Misha Brahmbhatt Help Your Community Scholarship

I do not have a singular community that I help. Being from a Hispanic household helped me to inherent responsibility towards the homelands in Latin America, where my family is from and the people who helped raise me. During my time in college, I have given time which is something no one did for me when I was applying to colleges. Growing up, I had individuals that taught me about the opportunities in the United States but did not have anyone who could offer me assistance in sharing their experience of going to college. Once I completed my first year by taking a leap of faith in walking all over campus and connecting with anyone I came across, I wanted to help future first-years who might face the same issue of being the first to go to college. For the past two years, I have helped international and domestic students to have a strong footing into college with the assurance of having an individual who will always be one email away if there ever have questions. Additionally, I took responsibilities as a social event coordinator and residential assistant to help build community events for students to meet one another. However, I felt that helping students coming into college was not enough, especially as I came from an area where college was rare to even think about. In 2019, I returned to my second home in Latin America to not only see my family after a decade apart but also to help with the current crisis. One of the main individuals I wished to see in my return to the homeland was my grandfather, and he always told me that I should never forget where I came from no matter what happens in life. I took his words once I returned by helping my second home that has become a hotspot for migrants making the trip North. During my short time home I helped to build an elementary school and offering water and food for the migrants that were resting in the city until continuing on their trip. What I hope to do in my future is to go into politics to advocate for Human Rights, specifically for migrants in Latin America who are fleeing their homeland, not by free will. I want to rebuild what decades of war have done to not only my own family's homeland but the homeland of those who gave their time to raise me through strengthening the education systems and Human Rights in Latin America. That goal overall is to present the same compassion that migrants gave to me in the United States because although they were struggling in a new country, they gave their own time to help me learn about my Hispanic culture and the opportunities in the United States. If I was not given such compassion growing up, I do not believe that I would be in college or able to give back to our Patria, I wish to pay it forward.