Sola Family Scholarship

I'm the only daughter of my mother Julie, a beautiful, resilient, incredibly hard-working Filipina immigrant, navy veteran, and single mother. When my mother and her family received the opportunity to immigrate to the US from the Philippines, it was an absolute blessing for them, having lived in poverty for generations. However, the challenges my mom faced growing up in poverty and throughout her life only increased my admiration and respect for her every day. All the late nights she spent at work, all the long hours she spent studying to get her master's degree, and every single moment we spent together has impacted me incredibly and shaped me into who I am today. Right after she immigrated to the US, she joined the US Navy to help support her family. Eventually, she left the Navy to raise me once I was born. My mom was a young single mom, so I always saw her as this fun, carefree spirit when I was younger, but her view of her expanded as I grew older and gained more understanding of the world. She became a mentor, a guide for me as I navigated childhood, my first crushes, and the increasing difficulty of schoolwork. Importantly, she became someone I trusted to let out my feelings, especially entering my early teen years. She taught me how to push through tough times, as I experienced them with her; she gave me valuable insight into carefully choosing who to trust; she taught me the importance of saving money, especially seeing how she helped pull her family out of poverty. She even owns her own two-story house today, the product of her incredible hard work to provide a better life for herself, her family, and me. But of course, being raised by her, I've seen firsthand the mistakes she's made, the things she may have approached in the wrong way or handled badly. It's been incredibly eye-opening to be so close to someone and see their flaws personally, and every day I learn from her mistakes. I strive to avoid those negative attributes and to be a better person in every way I can. I strive to speak my mind and focus less on pleasing others. I strive to take charge of my life and live it the way I want to, as my mom did when she got the opportunity to make a name for herself in the US. This includes taking charge of my academic career and goals. My mom was never really interested in extracurriculars, nor did she have big expectations for me to go to a prestigious university once I graduated. However, I knew I wanted to make her proud; I knew I wanted to make a living, while also supporting her and my future family, just as she bravely did for her own family. So I took charge; once I hit high school, I entered as many extracurriculars as I could. I took challenging AP classes even without her guidance, worked hard for straight A-grades, joined clubs, and even applied and got accepted into my school's ASB. I knew I wanted to contribute to my school and be academically successful because even if my mom didn't see the point at that moment, I knew she'd be proud of me in the end. I plan to continue maintaining my high grades and contributing to my school so I can enter a university to earn my doctorate in Pharmacy, all to eventually make a living for myself and to support my mom, just as she supported me.

My mother worked hard as a single parent to make sure my twin and I were supported at home and in our academics. I grew up never worrying about food, a place to live, or transportation. She was there to help out with our homework because she worked while we were at school. My mom made less than $25,000 as a housekeeper and babysitter and continues working those same jobs currently. She works two different jobs daily. Although her source of income is unstable, she works on her health and keeps networking to maintain her work. I eventually grew up learning about our financial status. My mother withheld telling me as a child because she wanted me to pursue what I wanted without holding myself back. Even without this knowledge, I kept pushing myself because of the encouragement I received from my mother and continued to do so after I knew. My mother always supported my interest in expanding my coursework with extracurricular activities, regularly working miracles with her schedule to drive us from school to the karate studio. I got my first-degree black belt by 8th grade after 7.5 years of attendance. I applied to the Environmental Science program at the West Career and Technical Academy Magnet Program. I found a better opportunity at the College of Southern Nevada High School program. I finally graduated with the Seal of Biliteracy in Spanish and 41 college credits that transferred to the University of Rochester. My mother encouraged me to volunteer at places that furthered her teachings on not judging others and networking when I could. She herself has faced discrimination as a Colombian immigrant. I volunteered at the Sahara West Library and Springs Preserve, an educational tourist attraction dedicated to preserving Las Vegas history and promoting sustainability. I spoke to visitors about preserving the Mojave Desert and the indigenous people we share the land with. I worked at the library with other teens on activities and librarians on children's programs, gaining experience in project management and working with children. Working at the Springs Preserve offered me experience with crowd work, supervising exhibits, and backstage assistance. I volunteered at the library for 690 hours and at the Springs Preserve for 380. One of my experiences at the Springs Preserve led me to help a Deaf mother with directions at the holiday event. I had little proficiency in American Sign Language at the time, but I added ASL courses in college to better support people like her in the future. While I looked for opportunities and challenged myself to apply, my mother supported me when I took a different direction or stepped back for my health. As a master’s graduate in engineering in electronics, my mother knew how important STEM was, especially when pursuing advantageous openings. I took other opportunities that benefited my education. I retook Newtonian Physics during my sophomore summer and ended up finishing Electromagnetism as well. I completed my physics coursework within 10 weeks. I changed my major to Environmental Science and applied to the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, a program that offers research experience and academic mentoring to low-income and minority students who plan to apply to graduate programs. I ended up presenting my research that the program funded at three conferences, one of them held overseas. I also was accepted into the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences Sea Change Semester internship. I plan to continue pursuing my dreams and applying for scholarships like the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, which connects students to research, study, or English teaching assistant programs worldwide.