As a person who struggles with a chronic illness, I've always been aware of how important health is and how much it can impact our lives. I've had chronic eczema ever since I was a kid and while it isn't a life-threatening disease, it is incredibly debilitating. Eczema is a skin disease and it has no cure because of this, it can be really hard to live with. While my eczema has thankfully been getting better, it's still hard to live with because of how it comes and goes when you least expect it. I've been eating a lot healthier and I've realized the importance of a good diet. Eating healthier has inspired me to learn more about how much nutrition can affect eczema. Also, I've realized how important it is to provide support for those with eczema. I've struggled a lot with mental health due to my chronic illness and I know that many people have the same experience and growing up, I was never able to find help or a community and recently I've seen many people just like me on social media. Because of my lived experiences, I want to become a registered dietitian and also work in the psychology/mental health field. I want to be able to research nutrition on a deeper level especially in regards to eczema. I want to be able to help others like me to feel better not only on the outside but in the inside too. Later down the line, I would love to work in a mental health related field to help others not feel alone while struggling a chronic illness. I hope that I will be able to also help tackle a lot of health issues in many underserved communities as well and to ultimately have a long lasting positive impact through my career.

I'm in my last semester of community college. While I only have a semester left, I have to pay some tuition out of pocket due to the fact that I took an extra year to complete my associates degree. Because of this pandemic, I spent majority of college online. During this time, I struggled a lot with my mental health and I was burnt out from taking rigorous classes along with working part time. As a result, my grades were dropping, I went from a 4.0 gpa to a 3.4. To better my mental health, I took initiative to take less classes so I could focus on myself and return to taking more classes with a better mindset. I've been really thankful to be able to get opportunities through my college. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to participate in the many extracurriculars and volunteering opportunities due to needing to work. Since it's my last semester, I would use $1000 to pay for my remaining tuition and save some towards a car. This would greatly help as I won't have to worry about my tuition and focus my last semester on a great note where I will be able to further focus on my studies and my extracurriculars.