Higher education was never an option for my parents or anyone else in my family. They were pushed into the work force before some had even graduate high school. I don’t want that to be my story. I want to purse an education so I can one day have a career that I love. My passion is learning so it’s been monumental for me to be the first to attend college in my family. I am not only bettering myself by learning, but I am better my future children’s chances of going and their opportunities in life.

My mental health was really rocky growing up but if you asked any of my family members they would not be able to tell you that. I chose to keep my mental health a secret so my parents could focus on helping my sister instead. With that being said, I had to learn early on how to take care of myself and learn how to cope. This pushed me to have a stronger faith in my religion and in my community. My mental health was a major factor in deciding my college major and my future career. I went into college to study human development and psychology so I could make some sense of why mental health is the way it is. But I chose to work with kids and purse counseling for them so that I could help the ones who choose to be silent like I did. I want to work to give kids a voice so they can advocate for their own mental health.

The female leader who has inspired me the most is Michelle Obama. During her husband's presidency she did a lot of work with children all over the country. My passion has always been to help children and families so to see her achieving that through multiple platforms was meaningful to me. I am planning on changing kids lives through one day creating a school or schools that provide a safe space for children. I want to lead families to seek support through the education system. Most kids spend the majority of their time at school so it should be a place that they feel safe coming to and a place that gives them all the things they need to life happily and healthy. Parents should also be seeking benefits from schools. I want to create programs like Michelle Obama did to help families receive food, get their kids on free sports teams, tutoring and much more.

"College Experience" by Kids on Their Own 1. KEEP IT UP by Rex Orange County 2. Lonely by Noah Cyrus 3. Better Days by Dermot Kennedy 4. when the party's over by Billie Eilish 5. Life Moves On by FINNEAS 6. Young Dumb & Broke by Khalid