The people who inspire me are my parents. They have always supported me in my education journey and have driven me to work harder. Neither my father nor my mother finished school; the highest level of education was elementary, which they didn’t even finish. I was the first in my family to graduate from high school and go to college, the youngest of 2 brothers who didn’t finish school. I also have a younger brother who is a senior in high school and has Down Syndrome. I always do my best to help and work with him when I can, because even though he is in high school, academically, he is at an elementary level. Knowing that I will be the first generation in my family to pursue higher education drives me to work even harder. My name is Elidia Aguilar, and I currenlty at RCC to get my associate's degree to transfer to a University of California, Riverside and become an elementary teacher. I'm about at my second year of college.The reason that I want to become a teacher is that, for me, school was tough, and I did not like going to school in elementary, the main reason being that I didn't understand English, which led me to not being able to communicate with the teacher and my classmates. I always wished I could read and write like the other kids, but I needed to catch up in all subjects. All I wanted was for a teacher to teach me everything the others already understood, but that wasn’t the case. I would get different assignments to complete that were more my level, which made me even further behind because I wasn’t getting pushed into learning what others were learning, and I felt like I was divided from the class. That is why I want to become a teacher. I want to help students even when they don't understand something or are unable to communicate with each other. I want to do everything possible to help them learn and not make them feel divided from the class, but teach them the material that will help them thrive. I want to become a teacher who truly listens and treats everyone equally. Not only that, but I want to give students everything that I want in a teacher. I struggled a lot in school, and there was always a language barrier between me and the teachers. I always felt divided from others; when given an assignment, I was never given the same work because it would be too “hard for me,” and I couldn’t understand why that was. When teachers thought they were helping me, in reality, I was falling further behind. I want to treat everyone equally, even if there are language barriers. My mother works at a company, and she gets more and more hurt in her hands and feet. My father works in construction. Every day, I see them so tired. They both tell me, “Consigue un trabajo donde tu vida no esté en riesgo, y, lo más importante, un trabajo que disfrutes.” Get a job where your life isn't at risk and, most importantly, a job you enjoy. And that is precisely what I am going to do.

I am 19 years old and am attending Riverside City College, where I plan to transfer to the University of California, Riverside. Throughout my years in school, I have faced many challenges in my education. It would be difficult to name just one because each obstacle has shaped my journey in my education. Growing up, I only knew Spanish, and learning English was incredibly difficult. I wasn’t alone in this struggle, especially in kindergarten, but I fell increasingly behind as the years went on. At one point, I thought I would never catch up, which made me not very fond of school. I would cry and beg my mother not to take me. Since neither my father nor my mother finished school, the highest level of education was elementary, which they didn’t even finish. I was the first in my family to graduate from high school and go to college, the youngest of 2 brothers who didn’t finish school. I also have a younger brother who is a senior in high school and has Down Syndrome. I always do my best to help and work with him when I can because, even though he is in high school, academically, he is at an elementary level. Knowing I will be the first generation in my family to pursue higher education drives me to work even harder. Elementary school was particularly tough since I couldn’t read, write, or do the things that seemed to come so easily to other classmates. This left me feeling isolated, and I was placed in groups with others who were also struggling to keep up, but nothing worked. Despite these setbacks, when I entered middle school, I decided I wouldn’t give up. I worked hard daily, pushing myself even when I was scared others might notice how far behind I was. I joined AVID and ASB in middle and high school, which helped me gain confidence and taught me the importance of perseverance. Ultimately, I overcame my educational challenges; still, I'm not perfect, and I learn more every day. Not only did I finish high school with honors, but I also became the first of my two older siblings to graduate. Now, I am determined to pursue a career and go to college. My struggles taught me that everyone learns at their own pace, but we can achieve great things with dedication and effort.  This is why I want to become an elementary teacher. I know how hard and frustrating it can be to face language barriers or to feel like you're falling too far behind. My experiences have shaped my academic achievement by teaching me the value of hard work and setting goals for myself. I want to help other students know they aren't alone and are facing similar struggles to realize they can succeed and enjoy school. I want to work in education as an elementary teacher, working with little kids and helping them grow in their learning. I plan to graduate with an associate's degree at RCC and transfer to a four-year school like UCR. I struggled in school growing up, but they all taught me that everyone learns at their own pace and that we can achieve great things with dedication and effort.  Overall, being Hispanic has affected me significantly because it has driven me to work harder and allowed me to grow as a person. I know we Hispanics had similar stories, but it's what we make out of our stories and build.

My name is Elidia Aguilar, and I am going to RCC to get my associate's degree to transfer to a university and become an elementary teacher. I'm about at my second year of college. My goal in school is to pass all my classes with good grades and graduate one day to become a teacher. The reason that I want to become a teacher is that, for me, school was tough, and I did not like going to school in elementary, the main reason being that I didn't understand English, which led me to not being able to communicate with the teacher and my classmates. I always wished I could read and write like the other kids, but I needed to catch up in all subjects. All I wanted was for a teacher to teach me everything the others already understood, but that wasn’t the case. I would get different assignments to complete that were more my level, which made me even further behind because I wasn’t getting pushed into learning what others were learning, and I felt like I was divided from the class. That is why I want to become a teacher. I want to help students even when they don't understand something or are unable to communicate with each other. I want to do everything possible to help them learn and not make them feel divided from the class, but teach them the material that will help them thrive.   I want to become a teacher who truly listens and treats everyone equally. Not only that, but I want to give students everything that I want in a teacher. I struggled a lot in school, and there was always a language barrier between me and the teachers. I always felt divided from others; when given an assignment, I was never given the same work because it would be too “hard for me,” and I couldn’t understand why that was. When teachers thought they were helping me, in reality, I was falling further behind. I want to treat everyone equally, even if there are language barriers. My mother works at a company, and she gets more and more hurt in her hands and feet. My father works in construction. Every day, I see them so tired. They both tell me, “Consigue un trabajo donde tu vida no esté en riesgo, y, lo más importante, un trabajo que disfrutes.” Get a job where your life isn't at risk and, most importantly, a job you enjoy. And that is precisely what I am going to do. The people who inspire me are my parents. They have always supported me in my education journey and have driven me to work harder. Neither my father nor my mother finished school; the highest level of education was elementary, which they didn’t even finish. I was the first in my family to graduate from high school and go to college, the youngest of 2 brothers who didn’t finish school. I also have a younger brother who is a senior in high school and has Down Syndrome. I always do my best to help and work with him when I can, because even though he is in high school, academically, he is at an elementary level. Knowing that I will be the first generation in my family to pursue higher education drives me to work even harder.

Throughout my life, I have always been told to take care of my brother with Down syndrome, whether they are here or not, knowing that I only ever had one goal, which is to work hard to give him everything he ever wanted. I hope to get an education in working with children and be able to become an elementary teacher. I am the first in my family to finish high school and pursue higher education; I come from a family of a mother, father, and three brothers, two oldest of whom never finished high school, and a younger brother with Down syndrome. Neither my mother nor my father ever finished elementary school, and that is because they had to work from a young age to earn money for the house in Mexico. Throughout my life, I never thought pursuing higher education was something I would have been interested in doing. But here I am writing this essay after just finishing my 2nd semester of community college, hoping to transfer to a university. There are many reasons why I never thought I would want to keep going to school even after high school. The main one was that I was never good at school growing up; I entered school only knowing Spanish, and learning English was the hardest. I wasn't the only one like this but became the only one as the years passed. Causing me to be behind in school. I didn't know how to read or write, and I never did the homework because I didn't understand anything. But I always wished someone could stay with me during recess and teach me everything that I could never understand but came so easily to the other students. My mother tried to help me with my homework, but there was no hope because neither she nor I understood anything. However, she tried her best. Entering middle school was when I gave it my all and started to work harder. In high school, I graduated with honors. At times, I struggle, but I work my hardest to give it my all and achieve what I want. Now that I'm no longer in that situation, I want to help those like me who are struggling in school and want to help them meet their goals. I have learned in years of school that everyone learns differently and at their own pace. Even though I had a bad experience in school and thought I never wanted to be back, I want to become an elementary teacher and help those struggling.

Throughout life, I have always been told to take care of my brother and watch him when my mother was busy, and I always understood why; it was because my brother is different from others. My brother is currently 17 years old, and I have been told to take care of him and help him all my life. My brother has Down syndrome, but when you take a look at him, he looks "normal," not someone who still is unable to read, write, or be able to have an entire conversation. However, it is important to know that just because someone has a disability does not mean that they have limits; they are very capable of doing many things, but it might just take longer for them. Now that I am older, I understand that every special needs child is different. During COVID, I set up my brother's computer to join his classes while doing my own schoolwork. When my class finished, I would sit next to him and watch how the class functioned. I would learn more about the students each day, along with the teachers and how they would communicate with the students in a way that was custom to them. How they would communicate with everyone made them a safe environment. Since my brother never participated or turned on his camera because he was shy, the teachers and I started to communicate and found a way to help him. He would get a stack of worksheets through the mail that would be used throughout the year, and I would have to help him complete them all, which was really difficult because I had to come up with a way to teach him something in a way that he could understand and could break it down for him. Even though I am still learning, an important method of teaching special education is understanding that each child is different and capable of many things that a child who isn't in special education can do too. Along with my brother, who is special needs, I also have a cousin who also has Down syndrome but is different from my brother in her learning levels and communication, which are much lower. I always talk to her at family gatherings, where I notice that I have to use a lower vocabulary and include hand signals to help her understand. Throughout all of these special education people that I have come across, I have noticed that everyone is different and can't teach them a certain way because it may not work for them, but it may work for others. One thing may work for them, but we need to be patient enough because it could take them longer to understand sometimes, and they could also forget what they have already been taught the next day, which is why we just have to be very patient with them and reteach it to them again. This is what is currently happening with my brother where I'm currently teaching him how to count money, and when he understands something one day, the next day, he forgets it completely, and I have to reteach it again, which is frustrating but I know that's when he is able to count money I'm going to be really proud of him, and I know that all the work will pay off. I want to teach special education because I love people with special needs like my brother, and I want to give him all the resources to teach. Since I was able to see how a classroom teaching special ed was managed, I wanted to learn more. Now, I'm in a community college, hoping to transfer to a university and wanting to teach special education in elementary for kids just like my brother.