Data For Good by Lauren

Data For Good by Lauren - December 2023 Scholarship Essay

“Don’t aim too high because black women are not represented in the tech industry”, my Dad told me when I was sixteen years old. When I started sharing my attraction for software development at school, I was told I was only filling a diversity quota and I should study something ‘easier. I learned that I can’t let their truth become mine.

In 2013, the United Nations did a campaign to bring attention to the sexist and discriminatory ways women are regarded and denied human rights. The Google search autosuggestions featured ideas such as, “Women should: “stay at home, be slaves, be in the kitchen” and more. I was shaken to my core when I learned what the autosuggestions and search results were when you typed in the words “black girls”. These discoveries reinforced the harsh advice from my dad and made me believe that having a career in the IT industry was not possible. I knew I had to do something about this issue.

Data discrimination is a real social problem. Women and minorities are disproportionately impacted by AI which increasingly dictates decisions around job opportunities, increases in wages, healthcare, and access to social services. This is a global problem but became a personal problem for me earlier this year when my grandfather passed away from COVID-19.

His health was hanging on by a thread by a combination of kidney failure, diabetes, and pneumonia from COVID-19 slowly taking away his ability to breathe on his own. My grandfather’s death continues to fuel my passion to ensure the intersection of data and technology will serve underserved populations from getting fair prices on personalized treatment plans to access to public housing.

Personalized medicine is something patients expect when it comes to getting the necessary treatment to improve their health. In 2021, Oregon State University College of Engineering published a study that showed machine learning techniques are a great tool for advancing personalized medicine because it optimizes unique outcomes for patients based on their biology and diseases.

Data science is a key component in the healthcare field when it comes to utilizing advanced technologies to provide personalized care, determine insurance costs, and potential cures for numerous diseases. Big data technologies along with genomic sequencing will be able to provide personalized medication plans for patients.

In fifteen years it would be great to have health monitoring devices as a standard technology for all citizens no matter their socioeconomic background. I want to develop unbiased technology for those suffering from underlying health conditions from the elderly population to minorities in underserved communities. This technology will allow patients to be proactive with their health instead of reactive.

After a year of working, I decided to leave my job and pursue a career in data science. This is important to me because my grandfather waited until it was too late to receive aid. With my education, I hope to start a company that uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to create personal tech to aid individuals in preventing and tracking abnormalities in their bodies.

There are so many individuals that joined the tech industry just for the sake of earning more money. I know I can’t save the world, but with this tool, I want to help a few others save their life. My grandfather waited too late to receive aid which prolonged his health disparities. Shockingly, researchers say 1 in 10 people with diabetes who are hospitalized with COVID-19 die within a week. I want to prevent what happened to my grandfather from happening to someone else.

However, I have no income and over fifty thousand dollars in student debt. I come from a broken family. My mom and grandparents sacrificed so much for me to obtain my undergraduate degree by taking out many loans for me. They can’t help me anymore because it will affect their finances. If I could go out and work so many hours a week I would, but I can’t. If I worked a job I wouldn’t be able to take my grandmother to her doctor’s appointments.

She has stage three kidney failure and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, cancer in the blood and bone marrow, and requires constant check-ups since her health is deteriorating. The only option I have is to apply for scholarships while she watches Judge Judy in the afternoon after her appointments are completed.

My mom has had to withdraw money from her retirement to eliminate my balance from last semester so I could register for my classes for the Spring of 2024, and complete my graduate program. If I don’t win this scholarship I won’t be able to go back to school this semester. My mom can’t afford to be in another financial bind. This scholarship will go towards my tuition to help me honor the sacrifices of my family and towards innovative solutions for the healthcare industry. In addition, I have a younger sibling who is attending college and my parents can’t afford to send both of us to school at the same time.

There is a generational history of obtaining debt such as student loans, credit cards, car loans etc. This scholarship will take the financial stress off of me and my family.