When my mother first told me that I had Native American blood running in my veins, she wanted me to be proud of my heritage because it meant that I would be carrying on the cultural legacy of my ancestors and forebears. I am most proud (and in awe) of the fact that the Native people had a common trait that was held strongly among them, and that was honor. Meaning that they were always there for each other, they were there when things needed to be done, they saw their actions through to the end, and they made an attempt to be as true to their word as possible. I then started to see those traits within myself as I am relentless in my academics-meaning I am inquisitive and passionate about what I'm learning about and if I don't understand something I make sure in the end I do, I practice the honorable trait of academic honesty, I make sure to get good grades to not only help ensure me a good future and to make myself proud, but to also make my parents and the rest of my family proud as well. I could go on and on about what being a Proud Native American means to me, but I think I have made it rather obvious that I highlight their honorable character and therefore, traits more than anything else and am proud to embody many of those traits today, and to continue refining my craft in the future. Now what about the future? Well simply put- I plan on not letting up on showing everyone how persistent and resilient I can be just as my Native brothers and sisters who came before me were. Indeed, their courage and perseverance are traits that are easily boasted about than actually done, and I will be the first to say that. However, I have long since determined that the practicing of those traits is well worth it because it will very well mean greater chances and probabilities of you leading a better life. being a better person, practicing what you preach to others, etc. I It is truly fascinating to me the hundreds and thousands of years of Native Americans have walked on this very soil have successfully passed on to me their gifts of their ethic and character some hundreds to thousands of years later. (*I am taking a course on the Aztecs right now and is truly astonishing how they practice the same traits I speak of as well in addition to more 'recent' Native Americans such as not completely humiliating an enemy in battle as to preserve their humanity some*.) Therefore, this long cherished and celebrated heritage that has indeed brought about many, many wonderful gifts for me to use to my advantage is something I definitely want to show my gratitude for my continuing to use their honor as a way of continuing on through my undergrad (where I am currently) and through to grad school where I shall summon the perseverance of my ancestors as to not forget what they stood and fought for and how I can continue to honor that legacy in modern day. Thank you all so much for your careful consideration and opportunity to speak my truth and I hope to hear back from you soon!

I have had high and deep aspirations to become a Primary Care Physician for some time now. I have had this aspiration since I was about 7 years old and learning about basic human cells (white blood cells, red blood cells, platelets, etc.) and just found this area of science to be all too intriguing. As I grew older and took more science classes, I found that that passion and yearning for that specific field only grew and grew. I especially felt a connection with my desired profession whenever I would go for a regular check up at my doctor's office here in my hometown of Denver, CO. In fact, every time I went in for a check up, I was so extremely fascinated by the way in which doctors make their diagnoses and get it right almost 100% of the time. I just wondered and wondered how much knowledge they truly had to draw upon in order to treat each individual case as accurately and effectively as possible. Later in life, I began to think to myself that I might possibly want to take being a Primary Care Physician (PCP) as my career and really started to gear my classes towards more science based categories. For example, as soon as I was eligible to take AP classes in high school, I went with Social Studies classes, but that changed when I committed myself to pursuing being a PCP and then I decided to go with AP Biology in my senior year and ended up absolutely loving it! Now I am a student at the University of Colorado at Boulder majoring in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB) where I am acquiring the foundational skills I need in order to achieve the profession I have been after all this time. Throughout all of the science classes I have taken this far (Biology, Introductory Chemistry, General Chemistry 1, Principles of Genetics) have done nothing but to convince me more that I have chosen the right career and passion for myself and that they have made me realize further now truly special and amazing the field of science actually is. Therefore, the money that I hope to earn from this scholarship will help me acquire the education I need in order to get my undergraduate degree, then will give me great momentum to get into Medical School (I plan on attending University of Colorado Anschutz Medical School) where I hope to achieve my MD. Thank you all so much for your careful consideration and I hope to hear back from you soon!