For the first 14 years of my life, I did not have a space I could call my own. We lived in a trailer, so there was never a moment of silence or privacy. Shared bathrooms and shared a small room with my brother. He called dibs on top bunk, so I didn’t even have a say in that. Little brothers, am I right? The kitchen was small and often did our homework there while my mother cooked and tidied up the place. It was a tight and crammed place, but it was home. Our home. My parents are immigrants. They came to a foreign country by themselves with no reputation, no money, and nothing that belonged to them. Terrifying, right? I would constantly see them come home exhausted and drained. My mother worked late at night, and my father was early in the morning, yet they still provided our necessities and our wants despite their exhaustion. A few years ago, we moved into the home we are in now. For the first time, I had my own room and I was thrilled. I could decorate however I wanted. I no longer have to deal with my little brother. I can finally have an area that I can go to for privacy and silence. No, we are not wealthy. Not close to it. But this house we have? We got it with hard work, determination, and dedication. This is what my parents have taught me. As the oldest child of two immigrant parents, I’ve faced different and unique obstacles and responsibilities that others may not face frequently. Constantly translating paperwork at a young age, taking care of my younger brothers despite wanting to be with friends, my parents teaching me any skill they could in case anything ever happened, watching how difficult the immigration and citizenship process is. I still remember the day they received their residency and citizenship. Their eyes brighten in such a way and a sense of relief from them. Now, I am preparing for a career in law. Besides martial arts, law is one of my greatest passions. Currently, I am indecisive between criminal and immigration law. They both handle clients in difficult and vulnerable times. I know the difficulty of the immigration process and for that I am passionate about it. Everyone deserves representation and needs a hand in a foreign country. They are humans trying to succeed and create a better future for themselves and their families. I want to advocate and be the voice for people. I know how frustrating and infuriating it can be to not know the system. That’s why I want to help and guide them. I am an upcoming junior in university. I have time to think, and I am grateful for that time. I will think and am sure I will decide what is best for me when the time comes. Whatever my decisions may be and the outcome, it will be a path to advocate and for self-growth. I know the struggle firsthand. I know the odd obstacles. I understand the frustration, but I also know how comforting it feels to not be alone. My parents' foundation of hope and hard work is what makes me strive to do better and create a positive impact whether it’s only effective on one person or 10 families. It is a change made.

I sigh. The sink was full of dirty dishes once again, but what is expected when you live in a big household? A small fresh print of lips on the cup of glass my mother adds to the pile of dishes. Crumbs and leftovers on the bowls and plates as I look at them in disgust. Cleaning dishes was never something I looked forward to. I let out another big sigh and an obvious look of annoyance while I scrub the dishes for my mother to notice – which she did. She looked at me with a tired and disapproval look. She commented on the dishes not being clean enough I wanted to argue. I wanted to roll my eyes. I wanted to go outside. It’s summer and I wanted to play with my friends like any other young kid. I mean dishes are dishes. Just rinse and put them on the rack to dry, right? Besides, it was never good enough for her so what’s the point. However, my mother's intention meant no harm. I now realize that. She was asking me to pay attention. To give my absolute best even in the smallest task because it will always affect you. Unproperly clean dish? Yuck, I don’t want to eat my food from that plate. No one does. Silly how a simple task can affect you and bite you back in the future. It wasn’t until I got older that I noticed why she had relentless standards and what seemed like annoying tasks at the time. My mother grew up with very little. She came to an unknown and foreign country. She had to work twice as hard for everything. She has done everything in her power to set me up for success as her oldest child. She has never belittled me. She has always celebrated every achievement of mine. Accepeted into college? She was thrilled to tell people that her daughter is pursuing law. Passed my black belt exam? Thrilled to tell people her daughter has finally achieved the black belt level. Second place in my tournament? Thrilled to tell people I won 2nd in my tournament although I was bummed out about it. Although these are great achievements, I couldn’t have done it without my phenomenal and fantastic mom. She pushed me every single day to do better in school. I didn’t like school, but she celebrated every achievement of mine. My honors, my high GPA, etc. Her enthusiasm truly pushed me to graduate despite the rough patches. She pushed me to strive in taekwondo despite me being tired and complaining that it was difficult. Now I am a black belt and it’s my greatest passion. My mother has shaped me into the person I am. She has taught me to never settle. There is always room to improve and learn despite the difficulties and annoyances. Achievements can be big or small. She has taught me that I ultimately have the final decision if I want to succeed in life. She knows I can so she’s hoping I take that route and while I do, she always celebrates and cheers for me. Now when I scrub the dishes (which I still hate doing), I no longer take my mother’s criticism harshly but rather with love and an expectation to do my best because she knows I can do anything I put my mind into. Even if it’s as simple as washing a dish.

Talking about myself is one of the things I find the most difficult thing to do. It’s one of those questions that makes everyone think about the perfect answer and attempt to fit in. I find myself doing this too but one of the things that I could go on and on about is my passion for martial arts; right along with studying law. Martial arts are my biggest passion, and I have been doing this for the last couple of years. I currently do taekwondo, balintawak which is a Filipino martial art, and sparring occasional. While this amount of training classes can be overwhelming for others, martial arts is my escape whenever I am stressed or overwhelmed with my university courses. It has shown me critical skills such as dedication, patience, discipline, and personal growth. These skills are applied every day and at work or school. Besides martial arts, I mentioned my passion for law. I am currently a Criminal Justice sophomore at the University of Cincinnati and working on my paralegal certificate. I plan to finish my certificate and my bachelor’s degree at UC. I am looking forward to going to Law School despite all the hardships and challenges I may face. I am extremely passionate about immigration law, and it is truly something I have been wanting to do. I have seen first-hand how difficult this process can be, and everyone deserves a representation, especially those who are in a country that is new for them. It truly saddens me and breaks my heart on how immigration is being taken care of, and people need help the most during these times. First-generation students have difficulty navigating through higher education because of their unfamiliarity in this path. I, myself, struggle with this too. I often question myself if I am doing good enough, if I am a good role model for my younger siblings, if I am going to fail in this path. It’s important to lift other first-generation students. I hope every first gen student reminds themselves how privileged they are to pursue higher education. Yes, the path is hard and will be obstacle, but I remind myself and others “Would you rather face struggles and obstacles in a path you hate or in a path you are passionate about?” First gen students can create their own story from scratch and that’s the most beautiful thing. For now, I remind students how privileged we are to pursue higher education and inform them that many universities and schools have clubs where they welcome us with open arms. We are not alone. It’s not impossible, but it will be difficult. While it’s years away and perhaps a decade away, I hope one day I can make my own law firm and provide scholarships, paid internships, and endless opportunities for everyone but mainly for first generation students pursing law so they receive all the support they can get. Whether it’s through financial help, emotional help, gaining experience, or just someone they can lean on.

I’ve always been aware of the unequal treatment and discrimination towards young adults and elders despite how much they contribute to this country. The country where people come from all over the world to live what’s called “The American Dream.’ Truly we all aspire and hope to reach such a goal but unfortunately immigrants struggle with rough obstacles to reach this goal. It’s a beautiful country where we can learn and experience different cultures, backgrounds, and much more! It’s unfortunate how we don’t appreciate the beauty of this and truly how blessed we are to be in a diverse country. It’s even more unfortunate how people discriminate against others only because they speak differently, dress differently, and eat different food. I am currently an undergraduate. I am majoring in criminal justice and double majoring for business Spanish and paralegal. I am currently taking a course called Sociology. As mentioned, I’ve always known about the unequal treatment towards people who are of a different race or gender; however, this course has truly taught me so much more and I would recommend it to everyone. It truly taught me how unfair the system is to anybody. People who live in poverty have little to no access to resources or any help from law enforcement. During this terrible time, many people being racially identified and taken into custody because of their color. Sentencing being lower towards Caucasian men. “The sentencing project” article talked about how Latinx are imprisoned 4.2 times more than whites. In my future career, I plan on advocating reforms in justice and fairness for all. Yes, I am aware that not everything will always be fair but advocating for these issues can absolutely change someone’s life, experience and thoughts about law enforcement, and reassure them that this country truly tries justice. I plan on becoming an attorney. An immigration attorney is my main focus, but I have plenty of years ahead of me to pick up a different law career. My goal isn’t to just help immigrants and defend them from unequal treatment they may receive from law enforcement or others, but my goal is also to help build this system for the better and be there for the change. I hope and will ensure justice serves equally no matter race, sex, or identity. To prepare for work and the criminal justice system, I have joined a club in my university that helps learn about immigration law and system. I have joined a second club that consists of people from different countries, some are international students. This helps me learn about other people’s backgrounds and lives. As for work, I have yet to be given a chance to have an opportunity, but I truly am determined to get an internship during summer. I will be studying abroad for a short-term this upcoming year as well. I hope to learn more about people and gain more knowledge. Through community engagement and studying, it helps me be directly involved with the experience and education I will receive. When opportunities are given, I will take whether it’s volunteering, internship, study abroad, or more. It brings me closer to my career and equity. I will stand by morals and dedicate myself to this. Thank you.

Recently in my sociology course, I have learned about social identity. I had to do an assignment based on what my social identity is and how it helps me socialize with people. I gave it some thought for a couple of minutes to think about what the most significant thing about myself is and now I am currently feeling the same way. Unsure of what to say. There are so many things I could talk about myself, whether it’s flaws or amazing things. For example, a flaw about myself is that I am very clumsy. Although some people find it funny, it gets irritating when I drop plenty of drinks at work or when I’ve fallen several times during practice in taekwondo. Yikes... It’s definitely embarrassing when one falls while trying to do a roundhouse kick. Trust me, I’m talking from experience. Now for a positive I would say I am quite skilled in what I’m taught. I am clumsy in my martial arts courses. Taekwondo? I fell. Filipino martial arts? I hit my head with the stick, but I am skilled. Not to brag but I am a black belt for a reason. When it comes to education, I am smart I won’t lie in that. I am very smart in math and a quick learner. I went to a school where I studied agriculture, business, environmental engineering and so much more. I would volunteer whenever we did invasive tree removal such as honeysuckle trees. I learned a lot about the environment, and I did a small business with natural soaps for people with eczema and sensitive skin. We even went to see how recycling companies do stuff, and we went to the Ohio river to learn more about water pollution! Although I enjoyed doing these fantastic things for the world and our environment, it’s not what I want to do as a career. My heart is set on fighting for those who need someone to defend them in court. Law. There are so many paths, and I want to do so much. I want to do environmental law, criminal attorney, immigration lawyer and more. All I know is that I want to help people and do justice. Perhaps I can’t be something big in the world, but I truly hope to make a positive impact in someone’s life. For that, I am passionate about what I am pursuing. I am set to do law and do everything in my power to help who I can.

Why am I so passionate about being a first gen? There are so many things that could be said or expressed for this question but what’s my answer? As a first generation, I am incredibly lucky and blessed to have the chance to study in university right now. I am so incredibly lucky to be born as a Mexican American. As a Mexican, I have a supporting family that has my back no matter what because that’s my culture. We support and help people whether you know them or not. As an American I have so many resources, opportunities, and much more to take advantage of to study and pursue my career. Now to be honest, I am not 1000% sure what I want in life. If you were to ask me where I will be in life in 10 years, I wouldn’t be able to answer. I don’t even know where I will be in life next year, but I have goals and dreams. I am pursuing law to help immigrants and help people who need someone to speak for them and defend them when they can’t. I have seen the struggles of my parents and have heard about their dreams but never pursued them due to fear, lack of resources, or lack of money. Yes, I have goals and ambitions, but I am so lost. As a first gen, I have worries and fears. How can I take advantage of my resources in college? What’s some good advice for first-generation students? What should I do? Am I doing everything correctly? It’s a new experience for me. Although I have fears, I am passionate and strive for the best. I’m not here to tell you that I'm better than all the other people applying for this scholarship, Now I’ll tell you why I am so passionate after I rambled on. I want to make everyone proud. My family, my friends, myself, even my dog. I want to be the voice. To allow my parents to feel like they came to a different country for a reason, that all the hard work did not go to waste. I want to prove and show to everyone and myself that yes, a Mexican American who has struggled with so much whether it was money, social identity, learning a new language, and more... Can absolutely study and pursue something big. I will admit I am stubborn. No, I don’t know where I will be in 10 years, but I know I will be proud of MY culture, proud of MY achievements, proud of MY career and most importantly proud of MYSELF. Having the chance to get any help I can get is extremely helpful. Being a first gen and oldest child is hard to manage sometimes. Hard to balance work, school, sports, and my social life. Thank you.