I am a Dominican, first-generation student attending Columbia University School of General Studies pursuing a bachelor's in Data Science. I am attending Columbia because of its openness to new possibilities. A Columbia education provides me with the tools that I need to achieve the goals that I set for myself at a young age - to obtain an excellent education that would enable me to provide for myself and my family. Learning Data Science at Columbia will allow me to develop invaluable skill sets in mathematics, statistics, and programming, and these skill sets will play a significant role in helping me achieve my goals. Data Science is also a field in which there is a huge gender divide, and I want to be one of the women who help to close the gap. Unfortunately, I have not made as much progress towards that goal as I would have liked. I have been unable to take classes during this current Spring Semester because my family's low income kept me from securing a private loan to cover the cost of the 2021 Fall Semester. I have been working full-time as a hostess over the last few months so that I can secure a private loan, and during this coming summer semester, I plan to make up for the time that I have lost. In the meantime, I am still sharpening my programming skills by working on projects in my free time, such as designing loan calculators and time converters. I am also a member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, and I plan on joining the Women in Computer Science group once I can return to campus.