We all grow up in our own little bubble, made up by what we see and know, our experiences, our own personal cultures, and there is nothing inherently wrong with that. But choosing to stay in that bubble, choosing not to let that bubble grow, can lead to things as simple as missing out on the beauties of life, to things as complicated as ignorance as to what other people may be experiencing in their own bubbles. Travelling and truly experiencing different cultures is the best way to expand one’s bubble. By going out into the world, asking questions, trying different foods or ways of living, enhances what it means to be alive. Historically, no one country or group has been able to accomplish or have all that they have by staying in their bubble; the silk trade, the spice trade, renaissance ideas, etc. Nowadays, especially without the unnecessary violence used in the past, this transfer of ideas and resources can only aid in making the world a better, smarter, and more resourceful place. Individually, getting to know other cultures helps to open your own mind to the possibilities of new things. How would you know how happy you can be living in a desert if you grew up living in snow? How could you know how amazing music from across the world may be if you only listen to your own? How could you learn to truly appreciate a person’s belief system if you never try to listen to what their god(s) has done for their believers? How can you understand what your friend may be going through, if you don’t understand how they grew up? There is no such thing as too much knowledge. The more intimately one can get to know a different community or culture, the more room there is for understanding and compassion, the more connected you can feel to a person or group, no matter how far away they may be at a given time, the more you will have expanded your bubble and let people in instead of blocking them out. Travelling and learning about different cultures and ideals has always been something I have chased. I studied abroad in Oaxaca, eating their food, learning their history, meeting the people, and I would not trade that experience for the world. There was a closeness there that I have never experienced anywhere else, a happiness and excitement in their markets, a pride in their food and ways of making it, and a reverence to the way they spoke about their history that could never be captured in any book or retelling. And that was just one place. Imagine experiencing this across hundreds of cultures, the amount of appreciation and love that there is to gain is infinite and, as everyone else should as well, I strive to make at least a decent dent in that infiniteness.

Growing up, I was lucky enough to have been accepted into my school’s Gifted and Talented program. There were roughly 15 of us, and out of those 15, only 5 of us were female. Back then, in elementary school, I thought very little of it, it made no difference to me, I didn’t understand that that was not how it should be. By the time I made it to middle school/high school, and began taking higher level science courses, the realization began hitting me. I had teachers who would be surprised when I walked in, making comments like, “wow we have some girls in this class this year”, and other students would make remarks like, “oh, she’s just a girl, there’s no way she will get a better grade than me.” I had to fight to prove myself to these teachers, peers, and even my guidance counselor who once said, and I will never forget the exact quote, “I understand that you want to take AP Biology but you are just a girl from Arizona and I think you should take something more suited to your level.” I have moved on from taking science and math courses in retaliation or as a way to prove other people wrong and have begun to focus on taking them just for myself, and to show other girls that they can as well. In this endeavor, I have also begun volunteering for a summer middle school program whose entire aim is to get minorities and females into the engineering field. And I have taught girls who never thought they could do it, prove to themselves that they are more than capable. I want to make a difference in the STEM field, both by making my own contributions in Hearing and Speech Sciences. The world of hearing and speech is incredibly complicated and also incredibly in need of additional research. I have longed to make my contribution and to share my ideas in this field to make a difference and to aid those impacted by hearing and speech difference. I also would plan to continue to mentor other girls who grew up like I did, hearing that they couldn’t make it in the STEM field, because as we both know, there is nothing more incorrect. This scholarship would allow me to focus more on these endeavors and allow me to move further along a path that I have fought to be on for way too long.

Picture this. The school day is over, you just ran inside, kicked your shoes off, dropped your backpack and plopped on the couch. Sure, your mom will get mad about how you left a mess, but that doesn’t matter yet, it's cartoons time. You click on the TV, flip from mom’s boring new station over to Disney, and that's when you see it. Phineas and Ferb, your favourite show. But wait, who is that in the intro song? No… way… A Kim Possible and Phineas and Ferb crossover!? Your life is finally complete. The title pops up on the screen: “ It’s Perry Stoppable” and the first scene begins… We all know that odd pets are a staple in both shows, and that's the basis of the crossover. Perry, or rather Agent P is lent out by OWCA to Wade, Kim, and Ron to help stop Shego and Dr. Drakken. Dr. Drakken has taken it upon himself to build his largest Inator (™), very much Dr. Doof style, hence Perry’s intervention. This new device will swap humans and animals, making them all easier to control (in his mind at least). Shego, as usual isn't convinced and her arguement with Dr. Drakken gives Kim, and Perry their opportunity to attack. During the battle, Perry and Shego get zapped and end up swapped, making Kim’s job much harder as she can’t hurt her new associate, even if it is Shego inside his body. Luckily Wade has some perfect intel on how best to deal with this exact situation, and with Ron’s help (and clumsiness), she manages to defeat them, and to change them back. While this is occurring, Rufus has joined Phineas and Ferb, who are convinced their animal enlarging device they made that day somehow backfired and turned Perry into a naked mole rat. Stumped on how to solve it, and desperate to return their beloved friend back to normal, they begin searching for the perfect tool to aid in a new machine to transform him back. But, as part of the swap, Rufus is sent to defeat Dr. Doofenshmirtz in Perry’s place. Fortunately, Dr. Doofenshmirtz is terrified of rats, and the ensuing chaos is enough to foil his evil plans. As his Poof - Inator is demolished, so is Phineas and Ferb’s creation, but in true Perry Fashion, he appears in its place convincing the boys that they have brought their beloved pet back. Rufus returns to Ron just in time for some nachos.

The dream version of my future self is a person living a live I can look back on when on my death bed and think, " she gave her all to everybody she knew, didn't hold back, loved everyone without fear, and never stopped fighting to be better."

I grew up with a single mother who put her all into providing for her five children on a salary that was barely enough to keep us in our house, clothed, fed, and in school. I grew up disabled, facing discrimination based on what others assumed I was capable of doing, judged from that first look at my wheelchair and rarely ever given the chance to prove myself. I grew up abused by a family member who I was supposed to be safe with, but who instead robbed me of my ability to trust. But I am lucky, because despite all this, I did grow up and now, as an adult, I have the chance to make my life into something more. I have always wanted to go into a field that is centered around helping others, a field that focuses on improving others’ life experience. I toyed with many different options: teacher, nurse, social worker, etc., all people who had come into my life at one point or another, all people who helped me to feel seen at the points I needed it most. But nothing felt like it quite fit me. That was until I found Medical Speech Pathology. People who dedicate their lives helping the most vulnerable of this world's population: babies who struggle to eat, our elders who struggle with their memory, eating, or language, and people who have been through any type of tragedy that impairs their abilities to each or communicate in some way. I fell in love with this field. And it wasn’t because I wanted to be a “miracle worker” or a “savior”, though helping people does play a large part in it, but I see it as a way to give a voice to people who otherwise may not have one. It's giving people back their ability to take charge of their life, or for some of the little ones, the ability to live their lives in general. Receiving this scholarship would allow me to pursue this career, to place myself in a position where I could care for others and make the money that would allow me to care for myself and my family. I grew up largely, more metaphorically than not, without a voice in this world. This money would put me on the path to ensure that many others will literally be able to have a voice in their own world, which could make all the difference and keep them from falling through the cracks too.

My biggest ostacle to over come has alwasy been doubt. People look at me and see my wheelchair and automatically doubt my abilities, and not just my ability to get around on my own. People doubt my ability to answer for myself, to think, to have my own opinions. People doubt that I can do things independently, that I do not need help. Being surrounded by all that external doubt makes it hard not to self-doubt. I have to constantly fight that external negativity from moving inwards and creating a negative space in my mind. However, I have found that proving to myself that I can do whatever I want has been the best antidote. I recently completed my bachelors degree these past few years. I had those professors who looked at me as if I was any other student, but I also had those professors who tip-toed around me, as if I was fragile and would break under the pressure of the courseload. I even had one professor who outright questioned my abilities, another who made me feel as though I was less than the other students, and a third who flat out ignored the reasonable accomodations I was requesting because it "didn't fit his teacher style". Yet I graduated with a 4.0 GPA, summa cum laude. And I'm not done yet. I am looking into graduate schools, with a goal to become a medical speech pathologist someday, working in a hospital, helping others through their difficult time and providing them with someone who doesn't doubt them. My accomplishments do not make my obstacles disappear. I will likely always encounter a stranger who takes it upon themself to talk to me as though I am a child, or who talks about me to my friends I am out and about with as opposed to talking directly to me. I will encounter those buildings with staircases and no elevator that, no matter how much I believe in myself, I will never be able to climb. There will always be activities I cannot participate in due to their inaccesibility. However, though I cannot control the world, I refuse to allow my dreams to be made inaccesible to me. Education has helped level my playing field, allowed me to prove myself to myself, and eliminate the self doubt I once faced. I will always be in a wheelchair, but I will not be ashamed of it. I will always be disabled, and I will be an educated adult with college degrees, and someday, my dream job.

Our world depends on communication to function. Sharing your thoughts, your beliefs, your knowledge, is all communication based. It is in this area that I wish to make an impact. I am majoring in Speech and Hearing Sciences, with my end goal being a Speech Pathologist for children. This career path is focused on giving the child more access to the world of language, whether its English, or Spanish, or a sign language, or what have you. My positive impact would be giving these children access to their world so they can fully participate and one day make an impact of their own. Now, I am not naïve. Speech therapy will never save the world. It will never lead to world peace or solve world hunger or end the climate crisis. However, I deeply believe that even the smallest differences are important. As a child, I went through speech therapy, and I can honestly say that it changed my life. I went from being a child that struggled to speak in class due to fear of being teased by my classmates for my inability to pronounce most words correctly, to answering my teacher’s questions with a smile on my face. My speech therapist not only helped me speak correctly, but she is responsible for me no longer being bullied by classmates. That is a difference I can get behind. And there are so many more examples. Students who struggle with learning disabilities, children with stutters, babies who cannot eat properly – they all fall under the scope of Speech Pathology, and getting help with any of these things can be life changing. I may not be able to change the entire world with my profession, but I can change a child’s whole world, and that is one of the biggest positive impacts anyone can make.

I was told on October 31st, 2018 that I would likely never run again. I was told on December 10th, 2019 that soon I would lose the ability to walk. In 2020, I ended up in a wheelchair, with hands that no longer functioned, and absolutely no confidence in myself or my future. But what does this have to do with being brave or living boldly? Well, sometimes letting fate take you where you are meant to be taken is the bravest thing you can do. From day one, I decided to stand out instead of hide. Fate could do whatever she wanted, but she wasn't going to hold me back. Step one was picking the brightest colour wheelchair I could, neon green. That was living boldly for me. Step two was living my life not despite my disability, but in spite of it. Going out in a wheelchair brings stares, whispers, people pointing at you, children asking questions. And it can be so nerve-wracking. But you can't just stay inside and hide, so out I went. And for every point, I returned a smile. For every whisper, I said hello. For every question, I gave my truth. Being brave doesn't require jumping off a cliff, or swimming with sharks; sometimes the bravest thing you can do is love yourself for who you are, and that was step three. I am scared of the dark, I am scared of loud noises, but I will never be scared of who I am. And that, THAT is more than enough for me to say, I am Brave and I am Bold.