No one drained the water. I learn to swim at 18 months because my mom always said I had to be prepared just in case, I fell into the pool. My mom feared no one would be around to save me. At the age of 5, I started to drown in my thoughts. My mom was distracted by my three older brothers to hear my cry for help. My dad worked long hours and his tired eyes never realized me drowning. My teachers thought my fidgeting was disruptive. My mom noticed me struggling in the pool after a few other meetings with my teacher and took me to a psychiatrist. I was diagnosed with anxiety. My mom dismissed it and said a 5-year-old has nothing to be anxious about. I started to learn to float at the age of 7. My parents went out to dinner and my brothers were all at my uncle's house so that left me with Nana, my nanny, and she bathed me and asked me what was wrong. She spoke Spanish and I loved talking to her because she was the only one who helped me practice my Spanish. I am Cuban but my parents never taught me Spanish so I always felt out of place when my family would speak it without helping me understand. I did not want to talk I was exhausted from keeping my head over the water. Nana put me to bed, but I couldn’t sleep I looked at the clock beside my bed and saw 11:45 PM and my brain began to spiral. My parents were usually back home by then so I snuck into the kitchen and crawled onto the counter to grab the house phone. I dialed my mom’s number and once I heard her phone go to voicemail, I couldn’t breathe. I ran to nana’s room sobbing and I felt this pain in my chest and I couldn’t explain it. The only thing I could think of is that my parents must have died on their way home. Nana held me so tight, and I began to calm down. Nana was holding me up because I couldn’t swim. Then I heard the front door open a few minutes later and I felt dramatic. I hated feeling dramatic there was nothing I hated more than being called a “Drama queen”. I began to mask my anxiety. Everyone thought of me as the happy kid. It was as if I was drowning with a smile I was not actually drowning anymore. This worked for so long until I was 15 years old and my dad was diagnosed with Cancer. My greatest anxiety trigger of losing a parent was now a general concern. I began to have panic attacks weekly but then I decided to be everyone else life vest. I watched my whole family begin to drown. As much as I knew not telling everyone how I feel was a part of the weight of my anchor it was all I knew. I’d rather be silently drowning than ever be called dramatic again. There was understanding that my family was drowning but at least we were drowning together. Our family bond strengthened in the crisis. my brothers and I forced my mom into therapy because the vodka bottle became her anchor. My brothers and I promised we will all go to therapy once we are finically stable enough. College is my pool ladder. My education will be my way to get myself and my family out of the pool. My life vest right now, for now, is hope.

No one drained the water. I learn to swim at 18 months because my mom always said I had to be prepared just in case, I was pushed or fell into the pool. My mom feared no one would be around to save me. At the age of 5, I started to drown in my thoughts. My mom was distracted by my three older brothers to hear my cry for help. My dad spent most of his days working and his tired eyes never realized me drowning. My teachers noticed something off and informed my mom of my abnormal traits. My teacher always was annoyed when I kept retying my shoes because they were not tight enough. I was called disruptive for fidgeting. My mom noticed me struggling in the pool after a few other meetings with my teacher and took me to a psychiatrist. I was diagnosed with anxiety. My mom dismissed it and said a 5-year-old has nothing to be anxious about. I started to learn to float at the age of 7. My parents went out to dinner and my brothers were all at my uncle's house so that left me with Nana, my nanny, and she bathed me and asked me what was wrong. She spoke Spanish and I loved talking to her because she was the only one who helped me practice my Spanish. I am Cuban but my parents never taught me Spanish so I always felt out of place when my family would speak it without helping me understand. I did not want to talk I was exhausted from keeping my head over the water. Nana put me to bed, but I couldn’t sleep I look at the clock beside my bed and saw 11:45 PM and my brain began to spiral. My parents were usually back home by 11:00 PM so I snuck into the kitchen and crawled onto the counter to grab the house phone. I dialed my mom’s number and then as it went to voicemail, I dialed my dad’s number and now I began to worry. As soon as I heard his voicemail, I couldn’t breathe. I ran to nana’s room sobbing and I felt this pain in my chest and I couldn’t explain it. The only thing I could think of is that my parents must have died on their way home. Nana held me so tight, and I began to calm down and she let me sleep in her bed with her. Nana was holding me up because I couldn’t swim. Then I heard the front door open a few minutes later and I was confused I didn’t understand how my thoughts could have such a physical reaction. My parents blamed my imagination. I hated feeling dramatic there was nothing I hated more than being called a “Drama queen”. I began to mask my anxiety so much everyone thought of me as the happy kid. It was as if I was drowning with a smile I was not a burden anymore. This worked for so long until I was 15 years old and my dad was diagnosed with Cancer. My greatest anxiety trigger of losing a parent was now a general concern. I began to have panic attacks weekly but then I decided to be everyone else life vest. Nana was my life vest but she moved in with her daughter. I never cried in front of everyone because I physically couldn’t. I watched my whole family begin to drown. I hated when people asked me why I wouldn’t open up and that it was not ok to hold in my emotions. As much as I knew not telling everyone how I feel was a part of the weight of my anchor it was all I knew. I’d rather be silently drowning than ever be called dramatic. I’d rather be called the girl who was always smiling than the dramatic girl. There was understanding that my family was drowning but at least we were drowning together. Our family bond strengthened in the crisis. my brothers and I forced my mom into therapy because the vodka bottle became her anchor. My brothers and I promised we will all go to therapy once we are finically stable enough. College is my pool ladder. My education will be my way to get myself and my family out of the pool. . No one drained my water but I will drain my water eventually. My life vest right now is hope.

My mom instilled in my brain a different version of success than the school system instead of rewarding me on A’s or punishing me on F’s she just wanted to know if I tried. As a kid, I was very behind in school due to my ADHD and speech delay. My mom knew she could not blame me and could not discipline me the same as my three older brothers. Instead of punishing me for grades, she punished me for lack of effort. My mom and I spent every night going over phonics. The work paid off, I began to excel in school; once I learned that putting a 100% effort is what gave me the results I desired. Thanks to my mom for pushing me to be the best version of myself instead of just passing tests I developed a work ethic. This work ethic pushed me to take vigorous courses instead of settling for easier classes. I took a total of 9 AP classes and 9 honors classes. I played varsity lacrosse all four years of high school which taught me time management. Time management helped me balance school, internship, sports, and my role at home. My dad was diagnosed with Leukemia in 2020 and I took the role of homemaker. My dad spent months at end in the hospital and my mom spent those times outside his hospital window because it was the closest, she could be to him. This left me cooking and cleaning after myself and my brothers. During these tough times, I learned tons of valuable lessons such as not to mix colors and whites while doing laundry. In all seriousness, I did learn to be independent because my dad had to prioritize his survival and my mom had to support him. This left me forced to grow up and look at life from a different perspective. I am grateful I gained a new perspective because even though I had to grow up I now see the world differently and acknowledge the little things. I began to think about what I would pursue as a career. I knew I wanted to express my creativity but also help people. When we moved into my apartment, I was able to design my dull room into a room that made me feel happy. This change made an impact on my life and then I realize I could design dream homes to make my clients feel at peace. My parents advised me to intern with an architect to get a true understanding of what my future might look like. The summer going into junior year of high school I worked for Cad Architecture Studio and was able to deepen my understanding and love for architecture. I was even able to design the house I am currently living in. This is when I learned how passionate I am about choosing architecture as my career path. I want to use the combination of my interest in architecture and design and my future education to design shelters for battered women and their children, the homeless, and others who struggle to maintain a stable living environment. Many of these shelters today do really good work but tend to be overcrowded leading to people being rejected or asked to leave in their time of need. Specifically, I want to use my skills and resources as an architect to create innovative strategies to design shelters that are able to house larger groups of people so that finding a safe place to sleep at night is not a worry for anyone.

My mom instilled in my brain a different version of success than the school system instead of rewarding me on A’s or punishing me on F’s she just wanted to know if I tried. As a kid, I was very behind in school due to my ADHD and speech delay. My mom knew she could not blame me and could not discipline me the same as my three older brothers. Instead of punishing me for grades, she punished me for lack of effort. My mom and I spent every night going over phonics. The work paid off, I began to excel in school; once I learned that putting a 100% effort is what gave me the results I desired. Thanks to my mom for pushing me to be the best version of myself instead of just passing tests I developed a work ethic. This work ethic pushed me to take vigorous courses instead of settling for easier classes. I took a total of 9 AP classes and 9 honors classes. I played varsity lacrosse all four years of high school which taught me time management. Time management helped me balance school, internship, sports, and my role at home. My dad was diagnosed with Leukemia in 2020 and I took the role of homemaker. My dad spent months at end in the hospital and my mom spent those times outside his hospital window because it was the closest, she could be to him. This left me cooking and cleaning after myself and my brothers. During these tough times, I learned tons of valuable lessons such as not to mix colors and whites while doing laundry. In all seriousness, I did learn to be independent because my dad had to prioritize his survival and my mom had to support him. This left me forced to grow up and look at life from a different perspective. I am grateful I gained a new perspective because even though I had to grow up I now see the world differently and acknowledge the little things. I began to think about what I would pursue as a career. I knew I wanted to express my creativity but also help people. When we moved into my apartment, I was able to design my dull room into a room that made me feel happy. This change made an impact on my life and then I realize I could design dream homes to make my clients feel at peace. My parents advised me to intern with an architect to get a true understanding of what my future might look like. The summer going into junior year of high school I worked for Cad Architecture Studio and was able to deepen my understanding and love for architecture. I was even able to design the house I am currently living in. This is when I learned how passionate I am about choosing architecture as my career path. I want to use the combination of my interest in architecture and design and my future education to design shelters for battered women and their children, the homeless, and others who struggle to maintain a stable living environment. Many of these shelters today do really good work but tend to be overcrowded leading to people being rejected or asked to leave in their time of need. Specifically, I want to use my skills and resources as an architect to create innovative strategies to design shelters that are able to house larger groups of people so that finding a safe place to sleep at night is not a worry for anyone.

My mom instilled in my brain a different version of success than the school system instead of rewarding me on A’s or punishing me on F’s she just wanted to know if I tried. As a kid, I was very behind in school due to my ADHD and speech delay. My mom knew she could not blame me and could not discipline me the same as my three older brothers. Instead of punishing me for grades, she punished me for lack of effort. My mom and I spent every night going over phonics. The work paid off, I began to excel in school; once I learned that putting a 100% effort is what gave me the results I desired. Thanks to my mom for pushing me to be the best version of myself instead of just passing tests I developed a work ethic. This work ethic pushed me to take vigorous courses instead of settling for easier classes. I took a total of 9 AP classes and 9 honors classes. I played varsity lacrosse all four years of high school which taught me time management. Time management helped me balance school, internship, sports, and my role at home. My dad was diagnosed with Leukemia in 2020 and I took the role of homemaker. My dad spent months at end in the hospital and my mom spent those times outside his hospital window because it was the closest, she could be to him. This left me cooking and cleaning after myself and my brothers. During these tough times, I learned tons of valuable lessons such as not to mix colors and whites while doing laundry. In all seriousness, I did learn to be independent because my dad had to prioritize his survival and my mom had to support him. This left me forced to grow up and look at life from a different perspective. I am grateful I gained a new perspective because even though I had to grow up I now see the world differently and acknowledge the little things. I began to think about what I would pursue as a career. I knew I wanted to express my creativity but also help people. When we moved into my apartment, I was able to design my dull room into a room that made me feel happy. This change made an impact on my life and then I realize I could design dream homes to make my clients feel at peace. My parents advised me to intern with an architect to get a true understanding of what my future might look like. The summer going into junior year of high school I worked for Cad Architecture Studio and was able to deepen my understanding and love for architecture. I was even able to design the house I am currently living in. This is when I learned how passionate I am about choosing architecture as my career path. I want to use the combination of my interest in architecture and design and my future education to design shelters for battered women and their children, the homeless, and others who struggle to maintain a stable living environment. Many of these shelters today do really good work but tend to be overcrowded leading to people being rejected or asked to leave in their time of need. Specifically, I want to use my skills and resources as an architect to create innovative strategies to design shelters that are able to house larger groups of people so that finding a safe place to sleep at night is not a worry for anyone.