When I was a young girl, my dad would go out almost every night to drink and gamble. He would spend any money that he could get access to, including money from my piggy bank. I remember coming home from school one day and finding that my dad replaced all of the cash in my piggy bank with fake monopoly money. When I asked him about it, he laughed cynically and said that kids do not need real money and that he needed the money more. Not only did he take my money, but also he took my mother’s money. Without my mother realizing it, he opened credit cards in her name and caused her to file for bankruptcy. Due to our financial burdens, the bank foreclosed on our house, and we moved into a small apartment when I was about eight years old. Even though this happened a little over ten years ago, my mother and I are still struggling financially, and my mother just got her credit score back to a good score. My mother has worked incredibly hard as a single parent to provide me with an excellent education thus far. However, it has not been easy to pay for all the expenses of a college education. I am applying for this scholarship because I want to help cover some college costs and help relieve my mother from our financial burdens. Additionally, this scholarship would help me pursue my dreams of becoming a pediatric oncologist. Unfortunately, pursuing an education in the medical field is not an easy task because it can cost up to hundreds of thousands of dollars, as you probably already know. Since my mother has worked so hard to help me pursue my dreams, I am working hard to find scholarships to cover school costs so that my mother does not have to worry anymore. If I have the privilege of being awarded this scholarship, I will use this to pay for the cost of taking the MCAT and for the cost of medical school applications. This will help me move further along in my journey to becoming a pediatric oncologist. I appreciate the opportunity to apply for a scholarship like this because it can help someone pursue further education.

My favorite artist is Kim Joy Magbanua, who is a full-time nurse and a self-taught artist. She uses medical syringes and needles to create what she calls inject art. Her art is unique and is a fascinating way to use her STEM background to create art. Her artwork has inspired me to find ways to infuse both my scientific side and creative side into everything that I do.

When I was eight, my grandma and I spent a day volunteering at a children’s hospital. After we began visiting patients, I saw all the joy that my visit brought them even though they were suffering so much. This encounter has inspired me to become a physician and a clinical researcher because I want to explore better therapeutics to relieve their physical ailments so that children just like these can play outside with their friends. Learning about their diseases sparked my curiosity about the molecular causes of diseases. Through volunteering at the children’s hospital, I learned that being a physician is about connecting with patients and doing everything to make them feel like themselves again, and this is the type of physician and clinical researcher that I aspire to be. After this encounter, I found myself most interested in the molecular basis of diseases. Thus, I am currently a senior majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology. After I obtain my degree, I plan to attend an MD/Ph.D. program to become a pediatric oncologist and a clinical researcher. To accomplish my career goals, I have participated in two different research programs. In 2019, I was selected to participate in a research program at Mercer University that worked with bacterial strains to grow, quantify, and inhibit biofilm formation and to design, develop, and test potential biofilm inhibiting drugs. This biofilm formation, which allows antibiotic resistance strains to be turned on or off, occurs in bacterial infections, so the bacterial biofilm inhibiting drugs designed in this research will be used to target bacterial infections and will combat the antibiotic-resistant problem. Currently, I am researching RERG, which is a tumor suppressor gene found in breast cancer patients. Little is known about this gene, so I am trying to determine how it interacts inside the cell and its signaling pathway to better understand it. This research will potentially lead to a better way to suppress tumor growth. Throughout my MD/Ph.D. and in my career, I am specifically interested in researching cancer biology. Through these fields, I can find alternative therapeutics to treat the diseases of the children who originally inspired me to pursue medical research. Additionally, through the tumor suppressor gene that I am currently working with, I became interested in alternative ways that various types of cancer can be treated. Specifically, I am interested in researching how cancer signaling pathways spread tumors within the body and in learning how to use the tumor suppressor to inhibit cancer tumor growth. I desire to learn techniques involving signal transduction pathways to better understand how these pathways work inside the body. These potential medical discoveries interest me because I want to change the world by providing better treatments for diseases while working directly with patients. In conclusion, I am excited to continue my journey into my career as a physician and a clinical researcher. To achieve my dream of becoming a physician and clinical researcher in cancer biology, I plan to continue my current research in a tumor suppressor. After I obtain my MD/Ph.D., I plan on specializing in pediatric oncology as well as continuing cancer research. I plan on doing a fellowship after my MD/Ph.D. and residency to learn more about oncology research.