My name is Alain, Gonzalez, ever since i was young I've always wanted to pursue a career with welding. I've always imagined myself being under water fixing and making new things in order to help the future generations, I've always seen myself traveling from place to place with the satisfaction of looking back and saying "yes, i made this" and move on to my next project. While my dreams have always been coherent, my family comes from a working class where they constantly have to work a job sometimes even two or three to keep us going, while I'm extremely thankful for everything they've done for me and my brother id say its time for me to give back. My mother was recently diagnosed with breast cancer which worsens our financial income, she's stuck at home most of her days reminiscing about when this will all be over. I want to be the one to step up and help her as much as i can, because for 18 years that's what she's done for me. Throughout my teenage years I've always juggled school while trying to maintain a job, trying to save some money here and there while also helping my parents as much as i could, I've never once wasted a summer from school because I'm always doing something, from an Architecture internship when i was in 9th grade back in FIU or just getting a job when in 10th, I've always been working without a moment of downtime in order to be of help to my family. I was drawn to welding because not only have i always liked the idea of making stuff with my hands, but I've also been an artist for as long as i could remember, it always fascinated me how i can create stuff from basically nothing. A blank white piece of paper turning into a battle grounds for a man and a fire breathing dragon, its crazy to me. And even crazier the fact that I was the one that made this. The idea of creating from nothing is what drives me to want to pursue welding, seeing something get built from the ground up just seems so ethereal. I could see myself taking a picture of me arriving at a work area then taking the same picture a couple months or even years after to see the product of my hard work. This award would mean the world to me, i truly want to support my family in any way i can and potentially give my parents some downtime, they've always been working and it pains me to see them constantly sweating just to put some food on the table. thank you deeply for taking this into consideration

My name is Alain, Gonzalez, ever since i was young I've always wanted to pursue a career with welding. I've always imagined myself being under water fixing and making new things in order to help the future generations, I've always seen myself traveling from place to place with the satisfaction of looking back and saying "yes, i made this" and move on to my next project. While my dreams have always been coherent, my family comes from a working class where they constantly have to work a job sometimes even two or three to keep us going, while I'm extremely thankful for everything they've done for me and my brother id say its time for me to give back. My mother was recently diagnosed with breast cancer which worsens our financial income, she's stuck at home most of her days reminiscing about when this will all be over. I want to be the one to step up and help her as much as i can, because for 18 years that's what she's done for me. Throughout my teenage years I've always juggled school while trying to maintain a job, trying to save some money here and there while also helping my parents as much as i could, I've never once wasted a summer from school because I'm always doing something, from an Architecture internship when i was in 9th grade back in FIU or just getting a job when in 10th, I've always been working without a moment of downtime in order to be of help to my family. I was drawn to welding because not only have i always liked the idea of making stuff with my hands, but I've also been an artist for as long as i could remember, it always fascinated me how i can create stuff from basically nothing. A blank white piece of paper turning into a battle grounds for a man and a fire breathing dragon, its crazy to me. And even crazier the fact that I was the one that made this. The idea of creating from nothing is what drives me to want to pursue welding, seeing something get built from the ground up just seems so ethereal. I could see myself taking a picture of me arriving at a work area then taking the same picture a couple months or even years after to see the product of my hard work. This award would mean the world to me, i truly want to support my family in any way i can and potentially give my parents some downtime, they've always been working and it pains me to see them constantly sweating just to put some food on the table. thank you deeply for taking this into consideration