- What specific experiences (honors or not) in the past year have had the most impact on your personal and professional trajectory? Articulate specific personal and/or professional goals for the next year.
- For this year-in-review, I would like to focus on an answering the question posted above. Compared to my past year-in-reviews, this year-in-review is much more personal and for the first time I really put thought into how I was going to answer this question because I wanted to be as authentic as possible. This past year was a difficult but exhilarating school year; I learned so much about myself and grew as a person and a student. Following my semester abroad, I decided I wanted to become more involved on campus which I did and I also decided to apply for a nationally competitive scholarship. Applying for a nationally competitive award is an experience in itself but I also gained so much more because of this experience than just the understanding of a nationally competitive award. In high school, I was in a relationship where I suffered mental, verbal, and physical abuse. My close friends/family knew of the situation, yet, I never was able to really talk about what I went through. In order to talk about a moment in my life that caused me to change my career trajectory, I had to face a lot of the facts/memories that I had never spoken out loud about before. Because of the personal statement and my ultimate career goal of working with women in similar situations, I had to come to terms with where I was as a survivor. This application allowed me the opportunity to grow in a way I never thought I would following what I endured in high school. Now, I am able to openly talk about what I went through without being ashamed and I can finally be an advocate for those who are either going through similar situations or went through a similar situation. I know I was lucky to get out of my relationship before it could get much worse and I know many don't have this opportunity. Since I brushed it under the rug, I could never truly move on and grow from the experience which in turn did not allow me to make the experience my own; colloquially, I was being a victim and not a survivor. Once my application was finished, I realized that I was finally taking control of my own narrative and not letting what happened define me but rather use it to empower myself to help others. Although in the end I did not win the award, I am truly so grateful for this experience because I was finally able to move on from an event that negatively impacted me for too long and turn it into something that I can talk about and be a survivor. Because of this experience, I restarted the Women Helping Women advocacy program at UC so I can be an advocate for women suffering relationship/domestic violence. Now, I am in control of my story and can move forward. This experience truly allowed me to blossom and positively impacted my career trajectory because I am now in a place where I can help others undergoing similar experiences and for that I will be forever grateful.