I love to learn, whether, it's how to use power tools, the Pythagorean theorem of statistics, or how to be a good older brother, I want to understand it all. Being able to go into a topic that you have no prior knowledge about and become better is such a great feeling. Especially when it's one you're passionate about and interested in. I plan on going to the University of Houston to get a bachelor's degree in Economics. I love learning the idea of economics, as I get to see the real-world consequences and effects it has in front of my own two eyes. While I'm in college, I already have an internship set up with a school that will help me pay for a portion of my tuition, and once I complete my education, I hope to get a job in the district office with that school. Using my degree to hopefully help kids and make a better and safer learning environment for them. I will accomplish this by being disciplined and focused on what needs to be done. I am a hard worker, and when it comes to something I'm passionate about, I put my whole heart into it. I refuse to fail unless it's to gain.

A major obstacle in my life that held me back was my physical appearance. At the beginning of high school and for most of my life, I was overweight; borderline obese. I was made fun of by my friends, my brothers, and even my own parents about it. However, I had a passion. I had a passion for soccer otherwise known as futbol. Futbol saved my life. It motivated me to get in shape. I was sick of sitting on the bench for ninety minutes and not getting any play time. I decided to take matters into my own hands. I decided to get into shape. Someone who drove and welded this motivation, ironically, was my oldest brother. This was the same person who made fun of me the most, but he only did that because he cared. He would force me to go on runs with him at night in the past, but I had always quit the second day. This time was different. I had a reason. I had motivation. I wanted to become a starter on my high school soccer varsity team, to prove the people who made fun of me wrong. I soon realized that this was something more than just futbol. This was my life. An endless finish line that was always running away from me. One that I will always chase, but never reach. This idea motivated me even further. I decided to go from just running a mile or two every other night to lifting weights in my home gym, inside my garage. This step furthered and benefited me as a person greatly. I started weightlifting. For eight months straight, I would go into my garage for two to three hours and wouldn't leave until I felt like collapsing on the floor. I exhausted my body to the point where everything hurt, but I continued. I got stronger each day, one step at a time, and now most of my old friends barely even recognize me when they see me. They would ask me how I changed so much. Which always made me laugh, considering these were the same people who used to make fun of me for being overweight. My confidence skyrocketed. I finally became comfortable with myself. Also, I got the starting position on my soccer team, and for my senior year, I even became captain of our Varsity team. I will continue to train my body and become better every day. Athletics saved my life. I never want to go back to the way I once was.

My parents are refugees as well, displaced from the war that happened in Bosnia and Herzegovina and its mass genocide in Srebrenica. Where young girls were raped in front of their parents, mothers would be slaughtered in front of the eyes of their children, and no one was spared. Twenty years ago, my parents fled to America in pursuit of this bewildering idea that the world had created and called the "American Dream". They wanted me to pursue that same "American Dream". They wanted me to create a life for myself where the atrocities that happened back in my home country could never happen to me, my future family, or anyone that I care about. The "American Dream" though, is not real. The opportunities America provides are created through the effort and work you put in. I learned this through my father. My father would work three different jobs and on the side do general contractor work. He would take me and my two older brothers to work with him on the weekends, where we would paint walls for fourteen hours a day. From this experience, I learned that just because we've been given the opportunity to live in America doesn't mean we get to reap the benefits without putting in the effort. The "American Dream" is not real in the definition it is given. People believe that it is something so perfect and simple. People believe that just because you came to America your life is set with a job, a beautiful house, and lots of money. It does provide more opportunities, but this is not true. So much work, effort, blood, sweat, and tears need to go into creating what we want, it doesn't just come as it was promised in the dream or the lie we were told. It's an allusion that fuels the motivation of many of us immigrants and refugees. To me, the "American Dream" is a source of motivation. I don't like what it stands for, nor do I agree with it, but it is something that drives me to achieve greatness. It creates this idea in my head that if I don't get a college degree, a big house, or become successful, then I have failed this opportunity I've been given. I hope to use my college degree to accomplish this opportunity and show my parents that it wasn't a waste. All the effort they put into me and the amazing life they have given me wasn't wasted. I hope that this college degree allows me to pursue my future ambitions and allows me to become a successful person that can provide for my family. This is what I want, the "American Dream", the same thing my Father wanted twenty years ago. To create a life for my family where we would be safe, happy, and have anything we could ever desire. I hope to accomplish the same things for my future family. ¨I don't care about any of these materialistic things or the American Dream, all I care about is you.¨ - Hidajet Sehic (My Father)