My interest in business started off at the young age of ten. I started selling Legos I found in yard sales to peers at school. Convincing them they were newly released with limited access. My first experience where I observed if an item was rare people are willing to pay more for it. Introducing me to the world of reselling, where I sold shoes. I would stake out in front of stores for several hours to be able to get a shoe at a low price. I later resold them at a higher price since The people with first access ruled the market. They choose how much the sneaker will go for. It was truly magnificent. So when I found out about stocks and how they worked. Stocks were like sneakers, minus the hassle. However, when it came to stocks I realized it was more than reselling. It went deeper than stocks, knowledge of finance in general was scarce to me. I didn’t even know what a bank account was. Prompting me to be Financially astute. Teaching myself concepts of how everyday finances work. Financial actions and budgeting habits, I was in awe of the knowledge that is at our fingertips. They never taught this to us at school. My fascination led me to create a Financial literacy club in my school. Being in a low-income community is no excuse to be financially illiterate. Being in the majority Latino community many students are children of immigrants, such as myself. We see insufficient knowledge of financial concepts that are needed to finally lead adult lives. The club's mission is to be an outlet of knowledge to help students become self-sufficient. My club coordinator enjoyed the idea that we got a partnership with Chase Banking. Preceding in Chase Banking representatives coming to the school to further assist in more in-depth topics. Setting up schedules of lessons learning about credit, retirement funds, and bank account budgeting. Moreover, reaching out into topics such as investment and stock portfolios. Gaining knowledge led us to join the Capitol Hill Stock Market game. To see the growth of my peers, the seed of knowledge blossoms. Now that I'm enrolled in University, and thankfully completed my first year this past May. The club has grown its seed into three local schools, including Compton High and Centennial High School. I could not be more proud of this precious seed that is helping my community grow.

I couldn’t catch my breath, my vision was blurry, the distorted yells of my coach centered me for a moment just to fall unconscious seconds later. My coach could have yelled in my face and I still wouldn't have gotten up. I gave up. The encouragement of my loved ones was insignificant. I didn’t see it in myself to keep going. I lacked motivation, recognizing my flaw I began the journey to develop the skill of self motivation. I recalled the commitment I made to boxing. To no longer be fearful and believe in myself. One main obstacle was anxiety when facing a rival. I had a tendency to run back from my opponent when they applied pressure, leaving me vulnerable. I upgraded my stance training with one foot inside a tire, forcing me to use head movements, parrying and counters. Gradually learning to face my fear head first, maintaining this mentality inside and outside the ring. My fears gave me the visualization of courage, my subjective mindset led to conformity, especially because I was lazy. I prioritized fun over academic success. Observing my friends having a good time encouraged me to join them. Putting short periods of fun ahead of my responsibilities. Upon reflection I started writing my goals down as if they already happened. For example, last year I had the drive to start my own club at school but lacked the courage to do it. So I wrote in my notebook ”Today I had my first club meeting.” Writing in detail how I would organize and recruit for the club. This year I was able to accomplish my goal of creating a Financial Literary club. I pitched my idea to the club coordinator Ms. Jocelyn and she loved it. She informed her higher ups of my idea, resulting in their partnership with Chase Banking. Preceding in Chase Banking representatives being brought to the school to further assist. In addition I was given the privilege to be the ambassador, between Financial Literacy Club and Chase. By achieving self motivation, I grew to become resilient in boxing and gained the confidence to start my own club. Now, I see that spotting a flaw and putting in work to change it has become my greatest asset. One that I will practice for the rest of my life.

Having an immigrant mother shaped my life different from the average american. Not knowing a lick of English migrating from mexico. We moved into a majority Latino neighborhood. All I knew was Spanish, you would think I was getting raised in mexico. By the age of 6 when it was time to start school my mother was fearful of me going to school and not knowing English so she decided to make me wait a year, causing me to start school late. Once I started I was the biggest kid in first grade. I was extremely nervous and my social skills weren't developed yet. Nonetheless i meet my still good friend to this day Herbert, which was on of my first friends in school. We spoke only in Spanish and he taught me a lot, some of my first English sentences. Saying things like, ¨Hi my name is Isaac¨. Then the culture of united states films, starting with Star Wars. At such a young age he made me become a fan! And i never looked back. That was just the start, I was mesmerized by motion pictures, from harry potter, Scooby Doo, to fast and the furious. And that's where I find my love for music. Watching Fast and the Furious introduced me to one of my favorite songs, Bandolero by Don Omar and Tengo Calderon. After listing to that track just like Alice into the rabbit hole I went; Nicky Jam, Pitbull, Romeo Santos. Later I saw there collaborations with rappers, starting with Usher, Chris Brown, Bobby Valentino. Wayyy to much R&B, nonetheless it really influenced how I saw different cultures. I felt like I adopted a part in me. I hadn't really ever been around black folks and moving into a primary black neighborhood would have made some people fearful and worrisome. Not me, I didn't feel like Dorothy when she landed in Kansas. Nay, I felt like this is going to be my new home. My dreams for my future is to be a businessman, to have knowledge on how the market works and the art of negotiations, to be able to make someone buy something they didn't even know they wanted. To influence people and build relationships. Especially to build a public studio right here in Compton, there are so many talent artist; rappers singers, musicians. So much raw talent and I want to able to make that happen and make Compton known again for the new generation of artist coming out of the city!