My teenage years were a tumultuous time for me. When I look back on my life I often refer to myself as the "Rose that grew from concrete." A year before I started middle school, my mother met this man who would completely effect my life in the long run. He ended up getting her pregnant with twins, and forced us to move to Florida away from all of our family and friends. A week before I started the sixth grade, we moved from The Bronx to a little town in Florida. Within the first couple of days I started to notice a shift in him. He started to treat my little brother and I very weird, and it became a great disparity. Since we were not his kids, he began to treat us differently from the twins and belittle us. We were constantly being cursed out, made fun of, and called racial slurs. After awhile he began to become more abusive, not only was he beating my brother and I, but my mother as well. He began to cultivate an extremely toxic environment, and thrive off of the power he now gained from oppressing us. The climate of the house was permeated with tension, and anyone who would step through that front door could feel it. You could see that he genuinely enjoyed seeing us suffering. He constantly reenforced the power dynamic. If any of us were happy about something or received something special, he would create a big commotion. My brother and I couldn't even sit in the living room and watch TV without him yelling at us, or shutting off the power just so we couldn't watch anything. My brother and I became hermits in our rooms because that was the only place that we felt safe. Any time we would step out of our rooms, we were faced with verbal and physical abuse. One night when I was 14, he started to beat me and when I was down on the ground he kicked me in the eye, which resulted in me having a black eye. Fortunate for me, since I am really good at doing makeup, so I was able to cover up the black eye for school. Nobody knew what I was going through. When I went to school, I put on a new face for the world. On the outside you would see a bright lovely girl, but on the inside she was broken and struggling. As the years went on, it progressively got worse. He constantly made threats to me "I'll out you in a grave", "I'll out you in a hospital." All of the comments and abuse started to have an effect on my mental health. I was never able to get help because I did not have a cell phone and anytime he would beat me, he would unplug the router so I could not contact anyone for help. By my senior year of high school I struggled so much. He made my life a living hell. I started to suffer with anxiety, depression, panic attacks, and suicidal thoughts. I felt like there was no way out. Despite all my suffering, I worked hard to excel in school, which led me to win a scholarship (which he cursed me out for winning), and I began trying to create a new life. I finally left this house and tried to have a fresh start. At 18, I met my best friend and she has supported me through all of my trauma. I am now healing that part of myself.

The rose that grew from concrete is the metaphor that perfectly depicts my life. I have struggled and overcome adversity, and from then on I decided to dedicate my life to helping others. Pursuing a career in law will allow me to fuel the change in the world I wish to see. There are so many causes I am passionate about, and pursing a career in law will allow me to be a voice for others. Advocating for others is so vital to me because I see how so many communities are hurting, and nothing is being done for them. I aim to serve others to make sure that they have the opportunity to the pursuit of happiness that our constitution grants. In high school, I was part of a Kiwanis club that allowed me to volunteer and serve my community. I fell in love with serving communities in need, and continued to pursue the act of community service in college. I began to work with kids from a local family shelter. I created such a loving bond with the kids that I was offered a position to become the coordinator for the volunteer program. Soon after I was offered a position to become part of staff at the shelter. Alongside working at the shelter, I participated in several other volunteer programs. I participated in the Midnight Run, which consists of bringing food, clothing, and toiletries to the homeless population in Manhattan. In addition, two years ago I joined a volunteer organization that put me on the path to pursuing a career in law. I began to tutor at the Westchester County Jail and help men received their GED's and other credits. Being able to sit with them and hear their stories truly inspired me to pursue a career in law. I got to examine the system and see how broken it is, a vast majority of them do not need eternal punishment, but rehabilitation. Following my volunteer work at the jail, I was refereed to another program that works with the formerly incarcerated. After a couple sessions, I was ignited with passion to advocate for others and reform the system. Everything I was learning, I was able to apply to my own life. I was able to study and connect the sociological effects that lead to incarceration. These very same effects directly impacted my family as well which lead my father, uncles, and cousins into the incarceral apparatus. Through hearing my families stories and connecting them with those stories of my incarcerated students, I was able to understand how our system targets vulnerable populations. I began to study and research many different aspects of the incarceral system, such as the dehumanization of those who are incarcerated, those who do not receive a fair trial, and the difficulties of the reentry into civilization. The more I learned, the more passionate I became. I am determined to become a lawyer to advocate for others and completely transform the system. I believe that I have the power and the grit to make great change for our criminal justice system.

Selflessness is the most upheld principle in my life. Each and everyday I dedicate my life to helping others. Growing up I was faced with a lot of adversity, and ever since I have devoted my life to helping others who are faced with obstacles and adversity. When I was in high school I was part of a Kiwanis volunteer group, it brought such joy to my life helping others. When I got to college I enlisted in one of the volunteer programs. My volunteer work was so outstanding that I was offered a position to become on of the student coordinators of one of the volunteer programs. For the past four years, I have worked with children from a shelter. I have built such stronger and loving connections with them. I began to help them with their homework, prepare educational activities for them, and spend my money on food and supplies for them. The head of the shelter saw how much I loved being with the kids, and he offered me a position to work with them as part of the staff. However, not only do I work with children, I also work with other at risk populations. Numerous times I have participated in the national program the "Midnight Run," where I was able to provide food and clothing to those in need in New York City. I loved doing this program because I felt as though I was able to bring a sense of humanity to those who are suffering with homelessness. Being able to sit with them and talk, and hear their stories was truly touching. The look on their faces touched my heart and showed me that this is why I do community service. However, there is one volunteer program that I do that inspired me to change my major and find my life's passion. Three years ago I began tutoring at the Westchester County Jail, and this work forever changed my life. Society puts a stigma on those who are incarcerated, and they are forever labeled with this "Scarlett Letter." However, being able to sit with these men and getting to know their stories and how they got there inspired me to pursue a career in criminal justice/social justice. Just last November I helped 8 men get their GEDs. Not only do I tutor at a jail, but I also work with the formerly incarcerated. By doing this volunteer work within the criminal justice system, I have met some of the smartest minds and sweetest people. This has inspired me to advocate for those who are incarcerated and become a voice for the voiceless. I switched my major from pre-med to criminal justice so I can make a life-long career out of helping people. Throughout my years of volunteering, I had the honor of working with different marginalized communities. Each time I volunteer, I realize that it is my life's purpose to help other's. Not matter how much I struggle in life, I am always willing to lend a helping hand. I have found no greater joy in life than seeing the faces and reactions I get from volunteering with these truly amazing and inspiring people. Volunteering and participating in community service has shown me my life's purpose.

The rose that grew from concrete is a metaphor that describes my entire life. Growing up I was faced with a lot of adversity that has vastly affected my mental health. I grew up in a marginalized neighborhood known as the Bronx. This is the Mecca of marginalization. Growing up in a Dominican family, mental health is very taboo. Struggling with mental health means that you are weak, and the only way to get rid of your mental health issues is to "realize that other people have it harder, and not focus on the problems in your life." This imposed mentality caused me to struggle a lot growing up. When I was about 7 years old, my dad left and I grew up with a single mother. We struggled a lot and were forced to jump around to different family members, or her boyfriends. When I was 11, my mother met a man who made us move to Florida. He was nice at first, however, once we were secluded from family, things took a turn. My mother, brother, and I were subjected to physical and emotional abuse. For 7 years, I lived with this man constantly berating me. I was called every horrible name under the sun, was threatened, and beaten. When I was in high school my mental health began to deteriorate. While I loved school and it was my sanctuary away from abuse, I eventually had to go home. Every day I would hide in my room because if I left, I would either be verbally or physically berated. When I was a senior in high school, my deteriorating mental health began to catch up with me. Although I was doing very well in school, I started to struggle with suicidal thoughts. I felt as though I would never be able to leave this house. My mother had no money and neither did I. I felt stuck and did not have a good support system. I felt that this was the only way out. I began to suffer from panic attacks and became extremely depressed. After he kicked me out of the house, some of my symptoms began to alleviate. After a couple of weeks I was accepted into college and was granted a scholarship. I thought that going to college would make everything better, and it somewhat did. My suicidal thoughts and depression was gone. However, the stress of paying for school began to haunt me. It was always a constant struggle for me to pay for school. Although I was granted financial aid, it was not nearly enough to cover the costs of my school. My third year in college was during the pandemic, and the laptop I have been using since high school broke down. One of my professors was extremely insensitive and blamed me foe not being able to afford a new one. During this time the stress of the pandemic and working to help afford things for school started to get to me. My job did not allow me to take my breaks, wanted me to miss school, made me work overtime without paying me for it, etc. I was being exploited at my job causing me to fall behind in school. After awhile I started to fall into depression again. However, I started practicing mindfulness and putting my mental health first. I started to give myself a mindfulness day, gratitude journal, attempting to meditate, and anything else that would bring a sense of joy to my life. Now I am on a better path to accomplish my dreams.