My mother always told me, “There are two of you and one of me, someone will have to sacrifice.” That someone being me and those words always found a way to convince me that I was not a priority. My sister was diagnosed with Autism and ADHD when she was four and I was only two so my mother struggled to equally attend to our needs. My family was not traditional either. My father was in and out of the picture and most of the time, my older sister and I were being raised by our grandmother along with our four cousins. My sister’s diagnosis demanded a lot of energy from my guardians and I was constantly reminded that I, too, held the responsibility of taking care of her. My childhood was cut short. I found myself accompanying my sister to her extracurriculars as a chaperone so I was unable to participate in many of the clubs and organizations that I was interested in. Regardless of my circumstances, I made the best of the time that I did have to myself. I decided to take dual enrollment courses at Long Beach City College and Cal State Long Beach, I took a course load of AP and honors classes, joined ASB, and achieved a 3.96 GPA to name a few. I participated in these extracurriculars because of my desire to pursue higher education while searching for my passions. It was not easy as I still had to juggle the responsibility of watching over my sister with school. I decided to strictly use planners and calendars to ensure all of my responsibilities were met. My experience with my sister was not easy but I have grown so much from it. I learned to become more organized to manage my responsibilities at home and my school work. The resilience I have learned from this experience will allow me to accurately and effectively manage my time. Early on in my childhood, I felt that I would have to sacrifice my passions to take care of my sister, but I’ve learned that my passions and my sister’s can coincide with a structured lifestyle.

For most of my life, I had attended ethnically diverse schools. At the end of 8th grade, I had decided to attend Millikan High School, to give myself a fresh start and focus on my academics. I realized how much they lacked diversity and I had a hard time fitting in and adapting to the new environment. My grades began slipping as I was not comfortable enough to ask for help from teachers and other students. I had trouble grasping some of the concepts being taught to us as the program I was enrolled in focused on college prep and we moved extremely fast through the material. Furthermore, I felt that Black students were not as prioritized. During black history month, there was a production put together in which it showcased nothing positive or truthful about Black culture. I remember one student recited a monologue in which he expressed that he gets abused which causes him to abuse others. That experience hurt me specifically because it implied that Black individuals endure so much pain that they then hurt others, which I find to be a bold and stereotypical statement. I decided to join the Black Student Union and Student Council to bring about the change I wanted to see at Millikan. The following year, I made it my goal to help minority students feel supported at school. I began by creating a Black History video that focused on uplifting and informing other students on Black culture. I focused on emphasizing the positivity and traditions of our culture in hopes that the other students and staff would realize we are no different from anyone else and we hope to be treated as such. Next, I began to plan the Cultural Assembly, which unfortunately was canceled due to COVID. Regardless of that, I noticed that the school now makes every effort to celebrate cultures. To say that I was able to spark change within my school is truly fulfilling. I hope that my acts inspire and encourage generations of minority students to embrace their cultures and individuality. Through each experience, I was able to develop my skills for public speaking and impact the audience through the information I was entrusted to provide them. I have developed a passion for writing and speaking throughout most of my life and I am excited to pursue this as a career, specifically as a criminal defense attorney. I want to use my career to promote open-mindedness to minorities such as incarcerated individuals, and people of color.

Philippians 4:13:I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." This quote has been my motivation for doing all things that I believe aline with the will of my Father. This quote has become especially significant while in high school. I realized how much my school lacked diversity and I had a hard time fitting in and adapting to the new environment. My grades began slipping as I was not comfortable enough to ask for help from teachers and other students. I had trouble grasping some of the concepts being taught to us as the program I was enrolled in focused on college prep and we moved extremely fast through the material. Furthermore, I felt that Black students were not as prioritized. During black history month, there was a production put together in which it showcased nothing positive or truthful about Black culture. I remember one student recited a monologue in which he expressed that he gets abused which causes him to abuse others. That experience hurt me specifically because it implied that Black individuals endure so much pain that they then hurt others, which I find to be a bold and stereotypical statement. I decided to join the Black Student Union and Student Council to bring about the change I wanted to see at Millikan. The following year, I made it my goal to help minority students feel supported at school. I began by creating a Black History video that focused on uplifting and informing other students on Black culture. I focused on emphasizing the positivity and traditions of our culture in hopes that the other students and staff would realize we are no different from anyone else and we hope to be treated as such. Next, I began to plan the Cultural Assembly, which unfortunately was canceled due to COVID. Regardless of that, I noticed that the school now makes every effort to celebrate cultures. To say that I was able to spark change within my school is truly fulfilling. I hope that my acts inspire and encourage generations of minority students to embrace their cultures and individuality. I believe that the only reason I was able to make it through this experience is through the strength provided to me by Jesus Christ. There is no way that I alone could have made such an impact on a community that I did not feel apart of, and to now be the president of the school for a second year demonstrates to me the power of God. This has inspired me to continue to allow the Lord to work in my situations and to set goals that aline with his word. With every goal, I want to allow God to tell me whether or not I can pursue it and if I can I pray that he gives me the strength to pursue that goal wholeheartedly. Recently I have had the desire to start a Christian inspired clothing line and with his help, it will be successful.

My father has been incarcerated all my life and has just recently gotten released. For as long as I could remember I hated my father because of how society encourages people to hate "criminals" rather than seeing them as a person who made a mistake. For this reason, my father was never able to have a relationship with me until now. For years my mother would wake me up to visit my dad in prison which seemed to get farther and farther every time he was relocated until my mother could no longer make the drive. Due to not having a father figure I fell into manipulative relationships and had a huge need for attention from boys, to fill the void of not having a father. Considering that my mother was the only parent I had, we were exceptionally close, and since I never experienced her in a relationship, especially with my father I had a hard time when he came back and took the time me and she once had from us. Soon I acquired a desire to watch documentaries about wrongfully convicted individuals on Netflix and study the patterns of criminals. I understand that this passion stemmed from my curiosity in crime and inmates, as I spent so much time around them yet I was deprived of their actual stories. I was deprived because of my naive ways, I fell into society's trap and decided to see inmates as monsters rather than people and this experience is what drives my desire to help other individuals change this view of inmates. During 2017, I interned at James Cooper’s Law Firm. As an intern, my primary responsibility was to construct written reports, analyze documents, perform clerical duties, and fax information. This experience allowed me to gain firsthand insight into the life of a criminal defense attorney. I was always interested in the stories of people who had been taken into the custody of law enforcement. I am displeased at the statistics of misrepresented or wrongfully accused victims, and people serving terms that are extensive for their crime, which is why I strive to become a Criminal Defense Attorney. For the past three years, I have worked to enhanced specific skills that will be beneficial as an attorney. For instance, I have participated in public-speaking opportunities through the Associated Student Body as Class President in my junior and senior year, allowing me to enhance my communication skills. Through this opportunity, I was appointed spokesperson for the school’s morning announcements, dual enrollment, and Black History Month and I currently host a podcast for my school’s newspaper called “Two Peas In a PodCast.” I have developed a passion for helping incarcerated individuals be seen as humans rather than monsters and I want to help not only others but themselves see that there is a life ahead of them, they just need someone to care for them.

From a young age, my responsibility has been to take care of my older sister that was diagnosed with Autism and ADHD. Making sure that my sister is taken care of has been overwhelming at times. Over the years, I learned to value my time with her and learned the importance of my responsibility. I have learned that Autistic individuals are some of the sweetest people in this world and I want to dedicate my life and career to provide for this specific minority. Every year my family and I participate in annual autism walks to help bring awareness to the community. I’ve also participated in autistic summer camps, where I’ve chaperoned my sister and other individuals. Unfortunately, people with a disability are not treated kindly, for this reason, my sister and I co-founded a non-profit organization called Erin’s Hugs Foundation. I plan to one day purchase a building in which I can provide services to disabled individuals through providing living spaces, recreational activities, supplies, etc. Not only do we bring awareness to the community but we also provide a safe environment for everyone. On April 7, 2019, we had our very first sports event in which we organized sports stations and had general education students volunteer to help teach each sport. My responsibility was to contact possible volunteers, set up stations, and most importantly, be a friend to the groups of people who attended. The purpose of the event was to allow the individuals the opportunity to feel included in a world where they are sometimes overlooked or frowned upon due to others’ lack of knowledge. Through this event, I saw families with different backgrounds come together and rejoice. My intention with this organization is to reduce the number of encounters with people who treat others as inferior because they are different. I want to encourage others to embrace these individuals and give them the love they deserve as they have the same feelings as us. From this experience, I was able to reflect on myself and see the factor I play in creating a more accepting world for autistic individuals. Now I see that Autistic people are not the only ones who deserve to be treated with love and I realized that to invoke a change I must be the change I want to see.

Due to the lack of representation and support for students of color on my high school campus, I felt empowered to join the Black Student Union and Student Council to make a significant change. As a black student, I was not comfortable enough to ask for help from teachers and other students at times and my grades suffered. I had trouble grasping some of the concepts being taught to us as the program I was enrolled in focused on college prep and we moved extremely fast through the material. Furthermore, I felt that Black students were not as prioritized. Misrepresenting Black culture and the black experience during a Black History Month production was the final straw. A student recited a monologue in which he expressed that he got abused which causes him to abuse others. That experience hurt me specifically because it implied that Black individuals endure so much pain that they then hurt others, which I find to be a bold and stereotypical statement. As a leader, I made it my priority to help minority students feel supported and justly represented at school. I began by creating a Black History video that focused on uplifting and informing other students on Black culture. I focused on emphasizing the positivity and traditions of our culture in hopes that the other students and staff would realize we are no different from anyone else and we hope to be treated as such. Next, I began to plan the Cultural Assembly, which unfortunately was canceled due to COVID. Regardless of that, I noticed that the school now makes every effort to celebrate cultures. To say that I was able to spark change within my school is truly fulfilling. I hope that my acts inspire and encourage generations of minority students to embrace their cultures and their individuality. From this experience, I was able to positively influence the lives of other students by creating an environment that encourages diversity. I fully anticipate continuing my passion for promoting open-mindedness through serving minorities such as incarcerated individuals as a criminal defense attorney while promoting love and acceptance of disabled individuals through my non-profit organization, Erin's Hugs Foundation. Not only do we bring awareness to the community of disabled individuals but we also provide a safe environment for them to interact with general education individuals. On April 7, 2019, we had our very first sports event in which we organized sports stations and had general education students volunteer to help teach each sport. The purpose of the event was to allow the individuals the opportunity to feel included in a world where they are sometimes overlooked or frowned upon due to others’ lack of knowledge. Through this event, I saw families with different backgrounds come together and rejoice. My intention with this organization is to reduce the number of encounters with people who treat others as inferior because they are different. I want to encourage others to embrace these individuals and give them the love they deserve as they have the same feelings as us. From this experience, I was able to reflect on myself and see the factor I play in creating a more accepting world for autistic individuals. Now I see that Autistic people are not the only ones who deserve to be treated with love and I realized that to invoke a change I must be the change I want to see.

From a young age, my responsibility has been to take care of my older sister that was diagnosed with Autism and ADHD. Making sure that my sister is taken care of has been overwhelming at times. Over the years, I learned to value my time with her and learned the importance of my responsibility. I have learned that Autistic individuals are some of the sweetest people in this world. Every year my family and I participate in annual autism walks to help bring awareness to the community. I’ve also participated in autistic summer camps, where I’ve chaperoned my sister and other individuals. Unfortunately, people with a disability are not treated kindly, for this reason, my sister and I co-founded a non-profit organization called Erin’s Hugs Foundation. Not only do we bring awareness to the community but we also provide a safe environment for everyone. On April 7, 2019, we had our very first sports event in which we organized sports stations and had general education students volunteer to help teach each sport. My responsibility was to contact possible volunteers, set up stations, and most importantly, be a friend to the groups of people who attended. The purpose of the event was to allow the individuals the opportunity to feel included in a world where they are sometimes overlooked or frowned upon due to others’ lack of knowledge. Through this event, I saw families with different backgrounds come together and rejoice. My intention with this organization is to reduce the number of encounters with people who treat others as inferior because they are different. I want to encourage others to embrace these individuals and give them the love they deserve as they have the same feelings as us. From this experience, I was able to reflect on myself and see the factor I play in creating a more accepting world for autistic individuals. Now I see that Autistic people are not the only ones who deserve to be treated with love and I realized that to invoke a change I must be the change I want to see. Going into a career, I can reflect on this experience and have deep sympathy for others which will allow me to be patient with others in the workforce.

From a young age, my responsibility has been to take care of my older sister that was diagnosed with Autism and ADHD. Making sure that my sister is taken care of has been overwhelming at times. Over the years, I learned to value my time with her and learned the importance of my responsibility. However, having such a huge responsibility caused me to focus on my academics much more so that I could provide for my sister shortly. I soon realized that I want to own a non-profit organization that tailors to disabled individuals and their families and to achieves this I believe I need to seek higher education. I made the best of my high school education, I decided to take dual enrollment courses at Long Beach City College and Cal State Long Beach, I took a course load of AP and honors classes, joined ASB, and achieved a 3.96 GPA to name a few. To add on, I have come to notice that people with disabilities are not treated kindly, for this reason, my sister and I co-founded a non-profit organization called Erin’s Hugs Foundation. Not only do we bring awareness to the community but we also provide a safe environment for everyone. On April 7, 2019, we had our very first sports event in which we organized sports stations and had general education students volunteer to help teach each sport. Some of my responsibilities included contacting possible volunteers, setting up stations, and most importantly, being a friend to the groups of people who attended. The purpose of the event was to allow the individuals the opportunity to feel included in a world where they are sometimes overlooked or frowned upon due to others’ lack of knowledge. Through this event, I saw families with different backgrounds come together and rejoice and I come to see that this is where I see myself in the future. My intention with this organization is to reduce the number of encounters with people who treat others as inferior because they are different. I want to encourage others to embrace these individuals and give them the love they deserve as they have the same feelings as us. I plan to be able to purchase a building where I can provide services to disabled individuals and their families through recreation, supplies, and or by providing living space to the individuals in need. From this experience, I was able to reflect on myself and see the factor I play in creating a more accepting world for autistic individuals. Now I see that Autistic people are not the only ones who deserve to be treated with love and I realized that to invoke a change I must be the change I want to see. I pray that through my non-profit I can invoke a change and encourage people to be loving towards one another. I plan to create continue hosting these events to spread the word about the movement I would like to start in hopes that it will move me closer to creating a new loving world. I plan to use funds from a career as a criminal defense attorney to fund these expenses and provide for this minority group.

From a young age, my responsibility has been to take care of my older sister that was diagnosed with Autism and ADHD. Making sure that my sister is taken care of has been overwhelming at times. Over the years, I learned to value my time with her and learned the importance of my responsibility. I have learned that Autistic individuals are some of the sweetest people in this world and they are my inspiration. Every year my family and I participate in annual autism walks to help bring awareness to the community. I’ve also participated in autistic summer camps, where I’ve chaperoned my sister and other individuals. Unfortunately, people with a disability are not treated kindly, for this reason, my sister and I co-founded a non-profit organization called Erin’s Hugs Foundation. Not only do we bring awareness to the community but we also provide a safe environment for everyone. On April 7, 2019, we had our very first sports event in which we organized sports stations and had general education students volunteer to help teach each sport. My responsibility was to contact possible volunteers, set up stations, and most importantly, be a friend to the groups of people who attended. The purpose of the event was to allow the individuals the opportunity to feel included in a world where they are sometimes overlooked or frowned upon due to others’ lack of knowledge. Through this event, I saw families with different backgrounds come together and rejoice. My intention with this organization is to reduce the number of encounters with people who treat others as inferior because they are different. I want to encourage others to embrace these individuals and give them the love they deserve as they have the same feelings as us. From this experience, I was able to reflect on myself and see the factor I play in creating a more accepting world for autistic individuals. Now I see that Autistic people are not the only ones who deserve to be treated with love and I realized that to invoke a change I must be the change I want to see.

From a young age, my responsibility has been to take care of my older sister that was diagnosed with Autism and ADHD. Making sure that my sister is taken care of has been overwhelming at times. Over the years, I learned to value my time with her and learned the importance of my responsibility. I have learned that Autistic individuals are some of the sweetest people in this world. Every year my family and I participate in annual autism walks to help bring awareness to the community. I’ve also participated in autistic summer camps, where I’ve chaperoned my sister and other individuals. Unfortunately, people with a disability are not treated kindly, for this reason, my sister and I co-founded a non-profit organization called Erin’s Hugs Foundation. Not only do we bring awareness to the community but we also provide a safe environment for everyone. On April 7, 2019, we had our very first sports event in which we organized sports stations and had general education students volunteer to help teach each sport. My responsibility was to contact possible volunteers, set up stations, and most importantly, be a friend to the groups of people who attended. The purpose of the event was to allow the individuals the opportunity to feel included in a world where they are sometimes overlooked or frowned upon due to others’ lack of knowledge. Through this event, I saw families with different backgrounds come together and rejoice. My intention with this organization is to reduce the number of encounters with people who treat others as inferior because they are different. I want to encourage others to embrace these individuals and give them the love they deserve as they have the same feelings as us. From this experience, I was able to reflect on myself and see the factor I play in creating a more accepting world for autistic individuals. Now I see that Autistic people are not the only ones who deserve to be treated with love and I realized that to invoke a change I must be the change I want to see.

Growing up I was always a part of the church. Although I was baptized at a young age and knew that I wanted to devote my life to God, I did not know where to begin. Most of the time children's churches emphasize how much God loves us to encourage our love for him without telling us how to show it. Going to church and being Christian was something that I grew up being told was right. Not choosing my faith but rather being born into it, I felt like a different person on Sundays than I did the rest of the week. Due to this at a young age, I never felt close to God but I knew I wanted to be. Eventually, I began to lose my faith and not attend church as often as I knew I should. It was so unusual that the church members would call every week to check on me and ask when I’d be coming back. Once Covid-19 hit and the stay-at-home order was put in place I made it my goal to get closer to God and renew my faith. I made a routine of watching sermons and getting deep into the Bible. I even took the time out to fast in which I always got the answers to my prayers. My relationship with God is very important to me and the Holy Spirit is what guides me in my day to day life. I noticed that my love for God starting showing in conversations with others. I would talk to people a lot about my relationship and my journey. I would be nervous but excited as I am not one that enjoys sharing personal information. I have a class called Senior Project, which requires us to create a product to showcase at the end of the year. I decided that I wanted to share the gospel through my project, so my only issue was how I would physically do that. Fashion is a huge part of society and I knew that through the clothing I could spread the gospel easily as people typically look at other's outfits when they see them. My business idea is to sell Christian inspired clothing for men and women via Instagram. My goal is to encourage people to be open about their faith in Yahweh while causing people who do not know about him to be encouraged to look into him. This allows people to talk about God which is something that I struggle with so if I were a shirt that has a bible verse someone could comment on it and I could start talking about God. My business includes designing, printing, and managing both clothing and a business site. I do not want to keep the funds I earn from this business solely to myself. I will donate 5% of my earnings to local Christian organizations. Ultimately, I want to share the gospel through something that many people enjoy, which is a fashion and encourages people to openly share their faith.

April 7, 2019, Inclusions Sports Summit. This event reminded me of the great blessing the Lord has provided me with, my sister. My older sister was diagnosed with Autism and ADHD. As a child, I always told that it was my responsibility to make sure my sister was cared for which is a lot of pressure on a child. There were times when I would be overwhelmed but caring for my sister was normal for me and rather than being a job I desired to do so. I have always been around autistic individuals, every year my family would go to the annual autism walks, and sometimes I would be enrolled in autistic summer camps to be a chaperone for my sister. Autistic individuals are some of the sweetest people to be around and in the world, we live in they are not always treated kindly. Erin’s Hugs Foundation is a non-profit organization that I and my sister founded in attempts to bring awareness to autism. On April 7, 2019, we had our very first sports event in which we set up different sports stations and had general education students volunteer to help teach Autistic kids the sport. The purpose of the event was to allow the individuals the opportunity to feel included in a world where they are sometimes overlooked or endangered due to other’s lack of knowledge on their disability. With my sister, there are a lot of people who treat her wrong when I or my family is not around because of her difficulty with speech. My intention with this organization is to reduce the number of people who encounter these individuals and treat them of inferiority because they are different, we must embrace these individuals and give them the love they deserve as they too have the same feelings as us.