My parents are originally from Michoacan, Mexico, a beautiful state filled with rich culture and tradition; My mother is originally from Patzcuaro, while my dad is originally from Cuanajo. In the year of 1990, my mother, like many other woman, decided to follow her husband to the United States, in search of the famous “American Dream.” My mother worked late night shifts to help pay for expenses that became hard for him to keep up with. Sadly, from the family of my father’s side, there was also envy. An envy so big, that my father’s sister decided to hide from him, the notice from the immigration offices about his appointment to finalize his legal status in the country. To this day, my father has not been able to clear his status in the country, and has had to work in the shadows, with fear of the police and with fear of deportation. Despite not being a son of blood, my father has high expectations on me, and tells me, “Estudia hijo, porque te convertirá en una persona preparada para enfrentar cada obstáculo, sin importar cuán grande sea. Hazlo, no por mí, sino por ti y tu futuro.” I have seen the struggle that he has gone through, and that hard-working attitude that he has instilled in me, has been my driving motor to obtain a degree in college. I long for the day where I will be able to tell my father that he does not have to worry anymore about working. That all he has done was not in vain. Now that I am in college, I haveenvisioned a path that would combine my major with a minor that can help me provide services for the people of my Latino community. Along with my major, which is civil engineering, i plan to also get a minor in business administration. If all goes according to my plan, then I will set up a small firm, which would include services like blueprinting or architectural engineering. Along the way, I wil meet people who will be able to mentor me. My shop will be accessible, since I have seen how the Latino people struggle when trying to make improvements to their households. I would offer monthly payments, for example, to aim for affordability. I am also interested in environmental engineering, and have the plan of working with a group of colleagues in order to make solutions for wastewater management, water and air pollution control, recycling, waste disposal, and public health. I think that it is immensely important to have machinery that is well equipped to ensure that the citizens are safe while being in public. An example of these types of advances that could be made to existing systems would be like the biofiltration water treatment systems. In order for water to get treated, there are harmful chemicals that have to be used to remove the contaminants. This type of biofiltration treatment works with microorganisms that naturally remove sediment from the water. Although some machinery is used, it involves way less harmful chemicals that not only affect us, but the world we live in. I do acknowledge that the career has its difficulties, but I am willing to study to help my Latino community be a better place. I hope that whoever reads this essay sees the potential in me, and decides to choose me as one of the recipients of the award. I will wisely use the money to give myself the best education that I could receive to carry out all plans that I have in mind.