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Danica Palmer

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Bio

I am a high school senior at Upper Merion Area High School, I currently volunteer at the parks and recreation center by helping kids with homework and comprehension skills. I aspire to become a cardiothoracic surgeon and inspire younger black and brown girls like me to keep giving back and going after their dreams !!! I was accepting into 13 schools, but I didn't receive enough financial aid at any school to cover me for college starting this fall of 2022.

Education

Upper Merion Hs

High School
2019 - 2022

Miscellaneous

  • Desired degree level:

    Bachelor's degree program

  • Majors of interest:

    • Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Other
    • Human Biology
  • Not planning to go to medical school
  • Career

    • Dream career field:

      Medicine

    • Dream career goals:

      Cardiothoracic Surgeon

      Sports

      Softball

      Junior Varsity
      2020 – 20211 year

      Track & Field

      Varsity
      Present

      Tennis

      Junior Varsity
      2021 – 20221 year

      Awards

      • best team player

      Future Interests

      Advocacy

      Politics

      Volunteering

      Philanthropy

      Entrepreneurship

      Snap Finance Young Women for STEM Scholarship
      I want to be a physician because I have always been so fascinated by how the human body works and how everything comes together. Everything has its own job so the body can run to the best of its abilities. I want to make people feel better/happy when they are down and not at their best. Helping people brings me joy that one person can come into your life and light up your day. I want change in the medical field. Many minorities get discouraged and think they are limited to sports and business careers when they can pursue so much more in their lives. There is not enough coverage/ representation of people of color in the medical field. Medicine is in our future, why not try to inspire kids at a young age or even older that they can be a doctor, a nurse, or a surgeon. They can succeed in a career in medicine and not be limited due to their circumstances of living in poverty. Inspiring people and bringing people joy is what I want to do. I want to lead other people that look like me to be a physician. I want to help others regardless of their circumstances or disadvantages. Being a physician is so joy-filled to see patients being happy, but it can also bring you sadness and that’s okay because you need a balance between the two to keep you afloat. All those long hours of studying, hard work, and being frustrated are fulfilled at the end of your journey with smiles, laughter, and tears. Not only are you changing your life every day, but you’re changing someone else’s life every day too. This career helps you become a better person every day because it requires you to put a stranger first before yourself. You are making decisions that would affect someones’ daily lifestyle. I believe that I can influence the tech world be working with people who create mechanical machines that could totally change the way we implant something or cure a disease. Young women need to be encouraged at a young age that they can do these things such as mechanical engineering, technical advances, and creating new formulas that change the world.
      Minority/Women in STEM Scholarship
      A challenge I had to overcome was getting to graduate early. I began my process in the second semester of my 10th grade year. I began my trial testing by an online charter school linked to my public school. This started in the middle of covid when everything was shut down. During this process I had a short time to get most of my work done. I had seven classes loaded onto my dashboard and I finished all of them before the school year ended in June, and I received the student of the quarter. Today I am still on the track to graduating early. Instead of doing a semester of work, I am doing a full year of work in 4 months which would be my whole 11th grade. I am sometimes stressed because I have to keep a time frame to get a lot of work done because I have tennis practice and volunteering and I want all of my work done by the end of November. If I stick to the time frame it gives me a month of break to sleep in and wake up to a delicious breakfast and enjoy the snow before I start my twelfth grade year. In January I will start my 12th grade year which I will be doing all of 12th grade in 6 months which is a little longer. This will probably be less stressful since I have a little bit longer to get my work done. I would have never been in this position if it wasn’t for my amazing mother. When I told my mom I wanted to graduate early in high school my mom encouraged me to advocate for myself to get things done, because if you don’t do it nobody will do it for you. This was a process of 3 years of no’s, I never stopped asking and finally, they gave in and I got that YES and started the process of graduating early. This is getting me one step closer to becoming a doctor and next is graduating early from college. Making me another step closer to making my mark in the medical field encouraging younger generations of minorities left and right that they can become successful in whatever they do as long as you have dedication and hard work and make an effort for yourself. I want to be a physician because I have always been super fascinated by how the human body works and how everything comes together. Everything has its job so the body can run to the best of its abilities. I want to make people feel better/happy when they are down and not at their best. Helping people brings me joy that one person can come into your life and light up your day. I want to change in the medical field. Many minorities get discouraged and think they are limited to sports and business careers when they can pursue so much more in their lives. There is not enough coverage/ representation of people of color in the medical field. Medicine is in our future, why not try to inspire kids at a young age or even older that they can be a doctor, a nurse, or a surgeon. They can succeed in a career in medicine and not be limited due to their circumstances of living in poverty.
      Lucille Hobbs Education Scholarship
      I want to be a physician because I have always been so fascinated by how the human body works and how everything comes together. Everything has its own job so the body can run to the best of its abilities. I want to make people feel better/happy when they are down and not at their best. Helping people brings me joy that one person can come into your life and light up your day. I want change in the medical field. Many minorities get discouraged and think they are limited to sports and business careers when they can pursue so much more in their lives. There is not enough coverage/ representation of people of color in the medical field. Medicine is in our future, why not try to inspire kids at a young age or even older that they can be a doctor, a nurse, or a surgeon. They can succeed in a career in medicine and not be limited due to their circumstances of living in poverty. Inspiring people and bringing people joy is what I want to do. I want to lead other people that look like me to be a physician. I want to help others regardless of their circumstances or disadvantages. Being a physician is so joy-filled to see patients being happy, but it can also bring you sadness and that’s okay because you need a balance between the two to keep you afloat. All those long hours of studying, hard work, and being frustrated are fulfilled at the end of your journey with smiles, laughter, and tears. Not only are you changing your life every day, but you’re changing someone else’s life every day too. This career helps you become a better person every day because it requires you to put a stranger first before yourself. You are making decisions that would affect someones’ daily lifestyle. I want to make my impact on my community and remember for doing what is has been the most meaningful to me is when I volunteer to help kids with their reading homework and comprehension skills. I always thought that a parent/teacher would realize that a child cannot read. I quickly realized that living in a rough neighborhood, some kids get overlooked because of their athletic talents. Parents/teachers don’t take the time to help them learn this simple fundamental skill. Most of the kids I've helped with reading were young but you’d be surprised at the kids in middle/high school that can’t read a fourth-grade level book. Reading simple sentences like “Maria went to investigate mischievous endeavors of Mrs. Mcgee”. Kids should know how to read at an early age to help them succeed. Helping kids read, learn math, and helping, in general, is something that brings me joy. In the recreation center where I volunteered there was a reading nook where you could check the books out as long as you returned them. We would practice reading and get every word down pact and the next day they would read them back to me and afterward they would pick out a different book. When they get older they’re going to look back on these special moments and realize how much of an impact a couple of hours every week could make. These moments are precious to me because they are going to shape me into a great person and a great physician. One day this may lead a younger generation of kids to continue to give back to their community and help others in need.