During my undergraduate studies, I spent years learning how to change health behaviors by targeting people's knowledge and attitudes. I mastered the theories and the clinical importance of healthy habits. Yet, despite my deep passion for public health and knowing exactly what I should do, I frequently found myself struggling to consistently practice those behaviors. This paradox led me to a crucial realization: simply giving someone health education isn't enough. We are missing the human element. Right now, the most important thing I am building is a relationship with myself. As a recent graduate, I am actively working to define my identity, establish my core values, and figure out life. I’ve found that taking the time to consciously reflect on my own experiences, habits, and aspirations has been far more motivating than any health statistic I learned in a classroom. Getting to know myself and exploring my own personal barriers has been essential to keeping me grounded and moving forward. I want to bring this same level of individual reflection into my public health career. In the future, I hope to build health programs and interventions that prioritize hearing people's stories. Often, there are unseen, everyday life factors that hold a person back from making healthy choices—complexities that standard health education simply cannot address. I want to build initiatives that give different populations the space and support to reflect on their own experiences. Rather than just telling communities what to do, I want to understand the unique realities of why they struggle to do it. By continuing to build my own self-awareness, I am becoming a more empathetic listener and professional. In turn, by building interventions that genuinely listen to people's stories, I hope to make a positive impact on my community. I want to help shift health education to be more focused on the individual and create programs that meet people exactly where they are. The Master of Public Health program at the University of Florida will give me the concrete tools to build these initiatives. While I deeply value individual stories, I know that creating lasting change requires strong structural frameworks. By focusing on program implementation and evaluation, and continuing my hands-on work in the Rural Health Research Lab, I will learn how to bridge the gap between large-scale public health strategies and the highly personal realities of the people they impact. This degree will teach me how to translate empathy into effective, well-designed programs.

During my sophomore year of high school, my friend Sofia and I noticed an alarming amount of IB students who were struggling in their classes. Due to COVID-19 and situations occurring at our school, the lack of communication between students and teachers made the learning process detrimental to our personal lives. We noticed that most students became adapted to sacrificing their mental health and personal interests to focus on their grades and work. Both in and out of IB, students were feeling drained because of the stresses in class that stemmed from virtual learning and absent teachers. During the summer, Sofia and I decided to tackle this problem by developing a tutoring and mentoring program for the younger IB students. We created a website which provided students with free advice and resources for personal use, as well as the opportunity to schedule meeting with older students. Recently, this project has been expanding throughout our school county. I hope to continue expanding this project within our community in order to help students find a learning style and schedule that works for them. I believe that if we work with students to aid them in prioritizing the quality of their work and understanding the material in depth, then the future of society will be productive and innovative. We only need to help them gain this understanding now, without any added stress or obligations to complete. The project values looking at students individually, finding people’s strengths and utilizing them appropriately to encourage growth. I hope to make a difference by helping others make a difference. I intend for my future career to approach the mental, physical, and emotional aspects of an individual and use these aspects to improve one's quality of life.

To me, the "American Dream" is associated with opportunity. America is a place where people should have the freedom to pursue whatever their hearts desire. After I read this prompt, I looked up and read "Famous people who failed before succeeding!" on the wall of the classroom that I am in. I feel that America encourages and motivates people to keep going in life and pursue their hopes and dreams. They have the freedom to step out of the cave that they are in to see the world from a new point of view, sparking the opportunity to gain valuable life experiences. Throughout my life in America, I have always been able to challenge myself. Mentally, by choosing to go into the IB program, and physically, by pushing myself to take on both track and field and weightlifting, I have taken on responsibilities and achieved new strengths. I do not think that many people realize it, but we have been blessed with the opportunities handed to us. I did not realize it until my track and field coach asked us how we were doing on a Monday morning, and everyone responded in a tired and raspy voice. He gave us a shocked looked, told us to look at the beauty in life and proceeded to list out all of the things we should be grateful for that morning. Few of the things being a free education, a free lunch, and a track to run on. This shocked me because I had realized that I took the things in my life for granted. I reflected on the opportunities that I was given because of my parent's decision to leave their individual countries and start a new life here. My mom is from South Africa and my dad is from Mexico; and I have heard many stories about both countries. They left their home to create a better one for me, which is why I try to pursue new hobbies and evolve in life. We have the power to want more and the capability to achieve it. Recently, in my philosophy class, we were discussing Nietzsche's concept of the "Will to Power" where he suggests that every living matter in life has the capability to struggle and strive. I hope to tackle my responsibilities and create something memorable. This is why I intend to go into pre-med in college and help other people have the opportunity to achieve more. I want to see the happiness on their faces when they make it out alive from the struggles they faced. I want them to pursue their own versions of the "American Dream."

Personally, I would define success as perseverance. Ironically, after I read this prompt, I looked up and read "Famous people who failed before succeeding" on the wall of the classroom that I am in. I feel that people who have the courage and motivation to keep going in life and pursue their goals, their hopes, their dreams are successful. This is because they stepped out of their cave to see the world from a new point of view. Doing this sparks the opportunity to gain experience and value in life. Throughout my life, I have always challenged myself. Mentally, by choosing to go into the IB program, and physically, by pushing myself to take on both track and field and weightlifting, I have taken on responsibilities and achieved new strengths. Although these activities took up a lot of my time and efforts, I feel that the times where I am by myself and in my own head have been the most challenging. I truly believe that the only person that can stop me is myself. When I feel alone and stressed, I tend to overthink and question my capabilities. Luckily, the people in my life have prepared me the most for success. Whenever I am in this chaotic state, I think back to certain moments in my life that have given me comfort and motivation. For example, I always think back to one conversation between me and my middle school friend. We do not talk often, but we do keep in touch and call whenever we hit new milestones in our lives. There was one day where I was a mess and I ranted to him about how scared I was about the future. He barely said anything, but he told me "Don't worry, go try and mess up. Just don't give up." To this day, whenever I feel drained or panicked, I tell myself to not give up. 20 years from now, I hope to see myself pursing new hobbies and evolving in life. I understand that life is uncertain and that you cannot always remain happy. However, I have learned that we have the power to keep trying. We have the power to want more and the capability to achieve it. Recently, in my philosophy class, we were discussing Nietzsche's concept of the "Will to Power" where he suggests that every living matter in life has the capability to struggle and strive. This driving force creates a productive energy which leads to self-mastery and success. Life changes and our desires are constantly evolving. To be successful, one must first step out of their comfort zone and reach for it.

I am an IB student who spends a lot of time stressing about homework, exams, and projects. To cope with this stress, I distract myself with different hobbies. At the beginning of my high school year, I volunteered at my middle school's theatre. I earned a good 400+ hours within two years by volunteering 4 hours after school every day during production season. After COVID, I spent most of my time at home. I decided to focus on working out and developing endurance and strength for my dance class. Now, my hobbies consist of dancing, weightlifting, and participating in track and field. I really enjoy going to practice every day after school because I feel like I am challenging myself to be better than where I was the day before. I also enjoy going to competitions and spending time with the other players. Motivating one another to keep going and improve is one of the best high school experiences anyone can have. I like to record my growth in my bullet journal. I spend time on the weekends to decorate the pages of the book while I listen to music. My parents dislike that I spend a lot of the time I can be using to study at practice. However, I feel like I need this hobby as a distraction from my responsibilities. I do not feel as isolated when I am with other people and working out. It helps me take a rest from IB because, in the moment, I am only worried about breathing in and out and keeping up my stamina. This is beneficial because at home, when I try to relax, I still think about all the tasks I need to complete. So, this is a way for me to force myself to relax.

My friend Sofia and I noticed an alarming number of IB students who were struggling in their classes. COVID-19 and other school situations made the learning process detrimental to our personal lives. Most students became adapted to sacrificing their mental health and personal interests to focus on their grades and work. Both in and out of IB, students were feeling drained because of the stresses in class that stemmed from virtual learning and absent teachers. Later, I noticed that understanding content thoroughly has always been a prominent issue. I felt a strong connection to these issues. Growing up in a public school, where students struggled to find a stable income and a place to go home to, took a toll on me. Seeing the potential that they had and the obstacles that limited their abilities frustrated me. Sofia and I decided to tackle this problem by developing a tutoring and mentoring program for the younger students. We ended up creating a website which provided students with free advice and resources for personal use. The volunteers were rewarded with community service hours. This aided many students who could not do physical work during the pandemic and were struggling to accumulate their community service hours. Reflecting on our experiences, we realized that we held the power to make a difference. Sharing our stories with those who are experiencing similar situations that we have gone through would give them insights that they may not be able to currently see. Individuals being selfless and taking action to see change in their communities is what structured our direct approach. This brought awareness to people's individual situations, using this unity to help others. This euphoric experience is what motivates me every day to act selflessly. I hope to continue spreading this message through the project.

Thanks to my friend Jasmine, I joined my school's weightlifting team. I absolutely loved the sport and the constant work I put into it to grow as a lifter. Near the end of the season, we had a few major competitions that reflected our growth. One of them, being OBCs, was where I faced my greatest fear. During this meet, I went to the practice room to warm up for my last lift. The clean and jerk is where the lifter stands and raises the bar up to their collar bone, taking a second before lifting it up and over their head. I attempted the lift and pulled the 110-pound bar up to my collar bone. As I stood there, facing Jasmine, I blinked and woke up to her carrying me in her arms. Everything went dark. There are times in life where you have no control over a situation; this was different. I lost control of everything, I lost myself. As I regained consciousness, it took a few minutes for me to remember who and where I was. Once the realization hit me, I crumbled to the floor in distress. I was lucky that Jasmine caught me before I dropped to the ground, but all I could feel was pain. I told my parents about the event, and they were speechless. The next day, they told me to stop weightlifting because they thought that I was pushing myself too much and taking too great of a risk. I had to make the decision to keep going, despite my fear and parents telling me to stop. I took a break from practice and slowly worked my way back in. Before the end of the season, I managed to place 2nd at Districts and regain my parent's support.

I hope to go into pre-med and learn more about neurology. Taking theatre in middle school opened my eyes to the emotional aspect of why people act the way they do. Taking both psychology and philosophy allowed me to spark a greater interest in human behavior. The area of study involving the brain is what I hope to pursue. Personally, I also hope to travel and use the knowledge I gain to help those I meet. Growing up, my parents’ diverse cultures introduced me to unique ways of viewing and experiencing life. My mom, being from South Africa, and my dad, being from Mexico, have aided in defining my identity. They motivate me to embrace what my experiences have taught me and what my culture has to offer. I intend to learn more about people and their beliefs and values. I think that these differences among us can strengthen our abilities and assist those around us. This is also why my friend, Sofia, and I created BALANCE. This is a small program used at our school which values looking at students individually to aid them through their academic struggles. Finding people’s strengths and utilizing them appropriately can encourage and promote unbelievable growth. With personalized tutoring, powered by students, we will provide one-on-one help to all types of learners. This benefits the tutors as well, providing them with any type of volunteer hours needed. We also use researched learning methods to suit the student's learning needs. Recently, this project has been expanding throughout our school county. We presented the concept at one of the county’s board meetings and were awarded certificates for our achievements. I hope to continue expanding this project within our community to help students find a learning style and schedule that works for them. I believe that if we work with students to aid them in prioritizing the quality of their work and understanding the material in depth, then the future of society will be productive and innovative. We only need to help them gain this understanding now, without any added stress or obligations to complete. I hope to make a difference by helping others make a difference. We strive to give help and advice to future generations to ensure the betterment of the community. Medical school and my program do this by approaching mental, physical, and emotional aspects of an individual. Therefore, these two concepts are a part of answering how I hope to impact the future.

During my sophomore year of high school, my friend Sofia and I noticed an alarming amount of IB students who were struggling in their classes. Due to COVID-19 and situations occurring at our school, the lack of communication between students and teachers made the learning process detrimental to our personal lives. We noticed that most students became adapted to sacrificing their mental health and personal interests to focus on their grades and work. Both in and out of IB, students were feeling drained because of the stresses in class that stemmed from virtual learning and absent teachers. Later, as I was writing a research paper about how school funding impacts high school graduation rates, I noticed that understanding content thoroughly has always been a prominent issue. Most people prioritize the quantity of their grades over the quality of their work. This also poses issues for students who come from low-income households. As they spend their time working long hours at their job, they lack the time to showcase their abilities at school. During the summer, Sofia and I decided to tackle this problem by developing a tutoring and mentoring program for the younger students. We worked day and night researching useful study advice, reflecting on our own experiences, and utilizing different technological platforms to develop this idea. We ended up creating a website which provided students with free advice and resources for personal use, as well as the opportunity to schedule meetings with older students. The volunteers were rewarded with community service hours. This aided many students who could not do physical work during the pandemic and were struggling to accumulate their community service hours. The project was difficult to carry out since, at the beginning, we could not clearly articulate or visualize how we wanted to help people. We felt strong emotions about the situation and felt the need to talk to someone about these issues. We wanted to voice our concerns through a convenient, yet effective, project. Reflecting on our experiences, we realized that we held the power to make a difference. Sharing our stories with those who are experiencing similar situations that we have gone through would give them insights that they may not be able to currently see. I feel that the social justice movement has sparked most of our goals and plans. Individuals taking action to see change in their communities is what structured our direct approach. This brought awareness to people's individual situations, using this unity to help others. Recently, this project has been expanding throughout our school county. We presented the concept at one of the county’s board meetings and were awarded certificates for our achievements. I hope to continue expanding this project within our community to help students find a learning style and schedule that works for them. I believe that if we work with students to aid them in prioritizing the quality of their work and understanding the material in depth, then the future of society will be productive and innovative. We only need to help them gain this understanding now, without any added stress or obligations to complete.

During my sophomore year of high school, my friend Sofia and I noticed an alarming amount of IB students who were struggling in their classes. Due to COVID-19 and situations occurring at our school, the lack of communication between students and teachers made the learning process detrimental to our personal lives. We noticed that most students became adapted to sacrificing their mental health and personal interests to focus on their grades and work. Both in and out of IB, students were feeling drained because of the stresses in class that stemmed from virtual learning and absent teachers. Later, as I was writing a research paper about how school funding impacts high school graduation rates, I noticed that understanding content thoroughly has always been a prominent issue. Most people prioritize the quantity of their grades over the quality of their work. This also poses issues for students who come from low-income households. As they spend their time working long hours at their job, they lack the time to showcase their abilities at school. During the summer, Sofia and I decided to tackle this problem by developing a tutoring and mentoring program for the younger students. We worked day and night researching useful study advice, reflecting on our own experiences, and utilizing different technological platforms to develop this idea. We ended up creating a website which provided students with free advice and resources for personal use, as well as the opportunity to schedule meeting with older students. The volunteers were rewarded with community service hours. This aided many students who could not do physical work during the pandemic and were struggling to accumulate their community service hours. The project was difficult to carry out since, at the beginning, we could not clearly articulate or visualize how we wanted to help people. We felt strong emotions about the situation and felt the need to talk to someone about these issues. Voicing our concerns, we contacted our counselors who advised us to take a direct initiative. We could not ask for teachers to take time out of their day to help us with our project. We needed to make our project convenient, yet effective. Reflecting on our experiences, we realized that we held the power to make a difference. Sharing our stories with those who are experiencing similar situations that we have gone through would give them insights that they may not be able to currently see. The feeling of directly helping people was euphoric. Recently, this project has been expanding throughout our school county. We presented the concept at one of the county’s board meetings and were awarded certificates for our achievements. I hope to continue expanding this project within our community to help students find a learning style and schedule that works for them. I believe that if we work with students to aid them in prioritizing the quality of their work and understanding the material in depth, then the future of society will be productive and innovative. We only need to help them gain this understanding now, without any added stress or obligations to complete. We all have the opportunity to make a change.

Hi Sonya, Throughout your life, you have collected letters written to you by those closest to you. Letters that reflected what they expected and hoped for you. Growing up as a Hispanic, you wanted to make your family proud. You wanted to make those nights when Papa came home late because he worked overtime to provide for your future mean something. You felt that the only way to prove yourself worthy of a happy life was to work yourself and push your limits. But, as a Hispanic, you have also learned that you needed balance in life. Those late nights when you ran to hide under the bed as you heard Papa jingling his keys to open the front door. Those nights when he would pretend to search for you so that you could think that you were winning a game of hide-and-seek, even though you always hid in the same spot each night. These nights taught you to enjoy your time with your family and to embrace the beauty in life. As an adult now, I hope that you haven't forgotten your priorities in life. I hope that you are still pursuing your goals and dreams. I know right now, in 2022, you want to be a doctor and help people through small projects that you feel responsible for. I do hope that you are still focusing on these goals that you have invested a lot of your time in. However, I also hope that you are taking time to breathe and reflect on life. Find the things that make you happy and feel at home. I hope that you still take breaks from when you are doing your homework to express your mood through dancing bachata. I hope that you still plan to travel back to Mexico to visit your family and learn about the history of monuments. I have hope in myself to do something wonderful with what I have been given. As a child, you handled most responsibilities by yourself to help your family. You could not really ask for help with your homework or when you were transitioning to college. You understood this struggle and saw it happening to other people too. As you are older, I want you to remember this and do something about it. I want you to not only do something wonderful but make something impactful and powerful. Everything that you do matters, so keep caring about and fixing your actions. Do the best that you can do. ~ Love, 18 year old you

During my sophomore year of high school, my friend Sofia and I noticed an alarming amount of IB students who were struggling in their classes. Due to COVID-19 and situations occurring at our school, the lack of communication between students and teachers made the learning process detrimental to our personal lives. We noticed that most students became adapted to sacrificing their mental health and personal interests to focus on their grades and work. Both in and out of IB, students were feeling drained because of the stresses in class that stemmed from virtual learning and absent teachers. During the summer, Sofia and I decided to tackle this problem by developing a tutoring and mentoring program for the younger IB students. We worked day and night researching useful studying advice, reflecting on our own experiences, and utilizing different technological platforms to develop this idea. We ended up creating a website which provided students with free advice and resources for personal use, as well as the opportunity to schedule meeting with older students. The volunteers were rewarded with community service hours, which aided many students who could not do physical work during the pandemic. Recently, this project has been expanding throughout our school county. We presented the concept at one of the county’s board meetings and was awarded with certificates for our achievements. I hope to continue expanding this project within our community in order to help students find a learning style and schedule that works for them. I believe that if we work with students to aid them in prioritizing the quality of their work and understanding the material in depth, then the future of society will be productive and innovative. We only need to help them gain this understanding now, without any added stress or obligations to complete. Professionally, I hope to go into pre-med and learn more about neurology. Taking theatre in middle school opened my eyes to the emotional aspect of why people act the way they do. Taking both psychology and philosophy allowed me to spark a greater interest in human behavior. The area of study involving the brain is what I hope to pursue. Personally, I also hope to travel and use my knowledge to help those I meet. Growing up, my parents’ diverse cultures introduced me to unique ways of viewing and experiencing life. My mom, being from South Africa, and my dad, being from Mexico, have aided in defining my identity. They motivate me to embrace what my experiences have taught me and what my culture has to offer. I intend to learn more about people and their beliefs and values. I think that these differences among us can strengthen our abilities and assist those around us. This is also why the project mentioned earlier values looking at students individually. Finding people’s strengths and utilizing them appropriately can encourage and promote unbelievable growth. I hope to make a difference by helping others make a difference. Medical school and my program do this by approaching mental, physical, and emotional aspects of an individual. Therefore, these two concepts are a part of answering where I hope to be in the future.

During my sophomore year of high school, my friend Sofia and I noticed an alarming amount of IB students who were struggling in their classes. Due to COVID-19 and situations occurring at our school, the lack of communication between students and teachers made the learning process detrimental to our personal lives. During the summer, Sofia and I decided to tackle this problem by developing a tutoring and mentoring program for the younger IB students. We worked day and night researching useful studying advice, reflecting on our own experiences, and utilizing different technological platforms to develop this idea. We ended up creating a website which provided students with free advice and resources for personal use, as well as the opportunity to schedule meeting with older students. The volunteers were rewarded with community service hours, which aided many students who could not do physical work during the pandemic. Recently, this project has been expanding throughout our school county. We presented the concept at one of the county’s board meetings and was awarded with certificates for our achievements. I hope to continue expanding this project within our community in order to help students find a learning style and schedule that works for them. I believe that if we work with students to aid them in prioritizing the quality of their work and understanding the material in depth, then the future of society will be productive and innovative. We only need to help them gain this understanding now, without any added stress or obligations to complete. Professionally, I hope to go into pre-med and learn more about neurology. Taking theatre in middle school opened my eyes to the emotional aspect of why people act the way they do. Taking both psychology and philosophy allowed me to spark a greater interest in human behavior. The area of study involving the brain is what I hope to pursue. Personally, I also hope to travel and use my knowledge to help those I meet. Growing up, my parents’ diverse cultures introduced me to unique ways of viewing and experiencing life. My mom, being from South Africa, and my dad, being from Mexico, have aided in defining my identity. They motivate me to embrace what my experiences have taught me and what my culture has to offer. I intend to learn more about people and their beliefs and values. I think that these differences among us can strengthen our abilities and assist those around us. This is also why the project mentioned earlier values looking at students individually. Finding people’s strengths and utilizing them appropriately can encourage and promote unbelievable growth. I hope to make a difference by helping others make a difference. Medical school and my program do this by approaching mental, physical, and emotional aspects of an individual. Therefore, these two concepts are a part of answering where I hope to be in the future.