Quiet Strength by Kamora

Quiet Strength by Kamora - January 2026 Scholarship Essay

One morning. I was volunteering as a student CNA at a local hospital, helping an elderly woman sit up in bed. She was frail, her hands trembling, and she kept whispering, “I can’t, I can’t.” I gently held her arms, looked her in the eyes, and said, “You can. I’m right here with you.” As she slowly rose, leaning on me, I felt it — not just physical strength, but a quiet, steady strength inside me that I hadn’t known was there.

For most of high school, I saw myself as the girl who had to commute long distances every day to get to high school, the first‑gen daughter of immigrants from Cameroon and Jamaica, the one balanced APs and honors classes, sports, and clubs. I was proud of what I was doing, but I didn’t think of myself as strong. I thought of myself as just trying to keep up, to survive, to make my parents proud. But that night, as I helped that woman take a few shaky steps down the hall, I realized that strength isn’t about never being afraid or tired — it’s about showing up anyway.

That moment changed how I saw myself. I began to understand that my strength wasn’t just in my grades or my activities, but in my ability to care for others, to lead, and to keep going even when life felt heavy. As co‑Founder and President of the African Student Association and President of the Black Student Union, I learned that strength also means using your voice to bring people together. Organizing the African Diaspora Assembly taught me that I could create space for conversation, culture, and community — not because I had all the answers, but because I was willing to try.

Discovering this strength has deeply influenced my growth. It gave me the courage to spend my summers as a Project SEED intern researching the neurotoxicity of PFAS, to volunteer on Senator Angela Alsobrooks’ campaign, and to push myself in the Bioscience Academy and the Academy of Healthcare Professions. It’s why I’m majoring in Biology on the pre‑med track, with my heart set on an MD–PhD and a career as a physician scientist. I want to use science to heal, especially in communities that are too often overlooked.

Even now, as I attend Atlanta Metropolitan State College while preparing to return to Spelman, that same strength keeps me going. I carried a 4.0 in my first semester, made Dean’s List, and joined a student‑led chemistry research group — not because it’s easy, but because I’ve learned that I can do hard things.

That night in the nursing home taught me that strength isn’t about being perfect; it’s about being present, being kind, and refusing to give up. It’s a strength I carry into every class, every lab, and every conversation. And it’s a strength I will keep using, not just to reach my own goals, but to lift others along the way.