From a young age, my father was my role model and he taught me the importance of making a positive impact on the world. However, his passing in 2019 was a devastating experience, especially since we lived in different states and didn't see each other often. Despite this, his love and support have given me the confidence to pursue my dream of becoming a criminal defense lawyer and making a positive impact on the world. To improve the criminal justice system, changes must be made to ensure fairness and effectiveness. This includes reimagining pretrial and sentencing policies, reforming law enforcement, and defending the rights of individuals threatened by the government. Adequate financing of the corrections system is also crucial. Getting involved in criminal justice reform can provide unique opportunities for students and attorneys to make a difference. For example, the Massachusetts Legislature's Acts of 2018 Chapter 69 outlines certain changes in the criminal justice system that can be made to improve its fairness and effectiveness. By taking these steps, we can work towards a more just and equitable criminal justice system. As a young female minority, I am passionate about changing the criminal justice system and ensuring that everyone, especially minorities, receives true justice. Pursuing post-secondary education and attending law school will allow me to make a positive impact in the world, and I know my late father would be proud of me and the work I plan to accomplish in the future. In a world where systemic racism and inequality still exist, it is important to be able to recognize the contributions of Black Americans in the fight for democracy and justice. The legacy of slavery and Jim Crow laws still affects Black Americans today, and reparations are necessary to address this injustice. As Ta-Nehisi Coates argues in his article "The Case for Reparations," the government must acknowledge and make amends for its role in perpetuating systemic racism. By doing so, we can move towards a more equitable society where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. In conclusion, my father's teachings have inspired me to pursue a career in criminal justice reform and make a positive impact on the world. By working towards a more just and equitable society, we can honor the contributions of those who have fought for democracy and justice throughout history in order to bring liberty and justice for everyone across our nation and worldwide.

Youth violence has always been a battle, but the numbers have risen tremendously in recent years for many reasons. One of the leading causes of youth violence is gun violence. According to the Pew Research Center, the percentage of death among youth in the U.S. has risen by 50% from 2019 to 2021. Many states throughout the U.S. have set specific legislation towards guns alone, some of which have allowed guns to become more accessible, which can lead to more harm than good if they end up in the wrong hands. For instance, in Florida, more recent gun laws have allowed citizens to access and purchase guns with fewer restrictions, which can become a problem if it becomes out of hand. The usage of firearms is a severe topic that needs great action as they are highly dangerous and harmful to our youth. It is heartbreaking to see how many school shootings and young individuals alone need to lose their lives for the world around us to take action. We must take great action towards putting restrictions on the purchasing and usage of guns, as it will only cause more harm than good to be done. Our youth deserve to live in a world where they can feel safe going to school, work, or anywhere. It is our job as people to come together to make this country a safer place, a place where not just our youth but citizens, in general, can feel safe no matter where they are. The issue of gun violence and youth violence coincide as we as a nation need to do better to put more significant restrictions on such hazardous weapons to stop the spread of purchases and usage overall. Supporting sensible gun laws can lead to a reduction in easy access to guns and activism to educate the community and peers on the importance of reducing youth violence through these laws. However, it is essential to hold elected officials accountable to create effective gun violence prevention nationwide. To be more specific, supporting sensible gun laws such as universal background checks, improving school campus safety, restricting gun possession by people convicted of child abuse or elder abuse, and better regulating the sale of firearms can lead to a reduction in easy access to guns and can help prevent gun violence. Youth violence is a pressing issue in our society today, and while there are solutions to end it, we must unite to truly achieve our goal.

September 8th, 2019, is a day that replays in my mind so vividly as if it was yesterday; this would be the day I encountered my most significant obstacle: losing my father. I was only thirteen when I lost my father, and my parents were divorced at the time and living in separate states. Losing my father was an experience that opened up my eyes to a new world. As a young girl, I had never experienced such an event, especially one as traumatic and life-changing as this was for me. Battling impenetrable feelings of such grief was something new to me as, at that current moment, I had only ever heard of people losing their loved ones, and I had never truly experienced it myself. Due to such a hardship loss, I felt broken and depleted on many levels as I couldn't fathom why I had to end up with one parent and not two; it had already been hard enough to have divorced parents and did the usual vacations with my father in the summers and winters while being with my mother the rest of the year. From my newly awakened view, I had seen this moment as something given to me as a punishment and that I had deserved to feel this unbearable pain of sadness and loneliness, knowing I couldn't reach out to my father through a phone call or a text message, instead I was left to battle it out on my own. This experience of losing my father left me alone with my thoughts for quite some time which only left me feeling more depleted than I already was. My mental health was at an all-time low, and I felt things would never change, and I would stay sad forever. Luckily for that little girl who was struggling all those years ago, things did change. My mother, my biggest supporter throughout such a rough journey in my life, gave me tremendous love and support throughout my entire grief process and even into the present day. She allowed me to meet with a grief counselor to discuss my feelings and whatever was on my mind that I wished to share at that current moment, just a counselor and me; it truly allowed me to express myself on a new level. With the help of this counseling, I got into the art of journaling, which consisted of writing down my thoughts and feelings and putting down whatever I felt when I would get what my counselor and I called "waves of grief." These "waves of grief" included any moment in which I had a thought or memory about my father become present in my mind or a conversation, and it resulted in me feeling a certain way about it; this later became very helpful for me, and I continue to do it to this day. The use of journaling becoming incorporated into my life, alongside the tremendous support from my mother, allowed me to truly feel human again and work my way towards finding happiness again. It allowed me a new way to release my feelings of grief rather than bottling them up inside and crying them out later. My grief journey allowed me to not only renew myself with my mental health, but it allowed me to grow as an individual as well, which is why I am eternally grateful for the hardships I faced with losing my father, as it allowed me to connect with others, such as my grief counselor and my mother on a deeper level than I ever imagined.

Mental health is often dismissed as something trivial, but it's much more than just feeling sad. It can be a debilitating struggle, especially behind closed doors. I have struggled with my mental health in many ways throughout my life, but one experience reached out to me the most. This experience was the loss of my father when I was thirteen. This first-hand experience has shaped me into the person I am today. My journey with mental health first began after losing my father in September 2019. This moment opened my eyes to the world around me, and it felt like my world had honestly shattered. The journey of pain and heartbreak that my younger brother faced as we lost our father was a treacherous one which took an abundance of time to reach a point in which I felt I had "recovered," but I was wrong; an event like this is not something you don't recover from, it is one that you learn to adapt towards. While adjusting to my world, knowing I couldn't call or text my father, as my parents were divorced then, I felt hopeless as I had lost someone who meant so much to me and sacrificed so much time to give me the world. While learning how to heal, I attended grief camps where I met people who had experienced losing a loved one like myself, ages big and small. We learned to connect to talk about our emotions and find new ways to cope with our lives—this period shaped my understanding of the world as it helped me realize and feel the pain my peers around me at camp had been holding inside. It was a moment of realization that allowed me to understand that I was not alone in this and that I had a circle of people who had newly come into my life. However, they would impact it forever and create long-lasting bonds towards the process of healing from our grief which we shared in our times spent together. Among attending grief camps, I regularly visited my school counselor to discuss my feelings, emotions, thoughts, and honestly, whatever was on my mind and to figure out how I could be helped to heal from such a traumatic situation at such a young age. These sessions were helpful to me as I formed a tight-knit relationship with my school counselor. It allowed me to have the opportunity to truly open up about my feelings on the subject matter of my father's death and to find a balance within this matter, as I was still attending school very abruptly after said incident, which was a lot for me at the time. It was hard to get up in the morning and attend school so suddenly after the matter, but I pushed through and continued to participate in school daily. While all this was great, and I made significant progress, some still felt empty inside. I like to call that part of me my "inner child." After such a tragic loss of my father at such a young age, my inner child was now broken, and it felt as if it had lost one of the main contributors to its happiness. As a thirteen-year-old girl in the world, losing my father, one of the most supportive, kind, and loving people I have ever known, was something I couldn't shake away, and honestly, I don't think I ever will. Losing my father made such a significant impact on my life that in present times I stand proud, and I am so grateful for the opportunities of relationships along the way with peers who had experienced their losses, reconnecting with family and good friends of my father who knew him before I was even born! It showed me that I wasn't alone in this world and that I have a support system so much bigger than I could ever imagine, so many beautiful people who love me and are connecting with me over the same thing, grief, and a great love for someone so amazing. This rollercoaster of an experience has allowed me to realize that nobody ever has to fight alone in this world, whether you struggle with mental health, feeling down, or even losing a loved one. I feel strongly that mental health is overlooked, and I think that even in my times of sadness and leading up to the present day, there are still times in which I feel that my mental health is depleting, whether it be from grief or whatever is on my mind making me feel some way. Continuing forward, my experiences with grief and mental health go side by side in my life, and nobody can shake that experience from me. However, it can be helped to become mended, which is the goal in my life, to find a state of happiness in which I feel confident that my mental health has been restored to a balance with which I am comfortable. The overall goal in my life is to attend post-secondary education to make not only myself proud but to impress my late father as well. I know he would be so proud of me for what I have accomplished so far in my life with my academic and athletic success inside and outside of the classroom, and he would want me to keep pushing for my goals in life and that anything is possible if I put my mind to it. This scholarship is a splendid opportunity for me, and I believe I am highly qualified when it comes to applying, as I have a great story to tell. I am passionate about furthering my education, and having the opportunity to apply for this scholarship is a blessing. I know my father would be proud of me for achieving my goals.

Working to address my future student loan debt has always been a goal of mine that I wish to accomplish. In the future, I plan on attending schooling to become a lawyer and earning my Juris Doctorate. Alongside this, I have to pass the LSAT and the Bar Exam. Big dreams like this push me to continue with higher education as I would like to be successful in my future and accomplish the great goals I have established today as a high school student. While these goals sound high and mighty, that does not necessarily mean they will be easy. As a first-generation low-income student, learning the true meaning of hard work keeps me going, and I thank my mother for that. She has taught me to keep striving for my goals, whether I have one fan or a thousand fans, to push myself to be the best I can be. Besides this, she has also told me she cannot afford to send me to school as I have dreamed of, and she has longed for me. Using this information, I have promised myself and my mother that I will work hard to get scholarships to pay for my schooling to lift the weight off my mother's shoulders about worrying whether or not she can send me to school. The use of scholarships and student loans will help me pursue my academic career goals as I will have the funds to further my education without the hassle of my education not being furthered. I plan on tackling my future student loan debt by working part-time as a high school student. I also plan on working throughout college, primarily to obtain my undergraduate degree. Working part-time is something that has allowed me to save up money to not only be able to attend college but it has also allowed me to make sure that a portion of my student debt is reduced. However, I will have to take out student loans; I will continue to save up my money so I can pay off these loans, as well as reduce the stress of having my mother end up in debt rather than myself, as it is my schooling that I wish to pursue. I would not wish that on her, along with her tremendous support. Furthering my education is extremely important to me. I look forward to doing so since I am a first-generation high school and college student, so this would make me proud to show not only myself but my family how far I have come and to show the world that I can do things if I put my mind towards them with the use of hard work. While student debt is something many do not enjoy or look forward to, I know that conquering it in the future will be worth it as my education is vital to me, and my lot depends on it.

Overcoming adversity. To me, this means being able to uphold yourself against the challenges facing you in your lifetime. A prime example of adversity in my life was the loss of my late father. Growing up, my father was someone who I looked up to not only as my hero, but as a loving, kind, and generous soul. He taught me how to love and be loved, and he taught me how to be successful in life through hard work. Losing him was one of the worst feelings I had ever experienced in my life, and at the time I was only thirteen years old. Being a thirteen-year-old girl already came with its twists and turns, but this one was like those big scary drops on a rollercoaster where you look forward and you see nothing. I had no clue what to do, who to run to, or how to even react to the situation. The feelings in my heart were so shattering that I felt like my heart was being stabbed with a sword. Of course, I had my mother alongside me to comfort and hold me close to tell me "Everything is going to be alright", but even still, nothing can replace fatherly love. The love and countless life lessons from my father taught me to grow up, how to stand tall and strong, and most importantly how to be resilient towards the obstacles thrown in my path. While in the present day, the loss of my father still aches my heart and I miss him ever so dearly, all the life lessons, love, and support from the many many members of my family have allowed me to be more at peace with the situation and to realize that not everything is going to go as planned, and that is fine, but the most important thing is realizing and learning how to adapt. I take into account daily every conversation, text message, phone call, and even voicemail from my father to give me the strength I deserve to push through my life for his glory. I continue to live and strive to be successful and achieve great things in hopes of knowing that he would be proud of what I've accomplished so far, and what I will accomplish in the near future. To my late father James, I give him many thanks for being my teacher towards living out my life to the fullest extent and for teaching me the greatest gift one could give, which is love. I was taught how to love and I believe that is the greatest gift he could have left me with, his love, and especially his strength. So I thank him in all of his glory for being the mentor, and amazing father he was to me in his lifetime and that I have been able to overcome the adversity of losing him in sight, but not in my mind.

Some attributes that make me unique as an individual is that I am a first generation high-school and future college student. I am also an Afro-Latina female, I come from a Mexican and African American background. My upbringing in a Hispanic household with my mother is what has brought me to be the person I am today; my mother immigrated to the United States all the way from her little hometown of Jalisco, which is located in Mexico. She taught me as an individual what it’s like to go through true struggles growing up and coming to terms with change at a young age. She is the reason I am the person I am today and why I choose to give back to my community in the way I do. I choose to spread my Hispanic and African American heritage among others and let it be heard that I am proud of my skin and my background as a person and that the struggles and challenges our ancestors faced are the roots in who we have become today. This allows me to share with my community not only my story, but the stories of those who came before me, and how it came to be what is today with people like me in today’s society. For the color of my skin does not define me, instead it encourages me to be the light. It encourages me to be the change in a predominantly white society and let the color shine through. This allows me to bring change by showing others not only inside my school community but outside of it in the real world as well that life is so much more than just what it appears to be. I plan to give back to my community by actively helping others and supporting businesses that are Black owned and Hispanic owned as well. I also plan to involve myself in events with my ethnic background, which allow me to meet more people with the same makeup as me but also to inform myself and learn to greater embrace my culture in a deeper way. In example, I volunteered for an event at the Botanical Gardens a few months prior and it was such a wonderful experience which truly opened my eyes to the lovely culture of Mexico. It was an involving event I participated in with many of my family members as we danced upon the stage for the celebration of Día De Los Muertos, otherwise known as Day of the Dead, which is a holiday that is widely celebrated in Latin American cultures and has been ongoing for centuries. It is a holiday that my family and I personally participate in and it truly made me feel a greater understanding of the celebration and holiday through this event as we danced and celebrated with one another. This is a prime example of how I will give back to my community, by spreading the light among my culture and showing pride in who I am, not only as an individual, but as a community as well. I am proud of who I have become as a person, and I wish to be able to share my love for my culture among others throughout my community as well!