When I was 11 years old my parents sent me away for good. The reason behind this was my future; they wanted me to be able to study. I went through a lot of hardships and I struggled a lot to adapt to the environment I found myself in. Nevertheless, I learned a lot of things about myself and that allowed me to grow and become the person I am here and now. Being the new kid showed me that I was able to do what I thought to be impossible. I was the new kid when I first moved to California. It changed my way of thinking radically. It wasn't just a new school; it was a completely different environment. From the language to the grading system and more. The main thing I struggled with was the language barrier. I grew up in Mexico, therefore the only language I spoke was Spanish. When I came here I didn’t know what was going on around me. All the people my age spoke mostly English and couldn’t communicate with me. I had no one to talk to. I felt lonely and isolated from everyone else. I also struggled a lot in school since I couldn’t understand what the teachers were saying. I had to work twice as hard as most of my classmates. Sometimes I felt like giving up on everything and going back to my parents, my home. At some point, I understood that I couldn’t just sit down and feel sorry for myself. If I wanted things to change I had to do something. So, I started working even harder. I read as many books as I could, participated in class, tried learning with apps, listened to podcasts and watched movies in English with subtitles in Spanish. After some time things started to change and I started to comprehend what people were saying. I stopped struggling to learn things in school. My classes got easier by the day and I was able to do good in my classes. I learned a lot of important things about life and myself too. Things are not always the way we want them or expect them to be and that is okay. We should take that as an opportunity to grow and become better. It’s also a way to get to know ourselves better and know what we can be capable of accomplishing. I, for example, discovered that I am stronger than I thought I was. I am now more confident in myself and more empathetic towards others because just as I struggled they could be struggling too. I try to keep an open mind and be more considerate with the people around me as well as being nice and making them feel comfortable and included.

I want to pursue a degree in Mathematics because ever since I was little Math has been one of my favorite subjects. I always liked how you could use different ways to solve a problem and get the same answer. It is the same way life works. You can take different paths to get to your goal and accomplish your dreams. When I was 11 years old my parents sent me away for good. The reason behind this was my future; they wanted me to be able to study. At first, I was okay with their decision but, when it happened everything I thought about moving changed. I went through a lot of hardships and I struggled a lot to adapt to the environment I found myself in. Nevertheless, I learned a lot of things about myself and that allowed me to grow and become the person I am here and now. The main thing I struggled with was the language barrier. I grew up in Mexico, therefore the only language I spoke was Spanish. When I came here I didn’t know what was going on around me. All the people my age spoke mostly English and couldn’t communicate with me. I had no one to talk to. I felt lonely and isolated from everyone else. I also struggled a lot in school since I couldn’t understand what the teachers were saying. I had to work twice as hard as most of my classmates. Sometimes I felt like giving up on everything and going back to my parents, my home. At some point, I understood that I couldn’t just sit down and feel sorry for myself. If I wanted things to change I had to do something. So, I started working even harder. I read as many books as I could, participated in class, tried learning with apps, listened to podcasts and watched movies in English with subtitles in Spanish. After some time things started to change and I started to comprehend what people were saying. I stopped struggling to learn things in school. My classes got easier by the day and I was able to do good in my classes. I learned a lot of important things about life and myself too. Things are not always the way we want them or expect them to be and that is okay. We should take that as an opportunity to grow and become better. It’s also a way to get to know ourselves better and know what we can be capable of accomplishing. I, for example, discovered that I am stronger than I thought I was. I am now more confident in myself and more empathetic towards others because just as I struggled they could be struggling too. I try to keep an open mind and be more considerate with the people around me as well as being nice and making them feel comfortable and included. In conclusion, when I moved to California I struggled a lot because I didn’t understand English. But I realized that if I wanted things to be better I had to work hard for them to be. So I did, and I succeeded. I learned things about life and myself that I will never forget.

When I was 11 years old my parents sent me away for good. The reason behind this was my future; they wanted me to be able to study. At first, I was okay with their decision but, when it happened everything I thought about moving changed. I went through a lot of hardships and I struggled a lot to adapt to the environment I found myself in. Nevertheless, I learned a lot of things about myself and that allowed me to grow and become the person I am here and now. The main thing I struggled with was the language barrier. I grew up in Mexico, therefore the only language I spoke was Spanish. When I came here I didn’t know what was going on around me. All the people my age spoke mostly English and couldn’t communicate with me. I had no one to talk to. I felt lonely and isolated from everyone else. I also struggled a lot in school since I couldn’t understand what the teachers were saying. I had to work twice as hard as most of my classmates. Sometimes I felt like giving up on everything and going back to my parents, my home. At some point, I understood that I couldn’t just sit down and feel sorry for myself. If I wanted things to change I had to do something. So, I started working even harder. I read as many books as I could, participated in class, tried learning with apps, listened to podcasts and watched movies in English with subtitles in Spanish. After some time things started to change and I started to comprehend what people were saying. I stopped struggling to learn things in school. My classes got easier by the day and I was able to do good in my classes. I learned a lot of important things about life and myself too. Things are not always the way we want them or expect them to be and that is okay. We should take that as an opportunity to grow and become better. It’s also a way to get to know ourselves better and know what we can be capable of accomplishing. I, for example, discovered that I am stronger than I thought I was. I am now more confident in myself and more empathetic towards others because just as I struggled they could be struggling too. I try to keep an open mind and be more considerate with the people around me as well as being nice and making them feel comfortable and included. In conclusion, when I moved to California I struggled a lot because I didn’t understand English. But I realized that if I wanted things to be better I had to work hard for them to be. So I did, and I succeeded. I learned things about life and myself that I will never forget. I want to become a high school Math teacher and be able to help my students overcome their adversities. I want to be someone they can talk to. Someone they can go to when they feel like the world is turning against them. I want to guide them through life and be able to give them advice on the things they struggle with.