Growing up I always acknowledged the fact that I’m not a U.S. citizen. I arrived in the United States when I was around a year old in 2006 and I have lived in the United States for about 17 years now. Unfortunately, regardless of how long I have been here on this land I love and feel pride in, nothing but being legalized can change the fact that I am not a U.S. citizen. Having the title of being a non-U.S citizen increases the challenges of pursuing higher education but does not diminish who I am as an individual, my character, my dreams, hopes, and perseverance to excel academically and overcome barriers that await in my journey of life. When my parents sent me to school I had to learn English as I was only taught Spanish at home. I grasped the language fast and by kindergarten I was understanding English much better. In both 1st and 2nd grade, I attended summer school as I was struggling in both math and reading. At the end of 3rd grade, I improved my math skills and managed to read a lot in English. I obtained an award that school year for being the student that earned the most AR points from book testing. Throughout middle school, I was struggling to maintain A’s and B’s up until 8th grade as I received an A/B honor roll. As I initiated high school in 2019 I set academic and career goals that I intended to accomplish through hard work and dedication. My academic goals consist of managing my time properly to stay organized. In addition, I intended to graduate with a high GPA and be in the top ten of my class. My career goals consist of acquiring more knowledge about the major I want to pursue which at the moment is fine arts to start my own business and help cultivate in the minds of young generations the vitality of art in our world. Being an undocumented student hasn't stopped me from seeking to be involved in school/extracurricular activities, and organizations, taking on leadership roles, volunteering, maintaining a high GPA, and ranking third in my class. I have dedicated time to all of these things and have overcome many obstacles along the way. From my own experience, I can acknowledge that it is precisely because of the challenges, setbacks, and failures we face in our daily lives that lead to us being mentally stronger in future situations of hardships and are fundamental to succeeding. For the past four years I have been considering the cost of college and last semester I decided that I couldn't attend because of the high cost and my limited opportunities for receiving financial aid. However, with the help of my school counselor and others, I changed my mind and submitted my first application in January where I was accepted into two universities. As an undocumented student, I am no different from any other student seeking to graduate and obtain a high school diploma. I acknowledge that financial aid for undocumented students is limited but I believe through hard work and with the help of others achieving higher education is possible. Si se puede! All students regardless of citizenship have the opportunity to attend a public school, however, it's the effort, hard work, and time that one puts into the things that truly matter that distinguishes individuals. I hope to inspire future first-generation students to embrace who they are and not give up on pursuing higher education.

The world in which we live is undoubtedly a masterpiece of art. My vision as an individual with a passion for creative arts perceives the components which make our earth divine; its majestic firmament, mysterious seas, and abounding organisms. With my vision, I have come to acknowledge that to look at the complete picture of someone or anything we must look at the sum of its parts. To me art gives meaning to life; it brings peace to the mind and encourages the essence of one's creativity, thoughts, and beliefs. I am passionate about sharing my imaginative ideas and a piece of who I am with the world through my art. Furthermore, I intend to share my vision to teach younger generations that anyone, regardless of their background, can freely express their message to the world. In addition to showing the significance of persevering through obstacles that will be painted at some point along the journey of our lives. Through art, I believe that every individual can freely communicate that which with words is often difficult to express. As an introvert myself growing up, I have struggled to communicate verbally with others. It is only when I pick up a pencil or a paintbrush that I can explode on a piece of paper or a canvas my thoughts, feelings, emotions, and beliefs. In society, today overwhelmedness, stress, and anxiety affect many people, a side effect as I see it of the many things we are preoccupied with. Furthermore, in society today, overwhelmingness, stress, and anxiety affect many people, a side effect as I see it of the many things we are preoccupied with physically and mentally. I am passionate about seeing this generation of young people be able to find relief in art and that through it they can revive their life when it is dull and cloudy. Oftentimes I have found it difficult to persevere through the setbacks, failures, and obstacles that have been painted throughout my life. While persevering I have felt overwhelmed, nevertheless, I recall that art gives meaning to life and I revive when drawing and painting but also by admiring the creation of God, our earth and its components. A painting that I highly value and admire is an oil painting by George Roux titled Spirit from 1885. It's important to me because it was one of the first paintings that captured my attention when I was younger. I saw it and acknowledged a man standing with an expression of shock on his face while having his full attention on a ghost playing the piano. The man seems to have been preoccupied in the evening with work as he is next to his desk with a lamp on and books stacked. However, he was interrupted by a ghost clothed in a beautiful white elegant long dress playing the piano. Roux managed to paint a vivid brilliance to the outside figure of the ghost making it the focal point of the painting. The man with this abnormal moment is shocked, unsure if it's real or just a mere dream. It leaves one to question if he is shocked because he recognized the woman and the song. Perhaps she meant a lot to him, a lover whom he couldn't share the rest of his life with. In conclusion, art is essential in society as it allows individuals to communicate. It revives the vividness that has been overshadowed by the burdens of life and gives meaning to life when persevering. I am passionate about contributing to building a generation of individuals that acknowledge the essence of art.

Growing up my father was constantly motivating me to achieve my dreams because he didn’t have that opportunity. My father turned a setback into an opportunity that taught him that while one door may close another one will open but one must persevere through the challenges that come in life. Throughout the years I have been alive he has dedicated his time to working to sustain the family and constantly reminds me that I can pursue what I am passionate about as long as one has perseverance. One quality that I possess and that I value most in my life is my perseverance because it helps me overcome difficult and overwhelming times that come along our life journeys. For example, at the end of my eighth-grade year, I decided I would join the cross-country team. The practice would start that summer at six in the morning for three days a week until July started, then it was required to go every day, not including the weekend. The workouts involved running oftentimes more than five miles and six strides, something that I wasn't used to because I used to be a sprinter. I had to mentally train my mind to persevere through the running even though on numerous occasions I felt like giving up and quitting the team. This year was my last year running cross country and while I wasn't the best runner regarding my time I never gave up and saw progress every year. Furthermore, I learned to love the sport because it taught and helped me understand in greater depth what it means to persevere. To preserve in running cross country, but also to preserve in running the race in my life where hills of challenges, setbacks, and failures creep in but once we overcome that hill success awaits and the sense of accomplishment is extraordinary like the radiance of the morning sun. Furthermore, when we are challenged it is perseverance that allows us to face intimidation, overcome it, and succeed. In my life, I hope to teach others the value of perseverance. So that when they are struck with challenges and setbacks in life they can have a mentality of not giving up. I have grown to develop perseverance as a quality of mine growing up and I acknowledge that it has helped me in my life journey. In the future, I know that because of perseverance I will not decay in times of hardship.

Growing up my father was constantly motivating me to achieve my dreams because he didn’t have that opportunity in his hands. My father would have liked to pursue higher education to have been an expert at programming computers, however, due to his economic status and poverty he couldn't afford to even finish high school in Mexico. His situation led to him coming to the United States in search of a better future for me and my mother. Throughout the years I have been alive he has dedicated his time to working hard to sustain the family and constantly reminds me that I can pursue what I am passionate about as long as one has the mentality to persevere through all. My father turned a setback into an opportunity that taught him that while one door may close another one will open but one must persevere through the challenges that come in life. My career goals reflect the daily reminders of my father. He emphasized how it is perseverance that separates a dedicated hard worker from a languorous one. Thanks to my father, perseverance is an attribute of mine that helps me overcome difficult and overwhelming times and it helps me gain endurance mentally. As a Hispanic first-generation student, pursuing higher education to me is valuable because in a way it is through education that one can improve the talents that we possess and the skills that we seek to obtain, an opportunity to impact the world positively. I have chosen to pursue a major in arts because I am passionate about sharing with others the vitality that art has in our society. Through pursuing higher education in art I aspire to strengthen my art skills and engage with others to understand how they express themselves, their culture, and their beliefs. With the completion of my art degree, I hope to start my own art business as I have the mind of an entrepreneur and in doing so cultivate in the minds of young generations, through social media platforms, the beauty of art which allows us to communicate freely and puts meaning to life. Furthermore, I plan to educate others on conditioning their minds to see obstacles not as barriers that impede achievement, but rather as an opportunity to progressively move forward and be strengthened and empowered mentally. In doing so I also aspire to be an impactful figure in younger generations that inspires them to view adversities as temporary beneficial experiences which help us reflect and grow in life.

When I was ten years old my parents converted to Christianity. In the summer of 2020, I gave my life to Christ and got baptized acknowledging that Jesus is my savior and that He died and resurrected for my sins. Every day of my life I seek to glorify him through all the things that I do because He is worthy of all praise. Having Jesus in my life, and being able to share his love and help others is important to me. While the church that I am part of isn't in my community but about twenty minutes away in another town, I desire to influence future young generations, through social media platforms, to allow God to come into their life and be that peace, joy, or love that they could be missing. Growing up my dad has always liked to shop at local businesses to contribute to their growth. I remember we used to call to place an order for a pizza from a local pizza business. Afterward, we would go pick up the order and then we would pick a DVD movie to rent from there as well. It was always a fun experience getting to enjoy some pizza and watch a movie after church. Today the business is there and has been renewed. While the movies are long gone, the pizza is still as delicious as it used to be. The local pizza place is one of the businesses in my community that I hope to help in the future by being ready to help and advertise their business on my social media platforms to encourage other families to have that fun experience that I had and continue to have there most Sundays after church. Since a young age, I have been passionate about art. However, I was always advised to not pursue a career in the art field because I wouldn't generate a large amount of income. But I have decided that it's not the wealth that I care about, it's pursuing a career that I am passionate about that is important because through it I hope to share my faith and help my community. In my heart, I believe that God made art to bring meaning to life in simple small things, and dull places, it gives color and revives the life of others. Since the beginning of creation, God had creativity and made heaven and the earth. However, our majestic earth was empty and darkness consumed it so I can just imagine our great God picking up a paintbrush and letting his imagination flow making light, the moon, the sun, the stars, animals, and his most valued creation, us. It's something so beautiful to think about and I want others to see this vision and understand how great our God is and how important art is in our society today. I hope to positively influence others to express their emotions, beliefs, and imaginations through art and bring together an engaged community.

Everybody has unique attributes that display their character, interests, and physical appearance. As for me, some attributes that define me are my perseverance, conduct, and creativity. These are a few of the attributes that I have displayed since a young age and which I desire to continue to carry. With my attributes such as creativity, I desire to innovate the minds of young generations and people of all ages to acknowledge the value of helping our community through cooperation in donations, buying from local businesses, and contributing to the stabilization of individuals' mental health through art. The attributes that I possess are unique because they contribute to the reflection of my faith which holds great importance in my life. For example, with my conduct, I intend to reflect my faith by being an attentive listener and watching the words that come out of my mouth. I value my beliefs and regardless of what others may think of me I stand true to my faith in God. I was taught to always share with others because there is great joy in giving. I hope to help others, not for my benefit but because I acknowledge that if I were in a situation in which I needed help I would greatly appreciate the help of others. In the future, I hope to be more involved in my community charities and donations and help influence younger generations to do the same through social media. Growing up my father appraised perseverance. He emphasized how it is perseverance that separates a dedicated hard worker from a languorous one. Thanks to my father, perseverance is an attribute of mine that helps me overcome difficult and overwhelming times and it helps me gain endurance mentally. For example, at the end of my eighth-grade year, I decided I would join the cross-country team. The practice would start that summer at six in the morning for three days a week until July started, then it was required to go every day, not including the weekend. The workouts involved running oftentimes more than five miles and six strides, something that I wasn't used to because I used to be a sprinter. I had to mentally train my mind to persevere through the running even though on numerous occasions I felt like giving up and quitting the team. This year was my last year running cross country and while I wasn't the best runner regarding my time I never gave up and saw progress every year. Furthermore, I learned to love the sport because it helped me understand in greater depth what it means to persevere. To give back to my community, in the future, I seek to open my own art business in town and hold sessions where people can come to express their feelings and creativity through art. For example, I could open a session Friday afternoons and through social media announce the event. Through art, I can contribute to the stabilization of the mental health of those individuals who were inclined to give art a try. To me, art holds great value in our society. It brings meaning to life and it revives and puts color to those that are dry within. In conclusion, with my unique attributions, I am passionate about influencing others to reflect their true spirit within and revive if they have been pressured to be someone they aren't. Furthermore, one of my goals is to be involved in giving back to my community with my attributes and career.

As a Hispanic first-generation student, pursuing higher education to me is valuable because in a way it is through education that one can improve the talents that we possess and the skills that we seek to obtain. To me being successful is far more than just becoming wealthy and acquiring the job we desire; it is rather to meaningfully impact and inspire people of all ages. Success, I would know I have reached when I see I have impacted young students to acknowledge that they have the potential to pursue the dreams they have. Growing up my dad would remind me every day of the potential that I have to one day be an inspiration to people of all ages. I didn't understand how I, a young Hispanic girl, could impact other people's lives. I would go on to search on google for inspirational people. I would find people like Albert Einstein, who developed one of the most widely known equations and Mozart who inspired other composers of classical music. It wasn't until one day when an elderly man who goes to my church came to me and said "never give up your talent because you are inspiring many people who come here." The reason the elderly man said that was because he saw that people who assist our church often come because of our music/worship service and through the years I have been told how they like the way I play the accordion and that they also wish to play. My dad taught me to play the accordion and bass at a young age and currently, I am the accordionist at my church. I rejoice every day knowing that I have inspired someone to pick up an instrument and have the desire to learn to play it. In knowing I am an inspiration to someone out there in this world a part of me feels like I have known true success in life. I am motivated every day to get out of bed knowing that if I am alive it's because I have a new opportunity to influence others for the good. By pursuing higher education in art I hope to one day run an art business where I can share with others my art and cultivate the idea in their minds that everyone regardless of one's background is uniquely designed with a purpose to fulfill on this earth. I want young students to value their dreams and teach them that no matter how many obstacles or challenges may arise in their path they can turn them into opportunities and persevere. That it's alright if one falls over the hurdle when trying to jump over it because a little scratch that one obtains from it doesn't forbid us from continuing but rather cherishing that scratch because it will become a powerful scar displays our perseverance. In conclusion, success to me is found in inspiring others with what we are passionate about. I believe anyone can inspire others daily simply by our character, actions, and determination to pursue what we desire.

In my mind, recently, I used to believe that going to college would be impossible for me because of my background. But I have acknowledged that nothing is impossible for someone who has the boldness to never give up their dreams. As a first-generation student, I hope to pursue higher education after graduating from high school to earn a degree in either studio arts or communication arts to share my art to inspire young generations and cultivate in their minds the idea that everyone is uniquely designed with a purpose to fulfill on this earth. When I started high school in 2019 I had the dream of one day attending college to get a bachelor's degree in business management. I had this idea of one day opening a Mexican restaurant in my town, although I was still indecisive. However, as we entered and endured the pandemic period that swept America and the world around us I lost hope in my desire to go to college. I started telling myself that it would be difficult to pursue higher education because of where I had been born and due to the economic status my family found itself in. In my sophomore year of high school, art became my friend whom I could turn to to keep my thoughts from thinking of the future. When I was younger before starting high school I dreamt of being an artist but I put it aside because people around me told me that art wasn't actually a career and it would bring low to no income. Through my sophomore and junior years, I came to understand that art had always been a part of me and because I had given it up I was blocking the light that I had to share with others. I had this burning desire for people of all ages to see the beauty of art and its importance and hoped that they could see it as I see it in amazement and delight. So I faced reality and looked at the obstacles and disadvantages in my path and turned them into opportunities. If not having enough money for college was an obstacle I would sell my artwork to gain some income, fill out scholarships and beyond that remind myself that nothing is impossible as long as we hold the mentally and that we have a unique purpose for which we should not give up but rather persevere. In conclusion, with my career, I hope to run an art business one day that will positively impact young generations and people of all ages so that they can understand the importance of art, for art holds the values which people carry, and with art, people can communicate their beliefs and express themselves, their culture, and their thoughts. I plan to engage a community of young adults, cultivating them to acknowledge their uniqueness and background so that they may know that in art they can display and express that which with words can't be explained. Furthermore, I hope to be an inspiration to people of all ages by sharing my story so they may know that anyone can thrive as long as one works hard and perseveres through all obstacles no matter if one falls over the hurdle we can always jump over it again.