouraged me to forge my own path in life, it was truly evident that my mother, who is a pharmacist by trade, has always felt a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment through helping others. A turn of events occuring when I was 3 would also help guide my path toward a career in medicine. My love toward helping others began when I joined Girl Scouts at a young age. My troop leader instilled the desire to help serve those in need in our community and beyond through volunteerism. We helped the church where our meetings were held, providing support at fundraising dinners and helping the ladies group sew quilts for shut-ins. Our troop collected and donated clothing to good will, toiletry kits to homeless shelters, and crayons and coloring books for hospitalized children. Offering a hand in need to others gave me a great sense of accomplishment and left me wanting more. I would eventually realize I really enjoyed working with children and would volunteer running races with children through the Healthy kids running series, thus promoting a healthy life style. My most important servitude came during my senior year of high school where I spent Sunday mornings volunteering at my local hospital playing with children on the pediatric floor, allowing them to forget they were in the hospital, even if only for a short time period. By my high school years, I knew I wanted to help others and was leaning toward wanting to assist children, but another life altering event during my youngest years would ultimately set my career goals in motion. When I was 3 years old, my brother was born at 29 weeks gestational age. Although I was so young, I remember going to the NICU with my parents and spending time visiting my brother. The care and compassion shown to those babies by the staff was amazing! Being a bit of a chatterbox, my parents told me I would always talk to the doctors and nurses. During the summer before my senior year, I was fortunate enough to have a shadowing experience in the NICU who cared for my brother with the same doctor who was on his care team 14 years earlier. I was also blessed to witness the miracle of birth through a C-section procedure. This amazing opportunity sealed my selection of what I wanted to do in the field of medicine. I am currently a freshman at Mount St. Mary's University studying biology with a pre-medicine focus with the ultimate goal of becoming a Neonatologist. My career choice was inspired by my life experiences serving others through community service and the unfortunate circumstances surrounding my brother's untimely birth. I look forward to making a difference in the lives of our youngest, most vulnerable patients, and providing them the support needed to have a chance at living a long and healthy life.

Cancer has been an unfortunate staple in my life due to the affliction of many family members. I know I am not alone in my strife as you would be hard pressed to find someone who has not been affected by cancer in some way. All three of my grandfathers suffered with this horrible disease. One had prostate cancer, one is a malignant melanoma survivor, and one passed on suddenly when I was just 14 from multiple myeloma which they determined was due to agent orange exposure he became vulnerable to while serving our great nation in the Vietnam war. I have always been referred to as a go getter and worked hard to get what I want in life while not forgetting to live by the mantra service above self. I graduated high school with cum laude honors accompanied by an impressive resume. I was a two sport varsity athlete, running cross country and track, played the flute in the band, and was a member of 4 honor societies, performing leadership duties in the French honor society. I worked a part job while maintaining my 4.0 GPA but still found time to volunteer in my community. During my high school years, I volunteered at Healthy Kids Running Series serving as the anchor for the race, running with children encouraging them to succeed and finish the race. This helped promote a healthy lifestyle and provided support to the children to choose physical activity as a way of life. I also helped at junior achievement assemblies, fundraised to buy books for one of our underprivileged elementary schools, served as an usher for our school musical, and helped clean up our school campus by picking up litter after cross country workouts. My most meaningful service came during my senior year when I volunteered at my local hospital on the pediatric floor playing with the children. This soldified my love of helping others, especially children. My grandfather who passed when I was 14 had a hugh impact on my life. I still remember asking to speak at his service and my parents agreed. I wrote some notes in my phone and began to speak about the wonderful, loving and caring man he was and I how I would continue to make him proud even though he would be physically absent for important milestones like my sweet 16 birthday and my high school graduation. Remaining composed and collected through the entire speech was amazing because there was not a dry eye in the audience. This experience made me realize I could be strong and deliver a message of love and compassion to those who needed to hear it the most. The cancer experience of my loved ones, especially my grandfather who died when I was 14, has shaped my life in profound ways. I have gained more compassion toward others and resiliency to overcome obstacles and difficult situations. Seeing the experiences that my family members have endured has invoked my desire to help others through medicine. I am currently a freshman at Mount St. Mary's University studying biology with a pre-medicine focus looking to become a Neonatologist and provide support and care to our youngest, most vulnerable patients in my community and beyond.

Balancing work and school is difficult! Luckily, I have a very supportive employer who values me as an employee and wants to see me succeed personally and professionally. I currently work part-time and am happy to have the opportunity to work and contrubute toward paying for my college education while decreasing the accumulation of student loans. I started working for a small business called Glacier Flakes the summer before my junior year in high school. It was hard to find an accommodating employer who was willing to work around band competitions, track and cross country practices and meets, and school hours. I was blessed when they told me they understood and would be able to provide flexibility to allow me to work and not give up any of my extracurricular activities that I was passionate about. I was so excited for this first job opportunity and was grateful. I would work hard, always show up on time, and within my first year, received an outstanding review for my service on the company website and received a raise for my exemplary work. I had truly found a diamond in the ruff with my employer and I hoped I was making them proud to have hired me. Now that I am in my first year of college, I continue to work part-time during breaks and occasionally on weekends as my school schedule allows for me to be home as my college is about 45 minutes from work. Working there has given me a sense of responsibility and leadership skills that I previously had not possessed. Jess and Marty trust me to manage the business in their absence and I remain a dedicated employee who has only had one call off of work for a period of 2 days in two and a half years of employment due to illness. Their guidance has given me the confidence in my personal life, leading to the professional growth needed to succeed in life. Despite balancing work and school being difficult, I am able to work part-time and still achieve academic success as evidenced by my dean's list distinction during my first college semester. The compassion, understanding, and flexibility my employers show toward me have helped me succeed professionally and personally. I will take the leadership skills, teamwork building skills, and confidence learned on the job into the future as I strive to become a Neonatologist. I appreciate them taking a chance on a teenager and allowing me to grow as a person while procuring money to help decrease school loan debt and pay for my college education in order to make my dreams come true.

Mental health is not an easy subject to broach and even harder to maintain in a healthy state. The stigma surrounding mental health has eased and is now more visual than ever before. The more we discuss mental struggles and normalize them, the better we will become as an individual looking to integrate into society. I work hard everyday, as most women do, to keep my mental health at peak performance so my academic performance and personal life maintain a healthy status. I have previously struggled with anxiety and know how much my mental health status can affect my performance in the classroom. My career goal is to become a Neonatologist and I know how rigorous a medical program will be academically. During my current undergraduate studies, I take advantage of events offered by my school to help destress, like bringing in therapy dogs during finals. They also offered free massages during finals to help provide a break and ease some anxiety and stress. Mount St. Mary's University is currently completing a renovation that will house a physician assistant program and a Center for Clinician Well-Being to assist students in building the skills and mindset to maintain their well-being and prevent burnout throughout their heathcare careers. Aligning with a school who recognizes the mental stressors associated with academics and works toward creative solutions is one of the ways I help keep my mental health in check. For me, running provides a way to de-stress and relieve tensions built up from the day. I am an athlete who runs cross country and track for the Mount and practice 6 days per week. During a long run, I have time to socialize with my friends and take in the beauty of nature. It is a way to unwind from a day of challenging academic courses and relax my tense muscles. This allows grounding and re-focus in preparation for studying or evening course work. When my mental health is good, I do better in the classroom with respect to academics and feel better in my personal life. I take my mental health seriously and take advantage of opportunities on campus to unwind. I make sure I am eating healthy and getting enough sleep to enhance my athleticism and improve my mental health. Long runs provide a way for me to relax and socialize with others. Mental health will be important throughout my entire lifetime and I will work diligently to make sure I am as prepared as possible for my future life and career.

Life skills play an important role in the development of a person. I have learned to show compassion toward others through servitude at a young age and have volunteered my time helping those in need throughout my lifetme. My time spent competing in sports has provided valuble skills demonstrated with teamwork. I have served those in need in many capacities and have chosen a career in healthcare to further provide for the needs of my community in the future. My service above self mantra began as a Daisy Girl Scout when I was in kindergarten. My amazing troop leader inspired us to help others and instilled the skills in us needed to accomplish anything we put our minds to. Some community service we provided included volunteeeing at our church fundraising dinners, sewing quilts for the church to provide to shut-ins, and collecting school supplies for children in our community. We also donated cookies to our senior center, collected pet supplies for our SPCA, donated clothing to Good Will, made toiletry kits to distribute at the homeless shelters, and donated coloring books and crayons to hospitalized children. This strong foundation and the joy received from helping others left me wanting to continue serving my community in any way possible. My compassion toward others continued in high school as I assisted my honor clubs with providing ushering services during our school musical, helping run intermediate track meets, aiding underclassmen at Junior Achievement assemblies, and fundraising to purchase a book for every student in one of our underprivileged elementary schools to provide summer reading options for those who may not have had the means to obtain books. My most important servitude came my senior year when I volunteered at my local hospital on the pediatric floor playing with the children and trying to take their mind off being hospitalized, even if just for a short time. Besides compassion, playing sports has taught me the importance of working as a team to accomplish a task. Individuality is important, but working as a team is beneficial as well. I have worked with children running the Healthy kids running series, serving as the anchor for races, providing support to keep running and finish the race strong. I am a good teammate to my cross country team in college and know how important team dynamics will be in my future career as a Neonatologist. Teamwork in healthcare is important to learn and grow as teammates provide different perspectives which can be especially helpful in research or problem solving. The life skills I have learned, including compassion and teamwork, have helped propel my dedication to serve my community. My life of significance is made whole by my community service and involvement. I am currently studying biology at Mount St. Mary's University with a pre-medicine track and look forward to becoming a Neonatologist and continuing helping others in my community and beyond for many years to come!

Being born into a Christian faith and attending church at a young age helped shape my life and values. My pro-life stance has always been important to me and my belief in my religion has helped me forge a lifepath that will be rewarding. My career aspirations are to become a Neonatologist, protecting and serving our youngest, most vulnerable patients to the best of my ability. My religious upbringing began at a young age when I would attend church with my parents, sometimes listening to the sermon, but also attending Sunday school. It was here that I learned the foundation of becoming a good person. I learned to love and care for others and to treat others respectfully. Our church was a larger extension of our immediate family and I had fun while learning valuable life lessons. I didn't realize at such a young age that my connection to my religion and the values I learned as a child would pave the path for my future career. Religion was not the sole reason I wanted to work in medicine. My brother was born premature at 29 weeks gestational age. Although I was just a bit over 3 years old at the time, I remember spending time in the NICU with my parents while visiting him. I was a bit of a social butterfly at that age and would talk to the nurses and doctors and recall their care and compassion for those tiny babies. The interactions I had with the staff over the 3 months my brother remained in the NICU would serve as a fond memory helping propel my desire to work in medicine, and now specifically, Neonatology. The summer before my senior year of high school, I was able to shadow the same physician who was there when my brother was a resident. I rounded with the doctors and nurses and even went with the team to witness a C-section from start to finish, only solidifying my love for their efforts and my thirst to thrive in this environment helping babies and doing everything in my power to save a life. As a teenager understanding politics and beginning to form opinions and take a stand, I knew that pro-life was the stance I would choose. I feel that a life at any stage should be cherished and protected. My belief system and values tell me to help others and I would be going against everything I believe in if I would not fight for children, even at the youngest stages of life. Using my education, I would fight diligently to protect the precious babies of this world. I am currently an undergraduate student at Mount St. Mary's University majoring in biology with a pre-medicine track, aspiring to become a Neonatologist. My upbringing as a Christian woman has provided the values necessary to help others and lead a life of significance through my servitude toward those in need. The experience my brother faced when born coupled with my devout pro-life stance has enlightened my path in medicine, allowing the realization of wanting to become a Neonatologist and support, protect, and fight for the lives of babies in my community and beyond for the remainder of my life.

Science provides exploration that is so important! The research that science provides can save lives and work toward cures for diseases. Humanity relies on science to lead the way. I am currently an undergraduate student at Mount St. Mary's University working toward obtaining a bachelor's of science degree with a pre-medicine focus. My ultimate career aspirations are to become a physician specializing in Neonatology. I have always been passionate about science and found it challenging. I doubled up my science courses in high school and always took honors courses when available. I find science fascinating and exploration and discovery is crucial. I look forward to the day when I can join a research project at college and can only hope to have a revelation or make a scientific breakthrough. I find science intriguing and know it's importance in our future. By becoming a physician specializing in Neonatology, I will be poised to make a difference in my community and beyond. Why Neonatology? My brother was born at 29 week gestational age and spent 3 months in the NICU. Although I was young and it was difficult to see my parents endure so much pain, I could tell the staff in the NICU genuinely cared about my brother and the other babies and were doing everything in their power to make his survival possible. Becoming a physician will also allow me to help those in need. My mantra is service above self and I have served my community since a young age volunteering in various capacities to help others in need. I found myself drawn toward children specifically, helping volunteer with Healthy Kids Running Series and on the pediatric floor of my local hospital during my senior year of high school. Completing a shadowing experience my senior year only solidified my desire to work in medicine with babies. I had the amazing opportunity to shadow in the same NICU with the same physician who had cared for my brother 13 years earlier. I was able to round with the doctors and nurses and even watched a Cesarean section from start to completion where we whisked the newborn preemie away to the NICU for care and treatment. I enjoyed every part of this experience and it left me longing for more. Science has always been the subject I have been passionate toward. The importance of exploration and research to our future survival makes science more important than ever. I look forward to the day I can utilize my science degree for research for the better good of our community and beyond. My career aspirations of becoming a Neonatologist will allow me to continue to serve my community for the entirety of my lifetime.

I don't believe there is any person in this world who can truly say their mental health is always ideal. We go through a lot in life and our stuggles and triumphs cause our mental health and mindset to be different at different times. I have struggled with anxiety since my middle school years and continue to work daily on my self, my outlook, and my mental health. Middle school years seem like some of the hardest times for everyone. You are growing older, transitioning from a child to a teenager. Children can be unusually cruel at this age and it is difficult for anyone to be immune to this phenomenon. My anxiety started due to 2 reasons.. school and boys! My desire to get good grades and succeed was brought to the forefront during my middle school years. I knew if I wanted to succeed in life, go to college, and have a good career, I would need to get good grades and have a good GPA in high school. I began to become anxious about my study habits, test scores, and worried if my grades would be good enough. It was at this time that I also became interested in boys. Would they like me, did I need to be funny, did I look cute were all things that went through my mind as I was starting to approach the opposite sex. I began to lash out and have meltdowns during this time of my life until my parents realized I needed a counselor to talk to about my feelings and anxiety. During high school, covid happened my freshman year which made things even more difficult. The whole world was on edge and despite seeing a counselor, my anxiety began increasing. I stayed home and did the cyber school option my sophomore year which decreased my social interactions. My mental health dipped into a darker place during covid and although my anxiety had settled with respect to grades as I was studying and achieving success, my mental health declined due to lack of social integration. I had very few friends and talking to boys was a thing of the past. I wondered if there would ever be light at the end of the tunnel. I am happy to report that through counseling and evaluating my self worth, I thrived in the latter part of my high school years, graduating cum laude in the top 7 percent of my class with a GPA over 4.0. I am currently a freshman in college at Mount Saint Mary's University in Maryland where I am pursuing a biology degree with a pre-medicine focus in the hopes of becoming a Neonatologist. The first part of freshman year has been mentally draining and challenging as I lost some friends along the way, but gained a new perspective of self worth and met new friends in college. I continue to work on my inner self daily to help minimize the stress and anxiety. My future is bright thanks to the help I have received for my mental health and anxiety and I look forward to earning my degree and helping others as a physician in the near future.

Becoming a physician will be no easy feat. It will take a great deal of hardwork and dedication but I am willing to give it my all. I am grateful for all the strong and powerful women who have come before me to pave the way for the integration of women in medicine. My dream career is to become a Neonatologist and work to save lives of the youngest, most vulnerable patients entrusted to my care. Science has always been my favorite subject! I stopped playing the flute in high school and dropped band in order to double up on science courses. I always took honors courses when available and worked hard to achieve my goals and raise my GPA, graduating cum laude with a GPA over 4.0. Some of my love of science comes naturally as my mom loved science and medicine so much she became a Pharmacist. She has suffered from psoriasis since she was a baby and was always curious and intrigued by the reasons the disease occurred and the treatments used to help contain the autoimmune disease. This led her to want to study pharmacy and understand the nature of medical and pharmaceutical therapies designed to aid in disease remission. Her passion helped propel me into science and medicine. Deciding to specialize in Neonatology was an easy choice as well. I was first introduced to the NICU when my brother was born at 29 weeks and resided there for 3 months . Alhough I was just 4 years old, I remember the care and compassion the staff showed toward all the babies and their families. I soon found that my passion for helping others, especially children, was something I found exhilarating. I spent most of my senior year of high school volunteering on the pediatric floor of my local hospital playing with the children and helping prepare rooms for occupancy. I also had the amazing opportunity to shadow for a day in the NICU where my brother spent so much time. I followed one of the doctors who had cared for him 14 years earlier. I found rounding with the staff exciting and wanted to know more about each baby and how we could help. There was a C-section delivery that day which I was able to attend with the CRNP and watch the miracle of birth from start to finish of the procedure where we checked the baby and took him off to the NICU for further care, testing, and treatment. This extraordinary opportunity only solidified my dream aspirations of becoming a Neonatologist. Science has always been important to me. The research that science provides to accelerate health care is so crucial for the health of our nation. I am excited to continue my journey in college where I am working toward a bachelor's of science degree in biology with a pre-medicine track. I look forward to the day where I achieve my goal of becoming a Neonatologist, working in the NICU, and giving back to my community by helping those in need.

Imagine being able to help the youngest, most vulnerable patients survive and get a shot a life! My career aspirations are to become a physician specializing in Neonatology. I have always been a team player and recognize that the diversity of members in a team provide the best solutions to a difficult problem. Whether it was a Girl Scout troop or playing sports, including field hockey, swimming, and running, I had the opportunity to lead as well as follow in a team setting. My dedication to service above self has led to my desire to want to help children succeed through my future career aspirations of becoming a physician and working in the NICU. This scholarship will help me achieve my dreams of getting a college education and becoming a physician. My love of babies started with my own family experience when my younger brother was born at 29 weeks gestational age. He spent 3 months in the NICU and despite only being 4 at the time, I can remember the teamwork, compassion, and concern shown toward him and the other babies. During my senior year, I volunteered at that same hospital on the pediatric floor. I enjoyed spending Sunday mornings playing with the children and organizing the toy room. I also had the amazing opportunity to shadow in the NICU. The same doctors who cared for my brother then served as a source of information and inspiration to me now. I was able to round with the team of nurses and doctors and even went with the CRNP to witness a C-section birth. It was such a rewarding and amazing experience and only solidified my desire to become a Neonatologist. Although I can be a leader, teamwork has been ingrained in my life from an early age. I started Girl Scouts at the age of 5 and continued through my middle school years. We performed various community service projects where our impact on the community was evident. Some examples included working with the local senior centers, making toiletry kits for homeless shelters, growing a garden for the park service, and collecting clothing for our school's Rachel's Closet program. My love for sports also began at a young age when I started soccer at age 6. I only played a year before realizing soccer was not my sport, but enjoyed the introduction to the team environment. I moved onto taekwando and worked hard until I achieved my black belt at age 10. During those pre teen years, I also started swimming for our local swim club. Although an individual sport, you score as a team, and I loved seeing my contributions toward the team matter. In fourth grade, I really found my niche with running. Although I would eventually take a break to play 3 years of field hockey, I came back to running as it provided me a stress release and was something I found I could relate to and enjoy. During my senior year, I was captain of the cross country team and ultimately ran cross country for 3 years and track for 4 years as a varsity athlete, a sport I continue to this day in college, running Division I for Mount Saint Mary's University. My service toward others and desire to be part of a team began at a young age. I have always been drawn toward children and helping others, making my choice easy of wanting to become a physician specializing in Neonatology. Being awarded this scholarship would go a long way to help me achieve my goals of helping others in my community.

Achieving my goal of obtaining an undergraduate degree in biology and furthering my college education by being accepted to medical school is my dream. College is an expensive pursuit but worth the gamble. Being rewarded this scholarship would allow me to worry less about finances and focus on my education. I look forward to the day I can achieve my goal of becoming a physician, helping those in need, and having a positive impact on society. I am blessed to have a loving and caring family who do their best to support me in anyway possible. They started a 529 plan when I was little to help save for my college education. I am greatly appreciative of their foresight and thankful for what little bit of money they saved to assist in the pursuit of my dreams. With inflation and the cost of a college education rising, my college education will still leave me with significant debt via student loans between undergraduate and graduate school. I am currently completing my undergraduate education at Mount St. Mary's University whose motto is "live significantly". My life resonates with this motto and I am excited to have the opportunity to attend this amazing university. Being awarded this scholarship will help me fulfill my dream of becoming a doctor by allowing me to stress less about my finances. Every scholarship is meaningful and I work to the best of my ability in college everyday to achieve stellar grades and make myself and my family proud. My dream of becoming a Neonatologist will have a profoundly positive impact on society. Imagine being able to care for our youngest, most vulnerable human beings. Many of these children were given an unfair start to their life and are fighters. I would love to have the opportunity to give them a better chance of survival and provide support for the families that are struggling with this life altering situation. I understand that being a physician will have great successes as well as some days where I might feel like a failure. The good days will hopefully outweigh the bad and I am confident that through my leadership, the NICU team would do everything possible to make a positive impact on these young lives. I have always been dedicated to my academics first and foremost. I achieved a 4.0 gpa in high school while taking honors and AP courses, being inducted into numerous honor societies, competing as a 2 sport varsity athlete, working a part time job, and volunteering weekly on the pediatric floor of my local hospital. I am no stranger to a stacked schedule and know how to succeed. I aim my goals high but make sure to achieve them. College is expensive and any help toward my dream by way of scholarship would be greatly appreciated. My dream of becoming a Neonatologist would allow me to serve my community and give babies a fighting chance at survival, thus having a positive impact on society for many years to come.

My brother was born at 29 weeks gestational age and spent 3 precarious months in the NICU. I can recall visiting him in the hospital with my parents and although I was just 4, I remember the care and concern showed by his nurses and doctors. Little did I realize at the time, but his untimely entry into this world would have a profound and lasting impact on my life and future career goals. I guess I have always been immersed in healthcare. My grandmother worked in the hospital and in later years, a dialysis center, before retiring. My mom is a pharmacist who has always worked in a demanding retail setting. And then their was the exposure to the NICU and hospital at the young age of 4 with my brother's early arrival. Knowing healthcare from a young age, it was familiar and the desire to help others was ingrained early on. By the time I started high school and was first asked what career I wanted to pursue as an adult, I knew it was healthcare. I felt at ease helping others and really gravitated toward children. With the past experience my brother endured, I felt a strong connection to the NICU and decided I wanted to become a physician, specializing in Neonatology. The careers of strong women in healthcare who bless my life made it easy to see healthcare as an option. My mother has been a pharmacist since 2002 and has served in a manager role since 2007. I am grateful that she has helped pave the way for other strong women in leadership roles in healthcare. If I had been born during a different time period, my dreams of becoming a physician as a female would have been laughable. I am so thankful for the women who have come before me who fought for equality in the workplace to allow me to follow my dreams and certainly have an easier time in doing so. Will it still be difficult for me to compete in what may still be considered a male dominated physician field? Absolutely. But I possess the passion, desire, and dedication to succeed and achieve any goal placed before me. As a future female physician working in the NICU, I am poised to have a unique impact. In a physician world that is still mostly male dominated, I will succeed at helping others while working to decrease gender inequality in healthcare. It has been my vision to become a Neonatologist since as long as I can remember, beginning with my brother's arrival almost 3 months early. I am proud to follow in the footsteps of the courageous women who have preceded me, some of those women right here in my own family. I can't wait to help the youngest, most vulnerable patients, giving them a shot at life and see the positive impact I can have on my community and beyond.

The spoken words, "paging Dr. Bell", would be music to my ears! I have always put my best foot forward even in times of confusion and chaos and believe I would only thrive in a hospital setting. My dedication and desire to succeed has taken me far in my journey called life and I will continue to work diligently toward my career goal of becoming a physician specializing in Neonatology. I live by the motto service above self. I have always volunteered in my community since a young age, beginning with my Girl Scout troop. I really enjoy helping others and always have. I have volunteered to help at church fundraising dinners, collected toiletries for homeless shelters, food for our food pantry, and clothes for our school's Rachel's Closet program to help kids in need. We started a garden at our local park headquarters and helped maintain it, a garden that still exists today. Crayons and coloring books were collected for Caitlyn's Smiles to provide to children who were hospitalized. We sang Christmas carols at our local nursing home and adopted families at Christmastime, shopping for gifts to provide an amazing Christmas. Once in high school, I assisted my cross country team in picking up litter on our campus and helped run intermediate track meets. I ushered the school musical with National Honor Society and aided underclassmen during junior achievement events. We fundraised for one of our local elementary schools, securing enough money and donations to purchase a book for each child in the school, helping provide reading materials to avoid the summer reading slide. My work continued by helping with Healthy Kids Running Series, serving as the anchor at the back of the race encouraging the kids to keep running and finish strong, thus helping to promote a healthy lifestyle. My most important servitude came Sunday mornings during my senior year where I volunteered at my local hospital on the pediatric floor. I would play with the children, clean the toyroom, and prepare rooms with supplies. Of all my servitude, I really was most comfortable working with children which only helped solidify my dreams. My love of medicine also began as a young child when my brother was suddenly born at 29 weeks gestational age. Despite only being 4, I was very astute to the care and compassion given to him by the nurses and doctors where he resided for the first 3 months of his life. They were all so loving and just wanted to provide the best medical care possible to these young, vulnerable patients fighting for their lives. During my senior year, I returned to that same NICU and shadowed for a day. What an amazing experience! I was able to round with the staff and even tag along with a CRNP during a C-section delivery. This experience only confirmed my choice of wanting to become a Neonatologist. I am a dedicated student who is determined to succeed in every aspect of my life. I graduated high school cum laude with a GPA over 4.0. I was a two sport varsity athlete in high school running track and cross country, a passion I continue today in college. I enjoy being busy and along with excellent academics and athleticism, I held a part time job, played flute in the band, and volunteered weekly in my community serving others. I currently attend Mount St. Mary's University as a member of their honors program, majoring in biology with a pre-medicine focus. I am determined to make my dreams come true by going to medical school and becoming a Neonatologist.

Becoming Dr. Riley Bell, Neonatologist is my future dream. I am no stranger to dedication and determination and have always succeeded in attaining my goals. I graduated high school cum laude, in the top 7 percent of my class while running track and cross country as a two sport varsity athlete. My family has always been by my side, supporting me every step of the way. My future career stems from my younger brother entering this world at 29 weeks gestational age. He was only 2 pounds and my mother had pregnancy complications. He would stay in the NICU for 3 months, permanently altering our family lifestyle and dynamic. Although I was just under 5, I can remember the care and compassion shown by the nurses and doctors toward my brother and all the other unfortunate residents. I knew I wanted to help people and later in life I realized I had a special place in my heart for children. Why not help the youngest, most vulnerable patients get a new lease on life! My family dynamic consists of my mom, dad, and my younger brother. My parents have always been our biggest supporters, but have also urged us to push our boundaries to the limit and never give up. This has allowed us to grow independently but also come out of our comfort zones. I graduated high school with a GPA over 4.0, challenging myself with AP and honors courses. This rigor has continued into college where I am a proud member of the honors program. In high school, I was a member of the National Honor Society, French Honor Society, Rho Kappa Social Studies Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society, and Varsity Club. I played flute in the symphonic and marching bands during high school. I was secretary my sophomore year for marching band and and served in leadership for French club my senior year. I played field hockey during middle school and my freshman year in high school earning a junior varsity letter before switching to varsity cross country my sophomore through senior years. I was a varsity athlete in track my freshman through senior years. I have continued my love of running, running and scoring for my team at the Division I level for Mount St. Mary's University. Being well rounded, I also hold a first degree black belt in tae kwando. I completed all of this while holding a part time job my junior and senior year and volunteering throughout my high school career. My most recent act of servitude was volunteering Sunday mornings at my local hospital on the pediatric floor preparing rooms for occupancy and playing with the children, providing a bit of light in what might be a dismal time in their lives. This experience solidified my desire to work in medicine in the NICU. I am thankful every day to have the support of my parents and they inspire me to be the best version of myself. I had an extremely successful high school journey as a dedicated student and two sport varsity athlete. I live by the motto, service above self, and work diligently to help others in need through my volunteerism. I have helped children stay fit by volunteering with Healthy Kids Running Series and played with pediatric patients in my local hospital. I look to continue my committment to academics and athletics in my college years, culminating wity my dream of helping others by studying medicine and becoming a Neonatologist.

Service above self is the motto I live by. My servitude toward others began at a young age and has continued throughout my lifetime. As I am now an undergraduate student in college, I am constantly looking for ways to get involved and give back to my community and beyond. Portraying a spirit of excellence in my life embodies many different things. I have a positive attitude, am a dedicated friend and student, and work diligently to achieve my goals. I set lofty goals but always succeed due to my resiliency. I am an undergraduate student at Mount St. Mary's University majoring in biology with a pre-medicine focus with aspirations of becoming a physician specializing in Neonatology. To be overjoyed by having a career in medicine and giving back to the youngest, most vulnerable patients and their families would bring purpose to my life, thus enhancing my lifelong spirit of excellence. My dedication to helping others began when I was in kindergarten and joined Girl Scouts. Girl scouting provided me the means to help others and realize that I could make a difference. Our troop leader would assist us in collecting food for our local food bank, clothes for Good Will, and school supplies for children in need. We served at our church fundraising dinners, helped sew quilts for local shut ins with the church women's group, and collected crayons and coloring books for Caitlyn's Smiles for children who were hospitalized. We donated cookies to our local senior center and sang Christmas carols to residents. Volunteering to sell popcorn and hot chocolate during a Christmas lights display provided support for our local park services. We also put together toiletry kits for homeless shelters, collected winter wear for our school giving tree, and adopted families at Christmastime. Once I started high school, I had a strong basis of servitide and looked to see where else I could be of assistance. I started running with Healthy Kids Running Series, serving as the caboose for the race. I would run with the children in the back of the pack, encouraging them to keep running and finish the race, thus promoting a healthy lifestyle at an early age. I served as an usher for the school musical with National Honor Society, ran intermediate track meets with Varsity Club, and cleaned up litter on the school campus after cross country practices. With Rho Kappa I helped fundraise to buy books for each child in one of our underprivileged elementary schools to help prevent the summer reading slide. I assisted French Honor Society with running stations at a junior achievement event for underclassmen. My most important servitude toward my community thus far came during my senior year in high school when I spent Sunday mornings volunteering at my local hospital on the pediatric floor. I helped prepare rooms for occupancy and most importantly, played with the children who were hospitalized, trying to bring a bit of normalcy to their day. As a freshman in college, I am consistently looking for ways to stay involved in my community and provide service to others. I am a dedicated student who will stop at nothing to achieve my goals in life. I hope to be a role model for other young women, proving that with determination and dedication, you can achieve anything you set your mind to. I am grateful to have had such wonderful influences in my life that led to my service above self mantra and will continue to look to exemplify a spirit of excellence in everything I do with my future career in medicine.

The C word evokes every emotion imaginable. No family seems to be immune to the effects of cancer and my family is no different. All three of my grandfathers have been diagnosed with cancer. One had prostate cancer and is in remission. One had malignant melanoma and is also a cancer survivor. My third grandfather was not as lucky as he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and ultimately lost his battle with cancer on December 1, 2019 when I was just 14 years old. I have always been determined, a trait I feel I got from my grandfather. I was a varsity track and cross country athlete in high school and continue to run in college. I have consistently excelled in academics and graduated high school cum laude in the top 7 percent of my class. I played the flute in marching band and was a member of varsity club. I also was proud to be a member of the National Honor Society, French Honor Society, Rho Kappa Social Studies Honor Society, and Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society. I worked a part time job and volunteered in my community any opportunity I could. I helped clean up litter on the school campus after cross country practice, aided underclassmen with junior achievement seminars, fundraised money to purchase books for each elementary student and read to them during parent teacher conferences, and assisted with running of intermediate track meets. I also spent time volunteering for healthy kids running series where I served as the caboose, running with the children in the back, encouraging them to keep going and finish the race, thus lending to a fit and healthy lifestyle. I volunteered on the pediatric floor of my local hospital on Sunday mornings during my senior year of high school helping prepare the rooms for occupancy and playing with the children who were hospitalized. Although my grandfather was not physically here for most of my high school years, i know he would be proud of everything I have accomplished and the type of person I have become. My senior prom, high school graduation, high school and collegiate cross country and track meets, and my sweet 16 birthday party. Milestones in my life that I have endured with my grandfather looking on from heaven. Losing him to cancer which he developed from agent orange exposure in Vietnam fighting for our beautiful country was one of the toughest things I have faced in life. I am so proud of the person he was and the sacrifices be made for our nation and family. I can still remember being 14 and speaking at his funeral about how proud I was to have been his granddaughter. I told everyone then that I would do everything in my power to make him proud of me. I have since decided to major in biology at Mount St. Mary's University with a pre med track, with the ambitious goal of going to medical school and becoming a physician specializing in Neonatology. I will work hard to reach my goals and continue to make you proud to have been my grandpa during your short time on earth.

Running provides a release from stress in my life. I began running in 4th grade by joining the Bobcats on the Run after school program. Did I think I would like running? Not really. To be honest, I participated because a boy I liked joined and I wanted to get to know him better. Not only did that boy and I become good friends, but I really found I enjoyed running and the reprieve it allowed from the chaos of school. I would continue running throughout my entire high school years as well as in college. I have always been a dedicated student, graduating cum laude in the top 7 percent of my high school class with a GPA exceeding 4.0 as a member of numerous honor societies. I challenged myself during high school by taking AP and honors courses. I was a member of National Honor Society, Rho Kappa Honor Society, French Honor Society, and Varsity club for 2 years. I was inducted into Mu Alpha Theta Honor Society during my senior year. I played the flute in marching band through my junior year. I was a two sport varsity athlete in high school, running cross country and track and field and earned a junior varsity letter in field hockey my freshman year. I have always pushed myself to the limits, worked diligently toward my goals, and succeeded in anything I put my mind to. My dream was realized when starting college as a freshman at Mount St. Mary's University where I am a Division I cross country athlete scoring points for my team and will run indoor and outdoor track as well. This scholarship will go a long way toward helping me achieve my goals. College is expensive and despite having some money saved and receiving an academic scholarship from the Mount, there is still a good bit of money to make up. Being awarded this generous scholarship would allow me to focus more on school and worry less about the funding of my education. As mentioned earlier, I was pretty involved as a high school student and am working on getting involved at the collegiate level. While in high school, I also held down a part time job and volunteered in different facets in my community. I helped with junior achievement assemblies by assisting underclassmen, raised money for French club, and read to children in one of our elementary schools. I helped lead intermediate track meets and participated in the purchase of books for elementary school children. I cleaned up our school campus by picking up litter after cross country practice and volunteered with the 5k races held at our high school. Healthy kids running series was an important program to me as I participated as a child. I donated my time on Sunday's in spring and fall to serve as the caboose, running with the children during the race and providing encouragement to them to keep running and finish, thus promoting a healthy life style. I love working with kids and my most important servitude to date was spending my senior year helping on the pediatric floor of my local hospital, leading to confirmation of my major. At Mount St. Mary's University, I am majoring in biology with a pre-medicine focus. I would love nothing more than to become a physician specializing in Neonatology. I have always been dedicated to achieving my goals and will allow nothing to get in my way. This scholarship would help me achieve my goals and allow me to realize my dream of helping people for years to come.

Service above self has always been my motto. My servitide toward others started at a young age through Girl Scouts and continued throughout my high school education. Now that I've started college, I look for ways to help out on campus and give back to my community. I want to continue giving back to others in my future career as a physician specializing in Neonatology. Helping others was instilled into my character from a young age. Our Girl Scout troop helped others whenever possible, completing many service projects during my time in scouting. We helped with church services and dinners, made toiletry kits for homeless shelters, collected backpacks with school supplies for children in need, and spent time with seniors at Christmas singing carols and providing companionship. We sold popcorn, cookies, and hot chocolate and decorated trees for our local Christmas lights show to support the park service. We donated bags of clothing to our community Good Will, food for our senior centers, and collected hats and scarves for the giving tree at our school. My scouting experience only solidified my desire to help others and continue serving my community and beyond in the future. Once I started high school, I worked with Healthy Kids Running Series volunteering as the caboose for the race, encouraging kids to keep moving, thus promoting a healthy life style. Throughout my tenure in various honor societies, I have ushered our school play for National Honor Society and helped run intermediate track meets with Varsity Club. Our cross country team has worked hard picking up litter on campus after our workouts and I have dedicated my time helping underclassmen during junior achievement events for French Honor Society. In Rho Kappa Honor Society, we held a fundraiser to raise enough money to buy a book for every child in out most underprivileged elementary school. We presented the children the books before summer break to help prevent the summer reading slide and spent time reading to the children. It was such a rewarding experience! My most important servitude to date has been the 10 months I spent volunteering in the pediatric department at my local hospital during my senior year of high school. I helped prepare the rooms for occupancy, cleaned the toys and toy room, and played with the children who were hospitalized, taking their minds off of a bad situation, even if only for a short time. This confirmed my decision to want to be a physician and most importantly, want to work with children. I have missed volunteering since high school ended and am currently looking for ways to help on campus while acclimating to my new environment. It is so important to me to give back to my community and beyond and I can't wait to continue to help others in the very near future. I plan on using my servitide to make a positive impact on the world by helping those in need. My future career aspirations of becoming a physician specializing in Neonatology will allow me to give back to my community and beyond.

The cell phone has become a connection to others throughout the world. It utilizes phone calls, texting, video calls, and social media to keep people connected. It allows essentially an encyclopedia and dictionary at your fingertips. You can get breaking news, stream TV shows, weather reports, and find important names and dates in history. This connection to the present, past and ultimately the future is proof that the invention of the cell phone has made the world a better place. One of the biggest advantages of the cell phone is how it connects people all over the world. It is not just simply talking to those in other places, but having the ability to video call and see people in other areas of the world is amazing! Social media also connects us and allows for visualization of pictures of other places and visions of countries and continents we may never physically see during our lifetime. We can catch up with friends and see what is going on in their lives and feel as if we were never apart. The cell phone also provides a wealth of knowledge, allowing users to search for practically anything. This connection to events of the past assists with education and helps gain additional insight to continue our expansion of comprehension. Books can be read online and movies and TV shows consumed. You can look up medical information and find sports scores. It really is amazing how much information is divulged through use of the cell phone! Although not a brand new technology, the cell phone is inspirational as it has already made the world a better place. It's ability to connect people and places all throughout the world is so important! People who would have never met and places that someone would have never visited or experienced are evident through the cell phone. The wealth of knowledge available through the cell phone assists people all over the globe with education and connecting to the world around them. None of these things would have been feasible without the invention of the cell phone.

Simon Birch is a riveting movie with such a surreal message. It is a story about love, respect, and friendship. It is a tale about what some consider divine intervention. The story portrays determination and a life's purpose. It is rooted in religion and displays the true meaning of family. The messages are timeless and although a tear jerker, it is a movie I enjoy watching over and over again. Simon Birch had it hard from the moment he was born. He was not supposed to live, but did. His parents didn't want him, but he found a true friendship with Joe, although Simon was ultimately responsible for the death of Joe's mother. Quirky and funny Simon preserved, believing his fate was set by God and he was put on this Earth and survived for a specific purpose. That purpose would be later revealed. Joe and Simon began a search for Joe's father and they were asssisted by Ben, who was Joe's mothers' companion before her untimely death. Ben looked out for Simon and Joe, showing that unconditional love can come from someone who was not a relative. They were determined to uncover the truth and eventually discovered the church pastor was Joe's biological father. Simon's destiny was discovered on a church trip when the bus swerved off the road to avoid a deer and entered into a body of water. The children were scared as water raced into the bus. Although Simon was smaller than the other children, he took control of the bus of children and they listened to him. They followed his instructions and all of the children made it out of the bus in time. Simon was rescued by Ben and became hospitalized. He succumbed to his injuries but was peaceful knowing that he had served his purpose under God and led a life fulfilled. The life lessons learned in Simon Birch are timeless. The friendship between Joe and Simon was unwavering and lifelong. Love shows no prejudice and Ben showed love to Joe and Simon despite not being related to either of them. No one respected Simon, except Joe and Ben, but Simon had enough self respect to know he was born for a higher purpose. He always felt he was destined for greatness and his final act proved his worth in a life in which most considered worthless, including his parents. The lessons learned in the movie Simon Birch transcend time and resonate with me and my life experiences. I will never get tired of watching Simon Birch!

The C word. It evokes a roller coaster ride of emotions. My life has been touched by many people who have endured different types of cancer. My great aunt is currently battling a cancer that invaded her sinuses. My grandfather is a 10 year survivor of malignant melanoma. However the most impactful experience I have had with cancer involved a different grandfather who ultimately lost his life as a result of his cancer diagnosis. My grandfather was 67 years old in June 2019 when he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. It was determined that his diagnosis was attributed to his agent orange exposure while serving in Vietnam. He was optimistic and courageous and began a chemotherapy regimen at the VA hospital. I can still remember being concerned at the young age of 14 about how this would affect him and our family. Would he still be well enough to visit as he did every Friday night? Would he still be able to be present for important milestones in my life? He was the most stubborn, yet caring, person I knew and these thoughts comforted my mind as I convinced myself everything would be ok. Well, ultimately, it wasn't. He completed his chemotherapy course and was doing very well in November 2019. Until the day we received the call. They had called an ambulance because he was short of breath. My dad went to be with him to assist as they took him to the hospital. Once he arrived, they intubated him and he never recovered, dying a week later on December 1, 2019. They believe he caught a virus due to his weakened immune system from the chemotherapy and heart problems and blood clots ensued, complicating his situation. Multiple myeloma was listed as one of the causes of death on his death certificate. Had I known I would never talk to him again, would I have said more? I did not get to see him the day he was taken to the hospital, but did visit while he was in the ICU and was able to hold his hand and talk to him. I still remember the funeral service and taking the pulpit to speak on his behalf about the wonderful man he was and how I would do everything in my power to make him proud. He would miss my sweet 16, high school graduation, senior prom, and my journey into college. I take solice in knowing he is here with me helping guide my way. My career goal has always been to become a physician specializing in Neonatology. I love working with children and medicine inspires me. His cancer diagnosis and subsequent death has led to the realization of the importance of medicine and the discoveries that still need to be made to propel healthcare into the future. My grandfather's untimely cancer diagnosis and subsequent death coupled with his remarkable zest for life has reinforced my decision to practice in the healthcare realm. I had always wanted to be a physician, but realized through his experience that I have a compassion for helping others and the desire to perform research to help find cures for diseases, especially those affecting children and babies. I am currently a dedicated undergraduate student pursuing a biology degree with a pre-medicine focus. I always give 100 percent in everything I do, which is why I know I will be successful. I have no choice, I have a grandpa watching that I promised I'd make proud of my accomplishments and I never break a promise!

The Millenials-Gen Z are up for the challenge to become "The Greatest Generation 2.0". We possess the leadership and determination for our rendezvous with destiny. We accept the current disparaging state of affairs of our country and look to the future with optimism for new beginnings. Our country has come out of war and cycled through troubles in the past and it has become our turn to take the reigns and lead our nation back to times of greatness. Life is plagued with ups and downs. There will always be good times dispersed with bad. As a generation, I feel as if we are trained to rise up to the challenges put before us. We are activists who fight for what we believe in, including environmental protection to save our planet for our children and grandchildren. We are peacemakers who fight for peace and justice in an unjust world. It will take our generation time, as nothing happens overnight, but we have the persistence to make the changes we want to see in our beloved country. There is much to be said about technology but I truly believe technology today has gone a long way to keep people together and join people all over the country who may not have previously known each other or ever met. We can use technology to our advantage and unite to rectify the injustices we see currently in our country. Our mindset can be moved and shifted with a viral video and we can band together over a common cause. This is something the Greatest Generation population did not have as communication was minimal in the thirties and throughout the war and can only serve as a catalyst to our change. Our generation is poised to do great things and we will use technology to help achieve our goals. The Greatest Generation became the change they wanted to see in the world and worked hard to achieve their goals and dreams, providing a better life for their children. As the cycle repeats and our country once again falls into hardship, we are optimistic that our generation will also rise to the challenge of creating a better country. We are a dedicated, socially driven community who is not afraid to force change. Our generation has heard the cry, accepted the challenge, and will stop at nothing to change our world for the better, ultimately becoming "The Greatest Generation 2.0".

Great leaders know how to succeed but also have learned from their failures. Leadership is created from a passion and desire to flourish and to precipitate a change. People who lead help pave the path for the future. I possess strong leadership skills and coupled with my servitide look forward to completing my college education with a career goal of becoming a physician or physician assistant specializing in Neonatology. I used to be that shy girl who followed rather than led. I always had a desire to lead, but felt unsure if I could be successful as a leader. Joining Girl Scouts at a young age allowed me to work in a group dynamic where there was no clear group leader, but where all of our troop members learned to lead. We spearheaded many different volunteer missions beginning at a young age. During my seven years in girl scouting, we helped serve the church by participating in Sunday services, serving and cleaning up at church fundraising dinners, sewing blankets for local shut ins, collecting clothing for good will, and making backpacks with school supplies for children in need. We would spend days at the local senior center and collect donations for food banks. We even collected clothing and accessories for Rachel's closet at our middle school and made toiletry kits which we delivered to homeless shelters. I quickly learned that I could have a profound impact on the world and my community and began to perfect my leadership role within the troop over the years. As I entered high school, I continued to search for ways to be a leader in my school and community while providing service to those in need. I was a member of several honor societies and held the role of historian in the French Honor Society. I also served as secretary for the marching band during my sophomore year. I was invested in varsity club, helping fundraise and volunteer at intermediate track meets. I served as a team captain for both cross country and track during my senior year. I took initiative to run activities for underclassmen at junior achievement assemblies. My Rho Kappa Honor Society chapter raised funds to give back to our underprivileged elementary school by purchasing books for every child in the school to help decrease the summer reading slide. I volunteered with Healthy Kids Running Series while in high school, helping serve as the race anchor encouraging kids to stay fit and active. Lastly, during my senior year, I volunteered my time on Sunday mornings to play with children who were hospitalized to take their mind off being sick, even if just for a little while. Being a good leader means being willing to help others succeed and cause change in your community or society. I have developed my leadership skills throughout my school years and feel confident I will be a leader for the future. My career goal of becoming a physician or physician assistant specializing in Neonatology will put my leadership skills to work and since the life of a child hangs in the balance, I will need to be a decisive leader who thinks efficiently. I look forward to the opportunity to continue to serve my community in the near future and portray the leadership skills I always know I have possessed.

The Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks is my favorite fall menu drink. I consistently frequent Starbucks and since Fall is my favorite season, I look forward with anticipation to the arrival of the fall drink menu each year. It is one of my favorite all time Starbucks drinks and my favorite time of year! Fall is reminiscent of football, bonfires, and snuggling. I loved drinking Starbucks with my boyfriend and snuggling up by an outdoor bonfire. The warmth of the drink, the fire, and my boyfriend's arms around me made me feel secure and peaceful. I will always be fond of our time together bonding during crisp fall nights and sharing our Pumpin Spice Latte. Those are just distant memories now, but I still enjoy the drink and the beautiful fall season. Drinking a Pumpkin Spice Latte allows me to enjoy fall and all its glory. Leaves falling during the season remind me of new birth. No matter the situation, trees lose their leaves and are still beautiful. Change can be good and even at the end of a relationship, there can be a new beginning. Every new beginning comes at some other beginning's end. My Pumpkin Spice Latte reminds me to slow down and look for the beauty around me and not be afraid to change. The aroma of the latte also reminds me of fall. Pumpkin painting and apple picking and Halloween. Again, fall is such a wonderful time of seasonal change and comfort in preparation before long winter nights take hold. It is your last chance to be outdoors in the welcoming air and spend time with friends, watching football games and attending homecomings and halloween parties. Lots of fond memories of fall that I am immediately taken to with the smell of a Pumpkin Spice Latte. A Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte will always be my go to fall beverage. It reminds me of special moments shared with friends and my ex-boyfriend. I remember fall homecoming dances, high school football games, and snuggling around a bonfire. Halloween dances and getting outdoors for the last chance before winter arrives. The drink has always been an important part of my fall narrative and reminds me that fall is a time for growth and rebirth. As the leaves fall, the trees transform into something just as beautiful, as they were in previous seasons. Moving forward, taking risks, and challenging myself to embrace my best life in the face of change and adversity all goes back to that delicious sip of my Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte.

The beach is the perfect place for my dream house. I would love to have an immense house located on a distant part of the beach or maybe even on an atoll standing alone. The house would be comprised of 5000 plus square feet and be mostly stone with some siding in hues of gray. The exterior would have a boat dock featuring a boat, jet skiis and an entire exterior building where you can change and rinse off after coming back from the sand or a long day on the water. The exterior would also boast a 4 car oversized unattached garage. The interior would be equally as luxurious and beautiful. The foyer would have high ceilings with beach themed murals painted atop the ceiling. There would be a large kitchen with marble topped counters, a double oven, and a separate brick pizza oven. There would be a large sunroom overlooking the beach and water in which to sit and relax. The downstairs would also boast a rectangle indoor 6 lane pool for competition or leisure, a full bathroom, an indoor bowling alley, and a movie theater with 10 reclining seats. The upstairs would be vast with 4 bedrooms and 2 more full baths. The master bedroom would contain a king size bed, a fireplace, and a full bath with walk in shower, skylight, and Jacuzzi. It would have a large walk in closet filled with beautiful clothes and lots of shoes! There would be an offset of the master bedroom that leads to an outside balcony overlooking the beach and ocean. The other 3 bedrooms would be big enough to fit 2 queen size beds each and could be used as guest bedrooms if needed. I would love to own a house at the beach as my dream house. It would be built for comfort and style as well as convenience, being located directly on the beach. It would be beautiful, comforting, and relaxing, a place where I feel I would truly belong.

Stitch is my absolute favorite Disney character! Visiting the restaurant Ohana at Walt Disney World and seeing Stitch absolutely made my day. Ohana means family which translates into no one being left behind or forgotten. My family means the world to me and spending time with them on an amazing trip to Disney was a dream fulfilled. Disney World is a magical place where memories are made. I have been blessed to have visited 3 times and each time was enchanting in its own way. My favorite trip occurred in 2018 when I visited with my family. I was 13 and at that awkward age where nothing really excited me. My mom is a great planner and planned the entire trip to make the most of our visit. We park hopped and enjoyed amazing food. Riding the monorail to the Polynesian and eating breakfast at Ohana was the highlight. I still remember the morning we went like it was yesterday. Riding the monorail for the first time was cool and I was starving! We arrived at the restaurant a few minutes before our reservation time and were able to explore the hotel for a bit first. Once seated, we were enticed by sweet rolls which were so good! The food began to arrive at the table, family style of course, and as we began to eat, Lilo and Stitch arrived. I was absolutely starstruck! They both mingled through the dining room and we were able to take pictures. I gave Stitch the biggest hug and he was absolutely silly during the picture session with my family. We got some pictures with our whole family as well as just with my brother and I. Then Lilo and Stitch proceeded to make a conga line and navigate through the room with music and the children followed playing instruments. I was too shy to join in the festivities, but my younger brother loved it. It is truly a family experience I will never forget! Family is the best thing in my life and always has been. We have taken many trips as a family to the beach, mountains, and Disney World over the 18 years of my life. One of my most memorable experiences was spending time in Disney with my family and getting to meet Stitch at Ohana for breakfast. I still remember that day like it was yesterday and continue to live by the word Ohana, meaning family, and no one is left behind. My family will always be what is most important.

I can still remember going to the hospital to see my mom when I was 3. She had just given birth to my younger brother and I was told he would be staying in the hospital for a little while instead of coming home. He had been born at 29 weeks gestational age and weighed just under 3 pounds. He was cared for in the NICU for three months and little did I know at that time but my career and life path would be altered forever based off this experience. As I begin Mount St. Mary's University in the fall as a freshman, I will major in biology with a pre-medicine track. My career aspirations are to become a physician or physician assistant specializing in Neonatology. My career path I feel has been predestined by my brother's unfortunate ordeal. Even though I was young, I remember visiting my brother in the hospital with my parents and chatting with the doctors and nurses, as I was sort of a social butterfly. They were all so compassionate and I would later come to admire all their hard work and dedication. Last summer, I had the amazing opportunity to shadow in the very NICU that cared for my brother. This experience only solidified my decision to join the medical field and work with babies. I was able to hear from physicians and nurses during my visit and even witnessed an entire C-section with one of the nurse practitioners. I really felt at home there and wanted nothing more than to help children as my lifelong goal. I have always enjoyed working with children and have volunteered assisting children in various capacities throughout my high school career. Most recently I volunteered on Sunday mornings on the pediatric floor of the hospital preparing rooms and cleaning the toy room. I also had the amazing opportunity to play with the children and try to take their mind off being hospitalized, even if only for a short time. This servitude allowed me to become familiar with medicine and confirmed my desire to work in the medical field, helping children through my future career. Becoming a physician or physician assistant specializing in Neonatology has been the only career I have ever wanted to pursue. My experience with my brother spending time in the NICU sparked my interest and my volunteerism with children coupled with my shadowing experience established my desire for my career goal. The difference I will make in the lives of our youngest, most vulnerable patients will be life-altering. I look forward to healing children and supoorting families of premature babies as well as providing servitude to others throughout my lifetime.

My brother was born at 29 weeks gestational age when I was just 3 years old due to a complication during my mother's pregnancy. He was so little, just under 3 pounds, and required three months of around the clock care in the NICU. Before he entered into this world, my mom had some genetic testing completed that said he was at high risk for down syndrome. My parents had the choice of continuing with the pregnancy and knew the only choice was life no matter what the circumstances. Their philosophy and upbringing helped shape my values and my pro-life position. I believe that a new life is realized from conception. There should not be any rational reason a women would want to terminate a pregnancy. There are always different options available to those who may become pregnant with an unwanted child. Adoption is a choice and there are reportedly up to 2 million couples in the United States alone looking to adopt a baby. That is approximately 36 families waiting to adopt for every 1 child placed up for adoption. There is always another solution to abortion. My pro-life stance coupled with my brother's untimely entry into this world has led to my decision to go to college and major in biology with a pre-medicine focus. Specifically, my career aspirations are to go into medicine, becoming a physician or physician assistant specializing in Neonatology, helping care for and heal our youngest, most vulnerable population. Being able to nuture these children and help them succeed is my true passion. I was even able to shadow in the same NICU that cared for my brother and found the work fascinating. I was able to witness a C-section birth from start to finish and the magical event of delivering life into this world. I have always been interested in helping children and have also volunteered in the pediatric department at my local hospital to play with the children who are hospitalized, helping to take their mind off what might be a perilous situation. Helping children is my passion and that is backed up by my pro-life stance. I have always been vocal about my pro-life stance to anyone who would listen. A life starts at time of conception and I truly believe there is no rational reason to terminate a pregnancy, therefore negating a human life. There are always other options for those who may be faced with an unwanted pregnancy. I will be starting Mount St. Mary's University in just a month as a freshman and cannot wait to become educated and work in medicine. Helping others, especially children, is my life-long dream and is attainable through my education and obtained degree. I look forward to continuing my pro-life position and helping care for our youngest patients as a physician or physician assistant working in the NICU.

Positivity comes in all different forms. It can be the desire to brighten the day of a stranger by providing a compliment. It can be the outlook you have when hoping for that job raise or change in path. It can be the satisfaction you receive from helping others and providing service above self. I plan on pursuing a college education and obtaining a degree in biology with a pre-medicine track. I would love nothing more than to practice medicine as a physician or physician assistant, specializing in Neonatology, and helping others in my community and beyond. One of my favorite films is Simon Birch. This film shows a lot of heart and determination by the lead character, Simon. He not only has to overcome adversity due to being smaller than all the other children, he also overcomes neglect by his parents who feel his life is worthless. He maintains an optimistic attitide throughout the movie, always feeling as if his life has purpose and that God had put him on this Earth for a specific reason. This goal is realized when the church van crashes into the water and the other children listen to Simon as he takes charge and helps get the children to safety. Simon eventually succumbs to his injuries after the accident, but felt his life had proven worthy after saving all the others and becoming a hero. This film has shaped my future career goals in several ways. I have learned determination as shown by Simon to never give up on my dreams. Simon's altruism has led to my desire to help others through volunteerism and medicine and allowed me to realize my daily and lifelong goal of service above self. I, like Simon, feel I was given life for a specific purpose, and I see that purpose in helping others through my future career in medicine. I recently graduated cum laude from my high school and was a well-rounded student academically and athletically. I served in leadership roles in high school and was involved in many honor societies. I have always had a desire to help others since a young age. I was a Girl Scout who volunteered in many ways, helping the church, our school community, and beyond. I have volunteered at my local hospital on the pediatric floor, playing with the children who were hospitalized and organizing the playroom. I am excited to begin college in the fall at Mount St. Mary's University to continue serving my community and look to have further outreach while in college. Positivity plays an important role in my life. I am confident I will succeed in my career aspirations of becoming a physician or physician assistant and working in the NICU to help our youngest, most vulnerable population survive. My positive impact on this world is already evident through my servitude toward others in my school and community. Working in medicine will only provide a stronger positive impact on my community and potentially the world. Just like Simon's character in Simon Birch, I know I have been granted life to serve a purpose and that purpose is helping others, which I plan to utilize my college education and subsequent degree to continue this important work throughout my lifetime.

My brother was born at 29 weeks gestational age when I was just 3 years old. He spent 3 months in the NICU at York Hospital in York, Pennsylvania. I can remember going to the hospital to visit him with my parents, playing with the nurses, and chatting it up with the doctors, as I was a social butterfly! At that tender age, I really had no idea the magnitude of the situation or the tenacity my brother must have possessed just to survive. I remember the warm smiles, kindness, and caring attitide of the staff at the NICU and how everyone just wanted to help. This experience would alter my life and would eventually allow the realization of my future career aspirations of becoming a physician or physician assistant specializing in Neonatology. After the precarious situation involving my brother resolved and he came home, I was able to help care for him with the help of my parents. I enjoyed helping him and decided to venture out and help others. I joined Girl Scouts at age 6 and quickly learned there were lots of ways to help! We sang Christmas carols at nursing homes, collected clothing for our school's Rachel's Closet program to provide to children in need, compiled toiletry kits for homeless shelters, and made quilts for shut-ins as some examples. This service above self mantra that I learned at a young age would lead to more volunteer opportunities as I grew older. In high school, I found different ways to volunteer. I helped serve as a race anchor for Healthy Kids Running Series, running with the children to encourage them to complete the race and promote a healthy, fit lifestyle from a young age. I aided underclassmen through Junior Achievement events, served as an usher for the school musical, cleaned up our school grounds with my cross country team by picking up litter after practices, and fundraised to purchase a summer reading book for every child in one of our underprivileged elementary schools to help minimize the summer reading slide. I proudly continued this important servitude throughout high school but wanted to further my community reach. During the summer before my senior year, I decided to volunteer at my local hospital in the pediatric department. Since I was not yet 18, I could not help in the NICU, but loved children and wanted to support them in any way possible. Volunteering in the same hospital that cared for my brother all those years ago was special. Throughout my senior year, I would dedicate Sunday mornings to play with the children, organize the playroom, and prepare rooms for occupancy. I loved being able to combine my future goal of working in medicine with my love of helping others, especially children. After graduating cum laude from high school, I forsee a bright future based off my career goals of helping others through medicine. I have a strong basis for my career choice, knowing from a young age that I wanted to help others and realizing later in life the magnitude my brother's unfortunate circumstances would draw me to a love of medicine and the NICU. I will begin college in the fall, studing biology wit. a pre-medicine focus at Mount St. Mary's University. This scholarship would go a long way to assist in my goals and help me focus on my education and worry less about financial debt Working in medicine will require a lot of years of college, but I am more than ready to tackle this challenge in my goal to helping others throughout my lifetime.

My legacy will be creating an environment for others to grow and thrive. My servitide toward others has already left an impressionable footprint of the life I want to live and the service I would like my family to continue when I am gone. Service above self has always been a way of life and my legacy will be to surround my family with the tools necessary to continue my volunteerism and outreach in my community and beyond. I began serving others at age 6 when I joined Girl Scouts. My mother was a Girl Scout and wanted me to experience the same pillars Girl scounting had taught her as a child. She encouraged me to join and served as an adult volunteer throughout my tenure from Daisy to Junior. My upbringing with the loving and nurturing support of my family helped me realize my goal of helping others. Not only did I get to spend quality time with my mom through Girl Scouts, I realized that I had a passion for helping those in need. We achieved many different things during Girl Scouts including volunteering with the church, assembling toiletry kits for homeless shelters, collecting clothing for Good Will, providing food to local pantries and senior centers, and collecting coloring books and crayons for Caitlyn's Smiles to provide to children who are hospitalized. We made quilts for shut-ins and collected clothing for Rachel's Closet to support the children in our school district. Being exposed to servitude at a young age helped shape my desire to continue to help others throughout my life. Even outside of Girl Scouts, my family would adopt a child for Christmas, helping buy presents, and collect winter accessories for the giving tree at school. Once I started high school, I began helping with the Healthy Kids Running Series, running with children and serving as the anchor to provide encouragement to keep going and finish the race. This program's mission is to get children outdoors to provide a means of physical fitness. A volunteer run program, it provides a legacy for future generations of families by instilling routines needed for a healthy lifestyle from a young age. While in high school, I continued my advocacy work by ushering for the school musical, supporting underclassmen during Junior Achievement events, keeping our campus clean by picking up litter following cross country practices, running stations at school track meets, and helping purchase a book for every child in one of our underprivileged elementary schools to provide summer reading materials to promote literacy and prevent the summer educational slide. My most important volunteerism came during my senior year when I began serving at my local hospital in the pediatric department. I played with the children to help take their mind off being hospitalized. I also organized the playroom and prepared hospital rooms for occupancy. The joy on the faces of the children I spent time with was priceless. I cannot wait until I begin college in the fall and can further my outreach to other communities. My upbringing in a caring, altruistic home coupled with starting Girl Scouts at a young age has led to my desire to help others. My family has always helped others and donated to charitable organizations as well as volunteered their time for those in need. I want my legacy to be one of helping others and want my family to continue my work in the future when I am not here to do so. My volunteerism has led to my career aspirations of becoming a physician and assisting others throughout my entire lifetime.

Service above self is a motto I choose to live by. I learned from an early age that helping others was rewarding and found various ways to assist my community and beyond. My dedication to servitude has continued throughout my school years and now as I enter college as a Freshman, I am convinced I will be able to have an even further reach to help those in need. My desire to assist others is evidenced by my future career aspirations of becoming a physician or physician assistant specializing in Neonatology, which will allow me to succeed in caring for the youngest, most vulnerable population. My devotion to helping others began at age 6 when I joined Girl Scouts. My troop leader instilled the importance of helping others from the start. We spent time with seniors at Christmas, collected clothing for Good Will, donated crayons and coloring books for Caitlyn's Smiles to provide to children in the hospital, and made quilts with the church to provide to shut-ins. We also assembled toiletry kits for homeless shelters, collected school supplies for children, donated Girl Scout cookies to the senior center, and helped in any capacity needed with fundraising church dinners. We donated time to sell snacks with proceeds going to our local park. I collected food for our food pantry and clothing for Rachel's Closet, a clothing service provided to assist children at our schools who may be in need. At Christmas, we would adopt a child and go shopping to help provide toys and necessities. I continued this fulfilling work with Girl Scouts until 6th grade and then decided it was time to venture out on my own. In middle school, I began volunteering with the Healthy Kids Running Series. Every Sunday in fall and spring I would help kids warm up and serve as the anchor for the race, encouraging them to keep going and finish strong. The design of this program was to get kids outdoors and encourage physical fitness. I continued this work through my early high school years and then found different ways to support my school and community. During my junior and senior years I was involved in numerous honor societies. I ushered the school musical with NHS, supported underclassmen during Junior Achievement assemblies and worked fundraising booths for French Honor Society, worked intermediate track meets for Varsity Club, and assisted a literacy program for one of our underprivileged elementary schools by fundraising to buy a book for every child to keep them reading during the summer with Rho Kappa. My cross country team also picked up litter on school grounds after practices. All of my work helping others has been meaningful, but my most important work to date has been volunteering at my local hospital on the pediatric floor. I would volunteer Sunday mornings and help clean the playroom, prepare rooms for occupancy, and play with the children to take their mind off being hospitalized, even if only for a short while. I look forward to starting college and expanding my servitude toward others. Helping others is of utmost importance to me. It not only is the right thing to do, it also provides some satisfaction for my soul that I am doing something good in a world that can sometimes be labeled as cruel and dark. I have enjoyed donating my time in various aspects over the years and look to continue helping others in the future. My desire for service above self has ultimately led to my career decision of going into medicine and continuing to help others throughout my lifetime.

Adequate sleep, eating healthy, and maintaining personal fitness levels all lead to better overall mood, less anxiety, and an ideal state of wellness. As I begin my collegiate journey in the fall, all of these factors will play into my personal wellness. As an athlete running cross country and track for Mount St. Mary's University, I will need to be both physically fit and mentally fit to meet the rigors of college. My physical training as an athlete is intense. I work out 6 days per week and vary my workout routines to enhance my running ability and potential. My coaches push me to my limits but also know how important physical fitness is to my overall health and wellbeing. Looking forward to beginning college, I am hoping to utilize the weight room to enhance upper and lower body and core strength, all which are keys to physical fitness and necessary to improve strength and running speed. I also am hoping to work closely with the trainers to keep my physical body in peak performance condition. Nutrition is another key to maintaining personal wellness. If you put in junk, you get out junk. My eating habits are not always ideal but I work hard to maintain a balance between the necessary food groups. I enjoy fruits and veggies and chicken is my favorite protein. I am a picky eater, so I am hoping to gain valuable wisdom from the nutrionists at school to assist in choosing foods that I like that will also fuel my mind and body to maintain optimal health and wellness. Academic success is most important to me. Being able to care for my body with adequate sleep, nutrition, and exercise, helps keep me mentally fit for the rigors of my academic classes. I graduated with honors from high school, in the top 7 percent of my graduating class, with a GPA of over 4.0. This regimine I followed throughout high school helped foster my success and allowed me to excel as a student. I am confident that my current wellness plan coupled with some adjustments toward college will help me find the same success during my collegiate career. As I look forward toward my future years of college, I am reminded of the importance of my overall wellness needed to fuel my mind and body to allow maximun performance in academics and athletics. I have devised a pretty good routine already by obtaining adequate sleep, eating healthy, and maintaining high physical fitness levels. By following this wellness plan entering college I am setting myself up for academic success.

The C word. Cancer. The word itself evokes a whole range of emotions. Sadness, fear, anxiety. Once a person is diagnosed with cancer, it can be hard to look to the future. Will the person affected with cancer be ok? What is their long term prognosis? All of these emotions and thoughts were running through my mind even at a young age when my grandfather was diagnosed with malignant melanoma. He did not allow his struggles to define the person he was and his journey has helped shape my career aspirations of working in medicine as a physician or physician assistant. My grandfather was diagnosed with malignant melanoma about 10 years ago. His presentation was apparently common, although it took multiple physicians to determine he had cancer. He originally went to the doctor with a cut fingernail and finger that would not heal. They started antibiotics with no noticeable change. He then went to see a specialist who ordered blood work and finally discovered that he had malignant melanoma from a mole that started underneath the fingernail of his thumb. From diagnosis to remission was several years. He required testing, chemotherapy, and surgery to remove part of his dominant right thumb and reshape the finger with skin taken from a graft from his back. It was a long and arduous journey, but he was finally deemed cancer free and in remission. His cancer journey had a profound affect on me, especially due to my young age. I remember being worried about him and wondering what was wrong with his finger. Why could he not play with me like he used to? He seemed tired and out of sorts, obviously an effect from the chemotherapy. The functionality of his hand was also different as he had trouble grasping items with the nub he once called a complete thumb. He could not button his shirt and do tetious work any longer. It would take many years, continued patience, and determination until he would finally regain full function of his right hand. My relationship with him had been altered during this time period, but I learned more from his experience than I could ever have imagined. My grandfather's cancer journey taught me many valuable lessons. Never give up the fight. Always look for the good in every situation, as he always remained positive throughout his experience. He showed true grit and determination and it made me respect him even more. Through his trials and tribulations, I gained an understanding of medicine and knowing he was able to be cured instilled my faith in the work physicians do everyday. Without research and scientific breakthroughs, without the detemination of physicians to help diagose and treat patients, we would not hear the word cancer free or remission. The unfortunate circumstance that my grandfather had to endure has helped to shape my career aspirations of working in medicine as a physician or physician assistant. I would love to show compassion for others and work diligently toward cures for diseases to better the life expectancy of the human race.

I live my life providing servitude to my community and beyond. Volunteering has been a large part of my life since a young age and my desire to help others has shaped my career aspirations of becoming a physician or physician assistant specializing in Neonatology. Giving of myself to others provides a level of fulfillment like nothing else. The high it provides along with my genuine desire to help others keeps my interest peaked to provide servitude throughout my lifetime. As a Daisy Girl Scout, my troop leader instilled service to others as one of the Girl Scout pillars. We provided support in any way possible, including making toiletry kits for homeless shelters, donating food to residents and spending time at senior centers, and collecting coloring supplies to support Caitlyn's Smiles who provide crafts to children who are hospitalized. We sang Christmas carols at a nursing home, collected school supplies and stuffed backpacks for children in other countries, and helped with church fundraiser dinners while working with the church elders to sew quilts for shut-ins. Clothing was collected and delivered to Good Will as well as for Rachel's Closet to help children at our middle school. We bought gifts for families at Christmas and collected hats, scarves, and mittens for the school giving tree. Our troop leader reminded us that no matter how little we were, we could make a big difference in the world. This passion would stay with me after leaving Girl Scouts and entering high school. During my high school years, I began volunteering with the Healthy Kids Running Series. I loved running and this allowed me to help children enjoy fitness and learn about a healthy lifestyle. I would serve as the anchor for children age pre-school through middle school, running with them while encouraging them to finish the race. I still remember parents thanking me for helping encourage their child to keep going and I was so appreciative to be able to assist. High school was also a time when I was accepted into honor societies where community service was the cornerstone of these programs. I assisted with a variety of activities over the last four years including running Junior Achievement stations for underclassmen and making crepes for French Honor Society fundraisers, ushering for the school musical with National Honor Society, and cleaning up litter on our school campus after cross country practices. With Rho Kappa Social Studies Honor Society, we fundraised to buy each child in one of our underprivileged elementary schools a book to prevent summer reading literacy decline. We read to the students when we presented the books and going back to my kindergarten room with my teacher was a special and rewarding experience. I have helped run intermediate track meets with Varsity Club and was a volunteer for our local 5k run. All of this work is important but my most important work thus far has been helping Sunday mornings on the pediatric floor of my local hospital where I clean toys, refill supplies, and play with the children who are hospitalized to try to take their mind off being in the hospital, even if only for a short time. I loved providing a little light to what may be a difficult situation. Selflessness has been engrained in my being since a young age. I have felt blessed to be able to provide assistance to others in need in my community and beyond. My favorite servitude involves helping children, lending to my desired career choice. I only see my opportunities growing with respect to helping more people in the future.

Healthy eating habits are crucial for overall mind-body health. The best way to think about it is when you put good things in, good things will come out. Fueling your body with the nutrients it needs will allow you to sleep better, feel better, and perform better academically and athletically, which is especially important to me as a 4.0 GPA high school student and two sport varsity athlete, running cross country and track and field. Being a teenage girl, I have personally seen the effects food can have on the body and the unrealistic models that teenage girls compare their bodies to. I have seen classmates and teammates fall victim to eating disorders, become hospitalized, and it breaks my heart. We need to focus on stopping body shaming, concentrating on self love, and allowing our nutritional need to fuel not only our physical health, but also our mental health. Healthy eating is necessary for peak academic and athletic performance. I understand that I need carbohydrate storage for quick energy to help propel my run. I eat protein to help build muscle and make sure to take a multivitamin daily. Eating fruits and veggies everyday also help provide key vitamins, like vitamin c, to help maintain good immune function and keep me healthy. When I eat healthier, I feel better, physically and mentally. I can focus on the task at hand more efficiently and feel more productive. Some people may feel that eating healthier can lead to longevity. It makes sense that when you give your body the ingredients it needs, it will perform at better levels. Of course there will always be exceptions to every norm, but it goes back to my first saying of putting in good, returns good. Eating less fat can decrease the risk of artery plaque buildup, decreasing the risk of heary disease and heart attack. Eating less sugar can decrease your risk of diabetes, which is personal as my dad has LADA diabetes, a mix between type 1 and type 2, managed by oral treatments as well as insulin. He loves his sweets and I just can't help but wonder if he would have had better nutritional habits, if he would have been able to prevent the onset of his diabetes. My body needs essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients to maintain overall good health. Eating healthy helps maintain great mental fortitude and a frame of mind to help me perform at peak academic levels. It also helps fuel my body to stay in prime athletic shape to give me the endurance needed as a long distance runner and sprinting speed to finish the race strong. I hope to always continue my healthy eating habits throughout life to decrease my risk of disease, potentially increase longevity, and maintain great physical fitness and an overall excellent state of mental health.

Math is intriguing, complicated, but worth the process to find a definitive answer. Not everything in life has a definitive answer, but you will always get one with math. Algebra provides a solid foundation for STEM and my future career aspirations in medicine will surely use math for research and beyond. Math has not always come easy to me. In middle school I was taking advanced math classes. I enjoyed learning math, but found it challenging, to say the least. I continued to do well in math and would continue my journey in advanced math in high school. I started high school with honors math. I was blessed to have a great teacher who was helpful in my pursuit of my understanding of the subject. Then covid happened. My sophomore year was a year of virtual classes in high school. This is where I became concerned if I could learn anything in this environment, let alone learn a difficult subject like math over the computer through zoom meetings. Mr. James was so helpful and when I felt lost or confused about a solution to a problem, he was more than eager to walk me through getting the answer. I continued to excel in math and looked forward to my next two high school years. During my junior year, I took statistics and found myself really enthralled by the nature of statistics. I had already enjoyed math, but statistics as it could relate to my future career in medicine, was important. I look forward to the time I can get in a lab, work closely with my college professor, and do research which will ultimately be steeped in math and statistical analysis. My senior year of high came with a mandatory personal finance class. This is another valuable form of math, preparing students for adulthood. We learned about balancing a check book, mortgages with interest amortization charts, and filing taxes, all tasks that will be used practicallyin my life as an adult. Although this math was not always complicated, it was very practical and useful. My senior year also had me realize my continued love for math by being inducted into Mu Alpha Theta, our school chapter of the math honor society. What a wonderful distinction and culmination of my high school math classes! Math is important for many aspects in life. Some math you will use everyday and some you will never see again depending on your career choice. I love the challenge math provides and the climax of finding the solution to a complex problem. I look forward to continuing to utilize math in my future career in medicine, whether through statistical analysis as a result of research or through dosing of medication for NICU patients with my career goal of becoming a Neonatologist. Math will always be useful and welcomed in my future career and adult life.

I am nervous to start college in the fall and I am sure this sentiment is shared by most incoming freshmen. What excites me most about college is meeting new people and being able to build new life-long connections. I look forward to the academic rigours that college will provide and am dedicated to the challenge. Being mentally and physically prepared for the highs and lows of school are important to my success. I currently have several techniques I employ to maintain a healthy mind, body, and soul when faced with scholastic challenges. Being physically fit is of utmost importance to me. I have participated in sports since a young age, previously playing soccer, field hockey, swimming, and I currently hold a black belt in taekwando. I am currently a two sport varsity athlete, running cross country and track and field. Running not only keeps me physically fit but also provides a mental release for the challenges of the day, a way to leave it all behind and come through my run with a clear head and better focus. Sometimes I even use my run to think about upcoming tests, review material in my mind, or brainstorm ideas for a research project. Other sports require focus on the task at hand but running does not always require me to focus on my pace and during times we are just doing a run for a specified number of minutes it affords me the opportunity to think or just relax depending on the day. Nutrition is another crucial part of maintaining a healthy mind, body, and soul. I do my best to balance my nutritional needs with the demands running poses on my body. It is important to have the proper amount of protein, carbs, and fat. Even with my busy schedule between school, work, volunteerism, and sports I make time to have an adequate diet. I also take a multivitamin daily to help support and supplement my immune system to keep me in good health and my body and mind running at full capacity. My current regimen of physical fitness and mental wellbeing have served me well through any school challenge. I work hard to maintain good grades, evidenced by my 4.0 GPA in high school while taking honors and AP classes. I will graduate cum laude at the end of May with a placement of 18 in a class of 260 students. There will always be challenges that will arise during school and college will be no different. I am looking forward to starting classes at Mount St. Mary's University in the fall as part of their honors program and running Division 1 track and cross country. I know I am well poised to work through any college challenges due to my maintenance of a healthy mind, body, and soul.

My mental health has not always been ideal. I am sure there is not a single person who can admit to having pristine mental health throughout their lifetime. Unfortunately, some people struggle more than others. I feel blessed that my experience with anxiety causing my mental health decline was able to be managed through a good family support system and therapy sessions. My outlook on my relationships and how I now interpret the world around me has changed with my improved mental health. I first started realizing I was suffering from anxiety at the start of my middle school years. Middle school is a rough time for most kids and I was no exception. I was feeling anxious in social situations and found myself not wanting to look out of place or stupid. There is always peer pressure to try to fit in and the anxiety I was experiencing was based off the desire to be a part of something bigger. I can still remember refusing to get out of the car and crying when my parents would drop me off at a classmates' party. I would eventually go in, but the stuggle was real! My parents realized that my behavior was a bit more than just nervousness and sought out counseling services for me through my local behavioral health office. Being able to meet with my counselor in person once a month was extremely helpful. She would always be an ear to listen and would provide help and advice when necessary. She taught me some calming techniques which would assist with my anxiety. Just speaking with her face to face was important as it would give me the confidence to have more face to face interactions, which had become a rarity for most teens since the inception of social media. Seeing a variety of other people at the counseling office allowed the realization that I was not alone in my mental health struggles and that these afflictions could affect any person and at any age. Mental fortitude and well-being was a much bigger problem than I had previously realized. How could all of the people that were suffering be treated with a limited number of providers? This was a question with no easy answer. As stated previously, I was one of the lucky ones that was able to get prompt assistance to help minimize my anxiety through therapy. It has led to the realization that you never really know what someone else is struggling with and it is always prudent to be kind. My struggles with anxiety had previously caused me to be untrustworthy in relationships. Now that my mental health is good, I have found meaningful relationships with my friends and boyfriend. My goals are in clear sight based off my good mental wellbeing and I look forward to accomplishing my future collegiate goals of getting a degree in biology with a pre-med track and one day aspiring to a future career as a Neonatologist. My previous struggles with anxiety have made me a stronger person. Am I always anxiety free? No, of course not! I have, however, been able to manage my anxiety during my formidable years with the help of my counselor. I have since graduated from counseling and I have a different aspect on mental health and fortitude and feel it has made me a more kind and understanding person. Being in a better current state of mental health has allowed more meaningful relationships and an understanding of the goals I want for my life and the determination to achieve them. I hope more people throughout the world will be blessed with the support they need to work through their mental health issues and be able to realize the happier ending I have been given.

Save your money, save your money! My parents have always encouraged me to save my money from an early age. Of course, when you are younger, you really have no concept of why you should save money or even how much things cost or where to begin with budget planning. You just want everything you can get your hands on and know more about "wants" than "needs". Over time, I have learned that what my parents tried to instill in me since a young age was the truth and I have learned to utilize money wisely, save as much as possible, but also splurge every once in awhile to keep life interesting. As stated before, my parents always told me to save my money. When I would receive money for birthdays or holidays, I would get to spend some and buy something I really wanted and would save the rest. I was very lucky as a child as my parents frequently bought us things we wanted. As I became older, I began to realize the value of a dollar. By using my own money to pay for things I wanted, I was learning how to budget whether I realized it or not. It was not until I became a teenager that I really began to understand the need to save money. At age 16, I started my first job. My parents would drive me there as I was still too young to have my drivers license. My parents had helped me open a checking and savings account and I was able to set up direct deposit of my paychecks into my checking account. That was a very convenient way to save money as the money never got into my hands! I would get tips in cash on the days I worked which I could use as spending money. Once I obtained my drivers license, my savings would change, but I was enjoying saving as much money as possible at that time. Keeping up my goal of saving money would become much more difficult the moment I was able to drive. Now I could drive myself to and from work without assistance. My parents let me use one if their cars, so there was no car cost or payment. However, 6 months into my driving experience, I pulled out of our garage, turned too quickly, and knocked the bumper right off the car! My parents told me I would have to pay the cost of damages which was about $1500. There went some of my savings! I was also responsible for putting gas in my car and helping offset the car insurance increase which was the result of adding me onto their policy. I quickly realized that with added responsibility came added costs. I was only making $10.00 per hour and it was becoming much harder to save money with additional costs. Once in college, I will still do my best to follow the advice of saving as much money as possible. With my focus on academics and running collegiate sports of cross country and track, I will not have much free time to work. I will utilize my dining plan to its fullest capacity to avoid spending extra money on food. My car will be on campus, but will be mostly stationary unless I plan on taking a trip home to visit my family. I will surely look to work a job as time allows to avoid depleting my savings account. With respect to saving money beyond college, one important task I will look to accomplish as soon as I get a professional job will be to set up a retirement account through my employer. Looking forward to my future and saving money for retirement starting at a young age will help prepare me for my later years in life. Budgeting my expenses for a home, repaying college loans, and usual expenses like groceries, car expenses, and utilities will help me pay my bills and still be able to save money in an emergency fund as well as save for the future. A penny saved is a penny earned is some of the best advice I received from my parents and family at a young age. It is as useful to save money you already have as it is to make more. Saving money is one of the most important things you can do to propel yourself through life. With expenses looming from college, automobiles, and real estate, it will not be an easy feat but I think my parents have instilled a strong foundation from a young age that this piece of financial advice that will stick with me for a lifetime.

We have all heard the phrase "I believe the children are our future." My volunteer work with children throughout my life has solidified the accuracy of that phrase. I have worked with children in various capacities, ages, and backgrounds. My desire to help others and work with children has allowed me to realize my dream of becoming a physician or physician assistant specializing in Neonatology. My desire to help other children began at age 3 when I became a big sister to my brother who was born at 29 weeks gestational age. He was so tiny, just under 3 pounds, and I wanted to be the best big sister ever and help in any way possible! Little did I know at the time that the experiences of my brother spending time in the NICU and his abrupt entrance into this world would shape my life and future career aspirations. When I was 6, I joined Girl Scouts and began to learn about volunteerism and service to my community. We would collect crayons and coloring books for Caitlyn's Smiles to give to children who were hospitalized. Our service involved helping all of our community, not just children, but I discovered my work with children to be the most rewarding. Once I started high school, I worked with my local chapter of Healthy Kids Running Series to assist with weekly races. The children, age pre-school to high school would challenge themselves each week to a race whose length was age dependant. I mostly helped the third through sixth graders, serving as the race anchor, running with the children in the back of the pack providing moral support and inspiration to keep moving, stay fit, and complete the race. I have also assisted in raising money to purchase books for children in an underprivileged elementary school in our school district. Our club delivered the books and read to the children. I was delighted to be back in my kindergarten classroom reading to children where my educational journey began! I also help varsity club run track meets for our intermediate school aged children and have assisted with junior achievement programs for underclassmen. All of my time spent volunteering is important but my most meaningful volunteerism to date has been my work in the pediatric department at my local hospital. I spend Sunday mornings there organizing supplies, cleaning the playroom, and most importantly, playing with children who are hospitalized, trying to provide a little ray of sunshine to what is inevitably a difficult experience. This servitude has helped not only prepare me for my future work in medicine by allowing my familiarization with the hospital, but also affords me the opportunity to work with children. Believing that the children of our community and world are our future has ignited my passion for wanting to invest in the future by becoming a positive impact in the life of a child. I have already committed to serving the children of my community through my various service projects, helping children from varied backgrounds. The positive impact on the world I choose to pursue is continuing helping children succeed in both my personal life as well as my professional future career in medicine as a physician or physician assistant practicing Neonatology. Our future will be shaped by the children and I will work to the best of my ability to have a positive impact on the health and well-being of these children, which will ultimately impact our world for the better.

Giving back to my community has always been a lifelong passion. My servitude to others through volunteerism since a young age has helped shape my career aspirations. I am proud to say I will be attending Mount St. Mary's University in the fall majoring in biology with a pre-medicine track. My career aspirations are to become a physician or physician assistant specializing in Neonatology. Serving others in my community and beyond was inserted into my life from a young age, beginning when I joined Girl Scouts as a Daisy. My troop leader introduced us to helping others in need and we collected crayons and coloring books for Caitlyn's Smiles for children who were hospitalized, served and cleaned up at church spaghetti and turkey dinners, and made toiletry kits to drop off at our community homeless shelters. We spent time giving back to nursing home residents and collected clothes for Good Will. My servitide toward others continued when I helped at my local Healthy Kids Running Series during my freshman and sophomore years, serving as the anchor for the race and providing encouragement and support to the children to finish the race. As a member of multiple honor societies I have donated my time to pick up litter on our school campus, serve as an usher for the school musical with National Honor Society, help with intermediate track meets through varsity club, and assisted with junior achievement activities with French club. Helping children is what I enjoy most and my Rho Kappa Social Studies honor society has raised money to buy books for our elementary school children to help increase reading literacy througout the summer months. My most important volunteerism thus far has been my committment to my local hospital on Sunday mornings helping out in the pediatric ward stocking supplies and playing with the children. This volunteer experience not only prepares me for a future career in medicine but also for my important work with children. As part of the honors program at Mount St. Mary's, I will be involved in scientific research. I look forward to choosing a research topic and working with my professors and peers toward a common goal. Wouldn't it be amazing to be published in a medical journal or even may a life-altering medical discovery? I can only hope that the result of my research will make a positive impact on the world! Becoming a physician or physician assistant specializing in Neonatology would be a dream come true. My servitide toward others and my love of helping children has led to my career choice. I would love nothing more than to help those in need, continue my volunteerism in my community, and potentially even make a positive impact through medical research. I am so excited to begin my collegiate journey, graduate with a career in medicine, and make a positive impact serving my community and beyond.

I have always gravitated toward science since a young age. I found it interesting and it easily became my best subject. Once in high school, I began to double up on science courses in an effort to learn more. I ultimately found chemisty and biology the most fascinating and my passion for helping others through servitude led to my desire to study medicine. I will begin my collegiate journey at Mount St. Mary's University in the fall, majoring in biology with a pre-medicine focus, with the aspirations of becoming a physician or physician assistant specializing in Neonatology. I am very excited that I have been selected to attend the honors program at Mount St. Mary's University. One of the perks of the honors program is a research project culminating in my senior year which I present at the SPARK festival held on campus. The professors at the Mount are researching a variety of topics, including Huntington's Disease, and I am so excited to work with my professors and others toward a common research goal. I would love to help discover something I could call life-saving or life-altering within the realm of medicine. How I chose my future profession is an interesting story. My brother was born at 29 weeks gestational age. He spent 3 long months in the NICU before he was able to return home with our family. Despite only being 3 when he entered this world, I can remember visiting him in the hospital and talking to the doctors and nurses. I loved how they cared for and helped these young, vulnerable patients. As I began to think of my future career, I knew I loved science and loved children and I felt becoming a physician and being able to help others with my knowledge of science and desire for research would result in the perfect profession. This has been my career goal since as long as I can remember and I am excited to begin my collegiate journey this fall! I am a dedicated student athlete, evidenced by my 4.0 GPA while taking honors and AP classes and my placement of 18 out of 260 in my senior high school class. I will graduate cum laude in May. I am a two varsity athlete, running cross country and track, which I will continue at Mount St. Mary's University. I always strive to be the best at everything I do and will continue to do so in college. There is nothing I cannot achieve without hard work and determination. Science is my favorite subject and I love a challenge! I am currently taking Sociology and Honors Anatomy and Physiology right now and look forward to my cat dissection in class and finishing my high school career on a high note. My ability to strive for greatness lends to my future career in medicine specializing in Neonatology. I plan to contribute to the field of science by completing research in college and maybe even getting published or making a life-altering medicinal discovery. I look forward to my future career and the opportunity to give back to my community and beyond.

Math helps solve problems and I feel as if I am a dedicated leader who likes to work toward solutions. Math provides instant gratification when you discover the answer you are looking for. It has been used for many discoveries and goes hand in hand with chemistry, physics, and other sciences. I am interested in studying STEM in college and look forward to the discoveries math can unlock. Math always seemed to come pretty easy to me up until high school. I was always involved in the advanced math courses but found high school math on a whole different level. I was very grateful for the assistance from amazing professors like Mr. James and Ms. Fisher who were always willing to take the extra time to help with explanations of problem solutions to make certain I really understood what I was doing. I also discovered the importance of math to the sciences and in scientific discoveries. My high school statistics course helped me come to the realization that I really enjoyed probabilities and data and looked forward to completing scientific research in my future career aspirations in medicine. My love for math was reciprocated when I was inducted into Mu Alpha Theta, our high school math honor society, as a senior. I love that math is complex but also provides answers to solutions we seek. I enjoy the rigors math equations provide and the data revealed as a part of a scientific study. I look forward to continuing to solve equations in my future research in the medical field, hoping to even one day be able to utilize math in what could become a life-saving or life-sustaining medical discovery!

I am a hard working student who is dedicated to academics first but am a two sport varsity athlete. With the chaos of school work, year round sport practices, volunteering at my local hospital, and working two part-time jobs, I am always looking for a way to unwind. Although running helps provide a stress relief, music is my go to method to try to relax and de-stress. I enjoy most genres of music, including pop, rock, rap, r and b, and heavy metal. I have been accepted into Mount St. Mary's University and will begin there in the fall as a member of their honors program. I am also committed to run track and cross country for their Division 1 team. My goal is to major in biology with a pre-medicine focus. My career aspirations are to become a physician or physician assistant specializing in Neonatology. My dedication in high school toward academics has been realized by my 4.0 GPA and I will be graduating cum laude with a class position of 18 out of 260 students. I have never taken the easy road and these accomplishments were realized while taking AP and honors courses. I am involved in 4 honor society chapters at my high school and played the flute in symphonic and marching band for 3 years. I have held numerous volunteer positions and have dedicated my free time to helping others in need. My most important volunteer work is my current dedication to the pediatric ward at my local hospital. This servitude will not only prepare me for my future work in medicine, but also my work with children. College is expensive, but so worth the reward! I am excited for my future at the Mount and to be a member of the honors program, looking forward to learning from amazing professors on a beautiful campus. Their recent addition of a physician assistant program also spoke to my desire to be able to remain at MSMU for all 6 of my collegeiate years. Although provided a generous academic award of half the cost of tuition from the Mount, I still have approximately $30,000 per year to make up. I've been working two part-time jobs and diligently trying to save money but will still be short of paying for my education. I will need to apply for education and personal loans to fund the tuition balance. Beginning my adult life with a large amount of debt would make it difficult to live on my own. This scholarship would help provide some needed funds to support my education and help fulfill my dreams. Any amount of assistance I can receive would help relieve the debt burden I will be taking into my post college career and life. As stated earlier, I have always enjoyed music and many different genres. When I want to try to settle my mind from a busy day, I will always turn to music whether it is on the radio in my car or listening through my airpods. Depending on the type of mental release I desire determines the type of music I want to listen to. If I just want to relax a little, I will most likely choose pop or rock. When I really want to get an emotional release from stress, I find heavy metal to be soothing. Rocking out to a heavy metal song allows me to relieve my frustrations and takes the daily burden off my shoulders. I am excited to begin my academic collegiate journey this fall. My dedication to everything I do is evidenced by my achievements thus far. My career goal is to obtain a college degree and someday practice medicine, giving back to my community. This scholarship would go a long way in helping to minimize my educational debt burden. My future success will undoubtedly still contain stress and I will always turn to music as a stress reducer, specifically heavy metal when I really need to reset and let things go.

My mental health has not always been ideal. I feel like we can all struggle at any given time with our mental health capabilities. Beginning counseling during my middle school years helped shape my mental health and wellness and improved what sometimes seemed like debilitating anxiety. I have succeeded in academics, athletics, and relationships with the help of my family, friends, and previous counselors. The future is wide open and bright and the sky is the limit! I started counseling to help with social anxiety during my middle school years. Like most teenagers, I love social media which can exacerbate social anxiety. You learn to speak to people via text online or through snap chats or messenger and really do not have any in person interactions. I found it difficult to learn how to talk to people face to face. I always had my head buried in my phone and really had a big problem making eye contact. My experience with my counselor was always positive and just being able to speak to her in person helped ease my anxiety in those interpersonal situations. Once COVID enveloped our country and the world, everything reverted to online learning and in person was no longer an option. I am glad for the relationship I had already fostered with my counselor which made the transition to zoom sessions much easier. I have since graduated from my counseling sessions and feel much more prepared to speak in person and hold personal conversations with others. This has accelerated and enhanced my academic, athletic, and social relationships. As noted earlier, my experiences with the mental health industry throughout my years of counseling have been positve. I understand that not everyone who struggles with mental health is as lucky. The only negative experience I had was waiting to see a counseler. As my anxiety was worsening, the lengthy wait to receive support and help was hard to swallow. I was lucky and only waited several months where I know people wait much longer. My parents were instrumental during this time period while awaiting counseling services. I feel blessed that I was able to have such a loving and supportive network of family to help me transition through this difficult time in my life. Mental health is so crucial and there needs to be more readily accessible services for those in need. We need to do a better job in this country with respect to mental health and support for those suffering from mental illness. Thanks to my support system and counseling, I have been able to help calm and control my social anxiety and form meaningful relationships. I have achieved high academic success in high school and will graduate 18th place in a class of 260 students. I am also a two sport varsity athlete, running cross country and track and will continue that passion in college at Mount St. Mary's University. My career aspirations are to become a physician or physician assistant specializing in Neonatology, as I find my current volunteerism at my local hospital on the pediatric floor paramount to everything right now. I look foward to serving my community in a larger capacity in the future. I cannot be more grateful for the help and counseling I received which guided my path to success and am looking forward to starting college as part of the honors program and continuing the positive mental health and state of mind I currently possess.

You need to be in a good place to thrive. Mental health is of utmost importance and maintaining good mental health will keep you grounded and focused. It is difficult to always be in a great mental space and there is always room for improvement but the old adage of taking things day by day applies. I work hard to maintain the best mental space I can so I can be of benefit to myself and others. Since middle school, I have suffered with anxiety. Sometimes it is social and sometimes situational. Everyone likes to feel they are in the driver's seat and in control of everything around them, even though it is rarely possible to affect outside forces. I can remember times where my parents would drop me off somewhere but I would refuse to get out of the car unless I saw someone I knew. I would rather be late than feel I was making what I perceived to be an awkward entrance. I still sometimes find myself worked up about these situations, but I can say I feel as if my improvement in mental health has calmed some of my fears under certain circumstances. By keeping calm, breathing, and not over thinking the situation, I have helped prevent further anxiety. I was previously involved in counseling to increase my overall health and mental awareness. Once monthly therapy sessions were a way to help me unwind any built up tensions and to assist in the maintenance of my mental wellness. They were life altering during my formidable years and really helped strengthen the grip I had on my mental well being. Even though I have graduated from my counseling sessions, I found them very useful and would recommend these sessions for anyone who is looking for guidance with respect to mental health. Mental health is important for all aspects of life. When I have good mental health, it leads to good physical health. There will always be bumps in the road, but maintaining a positive attitude and trying yo only worry about the things I can physically control, like my mental health, provides a better outlook on any situation. My mental health guides all aspects of my life, including my relationships with others. Maintenance of mental wellness can be achieved through many avenues and is most likely individualized for each person. For me, the road to maintaining mental wellness was achieved through counseling which began during my middle school years. I learned mechanisms to cope with my anxiety under a variety of social and non-social situations. Being mentally healthy has guided my interactions throughout my life and has lead to physical health as well. I am in a better place now due to my mental wellness and am achieving at a high standard with respect to academics, athletics, and relationships. I look forward to my future collegiate studies and career with excitement, ready to begin a new chapter in my life knowing I have the mental wellness and fortitude to succeed!

My dream version of my future self would be a confident college graduate employed as a physician assistant who also works tirelessly in my pursuit of helping others through servitude to my community while simultaneously being an amazing wife and mother.

At age 9, I made what I thought might be a rash decision to join my school's Bobcats on the Run after school running program. To be honest, I really joined because of a boy. I knew nothing about running but knew I wanted to give it a try. Imagine my reaction when after practicing two days each week, we were told we would end the season with a 5K race. I'm sure it was in the paperwork, but again, I was infatuated and not really worried about the details. How would I be able to run 3 miles, especially in cold December Pennsylvania weather? Well, I am proud to report that I did it, learned to persevere against challenges, continued running, and never looked back! I never realized how much I would enjoy the release that running provides. Running after school throughout fourth through sixth grades and subsequently running the 5K road races provided me with the competitive bug. I began running 5k road races locally and found myself to be very competitive with others females in my age group. I even sometimes found myself placing first overall female in 5k road races! I would compete all year long, including our local winter series, to allow myself to feel good with a win, de-stress on a training run, and prepare for middle school cross country. I even competed in a 10K winter race at age 11 and did very well! The racing community is one of the most supportive sports communities and I felt I was getting all the encouragement and support I needed. So imagine my disbelief being told in middle school that I could not compete in cross country and field hockey because they practice at the same time. What decision would I make about the sport I had grown to admire and love? I had to make a tough decision between field hockey and running. I decided it would be best for me to keep running outside of school in competition races and give field hockey a try. I quickly realized that I was in great physical shape thanks to running when we did a time trial just to see how fast the field hockey team was since field hockey takes speed and endurance for an extended period of time. I was the fastest girl running just over a 6 minute mile. Running had prepared me mentally and physically for another sport and that was amazing. I tried field hockey throughout middle school and my freshman year of high school, but really missed the trail runs. After already running track in middle school and continuing in high school, I was asked to join the cross country team my sophomore year. We had a great team that year, winning counties, districts, and placing fourth in the state. I was a varsity athlete in track and now cross country and it felt good to be back running full time. Still to this day I enjoy the stress release and mental break running provides. Running cross country and track has taught me to be competitive, but also how to work as a team to score points toward a common goal. My passion for running is still evident and I work hard practicing 6 days a week. It has taught me that core strength and leg muscles are crucial and consistency is imperative. Most importantly, I have learned to have fun. I am proud to say I am committed to run track and cross country in college and look forward to running being a continued passion throughout my adult life.

I am a dedicated student athlete who has worked hard throughout my academic and athletic careers. I have a 4.0 GPA taking honors and AP courses and am a two sport varsity athlete running track and cross country. I am well-rounded, being involved in numerous honor societies at school as well as musically inclined, having played the flute since fourth grade. The biggest impact on my life has come from my service and dedication to helping others, leading to my future career goal of becoming a physician or physician assistant specializing in Neonatology. A physician is someone who is revered, not only for their committment to helping others, but for the time and dedication placed on their education. I value the education received by my high school and am grateful for every opportunity they have afforded me to improve upon myself as a person. I have always been dedicated to my studies and am proud to have achieved top 25 status in my graduating class. I look forward to starting my collegiate journey at Mount St. Mary's University in the fall where I will major in biology with a pre-medicine focus. I am also committed to run track and cross country at the Mount and am excited about the many opportunities to become involved in various clubs and organizations while on campus. College will be rigorous, as I have been accepted into the honors program, but I am ready to accept and conquer the challenges placed before me! One of the most important and rewarding aspects of my life has been my ability to help others in my community. As a Daisy in Girl Scouts, I first learned how impactful helping others can be. My troop would collect clothing for our local Good Will, make toiletry kits for homeless shelters, and help with church functions. We also spent time in nursing homes at Christmas socializing with the residents. As I entered high school, I brached out to assist my local Healthy Kids Running Series, helping serve as the anchor to provide encouragement and support to children at the back of the race. The look on their faces when they completed the challenge was priceless and I felt valued and rewarded in being able to help them stay fit and achieve their goals. I have served to help at intermediate school track meets, as an usher at school musicals, and provided assistance to underclassmen through Junior Achievement. I value helping anyone in need, but have a soft spot for children. My most important volunteerism to date has been helping out at my local hospital on Sunday mornings on the pediatric floor. I assist with room restocking, cleaning, and organizing the playroom. The most rewarding part is playing with the children who are hospitalized, helping to provide just a little ray of sunshine to what might be a unpleasant experience. The value this servitude provides to my life coupled with my desire to work with children has led me to focus on my future career in medicine, specifically Neonatology. As a physician or physician assistant, I will be able to provide a positive impact in my community by keeping children healthy. Research projects I intend to pursue in college may even help me provide a positive impact on the world with what could be a breakthrough discovery in the field of medicine! My drive and desire to be the best version of myself has been shaped by my family, mentors, teachers, and peers. I look forward to the day where I can continue helping others with my future career in medicine.

I have not always had the courage to be a leader. Before coming out of my proverbial shell, I was a shy young lady. As I became a high schooler and my maturity grew, I realized that I was destined to lead and not follow. Now I find myself with more confidence than I ever thought was previously possible and becoming a leader to my peers. My desire to help and serve others through my future career in medicine will put my leadership to the test as I intend to lead others in the pursuit of keeping my community healthy. As stated previously, leadership is something that I needed to find the courage to grow into. As my educational journey progressed into middle school and ultimately high school, I became more confident in my ability to lead others. During my sophomore year, I became the secretary for band. I had played the flute since 4th grade and felt it was time to take on a leadership role. Subsequently, after joining our French Honor Society in my junior year, I decided to take on the role of historian during my senior year. I also served as Co-Captain for my cross country team during my senior year. However, even great leaders sometimes are not afforded the opportunity to lead and despite being nominated for Vice President of Varsity Club, I was not awarded that leadership role. Although this may have discouraged me in the past, especially not being chosen by a group of my peers, I found that my dedication to the club was not overlooked by the club advisor, who commended my work ethic and commitment to the club. Even though I may not hold a leadership role in several of the honor clubs I am involved in, I work diligently for my club and peers to make it the best experience for everyone. A person can certainly show leadership, despite not being named to a leadership role. Since joining Girl Scouts as a Daisy in elementary school, I have always had a desire to help others. Our troop leader, Miss Jen, always instilled humility and service to others which helped shape my life and became an integral part in my decision to study medicine in college. During Girl Scouts, we just saw our volunteerism as a way to help others, but we were also learning important life lessons about society and some of the issues facing society. We helped make care packs for homeless shelters, made scarves for shut-ins, helped the church raise funds through spaghetti and turkey dinners, and spent time with elderly residents in nursing home facilities providing compassion to all those in need. When I began my high school years, I continued my important work of volunteering but turned my focus to the youth in our community. I volunteer at my local hospital on Sunday mornings on the pediatric floor assisting with supply organization, cleaning the toy room, and playing with the hospitalized children to help bring some normalcy to their hospital stay. Since finding my way into my leadership capabilities, I have never looked back. My passion for making my community and beyond a better place has been evident since a young age. With my combined desire to help others, specifically children, and my leadership skills, there is nothing I cannot achieve. I look forward to my college experience at Mount St. Mary's University, studying biology with a pre-medicine track with the ultimate goal of becoming a physician specializing in Neonatology and serving the youngest, most vulnerable population to the best of my abilities.

I am a dedicated student, first and foremost, as evidenced by by 4.0 GPA achieved while taking honors and AP courses. I am also a two sport varsity athlete, running cross country and track. My passion, however, is for the sciences and working to better my community through my community involvement and service to others, which will one day be fully realized in my future career as a physician assistant or physician. I have always shown an interest in science since a young age. I gravitated naturally toward the subject and was interested in labs and research. During my high school years, I focused heavily on science, taking extra science courses as electives. Even during my senior year, I took two science courses, Honors Anatomy and Physiology and Sociology. I felt the Anatomy course would be demanding and would help prepare me for my future career. I have always been interested in research and my intended major in Biology at Mount St. Mary's University with a pre-medicine focus will allow me to explore research projects with professors as part of their honors program. I would love to make a life-changing medical breakthrough or become published for my research efforts! College is going to be difficult, but I guarantee I am up for the challenge. I am enrolled in the honors program at Mount St. Mary's University and am interested in a rigorous curriculum. I find I am most efficient when I am busy and I have committed to run cross country and track at the Mount as well. I want to be involved in numerous clubs and organizations on campus, especially those involving giving back to to the community. Although academics will always be my first priority, I want to be well-rounded and can even see myself serving in a leadership role during my collegiate years. I currently volunteer at my local hospital on Sunday mornings in the pediatric department. I spend time organizing supplies on the floor, cleaning and tidying the playroom, and most important, playing with the children who are hospitalized. I enjoy giving back to these children in need and providing them a glimpse of normalcy amidst the unfortunate reason for their hospialization. I have served my community in various capacities since I joined Girl Scouts as a Daisy in elementary school. I have helped with church dinners, volunteered with our local kids running program, and helped underclassmen with junior achievement. However, my most important work is through my volunteerism at my local hospital, providing a glimpse into my future career while helping those I cherish most, the children of our community. My dedication to academics, athletics, and extracurricular activites throughout high school has adequately prepared me for my college experience and subsequent future career goals. I look forward to embracing science during college and the research opportunities that I will be a part of. My career aspirations include one day working in medicine as a physician or physician assistant, specializing in Neonatology. My sevitude toward others through my volunteer work had always been an important part of my life and I look forward to continuing this work throughout college and giving back to my community and beyond after graduation.

Movies can impact people in profound ways. The movie that has had the most profound impact on my life is Simon Birch. The movie plot entails twists, turns and life lessons learned. I think all of us in one way or another can relate to Simon and his struggles. Right from the beginning of the movie, we want to root for the underdog. Simon is quirky and cute and lovable. The plot quickly thickens when Simon, who never gets to hit in baseball, goes in for a hit and accidentally kills his best friend Joe's mother by hitting her in the head with the fly ball. We learn here a valuable lesson about friendship as Simon and Joe remain best friends despite the tragedy that occurred as a result of Simon's unintentional actions. After the passing of his mother, Joe wants to search for the father he never knew. His mother's boyfriend, Ben helps the boys and looks out for them. He is a source of comfort and security for both Joe and Simon throughout the movie and they learn about trust. They also learn that someone does not need to be related to you to have your back and care about you, something Joe has not witnessed since the passing of his mother and grandmother and something Simon never has known since his parents just see him only as a bother. There is also the theme of religion in the movie. We eventually learn that the church Pastor is Joe's father. Simon also believes he is on this earth for a specific reason and he is meant for a special task or job. He has a predisposed destiny. We soon learn that Simon was there to lead others to safety when a bus carrying the children goes off the road after swerving to avoid a deer and ends up in the water. Simon gets the children to listen to him, calms them, and works with Joe to save all the children in an orderly fashion, ultimately succumbing to his own injuries after being submerged in the frigid water. The movie Simon Birch is memorable for its many underlying themes. One main theme is lasting friendship and taking care of one another. I feel friendship is essential in life and everyone should have that one person by their side. There is also the theme involving religion or the feeling we are living our life for a particular purpose. I think everyone would like to think their life has a certain purpose or meaning. This helps me value my life's work and purpose and look for daily meaning. Lastly, we see Ben in a crucial role as a provider, caregiver, and support system to Joe and Simon, despite not being related to either of them. This provides a valuable lesson that we should allow others in for support and know that a support system can be composed of people outside of our family. I believe all of these valuable themes have helped shape my thoughts on life and will be an important guiding factor throughout my future.

Uniqueness is cool. Everyone has something unique about them. I believe my unique attributes include having the intelligence to have a 4.0 GPA but also the athleticism to be a two varsity sport athlete. I also have the desire to succeed and hard work and dedication to make it happen. All of these attributes will help me achieve my future goal of working in medicine and specializing in Neonatology. My love of children and Neonatology has been since a young age. My brother was born at 29 weeks gestational age when I was just 3 years old. He spent 3 long months in the NICU and I can remember visiting him with my parents. I spent a lot of time there and got to know the nurses and doctors caring for these young children in need. Little did I realize, this unfortunate situation would one day blossom into a love for children as well as medicine. When I began my freshman year of high school, I already knew what I wanted my career to be. I worked hard my freshman year, but found I was not working to my full potential. After being placed in the top 50 of my freshman class while taking some honors courses, I realized I needed to work harder and improve my GPA and class rank. I also needed to challenge myself with further honors courses and subsequently add AP courses to my workload. I worked hard my next few years and was able to realize AP exam scores that will transfer credits to college, movement into the top 25 in the class beginning with my sophomore year, and a 4.0 GPA as of my senior year. Although academics are most important to me, I also have a love of running and am a varsity cross country and track athlete. I have competed in track since middle school and was upset when covid put a damper on my freshman year track season. I was able to run indoor track my freshman year but had decided to do field hockey instead of cross country, as I had done in middle school. I joined the cross country team my sophomore year and have since been a three year varsity athlete in cross country. I also have three years of varsity track and have competed in indoor track all four high school years. I have completed community service since a young age and that has continued through high school. I have helped run as a race anchor for the healthy kids running series in my area, have helped run intermediate track meets with varsity club and have worked with underclassmen during junior achievement programs. My most important service to my community has been working on the pediatric floor of my local hospital, in which I volunteer every Sunday after starting there the summer before my senior year. I enjoy spending time with the children and this lends to my future career in medicine working with children. My hard work and dedication has led to a 4.0 GPA and my athletic ability has led to varsity status in two sports. I will continue my goal of academic excellence at Mount St. Mary's University in the fall where I have been accepted into the honors program and have committed to run track and cross country. I look forward to my future career in medicine and helping others, especially children. I will continue my volunteerism within my community and look for additional ways to give back, especially to those in need.

Different persepectives are always valued and provide a platform for discussion and growth. Not one person can possibly know everything and therefore people need each other to provide support and come to conclusions. Research is important to the healthcare community and a diverse approach will lead to better outcomes. Teamwork and collaboration with others will always produce the best results and help lead the medical field into the future, realizing new and inventive discoveries. As my career aspirations are to become a physician specializing in Neonatology, I will spend a lot of time in research and collaboration with others in my field. I value perspectives that are different than my own and feel that everyone has something to bring to the table. Collaboration and diversity will be important to my work as a physician and during my undergraduate years, especially as it relates to research, discoveries, and invention. As a senior in high school, there have been numerous instances where we have worked in groups that have resulted in the completion of a pivotal task. Usually teachers will let you decide the people you would like to team up with. Sometimes groups are chosen for you, resulting in potentially a more diverse group of people. I found when work study groups were randomized, there was more congruency and varying opinions which I would not have discovered working with my friends that I would have chosen to work with if I had my choice of partners. I believe working with a diverse group of people clearly has its advantages in any field, but most importantly in the medical field. Group collaboration is crucial for learning and bouncing ideas off one another in an effort to grow and progress. In planning on becoming a physician or physician assistant specializing in Neonatology, this collaboration and diversity will help me learn and grow as an individual. Varying opinions and ideas are needed for development and progression in medicine. Research is imperative for the advancement of medicine into the future and this requires a diverse group of people. I look forward to performing research and getting a degree in biology while studying a pre-medicine track and ultimately obtain a degree in medicine. My acceptance into college at Mount St. Mary's University and my admittance into their honors program positions me alongside excellent professors who all participate in research in different topics in chemistry and biology, some working in medical research. I look forward to my years in college and future research projects which will hopefully lead to a medical breakthrough while working and collaborarating with a diverse group of individuals all working toward a common cause.

As a student athlete, a healthy lifestyle is extremely important. But I really love ice cream and whoopie pies! There is a thin line between wanting to eat healthy and ACTUALLY eating healthy. I have learned throughout my high school years how to get the most out of my sport by preparing and maintaining a healthy life style. My love of sports started at a young age and I was always engaged in some sport. First it was soccer at age 5, then tae-kwando, on to swimming then field hockey, until I eventually settled on running. My diet was pretty vast when I was young and I enjoyed eating a variety of foods, including fruits and vegetables. As a sophomore, my cross country coach scheduled a nutritionist to come speak with the team. It was then that I realized the need for nutrition in my diet to aid my body in the rigours of running. After the meeting with the nutritionist, I began to make some changes with respect to my diet. My diet became more restrictive, but I tried to incorporate more protein and make sure I continued to receive adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables while cutting out some of the fats and sugars. To say it was easy would be an understatement! Anything worth working toward is always challenging, but worth the rewards. I do still have the occasional whoopie pie and ice cream is near and dear to my heart, but I make sure they are in moderation, which I really had not put any thought into previously. My health journey continued with my dedication to running and training. I had trained hard several days a week in swimming, but running and the stamina needed to run longer distances races was something I had taken for granted. My coach began training us 6 days a week all year long with only about 2 off weeks during the year, one in summer and one in winter near the holidays. We needed to be prepared to run outdoors in the heat and cold and be prepared for any weather element. We competed in cross country in the fall, indoor track in the winter (which we still trained for outdoors), and track and field in the spring, starting the entire repetitive preparatory process again in the summer. The combination of workout days coupled with weight room days really helped enhance my stamina and speed, preparing me adequately for each respective season. My health journey has led me to a better respect for training my body in preparation for competing in sports year round as well as an understanding of the need for healthy, body fueling foods. I take a runners multivitamin daily to aid in making sure my body is getting the vitamins and minerals I need to stay strong and healthy. My health journey has led me to realize my dream of running cross country and track and field at Mount St Mary's University, a Division I sports team. I look forward to continuing this health journey in college and always improving and expanding on this journey to remain in the best shape I can possibly be for the remainder of my life.

Personally, my mental health has faced some challenges over the years. I have suffered from anxiety since my early teen years and learning to manage my anxiety has improved my overall health and allowed me to focus on academics, sports, and my future career aspirations of becoming a physician. I strive for greatness in everything I do and sometimes even hold myself to the idea of perfection. This is a double edged sword as I do have great expectations, but also must realize no one is perfect. I have a high standard that I hold myself accountable to achieve on a daily basis. My parents have always been supportive of everything I have done and although I am proud of their support and approval, it was sometimes difficult for me to really feel as if I was performing to MY expectations. I realized that if I wanted more for myself and my future, I needed to be the best version of myself I could achieve. At the end of my freshman year, the lightbulb went on, and I never looked back. The anxiety I was experiencing was coming from my dedication to perfection. I began meeting with a counseler and really found a neutral third party refreshing to talk to. She would listen and sometimes provide advice, but mostly served as an unbiased ear. As my curriculum became more intense with AP and honors courses, I continued to hold myself to a high standard, but learned to manage my anxiety and need for perfection with the help and guidance of my counseler. At the beginning of my high school tenure, my relationships with others were sometimes fractured as you would find with relationships involving most typical teenagers. My parents were still there supporting me and trying to uplift me in any way possible, although I sometimes felt as if they were just nagging me. At the start of my freshman year I found myself dating a senior and feeling like I was on top of the world. The relationship didn't last more than a few months and I once again found myself wondering what was wrong with me and doubting myself. In the middle of my freshman year I lost my grandfather unexpectedly and it turned my life upside down. I began to reflect more on relationships and the types of relationships I wanted to have with others. Speaking at his funeral in front of a room full of people at the young age of 14, I discovered the confidence I never thought I possessed. I was composed and comforted by the love I had felt for him since I was born. I knew then that I would strive to repair relationships with those I loved, which I happily attained until my junior year when I began dating again. At that time, I thought I was happy and my mental health was once again challenged. My boyfriend would tell me I was too fat or not smart enough and out of love, I began to think he was right. It was not until he left me at prom because I wasn't ready to dance yet that I regained my confidence and realized I deserved better. I feel blessed to have had this negative experience to know once again that my mental health and sanity is more important than a boy who is unwilling to see me for the person I am. I now have a wonderful boyfriend who loves me for the person I am, not the person someone else wants me to be. My career aspirations are to become a physician, specializing in Neonatology. I believe my mental health struggles which I have learned to overcome through experience and counseling has prepared me for the person I want to become. I have continued to strive for greatness, but not perfection, in every aspect of my life including academics, relationships, and sports. I have learned to overcome adversity and daily challenges and this has prepared me to get the most out of my collegiate athletic and most importantly, academic, career. I look forward to helping others who may be struggling by serving as a peer and mentor, as I currently accomplish through my volunteerism in the pediatric department of my local hospital. My mental health and subsequent struggles have led me to a path in medicine where I look forward to truly helping others in my future career.

Being financially prepared for my future is of utmost importance to me. Generational wealth means my parents have prepared for their future and in turn, have helped prepare for my future by having assets that can be passed on to me when they are gone. My parents have life insurance policies, stocks and bonds and work to manage debt to prepare to live comfortably throughout their lives and pass whatever they have left to their children to help us live our lives comfortably. Accumulating generational wealth takes time and effort and I am glad that my parents have thought about the legacy they want to leave. When I was 6 months old, my parents began to think about and prepare for my future. Having a child was a big responsibility and came with changes to their lives and livelihoods. It was at this time that they constructed a will, started at 529 college plan, bought life insurance policies for themselves, and also purchased a whole life insurance policy for me. The insurance policy for me was really a smart idea as I was young and did not have any health problems, realizing a very inexpensive policy. They also added the disability rider so if I would become disabled later in life, the insurance company would pay for my premiums. The policy they purchased for me lasts until age 70 and has a guaranteed purchase option of $40,000 for up to 7 times with no health requirements, starting at at 24 or during life changing events. At age 21, the policy will pass on to me and I will have $10,000 plus accumulated dividends as a safety net for my loved ones. I am so glad my parents thought of this early on and supplied me with some generational wealth for my future and the future of the family I will someday have of my own. My parents also have retirement plans to aid them in their later years as well as some minimal investments which may someday be passed onto myself and my brother. I believe the best way for me to achieve generational wealth in my future is to prepare for my future children when they are born. By making sure things like life insurance policies and college education savings plans are in place at a young age, I can secure some of their future. Debt management will also help me accumulate generational wealth for the family. By saving money, investing in stocks and bonds, and minimizing my debt, including school debt, I will be able to save more money and assets to pass on to my family one day in the future. Currently I am working toward the least debt possible for my upcoming college education, where I have career aspirations of becoming a physician someday, specializing in Neonatology.

My interest in pursuing a career in neonatology began when my brother was born at 29 weeks. I spent numerous days in the NICU, watching the nurses and doctors care for my brother and the other newborn, vulnerable babies. Ever since then, I have been passionate about becoming a Physician or PAC specializing in neonatology. I will be attending Mount St. Mary's University in the fall and plan to major in biology with a pre-medicine focus. I feel this college path would allow me to fulfill my aspirations and dreams of becoming a physician or physician assistant and caring for our youngest patients. Another reason I want to go into neonatology is that I have a desire and passion for helping people. Neonatologists not only help babies who did not have an ideal entry into this world but they also help families who are struggling with a premature birth or other birth complications. The NICU staff, Neonatologists, PAC’S, and nurses were all so compassionate and caring and really served as a support system for the whole family affected by these unfortunate circumstances. I also love challenging myself and working hard towards my goals and I feel that a medical program will prove demanding but also feel very rewarding when I work hard enough to not only meet, but surpass my academic goals. Whichever medical path I choose to take, I know that I will do just that. I currently have a 4.0 GPA which includes honors and AP coursework. I study diligently and focus on the task at hand. Although my studies are of utmost importance, I also enjoy running varsity cross country and track and field and am a member of many clubs and honor societies at my high school. I am a current member of National honor society, Mu Alpha Theta Math honor society, Rho Kappa Social Studies honor society, Varsity Club, and the French National Honor Society where I serve as historian for the club. I performed as a member of the marching band and symphonic band during my freshman through junior years, playing the flute. The most important activity I am currently involved in is my community service. I currently help out with my school clubs through various community service activities, but I am most proud of the work I do at my local hospital, helping on the pediatric floor as a volunteer every Sunday morning. This is an invaluable experience as I love helping others, but most importantly, children in need. I feel my dedication to helping others through my servitude as well as my love of children will serve me well in my future career aspirations of becoming a Neonatologist. I look forward to continuing to help others in the future through my chosen career and having a positive impact on others and the world by working to keep children healthy and heal those who are not as fortunate.

Volunteering and servitude had always meant a lot to me from a young age. I started Girl Scouts as a Daisy and continued until the Junior level. It was here where I began to appreciate volunteering and serving my community and country. I would find this gratitude for servitude would help shape my life for the better and focus my attention on my future college and career aspirations of becoming a physician. I have volunteered with many different organizations including Caitlyn's Smiles, my local church, at my community senior center, and collected toiletries and clothing for our school and homeless populations. The more I complete service to my community, the greater desire I have to want to give and connect on a larger level. The feeling of satisfaction that comes from helping others and seeing them succeed helps further my ambition. I enjoyed the time I spent with Girl Scouts helping our neighbors but I longed to join my passion for running with my need to assist others. During high school, I began volunteering with the Healthy Kids Running Series and spending Sunday afternoons over the course of 5 weeks in spring and fall helping spawn the desire to get fit and stay healthy in younger children. There were groups as young as pre-k and up through middle school that competed each week to earn points toward the goal of an overall reward at the end of the series. I worked primarily with the 4th and 5th graders and served as their warm up instructor and anchor for the half mile distance race. This volunteerism combined my love for running and physical fitness with my love for children and the satisfaction on the faces of those children as they completed a race made it all worthwhile. These children are now physically active and this program helps promote a healthy lifestyle which will hopefully stay with them in the future. As my high school years continued, I found other ways to support my community. I have helped lead intermediate track meets, read to our elementary school students, picked up litter with my cross country team on my school campus and surrounding areas, and served as an usher for my high school musical production. My greatest work and reward has been realized at the start of my senior year when I began volunteering at my local hospital in the pediatric unit. I help prepare rooms for occupancy, clean, organize, and sanitize the toy room, and most importantly, play with the children who are hospitalized to bring a little bit of normalcy to their day and routine. My love of working with children has afforded me this amazing opportunity and I enjoy my time spent their every Sunday morning. This work will help me serve my community in the future and make the world a better place due to the realization of wanting to become a physician, specializing in Neonatology. I look forward to continuing to provide support to my community in my future endeavors as a Neonatologist and helping our youngest, most vulnerable patients have a fighting chance at a better life and future.

Community involvement allows me to help others and feel a great sense of accomplishment. Joining Girl Scouts at a young age allowed me to gain a sense of the need for and importance of volunteers and how important helping others really was. Some of our service projects included making toiletry kits for homeless shelters, singing Christmas carols and visiting with nursing home residents, donating Girl Scout cookies to the local food bank and senior centers, collecting clothing donations for Goodwill and pet supply donations for our local SPCA, and actively volunteering with the church who hosted our Girl Scout meetings by serving, preparing for, and cleaning up after spaghetti and turkey dinners as well as sewing quilts and making backpacks full of school supplies for kids in need in our community. After serving as a Girl Scout for 7 years, I decided to find other ways to help in my community. My love for running allowed my to venture out into community service to help the running community. I began volunteering with the Healthy Kids Running Series and helped spur an interest in physical activity in children. I would help the children prepare to run by leading them in stretching and when it was time to race, I served as the anchor by running with the children in the back and encouraging them to keep moving and finish the race. Parents were always appreciative of the inspiration I gave to their children and I loved helping keep them engaged and show them how fun running could be. I continued this work for several seasons and then became involved with other projects during high school. My junior year I joined several academic clubs as well as Varsity club at my high school. Through these clubs I was able to raise money to buy books for every student in one of our underprivileged elementary schools and read to the children when we delivered the books. I also helped usher at the high school musicals and helped run our intermediate school field days. I have collected litter and trash on our high school campus with our cross country team and have helped lead junior achievement days for underclassmen. All of these efforts are so important and I will continue them throughout my senior year, but helping at my local hospital has by far been the most important volunteerism I have provided to my community. At the start of my senior year I began volunteering at my local hospital in the pediatric department. I help stock the rooms for patients, clean the playroom, sanitize the toys, and most importantly, play with the children while they are hospitalized to try to provide them with some sense of normalcy. I spend 4 hours there every Sunday morning and look forward to providing support to the staff and children. Children inspire me to want to be a better person and help in anyway possible. I would like to continue my work with children in the future and have career aspirations of becoming a Neonatologist, helping our youngest, most vulnerable children while still providing service to the community and people I truly love.

From the shy, akward, almost anti-social child to the determined, focused athlete. Sports have provided me an outlet for my anxiety and allowed me to gain confidence in myself and my abilities. I have tried different sports over the years and even though some were not suited to me, I eventually realized my true niche with running. My sports experience began at age 5 when I wanted to play soccer. Playing a sport was intimidating at a young age, especially a contact sport. I was originally scared of the ball, but with more practice, settled in to the sport. After trying different positions, I really enjoyed being the goalie. The coaches moved players around each week, but I only wanted to be the goalie, even though I really was not very good at it! After 1 season of soccer, I was not satisfied that this was the sport for me and decided to try something new. Next I joined a tae-kwando class and began studying the martial arts. I enjoyed the structure and I was learning a life skill through self-defense. We would spar and break boards and I stuck with tae-kwando until I achieved a black belt. Although I learned self-defense and restraint, I still was not sure this was my calling. At the same time, I had learned to swim and was asked to join the club swim team. I was 9 years old at this time and enjoyed swimming enough to want to be part of the team. I continued to learn discipline and determination through practice and how to perform individually, but also as an integral member of a team. I helped score points for the team through race placement and worked congruently with teammates in relays. Practice made my breast stroke almost perfect according to my coach and I continued swimming until age 14, but still just felt as if this sport was not what I was meant to do. What was I meant to do and what else could I try? During fourth grade I joined the after school running club. We practiced several days per week and each season culminated in a 5K race. The first race I remember being really nervous and my dad agreeing to run it with me. I enjoyed running with my dad and even beating him! Could this be what I was meant to do? I continued through 6th grade and then dabbled in field hockey while still running. I found my aggressive and outgoing nature in field hockey and loved the game, but always felt more comfortable with running. I continued to run track and play field hockey through middle school and during my freshman year. It was not until my sophomore year that I gained the confidence I needed to make my athletic decision. My sophomore year occurred in the middle of covid. At the start of the year, I decided to ditch field hockey and try cross country. I had been running 5k and 10k races and knew I enjoyed running longer distances. I started for the varsity team that year and we were county and district champions that season and placed 4th in the state. It was the best cross country team our school had ever had, girls or boys! I had finally found my true passion with distance running and will continue running track and cross country in college for Mount St. Mary's University. Sports have brought out the best in me and I am truly grateful for each and every experience which allowed my growth into the confident person I am today.

Helping the youngest, most vulnerable patients in the NICU embodies my future career goal of becoming a Neonatologist. These newborns are starting their journey into this world with some complication that they need to fight to overcome. The dedication of the nurses, doctors, and all the NICU staff to these patients and their families just touches my heart and inspires me to want to help others in need. This has been my calling based off my personal family experience since a young age. My younger brother was born at 29 weeks gestational age, they think most likely due to placenta previa. He was so tiny, just over 2 pounds, and although I was only 3 and 1/2 years old at the time, I remember the concern and fear on the faces of my parents. We spent a lot of time in the NICU and I had fun playing with the nurses and talking to the physicians while my parents visited with my brother. Later in life, I would remember those experiences and how fond I was of the bond the staff made with the parents and newborns. This is what ultimately led to my decision to become a Neonatologist. My love for helping others has only grown as I have matured. I have performed many feats of community service through Girl Scouts, volunteering with my local Healthy Kids Running Series, volunteering through my school organizations, and most recently, my work in the pediatric department of my local hospital. After completing a shadowing experience in the same NICU which cared for my brother for 3 months, I solidified my decision to want to pursue a medical degree in Neonatology. I also decided I wanted to spend more time volunteering at the hospital and although I am not yet 18 and cannot volunteer in the NICU as a cuddler, I am able to donate time to the pediatric floor, helping organize and clean the toy room, supply rooms with necessary linens and supplies, and play with the children who are hospitalized. I look forward to my time spent there each Sunday morning and enjoy the feeling I get from helping others in need. This scholarship would mean so much to my educational journey. I am confident about my future goals and career and am up for the challenge of medical school. The length of schooling needed would prove costly and any scholarship I could receive to help in my educational experience would be appreciated. My future career means the world to me and my dedication to service to my community will be so rewarding. Being awarded this scholarship would help me focus on my education and future goals and worry less about the financial dollars needed to achieve my goals.

Volunteerism has always been an important staple in my life. Since a young age, I have felt a great sense of accomplishment helping others. This servitide has led to my decision to attend college and pursue a medical degree, hoping to specialize in Neonatology. I have always been able to multitask and feel the busier I am, the better I do. Academics and grades have always been of utmost importance and I work hard taking honors and AP courses to prepare myself for college. My dedication is evidenced by my 4.0 weighted GPA. I am determined to succeed and put academics first and foremost to help prepare for my future career and life. Although academics always come first, I pride myself in being involved in my school and my community. Sports have made me the social butterfly I am and I compete as a varsity athlete who is blessed to be continuing my sport of cross country and running track in field in college. Running has been my passion since fourth grade and I am excited to continue my dedication to this sport. Each year, my hard work has resulted in personal records for both cross country as well as indoor and outdoor track and field. Only a certain percentage of high school athletes get the chance to compete in college and I am excited to join my new team next year and continue my athletic growth. I have always been involved in extra curricular activities. I was a Girl Scout, played the flute since fourth grade as a member or the marching and symphonic bands, and was honored to become a member of some of my high school honor organizations. I am currently a member of the Rho Kappa Social Studies Honor Sociey, Varsity Club, French Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta Math Honors Society, and the National Honor Society. I currently hold a leadership position for the French Honor Society, serving as the historian. I was also previously the secretary for the marching band during my sophomore year in high school. Through all of these organizations, I found my true niche for serving others through my community service and volunteerism. Volunteering with various organizations like the Girl Scouts and Healthy Kids Running Series has helped me realize my true desire in life to help others. This is what led to my decision to become a physician. My brother was a preemie born at 29 weeks and that unfortunate experience has led to my dream of specializing in Neonatology. Currently, I volunteer weekly at my local hospital on the pediatric floor for four hours every Sunday helping provide a smile to the faces of hospitalized children. Servitude to others will always be the cornerstone of my life. I learned from a young age that it is rewarding to help others in need and that is what I want to dedicate my life to. This, along with my family experience of having a brother in the NICU, led to my desire to pursue a career as a physician and specialize in Neonatology. I hope to continue volunteering and helping others through my chosen career througout the rest of my life.

Servitude to others is crucial for the success of a community. If more people would step up and give what they can to help others in need, the world would be a better, more inviting place. I act locally to help others through volunteerism and make the difference I want to see in my community and the world. I began volunteering as a Daisy with my Girl Scout troop and continued that work through middle school. We would collect food for our local food bank, clothes for our local community aid, and put together care bags with toiletries for our local homeless shelters. We would help with church dinners and fundraisers and learned to sew and make quilts with the elder church members to provide for to shut ins. We worked with Caitlyn's Smiles to collect and distribute crafts and coloring books for hospitalized children. We had many servitude projects, some helping our local community, and some benefiting other communities that we were a part of. I really enjoyed helping others and this was a feeling I wanted to always feel as I was grateful to be able to help those in need. After Girl Scouts, I continued to find ways to dedicate my time toward helping others. As an avid runner, I wanted to be able to help encourage others to run and stay fit. I was encouraged by the running community when I first started running and I wanted to pay foward the compassion which had been shown to me. I started volunteering with my local chapter of the Healthy Kids Running Series and served as an anchor for races, helping provide encouragement and positive words to keep the kids engaged and running to complete the race. Although this race series only took place in the spring and fall for several weeks, I looked forward to my time helping those children. As I entered high school, I became involved in athletics and numerous clubs. Here I was able to continue my mission of helping others. We have helped our community by picking up litter and trash around our school campus and in our neighborhood. I have helped run the junior achievement program at my school with my French club and run intermediate track meets with the Varsity Club. I have raised money to help purchase a book for every child in our elementary school and gone to the school to help read to kids during parent teacher conferences with the Rho Kappa Honor Society. I have helped usher for our school musical with the National Honor Society. All of these community service projects benefit my school or my community and I love being able to assist in any way possible. As a senior deciding what career I may want to pursue, I was moved to begin volunteering at my local hospital on the pediatric floor. I love working with children, so this was another perfect fit. I am able to assist in preparing rooms for occupancy, cleaning the toy room and sanitizing the toys, and most importantly, playing with the kids who are admitted to the hospital, hoping to provide a smile and help them forget, even for a moment, that they are in the hospital. I look forward to spending time with these children every Sunday morning for 4 hours. The change that is really needed throughout my community and the world is helping others. If more people would open their hearts and donate just a little bit of their day to help others or pay it forward, we would be in a much better place. I love my volunteerism and plan to continue this sevitude throughout my life. My future career path of wanting to become a physician and specialize in helping children will only add to my desire to help others in my community and world, making the change I want to see, and having a positive impact that will last a lifetime.

Perseverance is the characteristic I value most in myself. You need to be able to adapt to overcome challenges that come your way throughout life. As long as you can persevere, there is nothing you cannot accomplish in any aspect of your life. Like everyone else, I have experienced difficult times in my life where I have needed to persevere. My high school career started just mediocre academically but I was able to focus on my future goals and jump 20 places in my class ranking while taking AP and honors courses from my freshman to sophomore years. Buckling down with respect to my classes and developing superb study skills were responsible for this shift. I was able to overcome my fear of taking more rigorous AP courses and my dedication was rewarded. This diligence will help prepare me for my upcoming college courses and the prestigious honors program I have been granted access to at my chosen college. Having the ability to persevere has also helped me excel in athletics. I am an avid runner and compete in cross country and track and field in high school. I have never been the fastest girl on the team, but I have consistently worked hard during practice and always competed to the highest level possible. This committment has paid off with the realization of faster times each successive year and an offer to run Division 1 cross country and track at my chosen college, Mount St. Mary's University. Again, without the desire to continually look for ways to better myself, this dream would have never come to fruition. My ultimate career goal is to get accepted into medical school after receiving a bachelors degree in biology and study medicine with a focus on Neonatology. As this will be an arduous feat, I will truly need to be able to overcome any obstacle thrown in front of my path to success. I possess the desire and will to make my goals a reality. My ability to persevere will be crucial to my success and I am confident in my abilities. This characteristic is more important than others because there will always be roadblocks in life. It will take a special person who is able to rise from these obstacles to be able to complete the goals placed in front of them. I believe I possess this ability and it will ultimately help me achieve any goal, including academic goals, that I set throughout my life.

My passion arises from my service to others. I have volunteered my time since a young age and continue my volunteer work today. There will always be obstacles in life, but I have the determination and dedication to overcome any bump in the road that comes my way. I plan on continuing my volunteerism throughout my life and only want to help others, a dream that will be realized in my future professional career goal of becoming a Neonatologist. My dedication to servitude began when I joined the Girl Scouts as a Daisy. I learned the value and importance of giving back to my community and loved how it made me feel. We collected food and clothing donations, help with church events, collected school supplies for children in need, visited our local senior living facilities to spend time with the residents, and collected care kits for our community homeless shelters, just as a few examples. Before leaving the Girl Scouts as a Junior, I began volunteering with the Healthy Kids Running Series to help support local children of all ages. I also have a passion for running and compete in cross country and track and field at the varsity level. During the races, I would serve as the anchor, running with children and helping provide encouragement to those who are behind in the race to keep going and finish strong. My most recent volunteer position is with my local hospital where I donate my time on the pediatric floor, helping prepare rooms for occupancy, cleaning toys and organizing the toy room, and playing games and talking with the hospitalized children. As with anything in life, there is always the potential for obstacles. Sometimes when I go in for my volunteer shift at the hospital, there are a lot of patients in isolation who cannot be seen. I do what I can with the children I am able to see and spend time with and do not get discouraged. There are always other tasks to complete that will allow me to be helpful to the staff and I focus on something else if I am unable to do my favorite thing, playing with the children. I have determination to overcome any obstacle that is placed in front of me and that dedication arises from my compassion and desire to assist others. With my future goal of becoming a Neonatologist, I will realize a commitment to serve my community for a lifetime. My passion will not dim and even though becoming a physician would be a paid position, I would still continue my active service to the community in any way possible. I enjoy helping others and cannot every imagine a time when I would not be imvolved in volunteerism to my community, helping others who may be less fortunate than myself. It is my true passion to help others in need and the feeling of self-satisfaction is more than enough to keep my dedication to this important mission now and in the future.

I am interested in going to college in pursuit of a biology degree with a focus on a pre-medicine track. I aspire to become a Neonatologist and help the youngest, most vulnerable population. Biology is important in medicine and I feel like a bachelors degree in biology would provide a strong foundation for my future career. Science has always played an important role in society. Without science, there would be very little information about cells and the body. Medicine is fully based off the scientific realm. Biology tells us about human cell structure while anatomy and physiology describes our wonderful vessels we call bodies. The more scientists persevere, the more we learn about ourselves and the human body, including potentially life-saving discoveries. Science will continue to be relevant to my future career as a Neonatologist. Without scientific discoveries, we would not have basic medical procedures or life-saving medications. Science is contstantly learning and growing and new discoveries are crucial for our success in medicine. The field of medicine has come a long way in a short time period due to new technologies. I look forward to my time in college with excitement, as learning is important to me. Doing a research project while in college and hopefully getting published would be amazing! At this juncture, I am not sure which topic I would choose to research, but I would hope, as is the goal of a reasearch project, to have an important breakthrough, leading to a meaningful impact for this country and potentially the world. All science in important to society, not just biology. Physics and chemistry are also valuable and important research in these scientific fields are important to our nation's resources. Science explains a lot of what we know about where we live and what we are capable of doing in this world. Scientific discoveries in chemistry and physics will continue to shape our environment and the planet earth. All scientific realms of study will continue to have an impact on our future. I am most interested in biology and wish to pursue a bachelors degree in biology followed by acceptance into medical school where I strive to specialize in Neonatology. After being accepted into the honors program at my future college, Mount St. Mary's University in Maryland, I am excited to challenge myself and my love of science, culminating in a research project where I can only hope to make an important discovery or breakthrough. With my future career aspirations, science will always have an important role in my life.

The song that has the most important message to me is “Break My Stride” by Matthew Wilder. As a runner, I feel like I relate greatly to this song. Every time I hear this song I feel motivated. The message behind this song is to never let anyone get in the way of your goals, hence the name “break my stride”. Although this song is a little wild, it also addresses moving on nicely from a broken heart. I think it is really important to not let the little things, like a heartbreak, take over your life. Although it might hurt for a while, before you know it, the heartbreak is water under the bridge. Also, I like the fact that he is not trashing the break up like many other songs portray. This song combines wild “dreams” with a calm message and I love listening to it. The lyrics make me feel relaxed, but motivated, throughout my run and also in my daily life.

A whole new and different world awaits a freshman in college. Sure, it is still school, but much different than high school. It will be imperative to maintain a healthy mind, body, and soul amidst a whole new set of challenges. There are ways to accomplish this daily, and I look forward to rising to the challenge! High school can prepare you for college classes, especially if you have taken AP or honors level courses. These more rigorous classes are set to mimic the challenges a student may face in college and force the student to develop good study habits and time management skills that are required to be successful. This can surely help you get in the correct mind set, but it is important to keep your mind healthy. I utilize down time and relaxation techniques to help minimize my anxiety and stress. Sleep is also important to good mind health. Being a freshman in a new living environment will pose challenges, but it will be imperative to get adequate sleep to fuel your mind to allow better focus and excel at academics. It is also imperative to take care of your body as your body, mind, and soul need to be in sync for you to perform at your best. I am an athlete and will continue my athletic health journey by running cross country and track and field in college. Running not only keeps my body in shape and fit, it also helps improve my mindset. I feel anxiety disappear as I run and it really helps clear my mind. Eating healthy is another way I fuel my body to stay in shape and maintain health. I take vitamins daily to improve my immune system function and stay well and energized. Lastly, there is the topic of a healthy soul. I love to spend time with friends and family. This makes my heart whole. I also enjoy laughing. Laughter really is some of the best medicine. I love providing care to my community and volunteer at my local hospital for several hours each week on the pediatric floor. Volunteering in my community provides me a feeling of accomplishment that I am able to help others and makes my soul happy. Despite new challenges that will inevitably arise as I take the leap into college and adulthood, I feel like my routine of keeping my mind, body, and soul grounded and healthy will allow me to acclimate to my new environment and overcome any challenges I may face in the future. By eating healthy, running, providing myself down time with family and friends to have fun and most importantly laugh, and my dedication to service in my community, I am preparing my body, mind, and soul to conquer the challenges I will face in school and ultimately, in my life and future career.

Out of all the current technologies, the cell phone is the best example of making a positive impact in the world today. Although the cell phone may seem to have negativity surrounding it, making it easier for hackers to find out your information leading to possible crime, the cell phone actually keeps people safer, allowing for quicker communication in case of emergency or uncomfortable situation. Before cell phones, if someone sensed they were in a dangerous situation, all they could do was run away or scream for help, making it obvious for the other person that you felt in danger. When on a cell phone, unless someone is looking over your shoulder, they are going to have no idea what you are doing. A person could be on social media, playing a game, or perhaps sending a text. The features of a cell phone include calling and texting. It is very simple to send a quick text, signaling to someone that you feel in danger or just need someone to talk to you to distract you from feeling awkward or uncomfortable. Another benefit of the cell phone is being able to call someone instantly. Say you get into a car accident or get a flat tire. Before the cell phone, there was no way to immediately contact someone for help. The cell phone is making the world a better place by allowing for quicker communication in the case of emergencies. Cell phones also feature a quick and easy way to contact 911. This feature allows someone to touch a simple button and the 911 emergency hotline will immediately be dialed. Cell phones overall are making the world a better place by adapting features that make communication wide-ranging and simple.

Ice cream for dinner? Cupcakes and cinnamon rolls for breakfast? These were decisions I would frequently make with regard to food. Eating healthy and maintaining a healthy lifestyle is not an easy feat. It takes work, dedication, and mental fortitude to accomplish your goals. My health journey has not been easy, but it has definitely been rewarding. My journey to better health started when I was 6. I started playing soccer, but quickly realized after one season that this sport was not for me. I then decided to join a Taekwando class at my local YMCA branch. I really enjoyed learning self defense and gaining physical strength. We sparred at competitions and I liked the physical contact and satisfaction of winning a round. I continued until I achieved my black belt and then decided I wanted to try a different sport. I had been taking swim classes at my school and was asked to join the swim club by my coach. I was not the best swimmer or even the most graceful swimmer, but I really enjoyed spending time with my teammates. The breast stroke was my favorite stroke and I can remember my coach telling me that my form was near perfect. I strived for greatness and had found something I enjoyed and was also good at. While swimming during winter and summer, I decided I would join the Bobcats on the Run team at my intermediate school during the fall and spring seasons. We would run several days per week after school and our hard work culminated in a 5k race at the end of each respective season. I had found something I enjoyed even more than swimming and found myself determined to get better through my personal physical fitness. I continued running and found myself seeking out any race I could to try to improve on my times. I would run mostly 5k races, but also ran a 10k race at age 11. I found the physical fitness rewarding for my strength and the competition against my inner self rewarding for my soul. This love would continue when I joined the track and cross country teams in high school, running varsity and excelling. This focus on physical activity has changed my life for the better and gave me more confidence in my own skin. Although physical fitness is of utmost importance to me, I could not be as successful as I have been without nutritional awareness and focus. Nutrition has not always come easy and is the most difficult part of my healthy lifestyle journey. I take daily multivitamins and focus on protein, veggies and fruits. I make sure to know the fuel my body needs before running, mostly lots of carbs, and how to eat healthy to recover post-race. I drink plenty of water to stay hydrated and do my best to minimize fats and sweets. Who would have thought that a failed attempt at playing soccer would eventually lead to a successful running career and a healthy lifestyle journey. I am blessed to have discovered this path to my wellness lifestyle and work hard everyday to keep my body physically fit and nutritionally healthy. I hope to continue my passion for running during my college career and make healthy lifestyle choices that will serve me well throughout the remainder of my life.

How can you be expected to perform well if you are not taking care of yourself first? Maintaining my physical, mental, and nutritional health is important to me not only as an athlete, but to my academic success. I strive daily to balance all 3 aspects while in school to help in putting my best foot forward. Physical health is crucial to my success as an athlete. I run almost daily all year long to keep physically fit and train for cross country and track meets. Being physically active also helps with my sleep and allows me to realize about 8 hours of sleep per night, helping keep my body and mind rested. My physical activity helps me gain confidence in my body and helps keep me engaged socially as a member of my respective sports teams. I have found a new set of life-long friends due to my participation in sports and plan to continue running in college. Running also provides me an outlet for stress and worry, leading to maintenance of my mental health. Mental health might be the most important aspect needed to keep me engaged in school. I love learning and with my future ambitions of becoming a Neonatologist, I will choose to continue that life-long learning. High school is mentally tough and draining. There is just a lot going on, academically and socially. Throughout my high school career, I have worked with a counseler. I enjoy my sessions with her and feel as if our conversations allow a mental release of all my thoughts and information that may have been building up between our talks. This keeps me grounded and focused on my path forward. I always welcome her advice, although just having someone who is able to listen without judgement is invaluable. These sessions allow me to focus my attention on my academics and the future while decreasing my anxiety and lowering any stressors I may currently be feeling. Lastly, nutrition is also important to help me maintain my physical strength, but also imperative for my mental fortitude. Eating a balanced, nutritious diet is not easy. It requires thoughtfulness and planning. Honestly, I am not always that great at it! I do try to drink plenty of fluids, mostly water, to keep me hydrated throughout the day so I can perform my best in school and at practice. I do love my ice cream, but I also make sure to prioritize protein, veggies, and fruits. I take vitamins daily to help with my overall immune system and have regular doctor check ups. Good nutrition requires a balancing act, but I am getting better each day at knowing what fuel my body needs to run at peak performance, physically and mentally. Adequate nutrition, mental health and physical health are all essential for overall wellness, but especially important for school students. I make conscious choices daily to increase my awareness of nutrition and what my body and mind need to perform. As an athlete, I use my physical activity to keep in top performance condition for my sport and use my running as a mental release. I reflect daily and meet with my counseler to keep my mind fresh and prepared to perform at the highest level possible academically. All of these factors work together in unison to keep me focused on my schooling and my educational goals for the future.

When I was 3 and 1/2 years old, my brother entered this world at 29 weeks gestation. The doctors think my mother had a placental abruption and went into early labor. It was December 30, 2008 and the excitement of Christmas had just ended and now the fear of the unknown was upon us. I didn't realize it at such a young age, but this harrowing experience would ultimately shape my future career aspirations. I had been staying with my grandparents and spending some time with them the week my brother was born. I still remember the concern in my grandparent's voices as they received the call that my mom was in labor and we should come to the hospital. We arrived the morning of December 31st and I was able to see my mom in the hospital bed before giving birth. Everyone was on edge and concerned, although they tried to not let me know they were worried. Soon I would discover that my brother was here and had been whisked away to the NICU for what would surely be an extended stay. After my mom was able to come home from the hospital, I thought things would be normal. I was excited to have a little brother, but was also excited to be home with my mom and dad again. I would soon learn that things would be far from normal. My dad had gone back to work and my mom was home for several weeks. We would go see my brother every night at the NICU when my dad came home from work. I have fond and vivid memories of the staff in the NICU. I had picked out my favorite nurses, like Brandi and Kathy, and would talk sports with Dr. Liss. I liked the Arizona Cardinals and even assured Dr. Liss they were going to the win the super bowl that year. He told me he liked my enthusiasm and was going to bet on them to win, but unfortunately they lost. I really loved talking to everyone while visiting my brother. My brother spent almost 3 months in the NICU, finally coming home for the first time in March of 2009. Fast forward to high school and my thoughts of my future career and college aspirations. I always liked science and the medical field. My experience with seeing my brother in the NICU every day for what was only a few months, but seemed like an eternity, shaped me in ways I could not have imagined. I had such admiration for the NICU staff and everything they did each and every day to help those sick and vulnerable babies. This is when I made the decision to become a doctor, specifically a Neonatologist. I want to emulate the kindness and compassion shown to my brother, myself, and my family during a difficult time in our lives. I want to care for these smallest patients and provide support to their families to bring a light into their world that may not be dimmed. Helping people is my true passion and my dream is to graduate college with a bachelor's degree in biology with a pre-med track, get accepted into medical school, specialize in Neonatology, ultimately becoming a Neonatologist.

Dr. Riley Bell, Neonatologist, is a sign I one day hope to see! I am a student athlete who has always been committed to my education. I have a 3.9 GPA, taking honors and AP courses. I am a three sport athlete, having run cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track throughout most of my high school career. I am involved in numerous clubs in school as well, including National Honor Society, Varsity club, Rho Kappa Social Studies Honor Sociey, and the French Honor Society. I work part-time at a local restaurant, usually 10 to 15 hours per week. Out of all of my accomplishments, my greatest accomplishment and experience throughout high school has to be my involvement in my community and focus on community service. My desire to help my community began at a very young age through my Daisy girl scout troop. We would help at the senior center, collect food for the local food bank, put care packages together for the homeless in our community, collect clothing donations for Rachel's closet at our middle school, and assist at the church where we held meetings by volunteering at the turkey supper and helping make quilts with the church ladies. This exposure at a young age only spurred my interest in wanting to help my community. I felt a great sense of pride and accomplishment helping others. While I remained a girl scout into middle school, I found different ways to help my community at the start of high school. Starting my freshman year of high school, I began to volunteer twice a year at the Healthy Kids Running Series races near my home. I had run this race series when I was younger and wanted to continue my running while showing others the sport I love so much! As a volunteer, I would help the children stretch before the race and served as an anchor at the back of the runners to help encourage the children to keep moving and complete the race. I loved running with them and supporting them in any way possible. It felt great to have parents tell me they were so happy I could run with their child and keep them engaged to do their best. This was just the start of many other volunteer opportunities during high school. Joining many school organizations has allowed me to futher my service to others. I have helped clean up the school with my cross country team, raised money to donate books to read to children at our district elementary school, helped run the intermediate school track meets, and ushered at the school musical as just a few examples. This meaningful work continues during my senior year with my club involvement. During the summer before my senior year, I started volunteering at my local hospital in the pediatric department. After shadowing in the NICU and solidifying my love for children and medicine, I wanted to donate my time to help pediatric patients. I volunteer every Sunday morning for 4 hours helping organize rooms, sanitize toys, and most importantly, playing with the children. It is so rewarding to be able to provide joy to these children while they are hospitalized, evidenced by the smiles on their faces! Volunteering has always been a large part of my life and I am only expecting this servitude to continue throughout college and in my future career as a Neonatologist.

Everyday provides an opportunity to learn something new! Learning helps us continue on life's journey and keeps things interesting. I feel like the only way to expand my horizon is through continuous learning. It is this constant learning that will allow me to succeed in my future path of becoming a Neonatologist. Learning has always been important to me since a young age. I have always had the desire to learn more and did! I would pay attention in class and my continued learning helped me consistently receive high marks in school, eventually leading to a stellar GPA in high school. Not only was I curious about my school subjects, I felt compelled to know more about a lot of things. I was around 10 years old when I discovered my love of the Presidents and First Ladies of the United States. I could recite all the Presidents in order and knew a lot of fun facts about the Presidents and their better halves. When I was eleven, I began to delve further into sports and sport facts and players. I had chosen favorite college and pro football and basketball teams at the young age of 6, but I became fascinated with learning more about all teams and felt like I could speak intelligently with any adult male, sometimes knowing more than they did, to their surprise! I would read anything I could find regarding stats and players and felt proud of my continued learning. Being able to have this knowledge gave me a sense of accomplishment and made me proud. As I move onto my college experience and future career, learning will be crucial. I plan on continuing my development of knowlege by studying feverishly and soaking in as much information as possible. The goal is to obtain a bachelor degree in biology and take the MCAT exam to gain entry into medical school. Learning will be critical to this process to obtain outstanding grades as well as perform efficiently on the MCAT exam. Once in medical school, there will be more textbook and on job learning necessary to aquire my trade. I recently shadowed in the NICU at my local hospital and found it both fascinating and exhilarating. My compassion for helping others, especially children, would finally be fulfilled with a future career as a Neonatologist. The constant learning needed to be maintained as a physician would be imperative for me to succeed in my profession. With new medications, procedures, and processes always being developed, I would need to have continued education to maintain my degree and keep abreast of new medical insights related to my career. Learning has always been important to me from a young age and I find myself feeling more fulfilled with more knowledge. As the saying goes, power is knowledge, and I feel in order to be the best Neonatologist I can possibly be would require my continued diligence to my profession through always expanding my education via the importance of learning.

Helping people is not an option for me, it is a necessity. Looking forward to my future career and achievements, I want to pursue a career in the medical field, specifically Neonatology. I would not just be helping the youngest, most innocent humans, but also helping their families through a very difficult experience. My need to provide service to others started at the young age of 6 when I was a Daisy in Girl Scouts. This is where I learned how valuable and important service to our community really is. We would collect items for the needy, food for the local senior center and even spent time with the seniors by becoming their buddies. We also worked with the church where our troop met and provided assistance with Turkey suppers held there, spoke during church services, helped sew bags we filled with school supplies to send to children who needed them in other countries and made quilts to provide to NICU babies. I remained a girl scount until middle school and enjoyed working with different organizations to provide support. It was at that time that I felt like I needed to branch out on my own, but still continue my community servitude on my own. I have always enjoyed running and have run competitively since age 9. I wanted to help other children experience my love for running and decided to volunteer for the healthy kids running series. Here I would help children of all ages, pre-school through high school, warm up for a 5 week competitive race series. After warm up and stretching, we would run and I would serve as the caboose and run with the children in the back, providing the encouragement they needed to keep moving and complete the race. I really felt proud that I could help these children succeed and their parents were grateful for the support I could provide. I continued volunteering for this program for 2 years. As I really loved working with children, I still felt I had more to give. In August of this year, I began volunteering in the pediatric department of my local hospital. I continue that work today, volunteering every sunday. I enjoy playing games with the kids who unfortunately are hospitalized, trying to make their stay as enjoyable as possible. I work to get them anything they may need to be comfortable and help clean the playroom and stock the patient rooms. As I look to the future with excitement to complete high school and start college, I am really thankful for the experiences I have had in my life. I am grateful that I have been able to help so many others in need in my community as well as other countries. I am ready to embark on my life long journey of service to others by studying biology with a pre-medicine track with the aspirations of one day completing medical school and continuing my service at my local hospital as a Neonatologist.

Losing a grandparent at any age is difficult, but losing a grandparent at age 14 was devastating to me. My grandfather and I were close and I was thankful to have 14 wonderful years with him! When it came time for his funeral service, I felt like I had so much to say to honor his memory and I wanted to share this information to help in my healing and the healing of others. I asked my parents if I could speak to the audience of friends and family who were gathered to grieve and celebrate the life of a wonderful man. They reluctantly agreed as I was still just a child and this was my first funeral I had ever attended. They were worried it would be too much for me to speak in front of everyone, but I knew I needed this for my peace of mind. I bravely stood at the pedestal at the front of the room and began to read from the notes I jotted down in my phone. I described my grandfather and how he made me laugh and how much fun we had together. I knew he was proud of me and I wanted to do everything in my power to continue to make him proud as I knew he was still with me in spirit and always would be. I was able to keep my composure throughout the speech, even when there was barely a dry eye in the audience. Being able to speak and share my feelings that day was a big relief. I showed bravery and although I was previously not fond of public speaking, I felt a bit more at ease with it after my speech. I feel like the courage I displayed on that fateful day not only helped me feel at ease and peace with his passing, but also helped the audience of others who were there grieving alongside me. Many people that day came to me and said they were so proud of me and the strength and determination I showed in the face of sadness. Being the first born grandchild, I brought joy and light to my grandfather's life. It was only fitting that I was able to describe the joy he brought to me and impact he had on my life. The loss of my grandfather was an unexpected turning point in my life. We spent a lot of time together and he undoubtedly meant a lot to me. The courage I showed on the day of his service helped me, as well as others, grieve his loss and also celebrate his life. I felt accomplished that I was able to overcome my fear of public speaking and help soothe others during a time of pain and grief. I was satisfied when I could help others, who in turn, helped me with my grief. I still remember the day like it was yesterday and each year on his birthday, my family still meets to have my grandfather's famous spaghetti, reminisce with loving stories, and celebrate the life of a wonderful man!

At age 14, I lost my grandfather unexpectedly. We were very close and I was devastated. Who would quiz me on the presidents? All of the trivia I knew about the presidents and first ladies I had learned from him. Who was going to teach me about sports? He was a wealth of knowledge and trivia regarding most sports, but was partcularly fond of baseball and boxing. The loss would surely be felt by all, but I felt an emptiness that was hard to overcome. I asked to speak at his funeral service and as I stood at the alter in front of a full room of family and friends, I was nervous. Suddenly, I felt a calm come over me as I began to address the room with the speech I had prepared, recounting our relationship and the fun times we had and how much he would be missed. Even though I suffer from an anxiety disorder and am not keen on public speaking, I stayed composed throughout my address and there was nearly a dry eye in the house. I feel like he helped me overcome my fear and sadness so I could speak from the heart. Knowing my grandpa was with me was such a relief and I was proud to speak about him, knowing how proud he was of me. Family is one thing that means a lot and my grandfather was always proud of me and wanted nothing but the best. It was in this moment that I knew I would need to continue to make him proud, even in his absence. What matters most in my life is my studies and servitude to the public. My grandpa was a veteran and gave a lot for this great nation. I honor his legacy with my volunteerism through my school clubs as well as my local hospital. I also began to focus more on my studies after his passing and subsequently raised my GPA and moved up 23 places in my class rank, making it into the top 25. All of these focuses will help me realize my future career goal of becoming a Neonatologist and continuing to help people and serve my community. My unfortunate loss of my grandfather has only sharpened my desire to make him proud by following my dreams and making them come true!

Who doesn't love some ice cream or chocolate? Sweets are so tempting and can be consumed in moderation, but it is important to understand the food pyramid and what nutrients the body needs to be healthy. Healthy eating habits not only improve physical health, but can also improve mental health. Starting a healthy diet at a young age can lead to a life-long dedication to health and longevity. I believe it is important to have healthy eating habits because your body needs certain things to thrive. It uses the minerals and vitamins it receives from food to function properly. If you are only eating processed foods or fats and sweets, your body is missing essential nutrients obtained from meats, vegetables, and fruits. It is important to eat healthy, but it is just as important to have a balanced diet, including fats and sweets in moderation. A body cannot possibly function at appropriate levels without this needed fuel. Without the fuel needed to keep the body going, there could be physical effects. The body will most likely feel sluggish and you may be tired. You could be more prone to disease or illness, including diabetes, heart attack, and stroke which could cause permanent impairment or even death. The body requires nutrients from healthy foods to produce the energy needed to get through each day. Not only are there physical deficits noticed when eating unhealthy, there is also the mental aspect. The brain needs proper nutrition to function as well. Without eating healthy, your brain synapses may not be able to fire appropriately, leading to delays in thinking and cognitive function. You just may not feel as sharp as you would if you were consuming a healthy diet. This could ultimately lead to poor concentration and worsening grades in school. When I eat healthier, there is a noticeable difference in my demeanor. I feel refreshed and alive. When eating a good bit of junk food, I have a larger problem with concentration and find it difficult to stay focused on the task at hand. I have also noticed that eating healthier provides me a larger amount of energy and helps facilitate my speed and stamina during a cross country race. My legs feel heavier and I fatigue much easier when I am not eating as healthy of a diet as I should. It is important I have the fuel for my body and eating a balanced diet including fruits and veggies like raspberries and broccoli provide the boost needed to carry me through my race. Eating healthy is the only way to go! A balanced diet provides everything necessary to maintain good physical and mental health. Learning good nutrition early will provide the lifelong skills necessary to keep your mind and body sharp, allowing physical stamina and mental acuity for years to come!

How can you be the best at anything if your head is not in the game? Mental health is of utmost importance and helps drive a person's life. If you are not in the correct frame of mind mentally, you will experience more difficulty moving foward with goals. Mental wellness helps drive my academics as well as athletics. Being prepared mentally for a cross country or track meet gives me an advantage over my competition. My demeanor and attitude all tie into my mental health and awareness. If I have been eating well, using mindful moments, and sleeping well, this improves my performance. Being in the right state of mind of mental wellness helps me succeed athletically and allows me to crush my previous personal records each season. Mental wellness is also an important factor of my social and academic life. Having great mental health allows me to focus on my academics and perform to the best of my ability everyday in the classroom, as demonstrated by my almost 4.0 GPA. The social aspect allows me to make friends and feel comfortable with myself and my surroundings, thus lowering my anxiety. Maintaining a good state of mental health can be hard! When our lives are busy, it is even more important to take time to keep our minds calm, but focused. Although running is my sport, I also use leisure running as a way to unwind and free my thoughts to rejuvenate my mind. It is a relief to let thoughts go through running and start fresh with a new perspective and state of mind. Mindful moments of meditation are another method I utilize to help clear my mind. I usually listen to music and use these times of quiet meditation to let go of negative thoughts and turn my mindset to positivity. Music is a great escape, even if only for a moment, for any task at hand. I find after 20 minutes of listening to music, and sometimes singing, I am much more focused and relaxed. This helps keep my anxiety disorder at bay and allows me to move forward with any task, keeping me motivated. Mental health really effects every aspect of our lives. If we are not mentally prepared, it is much harder to succeed in any task. My mental health must be good in order for me to balance work, volunteerism, my academics, athletics, and extracurricular activities. I have struggled frequently with anxiety, but have learned coping mechanisms to keep myself calm and focused, which is helping prepare me for my future life as an adult. The mental health training and preparation I have already undertaken to keep my mental health in check will only help me succeed in college and excel in my future ambitious path to becoming a Neonatologist.

Mental blocks can be tough! Your mentality is everything when preparing to play a sport and can only help you succeed. I previously suffered from low self-esteem and felt my frame of mind could use some improvement. Lucky for me, I had a coach who was in my corner and helped me prepare my mind to run the best possible race I could! Coach Dave met with me to determine the current state of my mind. What do you think about when running? How are you preparing to attack a cross country race? My answers shocked him as I played music through my mind when I ran and I always felt going out too fast would only hinder my chances in a race due to what I believed would allow fatigue to set in if my starting pace was too fast. Coach Dave helped me realize that starting fast was necessary in a cross country race to avoid getting pinned in on the tight corners and not being able to pass up through the pack. He also showed me that my mind should be focused on the race and picking off each girl in front of me until I get to the very end. This was sound advice and after reading some articles and inspirational materials he gave me, I decided to put his advice to the test in the next race. Could I really start out fast and not tire? My inner demons were getting to me again as I began to see self-doubt creep back in. No, I thought. Not this time. I am going to take Coach Dave's advice and start off fast and see what happens, remaining positive and determined to try out this new process and mindset. So what happened, you may ask? I started off fast, ran a great competitive race, picked off girls in front of me, moving through the pack to a 13th place finish out of 143 girls and a new PR! Many thanks to Coach Dave who believed enough in me to see my worth, even when I didn't. I appreciate the time he spent with me helping prepare my brain and mindset to get the most out of a race and a great start to my senior cross country season. I have also helped younger runners through my volunteerism with the Healthy Kids Running Series, helping show them the care, encouragement, and compassion that was shown to me. We all need someone to help us overcome our internal struggles and Coach Dave helped me transform into a more confident athlete!