My name is Alejandro Recinos Quiroz, I am 18 years old, and I will be attending NC State in the fall. I like watching sports, playing sports but mainly soccer, I like being with family and friends. I enjoy being active which can be going out with friends or family but I can also be relaxed and spend time inside. I have many long-term goals and they all have a lot of meaning behind them. Financial freedom is very important to me, I believe that once I can achieve this many worries in life go away, not having to worry about paying bills, being selective on what to buy, or worrying about money is a huge stress off my shoulders. Another goal of mine is to retire my parents from having to work. I have seen the amount of effort my parents have done to help me with anything in my life whether it be school, jobs, or friends. I feel as if I was able to retire my parents or them not having to worry about working anymore. I would be the most content as I know I have done a lot to get to the point where they don’t have to worry about anything. One last goal would be to be successful in the career I choose. I don’t necessarily know what career I want to pursue within business but I know it is in business and especially in finances. I enjoy doing math, handling money, and learning about how money can be invested so it can grow over time. A time I experienced emotional weakness was when the death of a friend occurred in 2021. I found it to be personally challenging due to knowing this friend for nearly half of my life. The feeling of despair throughout each day was painful. I was very cold, I wouldn’t speak to anyone and I isolated myself to heal my pain which was different from how I usually coped. I’m usually an exciting, enthusiastic, and talkative person, but I refrained from being like that because of the grief I was experiencing. After a while of being lonely and my family worrying about me, I noticed something had to change, being cold and isolated was the wrong approach. I started to heal by doing things that I enjoy. I would play video games, go out with friends and be around family. I knew that what happened was for a reason and I had to take the death as something to grow from rather than let it burden me. Growing is something I realized that is important. You must grow in order to keep moving forward. Instead of being miserable, I was able to pull through not just for myself but also for my family. I grow from people, criticism, and hardships. I believe that this new way of thinking really changed how I'm able to live my life, which is by always growing.