My career in public service began when I was a junior in college working at a community pool to help pay for school. While I loved my job working with children as a lifeguard and swim teacher, I noticed that often the pool equipment was in disrepair and there was no budget to replace broken equipment and pool toys. I started taking it upon myself to replace the items using my own paychecks. One day after purchasing a basketball hoop net, I asked my manager why there was no money in the budget and he explained to me that the city council did not see the pool as a high priority. Dissatisfied with that answer, I drove to city hall on my lunch break and requested to meet the city manager, to register my objections. To my surprise, the city manager came out to meet with me then and there; I had never met him before. He told me that when I got older I could run for city council and change things. That is exactly what I did, although I didn't wait to get any older first. I ran for city council and, at the age of 19, I became the youngest woman ever to win an election in Washington State. I won with almost 70% of the vote against a three-term incumbent on a campaign promising a new pool and recreation center that all of the community could enjoy. It took six years to accomplish, but that community center opened in 2020 with the help of over $18 million in grassroots community donations and a shared vision. Today, one in every ten residents has purchased an annual pass and tens of thousands of admissions are purchased each year. This was my inspiration for entering public service, but it was only the beginning. Over the years, I ascended to the mayor position and have worked in several other public service roles for cities, parks departments, and Washington State. Public service is a passion of mine, and though I could potentially earn more working in the private sector, my heart is in community work and servant leadership. This year I am returning to school to pursue my lifelong dream of becoming a physician. I have been accepted to medical school and am excited to use my education to start seeing patients in my community. There are many under-served people in my broader neighborhood, especially seniors on fixed incomes, who do not have timely or reliable access to a physician or who cannot afford medical treatment. My dream is to train as a pediatric intensivist and remain local, serving the community that I love and where my passion for service first ignited. Moreover, I hope to donate my time and skills to free clinics and health fairs, and to travel to sick patients in outlying rural areas where there is critical need. Perhaps most importantly, my education will give me the credentials needed to pursue necessary legislative change to the health care system, which is in desperate need of improvements and is inaccessible and unaffordable for far too many people. In this way, I do not see my education as the beginning of a new career, but rather an enhancement to the public service career I have already begun to cultivate. The seeds were planted as a young girl working at the pool one summer, but my medical education will be the water and sunshine that help those seeds to blossom into several more decades of public service.

What I find most challenging about being a single parent in medical school is striking the balance between my studies and spending plenty of quality time with my children. While many single parents have the benefit of co-parenting with a former partner at least part of the time, I am my children's sole parent and exclusive provider. I am attending medical school and training to be a physician with the knowledge that my eventual career will create enhanced financial security for us and with the guiding philosophy that it is important for my children to see me succeeding in education and pursuing bettering myself despite challenges. However, it is not without sacrifice and difficulty. I see this scholarship helping us by providing a desperately-needed financial lifeline so that I can focus on studies with less worry about covering essential basics and making tuition payments. Each less hour spent on working to meet financial obligations is time that I can devote to them, playing, reading, and bonding. We have had to rebuild our family life after leaving domestic violence last year, which was both financially expensive and emotionally draining. Despite that adversity, the children are thriving, safe, happy, and resilient. They have made new friends and community in their school, and we are looking forward to the day that I start medical school in August. This will be a very special day for us as we each mark big milestones on the same day: my oldest child starting Kindergarten, my youngest son starting preschool, and me beginning medical school. Aside from my own passion for medicine, based in a love of science and a lifelong penchant for problem-solving combined with the desire to serve others, I am excited about the stability that this career can afford me and my children. I feel confident that once I have my medical degree in hand, I will be able to provide a secure life for us, including earning enough money to one day pay for their educations in turn. It is difficult to be a single parent and many times I have sacrificed meeting my own basic needs to ensure that my children have access to enrichment opportunities such as swim lessons and attending friends' birthday parties. I dream of a day when I am settled in my career and no longer feel stress and dread when the bills are due. I dream of my children having all of the same opportunities to grow into educated and well-rounded individuals that children growing up in dual-parent households can take for granted. With these funds, I can complete my degree and show my children that despite difficult circumstances, what we can dream we can achieve, as long as we are willing to work hard for it and remain adaptive. My children are the most important thing in my life and I am doing this just as much for them as for myself and my community. It has not been easy to leave family violence, navigate the family court system, keep my children safe, and attune to all of their needs (physical, health, emotional, social, spiritual, educational, and developmental) by myself. However, it is an honor to be their mother and I hope that I make them proud by prioritizing my education. I cannot wait to see their faces when I walk across the stage after earning my white coat.

I had never anticipated that I would become a single parent, after having been together with my husband for 17 years, but when the marriage turned violent, I knew that it was time to raise my children by myself in a safe and positive environment. In leaving the domestic violence behind, I knew that I was committing to raising my children-- including providing for all of their physical, social, educational, financial, mental, emotional, and developmental needs-- by myself. I also knew that it was the right thing to do for them to give them the healthiest environment possible and to break cycles. It hasn't been easy, but there is enough love to go around. Part of promoting a healthy upbringing for my children is also modeling to them that they are capable and worthy of good things. This is why I applied to medical school, after a decade-long hiatus from education to pursue career and family. It was not without challenge: I would lay my one-year-old to bed, set a timer to study for two hours each night, finish all the household chores just before midnight, and be back up a few hours later to go to work and do it all over again. However, my perseverance paid off and I was offered a coveted spot for an MD degree at a local medical school. I am excited to attend medical school. It will not be without challenge, but I am used to taking on challenging professional roles in the service of my community. I served 12 years on my local city council, including two years as mayor of my city beginning at age 30. The most rewarding part of that opportunity was building long-term relationships with community members and having a role in solving problems to directly enhance their quality of life. Not only will those skills be transferable in my future career as a physician, but they will help to carry me through my education. Medical school is difficult even without being a single parent to two preschool-aged children. I will need to draw upon all my problem-solving skills, resilience, and grit to carry me across the finish line. I am motivated to succeed both because I am passionate about medicine and because I am determined to show my children that with effort they can achieve hard things. After all, of all of the titles I have held, from mayor to medical student, "mom" is the most important one.

Having a disability has colored my outlook of the world in many ways: it has helped me to cultivate empathy and compassion for other humans and all living beings; it has grown me into an adept problem-solver by necessity; and it has influenced my choice of career. As I prepare to enter medical school, I feel that my disability bestows gifts as much as it has ever created challenges. In my youth, I did not have the wisdom to understand that disability was helping to shape me into the caring individual that I would grow to be in adulthood. I often felt ostracized and lonely. However that loneliness helped me learn communication skills and taught me persistence to cope with adversity. I learned resilience and candor. I grew to be the nurturer and mentor that I wished at times that I had had. It gave me a passion to volunteer my time with other disabled youth. It was in undergraduate school that I really began to identify with the descriptor of "disabled". As I began to explore the intersectional attributes that combined to make me a unique person, I discovered for myself that disability is not a sad or taboo condition, but rather one part of me, and that it needn't define me or be a limitation. As a future physician, I believe that empathy and understanding are pivotal to health outcomes. While I can appreciate the physiological implications of a disease process, there is so much more to comprehensive health care, including accounting for the mental/ emotional, spiritual, social, and developmental wellbeing of a person. I know that being a disabled person myself will help me to bridge gaps in understanding, and I hope that it can help my patients be less afraid of the unknown. My own experiences navigating the world as a person with a heart condition can demonstrate that no matter what a person's disabling condition(s) is, they have unique gifts to offer the world and can, through ingenuity and adaptation, live fulfilling lives-- even if it may look a little bit different or require some creativity to get there. In addition to practicing medicine, I hope to one day use my education to pursue further disability advocacy work. It is inspiring to see disabled politicians in legislative spaces. The world needs the talents and experiences of disabled people like us to be represented, and disabled people deserve to have their voices uplifted and their rights protected.

Community has always been important to me, with my life's work so far centering on community service, and hopes to further pursue a career in medicine in under-served communities in the future. My path to college was complicated and unorthodox. After leaving home at age 16 to enroll in university, I unexpectedly found myself running for City Council, aged just 19, in order to earn a small stipend and pay for textbooks. That fateful decision turned out to be the beginning of more than a decade-long career in elected politics, eventually ascending to the position of Mayor. As Mayor, I have worked hard to improve the lives of my constituents. My goals included opening a new park where people of all ages, incomes, and backgrounds could gather, exercise, and focus on physical, social, and spiritual health. After fundraising in the community, and seven years of dedicated efforts, that vision became a reality when the city opened an $18 million new facility. When the neighboring city voted to close their parks the following year because of budget shortfalls, we made our beautiful new park facilities available to them and welcomed them as part of our community with open arms. Outside of elected service, I also give my time to two causes that are important to me. First, I am a volunteer at the hospital in the Women & Newborns Department. I help with preparing baby cribs, cleaning rooms, and looking after postpartum mothers and babies. I have donated 300 hours of time to this in the last year, and was recognized by the Biden Administration as a Volunteer of the Year. I love helping new mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters welcome the new special members of their families and pride myself on taking excellent care of them. Second, I volunteer monthly with the Bridges Center for Grieving Children. I have received training in helping children ages preschool to 18 with grief support services. I work with the "Littles" group, ages 4 to 8 years, who have terminal or life-threatening diagnoses. I am passionate about this work because there are not many organized groups like Bridges that exist to support this vital need in our community. I was drawn to this volunteer opportunity specifically because my son is a hematology/ oncology patient in the hospital clinic, and I wanted to give back to the community of friends that we have cultivated there. I know how difficult it can be supporting a child through a complex diagnosis and want to make sure others know that they are not alone in this journey. I am applying for this scholarship to help pay for medical school. I have been accepted into an MD program and I have a strong interest in pediatric critical care medicine. There is a shortage of pediatric physicians, and there is a critical need for this specialty in my community in particular. After 12 years of elected service, I am excited to serve my community in a new and different way.

Even though I have wanted to be a physician for as long as I can remember, I was never drawn to pediatric medicine until I had the privilege of volunteering with pediatric patients in the Hematology/Oncology Department at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital. I was well on my way to a medical career, having completed my pre-medicine degree and worked in healthcare administration for two years, when my second son was born. At birth he was small for his gestational age (but so cute!), and I noticed as he grew into a precocious early walker that he would bleed easily-- and when he would bleed, it was hard to control. Instinctively I knew that something was not right, and thus began our long journey to a hemophilia diagnosis. In my mission of being his advocate, I learned that here in the Seattle metro area, we are fortunate to be nestled between two pediatric hemophilia treatment centers. There are entire states that have none. In light of this, I was determined to give back. That's how I began volunteering with Bridges Center for Grieving Children, attached to the Hematology/Oncology clinic where my son was receiving his care. Bridges offers support to children who have lost a parent or sibling to cancer or another condition. It also has a specialized program to help children process anticipatory grief for their terminal or life-threatening diagnosis. This is the group that I volunteer with, in the "Littles" group, ages 4 to 6. I chose this group specifically because it is harder to match volunteers for. Between Bridges and the postpartum unit, I donated over 300 hours of volunteer time last year and was recognized by the Biden Administration as a Volunteer of the Year. It is always so difficult when one of our patients leaves us, but I believe that the work we are doing is invaluable and has made their time with us a little bit more positive and bearable. It is hard to imagine sight unseen, but Bridges is an incredibly happy space, where our smallest patients can forget their worries and laugh with friends who understand what they're going through. We spend hours doing crafts and petting Olaf the therapy dog, and in this space for these few hours a month, all the worries of treatment are forgotten for a short time. The work is so meaningful to me, for reasons that transcend simply helping out at my son's clinic. I adore working with children, because they are so full of potential. Everything is new to them; every experience is exciting and precious through their eyes. Pediatric medicine is also critically underserved. As healthcare reimbursement rates have declined, pediatric providers have been disproportionately affected and there is a shortage of children's providers in the US now. It will take fierce advocates to work toward needed reforms, and I believe that this can best be accomplished from within the system, by children's healthcare providers who are passionate and tireless about expanding care access and coverage for their young patients. As a Hematology/Oncology parent myself, and as a former legislator of eleven years, I would consider it an honor to be that advocate for my patients and their families. I have been accepted to medical school and will begin studying in August. I know that it will not be without difficulty, especially as a single mother of two. However, I am motivated by the prospect of being a caring and compassionate physician in the lives of children and their families, and I know that will carry me through.

In my life, I have had the good fortune to hold many titles: mayor, finance executive, and now medical student. By far the most important role I have ever taken on is mother. I am returning to school after pausing my education to enter the workforce and care for my two children. Early last year, I became a solo parent when my marriage broke down after the arrest of my husband for domestic violence. Facing divorce from my partner of 17 years, single parenthood, and being a sole financial provider, I decided that if I suddenly had to rebuild my life, I may as well rebuild it in grand fashion. It was difficult applying to medical school as a single mother. I could not afford childcare for long periods of time and worked from home while simultaneously caring for a one-year-old and four-year-old. After long days tending to them, making sure that all of their needs were met including managing the emotional fallout and helping to support their social-emotional wellbeing, I would set a timer and study for my entrance exams for two hours every night after they went to bed. Then I would get up early the next morning and do it all again. My dedication and perseverance paid off when I earned high marks on my exams and was admitted to my first choice of medical school. My greatest aspiration in life is to help my two little boys move past this trauma and show them that they can achieve all of their dreams. This journey is not easy but I am undeterred because I am devoted to them and want to be the best role model that I can for them. I am also acutely aware that once I have completed my education, I will be able to give them financial advantages and give back to my broader community. I have been overwhelmed by the support that we have been shown so far, and am grateful for this opportunity for reinvention after this challenging season of life. Despite everything, I recognize that this is an amazing opportunity for renewal and new beginnings. In my previous role as a mayor, I met many young girls who told me they had never met a female mayor before. I learned from that experience how very important it is to see people who look like you in order to feel capable and inspired. There are not many single mothers in medical school and it is not lost on me that it will take trailblazers having the courage to navigate an unorthodox path in order to inspire the generations that come after. I am honored to be in this position and thrilled to finally be pursuing my dream of helping and healing others. I know that one day my children will be proud of me and that gives me the motivation to persist despite the obstacles.