College was something I ever thought I could pursue, college was for the intellectual students who have goals, ambition, support. This is what I would tell myself every day for 10 years and there's never a moment I wish I could go back in time and tell 8 year old me that I can do it and that all it takes is desire, passion, and drive. When I was young I was always the kid who struggled but it was never as bad until 3rd grade. My teacher would belittle me and ask me why I can't understand what was happening, but it never hurt as much as it did until she started to call me stupid in front of my peers. From then on I believed was what told about me, I believed I was never capable of more, my dreams deteriorated and my self respect stripped away. I was troubled, angry, and lost. Mad at the world and myself, blaming everyone else but me. It wasn't until around junior year of high school when I made friends with the right people who had ambition, had a counselor who gave me the care for my future when I had none, and my English teacher who saw something in me that I couldn't. For once in my life I finally heard "You can do it", "You are smart", "I have your back", These are the words that broke my shell and for once I believed in myself. The flame of curiosity and passion that was long extinguished had finally been rekindled. Finally applying myself not only to my education but to my life, I went from a 2.0 GPA and even lower from a 3.8 and up. I believed what I was told, internalized it and it came true. The paradigm I had over myself was nothing more than a lie. I now have only a love for education, it is something I want more than anything in this life and there is nothing that will take that away from me every again. I want to prove to myself and to my family that achieving higher education, unfortunately, no one in my family has gotten a college education. The only one who did was my cousin but he, unfortunately, developed a drinking problem and has abused his body so much he is now on life support. For me to pursue college is to break the chain of constant years of lies and show the younger kids in my family they can do it too, it is not impossible and all it takes is desire. I plan on paying for my education by applying for financial aid, finding ways to get scholarships to lower the costs, and finding a job to help my family pay for my education. My career goal is to become an aerospace engineer and help motivate youth in my future community achieve what they thought was impossible for them, to help them understand their dreams and goals that seemed so farfetched can be done. To receive a scholarship no matter what amount means less stress on the next class to pay for, being able to dedicate more hours to school and less on working, but a scholarship also means people believe in my future and what I am capable of.