For 20 years of my life, I considered myself a very religious person. I met really nice people and was a deep believer. Saying this, I also became very confused and frustrated with the beliefs I was being taught and the critical thinking I was developing. Being a very open-minded and logic-driven person I had very strong moral conflicts in my mind and beliefs. This affected how I treated people and my own self-esteem, believing I was not following the religious beliefs of my family was wrong and made me a bad person. Through my education journey, I started to follow my heart and practice what I felt were the things that make a good person. I didn't stop believing, but I started questioning. That freed me from following just a set of doctrines to "be a worthy person". Thru extracurricular activities, community service, and knowledge I started to feel whole and a sense of purpose grew in me. This consequently made me feel better and gave me direction. Changing my religious beliefs has been the reason I have helped and am still helping people. Now I understand to not follow just scriptures, logic, or ethics, but to have a sense of moral and social justice to find peace and purpose in what you do. This has helped me greatly in feeling good about myself and having a sense of purpose.

Of all the life lessons I've learned thru my adolescence and adulthood, one of the most important ones was recent. In 2019 I was in my 3rd year in college doing a degree in Electrical Engineering. Even though I like electronics and technology, it is a very competitive field and I was struggling to get an internship. Even though I did a Research Investigation sponsored by Verizon, I did not feel like I was in the right career path. My GPA was not bad I had made a lot of networking with prestigious companies. I knew it was simply not destined for me to get an internship in the fields I liked. On the other hand, I have always been very concerned with politics and economics, especially in Puerto Ricos' current situation. While studying for my Electrical Engineering degree I completed a minor in Economics which led me to my decision to transfer to an Economics Degree. That decision was a turning point for my professional and academic career. In the 3 years I have been studying Economics, I have become a Magna Cum Laude honor roll student, I have had 2 internships in consecutive summers and will be applying to one of the best law schools in Puerto Rico. These new experiences I had would have not happened if I had not made that decision. My financial literacy grew exponentially, and it has become one of my life missions to help people learn about finance and economics. Since studying for a degree I enjoy more and am good at, I have had time to even be part of Tutoring initiatives teaching English, Spanish, and Finance. The lesson learned was to never be afraid to go after your dreams even if it pushes back some personal deadlines. Personally, I wanted to finish my engineering degree in 5 years but I changed degrees at the end of my 3rd year. I will graduate in my 6th year BUT in the honors roll, having learned many skills, and getting a lot of experience in finance, economics, logistics, and technical work. It is never too late to take a leap of faith if you know you are good or better at something else. You will see good results from doing something you are great at instead of something you are good at and do not enjoy as much. Remember, you reap what you sow. Working and doing something you are good at will give you good results but doing something you are great at will give you great results, and the difference is mindblowing. It can even help you accomplish personal goals like deadlines for things a lot faster.