Small town girl with big dreams

John Mitchell once said, “Our attitude towards life determines life’s attitude towards us.”

I positively believe that my purpose driven life will be full of valuable lessons not only for myself, but for those I come into contact with as well. For the past seventeen years, I have been raised in the small rural town of Roseboro, North Carolina. With a population of 1500, and few college educated citizens, Sampson County had little to offer considering the future that I desired to obtain. My motivation to broaden my horizons beyond the small city limits is the result of the traditional family upbringing of my nurturing parents. Being first generation college graduates, they realized the importance of higher education. I have always been an incredibly driven and focused student, but also an outgoing person who loves to be active and make a change.

In June 2007, I graduated from Lakewood High School within the top ten percentage of my class with a 4.2 grade point average. Unfortunately, my school was considered underprivileged due to the lack of Advanced Placement courses. I did not allow this to hinder my education; instead, I took classes at the local community college to earn college credit. I also participated in summer academic camps and two internships to further the knowledge I already acquired in my high school classes. My honors and college level courses taught me to overcome challenges and to push myself to finish what I’ve begun.

After receiving my bachelor’s degree in biology with a concentration in pharmaceutical sciences, I hope to earn my PharmD from Hampton University or the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. My ultimate goal is to become a clinical research pharmacist at a federal health agency, such as the Centers for Disease Control, National Institutes of Health, or the Food and Drug Administration. I want to perform medical trials on new drugs, monitor patients, and approve the drug’s efficiency for possible release to the market. I plan to specialize in a disease treatment area that directly affects African American women, such as diabetes or ovarian cancer.