I would have everyone read 'The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari.' I learned a lot of valuable lessons from reading it. It is about a man, Julien, who was very wealthy. He owned a mansion, a private jet, and a Ferrari, but he was never content with what he had. He always wanted more. This led him to work 18 hours daily, which made him lose his marriage and family. One day when he was working he had a heart attack. His doctors asked him to leave his job and live a more peaceful life with all the success he created. He realized that he was prioritizing wealth over himself so he began to sell everything. After this, he left for India to search for the 'true meaning of life.' He searched for a monk to take him under their wing to learn the principles of life. The only condition was that he spread those principles to the world. The monk told Julien a story about a sumo wrestler leaving a lighthouse as you sit in a garden. The wrestler finds a golden stopwatch where he slips, falls, and stays there for a while. He only wakes up because of the smell of the flowers in the garden you are sitting in. The wrestler finds a path of diamonds where he can find happiness. Julien was found very confused by this story and the monk describes the 7 principles of life. He learned that the garden symbolized the brain, if you keep up with the garden you will achieve great things in life. The lighthouse symbolizes goals in your life. A lighthouse shows the right direction for ships which will direct you toward your goal no matter what difficulties you have. The wrestler symbolizes kaizen which means continuous learning and improvement. The thin wire underwear shows self-control and discipline. The stopwatch symbolizes time which makes you realize that everyone has 24 hours in a day and it is up to you to decide what you do with your time. The roses in the garden symbolize social cost. It does not matter how successful life you are, helping others is priceless. The last principle is the path of diamonds which symbolize the small moments in life and being present in life. People can relate to this story no matter where they are in life. I recommend it to everyone around me.

I have been motivated to confront gender disparity in Texas by my family. I grew up in a family of five with four of us being women. I have seen my mother raise us as a stay at home mom. She always did her best to support us emotionally while my dad took on the role of supporting us financially. My sisters both made it to college on full ride scholarships after working hard to earn those scholarships. I have truly been inspired by my two sisters and mom to confront gender disparity and aim for something I believe can make a change. My dad has also been a big part of my inspiration. I grew up in a low-income immigrant household. In the past two years my parents were able to file for their residency in the United States. Seeing how happy our family is now inspired me to be the person that helped my parents get their residency. This was our immigration lawyer. Through my degree and future career as an immigration attorney I hope to help other families feel safe here in the United States. Going through undergrad and law school is the path that will help me obtain this career and allow me to help others who grew up in similar situations as I did. Around 37% of attorneys are women and only 5% of all attorneys are Hispanic. This leaves a very small percentage of Hispanic women and I want to be a part of that group. Gender disparity is not only an issue in the law field but in every field. I have learned that many women can take on roles that have not always been cut out for them. The past 5 years at my school most club presidents were guys. This past year the valedictorian and I discovered we were very similar. We are both from low-income immigrant Mexican households and we both want to pursue a career as immigration attorneys. She was the president for the National Honors Society chapter and Business Professionals of America chapter at our school. This upcoming school year I will be taking over those president positions and secretary at our community college’s green club as well as historian for my school’s student council. There is nothing I would rather do more than help people in similar situations to my family’s. My family has gone through alot when it comes to immigration. Many of my relatives have gotten their residency while few others have been deported. This has been common between other immigrant families around me as well. Gaining an education is also very important to me. I believe this is something that will let other Latina women believe that they can do it too. I am currently going into my senior year of highschool while earning my diploma and Associates of Science. In the near future I will attend a four year university to study Political Science and continue into Law School. I hope that with my background and future degree I will be successful as an immigration attorney in Texas.