Nothing is more noble or rewarding to me than using my strengths and opportunities to help others. Three years ago, I started volunteering as a tutor with Sheppard Pratt’s Family Services, a local nonprofit supporting poor and troubled families. As someone who loves to teach, it warmed my heart every time my sixth-grade student solved a difficult problem by herself. Every week, her mother would pick her up from the classroom and thank me deeply with a faint, painfully genuine smile. When COVID-19 struck, Family Services suffered. The volunteer coordinator called to tell me that almost all of the volunteers had left and that the program was hanging on a thread. I thought about my student’s excitement and her mother’s exhausted eyes. Whatever the pandemic was throwing at them, I was determined to help as best I could. So, I fought for the program. I offered zoom sessions for the rest of the school year. I called friends to sign up and volunteer. Even after the program itself was forced to close for the remainder of the year, I continued to contact the student and address her questions. Over the summer, the student’s mother asked me if I could guide her daughter through her school’s provided optional summer work and preparatory material. Having just helped my little sister with similar material classes the year before, I knew how to explain the concepts that were difficult to understand at first. By the beginning of the next school year, the student finally felt ready to tackle 7th grade on her own. She’d grown independent and confident, and I couldn’t have been more proud. This ability to impact someone’s life has driven me to continue serving and engaging with my community through projects like litter cleanup, food drives, and promoting local businesses with school fundraisers. Never do I feel a stronger sense of purpose than when I’ve brightened someone else’s day, and I know that this passion for service will follow me through college and beyond. As long as I live, I will help. So far, I have used my available resources and education level to help those in need to the best of my ability. Through a college education, I plan to use my passion for biomedical engineering to expand my influence on people in need by developing medical methods and devices that decrease the cost of and thus increase the accessibility of healthcare to the public. I discovered this interest in using technology to improve the world of medicine from my research mentor at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab. An expert in quantum computing, he taught me about the future potential of quantum computers to simulate molecular interactions of drugs as they enter the human system. This means that, when quantum computers become robust enough to accurately perform these simulations, they would be able to test drugs without using living test subjects with much less time and cost than the current drug discovery process demands. By facilitating the drug discovery process, this technology could reduce the cost of new drugs in the future. If I had the resources, I would invest in this technology and other developing technological advancements that could lower the cost of healthcare and newly-created medicine to the public, drastically improving the lives of the many people who find it too difficult to access the medical help they need. Until then, however, I am doing what I can to help those in my community — one student at a time.

Nothing is more noble or rewarding to me than using my strengths and opportunities to help others. Three years ago, I started volunteering as a tutor with Sheppard Pratt’s Family Services, a local nonprofit supporting poor and troubled families. As someone who loves to teach, it warmed my heart every time my sixth-grade student solved a difficult problem by herself. Every week, her mother would pick her up from the classroom and thank me deeply with a faint, painfully genuine smile. When COVID-19 struck, Family Services suffered. The volunteer coordinator called to tell me that almost all of the volunteers had left and that the program was hanging on a thread. I thought about my student’s excitement and her mother’s exhausted eyes. Whatever the pandemic was throwing at them, I was determined to help as best I could. So, I fought for the program. I offered zoom sessions for the rest of the school year. I called friends to sign up and volunteer. Even after the program itself was forced to close for the remainder of the year, I continued to contact the student and address her questions. Over the summer, the student’s mother asked me if I could guide her daughter through her school’s provided optional summer work and preparatory material. Having just helped my little sister with similar material classes the year before, I knew how to explain the concepts that were difficult to understand at first. By the beginning of the next school year, the student finally felt ready to tackle 7th grade on her own. She’d grown independent and confident, and I couldn’t have been more proud. This ability to impact someone’s life has driven me to continue serving and engaging with my community through projects like litter cleanup, food drives, and promoting local businesses with school fundraisers. Never do I feel a stronger sense of purpose than when I’ve brightened someone else’s day, and I know that this passion for service will follow me through college and beyond. At the beginning of my junior year, I continued on my journey to inspire fellow students by co-founding my school’s chapter of Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA), an international organization whose purpose is to promote student interest in the health sciences through competitions and conventions. As secretary, I was responsible for promoting the club. By our first meeting, I was astonished to count over 60 attendees across all grades. Then, I helped students prepare for competitions by giving presentations, inviting guest speakers, and organizing group activities. I’ll never forget the light in freshman David’s eyes at the state competition when he correctly answered a question that we had studied together the night before, helping our team qualify for Internationals. Overall, twenty-two students qualified for the International Leadership Convention, and three of us became finalists at the international level. Through helping the students around me grow and pursue their academic aspirations, I’ve learned of the true value of contributing to a collaborative society.

Nothing is more noble or rewarding to me than using my strengths and opportunities to help others. Three years ago, I started volunteering as a tutor with Sheppard Pratt’s Family Services, a local nonprofit supporting poor and troubled families. As someone who loves to teach, it warmed my heart every time my sixth-grade student solved a difficult problem by herself. Every week, her mother would pick her up from the classroom and thank me deeply with a faint, painfully genuine smile. When COVID-19 struck, Family Services suffered. The volunteer coordinator called to tell me that almost all of the volunteers had left and that the program was hanging on a thread. I thought about my student’s excitement and her mother’s exhausted eyes. Whatever the pandemic was throwing at them, I was determined to help as best I could. So, I fought for the program. I offered zoom sessions for the rest of the school year. I called friends to sign up and volunteer. Even after the program itself was forced to close for the remainder of the year, I continued to contact the student and address her questions. Over the summer, the student’s mother asked me if I could guide her daughter through her school’s provided optional summer work and preparatory material. Having just helped my little sister with similar material classes the year before, I knew how to explain the concepts that were difficult to understand at first. By the beginning of the next school year, the student finally felt ready to tackle 7th grade on her own. She’d grown independent and confident, and I couldn’t have been more proud. This ability to impact someone’s life has driven me to continue serving and engaging with my community through projects like litter cleanup, food drives, and promoting local businesses with school fundraisers. Never do I feel a stronger sense of purpose than when I’ve brightened someone else’s day, and I know that this passion for service will follow me through college and beyond. At the beginning of my junior year, I continued on my journey to inspire fellow students by co-founding my school’s chapter of Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA), an international organization whose purpose is to promote student interest in the health sciences through competitions and conventions. As secretary, I was responsible for promoting the club. By our first meeting, I was astonished to count over 60 attendees across all grades. Then, I helped students prepare for competitions by giving presentations, inviting guest speakers, and organizing group activities. I’ll never forget the light in freshman David’s eyes at the state competition when he correctly answered a question that we had studied together the night before, helping our team qualify for Internationals. Overall, twenty-two students qualified for the International Leadership Convention, and three of us became finalists at the international level. Through helping the students around me grow and pursue their academic aspirations, I’ve learned of the true value of contributing to a collaborative society.

Nothing is more noble or rewarding to me than using my strengths and opportunities to help others. Three years ago, I started volunteering as a tutor with Sheppard Pratt’s Family Services, a local nonprofit supporting poor and troubled families. As someone who loves to teach, it warmed my heart every time my sixth-grade student solved a difficult problem by herself. Every week, her mother would pick her up from the classroom and thank me deeply with a faint, painfully genuine smile. When COVID-19 struck, Family Services suffered. The volunteer coordinator called to tell me that almost all of the volunteers had left and that the program was hanging on a thread. I thought about my student’s excitement and her mother’s exhausted eyes. Whatever the pandemic was throwing at them, I was determined to help as best I could. So, I fought for the program. I offered zoom sessions for the rest of the school year. I called friends to sign up and volunteer. Even after the program itself was forced to close for the remainder of the year, I continued to contact the student and address her questions. Over the summer, the student’s mother asked me if I could guide her daughter through her school’s provided optional summer work and preparatory material. Having just helped my little sister with similar material classes the year before, I knew how to explain the concepts that were difficult to understand at first. By the beginning of the next school year, the student finally felt ready to tackle 7th grade on her own. She’d grown independent and confident, and I couldn’t have been more proud. This ability to impact someone’s life has driven me to continue serving and engaging with my community through projects like litter cleanup, food drives, and promoting local businesses with school fundraisers. Never do I feel a stronger sense of purpose than when I’ve brightened someone else’s day, and I know that this passion for service will follow me through college and beyond. As long as I live, I will help. So far, I have used my available resources and education level to help those in need to the best of my ability. Through a college education, I plan to use my passion for biomedical engineering to expand my influence on people in need by developing medical methods and devices that decrease the cost of and thus increase the accessibility of healthcare to the general public. I discovered this interest in using technology to improve the world of medicine from my research mentor at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab. An expert in quantum computing, he taught me about the future potential of quantum computers to simulate molecular interactions of drugs as they enter the human system. This means that, when quantum computers become robust enough to accurately perform these simulations, they would be able to test drugs without the use of living test subjects with much less time and cost than the current drug discovery process demands. By facilitating the drug discovery process, this technology could reduce the cost of new drugs in the future. I plan to use my education to help develop this technology and other developing technological advancements that could lower the cost of healthcare and newly-created medicine to the public, drastically improving the lives of the many people in my community and the world who find it too difficult to access the medical help they need. Until then, however, I am doing what I can to help those in my community — one student at a time.

Nothing is more noble or rewarding to me than using my strengths and opportunities to help others. Three years ago, I started volunteering as a tutor with Sheppard Pratt’s Family Services, a local nonprofit supporting poor and troubled families. As someone who loves to teach, it warmed my heart every time my sixth-grade student solved a difficult problem by herself. Every week, her mother would pick her up from the classroom and thank me deeply with a faint, painfully genuine smile. When COVID-19 struck, Family Services suffered. The volunteer coordinator called to tell me that almost all of the volunteers had left and that the program was hanging on a thread. I thought about my student’s excitement and her mother’s exhausted eyes. Whatever the pandemic was throwing at them, I was determined to help as best I could. So, I fought for the program. I offered zoom sessions for the rest of the school year. I called friends to sign up and volunteer. Even after the program itself was forced to close for the remainder of the year, I continued to contact the student and address her questions. Over the summer, the student’s mother asked me if I could guide her daughter through her school’s provided optional summer work and preparatory material. Having just helped my little sister with similar material classes the year before, I knew how to explain the concepts that were difficult to understand at first. By the beginning of the next school year, the student finally felt ready to tackle 7th grade on her own. She’d grown independent and confident, and I couldn’t have been more proud. This ability to impact someone’s life has driven me to continue serving and engaging with my community through projects like litter cleanup, food drives, and promoting local businesses with school fundraisers. Never do I feel a stronger sense of purpose than when I’ve brightened someone else’s day, and I know that this passion for service will follow me through college and beyond. At the beginning of junior year, I continued on my journey to inspire fellow students by co-founding my school’s chapter of Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA), an international organization whose purpose is to promote student interest in the health sciences through competitions and conventions. As secretary, I was responsible for promoting the club. By our first meeting, I was astonished to count over 60 attendees across all grades. Then, I helped students prepare for competitions by giving presentations, inviting guest speakers, and organizing group activities. I’ll never forget the light in freshman David’s eyes at the state competition when he correctly answered a question that we had studied together the night before, helping our team qualify for Internationals. Overall, twenty-two students qualified for the International Leadership Convention, and three of us became finalists at the international level. Through helping the students around me grow and pursue their academic aspirations, I’ve learned of the true value of contributing to a collaborative society.

Nothing is more noble or rewarding to me than using my strengths and opportunities to help others. Three years ago, I started volunteering as a tutor with Sheppard Pratt’s Family Services, a local nonprofit supporting poor and troubled families. As someone who loves to teach, it warmed my heart every time my sixth-grade student solved a difficult problem by herself. Every week, her mother would pick her up from the classroom and thank me deeply with a faint, painfully genuine smile. When COVID-19 struck, Family Services suffered. The volunteer coordinator called to tell me that almost all of the volunteers had left and that the program was hanging on a thread. I thought about my student’s excitement and her mother’s exhausted eyes. Whatever the pandemic was throwing at them, I was determined to help as best I could. So, I fought for the program. I offered zoom sessions for the rest of the school year. I called friends to sign up and volunteer. Even after the program itself was forced to close for the remainder of the year, I continued to contact the student and address her questions. Over the summer, the student’s mother asked me if I could guide her daughter through her school’s provided optional summer work and preparatory material. Having just helped my little sister with similar material classes the year before, I knew how to explain the concepts that were difficult to understand at first. By the beginning of the next school year, the student finally felt ready to tackle 7th grade on her own. She’d grown independent and confident, and I couldn’t have been more proud. This ability to impact someone’s life has driven me to continue serving and engaging with my community through projects like litter cleanup, food drives, and promoting local businesses with school fundraisers. Never do I feel a stronger sense of purpose than when I’ve brightened someone else’s day, and I know that this passion for service will follow me through college and beyond. As long as I live, I will help. So far, I have used my available resources and education level to help those in need to the best of my ability. Through a college education, I plan to use my passion for biomedical engineering to expand my influence on people in need by developing medical methods and devices that decrease the cost of and thus increase the accessibility of healthcare to the general public. I discovered this interest in using technology to improve the world of medicine from my research mentor at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab. An expert in quantum computing, he taught me about the future potential of quantum computers to simulate molecular interactions of drugs as they enter the human system. This means that, when quantum computers become robust enough to accurately perform these simulations, they would be able to test drugs without the use of living test subjects with much less time and cost than the current drug discovery process demands. By facilitating the drug discovery process, this technology could reduce the cost of new drugs in the future. I plan to use my education to help develop this technology and other developing technological advancements that could lower the cost of healthcare and newly-created medicine to the public, drastically improving the lives of the many people in my community and the world who find it too difficult to access the medical help they need. Until then, however, I am doing what I can to help those in my community — one student at a time.

Nothing is more noble or rewarding to me than using my strengths and opportunities to help others. Three years ago, I started volunteering as a tutor with Sheppard Pratt’s Family Services, a local nonprofit supporting poor and troubled families. As someone who loves to teach, it warmed my heart every time my sixth-grade student solved a difficult problem by herself. Every week, her mother would pick her up from the classroom and thank me deeply with a faint, painfully genuine smile. When COVID-19 struck, Family Services suffered. The volunteer coordinator called to tell me that almost all of the volunteers had left and that the program was hanging on a thread. I thought about my student’s excitement and her mother’s exhausted eyes. Whatever the pandemic was throwing at them, I was determined to help as best I could. So, I fought for the program. I offered zoom sessions for the rest of the school year. I called friends to sign up and volunteer. Even after the program itself was forced to close for the remainder of the year, I continued to contact the student and address her questions. Over the summer, the student’s mother asked me if I could guide her daughter through her school’s provided optional summer work and preparatory material. Having just helped my little sister with similar material classes the year before, I knew how to explain the concepts that were difficult to understand at first. By the beginning of the next school year, the student finally felt ready to tackle 7th grade on her own. She’d grown independent and confident, and I couldn’t have been more proud. This ability to impact someone’s life has driven me to continue serving and engaging with my community through projects like litter cleanup, food drives, and promoting local businesses with school fundraisers. Never do I feel a stronger sense of purpose than when I’ve brightened someone else’s day, and I know that this passion for service will follow me through college and beyond. At the beginning of my junior year, I continued on my journey to inspire fellow students by co-founding my school’s chapter of Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA), an international organization whose purpose is to promote student interest in the health sciences through competitions and conventions. As secretary, I was responsible for promoting the club. By our first meeting, I was astonished to count over 60 attendees across all grades. Then, I helped students prepare for competitions by giving presentations, inviting guest speakers, and organizing group activities. I’ll never forget the light in freshman David’s eyes at the state competition when he correctly answered a question that we had studied together the night before, helping our team qualify for Internationals. Overall, twenty-two students qualified for the International Leadership Convention, and three of us became finalists at the international level. Through helping the students around me grow and pursue their academic aspirations, I’ve learned of the true value of contributing to a collaborative society.

Nothing is more noble or rewarding to me than using my strengths and opportunities to help others. Three years ago, I started volunteering as a tutor with Sheppard Pratt’s Family Services, a local nonprofit supporting poor and troubled families. As someone who loves to teach, it warmed my heart every time my sixth-grade student solved a difficult problem by herself. Every week, her mother would pick her up from the classroom and thank me deeply with a faint, painfully genuine smile. When COVID-19 struck, Family Services suffered. The volunteer coordinator called to tell me that almost all of the volunteers had left and that the program was hanging on a thread. I thought about my student’s excitement and her mother’s exhausted eyes. Whatever the pandemic was throwing at them, I was determined to help as best I could. So, I fought for the program. I offered zoom sessions for the rest of the school year. I called friends to sign up and volunteer. Even after the program itself was forced to close for the remainder of the year, I continued to contact the student and address her questions. Over the summer, the student’s mother asked me if I could guide her daughter through her school’s provided optional summer work and preparatory material. Having just helped my little sister with similar material classes the year before, I knew how to explain the concepts that were difficult to understand at first. By the beginning of the next school year, the student finally felt ready to tackle 7th grade on her own. She’d grown independent and confident, and I couldn’t have been more proud. This ability to impact someone’s life has driven me to continue serving and engaging with my community through projects like litter cleanup, food drives, and promoting local businesses with school fundraisers. Never do I feel a stronger sense of purpose than when I’ve brightened someone else’s day, and I know that this passion for service will follow me through college and beyond. As long as I live, I will help. So far, I have used my available resources and education level to help those in need to the best of my ability. Through a college education, I plan to use my passion for biomedical engineering to expand my influence on people in need by developing medical methods and devices that decrease the cost of and thus increase the accessibility of healthcare to the general public. I discovered this interest in using technology to improve the world of medicine from my research mentor at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab. An expert in quantum computing, he taught me about the future potential of quantum computers to simulate molecular interactions of drugs as they enter the human system. This means that, when quantum computers become robust enough to accurately perform these simulations, they would be able to test drugs without the use of living test subjects with much less time and cost than the current drug discovery process demands. By facilitating the drug discovery process, this technology could reduce the cost of new drugs in the future. I plan to use my education to help develop this technology and other developing technological advancements that could lower the cost of healthcare and newly-created medicine to the public, drastically improving the lives of the many people in my community and the world who find it too difficult to access the medical help they need. Until then, however, I am doing what I can to help those in my community — one student at a time.

Nothing is more noble or rewarding to me than using my strengths and opportunities to help others. Three years ago, I started volunteering as a tutor with Sheppard Pratt’s Family Services, a local nonprofit supporting poor and troubled families. As someone who loves to teach, it warmed my heart every time my sixth-grade student solved a difficult problem by herself. Every week, her mother would pick her up from the classroom and thank me deeply with a faint, painfully genuine smile. When COVID-19 struck, Family Services suffered. The volunteer coordinator called to tell me that almost all of the volunteers had left and that the program was hanging on a thread. I thought about my student’s excitement and her mother’s exhausted eyes. Whatever the pandemic was throwing at them, I was determined to help as best I could. So, I fought for the program. I offered zoom sessions for the rest of the school year. I called friends to sign up and volunteer. Even after the program itself was forced to close for the remainder of the year, I continued to contact the student and address her questions. Over the summer, the student’s mother asked me if I could guide her daughter through her school’s provided optional summer work and preparatory material. Having just helped my little sister with similar material classes the year before, I knew how to explain the concepts that were difficult to understand at first. By the beginning of the next school year, the student finally felt ready to tackle 7th grade on her own. She’d grown independent and confident, and I couldn’t have been more proud. This ability to impact someone’s life has driven me to continue serving and engaging with my community through projects like litter cleanup, food drives, and promoting local businesses with school fundraisers. Never do I feel a stronger sense of purpose than when I’ve brightened someone else’s day, and I know that this passion for service will follow me through college and beyond. As long as I live, I will help. So far, I have used my available resources and education level to help those in need to the best of my ability. Through a college education, I plan to use my passion for biomedical engineering to expand my influence on people in need by developing medical methods and devices that decrease the cost of and thus increase the accessibility of healthcare to the general public. I discovered this interest in using technology to improve the world of medicine from my research mentor at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab. An expert in quantum computing, he taught me about the future potential of quantum computers to simulate molecular interactions of drugs as they enter the human system. This means that, when quantum computers become robust enough to accurately perform these simulations, they would be able to test drugs without the use of living test subjects with much less time and cost than the current drug discovery process demands. By facilitating the drug discovery process, this technology could reduce the cost of new drugs in the future. I plan to use my education, facilitated by this scholarship, to help develop this technology and other developing technological advancements that could lower the cost of healthcare and newly-created medicine to the public, drastically improving the lives of the many people in my community and the world who find it too difficult to access the medical help they need. Until then, however, I am doing what I can to help those in my community — one student at a time.

Nothing is more noble or rewarding to me than using my strengths and opportunities to help others. Three years ago, I started volunteering as a tutor with Sheppard Pratt’s Family Services, a local nonprofit supporting poor and troubled families. As someone who loves to teach, it warmed my heart every time my sixth-grade student solved a difficult problem by herself. Every week, her mother would pick her up from the classroom and thank me deeply with a faint, painfully genuine smile. When COVID-19 struck, Family Services suffered. The volunteer coordinator called to tell me that almost all of the volunteers had left and that the program was hanging on a thread. I thought about my student’s excitement and her mother’s exhausted eyes. Whatever the pandemic was throwing at them, I was determined to help as best I could. So, I fought for the program. I offered zoom sessions for the rest of the school year. I called friends to sign up and volunteer. Even after the program itself was forced to close for the remainder of the year, I continued to contact the student and address her questions. Over the summer, the student’s mother asked me if I could guide her daughter through her school’s provided optional summer work and preparatory material. Having just helped my little sister with similar material classes the year before, I knew how to explain the concepts that were difficult to understand at first. By the beginning of the next school year, the student finally felt ready to tackle 7th grade on her own. She’d grown independent and confident, and I couldn’t have been more proud. This ability to impact someone’s life has driven me to continue serving and engaging with my community through projects like litter cleanup, food drives, and promoting local businesses with school fundraisers. Never do I feel a stronger sense of purpose than when I’ve brightened someone else’s day, and I know that this passion for service will follow me through college and beyond. At the beginning of my junior year, I continued on my journey to inspire fellow students by co-founding my school’s chapter of Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA), an international organization whose purpose is to promote student interest in the health sciences through competitions and conventions. As secretary, I was responsible for promoting the club. By our first meeting, I was astonished to count over 60 attendees across all grades. Then, I helped students prepare for competitions by giving presentations, inviting guest speakers, and organizing group activities. I’ll never forget the light in freshman David’s eyes at the state competition when he correctly answered a question that we had studied together the night before, helping our team qualify for Internationals. Overall, twenty-two students qualified for the International Leadership Convention, and three of us became finalists at the international level. Through helping the students around me grow and pursue their academic aspirations, I’ve learned of the true value of contributing to a collaborative society.

Nothing is more noble or rewarding to me than using my strengths and opportunities to help others. Three years ago, I started volunteering as a tutor with Sheppard Pratt’s Family Services, a local nonprofit supporting poor and troubled families. As someone who loves to teach, it warmed my heart every time my sixth-grade student solved a difficult problem by herself. Every week, her mother would pick her up from the classroom and thank me deeply with a faint, painfully genuine smile. When COVID-19 struck, Family Services suffered. The volunteer coordinator called to tell me that almost all of the volunteers had left and that the program was hanging on a thread. I thought about my student’s excitement and her mother’s exhausted eyes. Whatever the pandemic was throwing at them, I was determined to help as best I could. So, I fought for the program. I offered zoom sessions for the rest of the school year. I called friends to sign up and volunteer. Even after the program itself was forced to close for the remainder of the year, I continued to contact the student and address her questions. Over the summer, the student’s mother asked me if I could guide her daughter through her school’s provided optional summer work and preparatory material. Having just helped my little sister with similar material classes the year before, I knew how to explain the concepts that were difficult to understand at first. By the beginning of the next school year, the student finally felt ready to tackle 7th grade on her own. She’d grown independent and confident, and I couldn’t have been more proud. This ability to impact someone’s life has driven me to continue serving and engaging with my community through projects like litter cleanup, food drives, and promoting local businesses with school fundraisers. Never do I feel a stronger sense of purpose than when I’ve brightened someone else’s day, and I know that this passion for service will follow me through college and beyond. As long as I live, I will help. So far, I have used my available resources and education level to help those in need to the best of my ability. Through a college education, I plan to use my passion for biomedical engineering to expand my influence on people in need by developing medical methods and devices that decrease the cost of and thus increase the accessibility of healthcare to the general public. I discovered this interest in using technology to improve the world of medicine from my research mentor at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab. An expert in quantum computing, he taught me about the future potential of quantum computers to simulate molecular interactions of drugs as they enter the human system. This means that, when quantum computers become robust enough to accurately perform these simulations, they would be able to test drugs without the use of living test subjects with much less time and cost than the current drug discovery process demands. By facilitating the drug discovery process, this technology could reduce the cost of new drugs in the future. I plan to use my education to help develop this technology and other developing technological advancements that could lower the cost of healthcare and newly-created medicine to the public, drastically improving the lives of the many people in my community and the world who find it too difficult to access the medical help they need. Until then, however, I am doing what I can to help those in my community — one student at a time.

Nothing is more noble or rewarding to me than using my strengths and opportunities to help others. Three years ago, I started volunteering as a tutor with Sheppard Pratt’s Family Services, a local nonprofit supporting poor and troubled families. As someone who loves to teach, it warmed my heart every time my sixth-grade student solved a difficult problem by herself. Every week, her mother would pick her up from the classroom and thank me deeply with a faint, painfully genuine smile. When COVID-19 struck, Family Services suffered. The volunteer coordinator called to tell me that almost all of the volunteers had left and that the program was hanging on a thread. I thought about my student’s excitement and her mother’s exhausted eyes. Whatever the pandemic was throwing at them, I was determined to help as best I could. So, I fought for the program. I offered zoom sessions for the rest of the school year. I called friends to sign up and volunteer. Even after the program itself was forced to close for the remainder of the year, I continued to contact the student and address her questions. Over the summer, the student’s mother asked me if I could guide her daughter through her school’s provided optional summer work and preparatory material. Having just helped my little sister with similar material classes the year before, I knew how to explain the concepts that were difficult to understand at first. By the beginning of the next school year, the student finally felt ready to tackle 7th grade on her own. She’d grown independent and confident, and I couldn’t have been more proud. This ability to impact someone’s life has driven me to continue serving and engaging with my community through projects like litter cleanup, food drives, and promoting local businesses with school fundraisers. Never do I feel a stronger sense of purpose than when I’ve brightened someone else’s day, and I know that this passion for service will follow me through college and beyond. As long as I live, I will help. So far, I have used my available resources and education level to help those in need to the best of my ability. Through a college education, I plan to use my passion for biomedical engineering to expand my influence on people in need by developing medical methods and devices that decrease the cost of and thus increase the accessibility of healthcare to the public. I discovered this interest in using technology to improve the world of medicine from my research mentor at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab. An expert in quantum computing, he taught me about the future potential of quantum computers to simulate molecular interactions of drugs as they enter the human system. This means that, when quantum computers become robust enough to accurately perform these simulations, they would be able to test drugs without using living test subjects with much less time and cost than the current drug discovery process demands. By facilitating the drug discovery process, this technology could reduce the cost of new drugs in the future. If I had the resources, I would invest in this technology and other developing technological advancements that could lower the cost of healthcare and newly-created medicine to the public, drastically improving the lives of the many people who find it too difficult to access the medical help they need. Until then, however, I am doing what I can to help those in my community — one student at a time.