I remember the first time I started getting influenced by the K-pop world. I honestly wasn't convinced as to why people were all crazy about it. I kind of thought people were a little crazy at first but that's where I was completely wrong! The moment I decided to give it a chance I never went back!!! My first K-Pop group was BTS maybe a regular for everyone but it was the first group I was introduced to. The first song I ever listened to was DNA by BTS. I was immediately hooked listening to other of their songs and then getting to know different groups such as Got7 and NCT 127! I can say that this was a major era for me I was at my lowest during that time. I was in middle school at this time I was going through major changes in my life such as having a newborn baby brother and having to help around the house while also having so many school assignments. I'm not complaining but there were times I would have mental breakdowns and music would be my calming or safe space. With this came K-Pop to change the person I used to be. The music for one was a complete culture shock for me being used to American culture and their way of music was different I enjoyed the way there are concepts to their music and some sort of lore or interesting story plot in between all their songs. It had me anticipating every new or upcoming song wondering what the next would be about. I was introduced to the K-pop industry not even a month in and I was already excited for BTS's Fake Love song premiere. It was a moment of Where have you been all my life! I remember first starting and being a baby ARMY till now waiting on their return from their military. My evolution of K-Pop has majority become more diverse over the years from our newer K-Pop groups such as Enhypen, TXT, and New Jeans, to more solo artists such as Jackson Wang, DPR IAN (one of my favs), and Jessi. Over the years I've learned to embrace some aspects of K-Pop. When I was younger I feared going to dance at parties, but once I started to learn dance choreographies and dance for fun to songs I've learned to become more confident in myself. The fashion statements in their music videos as well as airport fashion have helped me get into fashion sense way more. I used to be bad at styling myself and getting into Korean Street-style fashion has helped me a lot. One of the main things I truly love about BTS is their message of learning to have self-love. One of the most motivating and truly inspiring quotes or messages that their whole group exudes. From interactions with their fans to how they live their day-to-day, it shows us that side of them without having to force it. With them speaking about their struggles and demonstrating to us that they are human too and that they understand or know what it feels like to go through hardships and still be there for each other and their fans, friends, and family. There is so much the introduction of K-Pop has helped me in and I truly am grateful to have taken that leap of faith and dive into the world of K-Pop which has brought me so much joy and understanding of myself.

As a Latina, I come from Mexican immigrant parents that came to the United States to seek a better life. As I grew up I was taught to prioritize my education. Having grown with that mindset I understand how important it is to have an education. But going back to the fact that I come from a low-income family the idea of going to college seems vague at the moment. I have the passion, determination, and integrity to go into the medical field and help others in my community. This has been a goal of mine since a young age and noticed that it has grown onto me over time. I seek to study in the biomedical engineering field. I want to work with medicine but at the same time, I like working hands-on and creating new things. I want to be able to have that aspect of my creativity while working in the medical field as I know that I’ll be able to fulfill those aspects of my goals. I plan to go to college to study the major of biomedical engineering while working towards my master’s degree. I would like to seek my doctorate if possible, but at the moment my master's degree is what I plan to work towards. I also plan to work towards a minor in Spanish. As I already come from a Hispanic household this will help me better develop my speaking and writing skills. I understand that in the field of STEM, there is a minority of women especially Hispanic women in the field. I intend to make a change and encourage more women to achieve their dreams and goals of going into this field. I not only want to encourage women but also younger generations as most of us Hispanics come from low-income families and the idea of college is probably not in their minds at the moment. I want to make the most of my career in the STEM field. I plan on entering the biomedical field as the first in my family to attend college as well as having in mind that I am a Latino American girl from immigrant parents. Upon entering college I would like to work on a project to develop medical equipment to help children that have cancer. The idea is to create a device or equipment that will make their therapies less harmful and more effective. I have other ideas for other projects but this is one of my main goals at the moment. After college, I would like to expand my focus on the medical field by helping out my community. I plan on getting more involved by doing more community service in which I’ll be able to have a better understanding of the world around me and of people's needs. It may be a distant goal but I believe that the education I may receive in college will help me better achieve it. I’m excited as all these dreams of mine seem to be getting closer and closer. I understand that all of this won’t come to me easily and that I will have obstacles, but I am willing to go through all the hardships to study my chosen career path. Winning this scholarship would help me achieve these goals, and more importantly, it’ll help my family. This scholarship will help my family and me better reach my goals and achieve my dreams.

As a Latina, I come from Mexican immigrant parents that came to the United States to seek a better life. As I grew up I was taught to prioritize my education. Having grown with that mindset I understand how important it is to have an education. But going back to the fact that I come from a low-income family the idea of going to college seems vague at the moment. I have the passion to go into the medical field and help others and my community. This has been a goal of mine since a young age and noticed that it has grown onto me over time. I seek to study in the biomedical engineering field. I want to work with medicine but at the same time, I like working hands-on and creating new things. I want to be able to have that aspect of my creativity while working in the medical field as I know that I’ll be able to fulfill those aspects of my goals. I plan to go to college to study the major of biomedical engineering while working towards my master’s degree. I would like to seek my doctorate if possible, but at the moment my master's degree is what I plan to work towards. I also plan to work towards a minor in Spanish. As I already come from a Hispanic household this will help me better develop my speaking and writing skills. I understand that in the field of STEM, there is a minority of women especially Hispanic women in the field. I intend to make a change and encourage more women to achieve their dreams and goals of going into this field. I not only want to encourage women but also younger generations as most of us Hispanics come from low-income families and the idea of college is probably not in their minds at the moment. I want to make the most of my career in the STEM field. I plan on entering the biomedical field as the first in my family to attend college as well as having in mind that I am a Latino American girl from immigrant parents. Upon entering college I would like to work on a project to develop medical equipment to help children that have cancer. The idea is to create a device or equipment that will make their therapies less harmful and more effective. I have other ideas for other projects but this is one of my main goals at the moment. I’m excited as all these dreams of mine seem to be getting closer and closer. I understand that all of this won’t come to me easily and that I will have obstacles, but I am willing to go through all the hardships to study my chosen career path. Winning this scholarship would help me achieve these goals, and more importantly, it’ll help my family. This scholarship will help my family and me better reach my goals and achieve my dreams.

As a Latina, I come from Mexican immigrant parents that came to the United States to seek a better life. As I grew up I was taught to prioritize my education. Having grown with that mindset I understand how important it is to have an education. But going back to the fact that I come from a low-income family the idea of going to college seems vague at the moment. I have the passion to go into the medical field and help others and my community. This has been a goal of mine since a young age and noticed that it has grown onto me over time. I seek to study in the biomedical engineering field. I want to work with medicine but at the same time, I like working hands-on and creating new things. I want to be able to have that aspect of my creativity while working in the medical field as I know that I’ll be able to fulfill those aspects of my goals. I plan to go to college to study the major of biomedical engineering while working towards my master’s degree. I would like to seek my doctorate if possible, but at the moment my master's degree is what I plan to work towards. I also plan to work towards a minor in Spanish. As I already come from a Hispanic household this will help me better develop my speaking and writing skills. After college, I would like to expand my focus on the medical field by helping out my community. I plan on getting more involved by doing more community service in which I’ll be able to have a better understanding of the world around me and of people's needs. It may be a distant goal but I believe that the education I may receive in college will help me better achieve it. Another goal I have is that after college, I’ll be able to help my parents out with any financial matters, especially to help them out with my little brother’s education. I intend to become the first in my family to go to college and be an example to the younger generations, which in this case would be my little brother, in which he can achieve his goals if he puts in the effort and the perseverance. I’m excited as all these dreams of mine seem to be getting closer and closer. I understand that all of this won’t come to me easily and that I will have obstacles, but I am willing to go through all the hardships to study my chosen career path. Winning this scholarship would help me achieve these goals, and more importantly, it’ll help my family. This scholarship will help my family and me better reach my goals and achieve my dreams.

As a Hispanic student, I have grown up seeing many difficulties in my community. Whether it be people's financial situation or people's living conditions. It has led to my engagement with joining my school's Spanish Honors Society club in which I began my journey of community service. In this club, I began to develop a close bond with my peers and learn to help out. I plan to continue helping my community and even more people through my career in the medical field and as well as not forgetting to do community service. Since a young age, I have loved helping others. Whether it be helping a friend or even helping an animal. My curiosity about the medical field has been growing up with me from wanting to be a veterinarian, a doctor, or a surgeon, to a biomedical engineer. I plan to enter the medical field by studying Biomedical Engineering. For the longest time, I have wanted to go into the medical field and find ways to cure illnesses and sicknesses. I found that this career will bring me closer to my goal. Through the community service, I have done through my school clubs I have learned valuable skills and knowledge about my community and the world around me. I have learned to have more empathy and help others. One of the services I have participated in was a toy drive during the winter time for children in shelters and in situations of domestic abuse. We were able to gather over a thousand toys from our school and other organizations that helped us. In the beginning, I found this service as an act of kindness but when I got more involved in it I realized the empathy and heartwarming feeling it caused me. It was more than just a service it helped me realize how these children would feel when they receive these toys, and the amount of joy these children would receive after getting a dose of happiness and having a moment of not needing to focus on their surroundings. This community service has helped me develop my curiosity about helping and participating in community service. I plan to bring this curiosity and excitement to college by joining as many community services as I can as I want to expand my knowledge about others and the world. I will be engaging in events hosted by the college and I would also like to join an abroad program in which I will further understand other countries' way of living and help out in the community to the best I can.