I am Amaya Marino from Albuquerque, New Mexico. I am an eighteen-year-old senior in high school, and I attend Explore Academy Charter School. Explore Academy is a kindergarten through twelfth-grade school with two separate locations. I attended middle and high school location. I have been attending this school since I was in eighth grade, during the COVID pandemic. I was in online school for a year and a half, going back in person at the end of ninth grade. When I went in person, I started getting to know students and teachers better since I was having real-life conversations and interactions. School has always been something I have enjoyed, but I do have difficulties learning and storing new information. Teachers at this school are outstanding, they truly want to teach students and see us grow and become better students and people. Some teachers who have impacted my life are Mrs. CJ, a science teacher, Mrs. Streif, a math teacher, and Mrs. Wheelock, an English teacher. These three amazing women have impacted the way I look at school and education, making my educational future very exciting. Mrs. C.J, the teacher who impacted my life the most and truly changed my perspective on life. I met her in the middle of tenth grade when I started taking the major classes offered at my school. The major class she teaches is Forensic Science, which I have taken for over two years of these classes. She is more than just a basic science teacher; she truly cares about her students, treating all of us like her children. As I took more and more of her forensic classes, I started getting to know her very well. She always listened to any issues I had at school, with friends, or anything else. Certain ways of learning are very difficult for me. When I came to her with problems, she always helped me come up with solutions. I am a better hands-on learner, so she would give ideas on how to learn concepts with more hands-on ideas, notes, diagrams, note cards, or posters. Even struggling with certain subjects, she always pushed me to my highest potential, making sure I always had help if I needed it. I have to work very hard in school even to get 80% on tests. When trying hard and not getting good grades, I would be very discouraged, She always reminded me that my hard work would pay off. Knowing how to work hard will be more beneficial in the future than just being able to remember specific concepts at the time of the test. Mrs. C.J. even helps students when they aren´t in her class. I wanted to play volleyball my senior year for my high school, but wasn´t able to because I am only taking one class. When telling Mrs. C.J. this, she offered to do an online class with me so I´m able to play sports. She is truly an amazing teacher and inspiration to students; without her in my life, my high school and education experience would have been very different. I am very grateful to have been at this school and known all of these life-changing teachers. She has become a role model to me, helping me to overcome my problems through perseverance and learning what strategies work best for me.

I am Amaya Marino from Albuquerque, New Mexico. At age of five my parents divorced, both given . My relationship with my father was rough and emotionally troubling. So, at the age of 16 my sister and I made the executive decision to leave my father and live with our mom. Our family encountered numerous struggles. She sacrificed a lot, having to use all of her savings to be able to support my sister and I. Even still, she helped me excel in volleyball where I found a passion for sports. Until 2021, when I injured my rotator cuff and could no longer play. Then I met Tim, a Physical Therapist who changed my life. He helped me through that painful time and allowed me to play the sport I loved once more. Inspired by Tim, I decided to pursue a career that would allow me to help other athletes like myself. By winning this scholarship I'll be able to put the money towards my college fund. I will be attending Grand Canyon University in the fall of 2025 for Health and Exercise Science. My next steps after that will be Physical Therapy school for my graduate program. This scholarship will help me to achieve my dreams of becoming a successful Physical Therapist. I’ll be able to help student athletes, people with surgeries, elderly have a better quality of life as I did. I hope to be able to do the same in the future with my very own patients. Physical Therapy helped me build myself up and taught me one thing that I carry with me forever. Never give up, try and try again and eventually you will succeed. Failure is a part of life. You try, fail, and then learn from those experiences. Throughout my journey of school I have always had struggles learning concepts while applying them to real world situations. During online learning, I found all of my classes confusing and hard. It resulted in me failing multiple classes that year. I realized during this experience that specific teachers impact my learning due to my learning style. Thankfully, I was able to learn from my failure and become better at math by getting one on one time with my teachers and having the information explained differently Persistence is my strength. If I put my mind to something I will work until I earn it. I know that college won't be an easy task. But I will work hard towards my degree and have faith in myself so that nothing can prevent me from doing so. I’ll have struggles and accomplishments, because you can't learn without failing. But I won’t stop, it’s what comes after failure that determines your success. Every struggle makes me stronger, and I have no doubt that dedication will build my success. I will advocate for myself and much as it takes in order to achieve my full potential. I expect in college that I will encounter difficulties, but regardless I will work through it. Community service has always played a key role in my goals and accomplishments. Our school hosted an annual exhibition, a large community project we conducted for a year. My classmate Erin and I were partners, deciding to implement a recycling program. We recognized the need for recycling at our school which previously had none. We organized fundraisers, talked to school administration, reached out to local recycling centers, and educated the entire school on recycling. We were able to help our school community and the environment.