Rotary Scholarship Applications

• Service Above Self
• Bigelow

I currently volunteer at Willamette Falls Providence Hospital. A typical day includes signing patients into the system, directing people, bringing flowers to rooms, discharging patients, etc. The experience makes me feel as though I am making a difference to my community and around other people that care about making a contribution to a greater good. I started volunteering 10/20/2024. I go in once a week on Thursdays for 2.5-4 hours in the evening. They require that you volunteer for at least 6 months before quitting. Something I have come to reckon with in healthcare situations, though also in society overall, is the hesitation to discuss difficult times. And elderly people often have to grieve many losses, so how do you handle talking about it with tact and sensitivity? Personally I do not believe in avoiding those tough conversations. Last Christmas eve at the hospital I asked an elderly man what he was doing for the holidays as I walked him to Diagnostic Imaging check in. He told me he wasn't doing much since his wife died recently, and he looked pained by the thought. I wished him the best. Another volunteer overheard the exchange and said "That's why you gotta be careful what you ask people." By asking elderly people questions (even general sometimes, like "how are you?") you are sometimes putting them in the situation of either forcing them to lie and pretend they are okay, or admit to a struggle they may not want to discuss. However, opposingly there is likely also a strong number of individuals who would like to talk about what they are dealing with as means to feel less alone.

There is nothing requiring me to help out in my community, I do it because I enjoy it. I used to be in scouts for many years, and we did activities that qualified as community service, including vine clean ups, building fences, and conducting food drives. I am currently enrolled in the interact club at my school, where we do community service activities such as the "fun run" for wells in Africa, greeting people at events (like Lakewood Center of the Arts and River Grove elementary excellence awards) I must also add that I visit my grandmother quite frequently. While that is admittedly selfish (I do it because I love her), it is also contributing to my individual hemisphere in a productive and important way. During my transition toward adulthood, my dynamic with her has shifted. Instead of coming to her house and her rubbing my back and giving me cookies, I take out the tr

I believe I am a strong candidate for the Bigelow Memorial Scholarship because of the adversity I have faced over my 18 years, as well as my good grades, activities, and overall perseverance. I have a GPA of 3.5, I am in two clubs (medical club and interact club). I keep busy with volunteering at a hospital, participating in the Program for Scientific Inquiry (an internship through OHSU), and working three days a week as a server at a retirement community.

When I was freshly 15, I was convinced I was unlovable. So when I got sexually assaulted, I was glad. I was glad someone would want to talk to me and touch me. I confused my attachment for love. Eventually I got over it, as most are forced to do. When people are unable to forget, they are unable to heal. So I forgot it.

I hate to be pessimistic, but the lesson it taught me, while sharm, was an important one. It taught me that you accept the love you think you deserve. As I write this, I recall a few months, when I almost got sexually assaulted again for the first time in three years. When I verbalized my resistance (about forty times), I heard a fear in my voice that hadn't been there in a long time. It sounded like someone else was speaking. It was almost an out of body experience. That time I knew what to do. I didn't freeze–I fought. And that was why I was spared. Unfortunately it was something I had to experience previously to know how to react.

I have also experienced some difficulties within my family. As I have grown older, I better understand my family's financial burden. My parents divorced when I was 3, after my father left my mom for another woman right after she gave birth to my brother. My mom's mother was also a single mother (of 3) and a teacher so the lack of stability (in multiple aspects) has been passed through generations, one could say. My father was recently laid off (he is a state worker), and I still don't have accessible healthcare. He let me know he has no intentions of helping me with college, and that the child care he pays my mom should be enough. This said, my relationship with him is a bit rocky. He also lives 3 hours away, which doesn't help.

I have been depressed essentially my entire high school career, which has contributed a lot to burnout and anxiety. I have found myself compulsively skin picking, has lead to issues with scarring. In turn, this has piqued my interest in tissue engineering; I've thought a bit more about potential treatments, as I am going to be a

I am currently enrolled at Oregon State University. I will be entering as a Freshman in the fall of 2025.

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