Coming to the United States, my parents, like any other family migrating to the states, want a better life for their kids. As I grew older and I was getting closer to graduating high school I knew I wanted to go to college and pursue a career I was passionate about. My goal has always been to be part of the healthcare field since growing up both my younger brothers had been in and out of hospitals and tired sleepless nights that my parents and I spent. I noticed that when it comes to healthcare, there’s little to no Spanish speaking personnel. I thank all doctors, nurses and technicians that were there to help and better my brothers’ health when at the hospitals, and because of this I was inspired to be part of the healthcare system where I too could provide help in my community specially when it came to a language barrier. Applying to college I knew that it wasn’t going to be easy because there were little to no scholarships for undocumented students. But, that didn't stop me from pursuing my career. I attended College of Lake County, a community college, where I was able to successfully complete my Associate's in science. I then decided that I wanted to pursue a certification before I decided to go back to school and in the meantime save up money to pay for school. In October 2024 I was able to complete my certification as Certified Clinical Medical Assistant at Chicago School of Phlebotomy, Naperville. I was eager to start working and use my skills and knowledge out there, but unfortunately even with the full motivation to start using my certification I was unable to due to the DACA program being paused. This led to multiple setbacks for me. I was and currently still am looking forward to the news that would open new doors, DACA reopening and obtaining my work permit. However, in the meantime I started to look into other non-profit opportunities within the area. In December 2024, I became a volunteer at Lake Forest Hospital in Illinois at the Universal Care Center department where I was able to assist nurses and patients. Here, I grew a deep connection with the patients in a matter of a few months, which motivated me to continue my education. In this year, 2025, I decided to finally enroll back in school and pursue my Bachelors in Science- Health Sciences in Northwestern University SPS. Being an undocumented student and a minority there are definitely many obstacles that we need to overcome in order to keep going forward and become part of 20% of Latinos with a bachelors and roughly 9% of Latinos in healthcare. When one is eager to continue their education they would do anything in order to reach that goal even with the multiple sets back that one will encounter through their college experience. Being a first-generation immigrant, but second- generation to attend college I will always work harder to be able to complete the degree that I am passionate about in order to also help those going through the same rough patch as me and to help my Latino community in the most possible way that I can.