Stories of success often come with tales of resilience, hard work, and unwavering dedication. For me, the embodiment of success is my mother. She is a remarkable individual whose achievements and character have profoundly influenced my life. Her journey from being a dedicated teacher to a stay-at-home mother and then to a working mother is inspiring and has significantly impacted my goals and aspirations. This essay explores her influence on my personal journey and the transformative impact of receiving this scholarship over the past year, which aligns closely with my mother’s teachings. My mother began her career as a passionate teacher, dedicated to educating and empowering her students. Her commitment to education and her ability to inspire young minds earned her respect and admiration within the community. Her teaching career was not merely a job but a calling. She would spend hours after school helping students who struggled, never hesitating to reach out to them for additional tutoring. Her passion for teaching extended beyond the classroom as she engaged with parents and the community to ensure that education was valued and accessible to all. Later, she chose to focus on our family and became a dedicated homemaker. This transition was not an easy one. It involved a great deal of introspection and courage to step away from a successful career to focus on family and home life. In her new role, she continued to demonstrate the same commitment and dedication she had shown as a teacher. She managed our household with grace and efficiency, creating a nurturing and supportive environment for our family. My academic and personal journey has been deeply influenced by my mother’s example. Before receiving this very scholarship, I faced several challenges, including financial constraints and the pressure to excel academically. Despite these hurdles, I aspired to pursue higher education and make a meaningful impact in my community, much like my mother. Her encouragement and unwavering support played a crucial role in shaping my goals. She often reminded me that obstacles are merely stepping stones to success and that standing up for one's beliefs is essential. Inspired by her resilience and advocacy, I worked diligently in my studies, participated in extracurricular activities, and sought out opportunities for personal and academic growth. Her emphasis on the importance of education motivated me to apply for scholarships and seek financial aid, knowing that these resources would help me achieve my dreams. As I look to the future, I am determined to continue embodying the principles my mother taught me and utilize the opportunities this scholarship has afforded me, and I can only hope for the privilege of being gifted it once more. I aspire to achieve my career goals in the public health field, contribute positively to society as an epidemiologist, and inspire others just as my mother has inspired me. The journey ahead is filled with possibilities, and with the foundation built by my mother’s influence and the scholarship’s support, I am confident in my ability to succeed. My mother’s life and achievements have profoundly shaped my understanding of success. She has shown me that true success is not solely about personal accomplishments but also about the positive impact one has on others. Her dedication to education, unwavering support, and commitment to our family and community have been the foundation of my own success. I am determined to continue embodying the principles my mother taught me, striving for excellence, and empowering others. With the foundation built by her influence and the scholarship’s support, I am confident in my ability to succeed and make a positive difference in the world.

Success is a multifaceted term whose meaning varies from person to person. Some may equate it with wealth and financial stability, while others see it as living a life of fulfillment and achievement. Regardless of how you define it, success is a beautifully complex metric by which individuals measure the value of themselves and life. When I think of defining this metric as a person, my father stands out the most among others. My grandparents when recalling my father as a child liked to say that he was born with a fire ignited in his heart. He was born in the small rural village of Gujrat, Pakistan in 1978 to a blended family of siblings plenty. Growing up in such a crowded household proved to have its disadvantages, however, having to claw his way through people to the dinner table and battle for a turn in the shower taught him traits that made him a persuasive, cunning, and adaptable adult. In his early years, he wasn’t the most academically inclined student in high school- a rambunctious boy with a rebellious streak is mostly how my grandparents would describe him. He didn’t care much for his mathematics or literature classes and found himself drifting away during lectures. The one subject he found himself enthralled in was the arts. My father found himself lost in the realms of sculpting and theater, but being the son of an imam came with pressure to follow that path. My grandfather discouraged him from pursuing a career in theater, breaking my father’s heart. Years later he was in a daze about what to do with his career after dropping out of college and found himself in San Francisco, and even later, he met the beautiful and sharp woman to later be my mother. Her pregnancy with me was unexpected and once again put pressure on my father, but this time he didn’t buckle. Using his fantastic persuasive skills and knowledge about other people, he forced himself out of his own introversion for the sake of my mother and Is future. Film, advertising, and sales were all fields he found himself able to thrive in- balancing both his desire for creativity and determination for a stable income. When the door of opportunity ever opened, my father never hesitated to insert his foot in the way. There aren't enough words in the English language that could suffice in describing my adoration for my father, nor is there enough time to admire the obstacles my father overcame for the sake of his family. His ability to come from a small rural village in Pakistan to then the United States, and furthermore work his way to the top of world-renowned companies such as PIMCO without any formal education or internal networking is astounding- and he achieved these goals fueled solely by the love he holds for his family. For these reasons alone, when I think of a single person to embody the definition of success- my father is the most worthy candidate.