My mother is my greatest inspiration. She comes from an immigrant family that escaped Cuba at the take of Fidel Castro with nothing to their name except a small statue of Virgen Mary. Upon arriving in Venezuela, their new home, my mother learned to fit into a new culture without giving up her own values and background. Once grown up, my mother saw the trouble that was in Venezuela's future, so she reached into foreign lands to find a job that took my family away from the suffering she had already experienced. This, of course, meant that she would have to leave behind people that she loved: her parents, brothers, and friends. She, single-handedly, saved our family by finding us a way out of the country before everyone else was trapped inside without regard for what she would lose. It was difficult for me to understand what she was doing back then because I was too young, but now I am grateful for her strength and objectivity. If it weren't for her, I would have grown up under the oppression of a dictatorship and without the ability to even apply for this scholarship. My mother is my inspiration, and getting to grow up to be like her is what drives me. Having the courage that she had to make tough decisions is something I hope to be able to do when the time comes, as I know it will. Life can be difficult, but my mother has learned to meet every challenge with grace and elegance. My goal is to have a professional and personal life similar to my mom's, a life in which a challenge becomes an opportunity and in which protecting others is my main objective.

Complaining about problems is useless unless we do something about them. No community is perfect, for they all have ways in which they could improve, and their residents know that but not many do anything about it. Mahatma Gandhi said, "Be the change you want to see in the world." To me, that means: don't complain about what is wrong; fix it. The place where I can do the most fixing is in my community. Despite what it may seem based on my introduction, my community doesn't suffer from many of the great evils other communities do like lack of equality, safe spaces, funds, or safety. It's quite the contrary, actually. My community has so much that the residents, my neighbors, often forget how fortunate we are to have it. Throughout high school, and now in college, I've made it my mission to revive appreciation for the great blessings my community has and increase support for the communities who need help. I have also made sure to remind my peers and younger classmates that simply because we live in a beautiful bubble, it does not mean that we can disregard what happens in the outside world nor assume that it won't happen to us. Before graduation, I was part of Peer Leaders, a program in which students mentor younger children in the district and teach them about difficult subjects such as cyberbullying, alcohol and drug abuse, and privilege. Many of the students I worked with were often in awe at the great number of things they were unaware of. During our sessions, students would learn about the privilege they have and how to best use it to help others. They learned of the dangers of the world that affect any human, privileged or not, so that they may remain in tune with the rest of humanity. They learned of unity, compassion, and community service and were encouraged to do their part for any cause they believed in. Through our programs, my students learned to become active members of our community and global citizens of a world that needs much work. This has been my most influential community involvement thus far. Now, in college, I am studying Advertising and Public Relations, and I hope to go into the beauty industry someday. It may seem like I cannot bring much change while in this job, but I assure you, the beauty industry can change a lot more than most people think. This industry is responsible for many societal problems such as depression and anxiety among women who are dissatisfied with their looks, pollution and waste that deteriorate our environment, violation of human rights through the employment of enslaved people in third world countries, among others. These are problems caused by the beauty industry; thus, they can only be fixed the beauty industry. All it takes is one determined person to start shaking the ground beneath its foundation and cause the sonic waves to disturb it. I can be such a person. I can create change in not one, not two, but three areas of societal dysfunction by going into this field. Needless to say, that is what I intend to do once I get to a position of power. All I need now are the means to get there. The problem I saw in my community was based on ignorance and disconnection caused by the beautiful and unrealistic reality that my neighbors and I live. The problem I see in the beauty industry is the lack of consideration for diversity and humanity that can only be remedied from within. These are the problems I want to fix, and I have been fixing them by spreading awareness of the issues I believe my community and future industry can easily tackle. I have been involved in my community because that is the way I have to create change, and I will be involved in my future industry for the very same reason. That is why being involved is important; because through involvement we can create change and fix all the problems we see.

Some say that death does not have to be the end of our story, for we can live beyond our years through the stories that others tell of us. I find this mindset to be reassuring and daunting at the same time. If we are allowed to live forever in the memories of others, then we have a responsibility to do everything we can to make sure the stories others tell of us are inspiring. Our legacy, our memory, is worth nothing unless it helps somebody. I have a passion for history, and I spend my free time reading about the greatest leaders of the past. People like Richard the Lion-Hearted, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Joanne of Arc, and Susan B. Anthony are my heroes. All of them, in their own way, spent their life in the service to others. In doing so, they have changed the course of history and created the world we live in today. If I plan to leave a legacy, I want it to be similar to that of my heroes, a legacy of service and world changing mindset. Unlike King Richard and Joanne of Arc, my legacy will most likely not be a victorious war, nor will it be the glorious defeat of a powerful enemy as is Churchill's. My legacy will instead be similar to that of Abraham Lincoln and Ms. Anthony; it will be a legacy of fighting for equality and recognition. It is ambitious to compare oneself to the man who ended slavery or the woman who led women in the fight for Suffrage, so I don't intend to say that I will be like them. What I mean by having a similar legacy is that I will fight for equality and representation within whatever industry I become a part of once I go into the work force just as they fought for equality for their people. If my dreams come true, I will be working in the Beauty and Fashion industries, both of which are as noninclusive as imaginable. These industries are known for causing women countless emotional pain over their appearance and identity. They have also excluded men of their world because they deem them unable to understand and appreciate its art. I will change this mindset. I will make beauty accessible to all and exclusive to no one. Fashion will be designed to celebrate diversity and change rather than competition. I see no need in having a cookie-cutter way to show beauty. However, I do see a need for a reminder that humanity is beautiful because it is uniquely diverse. Encouraging people to accept their natural characteristics and image is only the start of my mission. By the time I am done impressing the world, I shall become impressed by the way people have learned to love themselves for both the beauty of their physique and the beauty of their heart. If I leave a legacy, many would expect that I would be remembered, but that is not quite the case. Yes, being remembered is a common side effect of having left a legacy, but it is not the legacy itself. A legacy is the work of a person which affected many people and influenced the world for ages afterward. Therefore, there is no need to be remembered, as long as our work lives beyond us. Whomever invented the first car has a legacy because they changed our lifestyle even if they are not remembered. Whomever came up with the idea of writing as a way to store information has a legacy because they changed how we learn, and their name has been forgotten. Even the first person to ever come up with the idea of morality and ethics, the backbone of our society, has been forgotten because, no, the Greeks were not the first to decide that there is a difference between right and wrong; they simply were the first ones to officially communicate it. Therefore, I do not need to be remembered to leave a legacy. I only need to create change that will influence the world forever. I can do that by changing how the world classifies beauty. My name may not be remembered quite like the names of my heroes, nor will my work be as revered by history. However, I will make sure that whatever influence I hold becomes just as transcendent as theirs.

Covid-19 has taken a lot from me, and in doing so it has taught me how much my family and I used to take for granted. Before the pandemic, my mother earned well, and my family lived comfortably in our beautiful yellow house. At that time, we had it all, yet we were always wishing for more. I was wishing for the prettiest prom dress in my grade, my dad was wishing for a better job, my mom was wishing for a nicer boss, etc. Then, come March 2020, the things that we disregarded as less than our wishes became things we were desperately holding on to. When the pandemic hit, both my parents lost their jobs, and I lost my graduation and senior year traditions. Everything we had assumed was always going to be there was suddenly gone. It's been a year now, since my mom lost her job, and she is still currently unemployed. I used to take for granted the income that she brought in and the comforts it provided us. She used to take for granted her work experience and desirability in the eyes of companies until companies starting telling her that they didn't want her as an employee. I used to take for granted my mother's strength and leadership. Now, I often see cry, and it breaks my heart knowing that there is nothing I can do to help her. My father was a teacher for adults. The pay was very small, but the job gave him a sense of self. When adults stopped paying for classes, my dad no longer had students. The same job he found insufficient in 2019 was the job he wished he had to help my mom cover the pilling bills in 2020 and to give himself purpose. My dad was so desperate, he looked everywhere for jobs. Thankfully, he found one as a part-time mailman. The pay is even less than what he made as a teacher, and he doesn't get paid as often; but, he now knows to be grateful for whatever little pay he gets. In my senior year of High School, I dreamed of going to Prom. I had seen all the beautiful dresses and hairstyles in the movies growing up, and I was ready to have my movie come true. I spent months looking at dresses online and in stores, and I dragged my mom to countless boutiques to find the perfect dress. When my school first closed down for two weeks, I was sure we'd come back soon enough and everything would be ok. When we extended the lockdown for another two weeks, I started getting worried. I reassured myself by telling me that May, when Prom was, was a long way from then and that things would change. I held on to the idea of Prom for as long as I could. I prayed and I wished and I hoped, until the day when it finally hit me that my perfect movie was not going to come true. Of course, this loss seems hardly comparable with the loss my parents experienced, but Prom and my senior year were the only things I could look forward to in the midst of all the chaos. Losing even the possibility of them weighed heavily on my heart as everything I had planned for the coming future seemed to fade into nothingness. My family lost a lot. Even today, we continue losing. Our savings are nearly gone and we cannot afford our house anymore. Our beautiful yellow house, my home, is now for sale. We have no idea where we'll go once the house sells, for no bank will give us money to buy a house nor will any landlord rent their property without the tenants having a stable form of paying. However, keeping our house is simply not possible. My family and I used to take the certainty of our home for granted. Now we wish we had just a little longer to enjoy it. Our story seems sad, and it is, but it is also hopeful. In our time of worry and anxiety, my family and I have shared many tears and many hysteric laughs. We have resorted to patience and kindness towards each other because fighting and giving into tension is something we must not allow ourselves to do. We have learned to see in more detail that which we have lost and are about to lose as if to commit to memory every aspect of what we love. More importantly, we have learned to see each other, truly, and with hearts that are as open as our eyes. This crisis has caused us to lose everything, but it has also forced us to see what we have in each other. The Covid-19 Pandemic has taught me that my family and I used to take a lot of things for granted, but it has also taught me that the things that truly matter are always there.

Through anxiety and peril, my truest and most constant source of joy is my dog, Toty. This picture was taken in March of 2020, right at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Two people in my house are first responders, and the worry we felt was merciless. Yet, Toty was simply happy to have us all home all the time. Most humans will remember this pandemic as the worst thing that could've happened to them, but dogs will remember it as the best thing that could've happened to them.