A social issue that resonates with me is that of health disparities. It is a widespread issue that I discuss often, but it is certainly warranted because of how prevalent it is in communities all over the country. Although it is a massive undertaking to try and bring more equity to the field, I have already begun actively working to address the issue by volunteering for organizations that seek to aid underrepresented populations as well as by trying to learn more about the inequalities that are present in healthcare and how we can begin to eliminate them. One of the biggest ways I am combating the issue is by serving my local community through a free clinic that provides services for uninsured, low-income families at no cost to the patients. In this role, I am able to not only directly combat the absence of quality care that many lower-income families face but also learn more about the diverse backgrounds of the individuals who utilize these services. Coming from a low-income, single-parent household myself, I am no stranger to how much harder it can be just to get a yearly checkup under these circumstances. The flaws of our healthcare system also become blatantly obvious when working in emergency medicine. During my time helping on an ambulance, I was shocked by the number of patients who would refuse to be transported to the hospital just because of the cost of the ambulance trip. Seeing a patient with a lacerated wrist choose to drive himself to the hospital was eye-opening, as I had never realized before the weight of this issue. Many people choose not to take an ambulance because of the costs, but many others do not even get a choice because the price of transportation is so far beyond what they can afford. By having this experience, I was able to witness more in-depth how people of various backgrounds are affected differently by these issues, and so I am better able to advocate for those who are not receiving equal representation in the field. In addition to helping as a volunteer, I plan to address these issues in my future career. Healthcare equality is not only an issue for patients but for medical workers as well. Only about 12% of medical students are first-generation college students, and only 11% of neurosurgeons are female. While these numbers are much higher than they were historically, they are still barriers that I intend to overcome. I am passionate about the issue of all people being equally represented in this field because quality care is a right, not a privilege. Everyone should be able to obtain potentially life-saving medical attention when needed, or even just an annual checkup. My goal is to be in a position where I can contribute to reform, and so I intend to continue volunteering at free clinics, advocating for patients, and pursuing this career because these are actions that I can take to directly address the issue of health disparities.

I always find it difficult to tell people a bit about myself because of how many words can be used to describe who I am as a person. In its simplest form, my identity consists of being a first-generation American and college student who comes from a single-parent, low-income household. I am a mixed-race woman with two immigrant parents, one from Poland and the other from Thailand. While these are all parts of me that I am proud of, I feel as though there is so much more to me as an individual that makes me unique. For starters, I write and draw with my left hand but play tennis and guitar with my right. I love paleontology and collecting model cars, want pet tarantulas, and have a deep passion for science which has led me down my current intended career path of pursuing an MD/Ph.D. program. Although I grew up being told that the best job is the one that would make me happy, I had always envisioned myself doing something huge one day. I have always been motivated by the idea that I could be the first in my family to go to college and that I would be able to give myself and my family a higher quality of living. I have a genuine passion for learning that I believe will lead me to achieve all of my goals; I started with the idea of becoming a doctor in the 4th grade, then decided I want to become a neurosurgeon, and I now want to pursue both medical school and a Ph.D. in chemistry. I have always made active steps towards accomplishing any of the goals that I set my mind towards, but the closer I get to each next step, the more I realize that money will be a limiting factor. To be able to reach every milestone in my education without the financial burden would be life-changing. My goal is to have the freedom to do the things that bring me joy, such as majoring in entomology just because I find it interesting or joining an on-campus a cappella group just to try something new and make friends. Being able to focus on my passions in college will not only give me a much more diverse and fleshed-out resume, but it will also allow me to have a better life while still working towards the even better life I envision for my family. That is why money is so important to me; the opportunity to have my education paid for so that I can enjoy it thoroughly without needing to stress over money is a rare opportunity that would grant me the peace of mind to perform my best academically and as a person. I will be able to spend more time volunteering instead of working, and I wouldn’t need to have second thoughts about my pursuits of higher education.

We were up an entire set in our doubles match and winning would give us the overall victory against the opposing school. Confidence was pouring out of me and my partner until seven loud bangs went off in the parking lot. Everything went still at that moment. Was somebody launching fireworks right now? Was someone pulling a prank? We were at a public park, it could've been anything. Of course, the worst of our fears had come to fruition. The noises were gunshots, and everyone else scattered with my partner, our opponents, and myself left on the fenced-in court under bright lights. Much of it was a blur, but at the end of it all, everybody was safe except for the man in the parking lot who had been shot four times. At first, it was unfathomable to us that something like this could happen at our high school tennis match, but after the fact, we ended up learning about just how widespread of an occurrence this was. That had been the third shooting at that exact park within the last month. While this felt to me like a standout event in my life, the school guidance counselor made the point that for many individuals, this was everyday life. This caused a significant shift in my perspective and made me realize just how impactful gun violence is for so many individuals daily. My approach to bringing awareness to gun violence may be less conventional since I do plan on pursuing medicine as a career, however, I feel like many individuals working in healthcare see firsthand how much of an epidemic gun violence has become. One of my most prominent involvements in high school was earning my EMR certification where I would do ride-alongs in Hillsborough County. As often as we received calls for potential stroke patients or seizures, there were calls from people who experienced some sort of violence, whether it be getting struck with a beer bottle or stabbed during a robbery. Many of these patients are also victims of gun violence. I hope to use these experiences to demonstrate how widespread the issue is and better advocate for individuals who are affected by it. Another extracurricular that I am involved with is serving as a peer mentor for my college’s scholarship program for first-generation, low-income students. As a part of this organization, I had the opportunity to go on a weeklong service trip to help first-generation college students pursue post-secondary education. Through this experience I was able to learn more about the issues that are present in low-income or underserved communities, showing me the importance of liberation work and eliminating barriers that are commonly present in these communities to remove the causes of gun violence to begin with.

Growing up on the west coast of Florida, it would be practically impossible for me not to love the ocean. Going to the beach has always been a staple of family gatherings or hangouts with friends, so when I started getting into conservation and environmentalism, the oceans were naturally a particular interest of mine. Aside from their beauty, I quickly recognized through my years of learning about Florida ecosystems that the oceans require extra attention if we want to keep them healthy and thriving. Our oceans are complex and rich in marine life, and incredibly vital to the survival of our planet. This is why despite planning to enter a medical career, I still plan to use my degree to protect our oceans. I am currently pursuing a degree in entomology, a science that I find to be very underrated. While insects do not have much to do with our oceans directly since there are practically no marine insects, the skills that I will develop in this major will aid me greatly in my future environmental protection pursuits. I will be completing a lot of coursework on environmental science, microorganism diversity and biology, and botany, all of which contain skills that are directly transferable to protecting our oceans. I am also pursuing a minor in chemistry and eventually intend to earn a P.h.D. in chemistry, which can be used as a crucial indicator of water quality and the health of our oceans. Using these various backgrounds, I will be well-equipped to address the concerns surrounding our oceans. I was able to gain a lot of valuable experience working with coastal and marine habitats in high school as a volunteer at Honeymoon Island State Park and a member of Keep Pinellas Beautiful, and although my job will be in a hospital, I fully intend to use my free time to continue volunteering at the beach. Working as a beach steward I was able to gain so much information about aquatic life as well as coastline formation. I was able to see firsthand how human activity is already altering the geography of shorelines and thus the marine life that depends on these habitats. Additionally, as a researcher, I hope to contribute greatly to conservation. Even if my degree may not be centered around the oceans, our planet is interconnected and my efforts on land will have a great impact on our oceans as well. As an entomologist, climate change is undoubtedly one of my largest concerns, and it is one of the largest threats to our oceans today aside from pollution. From the perspective of an environmentalist rather than an entomologist, I can observe a lot of the problems that we as humans need to band together to resolve, and my degree in entomology will provide me with this perspective. As I work to combat these issues on land, I hope to consequently save our oceans as well.

A beautiful thing about performing community service is that it changes the person doing it just as much if not more than it changes the community. Volunteering has changed my mindset significantly, both in terms of how I view the world around me and how I view myself. While helping others has a lot of direct impacts, I feel as though one of the greatest outcomes from performing volunteer work is the compassion and skills that the volunteer gains because it allows them to take what they’ve learned and spread it even further. One of the most impactful volunteer experiences I have had was a weeklong community service trip to West Palm Beach. As a part of my school’s scholarship program for first-generation, low-income students, we visited local high schools to share our stories and help first-generation high school students pursue postsecondary education. Going on this trip changed my mindset drastically because it not only opened my eyes to how diverse of backgrounds people can come from but also how my own story can hold so much power to help others. This is just one example of how volunteering changed my mindset, as it showed me that I was so much stronger than I thought I was because of my ability to relate to and help others. I carry this mindset with me every time I go to do community service because I acknowledge that I am not only improving the lives of others, but myself as well. Through volunteering, I have discovered a greater sense of self-worth and confidence through knowing that I am making the world a better place one small step at a time. I can be more understanding of others and learn more about social issues through first-hand experience, which helps me be a better person overall. While I do try and give as much to others as I can, I still experience a need for financial assistance myself. I am a first-generation American and college student, and I also come from a low-income, single-parent household. While these are parts of my identity that I mention with pride, they do present challenges that this scholarship would help me overcome. Small things such as being able to comfortably buy food or pay for utilities go a long way in college, and to be able to pursue my education without those additional stressors would be monumental to my success. I plan to go beyond my undergraduate studies and aim for an MD/Ph.D. program, which will result in many additional years of schooling that this scholarship would help fund greatly.

My plans for the future are quite large, and reaching the end seems almost inconceivable at this point, but I am determined to make my dreams a reality. While in high school, I volunteered at Honeymoon Island State Park and was a big advocate for environmental conservation. Working with animals has always been something I’m interested in, and although I have now opted to pursue medical school, this does not prevent me from also wanting to continue my work with animals. More specifically, I am hoping to earn my degree in entomology and perform research in medical entomology during my undergraduate studies. Afterward, I am aiming to apply for an MD/Ph.D. program where I will earn a Ph.D. in chemistry. This is certainly not the typical path one would expect from someone wanting to work with animals, but I was inspired to take this path because of the clinical volunteering experiences I have gotten to be a part of. Helping in an ambulance as an EMR student and helping in a free clinic has shown me that I do have a passion for medicine, and so I was inspired to combine this passion with my interest in animals, specifically insects. Medical entomology is an underrated field of research that can save so many lives, and insects are some of the most misunderstood animals, so I felt as though this path was the right one for me. Some unique traits about myself are that I am left-handed, I collect plastic dinosaurs, and I love freshwater fish. Being left-handed speaks for itself, but I find that it is always a surprising tidbit of information about myself that can be surprising to some people. As for the plastic dinosaurs, I have always been interested in paleontology since a young age and love finding the most scientifically accurate and detailed models possible. My fascination with dinosaurs is what initially sparked my passion for science, and I am glad to know so much about a topic that evolves just as much as the creatures it studies. I have always dreamed of having a reptile room when I get older, complete with beautiful fish tanks filled with live plants and gorgeous animals. Saltwater fish are a popular choice for any fish tank, but I find myself drawn to the diversity and habitats of freshwater fish just as much if not more. A person who has significantly impacted my life is my high school tennis coach. Coming in to cover for a previous coach who was fired, Coach Rob didn’t know any of the girls on the team or even where we were in the season. Despite this, he showed up and immediately gave us his all, and he was sure to make our efforts as a team feel seen. Eventually, he took notice of my spirit and leadership on the team and appointed me captain, and from then on he was nothing but encouraging and motivating. He made sure that I never gave up, and even though I found myself down a full set in multiple games that season, he would always push me to be a stronger player which led me to earn multiple comeback wins in tiebreak matches that year. I have always been driven, but because of Coach Rob, I am now someone who approaches challenges without giving up being an option. He is a kind and positive presence on the tennis team, and I am glad that he is still there today.

Medical knowledge can be learned in school through years of studying and memorization, but what cannot be taught in school is first-hand experience and empathy. It is crucial for medicine to have a variety of perspectives to accommodate the needs of people of all backgrounds and not just those who are most represented through population or socioeconomic status. The contributions that I can make to improving the health of others are providing my perspectives based on my personal experiences and the experiences I’ve gained through volunteering. I also hope to advance the field of medicine with research and a background in life sciences. Although I am very fortunate to have as much support from friends and family as I do, my circumstances undeniably present me with additional challenges for pursuing my goals. What they have also given me, however, is an outlook on healthcare that many others neglect to explore. There are so many details that I can pick up on when interacting with patients, such as immediately noticing when a patient is left-handed and considering how their injury may affect them differently because of it since I am left-handed myself. Coming from a low-income household has allowed me to understand the struggle with health insurance that many families face, especially those who are right above the threshold for receiving government aid. These are issues that I have become passionate about, and I hope to reform this system through my healthcare career. As far as medical experiences go, emergency medicine is one of the fields where I could see the circumstances of patients in their purest form, and I feel as though this experience gave me a whole new perspective regarding the situations that patients may be coming from. My time helping in an ambulance also showed how people in vulnerable positions can behave differently, which emphasized the importance of being understanding of others and not taking it personally when patients aren’t feeling well. This deeper understanding of people is something significant that I can contribute to the health of others, as it is a crucial skill for any medical practitioner. I also intend to improve the health of others through my devotion to a medical research career. Along with treating patients, I would also like to pursue the higher education needed to perform in-depth research which could greatly contribute to the health of others. I am currently aiming for an MD/Ph.D. program which would allow me to earn both my medical degree as well as a Ph.D. in chemistry, a field that is central to the development of healthcare. My current position as an undergraduate researcher in a biopolymer lab developing drug delivery systems would facilitate this course of study and my plans to continue research in an academic hospital.

Selflessness is often defined as putting others before yourself, but I choose to challenge that definition. I feel as though selflessness is always choosing to help others to your fullest capacity, whatever that limit may be. I don’t come from a position where I can necessarily afford to always give away money or resources, but what I can give a lot of is my time and my compassion, and I embody selflessness by always choosing to serve others in need with my time rather than only considering myself. I have spent nearly a thousand hours since the beginning of high school doing community service, even earning the titles of Volunteer of the Year at my local YMCA and Volunteer of the Month at a nearby hospice house. However, I find that it is some of my other pursuits that are most impactful to me. One of the most prominent experiences I’ve had with helping people in need is volunteering for a free clinic that provides free healthcare to underrepresented communities. In this role, I take vitals, go over patient medications, shadow physicians and help fill prescriptions in the pharmacy. This helps the clinic a great deal because they only have so many people, and being able to directly aid in the treatment of these patients allows the other volunteers to perform other tasks without getting overwhelmed. My time in the clinic thus far has shown me a lot about the flaws in our healthcare system, and for both the patients and the severely understaffed medical practices in my area, I am helping others who truly need assistance. Another time when I helped people in need was a service trip I took to West Palm Beach to help first-generation, low-income high school students pursue post-secondary education. I and another group of students from my university went to West Palm Beach during our spring break to stop by local high schools and share our stories and give advice. Coming from a first-generation, low-income background myself, it meant a lot to me to be able to share my story and my pursuit of higher education to inspire and serve as a guide for other students. Many of these students weren’t even sure if they would be able to graduate high school or were unsure of the direction they wanted to take in life, so the time we spent meant a great deal to them, especially when they were able to connect with us on a personal level and see that someone in their shoes was able to succeed. This experience taught me about the importance of eliminating barriers through liberation to present all people with opportunities. I do not help others to the point where it is detrimental to myself, which is why I do not feel that selflessness is always about putting everyone else first. Rather, I make sure to be the best that I can be so that I am in a position to better help others with the time and resources that I have available. I embody selflessness by demonstrating compassion for others and considering them instead of only thinking about myself, and I feel as though this approach is what allows me to successfully give so much to my community. When I am my best self, that puts me in a position where I can give the most of myself to others, and that is what I feel selflessness is truly about.

I have always believed in the power held by advocacy. If you don’t have the money, resources, or position to directly change something, you will always have your voice. I may not have the most myself, coming from a low-income, single-parent household as a first-generation student, but this has never held me back from doing as much community service as I can and speaking out on the issues I care about. Being informed is the greatest skill or tool a person can possess, and much of this comes from experience. One of the greatest inequalities I see in our everyday lives is healthcare disparities, and I know most of what I do from experience. My mom and I have had our struggles with health insurance on occasion, but my time volunteering in a free clinic for uninsured individuals has shown me just how underrepresented some people are just because of their socioeconomic status. During my time volunteering in an ambulance, it was heart-shattering to see how many individuals refused transport to a hospital just because of the costs. I hope to use my skills as an eventual medical professional to help reform our approach to healthcare so that everyone has equal access to quality treatment. Life-saving medical care should be a right, not a privilege, and it takes a more empathetic community to push for that. Other skills that can be utilized to develop a more understanding global community are a background in environmental science. The health of our planet is an issue that applies to every single human being regardless of where they live or who they are and one that I am particularly passionate about. This is why I have chosen to major in entomology despite pursuing a career in medicine; learning about the natural world and how to help it is important to me. I believe that through more volunteer efforts as well as research that shows the negative consequences of human activity, we can advocate for the animals and plants that are unable to advocate for themselves. Due to the scale of this undertaking, the world needs to make a united effort and so I feel that using my skills and knowledge I can contribute to the building of a more understanding global community that can band together to strive for a better planet. There are so many other struggles that plague communities worldwide, but I have faith that someday we will be able to develop an empathetic community that tries to understand what others are going through so that others can help them, too. It is important to aim for liberation rather than just equity so that we can begin tearing down the barriers that keep us apart. My specific skills and interests can help with certain issues, but the approach of speaking up for others can be used to form a better community overall.

It must take someone brilliant at math to write an essay about it, right? Well, truthfully, I am pretty good at math but am no mathematical prodigy by any means. What I do admire about math, however, is its ability to show me that being wrong is okay and that hard work does produce good results. There are not many classes that manage to challenge me in the way math does. I find most other classes like biology challenging because of vast memorization or courses such as literature difficult to wrap my head around because of a need for deeper understanding or subjective analysis. Math sets itself apart in that it is rooted entirely in problem-solving. The rules are given, and the answer is almost always definite. Yet even with these properties, it is possible, even likely, to approach questions incorrectly or make mistakes along the way. There is initial confusion, then frustration, but you spend minutes trying different possibilities until something works. This is a mindset that I have been able to successfully apply to all other aspects of my life. The logical problem-solving, sheer determination, and patience that it takes to solve a very difficult math problem are skills that I have gained from doing mathematics. It is these attributes that make me love the subject so much. I love that even though you may get the wrong answer the first time (or the first two, three, or more times), it is still possible to keep trying until you reach a solution. I may not be the best at math, but that does not detract from the satisfaction I gain when I push myself to keep trying a problem until I get it. If anything, I find that math is more fun because it challenges me more and because I make more mistakes doing it. Math is so significant in just about every other academic field, but it is also present in everyone’s lives because it represents many qualities that people strive to obtain.

I often hear my friends talking about the experiences their parents had in college, and whenever I find myself sitting through these conversations, I never know what to say. I have no comparisons to make between me and them and nobody to ask about wild college stories. My parents were both immigrants, neither of them earning a college degree. As a first-generation college student, a considerable amount of my first year was spent simply trying to figure out what college was, and I feel as though going into university somewhat blind is what makes my experience as a student rather non-traditional. I didn’t have parents who could help me with my homework. This wasn’t helped by the fact that I grew up living with only one of them. I was grateful for the support my mom gave and the resources she tried to provide for my education, but when it came to my high school classes, there was little either could do in terms of explaining math or proof-reading English assignments since neither of my parents spoke English as a first language. They didn’t know what the education system in America was like and were figuring things out at the same time that I was, relying on online forums and my guidance counselor to learn how to apply to colleges. Even in college, there is still so much that I don’t know. My mom tries her best to navigate these new experiences with me, but sometimes it still isn’t enough as compared to students who have parents whom they can ask about anything. Despite these disjunct backgrounds, I have been able to keep up with and even excel at my academic pursuits, often putting myself out there to find the opportunities that I need and want. I feel as though it is these very circumstances that drive me to do more regardless of their tendency to try and hold me back because I want to succeed not despite them, but with them as part of my identity. I am proud to be a first-generation American and college student, actively taking part in my school’s program for first-generation students as a peer mentor and going on a community service trip to help first-generation high school students pursue postsecondary education. Overcoming these barriers and helping others overcome them is what drives me to do more because I disagree with the box that low-income and first-generation students are confined to by societal norms. I choose to be empowered rather than restricted by my experiences and this source of motivation allows me to push through challenges even when life and school get difficult. I am driven to serve as a role model for others with similar backgrounds and to prove that I am capable of anything I set my mind to. Being a non-traditional student has offered me insights and perspectives that push me to work harder and dream bigger.

1. Please tell us a bit about yourself and what specifically motivates you. If you could do anything with your life, what do you imagine you’d do? There are many attributes I could share when faced with the question of “tell us about yourself,” whether it be my love of prehistoric creatures, my passion for art, or my interest in bug hunting. To put it simply, I am an ambitious first year at the University of Florida majoring in entomology and minoring in chemistry with hopes to pursue an MD/Ph.D. program. I am looking to earn my doctorate in chemistry and match into a neurosurgery residency where I can work with patients while also furthering my research pursuits. I am motivated by my determination to go beyond the confines of societal norms. Besides being a woman pursuing a career in STEM, I also come from various circumstances such as being a first-generation American and college student and coming from a low-income, single-parent household. While these situations may provide barriers, they also fuel me with much more drive to succeed and show that I am capable of whatever I set my mind to. I want to pursue a career in STEM not despite my challenges, but with them as a part of my identity. If I could do anything with my life, I would imagine a career in an academic hospital where I could both work with patients and continue my research interest. I would like to dabble in conservation work and environmental activism as well. Overall, any work that will allow me to help others is work I would imagine doing. 2. What excites you about STEM? How do you feel you could make a positive impact on the world through a job in information technology? STEM excites me because it is an area of study that I consider to be very much alive. It changes constantly in response to the world around it, a breathing field, constantly expanding with endless potential for discovery. I first became interested in science from a very young age starting with dinosaurs, and much like the evolution of plants and animals, I found myself more and more interested in the evolution of science itself as I grew older. From the history of chemistry to the progression of medical practices, I have always been interested in both doing and learning about science. While I am not specifically pursuing a job in information technology, it would be a fair assessment to say that just about every STEM career today is also a career in information technology because of how important the storage and exchange of information is. I feel as though I can make a positive impact on the world through my future career through my research and analysis, as I intend to continue learning about and researching medicine and biochemistry. Besides trying to discover new cures and treatments, I feel as though becoming a leader in my field would leave a positive impact by allowing me to become a role model for others who come from similar backgrounds. I know that seeing other people similar to me accomplish their goals has been a significant motivation for me, and so I hope to fulfill this role for others in the future. 3. Please describe the greatest challenge you’ve had to overcome and how you managed to get past it. While life and school have presented me with many challenges, my greatest challenge stems from within. I have always worried about meeting the perceived expectations of others and especially with meeting my own, a continuous backseat struggle that leads to bigger impacts over time despite not being talked about often. It was hard for me to branch out and try activities that I didn’t feel I would be the best at, and I would become discouraged quickly by things I struggled with at first. This was mostly a result of me fearing that I was letting others down even though my friends and teachers never actually pressured me to be perfect. In the world I pictured at the time, I had no choice but to get flawless grades or pick up skills quickly, but of course, these are impossible expectations. Part of this challenge was learning to accept that I was human and imperfect, but that it didn’t make me any less deserving of love or my achievements. I was eventually able to overcome this by opening up to my friends about my struggles with expectations, and through their patient reassurance I was able to finally realize that I have already accomplished so much and hold great potential. Once I was able to alter my mentality, I became much more open to new experiences such as joining an a cappella group in college despite no previous singing experience or talking to new people without fear of them judging me.

It is strenuous enough having to take on the role of being one parent, let alone two. Growing up, my mom always told me that I didn't need two parents in the house because she could do enough to serve as both my mother and my father, and looking back I would have to say that she was right. I never felt that anything was missing. My mom is undeniably my biggest supporter in all aspects of life, but the dedication she put towards me getting a good education far surpasses anything I could’ve asked for. As a first-generation college student, the task of applying and getting into colleges was incredibly daunting. My mom always motivated me to earn excellent grades in school and went out of her way to allow me to be involved in sports and clubs despite her working long hours, but the idea of college was still quite overwhelming. Neither of my parents went to college, and this was not helped by the fact that I only lived with one of those parents. Because of this, a great deal of attention was paid to me being able to pursue postsecondary education. Admittedly, my mom was quite strict and sometimes the pressure of performing well in school was difficult to manage, but she was always sure to back up her expectations with effort of her own. I remember my mom staying up late many nights looking up different colleges, learning about the admissions process, and trying to decipher the countless requirements needed to get into good schools. She may not have gotten her own college experience, but that did not stop her from knowing everything she needed to best help me with the entire process. Finances weren’t always the easiest, either. We were able to get by just fine, but my mom would never have been able to predict how much money school would be. Over time school supplies, technology, and club fees added up, but regardless of the price my mom always tried her absolute best to put money towards my education. We learned quickly that I could not rely on my dad to provide the necessary materials for my schooling, and he was generally uninvolved with my education, so it fell upon my mom to do all the purchasing as well as taking time off of work to go to awards ceremonies, tennis games, and club meetings. Without these levels of dedication, there is little to no chance that I would have been able to accomplish all that I did in high school; it was the limitless support from my mom that allowed me to eventually get into the University of Florida honors program, even as the first member in my family to go to college. Now more than ever, I appreciate how much she cared and am incredibly grateful for the fact that no matter how motivated (or rather unmotivated) I was at times, she would always push me to do my best.