Advancing the DREAM

Advancing the DREAM - What it means to me	I tend to honor Dr.King’s dream by using my profession in biomedical engineering to create devices that consider all ethnicities and races during the design process. I believe it is imperative that we correct the standard not only because it can save lives, but can correct the idea of races with higher “pain tolerances” that gets their symptoms ignored by medical professionals.
My Action Pledge to Advance the DREAM?	One thing I will focus on as my action pledge to advance the dream is by creating health education campaigns at villanova university and encouraging the students to help me implement them in the surrounding communities working towards fostering a healthier America.

General Information

Background

Organization	Villanova University
Professional Title	Villanova Engineering student
Bio and Background	I am rising Sophomore mechanical engineering student at villanova university with a strong interests in sustainability manufacturing and biological engineering systems. I am from New Orleans, Louisiana and an alumni of Morris Jeff Community High school I have been involved with engaging community efforts since a little girl and make it a point in my life to better my community in any way that I can.
Why I am a Force for Health® Member...	I am a Force for Health member because I want to join the ongoing ands growing health crisis around the world. However, I do not want to only contribute to the conversations on famine, side effects of global warming because the health crisis is much bigger than that. I would also like to get involved with educating people on health protocols, and starting at the root … education.
How I use the Force for Health Network Tools	I really enjoy the documentation of my eating habits and lab results. It makes me more mindful of what I am putting into my body and the symptoms that may come from these eating habits.
My inspiration	A person who inspires me is my grandmother. She is the spitting image or grace and embodiment of the type of woman I want to be. She is a God -fearing woman who goes through life practicing her faith. From a health standpoint she is attentive, and proactive in trying to stay healthy as she ages.
Location	New Orleans and Villanova,PA
What would you like people to know about your community?	I belong to two communities; Villanova and New Orleans. I would like people to know that these two communities are poor opposites in almost every aspect such as: race demographic, funding opportunities, access to resources, culture, equitable healthcare, and education. However, combining these two communities offers tremendous opportunities to advance the dream and promote health and wellness.

My Citizenship Health Factors

Some of the factors that have been challenging for me have been...	Accepting my role in promoting healthy living since my diagnosis in January of 2023. It’s hard to accept that I can inspire or ask someone to live healthy and I am not in good health myself.
It's important for me to be part of my community's health because...	It is important for me to be apart of my community’s health because I believe I can be the bridge between two worlds of people. Many people in New Orleans only live the see the parameters of city lines and don’t get to explore the world and see what it has to offer. I am, and I believe I can bring a life outside of New Orleans to them through my connections and likeminded individuals at Villanova.
Some of the strength of my community health factors are:	Some Strengths of my community health factors is their sense of comradery and desire to want better. New Orleans is resilient and Villanova is selfless.
Some of the challenges in my community regarding certain health factors are:	Some challenges in my community in New Orleans is having equitable access to health care and having the appropriate knowledge to have swift access.
I believe I can help improve my community's health by...	I believe I can improve my community’s health by providing a caring face to transfer health information and also pooling my resources from connections to contribute and invest into the community .