bio

Hello, my name is Sarai Leal, and I was born in Houston and raised in a small town called Kingwood, where the expectation to go to a four-year university was a standard. My parents grew up in environments that required them to join the workforce at a young age, which has caused them to push academic importance in our family. I grew up with constant pressure to be the perfect student, which has influenced my work ethic and perspective on academic achievement. I chose to go to a two-year college because I wanted to focus on academics without financial strain and obligations. I then decided to apply for scholarships at Lone Star Kingwood and received the most prestigious award, the Chancellor Fellows Scholarship. With the scholarship came many responsibilities, such as obtaining 27 honor credits and 60 service hours by the end of two years. Taking honors research college courses has greatly improved me as a writer and researcher but as well has made me more curious. Every semester I completed two research projects, that contained scholarly articles and research, on multiple topics ranging from “the consumption of chemical preservatives and its effects on human health” to “analyzing the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993”. In order to discover my passions and figure out who I am as a person, I based my research papers on subjects I was interested in. By the end of my first semester, I discovered my true passion to help women and infants, therefore I decided to strive to become a neonatal nurse.