"You gotta go to College". I hear my Mom saying it all the time, even my Grandma, who will call me on the side and start asking me questions about what I wanted to be when I grow up. There were so many questions, and I still didn't know what to choose until I was in 11th grade and intrigued towards psychology. There are many types of psychology, but I am more identified with clinical psychology. In the first years of my school life, I was bullied, and my classmates made fun of me all the time. I had difficulty communicating, and I was not a perfect English speaker. I remember how many times when working as a group I was not heard or even acknowledged, they just shut me out. I was depressed and suffered from severe anxiety. I felt that no one saw me. So, with my Mom's help, my school, and my therapist, I received the help I needed to survive my struggles. Overcoming this has transformed me from a child who was once mocked for his inability to read or write english, to now excelling in Honors English with consistent A grades. Currently, as I'm writing this, I am one of the top of my class in AP Literature and Composition, reminding me of how far I have come. The time for college is here. There is a lot to do with so little time. Choosing the right college, searching for the proper scholarship, has been very challenging, college isn't cheap, and I don't want to be paying off student loans for the rest of my life. So I must be very created to make some money. Coming from a low income household has its downside, but we make it through it. We have been participating at conferences in my school, attending workshops regarding how to fill the colleges applications, and how to fill out the Fafsa, besides visiting my school counselor almost every day. I learned that getting a good SAT score will give me the best chance to be selected for colleges, so I have been preparing for my exam and continuing to keep my grades up. I am not done with high school yet, and my AP exam is also coming soon. On the weekends, I continue to volunteer in my city, so I am always busy. I would love to have a part-time job, but we can not afford another car, and Mom is afraid of me commuting back and forth. Even though being a first-generation student is hard, a lot of the time, I have plenty of support. I am lucky enough to say that I do. It would be a personal victory and a true lifes dream to be the first generation college graduate, in my family, becoming a Psychologist, being able to help others through similar difficulties, knowing the personal struggles first hand, helping them navigate their lives and helping to remove mental road blocks that are making them feel stuck or hopeless, showing them that all things are possible, as I have discovered. I have applied for 8 colleges so far, and there has been a difficult road but no impossible. What would really help me financially is this scholarship. It would truly be amazing. I'm saving for school, but I don't have enough to pay for it and don't want to get loans. I plan on going to Saint Mary's College of California starting in the fall of 2025, and I will major in psychology and hopefully can get a job as a school psychologist.

"You gotta go to College". I hear my Mom saying it all the time, even my Grandma, who will call me on the side and start asking me questions about what I wanted to be when I grow up. There were so many questions, and I still didn't know what to choose until I was in 11th grade and intrigued towards psychology. There are many types of psychology, but I am more identified with clinical psychology. In the first years of my school life, I was bullied, and my classmates made fun of me all the time. I had difficulty communicating, and I was not a perfect English speaker. I remember how many times when working as a group I was not heard or even acknowledged, they just shut me out. I was depressed and suffered from severe anxiety. I felt that no one saw me. So, with my Mom's help, my school, and my therapist, I received the help I needed to survive my struggles. Overcoming this has transformed me from a child who was once mocked for his inability to read or write english, to now excelling in Honors English with consistent A grades. Currently, as I'm writing this, I am one of the top of my class in AP Literature and Composition, reminding me of how far I have come. The time for college is here. There is a lot to do with so little time. Choosing the right college, searching for the proper scholarship, has been very challenging, college isn't cheap, and I don't want to be paying off student loans for the rest of my life. So I must be very created to make some money. Coming from a low income household has its downside, but we make it through it. We have been participating at conferences in my school, attending workshops regarding how to fill the colleges applications, and how to fill out the Fafsa, besides visiting my school counselor almost every day. I learned that getting a good SAT score will give me the best chance to be selected for colleges, so I have been preparing for my exam and continuing to keep my grades up. I am not done with high school yet, and my AP exam is also coming soon. On the weekends, I continue to volunteer in my city, so I am always busy. I would love to have a part-time job, but we can not afford another car, and Mom is afraid of me commuting back and forth. Even though being a first-generation student is hard, a lot of the time, I have plenty of support. I am lucky enough to say that I do. It would be a personal victory and a true lifes dream to be the first generation college graduate, in my family, becoming a Psychologist, being able to help others through similar difficulties, knowing the personal struggles first hand, helping them navigate their lives and helping to remove mental road blocks that are making them feel stuck or hopeless, showing them that all things are possible, as I have discovered. I have applied for 8 colleges so far, and there has been a difficult road but no impossible. What would really help me financially is this scholarship. It would truly be amazing. I'm saving for school, but I don't have enough to pay for it and don't want to get loans. I plan on going to Saint Mary's College of California starting in the fall of 2025, and I will major in psychology and hopefully can get a job as a school psychologist.

I was born in America, and yet despite this, there was a point in my life where I was struggling to speak and read English. This predicament began early in my life. My mother used to work to provide for us. She has always worked two jobs, which did not give us too much time to enjoy together, missing my favorite bedtime stories. My father was never in my life, so she has always been my support. We struggle sometimes, but she says that things will get better, that my time will come to make something great out of my life. My grandma, who only speaks Spanish, had to take care of me. Coming from another country and being afraid to let me out of her sight she pretty much kept me indoors, afraid to let me socialize with other neighborhood children, she kept me isolated which attributed to stunting my social skills. Everyone talked to me in Spanish, and I would watch television in English. Through these 2 languages colliding, I could not stick to one language and speak it. I was referred by my pediatrician to receive some help from a speech therapist at the age of three. I endured bullying in my first years of school, and began to suffer from anxiety because of this. It was only when I was said to have signs of depression that I began seeing a therapist to help me. She greatly helped me with my anxiety and getting rid of my depression. Today I am getting ready to apply for college as a psychology major. There is no doubt that the road ahead will be bumpy, and there will be a lot of stress and confusion. I learned that getting a good SAT score will give me the best chance of getting into college, so I have been preparing for my exam and continuing to keep my grades up. I am not done with high school yet and my AP exam is also coming soon. On the weekends, I continue to volunteer in my city so I am always busy. I would love to have a part-time job, but we can not afford another car and Mom is afraid of me commuting back and forth. I will be the first in my family to earn a bachelor's degree. I am very excited and dream of becoming a successful clinical psychologist. It would be a personal victory and a true lifes dream to be in a position to be able to help others who really need it. I believe I would be a positive impact to those people, knowing the personal struggles first hand, helping them navigate their lives and helping to remove mental road blocks that are making them feel stuck or hopeless, showing them that all things are possible, as I have discovered.

I was born in America, and yet despite this, there was a point in my life where I was struggling to speak and read English. This predicament began early in my life. My mother used to work to provide for us. She has always worked two jobs, which did not give us too much time to enjoy together, missing my favorite bedtime stories. My father was never in my life, so she has always been my support. We struggle sometimes, but she says that things will get better, that my time will come to make something great out of my life. My grandma, who only speaks Spanish, had to take care of me. Coming from another country and being afraid to let me out of her sight she pretty much kept me indoors, afraid to let me socialize with other neighborhood children, she kept me isolated which attributed to stunting my social skills. Everyone talked to me in Spanish, and I would watch television in English. Through these 2 languages colliding, I could not stick to one language and speak it. I was referred by my pediatrician to receive some help from a speech therapist at the age of three. I endured bullying in my first years of school, and began to suffer from anxiety because of this. It was only when I was said to have signs of depression that I began seeing a therapist to help me. She greatly helped me with my anxiety and getting rid of my depression. Today I am getting ready to apply for college as a psychology major. There is no doubt that the road ahead will be bumpy, and there will be a lot of stress and confusion. I learned that getting a good SAT score will give me the best chance of getting into college, so I have been preparing for my exam and continuing to keep my grades up. I am not done with high school yet and my AP exam is also coming soon. On the weekends, I continue to volunteer in my city so I am always busy. I would love to have a part-time job, but we can not afford another car and Mom is afraid of me commuting back and forth. I will be the first in my family to earn a bachelor's degree. I am very excited and dream of becoming a successful clinical psychologist. It would be a personal victory and a true lifes dream to be in a position to be able to help others who really need it. I believe I would be a positive impact to those people, knowing the personal struggles first hand, helping them navigate their lives and helping to remove mental road blocks that are making them feel stuck or hopeless, showing them that all things are possible, as I have discovered.