Debt.com Scholarship Winner: Tragedy Can Kill You Or Make You Stronger

My father died when I was young. I don’t often talk about it, because it’s painful. Perhaps that’s why I admire 21-year-old Makiyah Baptiste. The New Jersey native was only 11 when her mother died under circumstances she still is unclear about.

“Until this day, the cause of my mother’s death remains a mystery to me,” Makiyah says. “The autopsy suggests that it was a homicide. Other witnesses proposed my mother committing suicide.”

Knowing the pain that comes from dredging up such memories, I didn’t ask her for more details. I was more interested in her future than her past. That future is so bright, Makiyah is the latest winner of the bimonthly Debt.com Scholarship for Aggressive Scholarship Applicants.

“The cause of my mother’s death often left me conflicted,” Makiyah says. She turned that inner conflict into a career choice.

“During my times in solitude, I discovered a profound interest in medical examination and forensic pathology,” she says. “I was fascinated in the work that medical examiners did — and how they brought peace to families who had lost a loved one in a tragic way. Even though my family was not able to get such closure from my mother’s death, I felt an urge to want to bring peace to other hurting families.”