Kriti G.

$1,000 Scholarships.com Science Scholarship Award Winner

Every morning, I wake up, grumble unconsciously, and traverse to the bathroom. By the time I’m dressed, fed, and watered, I briskly walk to school. At school, my route is habitual: AP Calculus to Spanish to English, and AP Physics to AP Government to Journalism. After school, I exercise the use of my legs even more rigorously when Coach announces, “It’s quarter-mile interval day!” The next hour is spent circumnavigating the track, and afterwards, I treat myself to a walk back home. Welcome to my average day.

And now, take a moment to imagine this average day if, say, I lost the ability to walk. I cannot fathom it. Every time adversity knocks on my doorstep, this is the first thought I come to. And it’s not outlandish for me to wonder this so often, because I almost did lose use of my legs.

I suffered from a severe calcium deficiency at an early age, and was advised to live the remainder of my life in a wheelchair. But I didn’t agree with the predicted outcome, so I limped. I wobbled. I balanced. And just months later, I walked. Now, I don’t just walk – I run. And when I run, I run with perspective. This perspective is what fuels my pursuit of medicine so effortlessly, the reason I pursue it with such passion.

I know there are individuals who have lost limbs, and some of them don’t have the healthcare to support them. People in poverty often have lost critical body parts, and after almost losing such an important aspect of my life, I am determined to make their lives easier. They also suffer from malnourishment, so I've decided to study nutritional science to gain insight on how that obstacle can be overcome. It will be a difficult but rewarding task to pursue the subject I’m most passionate about, science, and use my knowledge to ease other lives. We all worry about such people, but I want to be the one to actually help them. So I walked. I ran. And now, I’m going to take this dream, and fly.