I am from a single parent household with my mother and my little sister. My mom had me when she was still in high school and due to the lack of support she had, she did not attend college. After she graduated, she then had my sister with still no support other than myself. I had to learn at a young age how to be self-sufficient and how to also take care of my sister. With the hours my mom worked trying to provide for our family, it was really just me and my sister in a house for ourselves. I had to learn how to upkeep it, how to make meals for a small family, and I had to learn how to take care of another child while still being one myself. I also had to get a job young so that I could contribute to bills due to my mom not being able to work a better job than she had. By growing up like this it has given me the drive and determination to be the first in my family to graduate with a college degree. I hope to go to Texas State University and pursue a career in Marketing. I also hope to start an internship by my junior year so that by the time I graduate I already have a job lined up for me. By seeing my mother struggle and the way we had to live, I hope to use my education as a way to succeed in a easier way in life, and to be able to give my children one day a better opportunity than I have ever had.

y mother had me at seventeen years old and my dad walked out as soon as he found out that my mother was pregnant. My mother fought hard to ensure that I would be able to have the best life she could provide for me. Because of my mother, I am seventeen years old and am a strong, intelligent, and independent young lady who has a drive to be able to seek higher education to make a difference. And this determination I have is driven even more due to wanting to make sure I take advantage of the opportunities my mother has provided for me with the sacrifices she has made for me. I am doing this for both her and me. My mother struggled to keep her grades up after she had me due to having to spend all of the extra time she did have with me instead of homework. I was given an opportunity to make sure that because she did not keep her high grades, I would. So, I worked hard and made sure to be at the top of my classes. I am graduating with a 4.00 GPA and in the top five percent of my class. My mom also wanted to give me a head start in college, so although it added to our financial struggle, she put me in dual credit classes my sophomore year of high school and I have been doing them ever since. My mother also was a student athlete, she played basketball and was supposed to go to college for it with a full-ride scholarship. But, after she had me, she had to stop playing basketball and lost her scholarship with it, and she couldn't afford college on her own while taking care of me still. She was so passionate about her sport and wanted to make sure I had something like that in my life, so I started playing soccer. I fell in love with it immediately and have continued to play it my whole life, until I tore my ACL right before senior season started. I have so much love for this sport and after I stopped playing it, I realized I did not want soccer to stop being a part of my life. So, I wanted to have a career revolved around it. That is when I chose to go into Sports Digital Marketing. With this degree I want to be able to show other people the beauty in the sport so that they are inspired and gain passion for something like me and my mother both have. My mother loves basketball and although she does not play it anymore, she loves to watch it and see others around her play it as well. I want to show others that sports or even other hobbies can change your life entirely, it gives you joy and happiness, and it also gives you new people that will stay in your life forever. I want this because if other people are struggling this can give them an outlet to have some stability and joy in their life.

In the song "making the bed" by Olivia Rodrigo on her 'GUTS' album is a really special song to me. One of the lyrics that really resonated with me was "Push away all the people who know me the best/ But it's me who's been making the bed". The saying "making the bed," means that you have to suffer the consequences of your own actions. You understand what you're doing and realize what the outcome of it can be, but you do not care enough you cannot stop, or you can't get yourself to do the right thing. I used to struggle from substance abuse, and I was also around people with these problems as well. I struggled with this the most freshman and beginning of my sophomore year of high school. When I was on substances, I knew it was making me feel worse than it did making me feel better, but the idea of it just making everything in my life that I was struggling with at the time stop for a second was worth it. When I finally stopped, it sucked but the more I stayed away from it the more relief I felt. But, when there were hard days, it was hard and surrounding myself with people that kept trying to get me back to my old ways made it worse. Also, my biological dad walked out of my life when I was young. And my stepdad used to physically abuse me when I was young as well and I would ask my mother to leave him, but she never did. She always picked him over me every time, sometimes resulting in me moving out for long periods of time and living with different family members and friends. I have always had people coming in and going out of my life without it affecting them at all. These things have affected me and the way I think a lot, but I also do not like others pitying me so I will keep it in and just deal with it alone. Sometimes this causes me to shut down and keep people out. I understand what I am doing, and I understand what the outcome of it can be, but I do not care enough to stop it because in those moments that is the only solution I can come up with. If I let people in, they will know the truth about things and then they will feel bad for me. I do not want that, I rather keep my issues to myself because they are my problems, and I do not want anyone else thinking it is theirs. Or feeling like they need or have to do anything, because they do not. And that is why that lyric means so much to me.

My top three Billie Eilish songs are "xanny", "when the party's over" and "i love you". Each of these songs holds a really special meaning to me in their own way. For example, the song "xanny" has a special place to me because I used to struggle from substance abuse, and I was also around people with these problems as well. I struggled with this the most freshman and beginning of my sophomore year of high school. I knew it was making me feel worse than it did making me feel better, but the idea of it just making everything in my life that I was struggling with at the time stop for a second was worth it. When I finally stopped, it sucked but the more I stayed away from it the more relief I felt. But, when there were hard days, it was hard and surrounding myself with people that kept trying to get me back to my old ways made it worse. I used to listen to this song to help me stay away from it and knowing that there was someone who understood what I was going through really kept me strong and helped me a lot. That is why this song had such a strong bond with me. Another song that resonated with me a lot was "when the party's over". My biological dad walked out of my life when I was young. And my stepdad used to physically abuse me when I was young as well and I would ask my mother to leave him, but she never did. She always picked him over me every time, sometimes resulting in me moving out for long periods of time and living with different family members and friends. I have always had people coming in and going out of my life without it affecting them at all. And knowing how much it affected me and how it did not affect them at all, that really took a big toll on my mental health and put me in a bad place. This song helped me get past that because yet again Billie made me felt understood and I could be more comfortable with the idea that I could relate to her. Lastly, the sing "i love you" is also one of my favorites. This is because of how my life has gone, it has been hard to trust people and to believe that they are not going to hurt me or just walk out of my life. And yet again with this song, Billie just makes me feel understood. Billie has gone through a lot on her own and as someone who had also gone through a lot. I am a fan of hers due to her being so open about topics that is a big problem in people's lives. She is that outlet that people need, and one of those people is me.

My favorite book-to-film adaption is "13 Reasons Why" because of Jeff Atkins and because of how they brought real problems that teens face daily to life in the most respectful way possible. In the books they did not address Jeff as a big character and did not give him a backstory at all. But, in the film they gave him a backstory and even made him a bigger part of one of the main character's lives. And he died in both the book and the film, but in the film, he continued to be a part of the storyline throughout the rest of the other seasons. The main character even was infected deeply by his death but was not as affected in the books. The big reason why the "13 Reasons Why" book got so big is because there are not many things like it. It shows the realistic side of suicides at a teenagers age. As someone who has struggled with mental health, being able to see what it looks like in cinema and not just imagining it, it really displayed the message in a better way. Also, in the book it does not discuss the ideas of substance abuse, and sexual assault as much. In the shows these things are a lot more detail and helps the viewer connect with the character by actually being able to see what they are going through and how they are reacting without just reading about it. When people go through stuff like that it is harder to read about it and imagine it happening. Also due to it not going into as much depth within the books, it is not a topic that a reader can connect with as much. But, in the film they go into detail and have characters going through all different things so that no matter what you are going through, you can feel some sort of understanding. This film was revolutionary to me due to me really feeling like someone understands what I am going through. As someone who has gone through things such as having someone pass from suicide, substance abuse, and sexual assault, this film was hard to watch at first. But I was able to see people that relate to the things that I have gone through overcome these obstacles and challenges and see them become more independent and powerful due to it. This is why I believe that this book-to-film adaption is the most special to me.

I have been playing soccer for my entire life and it has truly been the only stable thing in my life for most of it. I am 17 years old and have been supporting myself financially for most of my life. I do not live with my parents, I take care of my little sister, and I now am working to go to college all on my own. When all of these in my life were happening the only thing that made my life feel easier was being on a soccer field. Anytime I was stressed, mad, sad, or even just really happy you would see me training on a soccer field. Because of all the training I did I became a lot better at a fast rate. I got a scholarship for a club so that I could play competitively, and with this team we went to state every year for the last six years. I had college's looking at me and reaching out, I believed I had a real chance to go some where's with my life. A place with more financial stability and not living paycheck to paycheck. A place where my kids in the future aren't going to have to know what kind of struggles I wen through at their age. I was going to go some where's and be something. But all of that was before I tore my ACL right before my senior season. It was my first game back for the fall season. It was the end of the first half, and me and this other girl collided. My knee popped and I tore my ACL. In those few second a lot of my life changed. I could no longer play my senior season. Colleges stopped reaching out because I was going to be returning right as the freshman college season starts. I felt like I lost everything, and, in that moment, I realized not just that I lost my college future, but soccer all together. That realization is the reason why I picked my major. I am going to get a Sports Digital Marketing degree. Although I might not be able to play soccer for the rest of my life, I still want it to be a part of it. So, I am going to go into the business side of it. And I chose marketing because I want to be able to show others the same beauty I saw in the sport. I want to inspire others to fall in love with a sport like I did because that sport became my entire life, and that is something I am completely okay with.

I have been playing soccer for my entire life and it has truly been the only stable thing in my life for most of it. I am 17 years old and have been supporting myself financially for most of my life. I do not live with my parents, I take care of my little sister, and I now am working to go to college all on my own and the first in my family to attend college as well. When all of these things in my life were happening the only thing that made my life feel easier was being on a soccer field. Anytime I was stressed, mad, sad, or even just really happy you would see me training on a soccer field. Because of all the training I did I became a lot better at a fast rate. I got a scholarship for a club so that I could play competitively, and with this team we went to state every year for the last six years. I had college's looking at me and reaching out, I believed I had a real chance to go some where's with my life. A place with more financial stability and not living paycheck to paycheck. A place where my kids in the future aren't going to have to know what kind of struggles I went through at their age. I was going to go some where's and be something. But all of that was before I tore my ACL right before my senior season. It was my first game back for the fall season. It was the end of the first half, and me and this other girl collided. My knee popped and I tore my ACL. In those few second a lot of my life changed. I could no longer play my senior season. Colleges stopped reaching out because I was going to be returning right as the freshman college season starts. I felt like I lost everything, and, in that moment, I realized not just that I lost my college future, but soccer all together. That realization is the reason why I picked my major. I am going to get a Sports Digital Marketing degree. Although I might not be able to play soccer for the rest of my life, I still want it to be a part of it. So, I am going to go into the business side of it. And I chose marketing because I want to be able to show others the same beauty I saw in the sport. I want to inspire others to fall in love with a sport like I did because that sport became my entire life, and that is something I am completely okay with.

I have been playing soccer for my entire life and it has truly been the only stable thing in my life for most of it. I am 17 years old and have been supporting myself financially for most of my life. I do not live with my parents, I take care of my little sister, and I now am working to go to college all on my own. When all of these in my life were happening the only thing that made my life feel easier was being on a soccer field. Anytime I was stressed, mad, sad, or even just really happy you would see me training on a soccer field. Because of all the training I did I became a lot better at a fast rate. I got a scholarship for a club so that I could play competitively, and with this team we went to state every year for the last six years. I had college's looking at me and reaching out, I believed I had a real chance to go some where's with my life. A place with more financial stability and not living paycheck to paycheck. A place where my kids in the future aren't going to have to know what kind of struggles I wen through at their age. I was going to go some where's and be something. But all of that was before I tore my ACL right before my senior season. It was my first game back for the fall season. It was the end of the first half, and me and this other girl collided. My knee popped and I tore my ACL. In those few second a lot of my life changed. I could no longer play my senior season. Colleges stopped reaching out because I was going to be returning right as the freshman college season starts. I felt like I lost everything, and, in that moment, I realized not just that I lost my college future, but soccer all together. That realization is the reason why I picked my major. I am going to get a Sports Digital Marketing degree. Although I might not be able to play soccer for the rest of my life, I still want it to be a part of it. So, I am going to go into the business side of it. And I chose marketing because I want to be able to show others the same beauty I saw in the sport. I want to inspire others to fall in love with a sport like I did because that sport became my entire life, and that is something I am completely okay with.

My mother had me at seventeen years old and my dad walked out as soon as he found out that my mother was pregnant. My mother fought hard to ensure that I would be able to have the best life she could provide for me. Because of my mother, I am seventeen years old and am a strong, intelligent, and independent young lady who has a drive to be able to seek higher education to make a difference. And this determination I have is driven even more due to wanting to make sure I take advantage of the opportunities my mother has provided for me with the sacrifices she has made for me. I am doing this for both her and me. My mother struggled to keep her grades up after she had me due to having to spend all of the extra time she did have with me instead of homework. I was given an opportunity to make sure that because she did not keep her high grades, I would. So, I worked hard and made sure to be at the top of my classes. I am graduating with a 4.00 GPA and in the top five percent of my class. My mom also wanted to give me a head start in college, so although it added to our financial struggle, she put me in dual credit classes my sophomore year of high school and I have been doing them ever since. My mother also was a student athlete, she played basketball and was supposed to go to college for it with a full-ride scholarship. But, after she had me, she had to stop playing basketball and lost her scholarship with it, and she couldn't afford college on her own while taking care of me still. She was so passionate about her sport and wanted to make sure I had something like that in my life, so I started playing soccer. I fell in love with it immediately and have continued to play it my whole life. Due to my love for this sport I also wanted to have a career revolved around it. So, I am going into Sports Digital Marketing. With this degree I want to be able to show other people the beauty in the sport so that they are inspired and gain passion for something like me and my mother both have. My mother loves basketball and although she does not play it anymore, she loves to watch it and see others around her play it as well. I want to show others that sports or even other hobbies can change your life entirely, it gives you joy and happiness, and it also gives you new people that will stay in your life forever. I want this because if other people are struggling this can give them an outlet to have some stability and joy in their life.

I have been playing soccer for my entire life and it has truly been the only stable thing in my life for most of it. I am 17 years old and have been supporting myself financially for most of my life. I do not live with my parents, I take care of my little sister, and I now am working to go to college all on my own. When all of these in my life were happening the only thing that made my life feel easier was being on a soccer field. Anytime I was stressed, mad, sad, or even just really happy you would see me training on a soccer field. Because of all the training I did I became a lot better at a fast rate. I got a scholarship for a club so that I could play competitively, and with this team we went to state every year for the last six years. I had college's looking at me and reaching out, I believed I had a real chance to go some where's with my life. A place with more financial stability and not living paycheck to paycheck. A place where my kids in the future aren't going to have to know what kind of struggles I wen through at their age. I was going to go some where's and be something. But all of that was before I tore my ACL right before my senior season. It was my first game back for the fall season. It was the end of the first half, and me and this other girl collided. My knee popped and I tore my ACL. In those few second a lot of my life changed. I could no longer play my senior season. Colleges stopped reaching out because I was going to be returning right as the freshman college season starts. I felt like I lost everything, and, in that moment, I realized not just that I lost my college future, but soccer all together. That realization is the reason why I picked my major. I am going to get a Sports Digital Marketing degree. Although I might not be able to play soccer for the rest of my life, I still want it to be a part of it. So, I am going to go into the business side of it. And I chose marketing because I want to be able to show others the same beauty I saw in the sport. I want to inspire others to fall in love with a sport like I did because that sport became my entire life, and that is something I am completely okay with.

I have been playing soccer for my entire life and it has truly been the only stable thing in my life for most of it. I am 17 years old and have been supporting myself financially for most of my life. I do not live with my parents, I take care of my little sister, and I now am working to go to college all on my own. When all of these in my life were happening the only thing that made my life feel easier was being on a soccer field. Anytime I was stressed, mad, sad, or even just really happy you would see me training on a soccer field. Because of all the training I did I became a lot better at a fast rate. I got a scholarship for a club so that I could play competitively, and with this team we went to state every year for the last six years. I had college's looking at me and reaching out, I believed I had a real chance to go some where's with my life. A place with more financial stability and not living paycheck to paycheck. A place where my kids in the future aren't going to have to know what kind of struggles I wen through at their age. I was going to go some where's and be something. But all of that was before I tore my ACL right before my senior season. It was my first game back for the fall season. It was the end of the first half, and me and this other girl collided. My knee popped and I tore my ACL. In those few second a lot of my life changed. I could no longer play my senior season. Colleges stopped reaching out because I was going to be returning right as the freshman college season starts. I felt like I lost everything, and, in that moment, I realized not just that I lost my college future, but soccer all together. That realization is the reason why I picked my major. I am going to get a Sports Digital Marketing degree. Although I might not be able to play soccer for the rest of my life, I still want it to be a part of it. So, I am going to go into the business side of it. And I chose marketing because I want to be able to show others the same beauty I saw in the sport. I want to inspire others to fall in love with a sport like I did because that sport became my entire life, and that is something I am completely okay with.

I have been playing soccer for my entire life and it has truly been the only stable thing in my life for most of it. I am 17 years old and have been supporting myself financially for most of my life. I do not live with my parents, I take care of my little sister, and I now am working to go to college all on my own. When all of these in my life were happening the only thing that made my life feel easier was being on a soccer field. Anytime I was stressed, mad, sad, or even just really happy you would see me training on a soccer field. Because of all the training I did I became a lot better at a fast rate. I got a scholarship for a club so that I could play competitively, and with this team we went to state every year for the last six years. I had college's looking at me and reaching out, I believed I had a real chance to go some where's with my life. A place with more financial stability and not living paycheck to paycheck. A place where my kids in the future aren't going to have to know what kind of struggles I wen through at their age. I was going to go some where's and be something. But all of that was before I tore my ACL right before my senior season. It was my first game back for the fall season. It was the end of the first half, and me and this other girl collided. My knee popped and I tore my ACL. In those few second a lot of my life changed. I could no longer play my senior season. Colleges stopped reaching out because I was going to be returning right as the freshman college season starts. I felt like I lost everything, and, in that moment, I realized not just that I lost my college future, but soccer all together. That realization is the reason why I picked my major. I am going to get a Sports Digital Marketing degree. Although I might not be able to play soccer for the rest of my life, I still want it to be a part of it. So, I am going to go into the business side of it. And I chose marketing because I want to be able to show others the same beauty I saw in the sport. I want to inspire others to fall in love with a sport like I did because that sport became my entire life, and that is something I am completely okay with.

It is important for me to receive this scholarship because me and my family have worked so hard to ensure that I will be the first to not just to attend college, but graduate from college. I come from a lower-class family that has always had to work harder to get the things we want. For example, I have always made sure that I have stayed at a 4.00 GPA throughout my entire high school career. And because of that I am also in the top 5% of my class. I have always tried to make sure I am ahead of others in my class and to ensure that I continue that I also started my college classes early. I have been taking extra college classes through dual credit, so my family has already been making sacrifices to help me with this as well and even having a little bit of help from scholarships will make the biggest difference. Another way I stay ahead is through soccer. My family started me in soccer from very young and I immediately fell in love, and it became my entire life. In my last season of soccer before senior year. It was my first game back and at the end of the first half me and a girl collided, and my knee popped. I ended up tearing my ACL and I am out for the rest of the season entirely. I cannot get my soccer scholarship anymore due to me not returning until the freshman college season starts. But this made me realize how much I need soccer in my life so I am going to college for a Sports Digital Marketing degree so that even though I am not playing soccer anymore, I will still be able to be around the thing that makes me so happy. This is why my family has continued to help me financially to achieve this dream and although they are doing what they can, we still need help towards it. Therefore, with this scholarship it will not only help one person through college, but you're also helping the entire community that is helping her reach these goals that they all have. I plan to be the first of a long line of people to be going to college within my family and for that to happen I need a little jump start. This scholarship will help more than people realize, and that is why I believe I deserve this scholarship.

I chose to pursue a degree in Sports Digital Marketing because I have always had a passion for soccer. I have always viewed it as something beautiful and want share that with others. I want others to see that sports can be something that inspires strength, determination, and that just by itself it is art. In this field I am able to branch out to others and come up with ways to show people why I love soccer so much and how it has gotten me to be the person I am today. I want to be able to continue doing something I love for the rest of my life and if I cannot continue to play soccer, I want to be able to be on the business side of it and inspire others to pursue it as well.

I have lost many people in my life the past two years. I have lost my grandmother, my grandfather, my aunt, and two of my close cousins. These losses really affected me and changed me as a person. When these things first occurred, I felt like there was no point in anything anymore. I did not want to do anything or think anything at all. I wanted everything just to stop and go back to how it used to, but it didn't. Life kept going on and people stopped waiting on me to get better, they just wanted me to go back to how I used to be. But what I realized was that from that moment on I could not be how I used to be, but instead I decided I was going to be different in a way that was going to make those that I had lost proud. One thing I had in common with my grandfather was soccer. He was the reason I started playing. He would take me to every practice, every game, and he would always take me to go watch professional games as well. When I lost him, I did not know how I was going to be able to play again because my entire world had shifted. But then I realized that he would not want me to stop playing, instead he would want me to continue to play and do it better than ever. So, I worked harder and did what I could to be the best. Eventually I did become one of the best. I became captain sophomore year, and I won a bunch awards every year since. I am also continuing on my career in soccer throughout college. One thing that I had in common with my grandmother was that we both wanted me to be the first to go to college. My academics were always very important to me and my grandmother, and just like soccer with my grandfather, she wanted me to be the best. I did not become the best, but I got really close to it. I am graduating in the top five percent of my class and have a 4.00 GPA and graduating with the top diploma that is offered in Texas. I also have already started getting some college credits due to me starting dual credit my sophomore year of high school. All of these losses that I have went through had put me through a lot and made me feel like there was no point in doing anything. But after changing my mindset I realized that these people would not have wanted me to act the way I was acting. Instead, they would want me to continue perusing the goals they had for me, but instead they changed to goals I had for myself to ensure that they would continue to be proud of me, and I would continue to live life for all of them as much as I do for me.

My grandfather his who shaped me the most in my life. He is Mexican and he and his father shared a love for futbal and he wanted us to have that same hobby. I started playing when I was young, and it is something that we had always loved doing together. We attended some of the Mexico teams games and just appreciated being able to share this with each other. He has always wanted the best for me since he could never do a lot of it himself due to discrimination. So, he always had certain goals for me to achieve which made me want to attain those goals as well. I worked hard in academics so I could be a part of the best. I also felt the need to be the best in my sports as well, and I got there. I am in the top five percent of my class, have a 4,00 GPA, and I also have gotten the top awards in my sport since my freshman year. I am excited to be able to be the first in my generation to go to college and even more excited that I get to go for my futbal as well. This has been the goal for me since I was very young, and it was all because of my grandfather. He is the reason I have learned to be so grateful for my Mexican heritage.

I have played soccer my entire life. Soccer is how I have always identified myself as and what I am known for. In my senior year of high school, my soccer career was almost taken away from me. My first game back I felt a pop in my knee and could not play. I went to the doctor's that next day and got an MRI. When the results finally came back, they said I had completely torn my ACL, and I was not going to be able to play for my entire last season and would be getting back right when college soccer starts. I felt so empty and felt like everything I have ever worked for was taken away from me in one second. With the feeling of hopelessness, I chose to turn to God. I prayed every night until I went to church one day and talked with my pastor and he told me something that changed my view. He stated that "God will only give us as much as he knows we can handle" and "God has a plan and it is our jobs to accept it and believe he has a better plan for us in mind." After hearing this my perspective on things changed entirely. I was no longer angry or sad, I felt a sense of hope. I trusted what God had for me in store and knew that he had a bigger and better path for me waiting. A lot more stuff happened that summer that was sent to challenge my faith. I lost important people in my life, I moved out my parent's house, and I became financially responsible for myself entirely. But I kept my faith in God's plan and knew something better was still coming. It was the day of my surgery, and I was ready to start my recovery process immediately after. I woke up from my surgery that day with a miracle that I believe that only God could do. There is a one in a million chance that when going into surgery, the MRI is wrong and there is no tear. I was that one in a million and it is because of God and the plan he had in store. I was able to start my recovery process, and I am now able to play my senior season and now have the opportunity to play in college as well. My faith was tested, and I believe I succeeded in God's eyes. He gave me obstacles and I overcame them by knowing that he has a plan made for us and he would never give me more than I can handle. By keeping my faith, he rewarded me with the one thing that I was hoping to be able to do, keep playing soccer.