The cards I was dealt at birth was being a minority, first generation, low income, and neurodivergent. Those cards have been extremely tough to play with especially in a game that is fundamentally broken. I'm Mexican American, with adhd, and also immigrant parents. For me obtaining a college degree is like reaching the top of Mount Everest. It'll allow me to give me back to my family who have sacrificed a lot for me. Well that used to be the case before I began going to college. In sophomore and junior year of college, many of the issues those cards I was dealt with gave me were turned up to a hundred. It nearly broke me as a person. It was like dark pit that I kept trying to climb out of yet I kept I getting pushed down back into. I had never felt so hopeless and powerless. My life was a chaos and my mind too. After getting through that time period, I came to realize though that many of the issues I had to faced were due to systemic issues. College wasn't built for neurodivergent, first generation, minority , and low income students. From the many life experiences I've faced due to the unique cards I was given, I realized I don't want to follow the standard broken path. I want to build my own path. A path were my passion for technology allows me to build technology to that helps others. I hate knowing that others suffer like me or worse due to decisions outside their scope. In which the focus is survival rather than living what life has to offer. I can't sit back knowing that I can possibly help with the capability I believe I have. While I might not be able to change how the world is, I can at least help alleviate some of the pain given by it. Going to college used to mean giving back to my family. Now I believe I can do more than help my own, I believe I can do and build things that are bigger than myself. Completing college will allow me to gain leverage in order to build my own path. Outside a path that was never built for me, that has given my family, others, and myself a whole lot of suffering and continues to. A college degree will open a path of opportunities to fuel the vision I have in mind.

I'm not a just a first generation student, but also neurodivergent and low income. The trifecta, I'm just joking. Being first generation is about holding a heavy backpack while traveling a forest which you don't have the map to. You don't even know where to get started. It is a weight like no other. Every obstacle you face has the possibility of taking you down yet giving up is not an option. You are also finding the path for those who come after you. The unique circumstances I have been given from birth have given me complex obstacles that I didn't even know were possible. Many of the challenges I have faced, I'm not sure how I have overcame them but the thought of wanting to take my family forward is what kept me going even when I struggled with mental health and I nearly broke as person. Knowing that people also struggle like me or even worse, it is so sad that people have struggle like that. Being first generation is having to excel in a system that was never meant for us. Most people would rather succeed in that broken system but me personally I rather build my own way out of it. I would like to build technology that helps others not just in order to make money. I don't want to be an accomplished software engineer that is not fulfilling, I rather help alleviate some of the pain in the world. My unique life circumstances have given me a perspective and I'd rather take a bet on myself and my ideas than go down the traditional route. This scholarship would allow me to continue focusing on my education, gain the credentials and skills I need, in order to eventually focus on the path I want to build. A path where I get to help others with the capability I have .

Being first-generation is like going into a forest with no maps. You have to find your own way out of it. My family and I moved to the US, where my mother found work as a cook at a flea market on the weekends and my father worked for a phone company spinning signs outside in the heat. Those jobs barely provided for themselves, but they also had my brother and me to feed. My parents shielded my brother and me from most of these struggles. They would tell me, "Go to college unless you want to work out in the heat and in poor conditions." I wish it would have been that straightforward. Throughout middle and high school I had great grades, but I never had direction on where I wanted to go or what I wanted to do. I decided to enroll at the local university, but this is where the challenges of being first-generation that my parents had shielded me from finally appeared. How would I pay for university? How would I even find opportunities? Was the degree I chose even right for me? Will I even be able to help my parents out? I had quit my retail job in order to work at my school and focus on my career. Out of nowhere my mother was detained. My father wasn't able to find work anymore since he could also be detained. No one in the family had a job, and I had to step up for my family while I was still a college student trying to figure things out. The most stressful part was figuring out my mother's situation. It took a heavy toll on my mental health, but giving up wasn't an option. I built projects, maintained high grades, and dealt with my mom's situation. That was a little over a year ago, and it's still sadly not over. However, I know what my path forward is, and I've learned to deal with anything thrown my way. Being first-generation has taught me that I have to outwork others who are on the same path as me. I have to be capable, independent, and understand that giving up is never an option. I learned those lessons from my parents and have applied them to the best of my ability. It has given me a fire to excel and help my family, who gave up so much for my brother and me. Their goal was never for themselves to succeed; it was to see their children build a better life than they had. I'm passionate about being first generation because I want to help my parents who gave up their home in order for their children to have a better life. I know what way is out of the forest now it just took some time.

A project that I worked that I was most passionate about was creating my first web app. It was the first software project I had ever worked on. It was built with Javascript and React for the frontend of it and for the backend it utilized python and Django. It also has JWT token authentication and Posgressql for the database. The app was quite straightforward and it was the first full project that I had ever coded on my own. It connected to Google's Gemini model through their api access in order to allow you to create flashcards. So as user you'd be able to submit any document in order to study from it. It came during one of the toughest periods in my life were everything was falling apart for. However, this project allowed me to keep on going and work on what I most passionate about being technology. It was also tougher since I had undiagnosed ADHD at that time. When I first finished it felt great and it was the first project I added to my portfolio. The project was however challenging as a beginner. Eventually I became a lead at student organization within my college and I transformed this project even further. It had been months since that dark period within my life had occurred and I had also improved as a software developer. So that simple project and transformed it into a learning tool so other students were able to learn the different concepts I had learned from my project. I added explanations throughout the code explaining how each different piece connected into the bigger picture of full stack development. The repository for my project now had explanations for concepts such as apis, databases, dataflow, etc. It had become a learning tool for others. I presented this with another member as part of a workshop where I explained the web development to several students. It isn't the most technically impressive project but it's the project I hold closest to my heart. It began during a period where I had never felt so lonely and down to a tool that was able to help others. Technology has inspired me ever since I was a kid. I saw the development of smartphones from devices that were alright to now being a pocket computer. It was what inspired to take the path to become a software engineer. Now though I want to create technology that is able to help others and not just be a product. This change of perspective was given to me by the dark period I went through and the fullstack app I had made.

Since I was a kid I knew that my dream was to work in the tech industry. I come from a low income immigrant household but that didn't stop me keeping up with the latest releases more specifically smartphones. I remember being so fascinated with the release of the Samsung Galaxy S8 even though I couldn't afford it. During my middle school and high school years, they always made us present about our dream career, mine was to be a software engineer. I took mostly all available computer science courses in my school but I still didn't know where to begin to chase my dream of becoming a software engineer. I knew what that I wanted to become a software engineer but I never knew if I had what it takes to become one. Recently I had the worst time period of my life but my dream of becoming a software engineer was what kept me going during those dark times in which I had felt so hopeless. I wanted to give back to my parents who worked minimum wage jobs to help support my brother and I. I know there was no guarantee of me obtaining a job in the industry but I still decided to pursue my dreams. My dream job is to become a software engineer if it wasn't obvious enough. My two goals are to become a great software engineer and help others live life not just survive it. There's probably other great candidates out there but I believe I'm the best candidate due to my ambition,drive, and resilience. The odds have always been against me due to me being a minority and low income, not an ideal combination. During the worst time period of my life I managed to create two full stack apps and while now looking back they might not perfect and can be improved in plenty of ways, it goes to show much I really want this career path.

Since I was kid, I aspired to worked in the tech industry. I come from low income Mexican immigrant household and while I never really had the money to buy many of the devices that fascinated me, I always kept up with the latest releases. My heart really has always been in the tech industry. Recently, I had an event that really changed my family and I. My mother was detained by ICE while working in order to support my brother and I. When that occurred I had never so hopeless and stressed. I was striving for a dream of becoming a software engineer which isn't necessarily easy, had to step up for my family in a significant way since I didn't know what was going to occur with my mother's situation, and keep up the good grades in school. To add onto that , I was struggling to find a job during that time period. I felt I couldn't keep on going but I had a dream and my family really needed me. That kept me going even though that whole situation was taking a toll on my mental health. It was until recently that I finally recovered from the trauma I felt. Every bad news I found out about my mother's situation kept bringing me down. I really would not recommend that experience to anyone. During that time period I starting keeping up with the news since it was basically a necessity to know how my family could be affected. It broke my heart seeing millions of other families going through the same situation as me but didn't run with the same luck. Seeing others experience the same pain I felt was unsupportable, it made me sick to my stomach. In one of the courses I was taking during that time period we had a discussion about what living life was all about. I answered the professor life is about surviving, he laughed at me. He explained to me that is not really living life since you are not experience many of the beautiful things life had to offer. That idea really stuck with me. After all I have experienced and witnessed, I decided what I want to dedicated part of life to is helping others live life not just survive it. While my vision on how I want to help isn't quite clear just yet, I wanted to started financially if I ever got my dream job. I know I can do more since I have gained new skills. I created apps while they might not be perfect, it helped me improved my critical thinking and I've also built quite some resilience since I created them during the worst time period of my life. While I might not be sure what is going to occur in my life,I know one thing for sure is that I want to help others live life.