My name is Shanelle Guy and I am a senior at Thomas Jefferson University. I am a single mom of an amazing 11-year-old son. I currently work at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia as a pharmacy technician in the case management department. At first, I wanted to become a Pediatric Nurse Practioner but school cost too much for me to continue. I then went to school to become a medical assistant and was one class away (externship) from graduating. I had to stop due to my becoming pregnant with my son. I always wanted to go back to school, but becoming a single mom put that on hold. My son has always been a child who got sick very often so it was hard for me to try to go back to school. Finally, in 2017, I decided to go back. It was hard but I was able to get my Associate's Degree in Health Science and graduated in May 2020. I then went straight into my Bachelor's degree which I will be graduating this upcoming May 2023. Once I am finished with this degree, I am going straight into my graduate studies. I am looking into Temple University to obtain my dual Master's degree in both public health and social work. I have always been the type of person to help others. Growing up, I had a hard childhood. I grew up with my grandparents. My mom was on drugs and my dad was nowhere to be found. Struggling the way that we did made me vow to try to break the generational curse that was hanging over my family. Nobody has every graduated from college and I wanted to be the one to do that. Guess what? I did and I am not going to stop until I am satisfied with the outcome. I was even inducted into the National Society of Leadership and Success in 2021. My career aspirations are to be able to help those less fortunate and that are low-income. I have so much information to give from being a pharmacy technician since 2009. I believe that I can make a difference. I believe that I was put on this Earth to help others. It makes me feel great about myself when I am able to put a smile on other people's faces. If I win this money to pay down my student loans, I will be able to save the money that would have been used for that college fund that I have set up for my son. I do not want him to have to worry about paying for college and just focus on his studies. I also want to be able to put some in a savings account to buy a house. That is another way of building and maintaining generational wealth.

My name is Shanelle Guy and I am a senior at Thomas Jefferson University pursuing my Bachelor's degree in Health Science. Growing up I lived with my grandparents and we were very poor. Even though I didn't have everything I needed, I still made the best of it. Since my grandparents grew up in a different era where going to the doctor's office wasn't a "norm", that led to my sister and I also not going to the doctor's office as much as well. At first, I thought this was normal. However, as time went on I knew something was wrong. One day I asked my Grandmom why we didn't go to the doctor or dentist as often as my friends did. Her answer shocked me. She said that the copays were too high and even though she worked at KFC, her income was still considered "too high" to qualify for Medicaid and food stamps. That led her to put us on her insurance and the copays were too much for her to afford. After hearing that, I felt really sad and wished that there was something that I could do. Eventually, in my Sophomore year of high school, I opted to get a part-time job to help pay for my sister's and my copays so we can go to the doctors and dentist as needed. This made me realize how access to care is so limited to those that are from low-income families. I knew I didn't want to become a doctor per se, but I knew that I wanted to be in a position to help those that were in my same predicament to be able to get the same access to care as any other person could. This is the main reason why I am pursuing health science. This will help me in graduate studies which I will be pursuing a dual degree Master in both Public Health and Social Work. I want to be able to help others get over the many barriers that they face every day. I want to be able to tell them from experience that it will be ok and it will get better. This scholarship will help me with my goals because since I have maxed out my student loans (due to starting school and then stopping school), I am currently paying out of pocket for my classes. My son has been a sickly child all of his life so I had to put my dreams on hold. Being a single mom and working full-time on top of going to school has been very stressful. However, I will not let any of that stop me again from fulfilling my destiny of being able to help others. I believe that is what I was put on this Earth for. This scholarship will help towards my dream of graduating from school.

My name is Shanelle Guy and I am a senior at Thomas Jefferson University pursuing my Bachelor's degree in Health Science. Growing up I lived with my grandparents and we were very poor. Even though I didn't have everything I needed, I still made the best of it. Since my grandparents grew up in a different era where going to the doctor's office wasn't a "norm", that led to my sister and I also not going to the doctor's office as much as well. At first, I thought this was normal. However, as time went on I knew something was wrong. One day I asked my Grandmom why we didn't go to the doctor or dentist as often as my friends did. Her answer shocked me. She said that the copays were too high and even though she worked at KFC, her income was still considered "too high" to qualify for Medicaid and food stamps. That led her to put us on her insurance and the copays were too much for her to afford. After hearing that, I felt really sad and wished that there was something that I could do. Eventually, in my Sophomore year of high school, I opted to get a part-time job to help pay for my sister's and my copays so we can go to the doctors and dentist as needed. This made me realize how access to care is so limited to those that are from low-income families. I knew I didn't want to become a doctor per se, but I knew that I wanted to be in a position to help those that were in my same predicament to be able to get the same access to care as any other person could. This is the main reason why I am pursuing health science. This will help me in graduate studies which I will be pursuing a dual degree Master in both Public Health and Social Work. I want to be able to help others get over the many barriers that they face every day. I want to be able to tell them from experience that it will be ok and it will get better. This scholarship will help me with my goals because since I have maxed out my student loans (due to starting school and then stopping school), I am currently paying out of pocket for my classes. My son has been a sickly child all of his life so I had to put my dreams on hold. Being a single mom and working full-time on top of going to school has been very stressful. However, I will not let any of that stop me again from fulfilling my destiny of being able to help others. I believe that is what I was put on this Earth for. This scholarship will help towards my dream of graduating from school.