Growing up amidst instability and the absence of a paternal figure, I have encountered a multitude of obstacles that have only served to fuel my unwavering resolve to triumph over adversity and forge a path to success. As a first-generation Mexican American student pursuing Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Computer Science at UTSA, my aspirations are driven by a fervent desire to serve as a beacon of hope and a role model for individuals who share similar backgrounds. My narrative is a testament to resilience and unyielding perseverance. At the tender age of 10, my world was upended by my father's incarceration. The resulting financial strain fell squarely on my mother's shoulders, already burdened with pregnancy and caring for three other children. We endured the hardships of homelessness, seeking refuge with relatives and friends. Amidst a backdrop of transient living, I grappled with the tumultuous experience of changing schools, struggling to establish stability and a sense of belonging. Despite these daunting challenges, my mother's unshakeable belief in the transformative power of education became my guiding light, propelling me to steadfastly pursue my aspirations. Her sacrifices, remarkable and profound, ensured that we were afforded opportunities to transcend the cycle of adversity. Witnessing her unrelenting determination fortified my own resolve, compelling me to surmount obstacles and seize every available opportunity. For me, the prospect of walking the stage as a college graduate carries a profound significance. It signifies not just a personal triumph over adversity, but an emblem of hope for my family and others navigating similar circumstances. I am resolute in my determination to showcase that with tenacity, dedication, and self-belief, one can surmount even the most formidable challenges to attain greatness. My academic ambitions extend beyond individual accomplishment. I am driven to inspire others, particularly those confronted by comparable adversities, to pursue higher education and surmount the barriers that often impede progress. As a Mexican American student, I aspire to personify the boundless potential intrinsic to every individual, irrespective of their background. Education, in my view, is a potent instrument capable of dismantling barriers and unveiling new horizons. My fervor for fostering diversity and inclusivity within the STEM realm informs my career trajectory. Through engagement with nonprofit internships, I have borne witness to the underrepresentation of individuals of color within the tech industry. This revelation has ignited within me a sense of duty to facilitate positive transformation. I envision the establishment of a nonprofit entity dedicated to nurturing the growth and advancement of marginalized individuals within engineering and STEM fields. My mission encompasses offering resources, mentorship, and opportunities to empower young individuals who often feel marginalized or underestimated. By bridging the existing representation divide in STEM, I aim to ensure equitable access to educational and professional prospects for all, regardless of their background. Through my personal odyssey and lived experiences, my goal is to kindle inspiration and foster empowerment, propelling others to ardently pursue their passions and contribute to the progression of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. My trajectory has been molded by surmounting adversities and the unwavering support of my family. I am resolutely committed to radiating hope and inspiration for those navigating analogous challenges. My academic aspirations are centered on transcending barriers, demonstrating that greatness is attainable through resilience and dedication. Additionally, my vocational ambitions are focused on forging an inclusive and diverse future by founding a nonprofit organization aimed at uplifting underrepresented individuals within the STEM domain. With the invaluable assistance of scholarships, I inch closer to materializing my vision of a more just and equitable society.

Life has led me through a journey that's been anything but ordinary, and it's these experiences that have molded me into the person I am today. When I think about leadership, I can't help but reflect on my family's story. My mother, a shining example of strength and sacrifice, embraced the role of caregiver for our family in the face of adversity. Her unwavering commitment has not only shaped my values but has also fueled my ambitions, giving me a perspective that I believe will serve me exceptionally well in my journey ahead. At just 10 years old, my life took a sudden turn when my father's incarceration marked the beginning of a tumultuous path for our family. Witnessing my mother's tears and feeling her pain left an indelible mark on me. It was during this time that I resolved to stand by my family's side, determined to uplift and support them during these challenging moments. In the face of financial struggles, frequent relocations, and overwhelming uncertainties, my mother's tenacity taught me a crucial life lesson – the value of resilience and the unwavering belief in pushing forward, no matter the odds stacked against us. Amidst the hardships, my mother's unwavering pursuit of a better life for us ignited a fire within me. Her faith in the transformative power of education sparked my own dedication to excellence in my academic endeavors. I realized that education was not only a key to personal growth but also a means to break barriers and provide a brighter future for our entire family. As I navigated through this roller-coaster journey, I encountered individuals and organizations that played pivotal roles in shaping my character and nurturing my personal growth. Among these, the Seedling mentoring program emerged as a beacon of hope. This program provided vital mentorship and encouragement during moments of doubt and uncertainty. Through my involvement in Seedling, I gained firsthand insight into the profound impact of mentorship on a young person's life. This experience has ignited a passion within me to pay it forward, to become a role model for others, much like my mother has been for me. Witnessing my mother's journey as a caregiver made me acutely aware of the significance of compassion and empathy. These values have driven me to reach out and offer a helping hand to those facing their own trials. This newfound perspective has kindled a fervor for community service, leading me to actively engage with non-profit organizations dedicated to uplifting and empowering underserved communities. As I immerse myself in my studies of Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science, a strong sense of purpose propels me forward. I'm determined to create innovative solutions that tackle real-world challenges, thereby enhancing the lives of those around me. My unique experiences as a child of a caregiver have fortified my resolve to leverage my education and skills as a force for positive change in society. I'm motivated by the determination to shatter expectations and transcend limitations. My life's journey has underscored the fact that with unwavering dedication and the willingness to persevere, there's nothing beyond reach. My aspiration is to serve as an inspiration not just to my family, but to everyone grappling with adversities similar to my own. My experiences have cemented the notion that through hard work, a positive mindset, and an unwavering pursuit of dreams, we can achieve the extraordinary. I am honored to be the first stepping stone in my family's quest for a brighter future. Embracing values of resilience, compassion, and unwavering determination, I am steadfastly committed to catalyzing positive change within my community and beyond.

In my journey as a mechanical engineering student at UTSA, I have encountered the formidable challenges posed by calculus. Initially, I perceived calculus as an insurmountable obstacle, questioning its relevance in the STEM field. However, through perseverance and dedication, I have come to recognize the indispensable nature of calculus in shaping a successful career in STEM. I've come to realize the importance of calculus by highlighting its practical applications, problem-solving capabilities, and its role in fostering innovation and advancement in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Calculus serves as the cornerstone of scientific disciplines, empowering professionals to comprehend and analyze complex phenomena. From physics and chemistry to engineering and computer science, calculus provides the essential tools to model and understand real-world systems. By delving into derivatives and integrals, we gain insights into rates of change, motion, optimization, and accumulation of quantities—fundamental concepts that permeate the STEM field. It is through calculus that we bridge the gap between theory and practical application, propelling advancements in robotics, renewable energy, medical research, and numerous other fields. Calculus equips STEM professionals with an invaluable problem-solving methodology. It fosters analytical thinking, nurtures logical reasoning, and ignites creativity when tackling intricate challenges. By applying calculus, engineers optimize designs, predict outcomes, and identify critical parameters. Calculus empowers us to break down complex problems into manageable components, enabling us to derive precise and efficient solutions. Furthermore, it instills resilience and perseverance, as conquering the difficulties of calculus engenders confidence in overcoming arduous problems across diverse STEM domains. In today's interconnected world, scientific disciplines are increasingly intertwined. The ability to navigate multidimensional challenges has become crucial for STEM professionals. Calculus acts as a universal language, facilitating effective communication between various STEM fields. It enables engineers to collaborate seamlessly with mathematicians, physicists to work alongside computer scientists, and biologists to engage with chemists. By fostering interdisciplinary integration, calculus sparks innovation and accelerates the pace of discovery. It lays the foundation for groundbreaking research and transformative technologies that shape the future. In an era defined by rapid technological advancements, calculus plays a pivotal role in shaping the landscape of innovation. From artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to data analysis and quantum computing, calculus underpins the fundamental principles driving these technologies. It provides the framework to model complex systems, optimize algorithms, and uncover patterns in vast datasets. A profound grasp of calculus empowers STEM professionals to spearhead groundbreaking research and pioneer advancements that have far-reaching impacts on society. In conclusion, my initial perception of calculus as a formidable and seemingly useless subject has been fundamentally transformed. I now firmly believe that calculus is not only important but also essential for success in the STEM field. Through its practical applications, problem-solving prowess, interdisciplinary integration, and It's role in driving technological advancements, calculus proves to be an indispensable tool for aspiring STEM professionals. As a mechanical engineering student at UTSA, I have experienced firsthand the transformative power of calculus, and I am confident that a deep understanding of its principles will enable me to make significant contributions in my field. Every hurdle I overcame in mastering calculus has reaffirmed its paramount significance in propelling scientific progress and innovation. By investing in students who possess a strong foundation in calculus, you are investing in the future of STEM, supporting the next generation of pioneers who will push the boundaries of human knowledge and transform the world we live in.

My future is driven by a singular goal which is to make a lasting impact and shatter barriers that hinder the dreams of individuals, especially those from underrepresented communities. It was during my internship with the Austin Urban Technology Movement that I confronted a disheartening truth: the tech world lacks the diverse representation it desperately needs. This revelation fueled my unwavering determination to continue my journey in mechanical engineering, inspiring others and proving that people of color can achieve remarkable things in this field. While working with the Austin Urban Technology Movement, I couldn't ignore the glaring lack of diversity within the tech industry. This realization became a catalyst for my determination to be an agent of change. I recognized that pursuing a career in mechanical engineering wouldn't solely satisfy my STEM passions but also position me as a role model and advocate for those who face similar barriers. By breaking stereotypes and achieving success in a field where people of color are underrepresented, I aim to embolden future generations to fearlessly pursue their dreams. At the tender age of 10, my world was turned upside down when my father's incarceration shattered our lives. I was an innocent child, filled with excitement over my first tablet, oblivious to the storm brewing on the horizon. That fateful day, as I returned home with joy in my heart, I was met with flashing lights and my mother's tears. The weight of the situation quickly sank in as she explained the circumstances. My father's arrest left my pregnant mother and three siblings to face the world alone. Witnessing my mother's anguish, I realized the magnitude of the challenges we would face. The ensuing years were marked by uncertainty, homelessness, and the constant need to rely on the compassion of others. We moved from place to place, seeking stability amidst the chaos. Nights spent on borrowed mattresses, rain seeping through garage doors, and the constant disruption of changing homes became our reality. Yet, through it all, my mother's unwavering determination fueled my resilience. She refused to give in to despair, choosing instead to fight for a better future for her children. As I pursued higher education, the significance of being a first-generation college graduate became clear. I am a torchbearer, illuminating the path for my siblings and those who come after me. My journey represents the triumph of determination over adversity. It is a testament to the power of education to break the cycle of struggle and redefine our future. My ongoing educational journey at the University of Texas at San Antonio has equipped me with the indispensable knowledge and skills necessary to excel in mechanical engineering. As a rising junior, I am committed to seizing every academic opportunity while actively seeking experiences that will further refine my expertise. Through active participation in STEM initiatives and organizations, I continually expand my horizons, gaining invaluable hands-on experience that will enable me to contribute meaningfully to the industry. In my quest for a future in mechanical engineering and STEM, I wholeheartedly embrace the responsibility to address the lack of representation for individuals of color in the tech world. I want to be a beacon of hope for those who have experienced the darkness of incarceration and poverty. I strive to show them that their circumstances do not define their potential. By obtaining my college degree, I aim to dismantle barriers and shatter stereotypes!

My name is Eberardo Ramirez Trejo, a 19-year-old first-generation Mexican American studying Mechanical Engineering and minoring in computer science at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Growing up, I faced numerous challenges that shaped me into the resilient individual I am today. Raised by a single mother and experiencing homelessness at a young age, I had to take on the responsibility of not only being a big brother but also a father figure to my siblings. These experiences have profoundly influenced my outlook on life and my future goals. When encountering individuals who demonstrate a fighting spirit, I am deeply inspired. Witnessing their determination and understanding the motivation behind their struggles encourages me to support and uplift them. I have come to realize that my own journey is a testament to the power of perseverance. Though I once compared my circumstances to those of my peers, feeling unlucky and stripped of a normal childhood, I have since changed my mentality. As I matured, I shifted my focus towards adopting a more positive mindset, honing my work ethic, and embracing the challenges I faced. I started recognizing the sacrifices my family had made for me, particularly my mother. During the period of homelessness, she contemplated returning to Mexico due to the overwhelming burden of raising four children on her own. Witnessing my mother's tears and pain throughout that time deeply impacted me, motivating me to strive for a better future for our family. I am determined to demonstrate that financial circumstances should not limit one's aspirations. Money should never dictate the potential and opportunities that lie ahead. I firmly believe that one can surpass others' expectations and achieve greatness, regardless of their income. Today, I take pride in my journey from homelessness to high school graduation and now attending university as a sophomore studying Mechanical Engineering. Sharing my story is essential to me as I want to serve as a beacon of hope for my siblings and others facing similar challenges. I aim to inspire them by showcasing that even in financially unstable families, dreams are not out of reach. I want to be a role model, exemplifying that hard work and determination can lead to the accomplishment of astronomical goals. I aspire to be a symbol of hope for everyone, demonstrating that obstacles can be overcome and limits can be shattered. Having grown up in a family with three siblings and a single mother, maintaining my studies and grades while constantly moving between houses was incredibly challenging. However, this has only fueled my desire to prove to my family and the world that their sacrifices were not in vain. Graduating from college as a first-generation student has been my lifelong dream. I am determined to be a source of motivation and strength for my siblings, showing them that their dreams are achievable, regardless of their financial background. I want to redefine what is possible and break down barriers for myself and others. I firmly believe that setbacks and limitations are merely temporary roadblocks, and there are always alternative paths to overcome obstacles. Recognizing the immense sacrifice my family has made for me, I am committed to working hard and ensuring that their pain and sacrifice result in a brighter future. In conclusion, being raised by a guardian and experiencing the challenges of homelessness has shaped my perspective on life. It has instilled in me a resilient spirit, a strong work ethic, and a determination to achieve my goals. Through my journey, I aim to be a beacon of hope, not only for my family but for everyone facing adversity.

Being a first-generation college student means breaking barriers and defying expectations. It signifies the opportunity to create a ripple effect of change within my family and community. As a Mexican-American, I am keenly aware of the challenges faced by individuals from marginalized backgrounds. However, this awareness has only strengthened me to pursue a degree in engineering and contribute to a more inclusive and diverse tech industry. Growing up, my family faced financial hardships and the constant uncertainty of homelessness. Witnessing my mother's resilience and sacrifices inspired me to strive for a better future. My mother's belief in my potential fueled my determination to overcome obstacles and set ambitious goals. As I ventured into the realm of higher education, I discovered my passion for engineering. The intricacies of technology and innovation fascinated me. From constructing projects in high school to competing in robotics competitions, I found joy in problem-solving and creating tangible solutions. These experiences affirmed my decision to pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering and embark on a career that merges my love for creativity and technology. However, my journey goes beyond personal aspirations. It is rooted in a deep desire to address the underrepresentation of minority groups in the tech industry. Through my involvement with the Austin Urban Technology Movement (AUTM), I became acutely aware of the stark disparities in the industry's workforce. Individuals from underrepresented communities, including people of color, continue to face significant barriers to entry and advancement. This realization ignited a fire within me to be an agent of change. I am driven to inspire and empower other Mexican-American students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. I want them to believe that their dreams are within reach, regardless of their skin color, background, or financial status. By sharing my journey, I aim to challenge stereotypes and dismantle the systemic biases that perpetuate inequality. I am determined to pave the way for future generations, advocating for diversity and inclusion in the tech field. My passion for being a first-generation college graduate stems from a deep sense of gratitude and responsibility. I am grateful for the sacrifices made by my family and the opportunities that education has afforded me. As the first stepping stone in my family, I carry the weight of their hopes and dreams. I want to show them that their sacrifices were not in vain and that I am committed to creating a better future for us all. Being a first-generation Mexican-American is a transformative experience that holds profound meaning in my life. It signifies the triumph over adversity and the pursuit of a brighter future. Through my journey, I strive to inspire and empower others who face similar challenges. By breaking down barriers and advocating for diversity, I aim to reshape the narrative and create a more equitable society. Being a first-generation is not just a personal achievement; it is a call to action to uplift others and be a catalyst for change.

Being a first-generation college student means breaking barriers and defying expectations. It signifies the opportunity to create a ripple effect of change within my family and community. As a Mexican-American, I am keenly aware of the challenges faced by individuals from marginalized backgrounds. However, this awareness has only strengthened me to pursue a degree in engineering and contribute to a more inclusive and diverse tech industry. Growing up, my family faced financial hardships and the constant uncertainty of homelessness. Witnessing my mother's resilience and sacrifices inspired me to strive for a better future. My mother's belief in my potential fueled my determination to overcome obstacles and set ambitious goals. As I ventured into the realm of higher education, I discovered my passion for engineering. The intricacies of technology and innovation fascinated me. From constructing projects in high school to competing in robotics competitions, I found joy in problem-solving and creating tangible solutions. These experiences affirmed my decision to pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering and embark on a career that merges my love for creativity and technology. However, my journey goes beyond personal aspirations. It is rooted in a deep desire to address the underrepresentation of minority groups in the tech industry. Through my involvement with the Austin Urban Technology Movement (AUTM), I became acutely aware of the stark disparities in the industry's workforce. Individuals from underrepresented communities, including people of color, continue to face significant barriers to entry and advancement. This realization ignited a fire within me to be an agent of change. I am driven to inspire and empower other Mexican-American students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. I want them to believe that their dreams are within reach, regardless of their skin color, background, or financial status. By sharing my journey, I aim to challenge stereotypes and dismantle the systemic biases that perpetuate inequality. I am determined to pave the way for future generations, advocating for diversity and inclusion in the tech field. My passion for being a first-generation college graduate stems from a deep sense of gratitude and responsibility. I am grateful for the sacrifices made by my family and the opportunities that education has afforded me. As the first stepping stone in my family, I carry the weight of their hopes and dreams. I want to show them that their sacrifices were not in vain and that I am committed to creating a better future for us all. Being a first-generation Mexican-American is a transformative experience that holds profound meaning in my life. It signifies the triumph over adversity and the pursuit of a brighter future. Through my journey, I strive to inspire and empower others who face similar challenges. By breaking down barriers and advocating for diversity, I aim to reshape the narrative and create a more equitable society. Being a first-generation is not just a personal achievement; it is a call to action to uplift others and be a catalyst for change.

Passion is a flame that burns within, igniting the spirit and driving one's actions. For me, being a first-generation Mexican-American college graduate will not just be a personal accomplishment, but a testament to the resilience and determination that pulses through my veins. The journey I have embarked upon, with its twists and turns, has shaped my passion and deepened my commitment to paving the way for others who face similar obstacles. At the tender age of 10, my world was turned upside down when my father's incarceration shattered our lives. I was an innocent child, filled with excitement over my first tablet, oblivious to the storm brewing on the horizon. That fateful day, as I returned home with joy in my heart, I was met with flashing lights and my mother's tears. The weight of the situation quickly sank in as she explained the circumstances. My father's arrest left my pregnant mother and three siblings to face the world alone. Witnessing my mother's anguish, I realized the magnitude of the challenges we would face. The ensuing years were marked by uncertainty, homelessness, and the constant need to rely on the compassion of others. We moved from place to place, seeking stability amidst the chaos. Nights spent on borrowed mattresses, rain seeping through garage doors, and the constant disruption of changing homes became our reality. Yet, through it all, my mother's unwavering determination fueled my resilience. She refused to give in to despair, choosing instead to fight for a better future for her children. As I pursued higher education, the significance of being a first-generation college graduate became clear. I am a torchbearer, illuminating the path for my siblings and those who come after me. My journey represents the triumph of determination over adversity. It is a testament to the power of education to break the cycle of struggle and redefine our future. The obstacles I have overcome and the sacrifices my family has made have instilled in me a burning desire to make a difference. I want to be a beacon of hope for those who have experienced the darkness of incarceration and poverty. I strive to show them that their circumstances do not define their potential. By obtaining my college degree, I aim to dismantle barriers and shatter stereotypes. Becoming a first-generation Mexican-American college graduate is not just about personal achievement; it is about rewriting the narrative for future generations. I am driven by a deep sense of responsibility to honor my mother's sacrifices and demonstrate that dreams can become a reality. My journey is a testament to the strength and resilience of the human spirit, a reminder that belief and determination can conquer any obstacle. As I continue my educational journey, I am reminded of the countless others who face similar challenges. I aspire to be a role model, a source of inspiration for those who believe their circumstances limit their potential. By sharing my story, I hope to ignite a fire within others, empowering them to pursue their dreams relentlessly. In conclusion, my passion for being a first-generation Mexican-American college graduate stems from the trials and triumphs I have experienced. It is a flame that burns brighter with each hurdle I overcome. Through my journey, I aim to inspire others, to remind them that their dreams are within reach. I am determined to leave a legacy that echoes hope, resilience, and the power of education. Being a first-generation college graduate is not just my personal goal; it is my life achievement that no matter what I will accomplish.

Hello, my name is Eberardo Trejo, I am a resilient first-generation Mexican American who has had to overcome immense challenges to pursue my dreams. At just the age of 10 years old, my father was incarcerated, this shattered our lives and it left my mother pregnant with 3 children to face the world alone. Struggling with homelessness and constantly moving around, my childhood was marked with instability. Despite the instability, I clung to hope. Driven by my mother's sacrifices and a burning desire for a better future, I pursued higher education. Now, as a junior in college, I study Mechanical Engineering, fueling my passion for technology and innovation. Through it all, I realized that my journey isn't just about me; it's about inspiring others facing similar challenges. I am determined to become a role model for my siblings and other children like me, proving that no obstacle is insurmountable. My ultimate goal is to honor my mother's unwavering spirit and demonstrate that dreams can become reality, regardless of the adversities we encounter. I strive to be the stepping stone for my family and an inspiration to all who face hardships. I have emerged stronger, ready to conquer the world and show that belief and determination can overcome any obstacle life throws our way. I come from a humble background, where my family lives paycheck to paycheck, struggling to meet our basic needs. We recently purchased our own house, which we are incredibly proud of, but it has put a strain on our finances and limited our ability to save for my college expenses. This has led me to take the responsibility of seeking out scholarships to alleviate the burden on my family. Being awarded this scholarship would mean the world to me and my family. It would not only lessen the financial stress we face but also provide a sense of relief and reassurance as I continue my education. Knowing that I have support from generous individuals who believe in my potential would inspire me to work even harder to achieve my goals. I am incredibly grateful for the assistance I have received through financial aid, but there is still a significant gap that needs to be filled. The cost of tuition, textbooks, and other educational expenses adds up quickly, and without additional support, it becomes increasingly challenging to keep up with the financial demands of college. Receiving this scholarship would not only help me afford the necessary resources for my studies, but it would also allow me to focus more on my academic pursuits and extracurricular activities. It would provide me with the freedom to fully engage in opportunities that enhance my learning and personal growth, such as research projects, internships, and networking events. Moreover, this scholarship would not only impact my own life but also that of my family. It would alleviate the financial strain they experience when helping me pay for college. By easing their financial burden, I would be able to give them a sense of pride and joy, knowing that their sacrifices have been worthwhile and that I am on a path to success. Being awarded this scholarship would be a tremendous honor and a significant stepping stone in my journey. It would provide me with the financial stability and support needed to pursue my dreams of becoming a successful engineer. I am determined to make a positive impact in the field of technology and engineering, and this scholarship would enable me to focus on my studies, gain valuable experience, and ultimately make a difference in the world. Thank you for considering my application.

Being a first-generation college student holds immense significance in my life. It represents the culmination of my family's journey, the impact of advanced education, and my drive to pursue an engineering degree. As a first-generation Mexican-American, I have witnessed firsthand the challenges that come with financial obstacles and the pursuit of higher education. However, these obstacles have only fueled my determination to overcome them and create a better future for myself and my family. The journey of my family has been marked by adversity and resilience. At the tender age of 10, my world was shattered when my father was incarcerated due to drinking. This left my mother, who was pregnant with three children, to face the world alone. Homelessness became a constant companion, and we moved from place to place, searching for stability. Despite the hardships, hope never left my heart. It was during this difficult time that I was introduced to such amazing support groups as the Seedling program, which provides guidance and support to children with incarcerated parents. Through this program, I met my mentor, Ms. Tina, who has been a guiding light in my life since seventh grade. Her unwavering support fueled my determination to rise above adversity and inspired me to strive for a better future. As well as meeting my now stepfather, Santos Chavez, who has been an amazing supportive figure in uplifting our family! We went from going from house to house to finally having a house that we could truly call our own. Motivated by my mother's sacrifices and a burning desire to succeed, I embarked on the path of higher education. As a junior in college, studying Mechanical Engineering, I have found my true passion in technology and innovation. From a young age, I was drawn to the world of engineering, fascinated by the creativity and ingenuity involved in inventing and building. Even though I may not have fully understood the concept of engineering back then, I recall constructing various projects through high school, such as a marble maze, and a game boy using an Arduino board, and collaborating with my high school robotics club to design and build a robot made from various random miscellaneous items to compete in a robotics competition where we faced various teams around texas and eventually won the most photogenic robot award! These experiences ignited my ambition and nurtured my passion for creating things that could make a difference. In my pursuit of knowledge and personal growth, I had the distinct privilege of participating in the Austin Urban Technology Movement (AUTM). This transformative experience exposed me to a poignant and disheartening truth that continues to fuel my passion to this day: a profound discrepancy persists within the tech industry, where individuals from minority groups, including people of color, are significantly underrepresented. The vast majority of positions are held by individuals of Caucasian and Asian descent. The solemn gravity of this realization cannot be overstated. It illuminated a deeply entrenched gap, reflective of systemic biases and historical inequities that continue to perpetuate the status quo. However, rather than succumbing to this gap, I emerged from this revelation with commitment to motivate other children like me who are Mexican - Americans and are a part of the minority group! Showing them that it's possible to pursue your dreams no matter your skin color, your background and your financial status! Within the realm of engineering, my interest has gravitated toward Mechanical Engineering. I am captivated by the exploration of different fields I'm able to explore, and how they can be applied to develop innovative solutions. Mechanical Engineering has opened up my world of possibilities, encompassing a vast array of disciplines and applications. Through my coursework and experiences, I have come to appreciate the multifaceted nature of mechanical engineering. It involves designing and analyzing complex systems, developing innovative materials and technologies, and improving energy efficiency. Mechanical engineers play a crucial role in shaping the future, whether by designing sustainable infrastructure, optimizing manufacturing processes, or advancing the field of robotics. The opportunity to pursue an engineering degree, particularly in mechanical engineering, holds immense value in my life. It signifies the culmination of my family's journey, the power of education, and my drive to succeed. This opportunity is not only about achieving my own goals but also about becoming a role model for others facing similar challenges. I aim to inspire individuals from underrepresented backgrounds, demonstrating that with determination, hard work, and access to education, they can overcome adversity and achieve their dreams. While the road ahead may be arduous, I am fueled by an unyielding determination to reshape the narrative of the tech world. I envision a future where individuals of all races, ethnicities, and backgrounds are given an equal chance to contribute, innovate, and thrive. Through collaborative efforts and a resolute commitment to inclusivity, we can dismantle barriers, bridge divides, and forge a path toward a more equitable and prosperous future. Becoming a first-generation college student has given me a unique perspective and a sense of responsibility. I recognize that my journey is not solely about personal achievement but also about inspiring others facing similar challenges. I strive to be a role model for my siblings and other children like me, proving that no obstacle is insurmountable. By pursuing my dreams and attaining an engineering degree, I aim to demonstrate that belief and determination can overcome any adversity. I want to be the stepping stone for my family and an inspiration to all who face hardships.

Hello, my name is Eberardo Trejo, a rising junior studying mechanical engineering with a minor in computer science. As a first-generation Mexican-American, I have encountered numerous financial obstacles, but I have always strived to overcome them. My resilience and determination have shaped my journey and inspired me to become a role model for others facing similar challenges. At the age of 10, my life took a drastic turn when my father was incarcerated, leaving my mother pregnant with three children to face the world alone. Homelessness and constant relocation marked my childhood with instability. Despite these hardships, I held onto hope. Motivated by my mother's sacrifices and driven by a burning desire for a better future, I embarked on the path of higher education. Currently, as a junior in college, I am pursuing Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science, fueled by my passion for technology and innovation. Through it all, I have come to realize that my journey is not solely about personal success; it is about inspiring others facing similar challenges. My ultimate goal is to honor my mother's unwavering spirit and demonstrate that dreams can become reality, regardless of the adversities we encounter. I aspire to be a stepping stone for my family and an inspiration to all those who face hardships. Emerging from these experiences, I have grown stronger and more determined to conquer the world, showing that belief and determination can overcome any obstacle life throws our way. My passion for engineering and invention has been with me since a young age. Even before fully understanding the concept of engineering, I displayed a creative mindset. As a child, I created a maze for marbles out of scraps, guiding them from the second floor to the first. In middle school, I designed and built a functioning game boy using an Arduino board, implementing ROMs and emulators. Throughout high school, I dedicated three years to the robotics club, where I undertook various projects. Notably, I constructed an arcade machine with over 500 games, which was showcased in the engineering building for two years. Our team also constructed robots from scrap materials and competed against other robotics teams in Texas. Moreover, I developed an automatic pencil sharpener with a robotic arm, which was used in my school's office for a month. As a freshman at the University of Texas at San Antonio, I collaborated with fellow students to propose a rover design for potential use on Mars by NASA. This experience further fueled my passion for engineering and deepened my commitment to making a difference in the field. Additionally, I had the opportunity to intern with The City of Austin, where I discovered the underrepresentation of Hispanics and Blacks in the tech industry. This revelation has only strengthened my resolve to continue my major and become a catalyst for change. In conclusion, my journey as a first-generation Mexican-American in the field of engineering has been shaped by overcoming adversity and inspiring others. From childhood projects to college collaborations, I have nurtured my passion for creating, inventing, and problem-solving. With each obstacle I conquer, I strive to honor my family, motivate others, and prove that determination and belief can overcome any challenge.

Hello my name is Eberardo Ramirez Trejo and I’m 19 years old from Austin Texas, my family and I recently started back to school shopping and an incident occurred where my youngest sibling yelled at my mother because the store didn’t have the specific backpack that she wanted to get to match with her friend. But my mother kindly explained to her that unfortunately they cannot find or get that specific backpack that she wanted, because there has been a change in rules where it’s a requirement to have transparent backpacks. This lead to my sister being mad all throughout our ride back home, once we got home I decided to knock on her door and sit down with her to have a talk. I explained to her that it was not okay that she yelled at my mother in the store, and that she should give more respect to our mother. And I told her that before she was even born, my mother and I along with my two siblings were struggling facing homelessness and going from house to house because our biological father was incarcerated for drinking and driving. My mother wasn’t only a mother figure but also a father figure, who made sure that despite having little to nothing, she made sure to provide for us and make sure we didn’t lack food or shelter. I additionally explained to her that if it wasn’t for my mother’s strength, we wouldn’t be where we are now which is the United States! Because there was a moment where my mother was so close to giving up on everything and going back to Mexico just to avoid facing homelessness and going from house to house. The truth is that my mother is a hard worker who has put her blood, sweat and tears just to make sure that my siblings and I didn’t lack anything! Once I told this to my sister she was beyond disbelief and immediately felt bad for treating my mother the way she did. She immediately got up and went to go hug my mother and asked for forgiveness as well as thanking her for sacrifice she has made throughout the years. Because of this sacrifice I was able to not only graduate from high school but also attend the university of Texas at San Antonio to study Mechanical Engineering and computer science! I will forever thank my mother and be grateful for all the sacrifices my mother has made, if it wasn’t for those sacrifices I wouldn’t be able to have the same education I have now. And I wouldn’t be able to tell my story to motivate other children like me who have had a parent incarcerated! Showing them that it’s possible to succeed despite coming from a background of struggles and poverty!

Hello my name is Eberardo Ramirez Trejo from Austin Texas and I’m 19 years old. Ever since I was young, I unfortunately was given a bad hand. At a young age of 11, my family and I were faced with my biological father going to jail. My mother could not afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister and could not work. As a consequence of my father’s incarceration and my mother being a single parent, we suffered many economic hardships throughout the years. While my mother worked two jobs after the birth of my sisters so she could have enough money to pay rent and to make sure we had food and clothing, I had to focus on my classes, grades and assignments as well as those of my siblings because their education is equally as important as mine. I was not only a big brother to my siblings but also a father figure. Through this event where I was homeless and going from house to house I had no choice but to keep a strong work ethic for my siblings and my family. Because I knew that despite not having a roof over my head or a house that we could call our own, I had my siblings and my mother as well as my education to define who I am! There was multiple times throughout where I found myself lacking confidence and to some extent was embarrassed of what I was going through, I compared my living situation to my peers and told myself that I was simply unlucky because I had my childhood ripped away from me. As I grew older I decided to embrace my past and embrace what I have gone through and admire what my family has sacrificed!

Hello my name is Eberardo Ramirez Trejo from Austin Texas and I’m 19 years old. Ever since I was young, I unfortunately was given a bad hand. At a young age of 11, my family and I were faced with my biological father going to jail. My mother could not afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister and could not work. As a consequence of my father’s incarceration and my mother being a single parent, we suffered many economic hardships throughout the years. While my mother worked two jobs after the birth of my sisters so she could have enough money to pay rent and to make sure we had food and clothing, I had to focus on my classes, grades and assignments as well as those of my siblings because their education is equally as important as mine. I was not only a big brother to my siblings but also a father figure. Through this event where I was homeless and going from house to house I had no choice but to keep a strong work ethic for my siblings and my family. Because I knew that despite not having a roof over my head or a house that we could call our own, I had my siblings and my mother as well as my education to define who I am! There was multiple times throughout where I found myself lacking confidence and to some extent was embarrassed of what I was going through, I compared my living situation to my peers and told myself that I was simply unlucky because I had my childhood ripped away from me. As I grew older I decided to embrace my past and embrace what I have gone through and admire what my family has sacrificed!

Ever since I was young I always had the mentality to always give back to my community and encourage the people who lack a role model. I was given the opportunity to intern with the City of Austin where I was assigned to a non profit department to learn several IT skills, professional development skills and learn what it's like to be in a working environment. During this internship I worked with Austin Urban Technology Movement, which is a non profit company that fights to bridge the gap between the minority group in the tech industry by providing them with IT skills to help them get prepared to enter the tech working industry. I was given the opportunity to help Austin Urban Technology Movement collect multiple laptops with hotspots and do a drive through of people who were interested in completing a learning program to learn IT skills. Unfortunately none of my co workers were willing to do so, but I took the initiative to do this one in a lifetime opportunity with AUTM. During the drive through event I worked with AUTM to assign people to computers to start gaining IT skills and throughout this experience I was able to help AUTM distribute a good 20-30 computers. Not only did I have the opportunity to give out laptops and hotspots to these people but I also had an opportunity to hear what brought them to AUTM and why they chose to sign up to learn IT skills. This encouraged me and kept me motivated to make sure I achieved my goals! Additionally I was given the opportunity to present my story to the mentoring program called seedling foundation, where I shared my story with homelessness and lacking a father figure! I shared my story in hopes to motivate others.

Hello my name is Eberardo Ramirez Trejo from Austin Texas and I’m 19 years old. When it comes to mentorship I truly believe that having that right mentor to guide you through the confusing transition from childhood to adulthood is a beneficial key! I myself received a mentor during the 7th grade with the mentoring program called Seedling Foundation. My experience with The Seedling Foundation and being a mentee of Ms.Tina who is my mentor has been beyond amazing! The relationship my mentor and I have built over these 5 years has been life changing! When I first met my mentor, I was a very quiet kid who did not even know how to start a conversation. I still vividly remember being called to the office during lunch so I could meet my mentor. Little did I know, these meetings that I would have with my mentor would be life changing! Every single time my mentor would visit, it would always be a fun experience! I still remember the times that my mentor and I would go into the library to play chess and she would call me a cheater because she thought I was changing the rules from one visit to the next. Those meetings would turn into a safe place where I could always talk to my mentor about anything that went on in my day and my mentor always had a way of making me feel better! My mentor truly became my best friend and someone who I could come to with whatever I needed! I would like to think of my mentor as my gardener because she was able to help me blossom into the strong flower that I am today.

Hello my name is Eberardo Ramirez Trejo, I’m 19 years old and I'm from Austin Texas! I am a first generation Mexican American who has an immigrant mother and an immigrant step father. Throughout my childhood I lacked a father figure, the reason being because at a young age of 11, my family and I were faced with my biological father going to jail. My mother could not afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister and could not work. And as a consequence of my father’s incarceration and my mother being a single parent, we unfortunately suffered many economic hardships throughout the years that lead to us becoming homeless and going from house to house. While my mother worked two jobs after the birth of my sisters so she could have enough money to pay rent and to make sure we had food and clothing, I had to focus on my classes, grades and assignments as well as those of my siblings because their education is equally as important as mine. I was not only a big brother to my siblings but also a father figure. Throughout this time I unfortunately had to suffer not only physically because there were days where I didn't have a meal to eat back at home and instead we relied on the food that the school provided but additionally I had to see my mother in pain. There were days where my mother broke down into tears because my mother wanted to go back to Mexico just so that we wouldn’t handle being homeless anymore but she chose to sacrifice for our education! Which is why I owe my life to my mother and I wouldn’t have the education I have today if it wasn’t for her. It’s now my responsibility as a first generation Mexican American to be the first stepping stone in my family to graduate from college! Showing my mother that all her sacrifice and pain that we had to go through in the past all paid off at the end when she sees her oldest son walk the stage to receive his degree! I come from being homeless and having to go from house to house to graduating from high school and attending UTSA to study mechanical engineering and computer science! I worked hard and stayed dedicated to making my mother and my siblings proud and now I'm the man I am now because I didn't let my past struggles determine who I am in the future. I want to be a beacon of hope and a reminder to my family, that no matter the struggles you have gone through, you can always come on top and succeed. I now want to share my story to other children like me who grew up without a parent figure. I want to show others that no matter your income you can always achieve everything you want. Money shouldn't determine what your future is and money should certainly not determine what your future holds; you can always go beyond the expectation of others! don't let anyone tell you differently. We recently were able to buy our own house, which I’m very excited about but because of that my family now has to prioritize our house. I don’t want to burden my family by making them stressed with affording our house and my education. Which is why I highly rely on scholarships to cover my education! I’m an individual who has had to face many hardships but will continue working hard to not disappoint the people I care about!

Hello my name is Eberardo Trejo and I’m an undergraduate student at the University of Texas at San Antonio studying mechanical engineering and computer science! If I were to describe myself and identify characteristics that I value the most in myself it would most definitely be my determination and eagerness to learn every day! I am passionate about becoming a mechanical engineer, and I have worked hard in school toward making those dreams a reality. Unfortunately, my family experiences economic hardships that will not allow them to contribute to my college education. It is very important for me to get an education for many reasons. Being an 19 year old first generation Mexican American in my family to graduate from high school, I will be the first person in my family to receive a college education. That is very exciting, yet scary because I’ll have to worry about covering my college expenses without any assistance from my parents. Growing up wasn’t so easy. At the age of 11, my family and I were faced with my biological father going to jail. My mother could not afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister and could not work. As a consequence of my father’s incarceration and my mother being a single parent, we suffered many economic hardships throughout the years. While my mother worked two jobs after the birth of my sisters so she could have enough money to pay rent and to make sure we had food and clothing, I had to focus on my classes, grades and assignments as well as those of my siblings because their education is equally as important as mine. I was not only a big brother to my siblings but also a father figure. This has helped shape who I am today and has instilled within me a continued responsibility for my family. A responsibility in being the first stepping stone to in family, showing my family that anything is possible just along as hard work is put, to achieve these dreams that you want to reach! I'm very determined to be the beacon of hope that my siblings can look at as motivation and source of strength, I want to show them that even if you come from a financially unstable family that you can dream no matter what, and if you have these dreams that you make sure you push yourself very hard to reach them. I want to not only show my family that you can succeed and reach astronomical goals that you never thought you would reach! I want to be a beacon of hope to everyone, coming from a family of 3 siblings and a single mother and having to go from house to house while maintaining my studies and grades was very difficult but I want to be a role model and an example to everyone that it can be possible to reach whatever you dream! I personally grew up not having a father figure so I had to do manhood all on my own, not having the knowledge of what it takes to be a man was very difficult but It's all worth it now that I can see the man that I am today! I'm, not the man who I am today because of my biological father instead I'm the man who I am today because of myself! There's no such thing as limits and setbacks! there are always alternatives to get through these obstacles!

Hello my name is Eberardo Ramirez Trejo, I’m 19 years old and I'm from Austin Texas! I am a first generation Mexican American who has an immigrant mother and an immigrant step father. Throughout my childhood I lacked a father figure, the reason being because at a young age of 11, my family and I were faced with my biological father going to jail. My mother could not afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister and could not work. And as a consequence of my father’s incarceration and my mother being a single parent, we unfortunately suffered many economic hardships throughout the years that lead to us becoming homeless and going from house to house. While my mother worked two jobs after the birth of my sisters so she could have enough money to pay rent and to make sure we had food and clothing, I had to focus on my classes, grades and assignments as well as those of my siblings because their education is equally as important as mine. I was not only a big brother to my siblings but also a father figure. Throughout this time I unfortunately had to suffer not only physically because there were days where I didn't have a meal to eat back at home and instead we relied on the food that the school provided but additionally I had to see my mother in pain. There were days where my mother broke down into tears because my mother wanted to go back to Mexico just so that we wouldn’t handle being homeless anymore but she chose to sacrifice for our education! Which is why I owe my life to my mother and I wouldn’t have the education I have today if it wasn’t for her. It’s now my responsibility as a first generation Mexican American to be the first stepping stone in my family to graduate from college! Showing my mother that all her sacrifice and pain that we had to go through in the past all paid off at the end when she sees her oldest son walk the stage to receive his degree! I come from being homeless and having to go from house to house to graduating from high school and attending UTSA to study mechanical engineering and computer science! I want to be a beacon of hope and a reminder to my family, that no matter the struggles you have gone through, you can always come on top and succeed. I now want to share my story to other children like me who grew up without a parent figure. I want to show others that no matter your income you can always achieve everything you want. Money shouldn't determine what your future is and money should certainly not determine what your future holds; you can always go beyond the expectation of others! don't let anyone tell you differently. We recently were able to buy our own house, which I’m very excited about but because of that my family now has to prioritize our house. I don’t want to burden my family by making them stressed with affording our house and my education. Which is why I highly rely on scholarships to cover my education! I am an individual who has faced many hardships but will continue working hard to not disappoint the people I care about! It has always been my dream to graduate from college to become a first generation in my family! I would love to receive assistance with paying for my college expenses because truthfully college is very expensive.

When it comes to what I would do If I was awarded the $1,000 scholarship, I would most definitely use it towards my college books that I would need to buy for my upcoming semester! Because the truth is that college books and affording materials such as a laptop or tablets or access code to do your classes homework gets very expensive and without any financial support can seem impossible to get your hands on. Being a first generation Mexican American who comes from a low income family and is in college is definitely not an easy task to handle and when it comes to my methods of financially supporting my education it’s mostly relying not only on FAFSA money but scholarships that I get awarded! Because my family unfortunately cannot help me afford college because they themselves can barely afford to have any left over money for rent. My parents are living paycheck to paycheck and having to pay for monthly expenses and if I were to ask my parents for help it would only burden them and make them stressed! If I have to take out loans then so be it but I will most definitely try my hardest to win as many scholarships as possible because college can be very expensive but with the right help I can make paying for college less stressful. Thank you for reading my scholarship application and I hope you consider me! I could definitely use some help to afford college!

Well to start off, my family and I were given a difficult hand in life. At just the age of 11, my family and I were faced with my biological father going to jail. My mother could not afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister and could not work. As a consequence of my father’s incarceration and my mother being a single parent, we suffered many economic hardships throughout the years. While my mother worked two jobs after the birth of my sisters so she could have enough money to pay rent and to make sure we had food and clothing, I had to focus on my classes, grades and assignments as well as those of my siblings because their education is equally as important as mine. I was not only a big brother to my siblings but also a father figure. This year we recently moved into our own house, which is pretty exciting! It’s very new and surreal to my family and me. It is an achievement to go from being homeless to having a house that we can truly call our own! Through my experience dealing homelessness and having a parent incarcerated I found myself very unhappy because of the living situation my family and I were in, the reason being because I was forced to grow up at such a young age and I also had to sacrifice my childhood. This was because I was very young and I didn’t fully comprehend the sacrifices my mother had to do, but the truth is that through my years living in homelessness and going from house to house my mother sacrificed and put her blood and sweat to make sure that my siblings and I weren’t missing anything. My mother could’ve easily gone back to Mexico with her family and take us with her but I was very stubborn during this time and loved school, so my mother decided to sacrifice and stay here in the U.S. Through my past struggles, I have lacked a father figure and someone to look up to, to show me what a real man is. Not having the knowledge of what it takes to be a man was very difficult but It's all worth it now that I can see the man that I am today! I worked hard and stayed dedicated to making my mother and my siblings proud and now I'm the man I am now because I didn't let my past struggles determine who I am in the future. I want to be a beacon of hope and a reminder to my family, that no matter the struggles you have gone through, you can always come on top and succeed. I now want to share my story to other children like me who grew up without a parent figure.I want to show others that no matter your income you can always achieve everything you want. Money shouldn't determine what your future is and money should certainly not determine what your future holds; you can always go beyond the expectation of others! don't let anyone tell you differently! No matter what background you come from, if you put the initiative in believing in yourself then you’ll end up succeeding. It can really take a toll on you not having a place to call your home and taking on adult responsibilities as a child, but I survived without compromising my education. Because of my mother’s sacrifice, I’m now a first generation Mexican American who will be a sophomore at the University of Texas at San Antonio!

When it comes to my favorite hobbies I most definitely prioritize further learning, such as preparing myself for my programming 1 class coming up next semester by learning Python beforehand using coding boot camps for beginners! Another hobby of mine that I have recently been getting into would most definitely be reading, I haven’t always been the type to read books but I recently got into reading books that are informative and improve my thoughts and understanding in life, such as learning about the law of attraction from a book called the master key system and how we can preserve humanity from a book called The precipice: existential risk and future of humanity. The reasons why I chose these two books to read for my summer is because they are very informative and can hopefully help me understand the meaning of life a bit better. Not only that but another hobby that I enjoy doing is CADing which is basically when I run a program such as solid work and create a 3D piece to print using a 3D printer. From this I have had the opportunity to work on several projects that deal with making digital pieces and turning them into a reality, I worked on several projects such as a Mandelorian figurine and a Roman house ! My last hobby would most definitely be working out, through my past I have always been the unhealthy type and was at a young age considered obese. At just the age of 15 I was around 260 pounds and now that I’m 19 I have gone from a size 3XL and 2XL to medium while also slimming down and being in a healthy balance body! I’m beyond proud of my hobbies because I believe they help me improve as a person!

At a young age of 11, my family and I were faced with my biological father going to jail. My mother could not afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister and could not work. As a consequence of my father’s incarceration and my mother being a single parent, we suffered many economic hardships throughout the years. While my mother worked two jobs after the birth of my sisters so she could have enough money to pay rent and to make sure we had food and clothing, I had to focus on my classes, grades and assignments as well as those of my siblings because their education is equally as important as mine. I was not only a big brother to my siblings but also a father figure. I come from being homeless and having to go from house to house to graduating from high school and attending UTSA as a Sophomore to study mechanical engineering and computer science! This year we recently moved into our own house, which is pretty exciting! It’s very new and surreal to my family and me. It is an achievement to go from being homeless to having a house that we can truly call our own! To hear stories similar to mine where a family overcomes financial obstacles and receive prosperity give me hope that we can all have a better future despite the current obstacles we are facing now! There are many children and families around the world that have or are facing similar obstacles like the ones my family and I faced at a young age. To be an example and living proof that despite facing obstacles we can prosper, really motivates me to continue sharing my story to other children who are like me! To show them that they are not alone and that I have faced similar problems to them but through these problems there is a light at the end of the darkness full of prosperity and success! And to be honest facing homelessness and having a parent incarcerated was no easy task to overcome, because of my families living circumstances I lost my childhood and I was forced to mature at a young age to be a leader to my siblings. There was multiple times where my family and I shed multiple tears because of our living circumstances. Back then we were at our lowest points filled with darkness and all we could do is have faith and shine a light for better days. Looking back now, I’m beyond proud of the growth my family and I have made throughout the years! I have learned to mature and grow to be thankful of every opportunity we are given! I hope that you enjoy my story and help me spread my story to motivate other children like me who are facing homelessness and have a parent incarcerated!

I am an individual who has had to face many obstacles throughout my childhood and life, at only the age of 11, my family and I were faced with my biological father going to jail. My mother could not afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister and could not work. As a consequence of my father’s incarceration and my mother being a single parent, we suffered many economic hardships throughout the years. While my mother worked two jobs after the birth of my sisters so she could have enough money to pay rent and to make sure we had food and clothing, I had to focus on my classes, grades and assignments as well as those of my siblings because their education is equally as important as mine. I was not only a big brother to my siblings but also a father figure. Through all this economic hardship I saw my mother breakdown into tears multiple times and there was times where she was close to giving up because she couldn’t handle the absence of my father and the poverty that we lived in. My family and I didn’t choose to live in poverty, rather we had to suffer the consequences of going into homelessness because of father’s incarceration. My mother could have easily given up on my siblings and I, and just go back to my mother’s home town which is Mexico. But instead my mother chose to make a sacrifice and handle poverty with us, just so my siblings and I could have a good education here in the United States. And the truth is if it wasn’t for my mothers sacrifice, we wouldn’t have seen the amazing things my siblings and I could do! As a result of this sacrifice I have had the opportunity to become a first generation Mexican American who has graduated from high school and soon to enter my sophomore year at the University of Texas at San Antonio. My mother wouldn’t have had the opportunity to see this success if she hadn’t made the sacrifice that she did. The same case happens when parents decide to abort their children, they won’t have the opportunity to see the achievements and the potential these children have! The truth is that these children didn’t choose to be born, rather they were brought into this world by a set of parents who in most cases committed a “mistake” and want to abort the child. These children didn’t choose this path and now have to face the consequences, instead they should be given an opportunity to see the potential they have! Nobody should ever have their live taken away just because the parents don’t want to parent them. I will take my past experiences to promote the value and dignity by showing everyone that despite going through hardship, a single sacrifice can make it all worth it at the end. You’re unable to see the potential someone has unless a little bit of sacrifice is put!

I am an individual who has had to face many obstacles throughout my childhood and life, at only the age of 11, my family and I were faced with my biological father going to jail. My mother could not afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister and could not work. As a consequence of my father’s incarceration and my mother being a single parent, we suffered many economic hardships throughout the years. While my mother worked two jobs after the birth of my sisters so she could have enough money to pay rent and to make sure we had food and clothing, I had to focus on my classes, grades and assignments as well as those of my siblings because their education is equally as important as mine. I was not only a big brother to my siblings but also a father figure. I come from being homeless and having to go from house to house to graduating from high school and attending UTSA as a Sophomore to study mechanical engineering and computer science! This year we recently moved into our own house, which is pretty exciting! It’s very new and surreal to my family and me. It is an achievement to go from being homeless to having a house that we can truly call our own! I would love and appreciate the assistance I receive, to help uplift my financial burdens, I am an individual who has had to face many hardships but will continue working hard to not disappoint the people I care about! It has always been my dream to graduate from college to become a first generation in my family! I would love to receive assistance with paying for my college expenses because truthfully college is very expensive and I would love to receive as much assistance as possible! Thank you so much for giving me and other students this opportunity to help uplift financial burdens. If I receive assistance I would make sure to use it to fuel my dreams and goals of graduating as a first generation Mexican American in my family! Through my past struggles, I have lacked a father figure and someone to look up to, to show me what a real man is. So I had to do manhood all on my own, not having the knowledge of what it takes to be a man was very difficult but It's all worth it now that I can see the man that I am today! There's no such thing as limits and setbacks! there are always alternatives to get through these obstacles! I worked hard and stayed dedicated to making my mother and my siblings proud and now I'm the man I am now because I didn't let my past struggles determine who I am in the future. I want to be a beacon of hope and a reminder to my family, that no matter the struggles you have gone through, you can always come on top and succeed. I now want to share my story to other children like me who grew up without a parent figure.I want to show others that no matter your income you can always achieve everything you want. Money shouldn't determine what your future is and money should certainly not determine what your future holds; you can always go beyond the expectation of others! don't let anyone tell you differently! No matter what background you come from, if you put the initiative in believing in yourself then you’ll end up succeeding. I want to make sure that everyone knows this and I want to make sure I'm the one to show them that anything is possible just as long as hard work is put into these goals! Throughout my past struggles, I have lacked a father figure to look up to and show me what a real man is. It can really take a toll on you not having a place to call your home and taking on adult responsibilities as a child, but I survived without compromising my education. I am the first in my family to graduate high school and soon college. I will be an example of how hard work can pay off, I am a first generation Mexican American who has completed his first year at the university of San Antonio! And I will not be stopped by the cost of college.

Hello my name is Eberardo Ramirez Trejo, I’m a 19 year old college sophomore student at the University of Texas at San Antonio studying mechanical engineering and computer science. When it comes to my health, I was always more in the chunky and fat side. At just the age of 15 I weighed in 270 pounds, this was not only concerning but I was basically considered obese at such a young age. A large factor of this huge weight at such a young age would most definitely be the fact that because my family struggled financially we were given a food stamp card. With this food stamp card I would take it to buy a ton of snacks that were rather unhealthy. This habit of buying a lot of snacks with the food stamp card took a big toll on my body and I gained even more weight because of it. I stayed in this heavy weight for about 3 more years until my senior year of high school where I decided that a change needed to be done. I told myself that I didn’t want to live like this , I didn’t want to be unhealthy and obese. I started running 30 minutes every day before my classes started and eating small proportions of food intake with a large water consumption. By the end of my senior year I managed to go from a size 3-XL and 2-XL shirts to a size large, not only is this a HUGE achievement but at this moment I was truly happy of the man that I became. I managed to graduate from high school with a happy mentality and a healthy body that I was actually proud of! Fast forward to my freshman year in college, where I kept my healthy eating habits and exercising habits consistent. It was very convenient that my college had a gym available to us students. I took advantage of this by working out inside the gym everyday! I managed to lose a lot of weight but now as a consequence of that, I have a lot of extra stubborn fat. Which is why I have a skinny fat look where I’m slim but lack a lot of muscle. I used the gym available at my college to start building muscle by doing push-ups, crunches, planks, squatting and benching. I was able to go from a size large to a size medium and I was also able build muscles around my arms, legs and abs. Through both my senior year and my freshman year in college I have had the opportunity to find my true self. Someone who I was proud of and loved, it truly is motivating to see the drastic change your body has made! To go from a size 3-XL to a size medium is no easy task but it’s most definitely obtainable if you have the right mentality and are truly committed to making change. The truth is that there was multiple times that I almost wanted to fail and quit right then and there but through those moments I told myself that my past self would want me to continue! Which is why when ever I’m doing cardio, benching and squatting, I’m literally fighting demons and fighting my past self! I never want to go back to my past self. Back then I was truly unhappy and hated myself but now I’ve learned to love myself and continue to workout! We can never see what our body is capable of doing unless we take the initiative and work out!

1. When it comes to answering why I deserve this scholarship I would most definitely answer it by showing how adorable my dog is and saying how my dog could use a total of 1,200 worth of dog food! Not only that but it would be great to invest this scholarship money towards something that is very important to me and my family which is invest in my sister's crayon collection. 2. When it comes to determining what I would like to do after receiving my college bachelors degree in mechanical engineering and computer science, I most definitely say collaborating with pop-stars that are very influential in today’s generation like Ed Sheeran, The Weeknd and Ariana grande to create a Christmas jingle as big as Mariah’s Carey “All I want for Christmas is you” 3. A time that I had to overcome an obstacle would most definitely be the time that I had to train my pet shark to introduce himself by saying “hello my name is Peter Parker” but I also had to train him to do the Shakira “hips don’t lie” dance while lip singing to “wannabe” from spice girls. Not only was this difficult but I had to fight the urge to join him every time!

An obstacle I have experienced that I had to overcome in pursuit of my education would be my father leaving me, my mother and my siblings. Through the time my father was in jail, we had to go from house to house not having a place to call our own. My mother couldn't afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister. We were kicked out, forced to be homeless, until we received help from my aunt who offered us a place to stay in until my mom could recover. After she recovered we had to look somewhere else, we got offered help to live in our aunt's house garage for about a year until we eventually had to move. During the time my mother was looking for help she met this nice lady who offered us help. They had a room available for us as long as my mother helped with the rent. We lived in their house for about a year until it was time we moved because they had their daughter from Mexico moving in with them so they had to use the room. After we moved out of their house we received help from my aunt who helped us find an apartment for our own and we have lived here ever since. This wasn’t only stressful but it’s also very difficult to balance going from house to house and also having to worry about your education. Through the time we went from house to house, I had to also focus on my classes and my grades and any of my assignments that had to be done and to top that off I had to also take care of my sibling while my mother was working two jobs, just so she can have enough money to pay for rent and to make sure we always had a plate to eat. I was not only a big brother to my siblings but also a father figure because my mother used to work 2 jobs, so she didn’t have time to spend with us. It can really take a toll on you not having a place to call your home. I will be the first stepping stone and the first example to my family, showing them that anything is possible if hard work is put! During the summer of 2021 I had the opportunity to intern with Austin Urban Technology Movement where I learned how un-represented the minority is in the technology industry. Two large groups that I learned are un-represented are Hispanics and blacks, this lead to me interning with AUTM to not only experience what it’s like to have a working job but also I learned IT skills and I had the opportunity to coordinate with interested people who wanted to get into a program to learn tech skills! Through the internship I had the opportunity to distribute computers to the people interested. This was not only heartwarming to serve my community but it made me feel like I was truly helping my community! Which leads to my education, for a first generation Mexican American to major in mechanical engineering and computer science is not an easy path because the truth is it will be very difficult and it will continue to be difficult but I will stay motivated to inspire the minority like myself ! I will continue to motivate and inspire my community and my loved ones !

An obstacle I have experienced that I had to overcome in pursuit of my education would be my father leaving me, my mother and my siblings. Through the time my father was in jail, we had to go from house to house not having a place to call our own. My mother couldn't afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister. We were kicked out, forced to be homeless, until we received help from my aunt who offered us a place to stay in until my mom could recover. After she recovered we had to look somewhere else, we got offered help to live in our aunt's house garage for about a year until we eventually had to move. During the time my mother was looking for help she met this nice lady who offered us help. They had a room available for us as long as my mother helped with the rent. We lived in their house for about a year until it was time we moved because they had their daughter from Mexico moving in with them so they had to use the room. After we moved out of their house we received help from my aunt who helped us find an apartment for our own and we have lived here ever since. This wasn’t only stressful but it’s also very difficult to balance going from house to house and also having to worry about your education. Through the time we went from house to house, I had to also focus on my classes and my grades and any of my assignments that had to be done and to top that off I had to also take care of my sibling while my mother was working two jobs, just so she can have enough money to pay for rent and to make sure we always had a plate to eat. I was not only a big brother to my siblings but also a father figure because my mother used to work 2 jobs, so she didn’t have time to spend with us. It can really take a toll on you not having a place to call your home. I will be the first stepping stone and the first example to my family, showing them that anything is possible if hard work is put! During the summer of 2021 I had the opportunity to intern with Austin Urban Technology Movement where I learned how un-represented the minority is in the technology industry. Two large groups that I learned are un-represented are Hispanics and blacks, this lead to me interning with AUTM to not only experience what it’s like to have a working job but also I learned IT skills and I had the opportunity to coordinate with interested people who wanted to get into a program to learn tech skills! Through the internship I had the opportunity to distribute computers to the people interested. This was not only heartwarming to serve my community but it made me feel like I was truly helping my community! Which leads to my education, for a first generation Mexican American to major in mechanical engineering and computer science is not an easy path because the truth is it will be very difficult and it will continue to be difficult but I will stay motivated to inspire the minority like myself ! I will continue to motivate and inspire my community and my loved ones !

I am an individual who has had to face many obstacles throughout my childhood and life, at only the age of 11, my family and I were faced with my biological father going to jail. My mother could not afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister and could not work. As a consequence of my father’s incarceration and my mother being a single parent, we suffered many economic hardships throughout the years. While my mother worked two jobs after the birth of my sisters so she could have enough money to pay rent and to make sure we had food and clothing, I had to focus on my classes, grades and assignments as well as those of my siblings because their education is equally as important as mine. I was not only a big brother to my siblings but also a father figure. I come from being homeless and having to go from house to house to graduating from high school and attending UTSA as a Freshman to study mechanical engineering and computer science! I would love and appreciate the assistance I receive, to help uplift my financial burdens, I am an individual who has had to face many hardships but will continue working hard to not disappoint the people I care about! It has always been my dream to graduate from college to become a first generation in my family! I would love to receive assistance with paying for my college expenses because truthfully college is very expensive and I would love to receive as much assistance as possible! Thank you so much for giving me and other students this opportunity to help uplift financial burdens. If I receive assistance I would make sure to use it to fuel my dreams and goals of graduating as a first generation Mexican American in my family! I'm very determined to be the beacon of hope that my siblings can look at as motivation and source of strength, I want to show them that even if you come from a financially unstable family that you can dream no matter what, and if you have these dreams that you make sure you push yourself very hard to reach them. I want to not only show my family that you can succeed and reach astronomical goals that you never thought you would reach! I want to be a beacon of hope to everyone, coming from a family of 3 siblings and a single mother and having to go from house to house while maintaining my studies and grades was very difficult but I want to be a role model and an example to everyone that it can be possible to reach whatever you dream! I personally grew up not having a father figure so I had to do manhood all on my own, not having the knowledge of what it takes to be a man was very difficult but It's all worth it now that I can see the man that I am today! There's no such thing as limits and setbacks! there are always alternatives to get through these obstacles! Although college is very pricey I want to receive as much financial support as possible to help me achieve my dreams of graduating from college debt free!

Hello my name is Eberardo Ramirez Trejo, I will be a sophomore at The University of Texas at San Antonio majoring in Mechanical engineering and Computer Science in the fall of 2022. Ever since I was young I always admired the creativity inventing and engineering, even if I didn’t know exactly what engineering was when I was younger. At a young age I created a maze for a marble out of scraps that were in my apartment that went from the second floor to the first. I also created a game boy in my middle school years where I used an Arduino board an implemented it with ROMs and emulators. My ambition and passion for creating things has grown ever since, in my high school years I worked with the robotics club for 3 years where I created multiple projects such as an actual arcade machine that had over 500+ games that was displaced in the engineering building for 2 years! We also worked on building robots from scraps as well as competing in competitions with other robotics team around Texas. And now that I’m adventuring in my college years I am looking at researching for projects that will help disabled people and people in need. What I’ve been looking into would be tools that help people with carpal tunnel and tremor. As well as working with fellow utsa student to propose an idea of a rover that will be used on mars by NASA! if we accomplish this and have the opportunity to build a rover we will build a Crab shaped rover that will have 8 legs to help it travel through harsh environments in mars! This crab shaped rover will have a crab shaped shell that will carry objects and required tools necessary to venture into lava tubes in mars. We are looking into traveling into mars with this crab shaped rover to travel in a lava tube called Mariahs hill to take pictures and extract samples that will eventually be taken to come back to earth to do further studies! This possible project excites me because I’ll have the opportunity to do what I love which is being creative and thinking outside the box by coming up with creative ideas as well as working with robots! During the summer of 2021 I had the opportunity to intern with the City of Austin to work with Austin Urban Technology Movement where I learned how un-represented the minority is in the technology industry. Two large groups that I learned are un-represented are Hispanics and blacks, this lead to me interning with AUTM to not only experience what it’s like to have a working job but also I learned IT skills and I had the opportunity to coordinate with interested people who wanted to get into a program to learn tech skills! Through the internship I had the opportunity to distribute computers to the people interested. This was not only heartwarming to serve my community but it made me feel like I was truly helping my community! Which leads to my education, for a first generation Mexican American to major in mechanical engineering and computer science is not an easy path because the truth is it will be very difficult and it will continue to be difficult but I will stay motivated to inspire the minority like myself ! I will continue to motivate and inspire my community and my loved ones !

When it comes to attending college, it can be seen to be very discouraging and at some points scary, due to the expense that college students have to take to keep their education going. I would definitely start it by telling my peer about an obstacle I have experienced that I had to overcome to get to where I am today, at the age of 11, my family and I were faced with my biological father going to jail. My mother could not afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister and could not work. As a consequence of my father’s incarceration and my mother being a single parent, we suffered many economic hardships throughout the years. While my mother worked two jobs after the birth of my sisters so she could have enough money to pay rent and to make sure we had food and clothing, I had to focus on my classes, grades and assignments as well as those of my siblings because their education is equally as important as mine. I was not only a big brother to my siblings but also a father figure. But despite my personal hardship I kept my grades up, I know that I’m not the only person that has had to go through experiences like that , there is millions of children out there in the world that are forced to grow up at a young age due to their life circumstances. And it can seem like college is the last thing that someone should worry about. But what I want to do is be a beacon of hope to these children. I want to show them that I understand them and I have been in their shoes and have lived similar struggles. I will share my story to other children like me who grew up without a parent figure.I want to show others that no matter your income you can always achieve everything you want. Money shouldn't determine what your future is and money should certainly not determine what your future holds; you can always go beyond the expectation of others! don't let anyone tell you differently! No matter what background you come from, if you put the initiative in believing in yourself then you’ll end up succeeding. I want to make sure that everyone knows this and I want to make sure I'm the one to show them that anything is possible just as long as hard work is put into these goals! I come from being homeless and having to go from house to house to graduating from high school and attending UTSA as a sophomore to study mechanical engineering and computer science! I will show my peers that despite economic hardship it’s possible to continue your education!

I am an individual who has had to face many obstacles throughout my childhood and life, at only the age of 11, my family and I were faced with my biological father going to jail. My mother could not afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister and could not work. As a consequence of my father’s incarceration and my mother being a single parent, we suffered many economic hardships throughout the years. While my mother worked two jobs after the birth of my sisters so she could have enough money to pay rent and to make sure we had food and clothing, I had to focus on my classes, grades and assignments as well as those of my siblings because their education is equally as important as mine. I was not only a big brother to my siblings but also a father figure. I come from being homeless and having to go from house to house to graduating from high school and attending UTSA as a Freshman to study mechanical engineering and computer science! I would love and appreciate the assistance I receive, to help uplift my financial burdens, I am an individual who has had to face many hardships but will continue working hard to not disappoint the people I care about! It has always been my dream to graduate from college to become a first generation in my family! I would love to receive assistance with paying for my college expenses because truthfully college is very expensive and I would love to receive as much assistance as possible! Thank you so much for giving me and other students this opportunity to help uplift financial burdens. If I receive assistance I would make sure to use it to fuel my dreams and goals of graduating as a first generation Mexican American in my family! I'm very determined to be the beacon of hope that my siblings can look at as motivation and source of strength, I want to show them that even if you come from a financially unstable family that you can dream no matter what, and if you have these dreams that you make sure you push yourself very hard to reach them. I want to not only show my family that you can succeed and reach astronomical goals that you never thought you would reach! I want to be a beacon of hope to everyone, coming from a family of 3 siblings and a single mother and having to go from house to house while maintaining my studies and grades was very difficult but I want to be a role model and an example to everyone that it can be possible to reach whatever you dream! I personally grew up not having a father figure so I had to do manhood all on my own, not having the knowledge of what it takes to be a man was very difficult but It's all worth it now that I can see the man that I am today! There's no such thing as limits and setbacks! there are always alternatives to get through these obstacles! Although college is very pricey I want to receive as much financial support as possible to help me achieve my dreams of graduating from college debt free!

Throughout my experience in college so far as freshman, I have learned some study strategies that I have used that helped me throughout my first semester in college. My first study strategy that I used is to have a fixed and planned schedule. Have apps and a method of organization to help you rearrange your classes, your assignments and important due dates of exams and tests. This helped me tremendously because throughout my first few weeks I lacked a balanced and planned schedule which lead to me getting unorganized and it lead to me getting behind and procrastinating on the very last day. My second study strategy would be to figure out what kind of learning method works for you, whether if you work better in an environment where you have your work physically with you or have your work digitally. I have found that my best learning method was to have my work and assignments digitally. Throughout the the semester I found myself in need of a tablet which is why I decided to take the initiative and purchased one. It was pricy but it tremendously helped me. This way I was able to organize myself and keep track of my assignments as well as providing a better method of taking notes during classes. Lastly it will be to stop procrastinating, throughout the first few weeks I was very relaxed and I didn’t consider that my assignments would ball up and overwhelm me later on. I learned this lesson and will avoid it by keeping track of my assignments/ work and doing them in a professional and respectable time to avoid procrastinating! I will use these lessons going into my next semester which is coming soon! This will help me stay on track and help me from procrastinating.

The anime series that has resonated with me ever since I watched it when I was young would definitely be “A Lie In April”. In this anime series it goes over a young child prodigy named Kōsei Arima. But lost the ability to play piano after his mother’s passing. To Kōsei playing piano felt like a burden and something he didn’t want to continue doing. This really resonated with me because growing up I lost my father figure, due to his absence my family and I were forced to be homeless. This event felt like a burden to me but through the anime I have learned to embrace my past and use it as an event that has helped and shape the man that I am today. The past that I went through is a blessing because it gave me strength and motivation. Now I’ll be a first generation !

One of my favorite hobbies that I whips doing ever since I was young would most definitely be creating and inventing things! Ever since I was young I always admired the creativity inventing and engineering, even if I didn’t know exactly what engineering was when I was younger. At a young age I created a maze for a marble out of scraps that were in my apartment that went from the second floor to the first. I also created a game boy in my middle school years where I used an Arduino board an implemented it with ROMs and emulators. My ambition and passion for creating things has grown ever since, in my high school years I worked with the robotics club for 3 years where I created multiple projects such as an actual arcade machine that had over 500+ games that was displaced in the engineering building for 2 years! We also worked on building robots from scraps as well as competing in competitions with other robotics team around Texas. We got to compete multiple times one being a robot that would have to traverse through a space environment and go to its original station. The second one being a robot made out of scraps that was assigned to traverse through an environment that was impacted by a natural disaster. This robot would grab electrical cables and put them back as well as take care of debree and several obstacles that were placed around the arena. I have also worked on an automatic pencil sharpener that used a robotic arm to grab a pencil and sharpen a pencil simultaneously without having any helping hands. This project was eventually used in the office in my school for a month! And now that I’m adventuring in my college years as a freshman at the university of Texas at San Antonio I am looking at researching for projects that will help disabled people and people in need. What I’ve been looking into would be tools that help people with carpal tunnel and tremor. As well as working with fellow utsa student to propose an idea of a rover that will be used on mars by NASA! if we accomplish this and have the opportunity to build a rover we will build a Crab shaped rover that will have 8 legs to help it travel through harsh environments in mars! This crab shaped rover will have a crab shaped shell that will carry objects and required tools necessary to venture into lava tubes in mars. We are looking into traveling into mars with this crab shaped rover to travel in a lava tube called Mariahs hill to take pictures and extract samples that will eventually be taken to come back to earth to do further studies! This possible project excites me because I’ll have the opportunity to do what I love which is being creative and thinking outside the box by coming up with creative ideas as well as working with robots!

Here I dedicate my album called In The Mind Of Eb, by yours truly Eberardo Ramirez Trejo ! My artist name is Lil EB The songs I’ll list that describe the mood and vibes I have had in my college endeavors that I’ve had so far would most definitely be by adding 1. “Feet Don’t Fail Me Now” by artist Joy Crookes. The reason why I chose this song as number one would be because every time I listen to this song while studying for exams it motivates me and excites me. To the point where I get up and dance listening to this song! The reason why this song describes my college experience so far would be because it describes the situation where nothing can stop you and you keep going hence the song title “feet don’t fail me now” ! 2. “ Set Fire to the rain” by the artist Adele. The reason why I chose this song as my second song that describes my college experience would be because this song always gives me power with the tone of Adele’s voice and it always motivates me to keep going! 3. “Not Afraid” by Eminem. The reason why I chose this song to be the third song in the album that describes my college experience because throughout college I am choosing to be a first generation for me and nobody else! I want to be the first stepping stone in my family and I’m not afraid to take a step into being the difference and the change! 4. “Alexander Hamilton” from the Hamilton broadway musical. The reason why I chose this to be my fourth song that describes my college experience because it shows a story of how Alexander Hamilton came from nothing to being great, similar to me and this motivates me to keep going in my college studies and my education! This song is very powerful and motivating and will always motivate me. 5. “ I’m still standing” By Elton John. The reason why I chose this to be my fifth song that describes college would most definitely be because throughout the obstacles that I have had to face In college I kept my head up and kept going. Just like in the song said “ I’m still standing after all this time” I’m just staring my college adventure and I’m not giving up anytime soon despite going through obstacles! 6. “How Far I’ll Go” from the Disney movie Moana. The reason why I chose this song would be because Throughout the song it is mentioned that something calls Moana and to some extent I feel like something calls me as well and that would be graduating from college and being a first generation in my family. And I additionally really relate with Moana because I want to go above and beyond everyone’s expectations! 7. “Daddy Wasn’t Home” by Paul wall. This song in general doesn’t describe college life but instead it describes me and my life story and why I decided to go to college in the first place. Growing up at only the age of 11, my family and I were faced with my biological father going to jail. This not only felt tragic but it felt like a loss because during that time it was my birthday and to be told that your father was incarcerated during your birthday it mentally impacted me and my childhood. Not only did I lack a father figure but because of my father’s absence we were forced to be homeless because my mother could not afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister and could not work. As a consequence of my father’s incarceration and my mother being a single parent, we suffered many economic hardships throughout the years. While my mother worked two jobs after the birth of my sisters so she could have enough money to pay rent and to make sure we had food and clothing, I had to focus on my classes, grades and assignments as well as those of my siblings because their education is equally as important as mine. I was not only a big brother to my siblings but also a father figure. This has helped shape who I am today and has instilled within me a continued responsibility for my family. This event has helped shape who I am today because it has made me stronger and independent and grateful for all the little things that happen to me, It has also taught me that I should take any opportunity I can get and take advantage of them. It can really take a toll on you not having a place to call your home. I will be the first stepping stone and the first example to my family, showing them that anything is possible if hard work is put! Through my past struggles, I have lacked a father figure, someone to look up to, to show me what a real man is. I am a first generation mexican american and this is my story on how I overcame not having a father and having to go from house to house while balancing my studies. Now I’m 19 years old, studying at the University of Texas at San Antonio to major in mechanical engineering with a minor in computer science! I’ll be a first generation in my family to go to college!

Hello my name is Eberardo Trejo, I’m 19 years old and I’m from Austin Texas! I’m a first generation Mexican American who’s studying at the University of Texas at San Antonio to study mechanical engineering and computer science. Throughout my past I have faced being homeless, going from house to house, switching schools because of my father’s absence but this encouraged me and gave the strength to continue my dream of graduating and being the first in my family. I am humble because I come from roost of pain and struggle but I use these roots to motivate me!

Growing up wasn’t so easy for me. At only the age of 11, my family and I were faced with my biological father going to jail. This not only felt tragic but it felt like a loss because during that time it was my birthday and to be told that your father was incarcerated during your birthday it mentally impacted me and my childhood. Not only did I lack a father figure but because of my father’s absence we were forced to be homeless because my mother could not afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister and could not work. As a consequence of my father’s incarceration and my mother being a single parent, we suffered many economic hardships throughout the years. While my mother worked two jobs after the birth of my sisters so she could have enough money to pay rent and to make sure we had food and clothing, I had to focus on my classes, grades and assignments as well as those of my siblings because their education is equally as important as mine. I was not only a big brother to my siblings but also a father figure. This has helped shape who I am today and has instilled within me a continued responsibility for my family. This event has helped shape who I am today because it has made me stronger and independent and grateful for all the little things that happen to me, It has also taught me that I should take any opportunity I can get and take advantage of them. It can really take a toll on you not having a place to call your home. I will be the first stepping stone and the first example to my family, showing them that anything is possible if hard work is put! Through my past struggles, I have lacked a father figure, someone to look up to, to show me what a real man is. I am a first generation mexican american and this is my story on how I overcame not having a father and having to go from house to house while balancing my studies. Now I’m 19 years old, studying at the University of Texas at San Antonio to major in mechanical engineering with a minor in computer science! I’ll be a first generation in my family to go to college!

Hello my name is Eberardo and I’m 19 years old. I’m a college freshman student at the The University of Texas at San Antonio majoring in mechanical engineering with a minor in computer science! Hello my name is Eberardo and I’m 19 years old. I’m a college freshman student at the The University of Texas at San Antonio majoring in mechanical engineering with a minor in computer science. What inspires me to be a better person would most definitely be to one day graduate from The University of Texas At San Antonio with a major in mechanical engineering and a minor in computer science. To be able to walk the stage would be a dream come true because I’ll be able to show my loved ones that it's possible to graduate from college! I will be the first stepping stone of my family, showing my siblings and my family that anything is possible! Being a first generation Mexican American I want to make sure I’m the change and difference in my family. This goal motivates me and fuels me everyday to keep going! While I’m in college I will take full advantage of my education to expand my knowledge and skills in engineering! I plan on doing some research on finding a project that I can work on a useful product that will help and benefit people, making their lives much better and easier! Whether that’s by looking into technology that helps the disabled, the minority or less unfortunate people. I will make sure that what ever project or technology I find that it represents my community because growing up when I was at my lowest I was very fortunate to have caring people who made a drastic difference in my life. I now want to return this favor by being a difference in someone’s life. Growing up I would’ve loved to have a role model that showed me that no matter if you come from a family of struggle and a family that was homeless you can succeed and achieve your dreams. I want to be that role model to children. Being a STEM major has been truly an amazing experience because I’ll be able to represent my community and my people with the projects and technology that I research and look into. One day I will have the opportunity to tell my story to other kids like me. Growing up in a family of 3 siblings and a single mother it was always difficult for us financially so I want to show people that no matter your income you can always achieve everything you want. Money shouldn't determine what your future is and money should certainly not determine what your future holds; you can always go beyond the expectation of others! don't let anyone tell you differently! No matter what background you come from, if you put the initiative in believing in yourself then you’ll end up succeeding. I want to make sure that everyone knows this and I want to make sure I'm the one to show them that anything is possible just as long as hard work is put into these goals! I come from being homeless and having to go from house to house to graduating from high school and attending UTSA as a Freshman who’s looking into doing research on technology and a project that represents my community and helps makes peoples lives much better and easier!

Hello my name is Eberardo and I’m 19 years old. I’m a college freshman student at the The University of Texas at San Antonio majoring in mechanical engineering with a minor in computer science. Growing up I had to deal with my father leaving me, my mother and my siblings due to substance abuse. Through the time my father was in jail, we had to go from house to house not having a place to call our own. My mother couldn't afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister. We were kicked out, forced to be homeless, until we received help from my aunt who offered us a place to stay in until my mom could recover. After she recovered we had to look somewhere else, we got offered help to live in our aunt's house garage for about a year until we eventually had to move because we couldn’t live in their basement forever. During the time my mother was looking for help she met this nice lady who offered us help. They had a room available for us as long as my mother helped with the rent. We lived in their house for about a year until it was time we moved because they had their daughter from Mexico moving in with them so they had to use the room. After we moved out of their house we received help from my aunt who helped us find an apartment for our own and we have lived here ever since. This wasn’t only stressful but it’s also very difficult to balance going from house to house and also having to worry about your education. Through the time we went from house to house, I had to also focus on my classes and my grades and any of my assignments that had to be done and to top that off I had to also take care of my sibling while my mother was working two jobs, just so she can have enough money to pay for rent and to make sure we always had a plate to eat. I was not only a big brother to my siblings but also a father figure because my mother used to work 2 jobs, so she didn’t have time to spend with us. This event has helped me shape who I am today because it has made me stronger and independent and grateful for all the little things that happen to me, It has also taught me that I should take any opportunity I can get and take advantage of them. It can really take a toll on you not having a place to call your home. I will be the first stepping stone and the first example to my family, showing them that anything is possible if hard work is put! Through my past struggles, I have lacked a father figure, someone to look up to, to show me what a real man is. I am a first generation mexican american and this is my story on how I overcame not having a father and having to go from house to house while balancing my studies. And now that I reflect on my past struggles that I’ve had I’m grateful that I was able to take lessons and mature through my struggles. Now I’m more determined than ever to show my loved ones that all the pain that we had endure back when we were homeless will be all worth it when I walk the stage in 2025 for my graduation.

Hello my name is Eberardo and I’m 19 years old. I’m a college freshman student at the The University of Texas at San Antonio majoring in mechanical engineering with a minor in computer science. What my future plans/goals consist of would be graduating from The University of Texas At San Antonio with a major in mechanical engineering and a minor in computer science. To be able to walk the stage would be a dream come true because I’ll be able to show my loved ones that it's possible to graduate from college! I will be the first stepping stone of my family, showing my siblings and my family that anything is possible! Being a first generation Mexican American I want to make sure I’m the change and difference in my family. None of my family members have ever gone to college, this leads to me being the first person to ever choose a different path. Most of my family members have chosen to graduate from high school and head to work force. But I choose my path and I want to become a role model and a difference. Additionally I want to look to gain as much experience as I can, whether that's by taking internships or jobs or learning skills like learning how to code and how to better my engineering skills. While I’m in college I will take full advantage of my education to expand my knowledge and skills in engineering! I plan on doing some research on finding a project that I can work on a useful product that will help and benefit people, making their lives much better and easier! I would also like to give back to my community because growing up when I was at my lowest I was very fortunate to have caring people who made a drastic difference in my life. I now want to return this favor by being a difference in someone’s life. Growing up I would’ve loved to have a role model that showed me that no matter if you come from a family of struggle and a family that was homeless you can succeed and achieve your dreams. I want to be that role model to children. Additionally I would like to tell my story to other kids like me. Growing up in a family of 3 siblings and a single mother it was always difficult for us financially so I want to show people that no matter your income you can always achieve everything you want. Money shouldn't determine what your future is and money should certainly not determine what your future holds; you can always go beyond the expectation of others! don't let anyone tell you differently! No matter what background you come from, if you put the initiative in believing in yourself then you’ll end up succeeding. I want to make sure that everyone knows this and I want to make sure I'm the one to show them that anything is possible just as long as hard work is put into these goals! Coming from a family where my biological father had substance problems it really impacted what my future would look like. It truly is horrible the things substance abuse can do to family members and loved ones. I went from being a 10 year old who was excited to receive a tablet for my birthday to finding out my father got incarcerated that same day due to him drinking. I come from being homeless and having to go from house to house to graduating from high school and attending UTSA as a Freshman!

Hello my name is Eberardo and I’m 19 years old. I’m a college freshman student at the The University of Texas at San Antonio majoring in mechanical engineering with a minor in computer science. What my future plans/goals consist of would be graduating from The University of Texas At San Antonio with a major in mechanical engineering and a minor in computer science. To be able to walk the stage would be a dream come true because I’ll be able to show my loved ones that it's possible to graduate from college! I will be the first stepping stone of my family, showing my siblings and my family that anything is possible! Being a first generation Mexican American I want to make sure I’m the change and difference in my family. None of my family members have ever gone to college, this leads to me being the first person to ever choose a different path. Most of my family members have chosen to graduate from high school and head to work force. But I choose my path and I want to become a role model and a difference. Additionally I want to look to gain as much experience as I can, whether that's by taking internships or jobs or learning skills like learning how to code and how to better my engineering skills. While I’m in college I will take full advantage of my education to expand my knowledge and skills in engineering! I plan on doing some research on finding a project that I can work on a useful product that will help and benefit people, making their lives much better and easier! I would also like to give back to my community because growing up when I was at my lowest I was very fortunate to have caring people who made a drastic difference in my life. I now want to return this favor by being a difference in someone’s life. Growing up I would’ve loved to have a role model that showed me that no matter if you come from a family of struggle and a family that was homeless you can succeed and achieve your dreams. I want to be that role model to children. Additionally I would like to tell my story to other kids like me. Growing up in a family of 3 siblings and a single mother it was always difficult for us financially so I want to show people that no matter your income you can always achieve everything you want. Money shouldn't determine what your future is and money should certainly not determine what your future holds; you can always go beyond the expectation of others! don't let anyone tell you differently! No matter what background you come from, if you put the initiative in believing in yourself then you’ll end up succeeding. I want to make sure that everyone knows this and I want to make sure I'm the one to show them that anything is possible just as long as hard work is put into these goals! I come from being homeless and having to go from house to house to graduating from high school and attending UTSA as a Freshman!

When a parent gets incarcerated, not a lot of people take into consideration the impact it has on the child. As a child, many consider their parents to be their role model - someone to look up to who teaches them right from wrong, and someone who guides them through life. This lack of parental presence during childhood can lead to misguidance, behavioral/emotional problems, trauma, mistrust and depression. Not only this, but with the lack of parental financial help, many children end up in foster care or homeless. The reason why I’m saying is this is because when I was only 10 years old, my family and I were faced with my biological father going to jail. My mother could not afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister and could not work. As a consequence of her unemployment and my fathers incarceration, our family did not have the money for an apartment. This lead to is us getting kicked out and being forced into homelessness. My father has been in jail much of my childhood and I have had little to no contact with him or financial and emotional assistance from him. Throughout the time my father was in jail, I found myself having way too many responsibilities for a 10 year old. I had to focus on my classes, grades, and school assignments in spite of my family’s situation. But I also had to take care of my three siblings while my mother worked two jobs, just so she could have enough money to pay rent and to make sure we always had food. I was not only a big brother to my siblings; I was also a father figure to them. To have such responsibilities as a young child it changed my childhood.

A time where I was challenged by adversity would be when I was 11 years old. My family and I were faced with my biological father going to jail. My mother could not afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister and could not work. As a consequence of her unemployment and my fathers incarceration, our family did not have the money for an apartment. This resulted in us getting kicked out and being forced into homelessness. My father has been in jail much of my childhood and I have had little to no contact with him or financial and emotional assistance from him. Throughout the time my father was in jail, we had to go from house to house. This was not only stressful, but it was challenging to balance my living situation while having to worry about my education. I knew I had to focus on my classes, grades, and school assignments in spite of my family’s situation. To top that off, I had to also take care of my three siblings while my mother worked two jobs, just so she could have enough money to pay rent and to make sure we always had food. I was not only a big brother to my siblings; I was also a father figure to them. Because my mother worked 2 jobs, she did not have much time to spend with us. Surviving my family’s hardship has helped shape who I am today because it has made me stronger, more independent, and extremely grateful for all the positive things, large or small, that happen in my life. It has also taught me that I should take advantage of every opportunity I get. Throughout my past struggles, I have lacked a father figure to look up to and show me what a real man is. It can really take a toll on you not having a place to call your home and taking on adult responsibilities as a child, but I survived without compromising my education. I will be the first in my family to graduate high school and I will be an example to my siblings of how hard work can pay off for them too. I am a first generation Mexican American who has completed his first semester at the university of San Antonio. I want to be able to motivate my siblings and make sure they know that if I can do it so can they! I want to be the first stepping stone in my family and the first example to my family showing them that anything is possible if hard work is put. Through my past struggles, I have lacked a father figure and someone to look up to, to show me what a real man is. But I didn't let that determine the man who I would become in the future. I worked hard and stayed dedicated to making my mother and my siblings proud and now I'm the man I am now because I didn't let my past struggles determine who I am in the future. I want to be a a beacon of hope and a reminder to my family, that no matter the struggles you have gone through, you can always come on top and succeed.

A time where I was able challenged by adversity would be when I was 11 years old. My family and I were faced with my biological father going to jail. My mother could not afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister and could not work. As a consequence of her unemployment and my fathers incarceration, our family did not have the money for an apartment. This resulted in us getting kicked out and being forced into homelessness. My father has been in jail much of my childhood and I have had little to no contact with him or financial and emotional assistance from him. Throughout the time my father was in jail, we had to go from house to house. This was not only stressful, but it was challenging to balance my living situation while having to worry about my education. I knew I had to focus on my classes, grades, and school assignments in spite of my family’s situation. To top that off, I had to also take care of my three siblings while my mother worked two jobs, just so she could have enough money to pay rent and to make sure we always had food. I was not only a big brother to my siblings; I was also a father figure to them. Because my mother worked 2 jobs, she did not have much time to spend with us. Surviving my family’s hardship has helped shape who I am today because it has made me stronger, more independent, and extremely grateful for all the positive things, large or small, that happen in my life. It has also taught me that I should take advantage of every opportunity I get. Throughout my past struggles, I have lacked a father figure to look up to and show me what a real man is. It can really take a toll on you not having a place to call your home and taking on adult responsibilities as a child, but I survived without compromising my education. I will be the first in my family to graduate high school and I will be an example to my siblings of how hard work can pay off for them too. I am a first generation Mexican who’s soon to go to college! I will continue my education by attending a College or University in Texas! Currently, I have been accepted into Texas Tech, Texas State, University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas A&M at Galveston, And Baylor University! I’m looking forward to attending college to pursue my dream of becoming a mechanical engineer!

An obstacle I have experienced that I had to overcome would be my father leaving me, my mother and my siblings. Through the time my father was in jail, we had to go from house to house not having a place to call our own. My mother couldn't afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister. We were kicked out, forced to be homeless, until we received help from my aunt who offered us a place to stay in until my mom could recover. After she recovered we had to look somewhere else, we got offered help to live in our aunt's house garage for about a year until we eventually had to move because we couldn’t live in their basement forever. During the time my mother was looking for help she met this nice lady who offered us help. They had a room available for us as long as my mother helped with the rent. We lived in their house for about a year until it was time we moved because they had their daughter from Mexico moving in with them so they had to use the room. After we moved out of their house we received help from my aunt who helped us find an apartment for our own and we have lived here ever since. This wasn’t only stressful but it’s also very difficult to balance going from house to house and also having to worry about your education. Through the time we went from house to house, I had to also focus on my classes and my grades and any of my assignments that had to be done and to top that off I had to also take care of my sibling while my mother was working two jobs, just so she can have enough money to pay for rent and to make sure we always had a plate to eat. I was not only a big brother to my siblings but also a father figure because my mother used to work 2 jobs, so she didn’t have time to spend with us. This event has helped me shape who I am today because it has made me stronger and independent and grateful for all the little things that happen to me, It has also taught me that I should take any opportunity I can get and take advantage of them. It can really take a toll on you not having a place to call your home. I will be the first stepping stone and the first example to my family, showing them that anything is possible if hard work is put! Through my past struggles, I have lacked a father figure, someone to look up to, to show me what a real man is. I am a first generation Mexican-American I will continue my education by attending a College or University in Texas! Currently, I have been accepted into Texas Tech, Texas State, University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas A&M at Galveston, And Baylor University! I’m looking forward to attending college to pursue my dream of becoming a mechanical engineer. This is my story on how I overcame not having a father and having to go from house to house while balancing my studies.

My name is Eberardo Trejo and I’m a graduating senior at Northeast Early College High School in Austin, Texas. Growing up wasn’t so easy. At the age of 11, my family and I were faced with my biological father going to jail. My mother could not afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister and could not work. As a consequence of her unemployment and my fathers incarceration, our family did not have the money for an apartment. This resulted in us getting kicked out and being forced into homelessness. We eventually received help from my aunt who offered us a place to stay until my mother delivered my sister. After she recovered from her pregnancy, we had to look for another place to live. At that time, another aunt offered to help by allowing us to live in her garage. We lived in her garage for approximately one year, but we eventually had to move. During the time that my mother was looking for assistance, she met this nice lady who offered to help us. She had a room available for us as long as my mother helped with the rent. We lived in her house for about a year. But, we had to move out because her daughter from Mexico was moving in. After we moved, my aunt helped us find a one-bedroom apartment of our own. Through all of this hardship I had to face others looking at me different and judging me. When I was younger I would get made fun of for using the same clothes and not having the recent clothes that everyone would have. This caused me to blame my situation and I started thinking less of myself because I wasn’t as wealthy as the other kids in my school. But I started to realize that I shouldn’t blame myself instead I have to acknowledge that we all go through obstacles and it’s our job to decide what we do to overcome these obstacles. I stopped blaming my situation and I started being grateful for what I have, even if it wasn’t much. Instead of letting these people who judged me and made fun of me consume my insecurities I let go of those people and I started to realize that we are all here for a reason and we all face struggles. These obstacles can be overcome you just have to continue keeping your head up! Although I had past struggles financially I kept my head up and I started acknowledging and recognizing my differences. I’m beyond grateful for what I went through in my past because that has helped me become who I am today, I have learned to ignore these people who want to bring you down instead I kept my head up and acknowledge that we all face problems. Now I’m a first generation Mexican American who will be graduating, I’ll continue my education at Baylor university to pursue mechanical engineering!

An inspiration in my life would be my mother, ever since I was young my mother faced hardship and struggles throughout her life. At the age of 11 my biological father was sent to jail for drinking and driving, this led to my pregnant mother having to take care of 3 kids all on her own. My mother couldn't afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister.As a result we were forced to be homeless. Throughout all of these struggles my mother kept her head up. Instead of her giving up when she was at her lowest points she decided to fight for us. There was a point in my life where I would go to sleep and hear my mother cry because she couldn’t handle being alone pregnant and having to take care of 3 kids. She was forced to be a mother and a father figure to me and my siblings and she made sure that we never once lacked food or a shelter to live in. She made sure to work two jobs just so that we can have a plate of food in our table and a roof on top of us. I will always keep my mother in mind whenever I’m going through an obstacle. My mother will remind me to stay strong and I will make sure to remember our past to help me stay determined to go through my struggles. I’ll keep reminding myself “if my mother did it I know I can get through it too!” I’ll never forget how strong my mother is and I’ll make sure to make my mother proud! I will be the first stepping stone to my family, showing them that anything is possible if hard work is put! Through my past struggles, I have lacked a father figure, someone to look up to, to show me what a real man is. I grew up not having a father figure so I had to do manhood all on my own, not having the knowledge of what it takes to be a man was very difficult but It's all worth it now that I can see the man that I am today! I'm, not the man who I am today because of my biological father instead I'm the man who I am today because of myself and my mother! Back when my mother was struggling going from house to house there were multiple times where my mother wanted to give up being here in America instead she wanted to take us to Mexico but instead of that she decided to stay so that we could have a better education! I will make sure that her sacrifice was beyond worth it! Now I’m a first generation Mexican American who has been accepted into The University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas Tech, Texas State, Texas A&M and Baylor University to Pursue mechanical engineering !

A mechanical engineering degree means a second chance for me, I would say that Growing up wasn’t so easy, I had to deal with my biological father going to jail when I was only 11 years old. My mother could not afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister so she couldn’t work, this led to us getting kicked out and forced to be homeless. This lead to us going from house to house because we didn’t have house of our own, throughout all of this moving I really had to see my mother struggle financially. There was points where we had no food to eat for a day because my mother couldn’t afford to pay for food. This was when I was eager and determined to help my mother with her financial problems but this was when she laughed and said that I shouldn’t worry about it. When I was younger I wanted to be many things like, I wanted to be a firefighter than a police officer and than a Chef. I was a very curious kid who wanted to have a profession just so that I could help my mother pay for her rent and for our food. And it has stuck with me till this day! I want to be a Mechanical engineer and I want to get a higher education just so that I can help and give back to my mother. I truly do give it up to my mother, Back when my mother was struggling going from house to house there was multiple times where my mother wanted to give up being here in America instead she wanted to take us to Mexico but instead of that she decided to stay so that we could have a better education. Mechanical engineering became a passion of mine ever since I first joined my first STEM class in my freshman year, I additionally joined robotics through me joining robotics, I have been able to learn and gain new skills, experience and knowledge. I have been able to also gain and grasp on the ideas of what it takes to be an engineering , These ideas can range from coding, wiring, soldering, building and being hands-on, both Software and Hardware. I have been able to gain and receive many experiences through the time of me being in robotics club! I worked on many projects through both my Engineering STEM classes and Robotics Club as well, the type of projects i have been able to achieve and do would be we have been able to build a toy jeep that's autonomous that is able to drive itself to a destination and come back, a vehicle is supposed to simulate a vehicle that is there to help people that were affected by a natural disaster, this robot vehicle uses sensors to follow the path to get to a transmission tower and help bring back the cables to the transmission tower it also pushes and gets rid of debree and items that were scattered everywhere. I worked on an automatic lawn mower, that helps people mow lawns and I worked on an automatic pencil sharpener that helped my teachers. Additionally I had the opportunity to show the world of engineering to young students! Me and my robotics team went to Harris elementary to present our robotics team project. That was a good moment of mine because I was able to show these elementary school students how amazing engineering is and the many cool things you can do in engineering. I was able to show them how to drive the robots we had and we had a game set up for them to play which was very enjoyable because we were able to see the smile on these kids enjoying driving the robots. It felt amazing seeing the faces and smiles they had when they were riding around with the robot. a part of me felt proud and happy because I was able to introduce engineering to these elementary school students and maybe we might've motivated and helped these students decide what they want to be in the future. I was able to show them also what went on with the project that we had and the curiosity these kids showed made me happy because they seemed very interested in everything that I was saying and they were hooked, paying attention to everything we said! we had stations where students could come and play around with circuits! If it wasn’t for STEM engineering classes I wouldn’t have gained an interest in Engineering and I wouldn’t have chosen the path I chose. I hope to build a career from being a Mechanical engineering by expanding my knowledge during college! From the knowledge that I have now through my stem classes and robotics club I’m beyond excited to learn more through college! I’ll be the first generation in my family to graduate from high school and continue my education! I have been accepted into Texas Tech, Texas State, University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas A&M, And Baylor University! I’m looking forward to attend college and Pursue my dream of becoming a mechanical engineer! I’m beyond grateful for the opportunities I have been given I’ll make sure to make my mother proud and I’ll make sure that I give back to my mother if it wasn’t for her sacrifice I wouldn’t be here! Thank you for reading my story, I’m beyond grateful for this opportunity!

A role model in my life would be my mother, ever since I was young my mother faced hardship and had to overcome struggles throughout her life. At the age of 11 my biological father was sent to jail for drinking and driving, this lead to my pregnant mother having to take care of 3 kids all by her own. My mother couldn't afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister. We were kicked out, forced to be homeless, until we received help from my aunt who offered us a place to stay in until my mom could recover. After she recovered we had to look somewhere else, we got offered help to live in our aunt's house garage for about a year until we eventually had to move because we couldn’t live in their basement forever. During the time my mother was looking for help she met this nice lady who offered us help. They had a room available for us as long as my mother helped with the rent. We lived in their house for about a year until it was time we moved because they had their daughter from Mexico moving in with them so they had to use the room. After we moved out of their house we received help from my aunt who helped us find an apartment for our own and we have lived here ever since. Throughout all of these struggles my mother kept her head up and she didn’t let us going from house to house bring her down. Instead of her giving up when she was at her lowest points she decided to fight for us. There was a point in my life where I would go to sleep and hear my mother cry in the background because she couldn’t handle being alone pregnant and having to take care of 3 kids. She was forced to be a mother and a father figure to me and my siblings and she made sure that we never once lacked food or a shelter to live in. She made sure to work two jobs just so that we can have a plate of food in our table and a roof on top of us.This event has helped me shape who I am today because it has made me stronger and independent and grateful for all the little things that happen to me, It has also taught me that I should take any opportunity I can get and take advantage of them. It can really take a toll on you not having a place to call your home. But I will always keep my mother in mind when ever I’m going through an obstacle. My mother will remind me to stay strong and I will make sure to remember our past to help me stay determined to go through my struggles. I’ll keep reminding myself “if my mother did it I know I can get through it too!” I’ll never forget how strong my mother is and I’ll make sure to make my mother proud! It can really take a toll on you not having a place to call your home. I will be the first stepping stone to my family, showing them that anything is possible if hard work is put! Through my past struggles, I have lacked a father figure, someone to look up to, to show me what a real man is. I grew up not having a father figure so I had to do manhood all on my own, not having the knowledge of what it takes to be a man was very difficult but It's all worth it now that I can see the man that I am today! I'm, not the man who I am today because of my biological father instead I'm the man who I am today because of myself and my mother! Back when my mother was struggling going from house to house there was multiple times where my mother wanted to give up being here in America instead she wanted to take us to Mexico but instead of that she decided to stay so that we could have a better education! My mother showed me to never giving up despite the struggles that you go through! My mother decided to stay in the United States and I will make sure that her sacrifice was beyond worth it! I will make sure that I make her proud ! Now I’m a first generation Mexican American who has been accepted into The University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas Tech, Texas State, Texas A&M and Baylor University to Pursue mechanical engineering ! My mother and I have fought Through our past struggles ! We have gotten so far and are beyond excited for our future! I will be the first stepping stone and the first example in my family to graduate from high school and head into college, showing them that anything is possible if hard work is put! Through my past struggles, I have lacked a father figure, someone to look up to, to show me what a real man is. I am a first generation mexican american and this is my story! I truly do owe my life to my mother if it wasn’t for her strength and perseverance I wouldn’t be where I am today. Honestly I probably would’ve been in Mexico right now if my mother decided to go through but I’m beyond grateful that didn’t happen instead I have the best possible education here, and I’ll make sure to show my mother that her sacrifice was beyond worth it! All the blood, sweat, and tears my mother had to go through will all be worth it once she sees me and my siblings succeed!

An obstacle I have experienced that I had to overcome would be my father leaving me, my mother and my siblings. Through the time my father was in jail, we had to go from house to house not having a place to call our own. My mother couldn't afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister. We were kicked out, forced to be homeless, until we received help from my aunt who offered us a place to stay in until my mom could recover. After she recovered we had to look somewhere else, we got offered help to live in our aunt's house garage for about a year until we eventually had to move because we couldn’t live in their basement forever. During the time my mother was looking for help she met this nice lady who offered us help. They had a room available for us as long as my mother helped with the rent. We lived in their house for about a year until it was time we moved because they had their daughter from Mexico moving in with them so they had to use the room. After we moved out of their house we received help from my aunt who helped us find an apartment for our own and we have lived here ever since. This wasn’t only stressful but it’s also very difficult to balance going from house to house and also having to worry about your education. Through the time we went from house to house, I had to also focus on my classes and my grades and any of my assignments that had to be done and to top that off I had to also take care of my sibling while my mother was working two jobs, just so she can have enough money to pay for rent and to make sure we always had a plate to eat. I was not only a big brother to my siblings but also a father figure because my mother used to work 2 jobs, so she didn’t have time to spend with us. This event has helped me shape who I am today because it has made me stronger and independent and grateful for all the little things that happen to me, It has also taught me that I should take any opportunity I can get and take advantage of them. It can really take a toll on you not having a place to call your home. I will be the first stepping stone to my family, showing them that anything is possible if hard work is put! Through my past struggles, I have lacked a father figure, someone to look up to, to show me what a real man is. I grew up not having a father figure so I had to do manhood all on my own, not having the knowledge of what it takes to be a man was very difficult but It's all worth it now that I can see the man that I am today! I'm, not the man who I am today because of my biological father instead I'm the man who I am today because of myself! Back when my mother was struggling going from house to house there was multiple times where my mother wanted to give up being here in America instead she wanted to take us to Mexico but instead of that she decided to stay so that we could have a better education! What Being an American means to me is never giving up despite the struggles that you go through! My mother decided to stay in the United States and I will make sure that her sacrifice was beyond worth it! I will make sure that I make her proud ! Now I’m a first generation Mexican American who has been accepted into The University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas Tech, Texas State, Texas A&M and Baylor University to Pursue mechanical engineering ! My mother and I have fought Through our past struggles ! We have gotten so far and are beyond excited for our future! From going from house to house, being homeless to buying our own house it goes to show that we can all come to America for a dream! Just as long as you chase these dreams you can achieve them! I am a first generation mexican american and this is my story on how I overcame not having a father and having to go from house to house while balancing my studies.

I'm a first-generation Mexican-American who will be the first stepping stone to my family. Growing up I had to overcome my father leaving me, my mother and my 3 siblings. Through the time my father was in jail, we had to go from house to house not having a place to call our own. My mother couldn't afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister. We were kicked out, forced to be homeless, having to go from house to house while maintaining my studies and grades was very difficult but I want to be a role model and an example to everyone that it can be possible to reach whatever you dream! Showing my family that anything is possible just along as hard work is put, to achieve these dreams that you want to reach! I'm very determined to be the beacon of hope that my siblings can look at as motivation and source of strength, I want to show them that even if you come from a financially unstable family that you can dream no matter what, and if you have these dreams that you make sure you push yourself very hard to reach them. I want to not only show my family that you can succeed and reach astronomical goals that you never thought you would reach! I want to be a beacon of hope to everyone, I personally grew up not having a father figure so I had to do manhood all on my own, not having the knowledge of what it takes to be a man was very difficult but It's all worth it now that I can see the man that I am today! I'm, not the man who I am today because of my biological father instead I'm the man who I am today because of myself! Back when my mother was struggling going from house to house there was multiple times where my mother wanted to give up being here in America instead she wanted to take us to Mexico but instead of that she decided to stay so that we could have a better education! What Being an American means to me is never giving up despite the struggles that you go through! My mother decided to stay in the United States and I will make sure that her sacrifice was beyond worth it! I will make sure that I make her proud ! Now I’m a first generation Mexican American who has been accepted into The University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas Tech, Texas State, Texas A&M and Baylor University to Pursue mechanical engineering ! My mother and I have fought Through our past struggles ! We have gotten so far and are beyond excited for our future! From going from house to house, being homeless to buying our own house it goes to show that we can all come to America for a dream! Just as long as you chase these dreams you can achieve them!

An obstacle I have experienced that I had to overcome would be my father leaving me, my mother and my siblings. Through the time my father was in jail, we had to go from house to house not having a place to call our own. My mother couldn't afford to pay the bills because she was pregnant with my sister. We were kicked out, forced to be homeless, until we received help from my aunt who offered us a place to stay in until my mom could recover. After she recovered we had to look somewhere else, we got offered help to live in our aunt's house garage for about a year until we eventually had to move because we couldn’t live in their basement forever. During the time my mother was looking for help she met this nice lady who offered us help. They had a room available for us as long as my mother helped with the rent. We lived in their house for about a year until it was time we moved because they had their daughter from Mexico moving in with them so they had to use the room. After we moved out of their house we received help from my aunt who helped us find an apartment for our own and we have lived here ever since. This wasn’t only stressful but it’s also very difficult to balance going from house to house and also having to worry about your education. Through the time we went from house to house, I had to also focus on my classes and my grades and any of my assignments that had to be done and to top that off I had to also take care of my sibling while my mother was working two jobs, just so she can have enough money to pay for rent and to make sure we always had a plate to eat. I was not only a big brother to my siblings but also a father figure because my mother used to work 2 jobs, so she didn’t have time to spend with us. This event has helped me shape who I am today because it has made me stronger and independent and grateful for all the little things that happen to me, It has also taught me that I should take any opportunity I can get and take advantage of them. It can really take a toll on you not having a place to call your home. I will be the first stepping stone and the first example to my family, showing them that anything is possible if hard work is put! Through my past struggles, I have lacked a father figure, someone to look up to, to show me what a real man is. I am a first generation mexican american and this is my story on how I overcame not having a father and having to go from house to house while balancing my studies. I will be the first stepping stone and the first example to my family, showing them that anything is possible if hard work is put! Through my past struggles, I have lacked a father figure, someone to look up to, to show me what a real man is. I want to make sure that my siblings never lack that. I’m trying to make sure that I’m able to be a role model for my siblings and a guide for my family to look at as inspiration to make sure they never lose motivation. I am a first generation mexican american and this is my story. My mother once told me that she could’ve given up and have taken all of us to Mexico because she couldn’t afford to stay here in the United States and she couldn’t handle being in a situation where she wasn’t stable enough to take care of my siblings and I. Instead my mother decided to keep fighting for me and my siblings, she thought about our future and our education. She decided to go through this hardship because she wanted our futures to be better. So in honor of this I will do everything i can to make my mother as proud as possible to show her that her sacrifice was beyond worth it!

My all time favorite film would be the “Pursuit Of Happyness” because throughout the movie Will Smith struggles financially, he struggles to sell a medical device. He gets in debt with his monthly apartment bills and parking tickets. Will smith’s determination really impacted me because he reminded me of my mother, the reason for that was because throughout my childhood my family struggles financially. My father was sent to jail when I was only 10 years old, my mother was pregnant during that time so we couldn’t afford to pay bills. Throughout my whole childhood I spent it going from house to house because we didn’t have a home we could call our own. We weren’t financially stable enough to have a house of our own so we spent a lot of our childhood moving from house to house. Throughout this hardship, I saw my mother struggle and tear down many times because of the many obstacles we had to go through. My mother once told me that she could’ve given up and have taken all of us to Mexico because she couldn’t afford to stay here in the United States and she couldn’t handle being in a situation where she wasn’t stable enough to take care of my siblings and I. Instead my mother decided to keep fighting for me and my siblings, she thought about our future and our education. She decided to go through this hardship because she wanted our futures to be better. Just like in this movie where Will faces many obstacles but does it all for his son. Both Will Smith and my mother are determined and never give up despite the problems and obstacles they face they keep their children in mind, additionally both my mother and will Smith succeed despite the obstacles!