My story begins with my father’s courage, faith, and determination. He immigrated to the United States from Cuba on his own, leaving behind the familiarity of his home to pursue a better future. Starting over in a new country was not easy. He worked hard to learn English, continued his education, and eventually became a pastor. My family and I grew up with financial challenges, but despite our circumstances, my father always made sure that faith, love, and generosity remained at the center of our home. Watching him overcome obstacles while remaining devoted to God taught me that our circumstances do not have to determine our purpose. Growing up as a pastor’s daughter, I have attended church my entire life. My father introduced me to Christianity and taught me the foundations of my faith, but my relationship with God has become something deeply personal. My love for Him developed through my own experiences and decisions. I believe God has shaped my heart to be compassionate, understanding, and willing to help others. My faith is not simply a part of my upbringing; it is the foundation of the person I strive to become. Worship has always been an important part of my life. I currently attend Christ Fellowship, and I also serve as the worship leader at Westwood Christian School. These experiences have allowed me to use my voice and leadership abilities to encourage others and create opportunities for people to connect with God. Beyond worship, I actively seek opportunities to serve my community. I volunteer with Caring for Miami and Miami Rescue Mission, two Christian nonprofit organizations dedicated to serving individuals and families in need. Through these experiences, I have learned that serving others means recognizing their dignity, showing compassion, and giving my time without expecting anything in return. My greatest career aspiration is to become a marriage and family therapist and eventually establish my own Christian counseling practice. I want to work directly with individuals, couples, children, and families, offering one-on-one counseling that incorporates biblical principles and professional psychological knowledge. I believe that meeting people where they are, listening to their individual struggles, and helping them understand their experiences through both psychology and God’s Word can have a greater impact than I can imagine. I hope to work particularly with children and families because I believe that providing guidance and a strong foundation early in life can positively influence generations to come. I want to create a welcoming environment where people feel understood rather than judged. Ultimately, I hope to carry my father’s legacy of perseverance and service into my own career. I want my profession to be more than a way to earn a living; I want it to be a light that shines for the Lord and points others toward Him, whom I believe is the ultimate source of truth, hope, and healing. I recognize that I cannot solve everyone’s problems, but I can use my education, compassion, and faith to walk alongside those who are struggling. My greatest hope is to dedicate my life to helping others feel seen, valued, and loved while using every opportunity I am given to glorify God and positively impact families and communities.

My name is Annajoy Serrano, and I am proud to be Cuban American. Spanish was my first language, and my family’s journey to America has played a significant role in shaping who I am today. My heritage is something I have grown up surrounded by, and it is something I hope to preserve throughout my life. My father fled Cuba when he was around my age, leaving behind the country and life he knew in search of a better future. His journey reminds me that the opportunities I have today were not always available to the generations before me. When my grandparents, my father’s parents, came to Miami, I had the privilege of living with them until I was about ten years old. Those years had a tremendous impact on me. Some of my fondest memories are the simple moments, like my grandmother making Cuban pan con café con leche. Those moments may seem ordinary, but to me, they represent the warmth of my family, the traditions I grew up with, and the culture that has always made me feel at home. Growing up in Miami, I have also come to appreciate the Hispanic community surrounding me. I love seeing Hispanic families, especially other Cuban families, throughout my community. There is something special about recognizing familiar traditions, hearing Spanish spoken around me, and seeing people who share a part of my background. It gives me a sense of belonging and reminds me that I am part of something bigger than myself. At the same time, I have noticed a struggle within American society: the gradual loss of cultural identity and representation. Some people feel less comfortable speaking Spanish, embracing their traditions, or identifying with their Hispanic roots. It saddens me to think that anyone might feel pressured to distance themselves from their culture to fit into American society. I believe that being American and embracing your cultural background should never have to be mutually exclusive. My family has taught me to be proud of where I come from, honor the sacrifices made by the generations before me, and never take my heritage for granted. Being Cuban is not simply a part of my background; it is a part of my identity. I hope to honor my father’s journey and my grandparents’ legacy by keeping our language, traditions, and culture alive for future generations. I want my children to experience the same sense of belonging that my grandparents gave me.

Two years ago beginning of my sophomore year my parents divorced. Finally, after so many years of an almost absent father yet abusive whenever we did make memories. My sister and I always ran to my mother for security and comfort. She sacrificed so much for me as a child and I did not realize how lucky and fortunate I have been to have a mother as strong as her. My mother drove me to any extracurricular I my father allowed to me to participate in, which was rare. Anytime I was feeling down I would run to my mother and she would make everything feel so much better. I would silently watch as she would smile and quietly try to blossom in such a difficult and toxic situation. Now she has continued to struggle and support my sister and I. She poses such a strong front to show my sister and I that we women can be powerful and rise against hard challenges. Leaving my biological father was very difficult for her in so many ways yet she did it for my sister and I. Her story has empowered me to be encouraged in all my endeavors. Even while dealing with the divorce during my high school years and having to struggle living financially apart from my father, my mother has shown me how to handle this situation with grace and not to spiral or get brought down. My mom has always been here for me emotionally and until this day she has still been my number one supporter. She puts me first everyday in her life even when it is easier to want to put herself first. She has taught me patience, compassion, and self worth through her consistent actions and words that she has raised me with. As I have matured through the years, I have remembered and kept in my heart the teachings my mother has shown me and has taught me even in her lowest points of life. She has always pushed me to be the best version of myself that I could be, but instead of empty words she truly had actions behind those words that made me believe them to be true. She demonstrated what is possible for me in my life and how I can achieve so much more in life when I apply myself and I act selflessly. She taught me to keep my morals and never change for the worse even when undergoing trails. I would have never left such an abusive relationship with my blood father if my strong mother did not leave even though she claims “It was the hardest decision she ever made yet I would do it over and over again for you my girls.”

Growing up, school and learning new things was always a challenge for me, and I only recently figured out why I was different than all the other kids I grew up with. I was diagnosed with ADHD. It honestly was not that much of a surprise because I have always exhibited the ADHD behaviors. I have never and will never use ADHD as an excuse if I did bad in something or I did not meet certain expectations or a criteria I was to achieve. It has been so difficult navigating my ADHD brain for so long alone and not knowing how to effectively study with my mind so occupied. Eventually I started to hate classes, school, homework, and I wanted to stop trying and just give up. Although my learning disability tried to hinder me, I did not let it crush me. I knew that I still wanted to pursue a good career and that will only come through hard work and dedication. Just because I have this disability does not mean I have stopped trying to always do my best and try my best to navigate the way I was made to be. I want to study psychology and help others who have hinderances like ADHD in their lives and be able to show them how to navigate their lives and understand how they work because I know first hand just how hard it can be to be stuck in the dark every day. My motivation is also learning for myself psychology and applying it in my life. I have found the field of psychology so intriguing and interesting all my life and the thought of being able to study it for my career makes me so excited for my future. I am a good candidate for this scholarship for multiple reasons. One, because I am in need of any money I can get, although I work, I have a single mom and money in my household gets very tight and finances get scary sometimes. Two, this scholarship can help me so much to get a step closer to my future goal of helping others. I am very determined, dedicated and passionate about my future and I would actually use this scholarship wisely by being focused in college to be successful not just for myself but for my future patients who I know will benefit from my help. Lastly, this scholarship gives me hope because I have long struggled with ADHD and I thought I was not going to be good enough for education or getting into college, it makes my life so much more difficult in many ways, but I am excited for my future education and I am a good candidate because I need this for my future.

I grew up in a crazy and broken household. My father verbally abused me everyday since I was a little girl. My parents constantly fought and there was never peace in my home. When I was younger around the age of 5, I was a talkative happy child who loved to be around people and have conversations with anyone I could find. When I got to around the age 10 my character shifted and I shut myself off from anyone around me. I was so hurt in my heart by the people I should feel most loved by. During the time I shut myself out I started getting very depressed. I became cold and I would not show anyone the part of me that was in a deep pain. I would always be in a dark room crying or just scrolling mindlessly to escape the world. I would never have my real personality when I was around people, the personality which wanted to connect to others and have a good time. Any time I would come close to sharing my feelings I would cry and get mad at myself for feeling a certain way. The obstacles that kept on coming my way felt like they were tearing me down worse each time piece by piece. I was lost more then ever. Plus I was a growing girl who was super self conscious and I never felt good enough. I would over eat one week because I was stressed and starve myself or make myself throw up the next week because I felt fat. I was in constant fight or flight mode. Through all of this, I found peace in my Savior and that savior is Christ. My parents finally got a divorce. My father decided to not speak to me for a long time and he still has not swallowed his pride and had a conversation with his daughter yet. I cut out toxic people in my life who constantly teared me down and made me feel lesser than them. I began my healing process around 2 years ago after my fifteen birthday which was one of the worst days of my life. I became open again to other and I realized I did not have to be scared anymore. I got out of my room and although I can still find myself feeling sad about my situation and my past I am overjoyed when I think about living a new day and I realize I can do so much good. Ever since I started my healing process I became interested in the field study of psychology. It is such an interesting and important topic that can be so beneficial to humans. My educational goals is to become a family therapist one day and ultimately help out boys and girls who find themselves in situations very similar to mine. Even though I probably will not find myself one hundred percent healed yet, for my recovery process I just want to always remember how far I have come in my life. I want to remember my creator and rely on my faith to help me. Lastly, I want to remember that this life is not only about me, to recover I want to remember that there is someone I can always help and yes I have my own problems but so do they.

I come from a broken home. My parent recently divorced which put a huge toll on my life. I had a lot of anxiety growing up. I grew up in a “Christian household” yet I never felt safe. I never relied on my faith when my life was simpler and when I did not feel like I actually needed God. Growing up I wasn’t truly saved but when the news of my parent’s separation came about, I had a true dedication to God. I got closer to my creator. He has been with me throughout my life guiding me even when I chose not to follow Him. When the divorce became more evident, many challenges started popping up. They made me choose sides and both parents wanted me to defend different sides in court for the divorce. There would always be fights and then I had to start getting used to switching from parent to parent. At first when all this chaos came about I went to the world to help heal me because I was breaking inside. I tried finding an answer in material things and would go to those without faith to ask for their opinions. I tried it all yet I would always feel more and more pain inside especially as the date of the divorce got closer and closer. By this time when I was at my lowest, is when I started seeking God and following Him. Not only did I follow God because I needed Him but because He has showed up time and time again to show me how great His love is for me. When there was nothing else I could rely on, He was there. The more I learned about Him and His goodness, the better I felt and I felt connected with my creator. God gave me a peace I could not receive from no one else. Even though I did not deserve His love and mercy He always gave it to me but not only did I receive love I also got instructions from Him in His word. I relied one hundred percent on God and He showed me that everything happens for a reason and to love my family as God has loved me. Now I overcame the pain that my parents divorce brought on me but not through my works but by giving my hurt and pain to Christ and allowing Him to work on me and be able to comfort me when I needed it most. My faith in God got me through this tough season in my life.

I have ADHD which stands for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. I have always had signs of ADHD even at a young age but I never really thought it would affect me so much in my life. Grown adults would always say I would just fidget a lot or not be able to sit still and focus like other “normal” kids. ADHD has effected me way more then I thought. I do not consider myself a rude or lazy person but I have to work extra hard everyday to be able to pay attention to little details like not interrupting others or not spacing out when others are having a conversation with me. Having ADHD has made me inattentive, impulsive and hyperactive. I usually find myself acting without thinking in small scenarios while in big moments I have to try really hard to not be impulsive, be patient, wait, and think before I act on during a situation. I get bored easily and I get frustrated and overstimulated quickly so I have to work every time I feel like that and calm myself down. When I was younger, before I knew I had ADHD, I always felt lost and different. I had a constant struggle everyday and every second was a mental battle against myself. In school I struggled, I struggled in simple task that should be easy. I always got mad at myself for not being able to do certain task and I would get mad because I did not understand why I would feel a certain way. I had a very troubled start in my childhood which led me to get a lot of built up anxiety. Then I was diagnosed with ADHD. While I knew I had ADHD I made sure to never use it as an excuse of why I could not complete certain tasks normally. I still struggled a lot in my teen years because although I was diagnosed with ADHD I still never got the support or help I needed to help learn how to go about life while having ADHD. My goal in the future is to continue learning more and more about myself everyday and to love the way God made me. Even though I may have something hindering me sometimes I will never use it as an excuse but I will use it to show how much effort I put in every single day. Having ADHD and learning how to work around it has been difficult but it has taught me many incredible life lessons and experiences. I love the study of human behaviors and learning so much of ADHD behaviors has actually caused me to fall in love with psychology and lead me to want to become a therapist for others who may be struggling like me.

I have not had a good financial education, my parents were not the best with money while I was growing up, but watching them has taught me a lot throughout the years. Even my sister is very bad with keeping any money she is given because she loves to spend. At a young age I started saving. I have my own savings account which grows, slowly but surely, just for having money in the account. I have no work experience but I consider myself to be a very diligent person and I have applied for many jobs. Mainly what I do whenever I receive money is put around half, or more then half inside my savings account and the rest I keep cash inside a little vault at my house. I never touch the money inside my savings account, I only add on it unless it is a huge emergency but for the past three years I have had that account I have never had to touch the money from their. I shop smart. I usually get my clothes at thrift stores like Good Will and honestly I enjoy it because there are decent clothes in the store at a very good price. Whenever I go shopping for food I always look for deals and I never buy more than what I need. I always have a budget in my mind when I’m out. I rarely treat myself to anything nice and that is because I just can not afford to, although I do know personally many people, especially woman, who will buy things they do not have the money for. I do want to learn more about finance. I want to be able to not only save, but be able to get an income without me having to work so hard for it. The main way I have heard that helps is renting. In the future when I get enough money I would like to own properly and be able to get an income literally while I am sleeping. Even though I know it can be hard work, I still believe it is a good way to get a good income. When I start to get a solid income I always want to have a budget. Not saying that I always have to have a “poor” mentality but I never want to overspend on items I do not really need. I believe it is a great blessing the habit I have produced at a young age, which is being able to save and manage money well.

The career I want to pursue is to become a family therapist. I am a devout Christian who wants to use my career to honor the Creator of it all. Psychology is an amazing and interesting field that helps people who are struggling and help them access their situation. I have a therapist who has helped me so much in my life and has helped other clients also. When I see the good that therapist do to improve the well being of others, and see how they take their time to listen to so many hurt people who need someone to listen to them, it makes me want to be like them. Although my therapist is amazing I know that only by God can a person find true peace, and He is the author of our morals. The way I want to impact the world through being a therapist is to guide them to the One that can save them from their pain. I grew up in a Christian household, I go to many different churches including metro life youth group, Christ Fellowship, and First Baptist church of Broward. I go to a Christian school and I am on the worship team. I started a Bible study group at my school with one of my teachers. So far it has been amazing seeing the lives of girls who want to honor God and seeing that has become an encouragement in my life to do all for Christ. I am planning on doing my academic learning at Florida International University but I want to have a Christian foundation while learning about psychology. God is the one who has made everything, he made us and He knows what humans need in their situations. My father used to be a pastor when I was a baby and he was young. He had a church full of Hispanics because the location we lived in didn’t want to have Spanish descent people going to their churches. He left Cuba to come to America at the age of 16 and he went to a Bible college to become a pastor. He is one of my biggest inspirations for using my career to please God and help others. Now he is a relator but he always wants to create good relationships and help out others. Just being kind to someone else can make their day and he has met so many people through his line of work and eventually so will I. You can change the world one person at a time. One positive impact on a person can go a long way. One healed person can lead to so many others. Our small actions can benefit others so much more than we can imagine. Through the career I am trying to pursue, I can actively work towards leaving that positive impact therefore benefiting others. I can show them and teach them the love Christ has for us while also using psychology to help benefit them and learn the tools needed to help them in their circumstances. Being given the chance to talk one on one with troubled people and being given the chance to help their situations is a huge blessing and one that will please God, if you do it His way.