As an undergraduate public health minor at UCLA, I took courses on health disparities, public health, and public policy. In these courses, I learned about the negative impacts of food deserts, the “poverty tax” enforced by grocery stores in low-income neighborhoods, and zoning laws which ultimately push cheap fast-food restaurants into impoverished communities. I also learned about supportive policies and programs, like WIC, SNAP and Medicaid, which aim to increase access for struggling families. This was particularly interesting to me as up until age eight, I was raised in a low-income household in City Heights—one of several impoverished urban neighborhoods within San Diego, CA. During that time my parents, who are immigrants from Africa, unfortunately had limited knowledge of these resources while they struggled to achieve financial stability. Learning about these efforts solidified my passion for public health and inspired me to explore the field outside of the classroom setting. I joined outreach programs such as UCLA TEACH where I worked to educate younger students about nutrition and empower them to make better lifestyle choices. I particularly enjoyed working with this demographic of students due to our shared childhood experiences—at a young age, many of these children have already witnessed, and understand, how limited access to food, healthcare, housing, education and other social factors negatively impacts both their family and community. Despite these obstacles, these students remain hopeful of their future and hope to become leaders within their community. My undergraduate experiences led me to matriculate to the UCSD School of Medicine PRIME Health-Equity combined MD/Master’s degree program as I plan to become physician-educator and community activist in the future. Right now, I act on this goal by participating in outreach programs at UCSD including UCSD Doc-4-Day. This tri-annual educational intervention aims to foster the development of STEM Identity among San Diego’s 6th-12th grade students, with the long-term goal of combating the shortage of health professionals from diverse backgrounds within the fields of medicine and pharmacy. While I recognize that medicine is a demanding vocation, I plan to continue to integrate nutrition education, youth mentorship and community outreach into my future career as a physician. In Fall 2021, I will be matriculating to the M.Ed. program in Community Health Nutrition at Columbia University as it greatly aligns with my passion for nutrition education, nutrition research and community health promotion. Through this program, I will receive comprehensive training in community program design, implementation and evaluation and participate in unique community outreach opportunities which provide hands-on experience in running nutrition-based interventions. After completing residency training in Pediatrics or OB/GYN, I plan to split my time between working in the hospital setting and organizing community-based nutrition programs and interventions which aim to improve maternal and child health outcomes for immigrant, refugee, and other underprivileged families living in underserved communities. Additionally, I plan to work with policymakers in order to bring about macro-level changes which address the high cost of healthcare, food insecurity, and lack of diversity among the healthcare workforce.

Visiting Nigeria for the first time at the age of sixteen significantly increased my appreciation for the lifestyle and opportunities I have as an American citizen. When my family arrived at my grandfather’s village, we were joyously welcomed by the entire community. Unfortunately, their initial optimism could not mask the fact that many basic necessities, such as stable electricity and a secondary education, were expensive luxuries that only affluent families could afford. Through their personal testimonies, I also learned that the local people did not have health insurance, the options for care were extremely costly, and that families had to travel for hours to receive limited medical attention. During our final week, my grandfather unexpectedly became very ill, and my family was forced to deal with the harsh realities of the Nigerian healthcare system. My grandfather struggled to regain his health and passed away six months later. My grandfather’s passing was an eye-opening experience. He may have passed away due to an unforeseen illness, but part of me continues to question: if he had access to proper healthcare, would it have extended his life? These thoughts helped me find my motivation and I knew I wanted to serve as a physician and activist in my community. Until age nine I was raised in City Heights, one of many impoverished urban neighborhoods within San Diego, CA. Growing up in a low-income household was difficult; each day my parents worked hard to make the best of the few resources we had. My parents hoped I would graduate from a four-year university. However, since I was their oldest child and first person in my family to attend high school in the USA, they could not provide specific guidance on how to pursue higher education. Regardless, their consistent support and words of encouragement instilled me with the confidence, resilience, and drive that I needed to become a strong, college-bound student. With the guidance and mentorship I received from the AVID college-readiness program, I was able to graduate from Temescal Canyon High School in 2014 and received an academic scholarship to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in order to study life sciences as a pre-medical student. My transition to undergraduate studies at UCLA was difficult. Unfortunately, I was not prepared for the academic rigor of my first-year science courses as my high school offered very few advanced placement level science courses. Additionally, I was sidetracked as my first year was more tumultuous than I could have predicted. Everything from the death of two family members and work conflicts, to a lack of guidance in my course planning, impeded on my ability to achieve my goals. All of this led to me hitting an all-time academic low during my first summer academic quarter at UCLA. Despite this, I remained hopeful. I quickly learned to limit my work hours during the academic year and shifted my focus to participating in academic and extracurricular activities which would allow me to explore my interest in medicine. As a result, I was able to successfully join the UCSD School of Medicine PRIME Health Equity combined degree program. During my time at UCLA and UCSD School of Medicine, I have fortunately found ways to serve my community. Through outreach opportunities with UCLA TEACH and UCSD REACH-Elementary Institute of Science partnership, I have worked with over 100 elementary students from under-resourced schools as an educator, mentor, and healthy lifestyle coach. I particularly enjoy working with this population of students due to our similar childhood experiences. At a young age, many of these children have experienced and have a solid understanding of how limited access to food, healthcare, housing, education and other social determinants negatively impact their families and their community. Despite their circumstances, these students remain motivated and hopeful that they can become leaders and changemakers within their community. These experiences have inspired me to continue to integrate youth education and outreach into my future career as a physician. Currently, I am partaking in third-year clinical rotations at UCSD hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Fall 2021, I will be matriculating to the M.Ed. program in Community Health Nutrition at Columbia University as it greatly aligns with my passion for nutrition education and community health promotion. While I recognize that medicine is a demanding career, my exposure to both the realities of medicine and the impact of health disparities has made me passionate about pursuing a career in medicine and public health. As a future physician-educator, I plan to develop more pipeline and mentorship programs for underrepresented students interested in healthcare. Additionally, I plan to work with policymakers to derive macro-level solutions to issues including: the high cost of healthcare, food insecurity, lack of diversity among the healthcare workforce, and other policies contributing to health disparities in the United States.

Visiting Nigeria for the first time at the age of sixteen allowed me to learn more about my family’s origins, culture, and motives for seeking a better life in America. When we arrived at my grandfather’s village, we were joyously welcomed by the entire community. Unfortunately, their initial optimism could not mask the fact that many necessities, such as electricity and a secondary education, were expensive luxuries that only affluent families could afford. Through their personal testimonies, I also learned that the local people did not have health insurance, the options for care were extremely costly, and that families had to travel for hours to receive limited medical attention. During our final week, my grandfather unexpectedly became very ill, and my family was forced to deal with the harsh realities of the Nigerian healthcare system. My grandfather struggled to regain his health and his recovery process was not a successful one; he passed away after six months. My grandfather’s passing was an eye-opening experience. He may have passed away due to an unforeseen illness, but part of me continues to question: if he had access to proper healthcare, would it have extended his life? These thoughts helped me find my personal connection and motivation—I knew I wanted to help others as both a physician and community activist. Since I am the first person in the family to attend high school in the USA, my Nigerian-born parents could not offer much guidance on how to pursue higher education. Fortunately, with the guidance I received from the AVID college-readiness program, I graduated from Temescal Canyon High School in 2014 and received an academic scholarship to study life sciences at UCLA. My initial transition to undergraduate studies at UCLA was difficult and I quickly realized my limited high school curriculum had not prepared for the academic rigor of my first-year science courses. Additionally, I constantly found myself sidetracked: everything from the death of two family members and work conflicts, to a lack of guidance in my course planning, impeded on my ability to achieve my goals. All of this led to me hitting an all-time academic low during my first summer academic quarter at UCLA. During that time, I worked 36 hours each week to pay for summer school housing while simultaneously, taking a full academic course load and participating in a biomedical research skills training program. Following that summer term, I shifted my focus from working excessive hours to participating in academic and extracurricular activities for my professional development. My academic experience greatly improved once I was accepted into the Human Biology and Society Major and Public Health Minor, two very competitive academic programs at UCLA. Following graduation from UCLA, I immediately matriculated to the UCSD School of Medicine PRIME Health Equity program. Throughout my time at UCLA and UCSD School of Medicine, I have been involved with several youth outreach programs including UCLA TEACH and Elementary Institute of Science UCSD-REACH partnership. Thus, I have worked with over 100 K-5 students from underprivileged schools as an educator, mentor, and healthy lifestyle coach. I enjoy working with this population of students due to our similar childhood experiences—at a young age, many of these children have already witnessed and have a solid understanding of how limited access to food, healthcare, housing, education and other social factors negatively impacts both their family and community. In spite of these experiences, these students remain motivated and hopeful that they can become leaders and changemakers within their community. These experiences have greatly inspired me to continue to integrate youth education and outreach into my future career as a physician. Currently, I am learning clinical medicine in the hospital wards as a third-year medical student during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. Now more than ever, I recognize the importance of pushing myself to obtain education, experience, and training that will shape me into the leader I wish to see in my community While I recognize that medicine is a demanding vocation, I plan to continue to integrate nutrition education, youth mentorship and community outreach into my future career. In Fall 2021, I will be matriculating to the M.Ed. program in Community Health Nutrition at Columbia University as it greatly aligns with my passion for nutrition education, nutrition research and community health promotion. Through this program, I will receive comprehensive training in community program design, implementation and evaluation as well as participate in unique community outreach opportunities which provide hands-on experience in running nutrition-based interventions. As a future primary care physician, I hope to inspire my patients to take a holistic approach to improving their health by teaching them to supplement their treatments and medications with proper nutrition and lifestyle changes. After completing residency training in either Pediatrics or Obstetrics/Gynecology, I plan to split my time between working in the hospital setting and organizing community-based nutrition programs. Specifically, I plan to develop interventions which aim to improve maternal and child health outcomes for immigrant, refugee, and other underprivileged families living in underserved communities. As a physician-educator, I plan to continue to devote time towards developing creative mentorship and exploration opportunities for underrepresented students that are interested in the healthcare field. In addition to working in a medically underserved community, I plan to work with policymakers in order to bring about macro-level changes which will target issues such as the high cost of healthcare, food insecurity, lack of diversity among the healthcare workforce, and other policies contributing to health disparities in the United States and abroad in countries such as Nigeria.

During Fall 2014, my first quarter of undergraduate studies at UCLA, I turned to yoga class to relieve the pain I felt in my knees from a recent ACL surgery. Initially, I was doubtful—I believed the only "true treatments" for my knee were pain medicine and physical therapy. Unfortunately, moving from home to start college prevented me from completing more than 2 of my required 6-9 months of rehab. Thus, while I was skeptical that yoga could work to completely heal my knee, I secretly hoped I would at least learn why yoga is such a highly recommended form exercise. I left my first ever yoga class at the UCLA gym feeling extremely sweaty and fatigued, yet energized and centered. The feeling was so unique and gratifying, I knew from that point on yoga had to be incorporated into my self-care routine. While in beginner classes, I learned to release my physical and emotional stress through breathing. Conversely, taking intermediate classes my 2nd and 3rd year pushed me to be physically and mentally tough, as well as, how to be patient and OSCE myself when attempting to master difficult skills. Through class, I have become stronger, more focused and more aware of my mind-body connection. Ultimately, yoga has shown me the importance of life-balance and self-awareness and has made more open to alternative forms of healing. Now as a current 3rd year UCSD medical student and I have practiced for over 6 years and officially consider myself a Yogi. Even better, I have a new goal—I want to undergo yoga teacher training so I am capable of hosting free or reduced-price evening yoga sessions for busy medical students and residents while I complete my medical training. Once I am a practicing primary-care physician, I plan to host free yoga workshops at local community centers. I am particularly interested in hosting workshops in underprivileged communities, as many adults and students do not have knowledge of, or access to yoga classes. Additionally these individuals in these communities are disproportionately impacted by lack of access to healthy food, lack of open and safe spaces for exercise, lack of access to health care, obesity, poverty and other health disparities. I truly believe regular yoga practice can be beneficial for individuals in these communities as a cost-efficient and effective method of reducing stress, increasing exercise without a need for space and gym equipment, and achieving weight management. Ultimately, I plan to continue incorporating yoga into my daily life through my own practice and through teaching and advocating to make yoga more accessible to all. Receiving the support of the Melissa Ludwig Scholarship would be an excellent first start to the next part of my Yogi journey.