Like many, my first year as a college student was filled with self-discovery, obstacles, and triumphs. The best decision I made that year was taking a class about leadership that empowered me to be a mentor for a middle college student. We connected very well because we were both first generation college students, came from low socio-economic single parent homes, and possessed a strong love of reading. We discussed the experience of being one of the only female black students in both of our college science classes and the impact that had on our educational journey. My mentee was a Medicaid recipient in a rural area, so her access to adequate medical care was highly limited. I tutored her in chemistry and supported her throughout her educational journey. Tragically, her mother passed away at the end of the semester due to socioeconomic barriers to healthcare. This helped me realize that my calling lies in addressing health disparities, specifically those affecting vulnerable ethnic groups and immigrants and using my experience to connect and inspire other people. I plan to reduce the incidence of preventable diseases through increased education and screenings and early treatment of these diseases in these populations while simultaneously addressing some of the social barriers involved with medical care. I also plan to mentor other high school students and college students, to be a beacon of light, person of expertise and a pillar of support because I have felt the impact personally and witnessed firsthand, the true benefit it can provide.

At the tender age of nine years old, I told my aunt that I wanted to be a people doctor so that I could help others. Moving forward half a decade, the premature sudden death of my beloved Godmother to metastatic ovarian cancer, once again sparked my interest in medicine and becoming a physician. After years of determination, tenacity, rejections, and a true realization of my passion, I have finally been accepted to medical school and I am about to embark on this journey of fulfillment one of my greatest dreams. I have received financial aid in the form of loans with no additional funds available. I do not have enough loans to cover all my costs for my first year of school. This has greatly dampened my ability to celebrate this monumental achievement as well as exponentially increase my stress levels. If I received $1000, I would purchase all my books and supplies for school, so that way I could reduce my stress and began to truly feel the excitement I deserve to feel. I want to have all the necessary supplies needed to be prepared for school and perform to the best of my ability as a medical student and ultimately as a physician.

I have several practices that I perform when I need to mentally wind down. I use to help clear my mind. I enjoy really listening to music and dancing because it is a fun way to make my body feel renewed. There is a sense of peace that comes with functional movement. It promotes nervous system regulation, and I can feel myself becoming mentally calmer as I dance. I have found studies that show functional movement helps reduce mental health symptomology. I have sagacity that brings me comfort that I write down in my journal such as “I deserve rest and to take breaks,” and “Growth is not a lateral process.” They help serve as gentle reminders that I am doing a great job and I am a human, not a super machine that needs to always be busy or working. It also helps me to remember that even on the harder days or the days that I do not feel like my best self, I am more than enough. Journaling my feelings to express myself, in a safe space free from judgement and fear, is therapeutic to me. While I am writing, I let my mind be free from any confines and in turn can write as my raw authentic self. I attempt daily to begin my day with meditation and a positive affirmation to set a good tone. I use an app on my phone that sends me affirmations and sometimes I create my own. I wake up and instead of immediately grabbing my phone, I go through a guided gradual wake up program that includes gentle stretching and grateful mindfulness. I enjoy scenic nature walks on a beautiful day. I like the watching the leaves on the trees rhythmically swaying with the cool breeze as I take a deep breath of fresh air. I can clearly hear the birds chirp and watch the squirrels scamper up trees, just existing in their natural habitat. The simplicity of nature yet the beauty is astonishing to me. I am always in awe of nature, and it reminds me that I am a small part of the large ecosystem that we live in and that brings me serenity. I enjoy biking as a way of clearing my mind. For me, it is less stress on my joints but still a good way to get cardio in and get some vitamin D from the sun. I drink hot tea, flavorful and/or medicinal, as an effective stress reliever. I have a variety of tea that I consume on a regular basis, but I especially enjoy a fresh aromatic cup of green, chamomile or lavender. I complete moderate strength training and functional training exercises weekly because this activity somehow simultaneously frees yet focuses my mind while challenging my body. I receive a rush of happy endorphins every time I complete a tough workout and feel my anxiety levels drastically decrease. After years of trial and error, I have found these tips and resources work very well for me. I prioritize balance in my life, and I am always enthusiastic to use new resources or learning new tips because as I evolve and grow, so does my mentality and enjoyment avenues.

Someone I admire from history is Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler. She was the first African American woman to receive a medical degree in the United States in 1864. She also wrote a book in 1884 that was one of the very first medical publications by an African American. I admire her because she went against social norms to go after her dream of helping others through the form becoming a physician. I would have loved to discuss with her how she was able to be so brave and resilient when faced with a demonstrable amount of adversity and obstacles. I currently am feeling slightly daunted by the fact that I will be one of the only African American women in my upcoming medical school class, so it is unimaginable what she went through. I also admire her because she worked as a nurse before becoming a doctor and I currently work as a nurse. This makes me feel comforted that I am not the African American who has taken this unconventional approach to becoming a physician. She really broke the mold with her accomplishment, and she is one of my biggest inspirations. African American women make up about 3% of the physicians in America. This is disproportionate to the percentage of African American women in the population. Representation has been statistically shown to improve the quality of care and health outcomes for African American patients. She helped create opportunities for other African American women to make an impact in our healthcare system today and that has made me to commend her immensely.

During my post-baccalaureate, I took a public health class that focused on mental health and well-being. I enjoyed this class because I am passionate about destigmatizing mental health, especially regarding addressing this with healthcare treatment. One of the most impactful assignments I have ever completed was for this class and it was called a resiliency plan. The plan made me reflect on a difficulty or challenge I had and then create a resilience plan related to that experience. It made me identify supportive people in my life, strategies that helped keep me centered, and problem-solving strategies I used during that time. I also had to express sagacity that gave me comfort and hope. That exercise helped me to see what people, behaviors, and skills that I possess to help me overcome situations. After doing this, I created a template resiliency plan that I can apply to any situation in my life. I found that I have multiple streams of love and emotional support in the form of familial relationships and platonic friendships. I also realized that I use journaling, dance, biking, yoga and quality time with friends and family, were tools that I used to help improve my mental health. A practical solution to helping people who struggle with mental health is to have them create a resiliency plan to examine what positive people, adaptative coping mechanisms, wise expressions, and problem-solving skills they have. It can allow for deep introspection, which is important key to addressing mental health struggles. I firmly believe you must understand and learn who you are, in order to develop and identify sense of self. Growth and development and addressing mental health struggles can only come from healthy self-analysis.

As I sat in the office of academic support because I had an overall grade of 9% in my freshman chemistry class, I realized that I did not truly understand the time commitment and effort it would take for me to be success in college. I was enrolled in multiple notoriously difficult science courses simultaneously and working part-time to pay my bills. I realized very quick I did not possess efficient time management and studying skills. I really wanted to be successful in college, especially with the pressure of being a first-generation student coming from a lower socioeconomic background with limited financial support. I was tested and ultimately diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD). Once I had this diagnosis, I began diligently working to determine the most effective learning and studying style for myself. I found and completed online tests and began trial and error. I spent hours reading research about how people live with this condition as college students. I also started taking medication for a short period of time, while I learned techniques and tips to help manage my condition and symptomology. I began creating schedules, plans and to-do lists. I started using timers and going to the library to help me focus. I started tutoring for my most challenging class and reaching out to professors for assistance. The most important technique I learned that truly helped me be successful was developing kindness towards myself and resting, which created balance for the first time and enhanced my overall productivity because I was prioritizing my mental health as well. My passion, perseverance, and resilience were the three main ingredients in the recipe of my success in overcoming this challenge. After receiving my undergraduate degree, I attended nursing school while working full-time and graduated at the top of my class. This feat was not easily achieved, and I know that overcoming the challenges of my undergraduate educational journey, played a major role in that achievement. Overall, I learned that obstacles and barriers will occur and the key to overcoming them is tenacity, dedication, and discipline despite adversity and obstacles. I learned that growth is not linear, and self-reflection is incredibly important for helping to hold myself accountable. I also learned that I am more resilient and capable than I ever imagined. This helped me to congratulate myself for small wins. I also use my experience to help inspire others, in hopes that they do not have to learn the same way I did. I still use the knowledge I learned to aid in my overall work-life functioning, and I plan to continue to use this as a medical student, to ensure successful completion of my educational and vocational goals.

I had my first dance recital at the age of 8 and I still vividly remember the feelings of nervousness and joy while I danced on that stage. There were hundreds of people watching, including my mother. My team won an award for third place overall and I knew then and there, I found something I would always find immense joy in participating in. I no longer dance competitively but I still dance regularly and frequently. I found that dance is not only good for conditioning the body, physically but it helps me to decompress and release tension. As the music plays and my body begins moving in sync, everything else fades away into the abyss. The sense of peace I get while I'm in my zone dancing is a profound feeling. I participated in an integrative medicine program and I chose my research presentation topic to discuss how dancing and functional movement can reduce depression, anxiety, and dementia symptoms in patients. It also helps with neuroregulation for people with attention deficit hyperactive disorder. I am passionate about incorporating dancing/movement into my future practice as a physician as a fun and unique way to improve my patient's mental and physical health.

Mental health is extremely important to me as I have had to work extensively concerning my mental well-being. When I got to college, I realized I didn't have adaptative coping mechanisms for stress and anxiety. I had trouble finding a balance between my schoolwork, vocational work, and resting; as a result, my grades began to suffer. I decided to reach out to our on-campus counseling center in hopes of improving my mental health and life overall. Starting the journey of therapy and growth was the best decision I could have made for myself. I further witnessed firsthand how mental health affects other aspects of someone’s life. I can still distinctly recall many of the patients I had the pleasure of working with. My first vocational experience that showed the gravity of mental health and how it impacts people in society was when I worked as a psychiatric sitter. I worked with a 5-year-old girl who was being admitted due to her being kicked out of 3 daycares for her aggressive behavior. I was astounded that my patient was so young and had such serious concerns. I later found out that she was a victim of sexual assault. I sat beside patients who were almost 100 years old, while they told me they wanted to die. I have had hours of conversations about traumas that caused people to not want to be alive anymore. I had patients who were more worried about how they were going to pay their bills after missing work, and it seemed to exacerbate their stress levels. This role as a psychiatric sitter truly showed me that mental health affects every part of your life and can control your future if not addressed. Without this position and experience in my life, I wouldn't have known that mental health encompasses so many variables and that no one person’s life or experiences are the same. I was a listening ear for most of my patients. Other times I kept them company by just my presence alone or by playing board games with them. I learned about how important adaptative coping mechanisms are to be resilient and push through the darker moments that life threw at me sometimes. I found myself being more grateful and improving my attitude about life and situations. I took it a step further and evaluated my attitudes and behaviors to see if they served me in times of need. Another stark example of how important psychosocial factors are was shown to me when I worked as an emergency department nurse. I assisted with a procedure to reattach two mutilated fingers on a young female patient. Her primary concern was not the pain or profuse bleeding, but rather the effect of her injury on her job as a server. Was she listening when the provider gave aftercare for the procedure or was her attention concentrated on her potential financial devastation? The physician I worked with that day was phenomenal, and together we not only sewed her hand together, but we made sure to provide financial resources to aid her. We informed her of careers where she could still work effectively in her condition with her experience. However, perhaps more important than the medical care, we provided her with access to mental health care. She went from hysterically crying to laughing and thanking us as she left. Although I understand that diagnosis and traditional medical treatment may be the primary goal, I have discovered the critical nature of addressing a patient's psychological, social, and economic needs if the best outcomes are going to be achieved. Thus, I begin embarking on my journey of utilizing my unique ability to connect with others to help enhance their lives by becoming a physician and making mental health advocacy and implementation a priority. Overall, through my experiences, I learned that mental health and well-being display differently for everyone as stated before. We all have different realities and make different decisions due to varying levels of coping skills, experience, and support. I realized that every aspect of my life and experiences has influenced who I am today. I am now intentional with my relationships with friends, family, and my partner. I have learned coping skills and strategies that influence my resilience and I am constantly seeking ways to improve my resilience; looking to handle situations even better the next time. I want to inspire and motivate others to do the same, personally and professionally.

I first found I had a passion for promoting health equity and caring for the whole person when I started working in the emergency department. I consistently cared for patients who lacked adequate access to care due to homeless, lack of health insurance and language barriers. They used the emergency department as primary care leading to lack of continuity of care, preventive education, and preventive screenings. I realized how stressful it was for these patients, who sometimes would be recommended certain procedures or hospitalizations, and would decline due to money, work, or childcare. This cycle of treating the problem also cost the hospital a lot of money. I have discharged patients to no address, patients who needed urgent surgeries but declined because they could not afford to miss work and patients with blood pressures over 200 systolic who had no primary care physician. Through this work, I have found that I want to improve the quality of life and health for these patients through education, advocacy, and outreach within the community as an osteopathic physician. My background and experiences make me an individual that can contribute to the inclusivity and diversity I want to bring to the physician community. I am a first generation, non-traditional Black woman who has been employed most of my undergraduate educational journey. This identity followed me as a nurse technician, where I took care of anyone who walked through the doors of the hospital, no matter their insurance status, income or ethnicity. I worked in customer service for almost 6 years, where I interacted with and resolved issues for a multitude of customers. I learned how to be culturally sensitive, resolve conflicts, and empathize with my customers and cashiers. By being someone who understands how to navigate culturally sensitive situations in a business setting, those skills translated to my nursing career. There were times when I was told a patient speaks and understands fluent English, but when I would ask questions, I could see hesitation or confusion. I would then inquire if English were their first language, and what other languages they spoke followed by enlisting assistance from an interpreter. I wanted to make sure that I was providing appropriate access to the patient by embracing and addressing their linguistic needs. I learned that in order to provide truly effective care and make a meaningful connection, every person’s unique qualities need to be celebrated. Since becoming a nurse, I have learned how to effectively communicate with patients, how to coordinate care with interdisciplinary healthcare team members, creative ways to educate the patient, how to critically think when assessing a patient, and clinical techniques. This diverse wealth of experience, knowledge and skills that I possess will allow me to examine my biases and continue to educate myself to be a culturally competent physician that promotes diversity. I am starting medical school as a non-traditional student and due to that have expenses that are not accounted for in the cost of attendance for my school. My loans only cover rent, utilities, books, and supplies. I still need additional funding for vehicle and transportation cost, groceries, cell service, care insurance and any miscellaneous costs. Receiving this scholarship would enable me to worry less about my living expenses and allow me to spend more time effectively and efficiently preparing to become a physician and engaging with the community through service. I want to complete my osteopathic medical education and complete an international medical mission trip to a Spanish speaking country, operate a wellness center, teach medicine and health equity, and conduct research regarding promotion and addressing of health inequities.

Of all the lessons I've learned in my healthcare experience, the most crucial is the understanding of the patient as more than a diagnosis. One poignant example of this was when I assisted a procedure to attempt to reattach two fingers on a young female patient. Her primary concern was not the pain or profuse bleeding, but rather the effect of her injury on her job as a server. Was she listening when the provider gave aftercare for the procedure or was her attention concentrated on her potential financial devastation? The physician I worked with that day was phenomenal, and together we not only sewed her hand together, but we made sure to provide financial resources to aid her. However, perhaps more important than the medical care, we provided her with access to mental health care. She went from hysterically crying to laughing and thanking us as she left. Although I understand that diagnosis and traditional medical treatment may be my primary goal, I have discovered the critical nature of addressing a patient's psychological, social, and economic needs if best outcomes are going to be achieved. Thus, I am embarking on my journey of utilizing my unique ability to connect with others in an effort to help enhance their lives. The best decision I made my first year of college was taking a class about leadership that empowered me to be a mentor for a middle college student. My mentee and I connected very well because we were both first generation college students, came from low socio-economic single parent homes, and possessed a strong love of reading. My mentee was a Medicaid recipient in a rural area, with limited access to care. I tutored her in chemistry and supported her throughout her educational journey. Tragically, her mother passed away at the end of the semester due to socioeconomic barriers to healthcare. This helped me realize that my calling lies in promoting health equity, especially those affecting vulnerable ethnic groups and immigrants. I plan to help reduce the incidence of preventable diseases through increased education, screenings and early treatment of diseases in these populations while simultaneously addressing some of the social barriers involved with medical care. I currently work for a managed care organization that primarily works with Medicaid recipients. I have the unique opportunity to collaborate with culturally diverse populations, while effectively navigating the medical complexities they face and addressing socioeconomic barriers. As a nurse care manager, I work towards coordinating care for the members of the health plan and facilitating the appropriate delivery of health care services by utilizing my clinical knowledge and supporting with various activities and services. Safe living conditions and transportation concerns are two common issues that occur with the families. The most profound lesson I am learning in this role, is finding commonalities, and respecting the differences between myself, the members, and their families. I have taken the time to understand what they value and the best way to communicate with them, enabling me to arrive at a treatment plan that will improve their health while respecting their wishes. As a medical student and physician, I am eager to approach my patients with a holistic model of care to provide excellent care for the community and a healthier future for generations to come. In many of the experiences I’ve had in my clinical career, my patients could not focus on their physical health due to other confounding factors that were rooted in their psychological state or social conditions. I am looking forward to utilizing my experience and passion to treat people beyond simply their diagnosis.