Going to school and attending higher education has always been in achievement to celebrate in my family. I watched my mom and sisters go to college when I was younger, watching them struggle juggling a job and school, but never giving up. They had always encouraged me to go to college. Throughout my time in high school, I had stressed about going to college. I felt insecure in my academic abilities and nervous about my future. I had also started to question what I wanted to study. Originally I wanted to become an art major and study illustration or animation. Once I graduated high school, I quickly learned that I didn't want to pursue that, and instead I set my mind to being a veterinary technician. I had started my college education by going to community college. During my time there, I had started to work at school and outside of school to save as much money as possible so I would be prepared to transfer and pay for a veterinary technician program tuition. As a student that came from a low-income family, I worked hard to save and forge a path for myself to further my education just as my mom and sisters did. I had taken veterinary assisting classes during my time in community college and wanted to step foot into the field of veterinary medicine. I had applied for externship positions to every veterinary hospital near me to earn a veterinary assisting certificate while preparing to apply for veterinary technician programs. For the clinics that did not offer externships I had applied for veterinary receptionist and assisting positions for the opportunity to gain work experience in the meantime. When I heard no response back, I started to look into clinics farther out. Unfortunately no place accepted my applications, and I continued to study and work part-time. After a year of working part-time to a place that was slowly cutting my hours and struggling with my mental health, I had decided to apply to work in a veterinary clinic once more, to a place that I didn't realize I had missed when first applied to clinics. I went in, asked if they were hiring, submitted my application, and a few weeks later I get a call informing me that I was hired. I didn't know it then but this was the beginning of a new chapter in my life. I had begun to learn what it truly meant to work in a veterinary clinic and what caring for and supporting clients and their pets meant. Attending higher education would not only benefit me, but it would benefit my team within the veterinary clinic I work at and the pets and clients I help on a daily basis. As I pursue higher education by attending a veterinary technician program, I work towards getting licensed and becoming a registered veterinary technician. I want to expand my knowledge within the field and improve the skills that I've learned on the job. I want to help pets as they don't have a voice for themselves and support clients by educating them and informing them on the basics of their pet's health. I also want to use the knowledge and skills I would obtain by attending higher education to support Latinx/Hispanic individuals who struggle to obtain health care for their pets and who struggle to find veterinary staff that speak Spanish in order to get proper care for their pets. As one of the few people who speak Spanish at my clinic, I want to be able to support Spanish speaking clients to the best of my ability. I often think about the academic and financial hurdles that my family overcame through out the years and how far I've come, now faced with my own financial and academic struggles. I want to become the strong and perseverant woman that I see in my family and change the life of pets and the veterinary field as a whole. This scholarship would help me lift some of the financial weight of paying for tuition as a low-income student.

My personal identity and journey in STEM go hand to hand. I grew up alternative, listening to alternative rock and emo music as well as dressing more often then not in a toned down emo look (there was a lot of black clothing and accessories involved). Throughout middle school and high school, I had never really explored my alternative identity. Having multiple piercings and tattoos in general was not allowed in my home growing up. Due to this, I often expressed myself with my music or in the way I dressed. When I was in high school, I began to stress about who I wanted to be in addition to who I was. I began having an interest in science, but I felt like I wasn't smart enough to venture into a career in science, so I kept it to myself like I did with a lot of my interests, including my music taste and alternative style. That was until I took a chemistry class in high school. It made me realize that I couldn't hold back this love that I had for science, and it made me question everything about who I wanted to be. With my love for science and previous experience with animals, in time I understood that I wanted to pursue a career in animal healthcare and science. I began taking more science and veterinary assisting classes in college. As I took these classes, I had heard multiple times that tattoos and having many piercing was seen as "unprofessional" and would impact my chances of being hired. Hearing this made me feel discouraged, and I felt like a part of me that was beginning to bloom was being overshadowed by an unrealistic and untrue expectation. I continued studying and pursuing further education hesitantly; I began second guessing my career and my self expression, wondering if I'd have to choose between one or the other. However I wasn't so easily swayed into giving up either part of me. As I continued going to school, I began looking for a job in a veterinary clinic. As I did, I began testing the waters on who I was and how I wanted to express myself. I had gotten my first tattoo and cartilage piercing. It felt liberating and empowering. Ironically enough, I truly began to express myself when I started working at a veterinary hospital. I had noticed that my coworkers had many piercings and tattoos of their own. As my confidence grew at work, so did my confidence to express myself. I had gotten more piercing and tattoos, some even with my coworkers. My ability to be myself had strengthened my confidence and I felt more comfortable learning and growing in my career. I understood that no one undermined or questioned me based on how I looked, rather they found trust in my self confidence and individuality. I see myself contributing to the future of veterinary medicine by giving a voice to the voiceless, to the pets and animals I see at the hospital. For a long time, I didn't have a voice of my own, and I wasn't able to express myself. Now, I advocate for pets of all different shapes and sizes to get them the medical help and health resources they need.

When I was younger, I had known people, including myself, who struggled to find veterinary care for their pets. A lot of these difficulties included financial struggles and lack of education on the benefits and necessity of veterinary care for their pets. I had seen how other people's pets struggled to get the care that they needed due to these factors. I grew up in a low income Latinx household with two parakeets. When I was a child, I wished that there was more that I could do to help the pets in my family. Watching my own family pets struggle to get certain care due to financial struggles impacted me greatly. That thought stayed with me all throughout middle school and high school, and as I entered college it inspired me to look into the veterinary field. When I found a job at a veterinary clinic as an assistant, I saw many people who struggled to receive care for their pets. Many people had a language barrier, didn't have funds to obtain certain care for their pets, had difficulty with transportation to get to the clinic, or were uninformed about care that they could receive for their pets. Through experiences of my own, and seeing the different struggles that people and their pets experience regarding veterinary care, it strengthened the passion that I had for animal health. I want to educate owners about their pet's health and give them resources to further help them. I want to be a voice to the voiceless, for the pets and animals that can't tell me exactly what they're feeling or what hurts. I strive to help pets and animals feel better and improve their health; they are beings that are alive and deserve care and love like any living creature. As a Latinx individual that speaks Spanish, I am able to support Hispanic/Latinx people who have a language barrier who struggle to find help for their pet. A language barrier often discourages individuals from reaching out to clinics to receive health care for their pets, and can cause confusion or misinformation on their pet's health care. I want to help my community feel welcome, be heard, have the opportunity to be educated about their pet's health, and connect with them on a personal level. I'm proud to be the person that people can come to when they need a Spanish speaker at my clinic. Although I already work in a veterinary clinic, I want to pursue further education to learn as much as I can about animal health to better serve pets and owners alike. This scholarship would help me fund my educational and career goals that would ultimately give me the opportunity to save animal lives.