"Oh my god I got in!!!" I said, tears filling my eyes as I opened my acceptance notification from the University of Miami. I could not believe it. It was eye-opening to see all of my hard work pay off. I often dream of the day I become a physical therapist and attending an amazing college is the first step on this journey. I plan on attending physical therapy school as well afterwards. When looking into physical therapy, I realized what it was that I truly wanted out of it: to impact the lives of others. Pursuing a higher education is going to help me achieve this goal. I realize that nothing great comes for free though so I have spent my entire high school career working towards getting into my dream college. I have been apart of the sports medicine program for two years, played softball for three years, been captain of my softball team for a year, and also I have been a part of the student council club at my school for three years. These extracurriculars have helped me grow as a person tremendously. Softball has truly taught me the importance of working as a team towards one goal (my team even made it to playoffs this year!). Student council has taught me the importance of leadership in every community and how everyone can make an impact on their environment. Lastly, the sports medicine program has prepared me for my field of study. My passions in life include: helping others, feminism, traveling, and educating about mental health issues. I plan on majoring in psychology and minoring in exercise physiology. This will enable me to study about something I am extremely passionate about and also gain the requirements necessary for my dream job. I love people and learning about their unique life experiences, the good and the bad. I think that becoming a physical therapist will allow me to make a connection with my patients and impact their lives in an extremely positive way. Everyone has or is going through something difficult in their life, whether it's physical, mental, or emotional. We all have our burdens we carry and my aim is to be a light in others lives, to provide at least one positive moment in their day. While I do realize I can bring positivity in any career path, I deeply believe that pursuing a higher education and becoming a physical therapist will put me in the best position to impact others. I could not be more grateful that I have the opportunity to go to college and earn a degree, as I know this is not tangible for some. I know that gaining more knowledge in these next four years will help me to accomplish several of my life goals and gain a job that I love. I can not wait to spend my time getting involved in several groups and activities the University of Miami has to offer and to widen my knowledge scope and outlook on life.

“Never forget that only dead fish swim with the stream.” Huh? I thought, the first time I laid eyes on this quote. I sat there pondering the depths of its meaning. Now, on the surface level you may think “Okay? I get it, be different.” But as I continued throughout my life I kept coming back to this quote. Why did it stick with me and why couldn’t I shake it? I realized that this quote resonated with me so deeply because growing up my mom preached a similar message to me. She’s never wanted her children to live an ordinary life, because she believes we have the ability to be world changers. And let’s be honest, she may be experiencing a little motherly bias. But overall, she has taught me such a meaningful lesson: do not be like everyone else. I remember simple scenarios like getting a bad grade on a test and not wanting to study extra, wanting my mom to talk to an authority figure for me, or wanting to stop practicing for my cheer tryouts. Each time I would try to quit she would ask why and of course I would give some answer like “I’m tired, and no one else has to work this hard” (meaning my friends of course). She would always without a doubt, respond with “Well we aren’t everyone else are we?” It frustrated me at the time because hey, I wanted to be like everyone else, I didn’t care about learning dedication and perseverance. But as I grew older, the lesson stuck with me. She would also say “If you want to live an above average life, you have to do things different than everyone around you.” That is still so powerful to me. Not everyone lives their dream life because the average person just exists letting life pass them by. “Only dead fish swim with the stream.” Interpreted I see it as, in order to make change, you have to dare to be different. Being yourself means not following the norms of what all of these ‘dead’ people consider “normal”. Nothing life-changing comes from someone trying to fit in with everyone else. And you will kill yourself trying to be the same. You will kill your dreams, your personality, and your values if you follow what society says to. Live your life boldly. And go confidently in the direction of your goals. I recite this quote to myself when I feel like my goals are too out there. When I feel like I can’t accomplish something because everyone around me thinks it’s crazy. I strive to live by this quote. I want more from life than what the average person does therefore, I cannot do what the average person does. I use this quote to inspire me to form healthy habits. And I hope to one day achieve all I want and be the person who did not follow society. “Never forget only dead fish swim with the stream.”

Who inspires you? I’ve gotten this question several times throughout my life and only one person pops into my head. My mom. You see this answer may seem cliché but there’s no other person who I’ve personally seen go through hell and back yet still come out on top and achieve all of her goals. So yes, my greatest inspiration in life would easily be my mom. From her childhood she faced struggles not only in her home life, but also at school and physically. She was born with a condition called Cerebral Palsy. Although it doesn’t affect her mentally, it does physically as she has almost no control of the right side of her body. She was never supposed to ride a bike, walk, or run. Yet she has ran a half-marathon and a triathlon. And that’s just the beginning of her struggles. At a very young age, my parents got divorced and I watched my mom go from having two household incomes supporting 3 children (who were all involved in several costly extracurriculars) to just being alone trying to make ends meet. She rarely let it show though, it was not until a few years ago that I truly saw what she did for us. She worked four jobs at once, staying up late and waking up early, yet was still there for her children attending our games and giving us rides when we needed it. As she struggled to become financially stable, she provided for her kids and made sure we never went without. Thinking of everything she did for us brings up so much appreciation in me. Every day that I work towards my goals of going to college and becoming a pediatric physical therapist, I think of her and her never ending drive for success. Thinking of what she has overcome and accomplished keeps me striving for the best on my tough days. I hope to one day be able to repay her for everything she’s done for me. Along with being inspired by my truly amazing mother, I am also driven by my hope for success and true contentment in my life. Success to me is not necessarily a certain job or position or even a high income. Success to me is being truly happy with what you are putting into the world daily. As I work towards gaining my degree in exercise physiology, I envision the day where I am a pediatric physical therapist making a difference in the lives of children and teens. That’s what keeps me working and aiming high, the aspiration of making a difference and helping those who have struggled so much in such a short lifetime. In conclusion, my mother has served as such an incredible example of what is

One summer day after sophomore year, my mom suggested I go out shopping with a friend. I decided to take her advice, and one of my friends happily agreed. Little did I know that when I arrived back home, I would be greeted with more than just a causal Saturday afternoon. After a great time shopping, my stepdad came and picked us up. I had not yet questioned anything about this day’s events. However, when we turned onto our street, I saw an extra car in our driveway. I began questioning if my aunt and her family, who were supposed to be arriving from a 13-hour drive much later in the day, had arrived early. My stepdad had no response to my questions which led me to question him more and more. So, when we pulled into the driveway I excitedly rushed inside to hopefully greet them. As I hurriedly whipped open the front door, my family and my aunt’s family shouted “Surprise!” I was slightly confused, as my birthday had been a month earlier; the thought of a surprise party for me did not even cross my mind. However, as I admired the beautiful decorations on display, I realized that it was. As I continued walking through my house, I realized that all of the decorations were themed off of my favorite show, The Office. Each decoration and item of food was a thoroughly planned out inside joke from the show. Not only that, but my other two aunts were also on a video call to be a part of the surprise. They, along with everyone there, had worked for weeks on this party. In that moment, the thoughtfulness of my family and how excited they were to do this for me for my sixteenth birthday nearly brought me to tears. I had always wanted a surprise party, and they spent many hours making that happen. My family has and always mean the most to me. And during this period of time I was struggling with mental health issues and making friends at a new school. It made me feel very alone most days. So when my family went out of their way to make a special day for me, I was overjoyed by their kindness. The saying "Be kind to everyone because you never know what they are going through" is one of my mottos. I try to live in a way where I put as much love and kindness as possible into the world without any judgement of others. Anyway, at the end of that day, I felt so grateful for having people who cared this much about me and making my birthday special. It will always have a special place in my heart along with everyone who helped make it happen.

Who inspires you? I’ve gotten this question several times throughout my life and only one person pops into my head. My mom. You see this answer may seem cliché but there’s no other person who I’ve personally seen go through hell and back yet still come out on top and achieve all of her goals. So yes, my greatest inspiration in life would easily be my mom. From her childhood she faced struggles not only in her home life, but also at school and physically. She was born with a condition called Cerebral Palsy. Although it doesn’t affect her mentally, it does physically as she has almost no control of the right side of her body. She was never supposed to ride a bike, walk, or run. Yet she has ran a half-marathon and a triathlon. And that’s just the beginning of her struggles. At a very young age, my parents got divorced and I watched my mom go from having two household incomes supporting 3 children (who were all involved in several costly extracurriculars) to just being alone trying to make ends meet. She rarely let it show though, it was not until a few years ago that I truly saw what she did for us. She worked four jobs at once, staying up late and waking up early, yet was still there for her children attending our games and giving us rides when we needed it. As she struggled to become financially stable, she provided for her kids and made sure we never went without. Thinking of everything she did for us brings up so much appreciation in me. Every day that I work towards my goals of going to college and becoming a pediatric physical therapist, I think of her and her never ending drive for success. Thinking of what she has overcome and accomplished keeps me striving for the best on my tough days. I hope to one day be able to repay her for everything she’s done for me. Along with being inspired by my truly amazing mother, I am also driven by my hope for success and true contentment in my life. Success to me is not necessarily a certain job or position or even a high income. Success to me is being truly happy with what you are putting into the world daily. As I work towards gaining my degree in exercise physiology, I envision the day where I am a pediatric physical therapist making a difference in the lives of children and teens. That’s what keeps me working and aiming high, the aspiration of making a difference and helping those who have struggled so much in such a short lifetime.

Growing up I was taught to love others and be caring and kind. I was, however, never taught how to transfer that towards myself. I grew up in the age of social media coming to be very popular. I was taught what "perfect" was through these supposed role models on social media outlets. Learning to love and accept myself for who I am has been a difficult journey that I am still working on. Since middle school, I was force-fed social standards, impossible ideas of beauty, and never ending views of what I should act like. It was difficult being told "love yourself" but seeing the world around me operate on a whole different perspective. I think that experiencing this at a young age has helped me grow stronger in who I am, though. Once I learned that my personality is perfect without having to pretend, I got into much healthier friendships that have helped me find even more happiness. Once I realized that everybody is different and we should celebrate that, I started to see beauty in not only myself but those around me. Each person brings a uniqueness to the world without trying to fit into what society says is correct. Self love and acceptance has taught me to change my thoughts from "how am I being perceived" or "how do I look" to "what do I want to put back into the world" and "what do I want represent". My aspirations now include things like living life with passion, showing kindness to each person I meet, and teaching others their worth. Before I accepted myself though, my aspirations were much more materialistic. I wanted the perfect body, the perfect house, the perfect occupation, and the perfect wardrobe. And now looking back I realize how harmful this is. With this mindset, happiness is almost impossible to achieve. Through my difficult journey of acceptance and self-love I have learned how to create healthy relationships, see the beauty in others, and aspire to truly live and impact others instead of just exist in my own lane. I think this shift in my character has and will help me to make a difference in others and the world around me.

Growing up fitness was always of great importance in my household. I was raised watching my mom deeply care about health and wellness. She worked out, what felt like all the time. This quickly transferred to me. I loved being apart of her workouts and being active in anyway. Throughout my childhood I completed several triathlons, participated in competitive gymnastics, swim team, tournament softball, and a little basketball. Despite being into working out and fitness throughout my entire life, high school is when I really got serious about working out. I started participating in cross fit and really paying attention to what I ate. I found that I felt the most happy and confident in myself and my body when I was actively working to be healthy. I no longer do cross fit but I often weightlift and go on long distance runs. Working out is like therapy to me, I love being alone and in the moment bettering myself. I love the mental aspect of growing your mental toughness and exceeding limits you thought confined you. I also love how I feel when I have completed a work out. It is something so productive yet enjoyable to me. Not to mention how good it is for your body. Working out has so many positive impacts on all aspects of your body. It helps you live a longer, more enjoyable life and prevents certain sicknesses such as heart conditions/disease. In the end, I'm so glad I have picked up great fitness habits from my mom to carry with my through my life. I know it can feel like a chore or too much work but getting into the habit of making healthy habits is so beneficial and peaceful. I love that when I work out, I can easily control the destiny of my own fitness.

We live in a society that stigmatizes the conversations about mental health, but cries at the consequences of these unspoken issues. Saying "I wish they would have told someone", but never wanting to have those hard conversations. As someone who struggles with anxiety, I know what it's like to feel as if you have no one to talk to for fear of judgement. I have moved schools several times throughout my high school experience, this often caused major anxiety and my mind to get the best of me. I was so worried about what others thought of me and hated feeling out of place. I remember sitting in class shaking, texting my mom, and trying so hard to hold in my tears while panicking on the inside. I remember having an anxiety attacks on the way to school, overwhelmed with extreme fear and nervousness. Feeling like I could not breathe, crying uncontrollably, and feeling absolutely insane. I remember calling my mom asking her if I could go to school late because of my mental state. She told me to stop crying, and just go to school as if it was that simple. I felt so invalidated, I sincerely wished I could calm down but wasn't sure how to. The older generations were never allowed to talk about their mental struggles so they battled it internally. But with social media and societies' beauty standards, mental health problems are ever-increasing. Facing mental illnesses has helped developed me into the person I am. It has taught me how to battle one of the toughest things, your own inner thoughts. It also helped me discover my passion, making others feel seen and heard. I want to become a therapist and help individuals overcome their struggles and live a content life. I want to help others see that their struggles do not define them and they are worth so much more than their mind is telling them. I believe that my mental health struggles will help me move forward in the journey to destigmatize these hard conversations and help those in dire need.

“Here we go again”, I said to myself as I prepared to walk into my fourth new school in the past three years. Being the new girl became almost normal to me. My high school years had been an adventure to say the least. I, like most, have never been a fan of change and starting over. Therefore, doing this four times in such a small period of time was no easy battle. But with each move it got easier and I became more confident. Each time I gained a little more knowledge and experience that would benefit me in the long run. Despite moving several times, it still was always a challenge for me. It took a mental toll on me each time, causing me to become very anxious and overwhelmed. Although moving was not necessarily an ideal situation, I believe I gained a tremendous amount from it. One of the most important things I learned from my experiences was that getting out of your comfort zone is what helps you make friends and find your place in the end. The way I did this was by getting involved in school activities. It can be difficult to put yourself in a situation where you do not know anyone, but without doing so you will never find your place in a community. The extracurriculars I got involved in did just that for me; although it was scary at first, they helped me find my place at each school. For example, I have always loved softball. So, at each school I joined the softball team. Another thing I always got involved in was the Student Council club. Both of these activities gave me opportunities to make friends and meet like-minded people. Throughout my experiences, I have gained confidence when interacting with others and I have also been able to learn something new from each group of people I have been around. I truly believe the adversity I faced during my high school career will only affect me positively. As I have anxiety, I have had to put myself in social situations that I otherwise would never have to face. Moving from a small town in Louisiana to El Paso was a huge cultural shift as well. Adapting and learning others’ way of life has helped not only my social abilities, but also helped open up my perspective to others’ struggles and standards. The confidence I have gained from my experiences, I believe will make it easy to adjust to any situation I am in. It will also help me find my place and help others do the same in my future endeavors. Finally, the ability I have developed through these past experiences to personally grow and learn from every group of people and situation I find myself in will aid me in making a true impact on my college campus and community.

Legacy, something handed down from a predecessor or from the past. This word is often used to describe what you leave behind for others and what people remember you by. Whether it’s a certain persona, achievement, or philosophy that you leave behind, everyone creates some sort of legacy. To me, legacy is living your life in such a way that you serve as an example for those who come after you and leave the world in a better condition than when you started. Brazilian martial artist, Vitor Belfort put it magnificently saying, “Legacy is not what I did for myself. It’s what I’m doing for the next generation.” Finishing your life, knowing that you may not have changed ‘the’ world, but left an impression on ‘your’ world is legacy. There are definitely different kinds of valuable legacies. For example, some legacies are left behind by athletes setting world records and forever changing the playing field for their sport; some are simply a philosophy or character one has left behind as a solid blueprint for others to model. The literal definition of a legacy would be an amount of money or property one leaves behind. Each one of these leaves a sizable impact on other’s lives and is not more important than any of the others. Personally, I want to leave behind a legacy of philosophy and character. I want people to remember me not by the amount of money I made or houses I owned, but by the impact I left on others’ lives. My aim is to live with such compassion and love that it overflows into the lives of others. I will donate to those in need, be a lending hand to absolutely everyone, and create so much happiness that others forget their sorrow even if only momentarily. I want to leave behind a legacy that others can continue to follow because this world needs so much more love and kindness. In conclusion, legacy is a powerful word with many different meanings that boils down to one concept, what you leave behind. After you have lived your life and accomplished your goals, what will people remember you by? Did you create an impact on those around you? Are you content with what you have put into the world? Because that’s your legacy, and you only get one; so live your life accordingly.

Who inspires you? I’ve gotten this question several times throughout my life and only one person pops into my head. My mom. You see this answer may seem cliché but there’s no other person who I’ve personally seen go through hell and back yet still come out on top and achieve all of her goals. So yes, my greatest inspiration in life would easily be my mom. From her childhood she faced struggles not only in her home life, but also at school and physically. She was born with a condition called Cerebral Palsy. Although it doesn’t affect her mentally, it does physically as she has almost no control of the right side of her body. She was never supposed to ride a bike, walk, or run. Yet she has ran a half-marathon and a triathlon. And that’s just the beginning of her struggles. At a very young age, my parents got divorced and I watched my mom go from having two household incomes supporting 3 children (who were all involved in several costly extracurriculars) to just being alone trying to make ends meet. She rarely let it show though, it was not until a few years ago that I truly saw what she did for us. She worked four jobs at once, staying up late and waking up early, yet was still there for her children attending our games and giving us rides when we needed it. As she struggled to become financially stable, she provided for her kids and made sure we never went without. Thinking of everything she did for us brings up so much appreciation in me. Every day that I work towards my goals of going to college and becoming a pediatric physical therapist, I think of her and her never ending drive for success. Thinking of what she has overcome and accomplished keeps me striving for the best on my tough days. I hope to one day be able to repay her for everything she’s done for me. Along with being inspired by my truly amazing mother, I am also driven by my hope for success and true contentment in my life. Success to me is not necessarily a certain job or position or even a high income. Success to me is being truly happy with what you are putting into the world daily. As I work towards gaining my degree in exercise physiology, I envision the day where I am a pediatric physical therapist making a difference in the lives of children and teens. That’s what keeps me working and aiming high, the aspiration of making a difference and helping those who have struggled so much in such a short lifetime. In conclusion, my mother has served as such an incredible example of what is possible in life. She inspires daily me to do great and reach for the stars. I am also driven by the thought of one day being in a position to positively impact those who need it most.