At the age of five, instead of starting kindergarten or spending time at playgrounds like most five-year-old kids, I was admitted to a local children’s hospital, receiving chemotherapy to combat the stage four cancer diagnosis I had received. At the time I couldn’t understand what was happening, but more importantly, I barely knew English. Perhaps this is why most of my memories are from healthcare workers who spoke Spanish, a nice familiarity that helped bring me and my family members some comfort at the time, especially those who had never had any experience with the healthcare system before.

This led me to a need I continued to see within my community, specifically in the Hispanic community, the number of people who weren’t receiving healthcare. As a cancer survivor, hospitals and the healthcare system were like second nature to me. So to see so many of my loved ones and the community neglecting it altogether was a bit of a shock. Their reasons included being scared of healthcare systems, struggling to communicate their needs clearly, or seeing it as an unnecessary expensive nuisance they had gone without for so many years. My perspective was so much different from theirs, and I acknowledged how their reasoning was valid but also brought up an important issue to mind. How could I change this? The healthcare system is such an immense system and has already started working towards fixing some of these issues. I decided I wanted to become a part of that effort.

Healthcare has always been the only thing I ever saw as a possible career avenue; every other path paled in comparison, and my once-piqued interest in other pathways always returned to the same route. This is why, along with my great interest in science, I have decided to go to college to continue studying science, specifically biology, which my two top school choices, the University of Missouri Kansas City and the University of Kansas, have great programs for. After completing a program and having gathered all the prerequisites, I want to apply to dental school. 9% of dentists on a national scale are Hispanic, and although the number of Spanish-speaking dentists must be greater, there is still a lack of representation, which is something I hope to add to by studying to become a dentist while also achieving my goal of making a difference in the healthcare system.

As previously mentioned, many of my loved ones were new to receiving healthcare or had extremely limited experiences. This is an even greater experience when it comes to dental care, a type of service that is often seen as one of the more unnecessary divisions of healthcare. Even my parents have just now begun receiving more routine dental care, something that was always an expectation and not an uncertainty for me. The need for more people in the Hispanic community to receive healthcare and feel safe in these spaces is something I want to advocate for as a healthcare worker in the future. This issue, however, is not only limited to my community; I only have personal experience and stories within my community, but I know this issue transcends race, ethnicity, and nationality. Everyone deserves the healthcare they need, and as someone who received life-saving treatments, I know just how important it truly is.

Even as a little girl fighting cancer, I knew how important it was to get the treatments I needed, and never did I feel like it was something that wasn’t accessible to me. These experiences crafted a unique perspective through which I wanted to make an impact for the ones who don’t see it as an option or haven’t had good experiences. I am only one person, but change does not always happen in a strong wave; it sometimes is a small splash, which I hope to be. I want to be a positive experience for some, but also a person who advocates for others and cares to provide these experiences and educate others. Through baby steps, I have seen changes within my household as my family members are more open to healthcare, but it won’t just stop here; I want to continue even past my own experiences and community.