I have always been a big foodie. I come from a mixed Indian and Colombian background, where food is a huge part of both my cultures. My mom would make tandoori chicken one day and beef stew the next, somehow both being equally as tasty. When I turned 16, I started having severe digestive symptoms. It felt like they just came out of nowhere, and after numerous doctor's visits and bloodwork, I got diagnosed with IBS. I was glad to finally have a diagnosis but also displeased that even with a full lifestyle change, my symptoms barely went away. I started being very fearful of food, overanalyzing what I can / cannot eat and going on extremely restrictive diets out of fear I may have an IBS attack in public. My IBS and food sensitivities began controlling me. The body dysmorphia that I have struggled with my whole life reached an all-time worse. I truly did not recognize the person staring back at me in the mirror with inflammation and a bloated stomach as hard as a rock. When I began university, the mixture of my anxiety surrounding food as well as my depression at the time led me to develop an eating disorder. This lasted for about a year before I started going to therapy and seeking medical advice on how to turn my life around. My journey of recovery and improving my relationship with food as well as my self-esteem was not an easy or straightforward one. I had many setbacks, but I reached a point shortly after graduating from university, where I finally felt like myself again. In fact, I now feel better about myself than I did before my IBS diagnosis because I know just how important it is to love myself and take care of myself, even on the hardest of days. One may ask how aviation has anything to do with my IBS, however, it is aviation that has played such an important role in my journey of confidence amidst my IBS. My love for flying has pushed me to be the best version of myself and not let my IBS get in the way of my dreams. I feel motivated to take care of myself, go the extra mile to continue learning about what foods are best for me, cook at home, exercise, get good sleep, take control of my anxiety and not be afraid of food anymore. My dream job of becoming a commercial pilot includes traveling to different countries and embracing those cultures by trying new foods. I know that I deserve to be able to do that without fear, and it is a beautiful thing to realize that life is too special to not enjoy that aspect of it. I am back to being a foodie, and I know I won't be leaving again. I would be greatly honored to be chosen for this scholarship because I have conditional acceptance to the United Aviate Academy, where I will train for one year to become a pilot. This scholarship would go towards my tuition or living expenses so that I can worry less about money and focus more on my training. I will be cooking most of my own meals and studying whenever I am not training the 8 hours per day, not allowing me to work much, so this would be an incredible help. Before coming across this scholarship, I did not fully realize how much I have overcome my IBS and anxiety, and I really am so proud to share this.

I grew up going to the airport about twice a week to pick up my dad from his work trips- the ones where he was the person in charge of flying the plane. I would wait in the terminal and look at the aluminum birds parked right outside, always wondering what it would be like to fly one and how something so heavy could even fly in the first place. It was not until about 16 years later, when I started studying for my FAA (private pilot's license exam), where I started truly learning the answers to the questions I pondered at such a young age and the magnificence of the discoveries behind these answers. When my dad began explaining to me the aerodynamics behind how planes achieve lift, the main topic of our conversation became the airfoil. At first, I thought the airfoil was a diagram of the wing from the back (which caused some confusion), but it is in fact a diagram of the wing from the side, and its design is carefully thought out. I quickly realized how important this scientific discovery by Max Munk is and why it is my favorite. This design creates a long chamber at the top of the wing, causing a faster air speed on the top hence lower air pressure. The difference between air pressure on the top and bottom is what allows the plane to lift, one of the major keys to getting airborne, if not the most important. Without lift, the plane cannot fly. In a way, the airfoil is just like having people around you who lift you up in life, rather than weigh you down (lift's opposing force). You will go much further that way, just like an airplane does with the airfoil.