Handfuls of hair scattered the floors of our tattered apartment. As my mom’s brain cancer began stripping away her physical identity, she faced disdain from people – even our neighbors. The frustration I felt from witnessing this unwarranted discrimination motivated me to care for my mother overnight in the hospital tirelessly. This prejudice was apparent everywhere. Beyond the illusion of prosperity, in the impoverished streets of San Francisco reside homeless families. Like criminals, society shunned them; people strayed away from them, scared and repulsed. I noticed these families struggling with the fixed stereotypes of the public, just like my mother did; however, instead of having judgment, my family background gave me a sympathetic perspective. Instead of merely applying a band-aid on a gaping wound by sparing some loose change, I created the Homeless Organization Promoting Empowerment to provide people in need with sustainable methods of living through volunteering. When my club first started, the stigma associated with homeless people held us back. Students would ask: “Wait, we don’t have to actually touch the homeless people right?” Therefore, instead of only volunteering, I educated my school by creating presentations to spread awareness and humanize the homeless community. I also coordinated fundraising events to provide resources to people who, like my family, are underserved and disadvantaged. My empathy toward my community and my compassion in service enabled me to create a transformative platform at school through meaningful conversations; as a result, I gave members a sense of belonging and community to lean on. Not only did cultivating a community between like-minded students help my school, but it also helped my city. By elevating those around me, I fostered an inclusive space for members to voice new ideas, which promoted innovation. In addition, we continuously worked toward the same objective, raising thousands of dollars and helping over 3000 families in need. From helping my mother to transforming the lives of thousands, the hospital visits I once saw as burdens taught me the importance of helping others, contributing to a more positive and engaging community. I want to continue the work I am doing in college, and this scholarship will help me continue this passion for volunteering. Instead of working various part-time jobs to pay off student loans, I will be able to build a volunteering organization at my college and form a community to continue fighting against housing injustice. I need this scholarship because I want to be able to learn and grow in college without financial worry tying me down.

The essentials: pencils, binders, and line paper. Throughout my life, I have accumulated an invaluable set of school supplies. Starting with my pencils: my family, my background, and my culture. The pencils I would use to write my story. Growing up with a single immigrant mother, I was chained by the role of being the head of the household while she worked arduous hours. Whether it was interpreting documents, filling out paperwork, tutoring my sibling, or scheduling appointments, I was overwhelmed with family commitments. Therefore, despite my mother’s hard work, I resented her for burdening me with unwanted responsibilities and our uncontrollable financial situation. But as I grew older, I finally began appreciating my background because it made me resilient. As I witnessed my mom’s effort to amend our broken household, she fueled my motivation. The circumstances that once limited me taught me not to take what I have for granted and, in contrast, to make the most of what I have. With this newfound optimism, I began to deal with my responsibilities more efficiently. I sought solutions by planning organized schedules, prioritizing tasks, and communicating with my teachers and family — becoming a problem solver at the age of 10. With the desire to problem-solve, I began to take initiative. Growing up amidst adversities, I sought beauty in my community and took the initiative to learn from it. Although coming from a disadvantaged community can discourage people, my community motivated me. As I walked through the busy streets of Chinatown, the place where I blend in and where my mother tongue, Taishanese, surrounds me: from the elderly who immigrated to America for their future generations to the small business owners who work 12 hours every day, I learned the importance of resilience from a young age, motivating me to withstand hardships and grow. Having to bear adult responsibilities, I was constantly pressured to maintain my household while balancing school work. Often I felt overwhelmed, the urge to give up fueling the tears in my eyes. Still, I always got back up and persevered. Resiliency has supported me – like a rigid binder — keeping me optimistic when facing challenges. With my resilience, I gained the freedom to be intellectually curious without being restrained by the fear of failure. From a young girl who struggled to translate for my mother to a resilient woman, my tenacity enabled me to explore my intellectual curiosities. My eagerness to learn was like sheets of blank line paper, waiting to be filled with knowledge. Curiosity was my catalyst. Throughout high school, my intellectual curiosity compelled me to try out internships and extracurriculars. From using resourcefulness: the internet, low-income programs, and peers, I applied to internships that involved my interest in problem-solving; I learned how to code through a fellowship with Code Nation and worked in a lab over the summer at UCSF to research neurodegeneration. I refined my ability to learn from trial and error without giving up through constant debugging of code and dozens of experimental tests. Every experience and every responsibility that burdened my shoulders taught me to become a resilient and driven woman — capable of adapting and persevering in difficult situations. Each tool in my set of school supplies will continue to aid me in college as I work toward my passions in computers and medicine. I will become an engineer who can improve computational systems used in healthcare in order to discover cures for diseases.

Raging through the news, the death of George Floyd sparked a long-overdue confrontation of the racism in America. When marginalized groups voiced their concerns, others complained about the rioting. At one point, I was bewildered at the violence instigated by the protests too. However, through research, I learned about Black people’s perspectives of the situation; the unjust murders were more important than your billion-dollar Target. Learning about marginalized groups led me an intriguing idea: intersectionality. As someone with a multifaceted identity, acknowledging how each part of my identity overlaps with one another in systems of oppression to create a unique experience was eye-opening. In light of this time — with the BLM movement and rise in Asian hate crimes — it was imperative for me to explore the inner workings of intersectionality. Hearing other people from different backgrounds speak about their experiences and learning from them expanded my knowledge. With difficult conversations and diversified opinions, I was able to create a platform for discussion within my family and community. Just like how speeches from Black activists like Tamika Mallory taug ht me more about the counter-narratives against the riots, being open-minded will allow me to continuously educate myself and those around me.

Raging through the news, the death of George Floyd sparked a long-overdue confrontation of the racism in America. When marginalized groups voiced their concerns, others complained about the rioting. At one point, I was bewildered at the violence instigated by the protests too. However, through research, I learned about Black people’s perspectives of the situation; the unjust murders were more important than your billion-dollar Target. Learning about marginalized groups led me an intriguing idea: intersectionality. As someone with a multifaceted identity, acknowledging how each part of my identity overlaps with one another in systems of oppression to create a unique experience was eye-opening. In light of this time — with the BLM movement and rise in Asian hate crimes — it was imperative for me to explore the inner workings of intersectionality. Hearing other people from different backgrounds speak about their experiences and learning from them expanded my knowledge. With difficult conversations and diversified opinions, I was able to create a platform for discussion within my family and community. Just like how speeches from Black activists like Tamika Mallory taug ht me more about the counter-narratives against the riots, being open-minded will allow me to continuously educate myself and those around me.