My name is Victoria King and I believe I deserve this scholarship because I have persevered over all the obstacles in my life to be where I am today. I grew up in a poor, run-down neighborhood in Mobile, Alabama. My mother was a 20 year old, working several jobs, and trying to escape my abusive, drug-using father. After my father was put in jail for domestic abuse charges the "friends" my mom had would tell him information about our whereabouts. When I was in elementary school my mom prepared us to move to Florida; I was attending school and hour and 1/2 away from home, and she was job-searching. My mother finally found stability and we left for Florida; there, I spent my time dealing with the trauma he caused me and my mother, and I couldn't even be near a man for three years. At eight years old, when my mother thought we were finally out the fog, she was in a terrible car accident. She was hit from behind at a stop light by a Lewis and Bear beer delivery van traveling 70 mph. She suffered from numerous injuries including a TBI, broken neck, permanent nerve damage, herniated disks, and much more that lead to her being disabled for the rest of her life. Since the age of eight, I have taken care of her and done all the labor around the house. My mom wasn't able to drive for five years after the accident, and this prevented me from doing sports, having sleepovers, or even playdates at the park. I had nights with mom that consisted of me helping her use the bathroom and handing her pain medication. She has since felt immense guilt for the childhood I never had. She turned into a deep depression while battling a 10 year court case that was meant to hand her $9 million. In the end, she received nothing to help with the medical bills or for her troubles. We lost, and have been surviving on $800 a month on disability. -If you would like to look up more details you can find it under the document name "Tsuji et.al v. Lewis and Bear" - Fortunately, I was able to play sports when I turned 11 with the help of a boyfriend she had, and scholarships. I started with gymnastics but moved onto softball, dance, cheer and volleyball. At 16 I started playing tennis and I have stuck with it! It brings me so much joy to have an outlet for exercise. Unfortunately, since I felt like I had to take care of my mother at such an early age, I began to develop more complex emotions compared to my other classmates. I was frustrated at the world and at my peers. Why weren't they grateful for anything they had? Why were they mad that they didn't get the color I-phone they wanted? Why didn't we have the same things to talk about? My experiences just made me feel outcasted from those around me for going through something they couldn't understand. I endured immense bullying just for trying to do cheerleading at the recreational center. Why would someone not like you just because you didn't go to their school? Even in my other sports I wasn't excepted; I didn't get to really start softball because of COVID. When I was in dance, I was in all the classes the competition team was in; since I couldn't afford to do dance competitively they teased me, and left me out of things purposefully. The boyfriend my mother had who helped me with sports was ultimately counting on the money she would receive from her court case to better his life; he kept her in a relationship with the promise of marriage and children for 11 years before their breakup, and he even cheated on her. I endured bullying from him as well, and from his brother who lived with us for a brief period of time. His brother would lash out and scream at me for not doing what his children (aged 3) would tell me to do. I grew up in that hateful environment, and it affected me heavily. Most children that go through the things I went through at a young age give up or turn to alternative methods of coping. I was lucky to love sports, and love art. I am passionate about art and spend most of my time creating spreads in my sketchbooks. In middle school, I was not the best student. I consistently made a D or C in every class, not from a lack of effort, I just couldn't understand the material or focus in the home I lived in. Once I started high school, I tried to focus more and learn better study habits. I worked for hours on homework and made sure I understood the material. I began to see my grades change in a positive direction and I started making straight A's. My senior year I was even able to start duel enrollment courses. Now, I'm a sophomore in college and I've maintained an A average, received a 3.91 weighted gpa, and I have made the deans list every semester. I am so proud of the accomplishments I've achieved. I am planning on going into the radiologic sciences with a concentration in nuclear medicine in hopes of changing other peoples lives for their own betterment. I would greatly appreciate being considered for this scholarship; it would mean so much to me if I could attend and graduate college. I try to get by financially, but school is very expensive and I cannot receive help from my mother who is still trying to pay off the millions of dollars in medical debt she is in. With this scholarship, I plan on working towards a future where I can help my mom pay off medical debt, and live in a less stressful environment. Thank you for your consideration!

I chose to follow a career in the radiologic sciences. I hope to one day be an MRI technician, and/or a nuclear radiologist. I have always found the human body fascinating. I am an artist, and since I was young, I’ve liked to draw the layers of anatomy down to the bone. Reading anatomy books from a young age, being exposed to it, and drawing, has allowed me to develop a sincere appreciation for how humans are built. I do have some personal reasons as to why I want to pursue this field as well. When I was eight, my mother was in a horrible car accident. She and a coworker were stopped at a red light when a beer delivery van, going 70 miles an hour, slammed into the rear end of the car pushing them through the median. My mother was not paralyzed, but suffered from life-long injuries including a bruised spinal cord, broken neck, migraines, whiplash, PTSD, nerve damage (including severe muscle spasms), and many other severe damages. Growing up, I have been in numerous hospitals and doctor’s offices hoping there would be some cure for her never-ending pain. I wanted to know why she was experiencing such a hard time, and what doctors were referring to when they used specific terminology. She quit her pain medications that were only making her lethargic, and gain heavy weight. Since, she has been diagnosed with diabetes, inability to work or continue school, and has had shoulder surgery from a bone spur that grew from the accident. She also had another neck surgery that she had to undergo five years post-accident, since they put her hardware in wrong. She has endured more pain from that messed up surgery than she should’ve. I hope to be able to spot these problems in people in the future and get them the help they need. Many doctors told my mom her pain was “exaggerated” and that she just needed to take her medication. She was released from the hospital only two days after the accident. Being a single mother, it was hard for her to continue her education, have a job, and take care of me pre-accident. Life became much harder for us, we got evicted from our home on my ninth birthday, only six months since she’d been released from the hospital. She had fallen into a deep depression, and ten years later, lost the court case that would recoup her millions of dollars in medical bills. With the degree I intend to pursue, I am going to give her everything she fought for in the case. I want to relieve the stress that she has faced, and pay off her medical bills. I want to help the millions of Americans that suffer, and let them know someone understands their pain. By being educated, and in the field, I can use my voice to advocate for those who want answers about their own injuries. Watching my mother get shut down about her problems and told they weren't serious, only for her to be right, made me realize how many people have experienced this interaction themselves. I want to make a difference in those experiences, and be supportive for all patients.