My name is Caelan Loera, and I am studying Construction Technology with hopes of pursuing a career in the same field. I am from Texas with a New Mexican background, and I have always loved to create- it comes naturally to me. I've retained a willingness to learn new things that will help me expand my abilities within the skills and hobbies I already have since I was young. I have always loved to create, and I would do so by engaging in anything from painting to tinkering. I have also loved finding ways to do things on my own. Wanting to have the capability of building something myself or fixing/remodeling certain items to better fit my needs or the needs of others is a major factor in why I am interested in studying and eventually working in construction. I hope to create a large array of items, from furniture to rooms, and even houses, as a way to benefit my future family and community. I thankfully already possess a limited number of skills that will help me get started on this path, including how to use certain power tools. This is mainly thanks to my father and family friends who have guided me through completing several different projects over the years. These projects included but were not limited to, making picture frames, building furniture pieces, decorations, and even metalworking. I thoroughly enjoy working outside, which is among my biggest motivators in pursuing construction. Being able to participate in manual labor and get my hands dirty, all while outdoors is one of the most fulfilling activities for me. It is hard work for sure, and there will always be times of challenge and frustration, but the feeling of overcoming those struggles makes it worth it. It also provides so much growth in both personal skills and character. Ultimately, my options are far from few and I am willing to explore as much of them as I can. One day, I hope to have a company of my own. What I would want to specialize in is still undecided. I like the idea of remodeling homes and mobile homes, such as trailers and motor homes. Even building some of my own would definitely be enjoyable. I hope to have considerable charitable means when I am older. As someone who understands the importance of giving time to her community, I think construction skills would substantially broaden the ways in which I can give back, whether it be through nonprofits or private organizations. God will guide me in whatever path I should take. As long as I can provide my family and the people around me something they will use and love, I will be satisfied.

My name is Caelan Loera, and I am studying Construction Technology with hopes of pursuing a career in the same field. I am from Texas with a New Mexican background, and I have always loved to create- it comes naturally to me. I've retained a willingness to learn new things that will help me expand my abilities within the skills and hobbies I already have since I was young. I have always loved to create, and I would do so by engaging in anything from painting to tinkering. I have also loved finding ways to do things on my own. Wanting to have the capability of building something myself or fixing/remodeling certain items to better fit my needs or the needs of others is a major factor in why I am interested in studying and eventually working in construction. I hope to create a large array of items, from furniture to rooms, and even houses, as a way to benefit my future family and community. I thankfully already possess a limited number of skills that will help me get started on this path, including how to use certain power tools. This is mainly thanks to my father and family friends who have guided me through completing several different projects over the years. These projects included but were not limited to, making picture frames, building furniture pieces, decorations, and even metalworking. I thoroughly enjoy working outside, which is among my biggest motivators in pursuing construction. Being able to participate in manual labor and get my hands dirty, all while outdoors is one of the most fulfilling activities for me. It is hard work for sure, and there will always be times of challenge and frustration, but the feeling of overcoming those struggles makes it worth it. It also provides so much growth in both personal skills and character. Ultimately, my options are far from few and I am willing to explore as much of them as I can. One day, I hope to have a company of my own. What I would want to specialize in is still undecided. I like the idea of remodeling homes and mobile homes, such as trailers and motor homes. Even building some of my own would definitely be enjoyable. I hope to have considerable charitable means when I am older. As someone who understands the importance of giving time to her community, I think construction skills would substantially broaden the ways in which I can give back. As long as I can provide my family and the people around me something they will use and love, I will be satisfied.

As a natural creator, I have always retained a willingness to learn new things that will help me expand my abilities within the skills and hobbies I already have. I have always loved to create, and I would do so by engaging in anything from painting to tinkering. I have also loved finding ways to do things on my own. Wanting to have the capability of building something myself or fixing/remodeling certain items to better fit my needs or the needs of others is a major factor in why I am interested in studying and eventually working in construction. I hope to create a large array of items, from furniture to rooms, and even houses, as a way to benefit my future family and community. I thankfully already possess a limited number of skills that will help me get started on this path, including how to use certain power tools. This is mainly thanks to my father and family friends who have guided me through completing several different projects over the years. These projects included but were not limited to, making picture frames, building furniture pieces, decorations, and even metalworking. I also know how to do mig and stick welding. I took a few courses at a community college over the summer and was able to create several projects with different positions, objectives, and styles. One of my favorite activities is spending time outside, and construction activities often reside outdoors. This is another reason why it is such a big interest. Being able to participate in manual labor and get my hands dirty, all while outdoors is one of the most fulfilling activities for me. It is hard work for sure, and there will always be times of challenge and frustration, but the feeling of overcoming those struggles makes it worth it. It also provides so much growth in both personal skills and character. One day, I hope to have a company of my own. What I would want to specialize in is still undecided. I like the idea of remodeling homes. I have also always been interested in trailers and motor homes, and remodeling or even building some of my own would definitely be enjoyable. It would even be nice to work on smaller items, like furniture and decor. Ultimately, my options are far from few and I am willing to explore as much of them as I can. As long as I can provide my family and the people I work with something they will use and love, I will be satisfied.

As a child, I spent most of my years moving from country to country and wandering the tropics. My father was a foreign area officer under the U.S. Southern Command. I grew up with diplomats, constantly engaging with me. I learned the importance of developing relationships and working with other nations from a young age, and still do to this day, by way of education and occasional travel. But something that always stuck with me was the regular violence and poverty in Latin America. By the end of this year, I will have graduated with my associate's degree in Criminal Justice. Here, I learned about the loose confederation that makes up the criminal justice system, as well as both the most prominent crime issues and crime sources in America. The most significant and obvious takeaway from my schooling has been that a profusion of our problems in the United States is consequently tied to our drug crisis. It is because of these issues I want to pursue my bachelor’s degree in International Studies as a social science. I have a desire to help strengthen relations with countries in Latin America. There are several problems that take place beyond the border that simultaneously negatively affect the United States, not to mention other regional areas. My area of concern lies primarily with issues involving illegal drug smuggling and drug-related violence. The U.S. remains to be the biggest consumer of illicit drugs in the world. The use of these drugs not only causes violence and death at all levels (manufacturing, smuggling, and selling) both within and outside America but also has a multitude of detrimental effects. These include a high risk of addiction, overdose, and a number of mental and physical health effects. Many people lose several loved ones to drug abuse each year, myself being no alien to this tragic reality. These outcomes destroy families, relationships, and even peoples’ own identities. Drug-related issues also tend to cause a chain reaction of secondary issues, especially ones related to immigration. An example of this would be population displacement, which is affected by push factors (underemployment, unemployment, a lack of both education and safety, etc) within a foreign country and their inherent exacerbation of pull factors within the United States (better work opportunity, safety, healthcare, etc). As a result, the U.S. is flooded with an overwhelming amount of migrants each year trying to enter through the Southern border and feeding our migrants crisis. And to make things worse, drug cartels often take advantage of this by forcing people to smuggle drugs into the United States by threatening them or promising them money. With a deeper understanding, communication would grow and develop, thus creating an easy and diplomatic pathway toward developing good relations, which are a prominent gateway to working together to efficiently solve issues. Working to solve these conflicts could bring less chaos at the border, better safety both inside and outside of the U.S., and more lives saved from the destructive effects of drug consumption. Having a degree in International Studies would help me to have an improved understanding of Latin Americans and their concerns, and ultimately help me bring more and more of them to safety.

My goal in life is to bring more people to good health and safety. More specifically, I want to help Latin Americans in and outside of the United States who are suffering from violence and poverty. As someone who grew up in Latin America, I saw a seemingly insurmountable amount of hardship due to poverty and violence, so it is rooted in my heart to help alleviate these issues.

1. My core values are largely based on my growing faith. I grew up Christian but was never thoroughly submerged in it. I went through that common rebellious period around age 13-15 where I was questioning the existence of divine, higher authority. I was filled with existential questions that found no answers. I was not happy, and I had a negative mindset. Fortunately, what got me through that was a secret promise to pursue the truth, and that lead me to where I am today. I started to learn about my Christian faith and continued to do so. Thus, I base my values on my faith and on my conscience. I do not base them on desire or what other people tell me they should be. I believe in love and compassion. I respect all life, in and out of the womb. I believe in hard, honest work. I prioritize generosity of time, money, and belongings. I emphasize gratitude for my blessings and believe in the power of prayer. I hold courage, kindness, knowledge, and honesty to be some of the most powerful weapons. Every day, I do my best to outline these values and allow them to dictate my actions. 2. Excellence involves genuine hard work, honesty, and perseverance; it is something that I am constantly striving to be. I pursue excellence largely through patience and organization. It took me a while to realize that taking on hard challenges that I am unprepared for or trying to turn things into habits as quickly as possible is not sustainable. I would have a few weeks of success, only to fall back down and give up. I've recently learned to organize my goals by writing them down, and I would slowly work towards them, week by week. I've been able to achieve a lot more progress than I would when I would tackle something big or unrealistic head-on. It helped me get used to and work towards the things I want to do, learn, and achieve. I work towards excellence little by little with a variety of different things at the same. This might be too slow for some but it has personally allowed me to be honest with myself and do things properly and sustainably. 3. My dream is to someday attain a career in federal law enforcement that will allow me to travel internationally. This stems from both an enjoyment of community service and my childhood. I grew up traveling throughout Latin America due to my father's presence in the military. I spent a lot of time in third-world countries, seeing people affected by cartels, corruption, and poverty. During my time in the states, I grew up hearing stories of friends and family whose lives were either lost or ruined by drugs and violence. As I grew older, I started seeing connections in what was causing pain and suffering within families of these different countries. During my family's travels, we befriended many people who specialized in law enforcement or international aid. The work these people do really did make a difference in helping to better lives, whether it was directly or indirectly, and that is what inspired me to pursue this field. If I am able to achieve this, before my family and friends, I would first thank God. He is the one who ultimately guides and blesses my life, as my life is his.

As a resident of the San Antonio Metropolitan area, there is an overwhelming amount of people that are constantly in need. Wanting to go into an area of community/public service myself, I have and currently enjoy volunteering within my area. In secondary school, I was a member and volunteered with the NJHS, often taking on projects to raise money for communities in need. I was also a member of the National Spanish Honor Society in high school, working specifically with Latino communities in and outside the country. Since then, I have volunteered with my church and started serving with the San Antonio and New Braunfels branches of the Foodbank, amounting to 20-25 hours of community service. My most memorable experience doing volunteer work was one of my first volunteer experiences. When I was in the NJHS, we once took on building properly-ventilated brick stoves for the janitors of my school. At that time, I lived in a 3rd world country and many of the workers there resided in poverty. Working with my classmates, in a small house that was home to a family of 5, with soot-covered walls and dirt floors, was an incredibly humbling and enlightening experience. Since then, I knew that I would pursue a career and use my skills and interests to help deprived individuals in some way. In the past few months, the importance of giving not only money but time has been emphasized within myself and my church. Towards the end of my senior year of high school and the beginning of my Freshman year of college, I really was not contributing much of my time to volunteer work. Then, for one of my government classes, we had to participate in a service-learning project that required us to volunteer with an organization, show written proof, and reflect on the experience. I decided to volunteer with the San Antonio Foodbank and, after that project, have made it a point to volunteer as much as I can during my free time. After that experience, I was constantly reflecting on the time I could give, and this feeling was simultaneously being fueled by my church, who was emphasizing how the season of giving not only referred to money, but to time. For 2022, I have made it a commitment to go to a Foodbank at least, but not limited to, once a month this year, and I am often looking out for other ways and areas I can contribute to improving the wellbeing of my community. Being someone who never fully understood the role and importance of a food bank, volunteering with them has been especially enjoyable because it gave me a realistic look at the level of need in my community. The shifts are usually very fast-paced and there is always a large amount of food that the Foodbank is ready and happy to give. Volunteering and working with the employees is eye-opening because they reveal, despite the amount of food donated, how little the number of people that actually come to volunteer is. Unfortunately, these numbers are disproportionate with the level of demand they deal with. Not only do I gain more respect and gratitude for what they do, but I am motivated to come more often and encourage the people in my life to do the same. Volunteering really can change someone's outlook on their life, and it can make a person exceptionally grateful for his or her lifestyle and blessings. Moreover, it motivates you to continue making an impact and hopefully lower the number of people in need.

"Release." This is a piece that I drew in high school. It remains to be my favorite piece out of the many that I've completed. It is based on a photo of me playing my Fender Stratocaster. I executed it in a way that demonstrates what I see and feel when I play my guitar. Music has always been an influence and inspiration to many aspects of my life. In a variety of peculiar ways, it can accentuate, aid, or alter an experience. It encompasses a grand selection of styles and genres that can work together to accommodate a motley crew of moods, actions, feelings, and occurrences. It soothes, enlightens, and uplifts; or it can sadden, anger, and indulge feelings of gloom. Whatever the effect, music's ultimate power lies in the fact that it remains to be one of the most versatile tools. This piece allowed me to take two important loves of my life -art and music- and conjoin them to exhibit a single manifestation of a fine, personal experience. Sometimes, when a mood and a musical action meet, it allows a person to travel elsewhere. This was an experience of complete immersion, simply fueled by a good guitar-playing session and the right mindset. When I'm able to utterly indulge in my playing, it is an incredible, mood-altering experience because there is nothing I rather do. In return, my fingers move swiftly up and down the neck. When I close my eyes, the room is immediately filled with whirls of colors that are dictated by the tunes and tones of my strat. Art and music will always remain among my many priorities and I plan on continuing to combine my musical and artistic endeavors, which allow me to candidly express myself nonverbally. They help me to "Release."