"God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers." This quote has stuck with me the moment things got difficult in my life, and this quote gave me the realization that whatever problem comes my way, I can, and I will be able to overcome it. My friend told me this quote when she noticed how hard things were going in my life, from my brother being ill, to my mental health depleting, and just so many elements coming as one to make me feel beaten sometimes. Although, once she told me this, I started to think about how much I have already overcome, and that no matter how hard things get I will raise because God made me strong to do so. My pastor always said that when problems come our way they bring us closer to Jesus, and I started to believe in that more and more, since every time I found myself weak, He came and gave me strength. Thanks to my friend and her wise words, I was able to realize that we are all human, we all have our ups and downs, but what you do with your downs is how you chose to steer your life. And, I chose to steer my life with Jesus being on the wheel. I would like to share this quote with each of you, and to tell you that no matter what happens in each of your lives, we got this! We will come out stronger in the end! Thank you for reading this essay!

Growing up, my family taught me to fight for what I wanted and continue to thrive in whatever I chose to do. I grew up in the United States, and before I was born my parents decided to leave Mexico and come to the U.S for a better life. The area that I live in is majorly Hispanic, which is what I am. I learned how to speak Spanish when I was young and understood when to use it. At school, I only spoke English because most assignments and classwork were in English. This made me lose a bit of my Spanish due to a lack of practice. I had the chance to stay with my grandma during most Summer breaks since both my parents worked. She only spoke Spanish and taught me how to talk more fluently. If it wasn't for my grandma I wouldn't have known how to speak Spanish fluently. Growing up with her taught me that you don't need the latest toys, the best foods, or even air conditioning to be happy. Her home has no air conditioning, which would make us tolerate the heat, but being with her was the most important part to me. We would even walk to the store because she didn't have a car. I remember days which she would hold my hand while I wanted to step on the train track steps. Also, even if we ate the same thing every day, for example, eggs, it still meant the world to me that she was making food for me. I remember at a young age feeling bad that I couldn't do anything to help, which made me look up videos on YouTube but let's just say I was not the best in the kitchen. These moments in life made me into a better person. It also made me realize how communication was so important anywhere in the world. Communication has been an important factor in my life since the very beginning, from showing my parents how to pronounce English words to learning a different language and its dialect. I noticed that we all have a voice, which can make us understand one another. It had me wondering how people who are mute have the opportunity to communicate with others. ASL was something I always wanted to learn and I also noticed that I am great with kids. It had me wondering what jobs were there available for my interests, which was Speech Pathology, which combined both my interest in ASL and communication as a whole. I hope that once I graduate with my major, and get my dream job, I can make a difference. I want to teach others how to have a voice, and to get over their fears of speaking. These are my goals in life to make a difference in people of all ages. As a Latin American, I am proud to be graduating and moving forward with my dream career! ¡Si se puede!

"God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers." This quote has spoken so much to me and serves as a reminder that I am not alone since whichever obstacle might be in my way, I will overcome it. Problems are inevitable for our future because they are happening now, and what's to stop them from continuing? Nothing can stop them, but even if nothing is to stop them, it doesn't mean that I won't continue fighting too. This quote came into my life when I was at my worst, my brother was going for his tenth surgery, my mom wasn't in good health, and overall my parents weren't okay. With my dad working hard for our family, he never got the chance to attend my brother's surgeries. I would accompany my mom and we'd help reassure my brother that everything will be okay. This quote showed me that these battles that we are temporarily facing are because God knows that we can handle them, and we are able to learn from each of them. I know that the future has a lot on hold for me, and I don't have any fear of what might come because I trust that these battles that are coming will bring me to prosper. I am a strong soldier who fights for everything that is in her life. I fight to continue to stay humble no matter what chances I am given. I fight to continue being this hardworking girl who even when times were rough found time to prioritize school. I fight to continue being this optimistic girl who knows that there will be a light shining at the end of the dark tunnel. This quote inspires me day by day and allows me to continue to thrive. It shows me that my goals will be reached, and no matter how hard it will be, and things happen for a reason and God only knows what will happen, but trusting in him is the most I can do. This pushes me to more towards my goals because I know that I will be able to accomplish anything I set my mind to even when I am undergoing difficulties. I got this and I trust all will be great for my future!

Due to COVID it is a struggle to learn material virtually, my friend seemed to be struggling the most. It was as if what she had learned simply did not stick. She was taking Algebra 1, which is a class that I had already taken since I was already in high school and she was in middle school. She would get frustrated and upset about how she didn't get it. I told her dad for her to come to my house so I could tutor her. I tutored her all day and stayed next to her when classes started. It was my first time tutoring but hearing how she understood made me realize how it is always helpful to have that extra boost of help. I believe that math tutoring helped me so much in high school since I am not the best in math but when I got a grasp of it, I could do various math problems. I got an A in pre-calculus because of the extra help and all the times I would go to the tutoring building. I would recommend anyone to be tutored if they need any help in math! It truly helps!

A legacy to me means being able to leave a mark on this world, and by mark, meaning to leave behind a memory for people to remember you. Legacy to me is something that people remember you by and it can be in the good and the bad. If anyone were to leave a legacy, I believe it should be someone who left an impact on many people's lives. To me, a legacy would be to leave some kind of mark, and it can either be big or small. I think that anyone can leave a mark whether it be on one person or in a million! There are many ways to leave a legacy in this world, but sometimes they might not be the best legacies to leave. Some people want to leave a legacy no matter the trouble it might cause. Others do their best to make a difference and don't do it to be known for, but instead do it out of kindness. These people are known to be self less, when they pass away they are known to be these amazing people who inspire others to make a change or follow in their steps. Moreover, some would like to leave more personal legacies like in the movie, " Coco," it can be seen how family seemed to be the key factor. It was important for one another to talk about the memories they had with their lost ones, but it was as if those people were living once again. Therefore, this showed me how even the smallest of legacies can be the most memorable. The legacy I want to leave behind is how I chose to be with others and how my kindness is shown whenever. I have always tried my best to be the nicest as I can be and this is not to be known as "the nicest person ever," but more so because I know that everyone goes through hard things, and sometimes those nice words or the words of encouragement can truly leave a mark on that individual. I know that everyone has different ideas for legacy such as curing cancer, going to another planet and living there, or discovering something that no one ever has, but my legacy is closer to the people around me. I will try my hardest to continue to leave a great legacy with everyone I encounter. I'd also want to be known as someone who did not choose violence over being kind or generous. I am not the person who would encounter violence with more violence, I would try to do my best to ease any problems with being kind-hearted.

Rejection, even the word itself can sound harsh, and it is just not a word that none of us want to receive at times. Rejection is something that we should all experience at one point in our lives. The reader right now will probably be like, "What?!" Yes, we should all be rejected at one point in our lives, or else we will never learn anything new, or how to continue fighting for what we want. Rejection is just a reminder to all of us that sometimes our goals need to be fought for! A time when I was rejected and had to find redirection was when I was asking my mom what school I should attend high school. I applied to a school that was very difficult to get into where I am from, or even if the person got in, it was known that each year students would leave. I would ask my mom, and she would reject answering my question by telling me that it should be something that I should figure out. I didn't get or understand her answer, but in the end, it was just a redirection for me to look at all of my options. I could go to two close schools, where all of my friends would be, where I would have a "normal high school experience," but with my mom's rejection, I didn't know what to do. I started to think about either going to a school where I can get an Associate's degree or a school where everyone can go. To many reading this, you might be like, "Amy, it is an easy question, go to the one that can give you a degree!" To be fair, I would have told my past self the same, but then again I was a 14 year old, who did not have a clue what she was doing and someone who was not used to making her own big decisions. In the end, my mom's rejection gave me the redirection to head to a school that gave me the best opportunity for my academics. I attended the school I applied to! Her rejection gave me the redirection I needed to go for what was best for me. My mom's rejection leads me to something bigger and better than I could ever imagine. I did not picture myself enjoying my four years as much as I am now. No matter if my school does not have sports or a huge gym, I am grateful that I have the best school in the city for academics, and I am graduating with a degree! I also had the opportunity to have one on one with my professors at a university. I am getting the opportunity to graduate with 60+ credit hours! This was all because my mom rejected giving me an answer, and gave me a chance to decide on my own, what my future would be like. A simple "no" in my life transformed my life into something I am forever grateful for. I will never regret making the decision I did and having the redirection of prioritizing my academics first. We should not be scared to be rejected because one day we will be able to be grateful for all of the times we did. We wouldn't be the people we are today without getting rejected at least once in our lives! Let's be grateful for our rejection leading us to redirection!

Hi, my name is Amy Martinez! My dog's name is Little K!! We bought her from a man who was could no longer keep her, he named her so we decided to continue with her name. The picture I displayed was one I truly do love. We both love to go on runs, and she loves to go explore with me. I always try to take her with me everywhere I run! She is my fitness partner, and my motivator! My instagram handle is amymtz15. I love my dog so much and I am so happy to have her!

Fitness life has always been something difficult for me. Starting high school, I thought to myself that it would be a time for me to truly be the best version of myself, but it all went downhill when problems got more difficult and work got more overwhelming. With all the stress, I started to eat when I was tired, when I needed to cry, when I was stressed, etc. Eating was my coping mechanism when problems came my way. When COVID came our way, and we all went into quarantine, I had a lot of time with myself. I had time to reflect and see who I had become. I started questioning myself like, "am I happy with the person, I am looking at right now?" I realized that I wasn't and that I was the heaviest I have ever been, weighing at 205 pounds. For my age and height that was extremely heavy, and I told myself that change was not going to come my way if I didn't do anything about it. Fitness and health finally became one of my priorities, like it should have been from the start. I have lost 40 pounds in these past couples of months, and I have managed to continue my healthy lifestyle by working out and eating better. I have taken back a hobby that I have always loved, which was karate, and that is making me have my daily fitness, while still doing something I truly cherish. I also dance, and I have always loved to dance, but when I started to gain weight, my dancing was not the same. I'm not going to say that I was now a horrible dancer because if I do say so myself, I was still a pretty good dancer, but without being in good shape, I would exhaust myself pretty quickly, which caused a lot of moves to look not as full out as I would have liked. The benefit that I got from losing weight, and maintaining it was that I was able to reconnect with something I truly love. I was able to do more activities with my brother, since he is smaller he obviously loves to play, so now with my fitness life, I can do more things with him. I can be there for my mom and motivate her to live a better lifestyle and run with her. My mom and I have always loved to run and we have done marathons together, and living this life brings a lot of joy. Fitness brought a happier side of me, and I am grateful that I was able to put so much work and fought for my results. I am not saying that losing weight is the only way to happiness because it isn't the only way, but if people gave fitness a chance they would discover another side to themselves they didn't know about, just like I did.

The picture that I attached is a picture of my mom and me. My mom is the best role model that I have ever had. She shows me what it is to be a strong, caring, and hard-working woman. She moved from being one of the best lawyers in Mexico to come to the U.S for me to have a better life. She sacrificed her job, and she risked being alone with no family for me to live a better life. Currently, she is a teacher aide, but she had other jobs to get us by when she moved here. She was an assistant manager at a dollar store, she worked at gas stations, had a business at a flea market, which was one of the top places at the market, she got her cosmetologist license and came out top 5% of her class. All of the things or jobs I named, she did every single one of them, while still taking care of me, helping me with my homework, cooking meals, etc. My mom is the strongest person I know. She taught me to be faithful to God and taught me how important it is to have faith when things get hard. When my brother had surgeries year after year, she maintained her faith and was a pillar for our family. It broke me to see that she had to be strong for us and that she had to pretend like it was all okay. I have never met anyone as strong as my mom. My mom is my motivator every single day. She motivates me to have a great start to my day. My mom motivates me in my studies and does not sleep until I finish my work. She pushes me to continue to work hard for my goals. Tells me to love myself for the wonderful person I am. My mom is my rock, my shield, and my everything. I can continue listing all of the things my mom means to me, but the list will never finish. My list would be composed of things that occurred for almost 18 years, and my list wouldn't be sufficient to express how much she has done. I am thankful to God for allowing me to have the mom I do, and Thanksgiving is not the only day I should be grateful for having her, and every day I am thankful.

Volleyball has always been a sport that I have always enjoyed. The sound that the shoes make when you are running around the court, the slam that you hear each time someone hits the ball, the setup one does initiate the game. I have always enjoyed volleyball, and everyone has their way of playing it. I am pretty sure that some of the moves that I have done on the court are not in the main instructions. I learned to make my moves, which are allowed but unique in their way. My favorite moment on the court was when I got my very first over-hand serve. I felt so happy to know that my ball when over the net. The happiness that came to me when people could not get my serves. I was so happy, and all I could hear was my mom being proud on the sidelines, my coach knowing that practice made it possible, and my teammates screaming and shouting my names. That day we came back with a win, and I couldn't have been happier. My passion for volleyball all started when I was in middle school, I joined just because I can't say I had a motive to join. I went from one of the worst players to being MVP of the season. I became passionate about the sport and practiced almost every single day. I became passionate about how the team all moved together as one on the court. The way we all had our way of playing but knew how to read each other. The way we would jump up to spike the ball over. The way we would call the ball, and say that it was ours. These were all just factors that made me fall in love with the sport. I went from going to mandatory practice, to practicing it to get better, and finally to just play it with joy. I have shown leadership with this sport with my teammates by showing them where to aim, motivated them to continue moving, and overall just supporting them for their successes. I will continue to grow with this game, and showing the love I have for it. There is not one day where I do not think about the joy I felt in that court. Volleyball was always my top sport and will continue to be for many years to come. I made many memories, friends, and respected my coaches so much. They taught me to be the best I can be. I remember this one game, where it was an off day for us, but in the end, we made it work. The game was a bit complex, and the coach called a timeout and told our group of girls, " I do not have anyone to substitute for you guys, you are the best of the best, so show me that you are," those words made me have this burst of energy. I knew that we could do it, and we did. Those words proved to the team, that we can do it! I will continue to play this sport for years, and never give up on it.

Education was something that I always enjoyed since learning has always been something that I am passionate about. My mom is a teacher, and seeing how much she cared about it, made me want to learn even more. Since elementary school, education was everything to me, even when I was sick I never wanted to miss any day, and I would hate to miss school. I did not want to miss the lesson of the day or be behind on any assignments. I took school seriously, and still do until this day. Every day, we learn more and more, and that is why I think education has always been my main focus. I was on top of my tasks, got my work done before the deadline, and learning new facts of the day can be exciting. I took school seriously, that I would check out books almost every single week since I was done reading them. I would get into clubs to required science, technology, engineering, or mathematics. Also, I would join the advanced classes, and the group I would surround myself with are all currently at the top of their class. By surrounding myself with individuals who cared about their academics, it was able to motivate me and make me continue with my studies. Robotics would be one of the clubs that I prioritized, and it was based on how well we can construct a robot to defeat or complete a course. I did this with my team, and education was key since it required us to make specific measurements to get our work done. I am not the best student, but I know that I have so much passion for my studies. Education has always been something that I have loved to study and learn. With my academics, I will be able to do so much in the future, and studying will get me far with my future career. I know to put as much importance as I can into my education since people's lives will be in my hands. The responsibility that I will have in my career, will be built by my education. I hope that all the hard work I put into my schooling, will be able to inspire other students.

"Self-love is the best love," I always thought this line was extremely cliche, or would probably work as a good Instagram caption, but the more I thought about it, the more it clicked to me. It is entirely true that your self-love is the most important love that should exist. This past couple of years the word itself "self-love" seemed to me like, "Oh, I love myself, I mean I am extremely insecure, but if I say I love myself, I do?" These sorts of thoughts just kept appearing repeatedly, but no matter how many times I told myself that I did, it just wouldn't be believable. Here, I will write about all of my journey to loving myself. Social media had a way to bring me down once in a while, I would look at all of the models, or all the clothes that I would love to wear, but couldn't because of my appearance. I also was going through rough circumstances this past year, and instead of letting those emotions out, I would replace that by eating. I was emotionally and mentally in a bad state, and now physically was added to the list. I did not love myself whatsoever. No matter how much my friends would motivate me, it just was not working. COVID occurred, and we were all quarantined, I told myself that I have to do something about myself. I couldn't just stay in my sorrow, I wanted a complete makeover and I was on my way to taking care of myself. Mentally, I was doing better, since the school was now online and I wasn't overloading myself. Emotionally, my parents were there to support me. Physically, it was the hardest challenge. My weight was at its highest, I couldn't even do a simple move unless it would be tired some. I told myself that I cannot be giving up. I had to do what I had to do. I started to work out, and slowly accepted my body for what it is. By no means, do I believe that losing weight should evaluate your self-love, but I did this for myself. This was done in the span of quarantine, both of my parents got COVID, and again it was extremely tough, but I told myself to keep fighting and to keep working on myself to be able to have more mobility for my parents. My self-love became more evident, I posted a picture on my Instagram, and slowly people were noticing how genuine my smile seemed, and how happy I appeared. They would send me words of motivation, and it just inspired me to keep going. They noticed how glad I was, and not with myself alone, but also when I hung out with them. My beliefs just expanded, and now more than ever do I believe that self-love is a journey that each should take. It is always great to love yourself.

Failure is something that I think is just inevitable. We all have to at one point in our lives go through it since, without those failures, we wouldn't be where we are today. From those failures, we become better people. A failure that I experienced would be when I was a child, my goal was always to finish my black belt. My mom was my biggest inspiration because she was able to achieve her belt by training every day. When I was younger, my mentality was not the same as it is today. I did not have the mindset of finishing a goal and appreciating the hard work that I put. I quit various times, and to me, that is a failure, since I just gave up on my goal. I did not fight for my goal because I might seem to have a kid mentality, meaning that it was not my desire to get my belt. Now, I have been working as much as possible to achieve that black belt I wanted. I am thankful that my younger self gave up since I know that without those failures I wouldn't be working hard for my goal. It is my senior year, and not only would I be graduating this upcoming year, but I will also have my black belt right next to me. I am thankful for those failures because they must've been for a reason. My mentality has now matured so much, and I have this appreciation for the work I have done. My failure has influenced my life by making me more committed and to have the mentality that I have to finish what I have started. I cannot just give up mid-way and expect that it will work itself out, I must continue working hard for what I want. The goal that one has in mind, will not be done by just waiting for it to happen, and that is something that failure taught me. I cannot be stalling on my goal, but rather work hard for it to happen. This lesson was all taught to me because of the failure that I had to go through it. Also, it redirected my life from being someone who did not take much appreciation for the work done, to someone willing to do all she can to complete her task. All of the times I wanted to give up and ended up doing so, it made me fail in life, but in the end, they made me a stronger individual. My dedication to tasks has completely transformed. The strength and energy I have increased tremendously. If I did not have those failures, I wouldn't have this character development that I did. Instead of being disappointed within those failures that one experiences, we should learn from them and be thankful that they occurred. I know these failures were not for nothing, they were to mold me into who I should be.

Role models are people whom one looks up to as a guide or as a version that one desires to become. As cliche, as it may sound my mom is my role model. She is the person who molded me into who I am, and a person who I'd like to be. She sacrificed all she had for a person who didn't even exist, but she knew would come into her life. That person was me, and I am forever grateful for all that she has done for me. She gave up her job of becoming a lawyer for me to have a better life in the states. A movie character or a TV show persona is not sufficient to be a role model I'd like to be. The role model is right here, and that's my mom. She's had so many jobs to keep my family going from manager to of a gasoline station to a teacher at an elementary school. She's done so much and seeing her be that hard worker motivates me to become like her. She taught me to give all you have to someone who is in need, even if you yourself have nothing. She taught me to have faith in God, who will provide all. She taught me to treat others with kindness even when they don't feel that way towards you. She taught me to stand firm and trust in the Lord when problems come our way. Problems and obstacles surrounded our family all of my high school years, and each year seemed to get more complicated. My brother was born with a problem that caused him to have surgeries more than 10 times. My mom went through all of that and seeing her stay strong while her baby boy suffered was difficult. My dad was always out working and never was able to make time to be in any of those surgeries. My mom was that pillar for our family. She took my brother to every single doctor's visit, while taking care of me and my studies, and maintaining her job. How can she not be a role model? When after all she went through she always had a smile on her face acting as if nothing was wrong. She taught me many lessons and stayed strong for all of us. My role model molded me into who I am. Making me the best version of myself I could be. She made me this strong person who was able to be there for her and for my family. She tells me that the only reason that she was able to overcome all of those difficulties was because of me. I was taught from her to never go down without a fight, and fight for what I believe in. She molded me into trusting in God, and trusting that whatever obstacle comes my way I will overcome it. She taught me most important to be a great older sister, daughter, friend, and child of God. She taught me these things, and I am forever grateful for her teachings and all she's done. I can't imagine a life without having my mom to look up to. She's my rock, and she's my shoulder to cry on when needed. I could go on and explain millions of reasons why my mom is the best, but that wouldn't be sufficient for you to know how great she is. My career choice is to be a speech therapist and the reason I chose this is because it was influenced by my mom. She is a teacher herself, and seeing how she helps all of her kids, and has this love for them is something I wanted to do, but I wanted to go further than that. She also comes from Mexico hence her first language is Spanish. Speech therapy includes helping people figure out how to pronounce certain words or phrases. It turns out that I had been doing that for years without realizing. I have always loved teaching and helping others with speaking and communication studies. I didn't know how to combine those two worlds at all until just a couple of days ago. My mom helped me find my dream career. I know that this job will benefit many people, and I hope I can help many lives in the future. Thanks to my role model I was able to figure everything out.