Growing up in Little Village in Chicago, I learned early that education is not a personal goal but a responsibility to my family and neighborhood. I am a first generation college student at DePaul University majoring in Finance. I study full time at DePaul. I treat school like work because the outcome matters to more than just me. Planning my week and staying on top of deadlines are habits I built to keep moving forward even when the schedule gets heavy. My coursework at DePaul has sharpened how I read, write, and analyze. Chicago History classes pushed me to connect the city’s past to present inequalities, and readings like Dominic Pacyga’s Chicago: A Biography and Adam Mack’s Sensing Chicago showed me how to ground arguments in evidence and clear language. In business and statistics classes I learned to build models, check assumptions, and explain results in plain English. Group projects in BUS 103 taught me to set timelines, split tasks fairly, and turn research into a clear message. Our mental health campaign for South Side high school students required listening, data, and teamwork. It made me a better communicator. Outside the classroom I work and serve in the city that raised me. With my family’s food business, Prime Tacos, I have worked long days at major Chicago festivals including Taste of Chicago and Lollapalooza. Managing lines, handling payments, and solving problems in the moment taught me patience, communication, and accountability. I also help at ROA events like turkey drives, where I show up, help set up, and make sure neighbors feel welcome. Those experiences remind me that service and discipline are not separate from academics. They are the same habits I bring to lectures and nights when assignments pile up. Language is the bridge that connects these experiences. I studied Spanish throughout high school, and a high school program in Spain gave me my first chance to use it every day. Speaking with a host family and locals built confidence, made the language real. In college I studied abroad in Ecuador and lived with a host family. Everyday conversations at markets, in the kitchen, and on the bus turned classmates into friends and a new city into a second home. Back in Chicago I use Spanish with family, customers, and neighbors at festivals and in everyday life. It lets me translate information matters and it builds trust. I bring these commitments to campus each day. Show up prepared. Communicate clearly. Respect the people around me. With support from this scholarship I can spend more time on classes and professional development, keep contributing to my community, and graduate ready to build a career in Finance that lifts others as it lifts me.

Growing up in Little Village, Chicago there seemed to be only two destined places to end up, either dead or in jail. That’s due to the high poverty and crime that the neighborhood was filled with. This came since little village is the Mexican immigrant hotspot of the Midwest where many residents having illegally came 60+ years ago, seeking the American dream. Therefore education didn’t seem to be a priority, rather how to eat, survive and get paid which is what I see that trickled down into younger generations. There are two rival gangs that reside in Little Village, Latin Kings and Two Six, which are only separated by one block, in the neighborhood in which they don’t even own, they rent. I would say that’s beside the fact but that’s the whole fact, many of the younger generation that came from immigrant parents are ignorant; lacking knowledge or awareness in general. High school and even middle school dropouts rates are high as my father wasn’t apply to finish school since he was misidentified to be a rival gang and was shot and nearly paralyzed. The only thing gang members know is to have “respect and money” and they completely disregard all internal issues within their community. This is why I mentioned that they are fighting over “territory” that isn’t even theirs. Killing each other, other Hispanics who are exactly like them, parents who came here for a better life. But I bet that the gang members don’t know why they’re always in conflict with each other, or with other gangs from differently segregated neighborhoods in Chicago. It’s due to the systemically racial laws and policies such and redlining and gerrymandering that has created this tension within the communities. Therefore I believe I’m obligated to spread awareness and create change as I was privileged enough to stay away from the street life as it may to be the only life way some people choose to take. It’s not going to be easy has been difficult since middle school as I was the only one amongst my peers to get straight A’s and was more interested in completing all my homework rather than going out all night after school. At some points things even get discouraging as I climb higher in the intellectual ladder of education I see less and less of people who look and can relate to me. A prime example is when I moved out to go attend a different high school instead of the neighborhood high school, Farragut. It was known to have huge gang brawls as the rival Two Six members were within the Latin King territory. Therefore I went to a prominently white high school in the suburbs where I was constantly reminded that I was the minority as there was about only 50 other Hispanics and the fact that I came from poverty compared to my wealthier peers. But I felt that only solidified who I was and reminded me not to forget where I came from. So I decided to go back to the city which is where I am now at DePaul University majoring in Finance to secure break generational poverty and minoring in real estate and Chicago Studies so I can give back to the impoverished communities that I grew up in.

Little Village, Chicago is often referred to as the Mexico of the Midwest as many immigrants call it home, as I do. Despite the close knit community seeking the American dream gang violence terrorizes the neighborhood and many innocent residents have fallen victim to Misidentification for an opposing gang member. This is the harsh reality that happened to my father as he was shot in the back at the age of 17 and was told by the doctors that he may never be able to walk again. Despite the life altering experience he was able to push through and create a family with my mother and teach me that education is the most valuable tool you can learn. Therefore living around violence was only a motivating factor to study and excel in school as I was valedictorian at my middle school. Not to mention how difficult it was to see my peers lose their lives to the streets and reality set harder when I knew I couldn’t attend the neighborhood high school, Farragut. The school is notorious for racial gang fights, drug use during class, teen pregnancy and security gaurds having relationships with students. My father always told me he doesn’t want me to follow the same path he took if I were to stay in the neighborhood any longer than he did so he moved us out. That’s why I appreciate and idolize my father as he came from rock bottom and is able to give me the opportunities he couldn’t even dream of. Despite all the resources I’m given which I’m overly grateful for, there is still a pressure that lurks behind me that I must become the best and most successful person in my family as I will be the first to attend college. It’s stressful not to talk to someone who can relate to the same background as me since I am the first generation but I can take this a bittersweet opportunity as I will now be the role model to my siblings who won’t have to go through the struggle I had while applying and maximizing everything college has to offer. This is where the legacy of Jose Prado inspires me and hopefully I can do the same to anyone who has the ambition to create change or improve a problem within in their communities. I’m heavily dedicated to give back to Little Village with what is needed in every impoverished Hispanic and black neighborhoods across the country. The primary contribution to create change is educating those within the communities to be aware of the issues they face and why that is, how systematical practices are integrated in laws and policies to constantly oppress minorities. Such as redlining and gerrymandering, stop and frisks; therefore with a better college education I hope I can create better future of change than the alderman and mayor of Chicago. I would love to be able to create this change for my city and then be able to inspire a young generation who may be more ambitious than me to create a change in their community and I wish that if I was able to create a scholarship it would be for minority students to create change within their community.