Growing up, my family has always encouraged me to follow my dreams. I was always told about the importance of education but never really understood it. As a kid, my parents would always tell me how they wish they had the same opportunities as me. They wished they had access to a higher education like me. They wished they had access to books like me. They even wished they had the opportunity to enjoy their childhood the way I could. For a while I took advantage of these opportunities and never realized the importance of them. That wasn’t until I started to invest in my interests and passions. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been fascinated with the science of biology. My love and passion for biology makes me who I am and makes me excited to learn more about the wonders of the world in college. Through my admiration for science, I have aspired to a career in genetic counseling as I have always been infatuated with the science of genetics and DNA. Growing up, I didn’t have many role models that looked like me working in the STEM field. I didn’t know if a person like me would be able to achieve big dreams in STEM. I hope to make a positive impact in my STEM career by being a role model for Black girls with big dreams. As the eldest daughter, I’ve always been taught the importance of being a positive role model for my siblings. I believe representation matters as it allows us to follow in the footsteps of our role models. Although I never had footsteps to follow growing up, I did have the love and support of my family to push me through and allow me to dream as much as possible. My goal of becoming a genetic counselor means so much to me as I believe representation and diversity in healthcare matters. As Black people are underrepresented in healthcare, it may feel daunting and uncomfortable for us to advocate and speak up for ourselves. As I pursue a career in genetic counseling, I hope to teach those in my community the importance of our DNA and genetics and make sure they feel safe and comfortable receiving care when they see me. As I join the 2.9% of Black Women working in STEM, I hope to make a positive impact in my career by helping those in my community navigate and understand their genetics and being the role model I never had for Black girls. I want to show them that if I can do it, they can too, and show them how beautiful Black excellence is.

When I picture my future self, I picture her breaking through barriers as a Black woman in STEM to follow her dreams. I see her making her parents proud while she is studying Biology at Howard University pursuing her lifelong dream of becoming a genetic counselor, and helping underrepresented communities understand their DNA and genetics. I see her working on being the best version of herself in order to reach her educational goals. These academic goals of mine make me optimistic for the future and excited to pursue higher education. I was able to explore my passions and interests throughout my highschool experience with other talented students, while falling in love with academia and all that it has to offer at the same time. With that, I truly have my amazing mentors, teachers, and peers to thank for helping me navigate through high school and helping to sculpt my dream. My parents are my biggest supporters of my dream and have sacrificed so much for my success in this country. I truly wouldn’t be able to reach my goals without them. Growing up, my family has always encouraged me to follow my dreams. I was always told about the importance of education but never really understood it. As a kid, my parents would always tell me how they wished they had the same opportunities as me and access to higher education and wished they had the opportunity to enjoy their childhood the way I could. For a while I took advantage of these opportunities and never realized the importance of them. That wasn’t until I started to invest in my interests and passions. Growing up I often found myself anxious and stressed due to challenges and traumatic experiences in my childhood. I eventually found myself coping through learning as a comforting escape. I loved learning, as I always had questions for the world. I wanted to understand every piece of the world and why things were the way they are. I often escaped from troubles through books, which comforted me the most. Through my love for learning, I’ve grown a special passion for biology and the study of life. I became invested in things like genetics and cell structure and found myself always wanting to learn and know more. My love for science is something that truly makes me who I am today and something that I love the most about myself. My love and passion for biology has allowed me to explore different aspects of the world and the way that it works. I found the wonders of life fascinating and the mysteries of the universe extremely cultivating. I would also share my passions with my friends and family by telling them about all the things I've learned about the studies of life, which brought us closer together over time. Something I love the most about science is that there is always something new to learn and discover and there is always something to share. The wonders of science bring me comfort and make me truly feel like myself. Through my admiration for science, I’ve decided that I want to go to college to pursue my dream of studying biology and become a genetic counselor. I want to be a part of life-changing research and learn more about biological matters and healthcare challenges. I want to make an impact on the world and assure my parents that the sacrifices they made were worth it. I am so grateful for my parents and all that they do for me and I can’t wait to make them proud with my accomplishments.

Growing up, my family has always encouraged me to follow my dreams. I was always told about the importance of education but never really understood it. As a kid, my parents would always tell me how they wish they had the same opportunities as me. They wished they had access to higher education like me. They wished they had access to books like me. They even wished they had the opportunity to enjoy their childhood the way I could. For a while, I took advantage of these opportunities and never realized the importance of them. That wasn’t until I started to invest in my interests and passions. Growing up I often found myself anxious and stressed due to challenges and traumatic experiences in my childhood. I eventually found myself coping through learning as a comforting escape. I loved learning, as I always had questions for the world. I wanted to understand every piece of the world and why things were the way they are. I often escaped from troubles through books, which comforted me the most. Through my love for learning, I’ve grown a special passion for biology and the study of life. I became invested in things like genetics and cell structure and found myself always wanting to learn and know more. Through my admiration for science, I’ve decided that I want to go to college to pursue my dream of studying biology and become a genetic counselor. I want to be a part of life changing research and learn more about biological matters and healthcare challenges. I want to make an impact on the world and assure my parents that the sacrifices they made were worth it. I didn’t have many role models that looked like me working in the STEM field growing up, so I didn’t know if a person like me would be able to achieve big dreams in STEM. I hope to make a positive impact in my STEM career by being a role model for Black girls with big dreams. As the eldest daughter, I’ve always been taught the importance of being a positive role model for my siblings. I believe representation matters as it allows us to follow in the footsteps of our role models. As Black people are underrepresented in healthcare, it may feel daunting and uncomfortable for us to advocate and speak up for ourselves. As I pursue a career in genetic counseling, I hope to teach those in my community the importance of our DNA and genetics and make sure they feel safe and comfortable receiving care when they see me. As I join the 2.9% of Black Women working in STEM, I hope to make a positive impact in my career by helping those in my community navigate and understand their genetics and being the role model I never had for Black girls. I want to show them that if I can do it, they can too, and show them how beautiful Black excellence is.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been fascinated with the science of biology. My love and passion for biology makes me who I am and makes me excited to learn more about the wonders of the world in college. Growing up, I didn’t have many role models that looked like me working in the STEM field, so I didn’t know if a person like me would be able to achieve big dreams in STEM. I hope to make a positive impact in my STEM career by being a role model for Black girls with big dreams. As the eldest daughter, I’ve always been taught the importance of being a positive role model for my siblings. I believe representation matters as it allows us to follow in the footsteps of our role models. As Black people are underrepresented in healthcare, it may feel daunting and uncomfortable for us to advocate and speak up for ourselves. As I pursue a career in genetic counseling, I hope to teach those in my community the importance of our DNA and genetics and make sure they feel safe and comfortable receiving care when they see me. As I join the 2.9% of Black Women working in STEM, I hope to make a positive impact in my career by helping those in my community navigate and understand their genetics and being the role model I never had for Black girls. I want to show them how beautiful Black excellence is. When I first joined the National Honors Society at my high school, I was thrilled and so proud of myself. When I first applied, I didn’t know if I would get in. I had all the right requirements and qualifications, but I often found myself comparing myself to the other students who were already in NHS. I’ve always admired them as I saw them as smart, talented, and well deserving of being in NHS. Unfortunately, I never saw these qualities in myself and doubted myself. I felt like I didn’t belong in NHS because of this. My first volunteer opportunity was called “Adopt a Highway”, where we went around picking up trash around the local neighborhood. When picking up trash around the neighborhood, we encountered some grateful neighbors who thanked us for our service in making our community beautiful. I felt happy and proud of myself when being thanked because it made me feel like I was making a difference in my community while also serving others. After long hours of picking up trash, we made our way back to the school for our parents to pick us up. On our way back, we found a lost cat roaming around the neighborhood. At first, we didn’t know what to do or how to get this lost cat home until our NHS host stepped in to help. She explained to us how she has many cats of her own and how this cat has clearly been away from a family as it was very friendly. She then took a picture of the cat to send to animal rescue services to ensure that this cat will be returned home safely. Watching my NHS host handle this whole situation was inspiring as it reminded me how rewarding and needed community service is. After volunteering, I realized that you don’t have to be “good enough” or feel worthy to volunteer. Volunteering is about helping others in need and serving your community. I’m so grateful to have had this opportunity to volunteer and I’m so excited to continue to serve my community more in the future.

To me, a leader takes initiative no matter what complicated situation is thrown at them. They are confident in their skills and certain of who they are. I was never able to see these qualities in myself for a while and would often doubt my abilities. If I could say anything to my 13-year-old self today, I would tell her that she can be whoever she wants to be and can overcome any obstacle even when the people around her doubt her. My story begins with my parents. They first immigrated from Senegal and Mauritania to give their children better opportunities. My parents didn’t have the opportunity to go to college and receive higher education, so I help them with their work and English abilities. Whether it's sitting next to them as they apply for jobs or simply writing emails, they can always count on me. However, as much as I love helping and supporting my parents, this does take a toll on me. I sometimes find myself stressed with trying to help myself while also trying to help them. In middle school, before I would even touch my homework, I would help my mom with emails and oftentimes help her apply for jobs. Although I was often left feeling exhausted and burnt out, I always got the pleasure of seeing my mom smiling and happy. I remember helping my mom with online job training that took what seemed like forever and my mom telling me, “I don’t know what I'm going to do when you leave for college, Yaly, you help me so much.” I wanted to feel happy and proud that my mom appreciated me so much; however, this made me feel overwhelmed. It concerned me to hear that I’m depended on so much, especially when I felt like I couldn’t depend on myself. I felt like I was forced to grow up so young to take on this responsibility. As the eldest daughter, I am culturally expected to provide and help my family in ways I wasn’t prepared for at the time. These experiences left me feeling very anxious, and I found myself coping through learning. I loved learning, as I always had questions for the world. I wanted to understand every piece of the world and why things were the way they are. I often escaped from troubles through books, which comforted me the most. Through my love for learning, I’ve grown a special passion for biology and the study of life. My biggest hope is to pursue my dream of becoming a microbiologist. I knew that if I wanted to reach this goal, I would have to learn how to face my fears and truly become a leader. I took steps to build my self-confidence and self-image. I had conditioned myself at a young age to feel insecure due to bullying and challenges growing up. I knew if I wanted to grow and progress, I would have to learn to love and appreciate myself for who I am. After years of trial and error, I now love myself and finally feel worthy of the opportunities that come my way. Today I am no longer a follower. I now lead and inspire through experience and confidence. I set an example for my younger siblings, and I have a positive impact on them and inspire them to follow their dreams. It took me a while to realize that my family trusts me to help them so much because they see a leader inside of me. I am so excited to make them proud of my future accomplishments.

To me, a leader takes initiative no matter what complicated situation is thrown at them. They are confident in their skills and certain of who they are. I was never able to see these qualities in myself for a while and would often doubt my abilities. If I could say anything to my 13-year-old self today, I would tell her that she can be whoever she wants to be and can overcome any obstacle even when the people around her doubt her. My story begins with my parents. They first immigrated from Senegal and Mauritania to give their children better opportunities. My parents didn’t have the opportunity to go to college and receive higher education, so I help them with their work and English abilities. Whether it's sitting next to them as they apply for jobs or simply writing emails, they can always count on me. However, as much as I love helping and supporting my parents, this does take a toll on me. I sometimes find myself stressed with trying to help myself while also trying to help them. In middle school, before I would even touch my homework, I would help my mom with emails and oftentimes help her apply for jobs. Although I was often left feeling exhausted and burnt out, I always got the pleasure of seeing my mom smiling and happy. I remember helping my mom with online job training that took what seemed like forever and my mom telling me, “I don’t know what I'm going to do when you leave for college, Yaly, you help me so much.” I wanted to feel happy and proud that my mom appreciated me so much; however, this made me feel overwhelmed. It concerned me to hear that I’m depended on so much, especially when I felt like I couldn’t depend on myself. I felt like I was forced to grow up so young to take on this responsibility. As the eldest daughter, I am culturally expected to provide and help my family in ways I wasn’t prepared for at the time. These experiences left me feeling very anxious, and I found myself coping through learning. I loved learning, as I always had questions for the world. I wanted to understand every piece of the world and why things were the way they are. I often escaped from troubles through books, which comforted me the most. Through my love for learning, I’ve grown a special passion for biology and the study of life. My biggest hope is to pursue my dream of becoming a microbiologist. I knew that if I wanted to reach this goal, I would have to learn how to face my fears and truly become a leader. I took steps to build my self-confidence and self-image. I had conditioned myself at a young age to feel insecure due to bullying and challenges growing up. I knew if I wanted to grow and progress, I would have to learn to love and appreciate myself for who I am. After years of trial and error, I now love myself and finally feel worthy of the opportunities that come my way. Today I am no longer a follower. I now lead and inspire through experience and confidence. I set an example for my younger siblings, and I have a positive impact on them and inspire them to follow their dreams. It took me a while to realize that my family trusts me to help them so much because they see a leader inside of me. I am so excited to make them proud of my future accomplishments.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been fascinated with the science of biology. My love and passion for biology makes me who I am and makes me excited to learn more about the wonders of the world in college. Growing up, I didn’t have many role models that looked like me working in the STEM field. So I didn’t know if a person like me would be able to achieve big dreams in STEM. I hope to make a positive impact in my STEM career by being a role model for Black girls with big dreams. As the eldest daughter, I’ve always been taught the importance of being a positive role model for my siblings. I believe representation matters as it allows us to follow in the footsteps of our role models. Although I never had footsteps to follow growing up, I did have one teacher through my high school experience that has influenced me greatly in school and in STEM. Allow me to introduce you to my former French teacher, Madame N’Koumba. Madame N’Koumba was my French teacher during my sophomore year of high school and someone I truly consider my role model today. Madame and I had a shared passion for STEM and she would tell me and my class all about her love for coding and the amazing things you could do with it. Madame is currently building a language app through her love for coding and computer science. Her love and passion for STEM and coding inspires me to invest in my passions as well. Madame N’Koumba is the reason why I believe I can achieve and pursue my dreams as a Black, first-generation, college-bound woman, in the United States. She inspires me to pursue my dream of being a Black woman in STEM and find confidence within myself to accomplish my goals. Madame N’koumba reminds me of the person I want to be when I grow up; Strong, independent, intelligent, and impactful. Through Madame N’Koumba’s inspiration and guidance, I feel confident enough to pursue my dreams and invest in my passions. I want to be the same inspiring role model for others as Madame N’Koumba was for me. As Black people are underrepresented in healthcare, it may feel daunting and uncomfortable for us to advocate and speak up for ourselves. As I pursue a career in genetic counseling, I hope to teach those in my community the importance of our DNA and genetics and make sure they feel safe and comfortable receiving care when they see me. As I join the 2.9% of Black Women working in STEM, I hope to make a positive impact in my career by helping those in my community navigate and understand their genetics and being the role model I never had for Black girls. I want to show them that if I can do it, they can too, and show them how beautiful Black excellence is.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been fascinated with the science of biology. My love and passion for biology makes me who I am and makes me excited to learn more about the wonders of the world in college. Growing up, I didn’t have many role models that looked like me working in the STEM field. So I didn’t know if a person like me would be able to achieve big dreams in STEM. I hope to make a positive impact in my STEM career by being a role model for Black girls with big dreams. As the eldest daughter, I’ve always been taught the importance of being a positive role model for my siblings. I believe representation matters as it allows us to follow in the footsteps of our role models. Although I never had footsteps to follow growing up, I did have one teacher through my high school experience that has influenced me greatly in school and in STEM. Allow me to introduce you to my former French teacher, Madame N’Koumba. Madame N’Koumba was my French teacher during my sophomore year of high school and someone I truly consider my role model today. Madame and I had a shared passion for STEM and she would tell me and my class all about her love for coding and the amazing things you could do with it. Madame is currently building a language app through her love for coding and computer science. Her love and passion for STEM and coding inspires me to invest in my passions as well. Madame N’Koumba is the reason why I believe I can achieve and pursue my dreams as a Black, first-generation, college-bound woman, in the United States. She inspires me to pursue my dream of being a Black woman in STEM and find confidence within myself to accomplish my goals. Madame N’koumba reminds me of the person I want to be when I grow up; Strong, independent, intelligent, and impactful. Through Madame N’Koumba’s inspiration and guidance, I feel confident enough to pursue my dreams and invest in my passions. I want to be the same inspiring role model for others as Madame N’Koumba was for me. As Black people are underrepresented in healthcare, it may feel daunting and uncomfortable for us to advocate and speak up for ourselves. As I pursue a career in genetic counseling, I hope to teach those in my community the importance of our DNA and genetics and make sure they feel safe and comfortable receiving care when they see me. As I join the 2.9% of Black Women working in STEM, I hope to make a positive impact in my career by helping those in my community navigate and understand their genetics and being the role model I never had for Black girls. I want to show them that if I can do it, they can too, and show them how beautiful Black excellence is.

Allow me to introduce you to my former French teacher, Madame N’Koumba. Madame N’Koumba was my French teacher during my sophomore year of high school and someone I truly consider my role model today. When I first met Madame N’Koumba, we were virtual and I didn’t feel much of a connection with any of my teachers. During this time I felt anxious and helpless as the global pandemic started to take a toll on my mental health. Although we were going through such a rough time, Madame N’Koumba always found a way to make the classroom fun and exciting with her activities, lessons, and jokes. It was then that I truly started to build a connection with Madame and when she started to become my role model. I always felt welcome and comfortable in Madame N’Koumba’s classroom. I was always able to talk to her about anything and everything, including topics that I was never really able to talk about with anyone else. Madame N’Koumba and I would often bond and connect about our West African culture. She would tell me the funniest stories about her time in Cameroon while I would tell her about my time in Senegal. We would talk about how much our West African culture means to us and sometimes have silly discussions about which of our countries made the best Jollof Rice. She would also allow me to talk about my personal life and family struggles with her and she would always tell me to focus on my studies when telling her about my silly high school experiences. Ultimately this connection inspired me to continue learning French after high school, as I realized that French was the reason that we had connected. This also inspired me to continue learning French to connect with my family overseas. Madame and I also had a shared passion for STEM and she would tell me and my class all about her love for coding and the amazing things you could do with it. Madame is currently building a language app through her love for coding and computer science. Her love and passion for STEM and coding inspires me to invest in my passions as well. Madame N’Koumba is the reason why I believe I can achieve and pursue my dreams as a Black, first-generation, college-bound woman, in the United States. She inspires me to pursue my dream of being a Black woman in STEM and find confidence within myself to accomplish my goals. Madame N’koumba reminds me of the person I want to be when I grow up; Strong, independent, intelligent, and impactful. Through Madame N’Koumba’s inspiration and guidance, I feel confident enough to pursue my dreams and invest in my passions. I want to be the same inspiring role model for others as Madame N’Koumba was for me.

My whole life I've been surrounded by strong independent Black women. They’ve built up my character and are the reason why I'm the person I am today: strong, independent, confident, determined. Most of these women have children and faced at least one life-threatening pregnancy complication during childbirth. My mom, for one, has had three life-threatening c-sections, as well as my beloved Aunt Salamata who had an emergency c-section. I couldn't imagine a life without these women, and I'm extremely grateful that they are alive today. However, this unfortunately is not the case with many pregnant Black women in the United States. According to the Center for Disease Control, Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than White women. Research shows that out of all maternal mortality cases, 60% were preventable. This is a detrimental public health issue that negatively affects the Black community and society as Black mothers are being lost at staggering rates. Many people argue that Black women are at a higher risk of dying from pregnancy-related complications due to the lack of education, poor diet, and lifestyle practices; however, I do not believe this. In the United States, women of color are more likely to be neglected and delayed proper healthcare services. These women oftentimes don’t receive the same quality of care as their White counterparts, and their symptoms are often overlooked or misdiagnosed, resulting in the racial disparities we see within the maternal mortality rate. I believe that systemic racial bias and prejudice in our healthcare system contributes to the high mortality rates we see in Black pregnant women and needs to be combated. Another issue that contributes to the staggering mortality rate is lack of access to proper care. Many Black women in the United States struggle financially and are oftentimes unable to afford health insurance. Black mothers are also less likely to receive prenatal care due to financial barriers. Lack of proper resources within our healthcare system makes it difficult to provide for themselves and their families. If these women can access the right resources and basic health care, they would thrive and thousands of Black mothers’ lives would be saved. However we continue to fail Black mothers as maternal mortality cases continue to rise. Many Black women receiving health care have reported feeling unheard and unsafe and are oftentimes silenced and overlooked when advocating for themselves during childbirth. The structural racism and sexism instilled in our healthcare system is killing Black mothers and destroying Black families. No woman should fear for her life while trying to bring another life into this world. During my time at in college, I want to major in biology and work to find possible solutions to this urgent issue. I want to find ways to protect Black women in the delivery room and play a part in decreasing the mortality rate, not just for myself and my family, but for all minority women trying to build families, because I refuse to live in a world without Black women.

To me, a leader takes initiative no matter what complicated situation is thrown at them. They are confident in their skills and certain of who they are. I was never able to see these qualities in myself for a while and would often doubt my abilities. If I could say anything to my 13-year-old self today, I would tell her that she can be whoever she wants to be and can overcome any obstacle even when the people around her doubt her. My story begins with my parents. They first immigrated from Senegal and Mauritania to give their children better opportunities. My parents didn’t have the opportunity to go to college and receive higher education, so I help them with their work and English abilities. Whether it's sitting next to them as they apply for jobs or simply writing emails, they can always count on me. However, as much as I love helping and supporting my parents, this does take a toll on me. I sometimes find myself stressed with trying to help myself while also trying to help them. When I was in middle school, before I would even touch my homework, I would help my mom with emails and oftentimes help her apply for jobs. Although I was often left feeling exhausted and burnt out, I always got the pleasure of seeing my mom smiling and happy. I remember helping my mom with online job training that took what seemed like forever and my mom telling me, “I don’t know what I'm going to do when you leave for college, Yaly, you help me so much.” I wanted to feel happy and proud that my mom appreciated me so much; however, this made me feel really overwhelmed. It concerned me to hear that I’m depended on so much, especially when I felt like I couldn’t depend on myself. I felt like I was forced to grow up so young to take on this responsibility. As the eldest daughter, I am culturally expected to provide and help my family in ways I wasn’t prepared for at the time. These experiences left me feeling very anxious, and I found myself coping through learning. I loved learning, as I always had questions for the world. I wanted to understand every piece of the world and why things were the way they are. I often escaped from troubles through books, which comforted me the most. Through my love for learning, I’ve grown a special passion for biology and the study of life. My biggest hope is to pursue my dream of becoming a microbiologist. I knew that if I wanted to reach this goal, I would have to learn how to face my fears and truly become a leader. I took steps to build my self-confidence and self-image. I had conditioned myself at a young age to feel insecure due to bullying and challenges growing up. I knew if I wanted to grow and progress, I would have to learn to love and appreciate myself for who I am. After years of trial and error, I now love myself and finally feel worthy of the opportunities that come my way. Today I now lead and inspire through experience and confidence. I set an example for my younger siblings, and I have a positive impact on them and inspire them to follow their dreams. It took me a while to realize that my family trusts me to help them so much because they see a leader inside of me. I am so excited to make them proud with my future accomplishments.