This January I completed a homework assignment for my anatomy class on allergies and anaphylaxis as part of our chapter on the immune system. Unbeknown to me, the day after completing that assignment I would be admitted into the hospital for anaphylaxis myself. I am allergic to peanuts and tree nuts. I now carry an EpiPen with me wherever I go and hope that I never end up in a situation where I have to use it. Eating three tiny bites of fudge caused me to go into anaphylaxis; I do not know what kind of nut was in that fudge because the dessert shop did not put a list of ingredients on the box it came in. The possibility that maybe there were no nuts in the fudge itself, that instead maybe it simply touched another dessert that had nuts in it, is an even more worrying thought to me. I remember most of my hospitalization, especially the two nurses who cared for me. I told them that I wanted to be a nurse myself and they shared stories of their time in nursing school, promising to take amazing care of me so I could go to college too. This conversation further motivated me to pursue my dream of becoming a nurse because now I know what it feels like to be alone in a hospital bed wondering when I can go back home. I never want to feel that pain again and I do not want anyone else to feel that way either. This scholarship would go towards paying for nursing school so I can learn how to care for different medical conditions and graduate to one day work at a pediatric emergency room in a hospital. I want to challenge myself and work in an emergency room because I am drawn to this specialty’s fast-paced style. I currently volunteer at MCMC Darul-Ihsaan, a Sunday school, as a teaching assistant. Every morning the students gather in the cafeteria for morning assembly, where a guest speaker teaches them about the Quran for 30 minutes. One day the speaker brought in a candy bar that contained hazelnuts to give to children who answered her questions correctly. Seeing this alarmed me, as it brought up memories of my hospitalization. The children were not told that the candy contained hazelnuts and I wondered if any of them were allergic like I was. I shared my concerns with the assistant who was handing out pieces of the candy. The assistant told each child who received the candy that it had hazelnuts in it and that if they were allergic to it then we would give them a different candy next week instead. Once my students came into class I reminded them again to not eat the candy if they were allergic. Some of the students seemed confused as to why the staff kept reminding them of this, but I would rather they be informed than eat the candy just because it was candy. Health is something that everyone takes for granted and puts as their last priority in life. It is usually only when they get sick that they realize how important it is to take care of themselves. I was reading over my AP biology lab report as I ate that fudge in January and within a minute I had to leave the report on the table because my throat was closing up. This incident has taught me to look after myself and others because sometimes it can take less than a minute for an allergy to change your life forever.