Proving someone wrong has such a great feeling. A lot of people in my family think college is impossible or it is too much money too attend. I want to pursue a higher education to be the first college graduate from my family. I want to be the first-generation college graduate. I also want to go to prove people who always doubted me on going and to also pave the way for my younger family members since no one older than me has gone to college. Paving the way was a first generation child is not always the easiest. I have always had to work situations out myself since I do not have an older sibling to look up to learn from. I want to make it easier for my younger sister and younger cousins so they do not have to make situations hard on themselves. They have someone to look up too. I also want to make my parents proud, since neither of them hot a higher education. They have always encouraged me to achieve my goals and go after what I want because taking risks always have great outcomes. Being involved with groups or clubs is always important. You get to meet people and work together with people to achieve a goal. I used to be in band. That brought me out of my comfort zone since we always did activities that I would never do. Extracurriculars always make you think outside the box and make you work together as a team. At my new school, I'm thinking about joining some new extracurricular activities, because it is important to get out there and step outside your comfort zone. I have always been the quiet kid and taking risks is always a good initiative to being more outgoing and to be more out of your shell. Having a passion and stepping out of your comfort zone is important to have a do in life. Currently, I am most passionate about high school and to graduate. I am also passionate about paving the way for people. For my older and younger family members. I want to take the hard route so nobody else has to so I can teach them. I am also passionate about going to college and getting a degree. I have many passions I want to achieve, but you have to take everything little by little. Not everything can be rushed.

My 2020 experience may have been one of the years with the worst situations, but I've learned way more in the year 2020. In 2020, I had family losses, including my own mom. That has been the hardest struggle to deal with in 2020 and still today. At the same time, I have met new people who have been a positive impact into my life. I have also learned about many fields and careers in the world. I learned to cherish the small moments and make the most out of everyday. Life is too short to be worrying about people's comments, situations that have happened in the past, and that I should focus on myself. An experience I will remember is my mom passing away. From that experience, I have learned to live the moments that you can. Another experience I will remember is meeting my close family and cousins. They have made me a more outgoing and talkative individual. I have learned to be more confident and not so serious at all times, like I was before. 2020 has shaped everyone into a different person. Everyone has learned something from 2020. In 2020, I learned about entrepreneurship and investing. I have been really invested into those fields and will maybe like to do those in the future. I am planning on doing the abnormal in life, and prove a lot of people wrong. I want to make my family proud in the future. I have a big plan ahead of me and I will achieve it.

I remember when I was waiting in that cold, miserable hospital. I was waiting for the moment. The moment they would say "There is nothing we can do." It was a day no one expected. That day was February 16, 2020. The day the person that helped me, pushed me, encouraged me, and I depended on got taken away from me. That person is my immigrant mom. I would count this as a failure because I depended on her. I would count on her to help me. I felt helpless after she passed away. As a 15 year old, back when it happened, just when you start to deal with high school and you have to start thinking about your future, college, money, and a job; that's when you need your parent's help and advice. In another way, I do see this as a failure that helped me because I have become more independent and started to mature earlier than an average 16 year old. Like Steve Harvey said once, "Failure is a wonderful teacher. It is the only way to learn." It has redirected my life because, I moved after and had to leave my school, friends, and passions in my old state. I had to start over now in a new place. It has influenced me because I have grown entirely from that loss I had. I had to get back up, keep going, learn and keep learning. This failure has taught me my strengths and a lot of lessons. I need to do the dreams she wished she would've done and make her proud. It's not how you fall from a failure, it's how you get back up and learn from the failures.