My favorite book is, "The Devil's Arithmetic", by Jane Yolen. As a Jew this book had an immense affect on me. After reading about the struggles Hannah's family went through in the Holocaust, it made me think about my own family. The possibilities of even one of my ancestors being imprisoned in a concentration was a heart breaking thought. Picturing the pain and trauma that they experienced was such a terrifying imagery. To know that I would've been exterminated if I lived in the during the Holocaust was mind boggling. I imagined myself in their shoes and thought about what I would do. Truthfully, I didn't know. You wouldn't know unless you were actually there and that left a huge message for me. That message being, you'll never truly know what someone has gone or is going through unless you were them. There's a lot of things to unpack from this book. For example, "Why did Hitler choose to traumatize millions of people out of hate?" That question answers itself, but there isn't a logical answer. Which leads me to believe that Hitler had severe mental issues. Knowing that most babies and children died left a big impression me. To be able to brutally murder innocent people without caring is insane. Some people are extremely cruel to others out of pure hatred. I picked, "The Devil's Arithmetic", as my favorite, because it gives people a great perspective on the Holocaust and is a book that, as a young Jewish teenager, left me full of thoughts, emotions, and curiosity.

My family and I have struggled in getting higher education due to the lack of funds at home, because I grew up with six siblings and two of them having disabilities. A lot of my family's money went to helping my disabled brothers leaving not much for the rest of us. I'm adopted and my mother and father are the only ones that raised me, so money was always an issue for my family. My parents have pushed me to be better than who my family was and to always go forward, never backwards. There were times I had to ask teachers for school supplies, because my family wasn't able to afford them. My family lived off of food stamps and church pantries, because we didn't have money for food. This made it hard to get the things needed for school. This often took a toll on me and my mental health. It was hard seeing my family go through the struggles of life with little to no money. It made me want to get a higher education, so I can help people like my family. I'll be the first in my family to go to college. Growing up I went from house to house with no stable place to call home, until I was adopted. There were nights my parents didn't eat, so that my siblings and I could. I tried to help my disabled brothers growing up, because I knew it would help my parents. I plan on becoming an auto-mechanic or someone that can help society as a whole. If I'm able to just fix someones car for them so they can get to a job interview on time or get from point A to point B, I will for sure take that opportunity. I want to be able to become a better version of myself and thrive as a person by helping people with what I've learned. I want to give back to people by helping them with the little things, like fixing their tire or change their oil. Doing things like that makes me feel like I've made a difference in someones life. Helping people in need has always been something my parents taught me. Helping people has always been something I've aspired to do. Seeing my family struggle the way we did made me want to help people even more, so that they didn't have to struggle. To be able to help struggling families like mine would be a dream for me. I love helping people and giving back. My goal with higher education is to help as many people as possible.