The category of STEM I am studying is Science. I am studying Sports Medicine, aspiring to receive my Bachelor's degree in science. I am passionate about STEM because one is able to learn real-world lessons by applying science to medicine. I am also passionate about STEM because we need more women, especially African Americans, to be involved. Expanding the number of women in STEM will hopefully positively affect the world. I am also passional about STEM because the majority of everything we are involved in and use requires an aspect of STEM to run efficiently. To be able to impact how the world uses STEM by influencing STEM itself is the first step. Other than STEM itself I am interested in medicine. I am currently studying sports medicine. With this, I have the passion and goal to reduce and study illness in the sports field. Not only study illness and injury but advocating recovery as well. STEM studies can help me prepare for a successful career because you learn transferable techniques. Mathematics and science are common languages that allow teams from around the world to work on difficult problems, enabling people to move from task to task.

My name is Zeta Phillips. I was raised in South Philadelphia and attended high school at Academy at Palumbo. I ran track and field all four years of my high school career. I graduated in June 2020. I am currently a freshman attending Virginia State University with the goal of receiving a Bachelors's degree in Science. Upon graduation, I aspire to have a job with the NFL/NBA as a Sports Physiotherapist or Sports Medicine Physician. Running track in high school influenced me to stay connected within the sports field. With faith and hard work, I hope that one day I can open my own sports medicine physical therapy practice. Wishing that my position as an African American woman in the sports medicine field aspires more African American girls to be influenced by my dedication. Growing up in Philadelphia poverty and crime lived on the corner of each block. I live in a chaotic city, where it can be hard to escape the dangerous environment. Not only do I live in a city of havoc, but a city of low income and lack of interest in education. Philadelphia's school district lacks in many aspects tremendously. With this being stated, sports is the only outcome for young black America in Philadelphia. Teenage boys and girls aspire to professionally play sports. Hoping for a better life. With many girls and boys in the city progressing and making it professionally, comes illness and pain with recovery. In my career in medicine, I hope to create a safe place for those athletes who live for the game! For those using sports and activities as an outlet, I hope I can be of help during their times of need and recovery. Being a backbone for them and someone they trust when in pain. Other than being a representative of medicine and physical therapy, I wish to gain knowledge and everlasting wisdom in the field of sports medicine and physical therapy. I wish to learn enough that I can teach others and eventually open my own practice. In order to prepare me to achieve this goal is to be determined and hardworking. I must be open to internships and any open opportunity. The most difficult is sacrificing. I know that there will be a huge amount of sacrifice in order for me to achieve the goal in sports medicine. I will have to be open to change and discomfort in order to be at my full potential. However, those are not the only way to prepare me for my career. I wish to work with and shadow those in similar sports fields. With the intent of learning from them. Studying plays a huge part in my success. In order to teach and practice on actual patients, I must study people, their bodies, and injury in order to perfect physical therapy. Overall I hope to achieve satisfaction for helping others and making their life better. I hope I can help others be a better version of themselves. Not only do I want them to learn from me, but I want to learn from them as well.

I discovered my love for yoga during my junior year of high school. My track coach substitutes regular practice with yoga. During that time I had painful back pains. Yoga expanded my horizon of relaxation and helped reduced the pain. Yoga has not only helped with sports and pain but helped reduced stress and anxiety during hard times. When I would be stressing about school, work, or life issue would randomly stretch and do yoga. Using it as an outlet for anger. It helped me cope with the good and bad things happening in life. Yoga has also always been very unique to me. It is a form of art and stretching that allows the body the move in abnormal ways. With my teachings, I wish to promote self-worth, beauty, and hard work. With my career goal, I wish to expand the number of people working in the athletic medicine field, especially women. In order to convince them to join, I must promote positively how they can change the world. Especially for colored women interested in medicine or sports medicine like I am. Spreading this positive energy and loving force will influence Black women to continue to study medicine. Making places like the ER, dentist's office, and Doctors' office a more comfortable place.

With the pandemic cutting my extra-curricular activities short and making volunteering impossible, the only activity I can faithfully describe is working. I am a Support Manager at a Mcdonald's. I have been working there for about three years working. My job consists of guiding and correcting the crew during my shift. Not only do I redirect, but also guide customers to satisfaction. Describing my financial situation would be easy to illustrate if I knew where to begin. My mother is a single mother of five children. With time comes change, and as we were getting older it was somewhat harder for my mother to balance home, five children, and two jobs. Receiving this scholarship would be a blessing. Impacting not only mine but my mother's faith that I will be able to get through school successfully. Upon graduation, I aspire to be happy first. If I am to be successful first and not happy, the success will not be able to be appreciated properly. Overall, upon and after graduation and a huge goal is to work professionally with the NBA or NFL. Simply to show that African American women need to make more of an appearance in the sports field.