I remember sitting in AP Economics and hearing the term "Political Socialization," a concept meant to describe how one's family shapes one's political views, and I thought to myself, Wow, this is what it felt like growing up Asian. My mom and my grandma were refugees who fled from Burma to have a better life. Growing up, my grandma would always tell me, "Be smart when you get older so you can be a doctor and make a lot of money." My grandma was old but always still found meaning and ways to help her church. I also enjoyed spending time with her and would complain while we worked in the garden of our church. Being young, I couldn't wrap my head around why she would work for free with nothing in return. My biggest eye-opening moment was having the opportunity to volunteer for kids with Down syndrome; I had this feeling of enjoyment knowing that I was having a positive impact on other people. I realized that what I was doing was something I not only enjoyed, but could also see myself doing for the rest of my life. This solidified my desire to pursue nursing. I knew from that day that I loved helping others and continued to pursue more volunteering opportunities. I continued to volunteer in my community with very limited free time, balancing work, school, and caring for my younger siblings. During my last two years of high school, my personal struggles from not having my dad caused many more difficulties for me in school; I used volunteering as a means to clear my head. A problem that arose for me was that my mom was going through some financial issues; I picked up more hours at work and began prioritizing money over my education. This put me through a really hard time during my senior year. My grades began slipping, and I became less motivated to continue school; I even started skipping school entirely due to my loss of motivation. My grades started slipping so badly that my mom got my grandma involved. Instead of being mad or upset with me, she simply reminded me of how she would always tease me to become a doctor, although she knew that wasn't the career I wanted to pursue. I realized that her words had never really been about becoming a doctor; they were about wanting me to create opportunities for myself and make the most of my life. Growing up Asian, I learned the value of sacrifice from the challenges and instability within my family. I also felt pressure from the financial situation we were in, as my whole family came here to build from nothing: no education, no connections, and not a single ounce of English. Seeing how my mom came here with nothing and sacrificed so much for me strengthened my resolve to not only do something amazing with my life, but also improve the lives of others who are suffering. Their story, heritage, and impact on me only push me further toward pursuing nursing so I can give back to my community just like my grandmother has. I can only imagine how far I would have gotten without the support of my family and the values they instilled in me. Without my Southeast Asian background and all the experiences I've gone through, I can confidently say I would not be the person I am today: a young man who values those around him and works hard to make the world around him a better place, even while going through difficult moments in life.

I remember sitting in AP Economics and hearing the term "Political Socialization," a concept meant to describe how one's family shapes one's political views, and I thought to myself, Wow, this is what it felt like growing up Asian. My mom and my grandma were refugees who fled from Burma to have a better life. Growing up, my grandma would always tell me, "Be smart when you get older so you can be a doctor and make a lot of money." My grandma was old but always still found meaning and ways to help her church. I also enjoyed spending time with her and would complain while we worked in the garden of our church. Being young, I couldn't wrap my head around why she would work for free with nothing in return. My biggest eye-opening moment was having the opportunity to volunteer for kids with Down syndrome; I had this feeling of enjoyment knowing that I was having a positive impact on other people. I realized that what I was doing was something I not only enjoyed, but could also see myself doing for the rest of my life. This solidified my desire to pursue nursing. I knew from that day that I loved helping others and continued to pursue more volunteering opportunities. I continued to volunteer in my community with very limited free time, balancing work, school, and caring for my younger siblings. During my last two years of high school, my personal struggles from not having my dad caused many more difficulties for me in school; I used volunteering as a means to clear my head. A problem that arose for me was that my mom was going through some financial issues; I picked up more hours at work and began prioritizing money over my education. This put me through a really hard time during my senior year. My grades began slipping, and I became less motivated to continue school; I even started skipping school entirely due to my loss of motivation. My grades started slipping so badly that my mom got my grandma involved. Instead of being mad or upset with me, she simply reminded me of how she would always tease me to become a doctor, although she knew that wasn't the career I wanted to pursue. I realized that her words had never really been about becoming a doctor; they were about wanting me to create opportunities for myself and make the most of my life. Growing up Asian, I learned the value of sacrifice from the challenges and instability within my family. I also felt pressure from the financial situation we were in, as my whole family came here to build from nothing: no education, no connections, and not a single ounce of English. Seeing how my mom came here with nothing and sacrificed so much for me strengthened my resolve to not only do something amazing with my life, but also improve the lives of others who are suffering. Their story, heritage, and impact on me only push me further toward pursuing nursing so I can give back to my community just like my grandmother has. I can only imagine how far I would have gotten without the support of my family and the values they instilled in me. Without my Southeast Asian background and all the experiences I've gone through, I can confidently say I would not be the person I am today: a young man who values those around him and works hard to make the world around him a better place, even while going through difficult moments in life.

My personal experience with finances and education as a whole sprouted when I was very young. My mom was an immigrant who came into this country at a disadvantage, working two jobs just to keep everybody stable. Nobody growing up would want to see their mom struggling to make ends meet. The moment I entered high school, I got a job at a local restaurant making minimum wage and working my way up. Having a job early on taught me many things about money, like how fast it can all go away when you're not paying attention, but mostly taxes. Becoming financially responsible at a young age allowed me to be safer with how I spent my money as well as how I saved my money. From then on, whenever I had the opportunity to go out on things with my friends or lavish vacations, I respectfully declined because I knew deep down I could relieve some stress from my mom, who was working two jobs. Using what I learned from working, I also began doing my own research on investing, although I can't say im 100% fully confident, informing myself on real-life situations better helped me understand how I can be financially successful in the future. My current finiancial burderns is working to pay off my college dorm. Although this moment is stressful for me, I know that this will keep me motivated to continue doing well in my studies and disciplined with how I spend my money. My goals for the future are to become a nurse, and to do that, I first need to make it through college. For a job that requires much effort, financial planning, and time commitment, having some sort of financial stability would allow me to better allocate my time to staying focused on my future rather than what I'm going through in the moment. I want to be stable in the future, where I don't have to rely on anyone for help, while also giving back to my community. Financial success to me means having stability, being responsible, and not constantly stressed about when I get paid next. I want to have the ability to support myself while pursuing my dream. Even if I feel stressed right now about paying for housing, I believe that everything will work out as long as I have faith. Even if I do fall into debt, this is a learning opportunity to make better choices in the future because failure now can mean success for me later on.