My family moved to the United States 24 years ago to find better opportunities. It wasn’t easy for them. They left behind their home, family, to start a new life here. Growing up, I saw how hard they worked every single day. They had to adapt to many different things such as language, currency, as well as having to create opportunities to find work. They gave up so much so that my siblings and I could have a better future. Their hard work and sacrifices inspire me every day. I want to make all their sacrifices worth it. Everything they did such as working long hours, facing challenges, and staying strong, allow me and encourage me to make me want to work hard too. My goal is to build a life that makes them proud. I want to show them that everything they went through was for something good. I want to give back to them for all the love, care, and effort they gave to me. I also want to help others in my community. My parents taught me how important it is to care for others. Even when things were tough for us, they always helped friends and family when they could. This has inspired me to do the same. I hope to give back by being there for people who need support and by helping to make my community a better place. In the future I would like to participate in organizations to find missing people. The reason for this is that in 2019, my cousin Victoria Marquina went missing and til this day is currently being searched for. Growing up in an immigrant family has taught me a lot. I’ve learned the value of hard work, patience, and kindness. I know how important it is to push through challenges and to stay focused on what really matters. I want to use those lessons to make a positive difference, not just in my own life but in the lives of others too. Everything I do is inspired by my family and all they’ve done for me. I am so grateful for the opportunities they worked so hard to give me. My dream is to make them proud and to show them that their sacrifices made a difference. I also hope to inspire others to work hard, and to encourage people to never give up on their goals.

I’ve always been interested in how homes are built, thanks to spending many weekends on job sites with my dad, who works in residential construction. He would let me watch the process and even look at blueprints, explaining how to read them. Over time, I picked up some basic knowledge about how plans guide the construction of a house. These small experiences made me curious about how designs come to life. One weekend, I remember helping my dad with a project. My tasks were small, including organizing tools and throwing away trash around the property, but I enjoyed being part of the process. I watched as each step in construction slowly came together to form a home. Standing inside the wooden frame of an unfinished house, I would begin to imagine how it would look when completed and how the spaces would be used. It made me realize how much thought and effort goes into creating homes that people will live in for years. In high school, I worked on an art project that deepened my interest in design. We were assigned to create a perspective overhead drawing of a cityscape, focusing on skyscrapers seen from a specific angle. This project challenged me to think about how lines and angles create the illusion of depth and space. I enjoyed figuring out how to make the drawing look realistic and detailed. It was satisfying to see the final result and realize how much planning goes into creating an image that shows types of perspectives. The project gave me a better understanding of how important these concepts are in architecture. Architecture interests me because it combines creativity and problem-solving. My weekends spent on job sites and learning to read blueprints showed me the importance of planning and detail. These experiences, along with school projects, have allowed me to see that architecture is about more than constructing buildings. It’s about creating spaces where people can live, work, and make memories for many years. I want to pursue architecture because it will allow me to combine what I’ve learned over the years from both job sites and school assignments. I know that this field will push me to continue improving my skills while giving me the opportunity to design meaningful spaces. I look forward to the challenge of turning ideas into reality and creating designs that will leave a lasting impact on the lives of others.

Throughout my life, I’ve faced many challenges that have helped shape who I am today and have inspired my passion for pursuing a career in Architecture. Growing up in a family that struggled financially, and working alongside my father in construction, I’ve learned the importance of hard work, responsibility, and perseverance. These experiences, along with my exposure to the construction process, have guided me toward my career goals and helped me grow as a person. My father was the first in our family to come to the United States. At the age of 20, he left behind my mother and older brother in Mexico to build a better future for us. After working hard for two years, he was able to bring them to the U.S. He worked in construction as a residential framer, a job that is often unstable and inconsistent. There were many times when my father wasn’t paid as promised or when work slowed down, and we had to rely on extended family for support or cut back on expenses. Despite these challenges, my father remained dedicated to providing for our family, teaching me the value of perseverance and hard work. His commitment to us, even when things were tough, has been one of the biggest inspirations in my life. From a young age, I was exposed to the construction process. I would go with my father to job sites and see blueprints. Watching these drawings turn into real buildings fascinated me. I was amazed by how small details in a plan could become large structures. Over time, I began to understand that each blueprint is more than just a drawing, it’s a guide that requires creativity, precision, and careful planning to make it into something real. Seeing this process firsthand sparked my interest in Architecture. I realized that Architecture isn’t just about creating buildings, it’s about shaping the spaces where people live, work, and interact. I wanted to be part of that process. As I got older, I started helping my father more on job sites. When I was eight years old, I began doing simple tasks like sweeping and organizing tools. As I grew, my responsibilities increased, and I started earning my own money. I helped cover household expenses like groceries and utilities. Balancing work and school was tough at times, but it taught me how to manage my time, become more independent, and understand the value of hard work. These experiences showed me how important it is to work hard to achieve financial stability, and they motivated me to pursue a career that would help me support myself and my family in the future. In the end, all of these experiences from seeing blueprints turn into buildings, working alongside my father, and dealing with financial challenges have helped shape my career goals. All this inspired me to pursue a career in Architecture, where I can combine creativity, problem-solving, and technical skills. Ultimately, I want to create a stable future for myself and my family while contributing to the built environment in a meaningful way. Architecture is not just about designing buildings, it’s about creating spaces that can positively affect people’s lives. My goal is to use my skills to make a difference and help improve the communities I’m a part of.

I began working with my father when I was eight years old. My family's journey to the United States has been done by hard work, sacrifice, and a commitment to building a better future. My father arrived in this country at the age of 20, leaving behind my mother and older brother in Mexico with the intention of building a stable income. His goal was always to provide for them, so after two years of hard work and saving, he was able to bring them to the U.S. My father was the sole provider for our family. However, there were many times when my father wasn’t paid the full amount he was promised for his work, or when he was not paid at all. My father works in construction as a residential framer. Construction work is not always consistent. This meant that for us as a family, there were times when we had to rely on help from our extended family, or cut back on expenses. We always had a roof over our heads and food to eat, but there was not much money left for anything extra. Despite these setbacks, he remained determined and continued to work. I began working with my father when I was eight years old. At first I would just tag along to get out of the house. His boss would pay me to sweep and put tools away. Over the years, I gained many valuable skills, and as my skill set grew, so did my tasks. As I worked with my father, I began to learn the importance of financial independence. With the income I earned, I was able to contribute to household expenses, covering things like home maintenance, groceries, and other small costs. This early exposure to work and responsibility shaped my understanding of money and its role in maintaining a household. It also gave me a sense of pride to know that I was able to help out with some of the financial costs my family had. Contributing to household expenses with my own earnings has given me a view of understanding financial responsibility. This experience has motivated me to seek a career that provides financial stability. My school experiences also played a role in shaping my goals. Having shared a classroom with classmates from diverse backgrounds, I’ve learned the importance of education in achieving dreams. Teachers who believed in my potential encouraged me to aim higher and envision a future where I could grow both personally and professionally.