People always say that friendship is a true gift, and for a long time, I was unable to understand that, that is until I met my best friend, on our first night at college. I had gotten locked out of my dorm because I had forgotten my keys, and because I was so embarrassed at the time, I knocked on her door instead of calling the RA. When she opened that door, I saw immediately that we had a few things in common from some posters of bands hanging on her wall. I distinctly remember wondering if we would be able to become friends because of that. As I asked for her help, we both realized that there was nothing she could do for me and I eventually called the RA. But the craziest thing about this moment is even though I was so embarrassed to have already gotten locked out of my dorm on the very first night, talking to her instantly calmed me down. It was this moment, this first encounter, that solidified what would grow to be a true friendship because even though she was a complete stranger, she had managed to calm me down and make me feel less embarrassed about the situation. This moment was 4 years ago, and to say that I have never valued a friendship greater is an understatement. It's not just the similar interests and hobbies that make a friend, it is the way they are true to themselves and to you and the way they make an impact on your life, even in the smallest of ways. I have so many of these moments with my best friend, that truthfully it's hard to write only 600 words about her. She's been there for me through the bad - when I've pushed myself too hard studying for my Research class she tells me to get up and take a break before I've even considered it. When even though I hate hugs but needed one after my grandma had passed away, she without question was the first one to offer me a hug before I could even figure out how to ask and held me while I cried. But she's also always been there for the good. When we look at each other and just start laughing for no reason and keep laughing until our stomachs hurt. When we sing our hearts out to Arctic Monkeys without worrying if we're being too loud for our neighbors (apologies to our neighbors). When we stay up late at night telling each stories and having deep conversations about life. Every moment with her has been friendship, and I've never had to question where I was with her, I just knew that I could call her my best friend and she would always be there for me. In every moment, from spontaneous and exciting to the mundane and simple, every moment is special and something that I can look back on with a smile. It's crazy to me that I have only known her for 4 years of my life because I genuinely can't fathom that she once was not in it. She has done irreparable damage to my heart and shown me that I can have true friendships. She has shown me unwavering devotion in an effortless way and I know that even if we somehow grow apart in the future, which is highly unlikely, I would still be grateful to have known her because I've experienced one genuine friendship in this lifetime because of her, and I won't ever stop being grateful for that.

With all of the excitement of moving away from home, being more independent, and meeting people from all kinds of places, college is often viewed as the best four years of your life. It's where you meet lifetime friends and is the foundation for your future career and life. But as much as we like glamourizing college, it isn't always easy or fun for everyone. A community that is often overlooked, not only within higher education but in general society, are those that are impacted by sexual violence, relationship violence, and stalking. These situations are already hard to navigate, but within the collegiate space, where one may see the perpetrator daily in classes, their friend group, or social gatherings, it may feel so much harder. A place that is meant to foster learning and knowledge may become a place of ill feelings and fear with terrible experiences such as these and like many other survivors finding support or help may not be easy either. It is knowing that this community is undermined and the difficulties of navigating the healing process afterward that led me to volunteer at a sexual violence prevention and resource office, to empower survivors and hopefully teach college students about consent to avoid these situations. I not only spread awareness of the office as a resource to students, but I also led and created programming revolving around creating a consent culture on my college campus. Making spaces to talk about topics like boundaries, healthy relationships, consent, and why these topics are so vital for a good college experience but also life. Volunteering in the sexual violence office has not only allowed me to see where I can help others but has also helped me develop myself and skills that I will continue to use throughout the rest of my life. Before entering the office, I found myself often voiceless, afraid to speak up for fear of being judged, just as many survivors often feel. While I worked in the office, I led many programs and workshops that pushed me out of my comfort zone. Wanting to spread a consent culture on campus meant interacting with all kinds of people on campus, leaving my comfort zone, and speaking to those on topics that aren't often talked about. I grew to become comfortable with public speaking, interacting with people, and expressing my opinions and thoughts. A once shy person and someone unable to speak up for herself grew to be able to speak in front of crowds of over 500 people, be able to bring up ideas to her supervisor for programming and events, and empower survivors to find help. It is through empowering survivors and my college peers to practice consent in their everyday lives that I ultimately saw the biggest growth in myself. I was able to develop skills that will not only help me succeed in a professional sense but also as a person learning to navigate the world. Being able to speak up for myself, to advocate for myself and others, has allowed me to grow into someone the old me would never be able to recognize. Many may think that volunteering is just for helping others, but you can learn so much about yourself while doing it. Being able to help others has been such a fulfilling experience and I know that with the growth that I've gained through volunteering, I will continue to empower those around me, but also empower myself to speak out and continue helping others.

One of the worst feelings in the world is losing a loved one. To know you can no longer hear their voice, see their face, see them smile, heck, you even miss being able to argue with them because at least they'd be there, arguing right back. Their lack of presence is so overbearing that it becomes harder to breathe, the emptiness increases the longer you realize that that's where they would've been sitting, eating, laughing. This is how I feel every day without my grandma. She was always around in my childhood and often took care of me and my siblings on weekends. Seeing her was the highlight of my week, even when we didn't do much else but eat kiwi she had peeled for us and sat in the backyard looking at her garden. Losing my grandma last year put my life on pause and honestly, I don't know if it has really even begun again since I said my final goodbye to her in the hospital. I was studying for finals when I found out that she was coding and wasn't going to make it through the afternoon. I spent hours in the hospital, waiting for the impending that I never wanted to come, but everyone knew there wasn't much else anyone could do. She died on December 1st, 2022. To be honest, I am still grieving. Knowing that my grandma won't get to see me graduate college has nearly broken me multiple times. She was my biggest advocate for education, always pushing me to pursue greater things because she knew that I could accomplish them when I put my mind to it. For a long time, I never considered higher education as a possibility for me, my family being too poor to afford it, but my grandma knew that I was destined for more. She made me promise her I'd go to college, because you only live once, and you should live without regrets of what could've been, and she just knew that I could do it. Her encouragement and that promise pushed me to do everything I needed to make college a possibility. I am so beyond grateful that I receive financial aid at my college, and that they support my endeavors, just as my grandma did. Like I said earlier, I lost my grandma a year ago, and while some people may say, it's been a year, to move on, it's not as simple as it sounds. If anything it gets harder as time goes on. I see her in everything that I do, I miss her on birthdays and holidays that she can't celebrate with us, and I feel her spirit with me when I am living my life at college. The prompt asked how her passing had shaped my life. It was in her life that shaped me the most, when she was alive, she pushed me to be my best and was my biggest supporter, but it is her passing that has only furthered her wishes. She may no longer be with me, but her wishes and hopes for me live on in all that I do. I may not have her around physically anymore, but her passing is a constant reminder of the promise I made to her. It hasn't gotten easier, my heart aches thinking of her, but it is through her that I gain strength. Because when I graduate and walk that stage, she'll be there with me, living through the promise I'd fulfilled, and that'll be just the beginning of the life she wanted for me.

In one of my favorite movies, "Crazy Rich Asians," the main character said something about women that I constantly remind myself: "...Women lift up economies." Granted the character was talking about loans from a princess, I think this phrase applies to all levels of life and is especially true in our real world, despite how much women are undermined. Women are the backbone of society, often left without support, without credit, without gratitude. Being a woman is far from simple and it's no easy feat, but to be a woman is to be built in with so much courage and love for others, to be given the beauty of being a woman in this world and persisting despite the barriers that come with being a woman. There is strife and difficulty, but so much beauty, love, courage, and strength in being a woman and it is with this mentality that I want to help my fellow peers to achieve the greatness that we were set out to have. It is this mentality that reminds me of the great privilege it is to be able to come to college to set out for a better future. Everywhere I have been in life has been a constant reminder that women have to work so hard just to receive even a semblance of our male counterparts. Doctor's offices, business companies, the grocery stores. Being a woman in higher education has also proven to be difficult, just as much as it is anywhere else. There is little exception to this deemed societal rule, but I say to heck with that rule. It is why I work hard in all that I do, why I strive for more, and why I hope to help others in the future. Right now, I am working in an on-campus office that focuses on the prevention and education of sexual violence, where I help to spread campus-wide awareness of sexual violence and violence against women. This office has been a true life-changer and has helped me solidify my plans and my want to help others through my career. Seeing the injustices that people face and the path they must go through to begin their healing has shown me just how much support people need in their daily lives, especially in their areas of work. I am currently working to get my Bachelor's in Psychology, and upon graduating this spring, I hope to continue my education by getting my Master's in Industrial-Organizational Psychology. It is with this education that I hope to apply my learning to businesses and companies that seek to make productive environments by providing ample support to their workers. Companies are full of people, especially women, who need support from their workplaces, not just a paycheck. It is my goal to help those in their workplaces because we all need to make a living in this world, but we shouldn't be sacrificing our wellbeing and mental health to provide for ourselves, and our families. To also demonstrate acknowledgment and praise for workers, which is often overlooked as a method of motivation in the workplace. "Women lift up economies" has never rung more true. While the rest of society may put down women in more ways than one, it has also inspired us to create community and uplift each other. It is through these forced hardships that I've learned that I want to do more for my community and others. Because being a woman is a truly special and unique experience, filled with empathy for others, love for our community, and courage to enact change.

Filipinos are incredibly hardworking people. Looking at my family, this statement is apparent, but seeing others in my community, it rings even truer. Seeing my community's resilience and hardworking nature only makes me proud to be Filipino. But along with this hardworking nature, the commonality of overworking to the point of detriment leading to a decline in physical and mental health is all too known. Seeing my mother, grandmother, aunties, and uncles working so hard to provide for their families to the breaking point is disheartening and has only led to constant worry for them. They put their heart and soul into the work, but at what cost? The cost of their health, physical and mental. Even when working becomes detrimental, they continue to work because they need to care for their families and pay bills. They work so hard only to come home and still be present and care for the family because our culture is heavily family-oriented. We love family gatherings, but it hurts to see my family in pain because they work so hard and do their best to have fun at parties and be with everyone. They do all this, work and love hard, too, most of the time without proper recognition, often underrepresented in many fields and media. Because of people like my fellow Filipinos, I have gone into the field of Psychologexplicitlylly looking into Human Resources and getting a minor in Organizational Behavior under Business. I want to help my community get the proper care and support within their work environments and become the support and backbone that acknowledges their work and effort. As much as I am tired of seeing my family members and other Filipinos work too hard, I am tired of seeing the lack of recognition and representation for the community. I want to be the person who can create change in their work environments, providing them with the care and respect they deserve and the support they desperately need so they don't overwork themselves. I want to honor their accomplishments and acknowledge the effort they put into everything they do. And in doing so, I hope to be the representation that our community, oh so, lacks. We are a big community, many of our family members immigrated to America for a better life, yet we are not seen. I want to be in a position that will allow me to show how vital Filipinos are in the workforce and the resilience and strength that we have that go unnoticed. By entering Human Resources, I can provide better accommodations and support to my community in work environments, all while representing my community, showing just how hardworking Filipinos are while helping my community understand that they can be hard work. Still, their health is just as important as paying the bills. Our Filipino culture is beautiful and full of life and family. I want to prolong our culture, especially where we are underrepresented, by protecting the people and ensuring that we all live long to pass down traditions and carry on the culture, and making sure that I continue to see my relatives happy and present at gatherings as healthy as they can be.

Have a variety of study spaces away from your room/bed. At a coffee shop, dining table, somewhere outside, the library. Having multiple study spaces that you can rotate and switch up will allow your brain to feel more refreshed and have a better time when you are studying. Make sure to keep your workspace and your resting space separate. Never let them collide because you will feel like resting when working more often. I struggled to get work done when just at my desk; by forcing myself to go out and find another place, not only was I exploring my campus more, but I was getting out, getting in a walk before studying, and clearing my mind. I was more mentally prepared to get to looking.

"As long as you're happy and succeeding in life, then so I am." I heard this phrase all the time as a kid up until now as a full-grown college student. My mother is and has been my sole supporter in everything I do, and she's always made the most considerable sacrifices to support me to ensure I succeed. She would work overtime to make sure she could afford the things I needed in school and the extracurriculars I took on in high school. She would wake up at 5 am to take me to volunteer for my clubs. She bought me my first flute in middle school when I told her I wanted to be in marching band, even though it was an expense we could've gone without. She bought me new track shoes when I joined the high school track team and paid for my uniform, probably against better judgment as we were budgeting everywhere else in our lives. She did all this by herself and has continued to do so, always funding me and my dreams because she knew I couldn't get into college with just good grades. She helped me become the well-rounded student I am today. She not only funded me and my endeavors, but she was the emotional backbone I needed to keep me going. Anytime I couldn't decide what I wanted to do, anytime I felt overwhelmed by school and life at home, anytime I was frustrated doing homework because I couldn't get the answer to that one problem, she was there to help me through it all, holding me as I cried and offering any advice and comfort she could see so that I could feel better. I felt like giving up often, but she was there to keep me going and help me get through those hard times. Even in college, even though I have become more independent, she still finds ways to help me stay grounded while I'm away from her and home. She always calls to check up on me and ensures I'm doing okay and have everything I need. She always asks me if she needs to cover anything for me even though I am fully aware that our family doesn't need more expenses. I'm in my third year of college now, and I am grateful that I have made it this far. There is still so much to come, and I am excited about my educational future and where it may take me, and it truly is all because of my mother and her support that I am at a four-year university living a life I never could've imagined for myself. Because of her, I want to get my education and strive for more, to have a better life where I don't have to overwork myself and live a comfortable life with a job that I enjoy and not just to make ends meet but also to repay my mother and allow her to relax in her later years so that I can spend as much time with her as possible. Show her the support she has always given me and allow her to be comfortable and get the finer things in life that she truly deserves, as she has always shown me.

When we see a leader in the community, we often think that they have their life together, that they aren't struggling as much as us because, look, they seem to know what they are doing. But that is almost always never the case. From the outside looking in, you may look at me and think I am an accomplished person. President and Head Editor of HerCampus at my school, which is a women's online magazine supporting and encouraging women to speak out on their thoughts and opinion, a place of empowering women in college to be their best self that is heard. Outreach coordinator for Camp Kesem, an organization that works to give kids impacted by their parent's cancer a free summer camp where they can get away, have fun, and be around others who understand what they are going through. I am a mentor in the Mentor's collective, ready to offer my aid to new college students so they don't feel as lost as I was. A student with a 3.87 cumulative GPA and a 3.9 in my major. I will also be training this summer to be a part of the CARE office at my college, which works to educate and advocate to end sexual violence on our campus. Sure, now I can manage this, but there was a time when I struggled with my mental health but hid it because I didn't want to see myself as weak. I once tried to hide the door that hid the fact that I was struggling with not only managing everything in my life but my trauma, my depression, and my anxiety. It was something I was ashamed of and couldn't let others see because I needed them to see me for my accomplishments rather than my struggles. But that wasn't working; I hated myself every day, was stressed beyond belief, and couldn't tell anyone because I was scared of being judged. I have always advocated for others' mental health, telling them it was essential to take a break and understand the struggles people go through, and there I was, doing the opposite of what I preached. Only when I found a great support system and let myself finally talk about my struggles and mental health did I see an improvement in myself. Talking about my mental health issues with close friends and in these positions that I have gained allowed me to share my story and show other people that even if I seem like I have it all, it's so easy to hide the struggle. I became someone who wasn't afraid to speak about mental health and has made it a priority in my life to make sure that others know they are not alone and that everyone has a safe space to share what they are dealing with. My struggle to speak up helped me become a leader in these spaces because when I was finally able to, it made me a leader that people could look to and see that anyone can be a leader and struggle. While I may be a leader in these organizations that I am a part of, the most prominent way I have been an active leader is by showing others it is okay to be vulnerable and talk about the dark stuff and that wherever I am, I will always create a safe space for people to speak up and talk about their mental health and struggles.

For a long time, I was forced to see my Filipino identity and culture through a lens of hatred and embarrassment. I grew up around people who didn't like that I was different. Me being a mixed kid, Filipino-Mexican, I always felt that they were forcing me to choose one over the other or to abandon both, but they actually didn't like either. For a time in my life, I neglected a piece of my identity to appease others, and to this day, I regret it because the opinion of others allowed me to drift away from my cultural identity. Still, despite this treatment, it made me more aware of the unfair treatment and lack of representation for individuals like myself and became a driving force for me to reconnect to my roots. Being Filipino is a prideful thing, I am truly privileged to be a part of such a mass and beautiful culture. We take up so much space in America, in the health industry, the agricultural industry, and so much more, but we are never truly seen. There has historically never been much space created for our people, and that is something I wish to change. I want to create a space where we Filipinos can speak about our lives, experiences, and everything in between. I'm no actor nor a singer-songwriter so I can't represent Filipinos on a massive scal like in the entertainment industry, but I can represent our community at my college and in any little space that I create. I am a part of a national organization called HerCampus, a college women's magazine across the country, and I, as a writer for the magazine, have often written about my struggle as a woman of color, as a Filipino woman. Further in my career, I aim to be an IO Psychologist in the business industry, where I will take up space and create more for other Filipinos like myself and be the representation that we lack in so many places. I am proud to be Filipino and I plan to spread that message anywhere I go.

The greatest thing about reading is that you can explore different worlds and experiences without ever leaving your bedroom. You can learn about other people and their lives and how they lived. It can also be a great escape for people who are tired of the natural world and want to explore the fantasy and wonder of a character's life that isn't like their own but give perspective to keep going in their own life. That's what reading has done for me. I grew up in a toxic household filled with alcoholism, fighting parents, and little money. When things in my life were starting to get too scary to deal with in the real world, I could pick up a book and read about characters who had lives full of battles and obstacles, and yet they were still able to reach the end of their journey after fighting for so long. Books not only allowed me to see a world greater than my own away from the trivial fights about money and allowed me to see a world where characters could succeed despite what they had been through. Books showed me the characters with lives full of heartache and hardships but still had the strength to be good, help others, and fight for the greater good. Through reading, I found the courage and strength, just like some of my favorite characters, to keep living life and reach for the better. Reading gave me the role models I needed to inspire me to be better and to strive for anything despite the hard and the pain. There are so many books where the writer writes the characters to have some of the most traumatic life experiences one can face that could've quickly taken them over, made them villains, or given up and not tried. Yet, even though they went through so much, they chose to fight for what was right and keep striving for their happy ending. It may take them three books and two spin-off series to get said happy ending, but the writer keeps writing them to fight for their lives and to keep trying to get the better. Reading has shown me to try despite everything and what life has dealt you. You can achieve despite what you have been through. Even though I didn't have the happiest childhood, I can fight the demons it left me and work towards my happy ending. Many people don't like reading because they can't fathom the things that happen in the stories, they may not like the unrealistic nature of the stories, but the truth is books reveal the natural world and reflect it. I wanted to escape in my childhood, away from my troubles and hardships, but I always chose books that reflected the very thing, books where the characters faced significant trauma only to fight and conquer their battles. The reading showed me what I needed to do, who I needed to be like to get what I wanted, to truly escape the world I didn't want to be a part of through fighting, persevering, and working to create a better one. It may seem silly to say that some fictional characters and their lives inspired me to live a better life, but we learn through others. Reading allows me to see the lives of many others who, like myself, are trying to reach a happy ending and shows me that despite where everyone may begin their story, through perseverance and continuing to find the good, the end is of our creation and we can reach it.

I have lived my 19 years of life never not knowing the impacts of alcohol abuse. My father, who's damaged our relationship beyond repair, damaged it and so much else due to his drinking. He's further dipped my family into poverty with his poor money management; he's ruined the relationship he had with my mother, he has made my brothers and I terrified that we might become like him, and he's made my relationships with his side of the family sour as they enabled him. There has been a lot of damage in my life due to his addiction. He's made it so hard for me to live my life like anyone else, and I used to beg and pray so desperately to have a life other than my own because no one should have to be ruined by addiction. I had this mindset for so long, but as a growing adult, going through my own life and hardships, I have come to understand what his addiction truly did for me. "It is said that how we choose to respond to life's challenges shapes our life." This statement has never rang more true for me. When I was younger, I would've said that it is unfair and I deserved better, and even now, I say the same thing but with a different perspective. It is unfair what alcoholism and addiction have done to my family and me, but I deserve better because I can create a better life for myself instead of just begging for change to happen with no action. I may have had a different life growing up than most people, dealing with a father who cared more for his relationship with alcohol than his relationship with his family, and it definitely wasn't easy, but it taught me to continue striving despite the hardships. His addiction taught me that I can take what I have dealt with and work toward the better despite what I have been through. I may have grown up dealing with the repercussions of his actions and alcoholism, but I don't have to let his choices that caused strife and pain for me to affect my life and my future. I don't have to beg and plead for change; I can do something to make change happen. I can work hard and enjoy life despite my upbringing because I deserve a better life than I was dealt with, but I can achieve it through hard work and values that keep me going. I could've easily been a very angry person who never did anything to help herself and just let the alcoholism consume me just as it did to my father, but I knew that I wanted my life to be better and that I deserved it, so I continue to make active decisions in my life to lead me away from that treacherous path of addiction. I don't let what I grew up around consume me and ruin me. Dealing with a parent's addiction is one of the hardest battles for a kid, but you don't have to let it take you too. You can escape that toxic cycle and give yourself the life you deserve. So yes, I do agree with that statement because how I chose to respond to my father's addiction has made me the hardworking and dedicated individual I am now, who chooses every day to get away from that cycle and to work toward the life I deserve, and who has not let the chaos of addiction ruin my life.

For the entirety of my life, my mom has worked so hard as my brothers and my sole financial provider and parental figure. I've seen her work herself to the bone to provide for us and ensure my siblings and I was fed, clothed, and happy. I watched for years as my mom bought us new backpacks, new shoes, and new clothes for the new school year while her clothes had holes that only grew in size, her bag was fading in color, and her worn-down shoes. She used all these things without complaint, without telling us she really wanted more, hiding her tears and frustration when bills were due. Let us be mad at her at times when she said no to us when we asked for cool toys, not telling us it's because she had no money left in her bank account. She worked hours and hours of overtime to get us the things we wanted and never let us know the depth of how she really couldn't afford it. But being a child of a single mother, you begin to figure out your financial instability at a young age, realizing that your mother looked so much more tired than other parents, that she was gone more often because she was working more and that she was putting her health at the bottom and our needs at the top of her priority list. Seeing my mom and looking back on my childhood and realizing how much she sacrificed for me and my siblings made me proud of her but also quite sorry and guilt-ridden. Sorry that she needed to do all of that on her own and continues to do so, guilt-ridden because of the number of times I had complained to her when I was younger about being so poor, not picking up how those words may have and did hurt her. She truly is the strongest person I know, and because of how much she sacrificed for us, I am working so hard to get my higher education, get my degrees, and show her that her hard work was not in vain. Get the degrees to get a good-paying job so I can take care of her for a change, buy her the big house she's always wanted, and buy her the clothes and bags she's always wanted. I am working so hard to take care of her because she inspired me through how strong she was taking care of 3 kids on her own and never once taking it out on us, never letting her circumstances make her into a bad person, never letting it tear her down. She inspired me to go after what I want and deserve because she never did so for herself, to not let one's circumstances and shitty situations get the best of me, and to fight back and accomplish despite them. I want to give her everything she missed out on and so much more because I know she would do the same and has done the same for me for a long time.

For a long time, I denied my sexuality, hiding behind the "straight" label because I didn't know what would happen if I admitted to being anything else. While I have not had the most negative experience regarding familial support, as my mother does support me, I know that would be lying, as I have remained closeted from the rest of my family members, knowing that it would be hard for them to accept it and would treat me differently. Hearing them discuss my community in negative regard for so long has deterred me from wanting to tell them about my identity, scared they may not accept me being fully me. As a Psychology major who plans to go to graduate school to get my Master's in Industrial-Organizational Psychology, my future consists of being involved in the corporate and business environments. In this field, I have the opportunity to reformate companies and make sure that the people within the workforce are happy, comfortable, and empowered. As a queer BIPOC woman, I hope to offer a perspective that can truly change the work environment that supports its employees regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, and race. I hope that through my education and career, I can impact my communities and make it so that when they go to work, they are not singled out, not discriminated against, and are empowered by their workplaces and feel they are being seen and 100% themselves. The LGBTQ+ community must already face detrimental discrimination in so many areas of their lives; not being able to provide for themselves through work is a whole other issue, especially due to the community's discrimination. I may never be able to tell the rest of my family about my queer identity. Still, I hope to create a space where, when I enter the workforce, my employers and coworkers are all satisfied, empowered, and courageous. I want to ensure that diversity and equity are implemented in the workplace and help our society onto the pathway that people in my community don't have to hide who they are at work, are celebrated, and aren't treated any differently from their heterosexual counterparts. The workers' mental health should not face further detriment in the workplace. Being one's true self and having the opportunity to show the world one's true self should not come at the cost of respect, job security, home security, healthcare, etc. I want my community's people to be able to explore their passions and dreams in places that allow for them to grow and take them for who they truly are.

President and Head Editor of HerCampus at UCR, Outreach Coordinator for Camp Kesem at UCR, Psi Chi Honor Society Member, Mentor for Mentor's Collective, a research assistant for a lab, and a PEER educator for CARE - all with a 3.87 GPA. It seems like I know what I am doing down to the last detail, but I would be lying if I said that it didn't come together without trial and error and that I still make a few mistakes. With this much involvement, it is easy to forget some things, easy to procrastinate; but that's just it, time management is complex, and it takes the discipline and understanding of one's self to accomplish excellent time management. So if you're reading this and you are a student trying to utilize resources to have better time management, take my advice if you want, and see if these methods may work for you. 1. Being attentive during class. Use class time as dedicated timemadeou'll have more time for other things because you won't need to go back and relearn material at a later time. The more I did notes in class and focused on what the professor was saying, the more time I was able to save while studying later on. 2. Use multiple planners. Use as many reminders as possible. I have three separate planners I rely on so I don't miss a thing, and I can have multiple ways to check my schedule. 3. Set dedicated work times. Allow yourself a block of time where you can get work done. The more you get done in those blocks, the more time you'll have for events and meetings, and this way, you're more prepared to get work done. I like to do so outside, at a coffee shop, or in the library. 4. Let people know your availability. It seems like a basic tip, but often times we don't let people know how much we have a lot on our plates. Tell people ahead of time the times you are available so that nothing overlaps. Many of my organizations plan using polls, letting us know when the best time is for everyone for events or meetings. 5. Take breaks when you need them. I can't stress this enough, but taking a walk away from your desk or simply going to make a snack can help. We often try to push ourselves to get things done ASAP but give your mind and body the break right when you need it, this will help you be more productive in the long run. This has saved me so much time as rather than sitting there and getting nothing done; being productive and eating something and then getting back to the work allows you to reset your mind. 6. Don't be afraid to miss social events. I know it's college, and we all want to go to every event out there, but a big key to time management is having the discipline to know when events will only get in your way and cause stress later. There are so many college events that it won't hurt to miss one. 7. Group study sessions. One of the best ways to get things done is to work with others. They can hold you accountable and help you understand things you may not have figured out independently. 8. Knowing when too much is just that. We like to pull ourselves way past our limit; understanding you need time for breaks and relaxation is vital to time management.

Living in a society and world that runs on money, a lot of people rely on jobs they don't truly like, work at a company they don't love and deal with coworkers who they don't like, all in order to make a living. We are forced to deal with a lot in the workplace and are expected to get through it because we need the workforce to provide and live. We work to get money to live, and sometimes there are people who sacrifice their dreams, passions, and goals to accommodate getting by. Some people overwork themselves for companies that don't care about them or their well-being, forcing them to meet deadlines by any means necessary and at any cost. I dreaded becoming an adult for so long because I feared the workforce. I feared having to grow up and fall victim to only working so that I could provide my necessities like housing, food and water, and healthcare. I was so scared that I'd have to sacrifice myself, become a cog on a wheel that only runs for itself and could replace me at any time. Entering the workforce seemed scary and unattainable; I worried that I'd end up at a company that would work me to death and spends all of my life working because I was scared of what might happen. My future career as a Human Resources Manager or Research Analyst in Industrial-Organizational Psychology will help combat these things. I am passionate about my career field because I want to help the type of people I mentioned above, the people working solely to keep living but working in an environment or circumstances that make them unhappy. I want to apply my experience, education, and knowledge to help work environments to become places where people will enjoy being, a place where they get along with their coworkers, where people feel motivated and empowered to work, and can explore their passions no matter what their job description says. Work might not be fun and exciting for everyone, but I want to make it so. I want to create a work environment where it is a positive place that empowers its workers to do good and work towards their and the company's goals. I want to promote a healthy work-life balance so that people within the workforce have good mental health and fight against toxic productivity culture, which demands too much of people and makes them feel overwhelmed and like they are falling behind if they don't rush to accomplish. I want all workplaces to benefit from these ideas and values so that it isn't as scary for a high schooler or young adult to enter the workforce. So that people who don't know what they want in life can still have a job while exploring their interests. So that those who are forced to accommodate their dreams and passions can still have a job that they can enjoy and a work environment that is encouraging, so much so that they can still pursue their dreams. Many people neglect everyday workers, but everyone in any field of work deserves to live happy lives and work in a place that genuinely cares for its people. I plan to make this a reality for companies and all workers, implementing ideas and values into companies so that the workforce is no longer dreaded but a place of empowerment, diversity, and equity.

I wanted to die. I no didn't want to live and for a long time, I planned on dying at 14. I didn’t think I would ever make it to 19, get to experience high school, make it into college, actually plan for my future and its probably why I felt so lost at the beginning of college because I had never planned out my life. None of these plans were a thought in my mind because I suffered so badly from depression and suicidal ideation, I didn’t think about how my future could get better, only the terrible position I was in at the time. The hardest part was my mental health was being affected at all major corners of my life. I had issues due to family trauma, I worked myself to the breaking point in school to escape said familial issues, and financially I was unable to buy a lot of basic necessities because my family is poor and felt embarrassed by it. Everything around me seemed to be hard for me and I just couldn’t get rid of the thoughts of not wanting to be around anymore because of how hard it was to live. I thought that the world was vastly unfair, that it didn’t want me around because why would it make me struggle so hard. Why would the world make me live a life where I didn’t want to live? I’m not sure when the suicidal ideation and the want to die stopped, I’m not sure it ever did, but the voice telling me to just got quieter over time. High school really helped me to see that I didn’t want to just die and never live my life to tell my story. It was a time of reflection for me because it solely focused on what was after, what you would do next in your life after 12 years of mandatory education was over. This had me stumped because I had never thought about my future, what it could look like because I was still suffering from mental health issues and trauma. For a long time I held back and never said anything about my struggles, suffering in silence, but it was also in highschool, when the brunt of my familial trauma hit my life and it became ten times harder to go to school, but I forced myself to, I forced myself to stay caught up with school, no matter how many times I cried or how much I didn’t get sleep the night before. I suffered like this until one day my teacher asked simply, “Are you okay?” to which I had responded yes, but it was sitting there after a long night of crying and arguing, that I burst into tears right in the middle of class and said I needed to leave. I got up took myself from the restroom and had a mental breakdown. I was there for 30 minutes before I realized that I should go back to class because I couldn’t fall behind. But when I got back to class, I just kept crying, and I realized that I had once again forced myself to deal with it but now in front of an audience, which made me feel even worse. So I asked to go to the counselors office, where I spilled my guts to the counselor. At this point, she tried to get me therapy but because of my insurance I was unable to. And it was all of this that made me realize that there are so many things missing for people like me, for people who are suffering but can’t even get help. So I fought myself, fought my trauma, fought to keep myself alive so I could help people find their way to the right resources and while I didn’t know how to do this for a long time because becoming a psychiatrist would take years of schooling and money I didn’t have, I tried for once in my life, looking for a place, researching for my future, on how I could help not only myself but others. It is because of this experience that I stumbled into the field of Industrial-Organization Psychology, a field that focuses on the betterment of people working, people who lack work life balance, people who aren’t happy in their workplace and I felt really connected to this. Like in the experience I described above, I had pushed myself to go back to class, to try and continue work despite my mental breakdown, people in the work place, working adults, could also feel this way and they were, but IO Psych is researching and discovering how to help those people. I had found what I wanted to do through a battle of mental health issues, a blessing in disguise. So I may be suffering from how unfair this world is, but I can at least try to fight it. Maybe I can beat it or at least tell others about my experiences and let them know they aren’t the only ones suffering, that this world really is unfair but we can’t let it win. I realized that they are so many other people struggling in life like myself, so many people that could be helped and that there were also people in my life too that needed help. I couldn’t leave them behind, couldn’t leave my family behind in the state that we were, I wanted to live for my family and help them escape poverty because we truly deserve a better life. So despite my constant battle with mental health, here I am, in college at the age of 19 working hard to graduate so I can go to graduate school and enter IO Psych to help people in the workforce. For the first time in a long time, I feel excited to live because of how I can help others but also myself. I’m excited to grow and learn and live.

As a biracial kid who grew up in America, I always felt it hard to connect to my Filipino culture. There was also the hate and prejudice against AAPI that made it even more difficult to become connected. At every turn, it seemed like there was a blockage, barriers that didn't want me to connect to my culture. It was hard to come to terms with my culture, especially when I didn't grow up speaking Tagalog or Ilocano. In my family, my grandparents were too afraid of being seen as outsiders, so they didn't want to teach it to us grandkids nor their own children. They didn't want us nor our parents to be singled out as "the others," so they took away as much of our Filipino culture as they could. Now my mother struggles to identify with our relatives who come from the motherland because we do not speak it, nor have many similar experiences as them. Not only was it hard to connect due to barriers within my family, but as I mentioned, the barriers of others. I remember the white kids at my school making fun of my nose and eyes, telling me my food smelled bad and making me feel ashamed that I was different from them. I have had a constant struggle to feel at home with my Filipino culture because of those around me. But it is this constant struggle that helped me reconnect with the culture and want to learn more about it. They made me want to show them just how beautiful being Filipino is and the culture is. It is because of never feeling quite like the other white kids around me that I wanted to reach out to my Filipino culture and why I am so proud to call myself Filipina. It is why I am going to take Tagalog at my college next year, why I am learning to make more Filipino dishes with my grandma and mom, and why I am researching the area where my grandparents lived and how that impacted their childhoods and the history of the Philippines. It is why I was able to find out about the election, talk about the politics that occur in the Philippines, and understand the corruption behind the government and how my people are suffering at the hands of the government. It is why I understand the privilege I have as a Filipino-American to speak out against the government and corruption because it is too dangerous to do so over there. It is why I speak out against AAPI hate and do as much as I can to make people aware of the inequities and mistreatment of my fellow AAPI. I am a proud Filipina-Mexican who feels deeply grateful for the amount of culture I can experience as a half Filipino. Every time I make lumpia with my grandma, every time we go to get halo halo and isaw from Seafood City, every time our family gets together for a feast, every time my grandma tells me stories about her childhood in the Philippines, every time I race to beat my brothers to the pancit, I am grateful that I am Filipina and get to experience the beautiful culture that is my culture.

One of the greatest pains in life is losing a loved one. It’s a different kind of pain when you’ve long expected it to happen. Around my second year of highschool, my grandpa got even sicker than he already was. His scoliosis, which was also getting worse, was forcing his spine against his lungs and heart making it hard for him to breath, which only further complicated his other health issues. I remember being at home when we finally got the call in the winter of my second year that he wasn’t going to get better and that my family needed to say our final goodbyes. And then all of a sudden it his death hit us, barely giving us time to even say goodbye. I had thought I would feel more prepared, my grandpa often reminding me that he’d one day leave this earth, but that didn’t make it any easier. This period was an extremely dark time for me. I remember feeling nothing for weeks, growing numb to life as even though I was grieving, I still had to go to school. I remember not wanting to participate in class, not wanting to try. I felt myself becoming tired of life and school, something that I had loved so much in the past. But as time went on, and the day came for his funeral, I realized that he was my greatest supporter, and that he would’ve wanted me to pour my heart into my studies, as he had always wanted me to do good in school, to go to a good college because my mom didn’t. He wanted me to go to college because he knew it would help me in my future when I was gone with my education and entering the real world and its’ work force. It was sitting at his funeral that I remembered all of the times where he asked how I was doing and if my grades were slipping, if I was paying attention in school. He was the one that pushed me to do good in school, reminding me of all of the opportunities that would open for me, because I was a smart girl and education is good for a smart girl like myself, good for me who wanted to escape poverty. He was the driving force for me fighting to get into college, the reason why after that winter, I tried even harder in school, got more involved with track and field and other clubs. I lifted myself out of my deprecating grief, and used that grief and the love for my grandpa to keep going and to try even harder than I had before. He is the reason why I am now in college and I’m still continuing to work hard to get my degree. Why I want to graduate and continue on to graduate school. He is the reason why I am considering the possibility of getting a doctorate in psychology, despite the financial difficulties I may face while trying to accomplish this. My grandpa was a man who put a lot of emphasis in education and knowledge and it is because of him, and even in his death, that I am who I am now and why I continue to work hard for my degree, to be the first in my family to be a college graduate and continue furthering my education.

As a woman who grew up in a low income family, all you want from life is to provide a better one from your family. To escape the generational poverty that haunts your family. From sacrificing time with loved ones to work extra hours to having the same battered shoes for 4-5 years, poverty’s clutches are tight. Education is one of the leading ways that low income students like myself can escape poverty. It is through the opportunities and knowledge gained from education that can help those of us stuck at the bottom start climbing to the top. Education is the first thing we can get that will help us for the rest of our lives. Education is important to me because it has given me opportunities that I never would’ve experienced as a low income student who had been undermined because of my financial situation. Education is the key to low income students like me, who lack the resources to do well in this world. Education is the “despite.” Despite having no reliable resources and the extra advantages those from higher income may have, education has allowed me to beat the odds and begin on creating that better life I mentioned above. The better life where I can go from being a lower income student to a person who can provide for my family without the sacrifices and hardships I once had as a low income student.