La Matriz Sagrada Scholarship

For the longest of time I saw my parents work endlessly for the love of their children, without a high school or college education they always found a way to make things work and to provide a safe environment for my siblings and I to grow up in, they always surrounded us with a world that was so vibrant and and full of life. From the time I was nine my parents planted a seed that would sprout into the generation that I now carry within me. For the past nineteen year, I have been involved in preserving the sacred traditions of our grandparents, through dance, prayers, and ceremonies. I am currently pregnant with my first, and as my belly starts grow more and more, and I start to feel my baby girls kicks its fills my heart with so much happiness, and excitement to bring her into this world, to hear her first cry, her first laugh, holding her in my arms. As my baby continues to grow inside me, I think more about my educational choices that I am making, giving up is not an option for me. When I graduated from my community college in Business Aministration, I thought that’s exactly what I wanted for myself, but being pregnant aligned me in a different direction in reconsidering what makes me happy, and the happiness I will surround all my children with. My future plans are transferring to another University that will offer the degree I truly want to pursue, which is Horticulture, for the longest of time I wanted to become a Horticultural Therapist. My dream is to start a nonprofit organization that helps out low-income communities by assisting individuals who are struggling mentally, emotionally, or physically through the power of growing plants, being able to grow their own fruits and veggies and taking them home with them. This form of therapy is ancient, not only are patients reconnecting with the plants but reconnecting with themselves as well. Receiving a higher education means giving my children everything my parents would have wanted to give me, since they did not have that opportunity, it means that their sacrifices actually translated into all the love they gave to us, it means creating a solid future for my first child and and all my future babies that are yet to come. I strive to give all my babies a beautiful life but choosing an educational career that makes me happy as well.

I was 15 years old, at the end of my sophomore year of high school, and didn’t know I was going to deliver a baby in the next three weeks. I had what was called a Cryptic pregnancy. It is one situation to have a rare pregnancy like this in your mid-20s or later on in life but it is another situation when you have this rare pregnancy as a teenager. When I found out I was pregnant so many thoughts ran through my mind. I didn’t have as many options as other mothers; either deliver the child or have a “late-term” abortion, which is technically an abortion done in the third trimester. I kept thinking “What am I going to do?”. I was 15 making life-altering decisions. I was in a state of dissociation from the day I found out I was pregnant until after my child turned one. I had my mother by my side during those three weeks that led up to my due date but at the same time, I didn’t. I saw that she was going through every emotion in the book and that meant more than my feelings. I didn’t care about myself or my feelings. What was important to me was everyone else’s feelings and how they thought of me. It was like I had no time to care about myself because I had to think about what my next steps were and if I was going to do it alone. Fast forward, my mother allowed me to live at home and help me raise my child because I was a single mother. I decided to finish my education in the public school I was at. Every decision I made had to be chosen for the right reasons. I decided to take college classes during the summers as a high schooler and some credits that I needed for my senior year which led me to graduate high school earlier than the rest of my class and begin my college education earlier. As a teenager, I had my whole life ahead of me but becoming a teen mother I have had to let some of my dreams go which included what I wanted to become. I always knew I would attend college and that didn’t change but choosing what I wanted to be did. After some long and hard decisions that I discussed with my mom, I set my goal on becoming a Registered Nurse. They have flexible schedules, travel opportunities, are high in demand, and have alternative nursing careers. Just what I need as a mom. Now, I am in my sophomore year of community college and I plan on graduating with my Associate in Science this December. I want my daughter to look up at me and see someone who never lets struggle get in the way of our lives. To know that her mother faced many barriers but beat the 50% of teen mothers who never graduate high school and the 2% of teen moms who earn a college degree until the age of 30. So my daughter knows that pursuing higher education isn’t just so you can earn more money but showing the world and yourself that anything and everything is achievable. Sage (my daughter) is the reason why I push myself every day to be the best person I can be so I can be the best mom I can become.