I enjoy helping others by providing services or commodities for people who can't afford it. This is great because there is such a wide spectrum of things to do. For example, this could be providing tutoring to a student for free. This way, the student receives help, and it's not a financial burden on their parents. In this case, it could also help a busy parent who probably can't help their child after work. Another way to help a parent is by offering to do little tasks around the house. It really adds up, especially for a busy single parent. Offering your time is a great way to help, especially if you're not in a place to buy something, but you really want to help. Another way is, of course, monetarily. I saw a rise in donation centers during the pandemic, and they were an incredible help to those who were laid off from their jobs. Buying food, clothes, baby food, diapers, and the list goes on, could really help a family. My favorite way to help is a combination of offering my time and money (when I can). I usually do this by hosting, or helping plan an event of some sort. I help with this at school, and at church pretty often. Some events that I've been a part of and loved are car washes for my church, food drives for the less fortunate, a gala where guests brought toys for an orphanage, and a bake sale for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I was able to provide my time, money, and even talents during these events, and it was extremely fulfilling to know that the proceeds were for a good cause.

Spending time with my family and friends is a top priority for me, especially since the start of the pandemic. For both groups, I like to call and check on them, especially when I realize that I haven't heard from them in a while. In those conversations, I like to ask them for updates on their life-- what has excited or even angered them, or what may be stressing them out. I try to let them know that they are seen and heard by me, and that I can serve as an emotional outlet for them. It can be hard to show support living on campus, away from loved ones, but I try to make the best of the times that I do see them. For example, when I go home, I like to go out for Boba tea with my younger sister, or doing an activity with my family like a fancy dinner or bowling. My favorite thing to do are more intimate activities such as getting my nails or toes done with my mother. Or if I can't go home, I like to invite my family to campus and go out to the surrounding city with them. I also like to surprise them with gifts when my finances allow it. Usually, they're small things like my sister mentioning some brush pens that she really wanted while on a call with me. I might order them and get them shipped to the house with her name on it. That way, she gets a gift, but she also knows that I was listening, and that I cared to get her something that she wanted. I know that materialistic things are not a measure of love, but it's very important that people know that they are being listened to.

1. I deserve this scholarship because I really like to eat, and I feel like having this extra money could really help fund my frivolous "trying new food" endeavors or my Ubereats meals to campus. 2. My academic goals are to just barely make it through college because "C's get degrees", am I right??? And my career goal as I enter the field of biology is to do research to tell if it's true that boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider. 3. I've overcome many obstacles but my biggest one has probably been starting my health journey by eating Mcdonald's 6 days out of the week instead of all 7 days!

There are so many activities that bring me peace, especially in the arts. There's writing poetry, listening to music, and blogging. Even outside of the arts, going on walks to find peace and doing yoga. There is one hobby, however, that has remained constant; from my beginning stages of development, to my current age. Reading. My mother read to me as a baby, then I learned to read picture books, then chapter books, novels, and now scientific articles and journals as I pursue my degree. I've always loved reading, and it will always be one of my favorite hobbies. My love for the activity is most likely why I was reading at a high school level in the fifth grade. Every new book that I open is a new world to explore. As a middle schooler, it was important for me to have these new worlds and characters because of the anxiety that I struggled with in my real life. In all honesty, I was a bit disconnected from leisurely enjoying books throughout high school as I started working and taking on more challenging classes like AP's and community college courses, but I rekindled that love once the pandemic started. It was so easy for me to become overwhelmed by isolation, uncertainty, grief of losing loved ones, and getting caught up in media consumption. Hearing the news reports and reading the reposts of COVID cases, assaults, murders, and constant injustice took a toll on my mental health, as I'm sure it did for most people around the world, but ​reading helped me cope. Reading allows me to escape this world and go to a safer, more accepting place. I can step out of my body and experience something new. The characters become my friends. They were a reflection of who I was, and a projection of who I could become. So much of my confidence has come from replicating the actions and attitudes of my favorite fictional characters. I've also taken and pieced together various elements of those characters to help me build an image of the woman that I want to become. Does this mean that I want to be a fictional character? No (even though living in a perfect world would be nice). It's just encouraging and reassuring that the authors creating these characters see young women like me. I love reading because of what it can do for my confidence, my imagination, creativity, and my mental health.

Coming from a family of immigrants definite changes your experience to begin with because your parents usually come to the states with no knowledge of the college process and have no one to call on to get information. In my experience, my parents were too busy trying to figure out how we would survive and be able to afford food and bills for our home to think about college. As a firstborn first-generation child, on top of being an immigrant, my experience growing up has been very rough, yet humbling. At a younger age, I rarely saw my parents because they were always working. My dad has always had 2+ jobs and my mother was going to work and school at the time, but now she also has 2 jobs. It waking up in the morning and not seeing my parents until the next day and have the process repeat itself. It helped me grow, however. I filled much of my time with reading and getting my school work done. Reading always brought me to another world. I didn't have to think about my parents being gone or how we were going to eat when I was reading. That helped very much academically. I always earned high scores in English/literary states tests and I was able to receive awards and move from a public school, to a magnet school. As a first generation student, there was always a lot of figuring out to do and painfully, sometimes trial and error costs a lot of money. But with my parents not having gone through it themselves, it was usually necessary. as a first born child as well I had no older sibling to look to for advice. Whether it came to applying for college, understanding how to apply for scholarships and FAFSA or even knowing what to buy for a dorm room, I relied heavily on Google, Youtube, and my school counselors. I have felt a lot of pressure throughout my entire academic career, but especially in college to make my parents and the rest of my family proud. Being the first one to do something so big as go to college and hopefully graduate is a huge honor for the family. Especially coming from a family that values education. The stress can be overbearing sometimes, and I've had to get a therapist through my schools counseling services to deal with it all, but I've learned how to cope. And I'm learning everyday. Having parents who never went to college can be frustrating because while they say that they understand that it is hard, they don't to the extent that I want them to. So when I complain about an assignment or I don't get a high score on something and they question me why as if I'm supposed to absorb everything the way that I did in middle or high school, it can be tough. I am grateful for my parents and my experience. It has taught me the value of hard work. My family pushes me to do better in school. To do my best, always. Not only do I want to make them proud, but I want to be the beginning of a lineage of college graduates.

At the age of thirteen, I experienced something that would change my life forever, though I didn’t know it at the time. At a sleepover, I was raped by someone I trusted. A nineteen-year-old who lied and manipulated my young, underdeveloped mind by sweeping me off my feet, saying all the things a young, insecure girl would want to hear. Being alone in my college dorm allowed my mind to run wild. I came to terms with the fact he had raped me. I heard his voice in my head and I dreamt about him every night. I thought I saw his face walking on campus. There wasn’t one place that I could go and not see him. I couldn’t bring myself to study, and my grades plummeted. He took over my mind and I cracked. I broke down. I sat at my desk and cried. My mental health deteriorated by the second, and there was not a single day in the week that I did not want to die. I didn’t think that I would be able to recover from the trauma. After an entire semester of dragging myself, I reached out to my school’s counseling service. I’ve grown after weeks of therapy, and I take medication for extra support. I made a vow to protect young children from the child grooming that I experienced. I also want to remind people that it is okay to reach out for help: whether its therapy or medication. None of it makes you abnormal. I try to interact with people who have shared experiences as myself and encourage them to continue pushing because it does get better with time. One day I hope to open a facility in support of rape survivors that provide them with medical and mental help that they might need. The biggest thing that I plan to do is to CALL PREDATORS OUT on their actions. No one should be preyed on. It is completely unacceptable and I wish someone had called my rapist out before he was able to violate me.

I believe that I should be picked to receive this scholarship because it would greatly alleviate some of the financial burden being placed on my parents as they try their best to send me to school. I will be the first of my immediate family to attend a four year college. I have dreams and aspirations of going far, and to achieve those goals, I intend to work extremely hard in school, in both undergraduate, and eventually graduate programs. One of my goals is to become a doctor. I will be the very first doctor in my family. I don’t want to be a doctor to (only) make my family proud. I want to become a doctor to help families like my own. I come from a third-world country where there are only two major hospitals. Many local residents attend a small clinic because they can’t afford to pay for the hospital. Becoming a doctor would mean that I could possibly return to my home country of Jamaica and help families in need. Not only would I like to give back to my home country, but I would also like to give back to the city I was raised in, Bridgeport, Connecticut. Bridgeport is an inner-city, home to mostly low and middle class families. Bridgeport is the home to many immigrants and people of color, yet our caretakers tend to not look like us. I believe that having representation in the field of health care makes a big difference because it is easier to feel seen and heard, and families can communicate with more confidence in knowing that there is someone who understands and takes them seriously. There is a major gap in the way families of color, specifically black families are treated when it comes to healthcare because doctors do not believe them when it comes to the description of the pain they may be feeling. My goal is to work to close this gap. I would like to step in and make sure that families are adequately taken care of and get the help they need based on what they are feeling. Healthcare is a basic human right. One, every human is deserving of, regardless of their color or status. My hometown and country are not the only places that I would like to impact, but lower income cities and other third-world countries as well, because they are often neglected. I would like to become a pediatrician because children are the future and if they are not taken care of at a young age, that can result in many major complications as they get older-- especially because Blacks and African-American are vulnerable to many diseases already. When I was younger, I wasn;t fond of science or history in school, but as I got older and involved in more advanced work surrounding those subjects such as AP biology, AP world history, advanced anatomy and physiology and advanced US history, I realized how passionate I was about this. I learned about the gap in healthcare. I learned about how Black communities are more likely to develop strokes, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. I learned about how American history has affected access to healthcare for the Black community and I want to help break that wall. I want to contribute to progressive change. Not only did I participate in those challenging classes, but I became more active in volunteer work as well and my heart would swell with joy whenever I could feel the gratitude radiating from someone who I had just helped. It is a passion of mine to help people. I give people opportunities that I have received or even better. I want to take care of my community. I want to take care of the youth. Being a doctor takes passion. Not only passion for helping others, but dedication to learning the work and keeping up with the changes when new information is released. I am dedicated to absorbing all of the knowledge that I can and making sure that I redistribute it into communities responsibly. Receiving this scholarship would mean more to me than I can even explain. Being a student is hard. Between hard classes and clubs, having that financial burden adds to stress and can affect my performance in school. If I received this scholarship, I would not let down the donors of it. I have already promised myself, if nobody else that I am committed to working hard to achieve my goals, but receiving this scholarship would push me even more. Thank you for taking the time to read my story.

I believe that I should be picked to receive this scholarship because it would greatly alleviate some of the financial burden being placed on my parents as they try their best to send me to school. I will be the first of my immediate family to attend a four year college. I have dreams and aspirations of going far, and to achieve those goals, I intend to work extremely hard in school, in both undergraduate, and eventually graduate programs. One of my goals is to become a doctor. I will be the very first doctor in my family. I don’t want to be a doctor to (only) make my family proud. I want to become a doctor to help families like my own. I come from a third-world country where there are only two major hospitals. Many local residents attend a small clinic because they can’t afford to pay for the hospital. Becoming a doctor would mean that I could possibly return to my home country of Jamaica and help families in need. Not only would I like to give back to my home country, but I would also like to give back to the city I was raised in, Bridgeport, Connecticut. Bridgeport is an inner-city, home to mostly low and middle class families. Bridgeport is the home to many immigrants and people of color, yet our caretakers tend to not look like us. I believe that having representation in the field of health care makes a big difference because it is easier to feel seen and heard, and families can communicate with more confidence in knowing that there is someone who understands and takes them seriously. There is a major gap in the way families of color, specifically black families are treated when it comes to healthcare because doctors do not believe them when it comes to the description of the pain they may be feeling. My goal is to work to close this gap. I would like to step in and make sure that families are adequately taken care of and get the help they need based on what they are feeling. Healthcare is a basic human right. One, every human is deserving of, regardless of their color or status. My hometown and country are not the only places that I would like to impact, but lower income cities and other third-world countries as well, because they are often neglected. I would like to become a pediatrician because children are the future and if they are not taken care of at a young age, that can result in many major complications as they get older-- especially because Blacks and African-American are vulnerable to many diseases already. When I was younger, I wasn;t fond of science or history in school, but as I got older and involved in more advanced work surrounding those subjects such as AP biology, AP world history, advanced anatomy and physiology and advanced US history, I realized how passionate I was about this. I learned about the gap in healthcare. I learned about how Black communities are more likely to develop strokes, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. I learned about how American history has affected access to healthcare for the Black community and I want to help break that wall. I want to contribute to progressive change. Not only did I participate in those challenging classes, but I became more active in volunteer work as well and my heart would swell with joy whenever I could feel the gratitude radiating from someone who I had just helped. It is a passion of mine to help people. I give people opportunities that I have received or even better. I want to take care of my community. I want to take care of the youth. Being a doctor takes passion. Not only passion for helping others, but dedication to learning the work and keeping up with the changes when new information is released. I am dedicated to absorbing all of the knowledge that I can and making sure that I redistribute it into communities responsibly. Receiving this scholarship would mean more to me than I can even explain. Being a student is hard. Between hard classes and clubs, having that financial burden adds to stress and can affect my performance in school. If I received this scholarship, I would not let down the donors of it. I have already promised myself, if nobody else that I am committed to working hard to achieve my goals, but receiving this scholarship would push me even more. Thank you for taking the time to read my story.

I believe that I should be picked to receive this scholarship because it would greatly alleviate some of the financial burden being placed on my parents as they try their best to send me to school. I will be the first of my immediate family to attend a four year college. I have dreams and aspirations of going far, and to achieve those goals, I intend to work extremely hard in school, in both undergraduate, and eventually graduate programs. One of my goals is to become a doctor. I will be the very first doctor in my family. I don’t want to be a doctor to (only) make my family proud. I want to become a doctor to help families like my own. I come from a third-world country where there are only two major hospitals. Many local residents attend a small clinic because they can’t afford to pay for the hospital. Becoming a doctor would mean that I could possibly return to my home country of Jamaica and help families in need. Not only would I like to give back to my home country, but I would also like to give back to the city I was raised in, Bridgeport, Connecticut. Bridgeport is an inner-city, home to mostly low and middle class families. Bridgeport is the home to many immigrants and people of color, yet our caretakers tend to not look like us. I believe that having representation in the field of health care makes a big difference because it is easier to feel seen and heard, and families can communicate with more confidence in knowing that there is someone who understands and takes them seriously. There is a major gap in the way families of color, specifically black families are treated when it comes to healthcare because doctors do not believe them when it comes to the description of the pain they may be feeling. My goal is to work to close this gap. I would like to step in and make sure that families are adequately taken care of and get the help they need based on what they are feeling. Healthcare is a basic human right. One, every human is deserving of, regardless of their color or status. My hometown and country are not the only places that I would like to impact, but lower income cities and other third-world countries as well, because they are often neglected. I would like to become a pediatrician because children are the future and if they are not taken care of at a young age, that can result in many major complications as they get older-- especially because Blacks and African-American are vulnerable to many diseases already. When I was younger, I wasn;t fond of science or history in school, but as I got older and involved in more advanced work surrounding those subjects such as AP biology, AP world history, advanced anatomy and physiology and advanced US history, I realized how passionate I was about this. I learned about the gap in healthcare. I learned about how Black communities are more likely to develop strokes, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. I learned about how American history has affected access to healthcare for the Black community and I want to help break that wall. I want to contribute to progressive change. Not only did I participate in those challenging classes, but I became more active in volunteer work as well and my heart would swell with joy whenever I could feel the gratitude radiating from someone who I had just helped. It is a passion of mine to help people. I give people opportunities that I have received or even better. I want to take care of my community. I want to take care of the youth. Being a doctor takes passion. Not only passion for helping others, but dedication to learning the work and keeping up with the changes when new information is released. I am dedicated to absorbing all of the knowledge that I can and making sure that I redistribute it into communities responsibly. Receiving this scholarship would mean more to me than I can even explain. Being a student is hard. Between hard classes and clubs, having that financial burden adds to stress and can affect my performance in school. If I received this scholarship, I would not let down the donors of it. I have already promised myself, if nobody else that I am committed to working hard to achieve my goals, but receiving this scholarship would push me even more. Thank you for taking the time to read my story.

I have dreams and aspirations of going far, and to achieve those goals, I intend to work extremely hard in school, in both undergraduate, and eventually graduate programs. One of my goals is to become a doctor. I will be the very first doctor in my family. I don’t want to be a doctor to (only) make my family proud. I want to become a doctor to help families like my own. I come from a third-world country where there are only two major hospitals. Many local residents attend a small clinic because they can’t afford to pay for the hospital. Becoming a doctor would mean that I could possibly return to my home country of Jamaica and help families in need. Not only would I like to give back to my home country, but I would also like to give back to the city I was raised in, Bridgeport, Connecticut. Bridgeport is an inner-city, home to mostly low and middle class families. Bridgeport is the home to many immigrants and people of color, yet our caretakers tend to not look like us. I believe that having representation in the field of health care makes a big difference because it is easier to feel seen and heard, and families can communicate with more confidence in knowing that there is someone who understands and takes them seriously. There is a major gap in the way families of color, specifically black families are treated when it comes to healthcare because doctors do not believe them when it comes to the description of the pain they may be feeling. My goal is to work to close this gap. I would like to step in and make sure that families are adequately taken care of and get the help they need based on what they are feeling. Healthcare is a basic human right. One, every human is deserving of, regardless of their color or status. My hometown and country are not the only places that I would like to impact, but lower income cities and other third-world countries as well, because they are often neglected. I would like to become a pediatrician because children are the future and if they are not taken care of at a young age, that can result in many major complications as they get older-- especially because Blacks and African-American are vulnerable to many diseases already. When I was younger, I wasn;t fond of science or history in school, but as I got older and involved in more advanced work surrounding those subjects such as AP biology, AP world history, advanced anatomy and physiology and advanced US history, I realized how passionate I was about this. I learned about the gap in healthcare. I learned about how Black communities are more likely to develop strokes, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. I learned about how American history has affected access to healthcare for the Black community and I want to help break that wall. I want to contribute to progressive change. Not only did I participate in those challenging classes, but I became more active in volunteer work as well and my heart would swell with joy whenever I could feel the gratitude radiating from someone who I had just helped. It is a passion of mine to help people. I give people opportunities that I have received or even better. I want to take care of my community. I want to take care of the youth. Being a doctor takes passion. Not only passion for helping others, but dedication to learning the work and keeping up with the changes when new information is released. I am dedicated to absorbing all of the knowledge that I can and making sure that I redistribute it into communities responsibly. I am preparing for my future by making sure that I gain experience shadowing those in healthcare and constantly reading about healthcare conditions. Programs like mentors in medicine are helping me prepare for my future. Receiving this scholarship would mean more to me than I can even explain. Being a student is hard. Between hard classes and clubs, having that financial burden adds to stress and can affect my performance in school. If I received this scholarship, I would not let down the donors of it. I have already promised myself, if nobody else that I am committed to working hard to achieve my goals, but receiving this scholarship would push me even more. Thank you for taking the time to read my story.

I will be the first of my immediate family to attend a four year college. I have dreams and aspirations of going far, and to achieve those goals, I intend to work extremely hard in school, in both undergraduate, and eventually graduate programs. One of my goals is to become a doctor. I will be the very first doctor in my family. I don’t want to be a doctor to (only) make my family proud. I want to become a doctor to help families like my own. I come from a third-world country where there are only two major hospitals. Many local residents attend a small clinic because they can’t afford to pay for the hospital. Becoming a doctor would mean that I could possibly return to my home country of Jamaica and help families in need. Not only would I like to give back to my home country, but I would also like to give back to the city I was raised in, Bridgeport, Connecticut. Bridgeport is an inner-city, home to mostly low and middle class families. Bridgeport is the home to many immigrants and people of color, yet our caretakers tend to not look like us. I believe that having representation in the field of health care makes a big difference because it is easier to feel seen and heard, and families can communicate with more confidence in knowing that there is someone who understands and takes them seriously. There is a major gap in the way families of color, specifically black families are treated when it comes to healthcare because doctors do not believe them when it comes to the description of the pain they may be feeling. My goal is to work to close this gap. I would like to step in and make sure that families are adequately taken care of and get the help they need based on what they are feeling. Healthcare is a basic human right. One, every human is deserving of, regardless of their color or status. My hometown and country are not the only places that I would like to impact, but lower income cities and other third-world countries as well, because they are often neglected. I would like to become a pediatrician because children are the future and if they are not taken care of at a young age, that can result in many major complications as they get older-- especially because Blacks and African-American are vulnerable to many diseases already. When I was younger, I wasn;t fond of science or history in school, but as I got older and involved in more advanced work surrounding those subjects such as AP biology, AP world history, advanced anatomy and physiology and advanced US history, I realized how passionate I was about this. I learned about the gap in healthcare. I learned about how Black communities are more likely to develop strokes, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. I learned about how American history has affected access to healthcare for the Black community and I want to help break that wall. I want to contribute to progressive change. Not only did I participate in those challenging classes, but I became more active in volunteer work as well and my heart would swell with joy whenever I could feel the gratitude radiating from someone who I had just helped. It is a passion of mine to help people. I give people opportunities that I have received or even better. I want to take care of my community. I want to take care of the youth. Being a doctor takes passion. Not only passion for helping others, but dedication to learning the work and keeping up with the changes when new information is released. I am dedicated to absorbing all of the knowledge that I can and making sure that I redistribute it into communities responsibly. Receiving this scholarship would mean more to me than I can even explain. Being a student is hard. Between hard classes and clubs, having that financial burden adds to stress and can affect my performance in school. If I received this scholarship, I would not let down the donors of it. I have already promised myself, if nobody else that I am committed to working hard to achieve my goals, but receiving this scholarship would push me even more. Thank you for taking the time to read my story.

One of my goals is to become a doctor. I will be the very first doctor in my family. I don’t want to be a doctor to (only) make my family proud. I want to become a doctor to help families like my own. I come from a third-world country where there are only two major hospitals. Many local residents attend a small clinic because they can’t afford to pay for the hospital. Becoming a doctor would mean that I could possibly return to my home country of Jamaica and help families in need. Not only would I like to give back to my home country, but I would also like to give back to the city I was raised in, Bridgeport, Connecticut. Bridgeport is an inner-city, home to mostly low and middle class families. Bridgeport is the home to many immigrants and people of color, yet our caretakers tend to not look like us. I believe that having representation in the field of health care makes a big difference because it is easier to feel seen and heard, and families can communicate with more confidence in knowing that there is someone who understands and takes them seriously. There is a major gap in the way families of color, specifically black families are treated when it comes to healthcare because doctors do not believe them when it comes to the description of the pain they may be feeling. My goal is to work to close this gap. I would like to step in and make sure that families are adequately taken care of and get the help they need based on what they are feeling. Healthcare is a basic human right. One, every human is deserving of, regardless of their color or status. My hometown and country are not the only places that I would like to impact, but lower income cities and other third-world countries as well, because they are often neglected. I would like to become a pediatrician because children are the future and if they are not taken care of at a young age, that can result in many major complications as they get older-- especially because Blacks and African-American are vulnerable to many diseases already. When I was younger, I wasn;t fond of science or history in school, but as I got older and involved in more advanced work surrounding those subjects such as AP biology, AP world history, advanced anatomy and physiology and advanced US history, I realized how passionate I was about this. I learned about the gap in healthcare. I learned about how Black communities are more likely to develop strokes, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. I learned about how American history has affected access to healthcare for the Black community and I want to help break that wall. I want to contribute to progressive change. Not only did I participate in those challenging classes, but I became more active in volunteer work as well and my heart would swell with joy whenever I could feel the gratitude radiating from someone who I had just helped. It is a passion of mine to help people. I give people opportunities that I have received or even better. I want to take care of my community. I want to take care of the youth. Being a doctor takes passion. Not only passion for helping others, but dedication to learning the work and keeping up with the changes when new information is released. I am dedicated to absorbing all of the knowledge that I can and making sure that I redistribute it into communities responsibly. Receiving this scholarship would mean more to me than I can even explain. Being a student is hard. Between hard classes and clubs, having that financial burden adds to stress and can affect my performance in school. If I received this scholarship, I would not let down the donors of it. I have already promised myself, if nobody else that I am committed to working hard to achieve my goals, but receiving this scholarship would push me even more. Thank you for taking the time to read my story.