Growing Up Latina I always felt a sense of comfort and safety. Being first generation, I've learned plenty from my parents who didn't know so much. However, despite the times of comfort and safety, there were times of desperation and frustration. I grew up with loving parents who were always physically there, but I also grew up to have an independent mindset. From a very young age, I was translating school papers from English to Spanish and figuring out my homework problems with help and assistance from nobody in my household. And I say independent because that's how I went about most things in my life. I always had company from my loved ones but the responsibilities of adulting were handed to me the moment I could read, write, and comprehend the situations around me. It was always easier for me to interpret my situation as a part of my childhood innocence being taken from me rather than something that has benefitted me greatly today. Although I would have loved for my parents to have been involved in my school activities and have had someone help me with the difficulties of schoolwork, I realize that my parents gave me more than that in the end. they instilled in me everything good that they had to offer. My mother gave me the determination and my father gave me the mindset of not giving up on the things I want to accomplish. As I come to the end of my senior year in High School, I realize that everyone goes through different struggles and theoretically it might not be possible to help everyone but it's still worth a shot. I especially know that growing up with parents who have a language barrier in the way can have an effect on students and kids and I have hope that first-generation students now will use the gift of being bilingual for future Latinx (and even other ethnicities) families too maybe make their adolescence more of a childhood rather than an adulthood. Once I graduate from high school, I have hopes of going down the premed route and eventually going into a good medical school for pediatrics. My end goal is to be able to not just help kids but also be of assistance to Spanish speaking families in my own pediatric practice. I know that it will take a while to work my way up to that but because of my parents, I know I have the determination and willpower to do so.

Growing Up Latina I always felt a sense of comfort and safety. Being first generation, I've learned plenty from my parents who didn't know so much. However, despite the times of comfort and safety, there were times of desperation and frustration. I grew up with loving parents who were always physically there, but I also grew up to have an independent mindset. From a very young age, I was translating school papers from English to Spanish and figuring out my homework problems with help and assistance from nobody in my household. And I say independent because that's how I went about most things in my life. I always had company from my loved ones but the responsibilities of adulting were handed to me the moment I could read, write, and comprehend the situations around me. It was always easier for me to interpret my situation as a part of my childhood innocence being taken from me rather than something that has benefitted me greatly today. Although I would have loved for my parents to have been involved in my school activities and have had someone help me with the difficulties of schoolwork, I realize that my parents gave me more than that in the end. they instilled in me everything good that they had to offer. My mother gave me the determination and my father gave me the mindset of not giving up on the things I want to accomplish. As I come to the end of my senior year in High School, I realize that everyone goes through different struggles and theoretically it might not be possible to help everyone but it's still worth a shot. I especially know that growing up with parents who have a language barrier in the way can have an effect on students and kids and I have hope that first-generation students now will use the gift of being bilingual for future Latinx (and even other ethnicities) families too maybe make their adolescence more of a childhood rather than an adulthood. Once I graduate from high school, I have hopes of going down the premed route and eventually going into a good medical school for pediatrics. My end goal is to be able to not just help kids but also be of assistance to Spanish speaking families.

"Fear of failure"; very real and very common. Personally, my whole life has consisted of failure in one way or another and sure that sounds self-deprecating but I mean it in the best way possible. When one fails at a task it's difficult to spur up any last motivation if it hasn't all left at that point. That's essentially why fear of failure exists; no one wants to put effort into something and not be rewarded what they put in. Take for example this scholarship essay, I may not win the one thousand dollars to aid in college tuition but that doesnt mean that the effort I put in should be any less than if I was guaranteed the scholarship, nor is that going to stop me from applying to other possible scholarships. The thing with failure is that it makes a person perceive their goal/s as less attainable, but it's all in the head. Over the course of my life, I've learned that failure is overall very real and very common as well but I've also learned that failure shouldn't be the reason I stop pursuing my goals but rather try harder next time. It's a challenge to pick just one failure that im most thankful for but I do think its most fitting to say I'm thankful for the collection of all failures that have occured in my life because they have all made me consider and redirect how I play out the next action I take in life. A way I like to picture failure is like a staircase; each little failure as a step closer to the person I ultimately am today.