No manga has been more influential to me than One Piece, and one thing that resonates with me is Luffy’s unwavering determination. An example of Luffy’s determination was at the very end of Marineford, where he failed to save his brother Ace and truly realized the power gap between him and the Marine Admirals. At that moment, Luffy was at his absolute lowest, yet he chose to isolate himself for two years and train, still hoping to reach the One Piece and become the Pirate King, now aware of the power he would have to obtain to get to the very top. Luffy encourages me to do not give up, no matter what I am facing in my life, and to always focus on bettering myself to overcome whatever obstacles come my way, and I see myself in his go-lucky, always smiling demeanor, allowing me to relate to him.

The most interesting part about me is my origin for sure, as it is an aspect I take great pride in. Although I was born in Colombia, I moved to the USA when I was four years old and became an American citizen in the 5th grade. My Colombian origin has made me very culturally diverse and accepting of different backgrounds and the celebrations and values that come with each specific culture. I also was raised without a father, with that and by going through YMCA Leader's Club and EDGE/Life Teen, I have been able to be vulnerable and willing to show weakness, which has helped me grow and develop as a leader through the theory of a "servant leader". My immigrant background has pushed me to demonstrate that Hispanics can be just as achievers and hard-working as everyone else in an academic environment, evolving to become a significant driving force in my education. Through volunteering, I have improved my willingness to communicate and compromise and increased my desire to form strong bonds within my community. I have learned to recognize some people do not have the same opportunities as me, meaning I not only need to take advantage of those opportunities but help and share with those who do not have access to them. I have experienced challenges in my life moving from Colombia to the USA, the outcome became promising because of the constant support in my life from my family and community.

I am a motivated team player and aspiring leader seeking to continue my education in the engineering field. I am excited to share my talents while expanding my leadership skills as part of a valued community institution. The most interesting part about me is my origin for sure, as it is an aspect I take great pride in. Although I was born in Colombia, I moved to the USA when I was four years old. Due to my Colombian origin, I feel as though it has made me very culturally diverse and accepting of different backgrounds and the celebrations and values that come with each specific culture.

I have had the opportunity to read many books on a variety of topics. During my childhood, I dedicated myself to reading adventures, fantasies, and alternate worlds stories. During my high school years, there was a lot of emphasis on literary analysis, communication, and cultural perspective of the books we read. Now with a little more freedom to choose the material I read and without the burden of getting a grade for the analysis and interpretation of my readings, I came across the book "The Diary of Anne Frank" which has given me a new perspective on life. During high school, we learned and discussed deep regarding World War World II and the Holocaust, but Anne's perspective in her diary shows the daily life that she and her family lived in hiding to escape the terror from the war. The book begins with a childish Anne, but as time goes by, it becomes visible how quickly she matures and begins to face the harsh situations not only related to the war but to the natural process of her transition from childhood to adolescence. Writing allows her to express what she thinks, what she feels, how she lives. Her captivity gives her a deep appreciation for nature and the simple pleasures that freedom offers. Her writing explores her relationship with her parents, her sister, with the rest of the inhabitants of their hideout, and with the accomplices who help them stay hidden. Reading this book has allowed me to reflect on how fortunate we are to be free and to start each day with a multitude of possibilities that we often let go of without being thankful. Life, freedom, family, and community are great treasures to be grateful for and fight for and defend bravely.

The most interesting part about me is my origin for sure, as it is an aspect I take great pride in. Although I was born in Colombia, I moved to the USA when I was four years old and became an American citizen in the 5th grade. My Colombian origin has made me very culturally diverse and accepting of different backgrounds and the celebrations and values that come with each specific culture. I also was raised without a father, with that and by going through YMCA Leader's Club and EDGE/Life Teen, I have been able to be vulnerable and willing to show weakness, which has helped me grow and develop as a leader through the theory of a "servant leader". My immigrant background has pushed me to demonstrate that Hispanics can be just as achievers and hard-working as everyone else in an academic environment, evolving to become a significant driving force in my education. Through volunteering, I have improved my willingness to communicate and compromise and increased my desire to form strong bonds within my community. I have learned to recognize some people do not have the same opportunities as me, meaning I not only need to take advantage of those opportunities but help and share with those who do not have access to them. I have experienced challenges in my life moving from Colombia to the USA, the outcome became promising because of the constant support in my life from my family and community. My high school career has been characterized by balance, with me having to maintain community service, extracurricular clubs, my job, and my brief stint in youth sports while sustaining a decent academic performance. I have focused on balance to find success in all aspects of my life. I believe my greatest achievement to date has been to keep a balanced perspective to achieve my goals. On top of the balance I had to maintain in high school that I will keep enforcing during my college career, winning this scholarship would help me achieve my goals by allowing me to attend and finish college with minimum debt, which would be helpful since I am the first member of my family to attend college in the USA, and therefore this gives me more possible opportunities than my family had in Colombia. I am attending the University of Florida College of Engineering in Gainesville, and for me to do this, I need to adapt and fend for myself.

There is a definition of joy close to my heart: a very glad feeling that brings happiness and great pleasure. I have found joy in the simple pleasures in life. I believe the simple pleasures in life are small and modest, but that does not mean that they are not significant and impactful. So far, my college experience away from my hometown has taught me to value everything I had back home and to enjoy and be thankful for each new experience I have. I have noticed that the small acts of kindness I experience positively change the environment I find myself in and bring me the simple pleasure of joy. Using my talents and time as much as possible while performing them makes me happy. These acts are as simple as explaining to my classmates a part of the class that they did not understand, paying for lunch or dinner for a classmate with financial difficulties. Sometimes I drive classmates who do not have a car but need to shop for groceries or run errands outside or around campus. Occasionally listen to a friend or family member needing to share some concerns or worries they had during the day. Pick up trash that I see lying on the sidewalks or public places that I visit. I enjoy the football and basketball games while sharing my school's spirit, colors, hymns. On my first returning trip during Thanksgiving break, I found a peaceful pleasure sharing quality time with my family and high school friends and eating my favorite Colombian food. These little things bring me joy because I feel useful and connected to people, places, and causes I care.

I have found happiness in the simple pleasures in life. I believe the simple pleasures in life are small and modest, but that does not mean that they are not significant and impactful. So far, my college experience away from my hometown has taught me to value everything I had back home and to enjoy and be thankful for each new experience I have. I have noticed that the small acts of kindness I experience positively change the environment I find myself in and bring me the simple pleasure of joy. Using my talents and time as much as possible while performing them makes me happy. These acts are as simple as explaining to my classmates a part of the class that they did not understand, paying for lunch or dinner for a classmate with financial difficulties. Sometimes I drive classmates who do not have a car but need to shop for groceries or run errands outside or around campus. Occasionally listen to a friend or family member needing to share some concerns or worries they had during the day. Pick up trash that I see lying on the sidewalks or public places that I visit. I enjoy the football and basketball games while sharing my school's spirit, colors, hymns. On my first returning trip during Thanksgiving break, I found a peaceful pleasure sharing quality time with my family and high school friends and eating my favorite Colombian food. These little things make me happy because I feel useful and connected to people, places, and causes I care.

I believe the simple pleasures in life are small and modest, but that does not mean that they are not significant and impactful. So far, my college experience away from my hometown has taught me to value everything I had back home and to enjoy and be thankful for each new experience I have. I have noticed that the small acts of kindness I experience positively change the environment I find myself in and bring me the simple pleasure of joy. Using my talents and time as much as possible while performing them makes me happy. These acts are as simple as explaining to my classmates a part of the class that they did not understand, paying for lunch or dinner for a classmate with financial difficulties. Sometimes I drive classmates who do not have a car but need to shop for groceries or run errands outside or around campus. Occasionally listen to a friend or family member needing to share some concerns or worries they had during the day. Pick up trash that I see lying on the sidewalks or public places that I visit. I enjoy the football and basketball games while sharing my school's spirit, colors, hymns. On my first returning trip during Thanksgiving break, I found a peaceful pleasure sharing quality time with my family and high school friends and eating my favorite Colombian food. These little things make me happy because I feel useful and connected to people, places, and causes I care.

I believe acts of service may be small and humble, but that does not mean that they are not significant and impactful to the recipients. I always try to apply my talents, my time, and my treasures as much as I can while trying to perform them. I have experienced during my college experience living in a resident hall away from my hometown these acts are as simple as explaining to a classmate a part of the class that did not understand, paying for lunch or dinner for a classmate with financial difficulties. Sometimes I drive classmates who do not have a car but need to shop for groceries or run errands outside or around campus. Occasionally listen to a friend or family member needing to share some concerns or worries they had during the day. Pick up trash that I see lying on the sidewalks or public places that I visit. These small actions positively change the environment I find myself in and bring me joy.

The most helpful piece of financial advice I have ever received came from my mother. She showed me by her actions that budgeting is the key to efficiently managing money. My mother, an immigrant, came from Colombia to the United States without money and plenty of college books. With an engineering degree from Colombia, her first job here was working as a pre-school teacher, and little by little made her way to get a job in the construction field. She has carefully planned her financial health to provide for our family here in the United States, improve our quality of life, help our family back in Colombia and contribute to building a stronger community. By her example, I have learned to recognize the delicate balance between income and spending money and identify the difference between my needs and my wants. Planning the way to spend my money has been fundamental to help me create some savings. Even though credit is an excellent tool, it is through budgeting I plan to keep my financial freedom. I always remember a childhood game where I split my allowance into three buckets of money: spending, saving, and giving back to the community. Using this approach my mom showed me how to distribute my money. I used to complain when I was younger because I wanted to send all my money to the spending bucket. Then I got a real job during high school, was responsible for my cell phone and car insurance payments, and wanted to buy things and go places for my enjoyment. I must admit I have kept myself in balance by applying the saving, spending, investment, charity rules she taught me while growing up.

The most interesting part about me is my origin for sure, as it is an aspect I take great pride in. Although I was born in Colombia, I moved to the USA when I was four years old and became an American citizen in the 5th grade. My Colombian origin has made me very culturally diverse and accepting of different backgrounds and the celebrations and values that come with each specific culture. I also was raised without a father, with that and by going through YMCA Leader's Club and EDGE/Life Teen, I have been able to be vulnerable and willing to show weakness, which has helped me grow and develop as a leader through the theory of a "servant leader". My immigrant background has pushed me to demonstrate that Hispanics can be just as achievers and hard-working as everyone else in an academic environment, evolving to become a significant driving force in my education. Through volunteering, I have improved my willingness to communicate and compromise and increased my desire to form strong bonds within my community. I have learned to recognize some people do not have the same opportunities as me, meaning I not only need to take advantage of those opportunities but help and share with those who do not have access to them. I have experienced challenges in my life moving from Colombia to the USA, the outcome became promising because of the constant support in my life from my family and community. My high school career has been characterized by balance, with me having to maintain community service, extracurricular clubs, my job, and my brief stint in youth sports while sustaining a decent academic performance. I have focused on balance to find success in all aspects of my life. I believe my greatest achievement to date has been to keep a balanced perspective to achieve my goals. On top of the balance I had to maintain in high school that I will keep enforcing during my college career, winning this scholarship would help me achieve my goals by allowing me to attend and finish college with minimum debt, which would be helpful since I am the first member of my family to attend college in the USA, and therefore this gives me more possible opportunities than my family had in Colombia. I will be attending the University of Florida College of Engineering in Gainesville, and for me to do this, I need to adapt and fend for myself. Cartagena, my hometown in Colombia, has many problems in comparison to the infrastructure level we have in the USA. I want to study civil engineering, so I can find sustainable and feasible solutions to the infrastructure problems in cities and communities like Cartagena, helping them to achieve a better quality of life and progress. I am aware these communities are all over the world, creating global opportunities for engineering and its applications. It would be tremendous to be part of development projects around the world.

The most interesting part about me is my origin for sure, as it is an aspect I take great pride in. Although I was born in Colombia, I moved to the USA when I was four years old and became an American citizen in the 5th grade. My Colombian origin has made me very culturally diverse and accepting of different backgrounds and the celebrations and values that come with each specific culture. I also was raised without a father, with that and by going through YMCA Leader's Club and EDGE/Life Teen, I have been able to be vulnerable and willing to show weakness, which has helped me grow and develop as a leader through the theory of a "servant leader". My immigrant background has pushed me to demonstrate that Hispanics can be just as achievers and hard-working as everyone else in an academic environment, evolving to become a significant driving force in my education. Through volunteering, I have improved my willingness to communicate and compromise and increased my desire to form strong bonds within my community. I have learned to recognize some people do not have the same opportunities as me, meaning I not only need to take advantage of those opportunities but help and share with those who do not have access to them. I have experienced challenges in my life moving from Colombia to the USA, the outcome became promising because of the constant support in my life from my family and community. My high school career has been characterized by balance, with me having to maintain community service, extracurricular clubs, my job, and my brief stint in youth sports while sustaining a decent academic performance. I have focused on balance to find success in all aspects of my life. I believe my greatest achievement to date has been to keep a balanced perspective to achieve my goals. On top of the balance I had to maintain in high school that I will keep enforcing during my college career, winning this scholarship would help me achieve my goals by allowing me to attend and finish college with minimum debt, which would be helpful since I am the first member of my family to attend college in the USA, and therefore this gives me more possible opportunities than my family had in Colombia. I will be attending the University of Florida College of Engineering in Gainesville, and for me to do this, I need to adapt and fend for myself. Cartagena, my hometown in Colombia, has many problems in comparison to the infrastructure level we have in the USA. I want to study civil engineering, so I can find sustainable and feasible solutions to the infrastructure problems in cities and communities like Cartagena, helping them to achieve a better quality of life and progress. I am aware these communities are all over the world, creating global opportunities for engineering and its applications. It would be tremendous to be part of development projects around the world.

The most interesting part about me is my origin for sure, as it is an aspect I take great pride in. Although I was born in Colombia, I moved to the USA when I was four years old and became an American citizen in the 5th grade. My Colombian origin has made me very culturally diverse and accepting of different backgrounds and the celebrations and values that come with each specific culture. I also was raised without a father, with that and by going through YMCA Leader's Club and EDGE/Life Teen, I have been able to be vulnerable and willing to show weakness, which has helped me grow and develop as a leader through the theory of a "servant leader". My immigrant background has pushed me to demonstrate that Hispanics can be just as achievers and hard-working as everyone else in an academic environment, evolving to become a significant driving force in my education. Through volunteering, I have improved my willingness to communicate and compromise and increased my desire to form strong bonds within my community. I have learned to recognize some people do not have the same opportunities as me, meaning I not only need to take advantage of those opportunities but help and share with those who do not have access to them. I have experienced challenges in my life moving from Colombia to the USA, the outcome became promising because of the constant support in my life from my family and community. My high school career has been characterized by balance, with me having to maintain community service, extracurricular clubs, my job, and my brief stint in youth sports while sustaining a decent academic performance. I have focused on balance to find success in all aspects of my life. I believe my greatest achievement to date has been to keep a balanced perspective to achieve my goals. On top of the balance I had to maintain in high school that I will keep enforcing during my college career, winning this scholarship would help me achieve my goals by allowing me to attend and finish college with minimum debt, which would be helpful since I am the first member of my family to attend college in the USA, and therefore this gives me more possible opportunities than my family had in Colombia. I will be attending the University of Florida College of Engineering in Gainesville, and for me to do this, I need to adapt and fend for myself. Cartagena, my hometown in Colombia, has many problems in comparison to the infrastructure level we have in the USA. I want to study civil engineering, so I can find sustainable and feasible solutions to the infrastructure problems in cities and communities like Cartagena, helping them to achieve a better quality of life and progress. I am aware these communities are all over the world, creating global opportunities for engineering and its applications. It would be tremendous to be part of development projects around the world.

The most interesting part about me is my origin for sure, as it is an aspect I take great pride in. Although I was born in Colombia, I moved to the USA when I was four years old and became an American citizen in the 5th grade. My Colombian origin has made me very culturally diverse and accepting of different backgrounds and the celebrations and values that come with each specific culture. I also was raised without a father, with that and by going through YMCA Leader's Club and EDGE/Life Teen, I have been able to be vulnerable and willing to show weakness, which has helped me grow and develop as a leader through the theory of a "servant leader". My immigrant background has pushed me to demonstrate that Hispanics can be just as achievers and hard-working as everyone else in an academic environment, evolving to become a significant driving force in my education. Through volunteering, I have improved my willingness to communicate and compromise and increased my desire to form strong bonds within my community. I have learned to recognize some people do not have the same opportunities as me, meaning I not only need to take advantage of those opportunities but help and share with those who do not have access to them. I have experienced challenges in my life moving from Colombia to the USA, the outcome became promising because of the constant support in my life from my family and community. My high school career has been characterized by balance, with me having to maintain community service, extracurricular clubs, my job, and my brief stint in youth sports while sustaining a decent academic performance. I have focused on balance to find success in all aspects of my life. On top of the balance I had to maintain in high school that I will keep enforcing during my college career, winning this scholarship would help me achieve my goals by allowing me to attend and finish college with minimum debt, which would be helpful since I am the first member of my family to attend college in the USA, and therefore this gives me more possible opportunities than my family had in Colombia. I will be attending the University of Florida College of Engineering in Gainesville, and for me to do this, I need to adapt and fend for myself. Cartagena, my hometown in Colombia, has many problems in comparison to the infrastructure level we have in the USA. I want to study mechanical/civil engineering, so I can find sustainable and feasible solutions to the infrastructure problems in cities and communities like Cartagena, helping them to achieve a better quality of life and progress. I am aware these communities are all over the world, creating global opportunities for engineering and its applications. It would be tremendous to be part of development projects around the world.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging not just for me but for everyone else on the planet, with I have simultaneously experienced it. I remember how unmotivated I became in the second semester of my junior high school year when the pandemic initiated. I had to rebuild my discipline and attempt to transition to normalcy in the middle of the less normal situation I have ever experienced in my life. Although the pandemic derailed me and made me lose focus on my goals, I had to force myself to get back on track and find motivation in my life to finish my junior school year strong, prepare for my summer job as a camp counselor, and focus on the college applications phase I had up ahead. This pandemic has taught me I create my motivations and accomplish my goals if I commit myself to them and visualize the outcome. I am also a very self-aware person, which I only realized more during this pandemic as I dealt with complex emotions. I learned that it is healthy to list out my feelings and prioritize self-care and reflection time. These practices prevented me from burning out and allowed me to produce the highest quality work since I can recharge when feeling burnt out. I improved to recognize when I make mistakes, humble myself from them and learn how to be a better person. Undoubtedly the COVID-19 pandemic has taught me to become more creative and think outside of the box to keep on track reaching my goals and maintaining vital relationships with family and friends. I have also learned that even if things are tough and not going my way, I can always persist with a smile on my face.

The most interesting part about me is my origin for sure, as it is an aspect I take great pride in. Although I was born in Colombia, I moved to the USA when I was four years old and became an American citizen in the 5th grade. My Colombian origin has made me very culturally diverse and accepting of different backgrounds and the celebrations and values that come with each specific culture. I also was raised without a father, with that and by going through YMCA Leader's Club and EDGE/Life Teen, I have been able to be vulnerable and willing to show weakness, which has helped me grow and develop as a leader through the theory of a "servant leader". My immigrant background has pushed me to demonstrate that Hispanics can be just as achievers and hard-working as everyone else in an academic environment, evolving to become a significant driving force in my education. Through volunteering, I have improved my willingness to communicate and compromise and increased my desire to form strong bonds within my community. I have learned to recognize some people do not have the same opportunities as me, meaning I not only need to take advantage of those opportunities but help and share with those who do not have access to them. I have experienced challenges in my life moving from Colombia to the USA, the outcome became promising because of the constant support in my life from my family and community. My high school career has been characterized by balance, with me having to maintain community service, extracurricular clubs, my job, and my brief stint in youth sports while sustaining a decent academic performance. I have focused on balance to find success in all aspects of my life. I believe my greatest achievement to date has been to keep a balanced perspective to achieve my goals. On top of the balance I had to maintain in high school that I will keep enforcing during my college career, winning this scholarship would help me achieve my goals by allowing me to attend and finish college with minimum debt, which would be helpful since I am the first member of my family to attend college in the USA, and therefore this gives me more possible opportunities than my family had in Colombia. I will be attending the University of Florida College of Engineering in Gainesville, and for me to do this, I need to adapt and fend for myself. Cartagena, my hometown in Colombia, has many problems in comparison to the infrastructure level we have in the USA. I want to study civil engineering, so I can find sustainable and feasible solutions to the infrastructure problems in cities and communities like Cartagena, helping them to achieve a better quality of life and progress. I am aware these communities are all over the world, creating global opportunities for engineering and its applications. It would be tremendous to be part of development projects around the world.

In 8th grade, I joined the YMCA Leader’s Club, which was a place where I was surrounded by a plethora of like-minded teens wanting to make a positive impact on the community while all coming from various, diverse backgrounds. When I entered my third year in the club, I ran for an officer position, which meant I would coordinate our meetings and act as a “leader of leaders” for everyone in the club. When I found out at the end-of-year banquet that I did not get the position, my disappointment was immeasurable. It was a personal low because of what the club had meant to me and the importance the role of an officer had held in my heart. For the next month, I resented the elected officers, I believed I was better than them, and believed the election was rigged. My refusal to accept the outcome held me back in my leadership. This behavior continued until my mentor had a talk with me about what happened, and although he did not say much, he said just enough that pushed me back down the path I had started on. He simply told me that I can lead from the outside and be the change that I wanted to see. This resulted in a paradigm shift. I realized I could help the club from a different perspective and have unique interactions I could not have had otherwise. After that conservation, I realized that maybe it was not my time to be an officer yet. Throughout the next club year, I interacted more with the first years, pushed for a constitution, and returned to be my energetic and positive self. The following year, I was scared that I would lose the election like the previous year, but ultimately, I decided to run again. After the previous failure, I was much more motivated, and I had matured. In the end, when I found out that I won the officer position, I was content since I had surpassed the goal I set for myself. My failure to become an officer taught me various lessons about life and failure in general. Failure allowed me to rise above and better myself. I realized that I could never give up until I achieved my goals. I also learned various things about the nature of failure, mainly that is inevitable and that I should not look at failure through a negative lens and allow it to control me, and rather I should look at failure as a learning tool and part of who I am as a human because no one is perfect. This is the kind of mindset I want to carry into my future, as it has encouraged me to become better and has pushed me to strive for improvement, and I want to encourage and motivate others to view failure in the same way.

In 8th grade, I joined the YMCA Leader’s Club, which was a place where I was surrounded by a plethora of like-minded teens wanting to make a positive impact on the community while all coming from various, diverse backgrounds. When I entered my third year in the club, I ran for an officer position, which meant I would coordinate our meetings and act as a “leader of leaders” for everyone in the club. When I found out at the end-of-year banquet that I did not get the position, my disappointment was immeasurable. It was a personal low because of what the club had meant to me and the importance the role of an officer had held in my heart. For the next month, I resented the elected officers, I believed I was better than them, and believed the election was rigged. My refusal to accept the outcome held me back in my leadership. This behavior continued until my mentor had a talk with me about what happened, and although he did not say much, he said just enough that pushed me back down the path I had started on. He simply told me that I can lead from the outside and be the change that I wanted to see. This resulted in a paradigm shift. I realized I could help the club from a different perspective and have unique interactions I could not have had otherwise. After that conservation, I realized that maybe it was not my time to be an officer yet. Throughout the next club year, I interacted more with the first years, pushed for a constitution, and returned to be my energetic and positive self. The following year, I was scared that I would lose the election like the previous year, but ultimately, I decided to run again. After the previous failure, I was much more motivated, and I had matured. In the end, when I found out that I won the officer position, I was content since I had surpassed the goal I set for myself. My failure to become an officer taught me various lessons about life and failure in general. Failure allowed me to rise above and better myself. I realized that I could never give up until I achieved my goals. I also learned various things about the nature of failure, mainly that is inevitable and that I should not look at failure through a negative lens and allow it to control me, and rather I should look at failure as a learning tool and part of who I am as a human because no one is perfect. This is the kind of mindset I want to carry into my future, as it has encouraged me to become better and has pushed me to strive for improvement, and I want to encourage and motivate others to view failure in the same way.

I attended a STEM middle school, and from my first day at that school, I fell in love with my math and technology classes. Although my love of math existed even in elementary school, my middle school math teacher only strengthened my passion by involving me in the Math League, this continued into high school where I had another amazing math teacher who involved me in Mu Alpha Theta and my IB Higher Level Mathematics class, demonstrating how my love of mathematics is not only continued throughout my educational experience but also extremely strong. In middle school I also had a technology class that eventually evolved into an aerospace class, my teacher structured his class through a variety of projects he gave us, where he gave us a specific outcome we were supposed to accomplish without any sort of hints, forcing us as middle schoolers to use out critical thinking and creativity skills to find unique solutions to problems, my favorite being when we had to design CO2 race cars and had to judge them on which one could travel the farthest and also the fastest. My early involvement in STEM was a huge part of whom I was as a person entering high school, and it only furthered when I could choose my SL and HL classes for IB, where I also chose SL Physics in a heartbeat over Chemistry and Biology. Besides my involvement in STEM, I also decided to pursue engineering because of what I want to accomplish in the future. Being born in Cartagena, Colombia, my hometown suffers exponentially more infrastructure problems compared to here in the United States. I want to study civil engineering to find sustainable and feasible solutions to infrastructure problems in cities and communities like the ones in Cartagena, helping them to achieve a better quality of life. I will contribute to the engineering field by using my knowledge and critical thinking to make life easier for other people, especially those who may not have the means to do so alone, working on development projects around the world. By working on global projects, I hope to create stronger communities, heavily influenced by my involvement in YMCA Leaders Club, mostly due to social responsibility being one of the three pillars of the YMCA. This would double not only as social responsibility but also as my contribution to the field.

The most interesting part about me is my origin for sure, as it is an aspect I take great pride in. Although I was born in Colombia, I moved to the USA when I was four years old and became an American citizen in the 5th grade. My Colombian origin has made me very culturally diverse and accepting of different backgrounds and the celebrations and values that come with each specific culture. I also was raised without a father, with that and by going through YMCA Leader's Club and EDGE/Life Teen, I have been able to be vulnerable and willing to show weakness, which has helped me grow and develop as a leader through the theory of a "servant leader". My immigrant background has pushed me to demonstrate that Hispanics can be just as achievers and hard-working as everyone else in an academic environment, evolving to become a significant driving force in my education. Through volunteering, I have improved my willingness to communicate and compromise and increased my desire to form strong bonds within my community. I have learned to recognize some people do not have the same opportunities as me, meaning I not only need to take advantage of those opportunities but help and share with those who do not have access to them. I have experienced challenges in my life moving from Colombia to the USA, the outcome became promising because of the constant support in my life from my family and community. My high school career has been characterized by balance, with me having to maintain community service, extracurricular clubs, my job, and my brief stint in youth sports while sustaining a decent academic performance. My heritage has contributed to making me focus on balance to find success in all aspects of my life. I will keep enforcing balance during my college and professional careers. The next step to achieve my goals is to attend and finish college with minimum debt, which would be helpful since I am the first member of my family to attend college in the USA, and therefore this gives me more possible opportunities than my family had in Colombia. I will be attending the University of Florida College of Engineering in Gainesville, and for me to do this, I need to adapt and fend for myself. Cartagena, my hometown in Colombia, has many problems in comparison to the infrastructure level we have in the USA. Using my knowledge and critical thinking in the Civil Engineering field will allow me to help to find sustainable and feasible solutions to the infrastructure problems in cities and communities like Cartagena, helping them achieve a better quality of life and progress. I am aware these communities are all over the world, creating global opportunities for engineering and its applications. It would be tremendous to be part of development projects around the world. By working on development projects, I hope to create stronger communities, heavily influenced by my involvement in YMCA Leaders Club, due to social responsibility being one of the three pillars of the YMCA. My goal would double not only as social responsibility but also as my contribution to the field.

The most interesting part about me is my origin for sure, as it is an aspect I take great pride in. My mother moved from Colombia to the USA when I was two years old. During that time, my grandmother and my aunt raised me as their own since my father was never present. They nurtured me until my mother became established and brought me to this country. Without my mother’s perseverance and the people that she met and helped her along the way, I would still be in Colombia and not as fortunate to receive the life I have now. Here in the USA, we met families in our apartment complex who supported us and helped us transition into life in this country, essentially becoming family to us. We joined the YMCA when I was 5 years old. The YMCA allowed me to participate in my first youth sports program and gave me somewhere to go in the summer when my mother was working. I volunteer at the YMCA to give kids the same experience I had when I was growing up. Community service is important because there are people who were not born with as much privilege as I was and do not have the same opportunities as me, meaning I not only need to take advantage of those given opportunities but share my talents and help those who do not have access to those opportunities. Throughout high school, volunteering acted as a hobby with me often volunteering every week for basketball coaching and counselor training; at the same time, these activities filled me with joy while having the chance to help others. Volunteering spiced up my high school experience as well as gave me the experience I needed to later pursue and obtain a part-time job at the YMCA. I have experienced a lot of change in my life moving from Colombia to the USA, but that process became easier because of the constant support in my life from my family and community. Without them we would not have made it in the USA nor would my mom had been able to raise me alone. I have learned the importance of bonds and I want to help on building a community of strong, symbiotic connections, where everyone can fall back on, rely on, and support each other. At the same time, my immigrant background and heritage are reminders that with discipline, persistence, and dedication I can achieve my goals. Cartagena, my hometown in Colombia, has many problems in comparison to the infrastructure level we have in the USA. I want to study civil engineering, so I can find sustainable and feasible solutions to the infrastructure problems in cities and communities like Cartagena, helping them to achieve a better quality of life and progress. I’m aware these communities are all over the world, creating global opportunities for engineering and its applications. It would be tremendous to be part of development projects around the world.

The most interesting part about me is my origin for sure, as it is an aspect I take great pride in. Although I was born in Colombia, I moved to the USA when I was four years old and became an American citizen in the 5th grade. Due to my Colombian origin, I feel as though it has made me very culturally diverse and accepting of different backgrounds and the celebrations and values that come with each specific culture. I also was raised without a father, and I feel as though with that and going through YMCA Leader’s Club, I have been able to be vulnerable and willing to show weakness, which has helped me grow and develop as a leader through the theory of a “servant leader”. Being from another country has also given me something to prove since Hispanics in most areas tend to underperform, has given me the drive to prove that Hispanics can be just as smart and hard-working as everyone else in an academic environment, which has been one of the biggest driving forces in my education. Another thing that’s special is my willingness to communicate and compromise, as well as my desire to form strong symbiotic bonds within a community, and this is because my mom had to rely on the help of strangers to be able to establish herself, which has opened my mind to the importance of communities and cooperation. My high school career has been characterized by balance, with me having to maintain community service, extracurricular clubs, my job, and my brief stint in youth sports while maintaining a 3.9 GPA. I have focused on balance, so I can find success in all aspects of my life. On top of the balance, I had to maintain in high school, winning this scholarship would help me achieve my goals by helping me to attend college without debt, which would be helpful since I’m the first member of my family to attend college in the USA, and therefore this gives me more possible opportunity than my family had in Colombia. I would like to attend college outside of the Tampa Bay area, and for me to be able to do this, I need to be able to adapt and fend for myself. Cartagena, my hometown in Colombia, has many problems in comparison to the infrastructure level we have in the USA. I want to study civil engineering, so I can find sustainable and feasible solutions to the infrastructure problems in cities and communities like Cartagena, helping them to achieve a better quality of life and progress. I’m aware these communities are all over the world, creating global opportunities for engineering and its applications. It would be awesome to be part of development projects around the world.