One of my goals after graduating and becoming certified in Cosmetology is to set up a salon and build communication and begin to create a dialogue for those families with mixed children especially who struggle like my family did. I would like to sit down and create care routines with parents and educate them on how to take care of their child’s hair in a healthy way. In 10 years, I hope to have a chain of salons and partner up with schools to provide low-income families with free haircuts and supplies.

My biggest dream in life is going to Cosmetology school and opening a salon and the reason is a bit personal for me. I am excited to get into the classroom and gain an understanding about different hair types, skin types and the color theory that goes along with that. I come from a very large family, and I am the oldest of five siblings. My father immigrated here from Mexico before graduating high school with the hopes of a better life and my mother dropped out of school to focus on raising kids. So, I felt this sense of responsibility in me to take up that mantle and pursue higher education out of high school since my parents could not. Although I had to make sacrifices throughout high school for my siblings it only gave me a chance to slow down and think about what I really want for myself. I have always had passion for art, finding ways to sell and promote myself and artwork, always pivoting when things get too stagnant. I am always actively trying to find creative and interesting ways of utilizing my craft. Cosmetology is a beautiful form of art and the perfect medium to encompass all my passions. My siblings and I, all have different hair and skin types and the one thing I remember vividly was my mother having a difficult time trying to figure out what to do with our hair on a budget and some of us just having to make do without. I know what it is like to try to figure out what to do with your siblings’ hair to get them ready for school and feeling helpless. My brother having a particularly difficult time his hair being very dry to the point that his scalp was hurting him all the time and his face being very oily and one of my other sisters keeping her hair short because it was a mane of tangles and knots if aloud to grow. Now I see that with the proper education all of this could have been resolved. So, one of my goals after graduating and becoming certified is to set up a salon and build communication, create a dialogue for those families with mixed children especially. I would like to sit down and make care routine plans with parents and educate them on how to take care of their child’s hair in a healthy way. In 10 years, I hope to have a chain of salons and would like to partner up with schools to provide low-income families with free haircuts and supplies.

Growing up I recall my father was two things a workaholic, and an alcoholic. I would describe him as a very hard-working individual but also a very violent and angry person. He was unpredictable when he was drunk and the worse thing about it was that he would not remember a lot of what he said or did, whether he just wanted to not take responsibility for his actions I cannot say but I still carry a lot of those scars and words with me to this day. Broken bones that were never set properly now are an everyday reminder to me of what I had survived. I look at these experiences though and know that they only made me strong of mind and body for if I had a weak mind I would either be an alcoholic myself or I would’ve ended up in early grave. I also recognize that everyone has their own burdens and although I did not know what demons my father was fighting, I knew to never let myself fall so hard that it seemed like substances would be my only form of relief. As soon as I was old enough, I started putting aside money to leave my family home to create a better future for myself. I sacrificed a lot to keep my sibling safe and I don’t regret for a moment putting myself in between them shielding them from my father’s explosive episodes. Laughter would die in the house as soon as his work boots thudded through the entrance and the tension running through the house, was like walking on eggshells. Being the oldest of my siblings it broke my heart to see them fear our father like that. Now that I have a place of my own to call home, I fill it was laughter and joy, leaving all the day’s stresses at the threshold. A home should be a place of refuge and an oasis from all outside burdens. I choose to respond to life’s challenges every day with a positive outlook. My early life may have started out a bit rough but now I have a drive and thirst to better myself every day that I do not think I would have if not for these experiences. I appreciate things more, taking care of the things that I own knowing that some people must do without like I did when I was younger, and I take the time to celebrate the small accomplishments.

I plan to pursue Cosmetology and the reason is a bit personal for me. I am excited to get into the classroom and gain an understanding about different hair types, skin types and the color theory that goes along with that. I come from a very large family, and I am the oldest of five siblings. My father immigrated here from Mexico before graduating high school with the hopes of a better life and my mother dropped out of school to focus on raising kids. So, I felt this sense of responsibility in me to take up that mantle and pursue higher education out of high school since my parents could not. Although I had to make sacrifices throughout high school for my siblings it only gave me a chance to slow down and think about what I really want for myself. I have always had passion for art, finding ways to sell and promote myself and artwork, always pivoting when things get too stagnant. I am always actively trying to find creative and interesting ways of utilizing my craft. Cosmetology is a beautiful form of art and the perfect medium to encompass all my passions. My siblings and I, all have different hair and skin types and the one thing I remember vividly was my mother having a difficult time trying to figure out what to do with our hair on a budget and some of us just having to make do without. I know what it is like to try to figure out what to do with your siblings’ hair to get them ready for school and feeling helpless. My brother having a particularly difficult time his hair being very dry to the point that his scalp was hurting him all the time and his face being very oily and one of my other sisters keeping her hair short because it was a mane of tangles and knots if aloud to grow. Now I see that with the proper education all of this could have been resolved. So, one of my goals after graduating and becoming certified is to set up a salon and build communication, create a dialogue for those families with mixed children especially. I would like to sit down and make care routine plans with parents and educate them on how to take care of their child’s hair in a healthy way. In 10 years, I hope to have a chain of salons and would like to partner up with schools to provide low-income families with free haircuts and supplies.

My father immigrated here from Mexico before graduating high school with the hopes of a better life and my mother dropped out of school to focus on raising kids. So, I felt this sense of responsibility in me to take up that mantle and pursue higher education out of high school. As the oldest child it was also my responsibility to help raise my younger siblings. I have always had passion for art, finding ways to sell and promote myself and artwork, always pivoting when things get too stagnant. I am always actively trying to find creative and interesting ways of utilizing my craft. Everything went towards my brother and sisters to make their time in school easier. Now I would like to pursue my dreams. Cosmetology is a beautiful form art and the perfect medium to encompass all my passions. All my siblings have different hair and skin types. I remember that my mother had a difficult time trying to figure out what to do with our hair on a budget and some of us just having to make do. I know what it is like to try to figure out what to do with your siblings’ hair to get them ready for the school and feeling helpless. One of my goals is to set up a salon and build communication, create a dialogue for those families with mixed children especially. Make plans with parents and educate them on how to take care of their child’s hair in a healthy way. In 10 years, I hope to have a chain of salons and would like to partner up with schools to provide low-income families with free haircuts and supplies.

If I had to describe myself, I would say I am a passionate and outgoing person and other people have described me as a ray of sunshine, optimistic and a very driven person. I am detailed oriented, and I put 110% into everything that I do but March 5th of last year I was hospitalized due to an anxiety attack because of something traumatic that I did not want to process at the time. I was using work as an excuse to stop going out and stopped socializing all together. Usually when you think of anxiety you may think of tightness in the chest and maybe even nervousness. This anxiety attack was nothing like that, I was having seizure like tremors, I had no control over my body, and I could not speak. It was an out of body experience from hell that had lasted hours. I watched as my loved ones tried to help me all while trying to say, "I'm sorry" and not being able to. It had taken me going to the hospital to realize the bravest thing I could do was to speak up about what had happened to me, just go ahead, and face it head on. Once I was able to finally talk about it, to see a therapist, I knew that everything was not going to magically get better overnight. That this was just a baby step in the most difficult thing I ever had to do. Now a year later I have made huge changes in my life to improve my mental health. I have found a healthy hobby that helps me conquer some of my fears and most importantly I feel that I have become a stronger version of myself.