The very first thing I did in this world was play the piano. I had my hands placed on a piano before I could even learn how to walk. I am the child of a piano teacher who was a prodigy at a young age and had traveled the world to perform in contests, though she was from what was once a sleepy municipality in Mexico. Her side of the family has a lineage of brilliant musicians, and my grandmother owns what is known as the Instituto Musical Nazario, which is a well-recognized school of music in Ojo de Agua. My uncle is a singer for several restaurants; my cousins teach drums, violin, and opera, and my grandfather has his school, too, while skilled in over twenty instruments with his family since he divorced my grandmother. I wish to tell others that I am also experienced in various instruments, but the reality is that while I could play well, it was never my interest to do so. I had been learning piano up to twelve years old when I became the host of my mother's piano recitals instead, which held audiences of up to two hundred people. Over the years, my microphone skills grew exponentially, giving me confidence that proved helpful since I settled on singing. I was already performing in my church's youth choir at the time, but now, I am starting to work as a choir singer for significant events such as quinceanera masses, weddings, etc. I know in my heart that while I love singing, that is not where my passion lies. There is only one thing I can say I know better than the rest of my family: my knowledge of music. I listen to hundreds and possibly reach over a thousand songs from dozens of genres of different time points. I enjoy New Orleans street jazz or Neo-Swing when working, Chilean rap when painting, Alternative Indie during road trips, Caribean beats when cleaning, Cree drum music in the morning, and Italian classics when cooking if I'm not feeling French pop that day. I have them all memorized; I can recall the song's name and artist at the first note and guess the era or if it is the original version, all of which my mother praises as she claims I have surpassed her knowledge by now. I recently learned how I could turn that into a career; I could be a music supervisor for films. That would allow me to use my musical library to select songs and participate in what I believe is the most crucial aspect of film. I was listening to a song that was once played on the show Moon Knight, called “Mas Allá Del Sol” by Manuel Bonilla, one day in the living room, which caught my father’s attention. He asked me where I had found that song and sat beside me as he explained that his mother would often play for him when he was a boy. I thought about how I hadn’t known my grandmother all that well, but it felt like the show was gently guiding me to her and finding another way to connect with my father while my phone softly played. I listen to that song constantly now since it makes me feel closer to my family, and if that is what the music supervisor of Moon Knight could do, then I wish to do the same for others.

The very first thing I did in this world was play the piano. I had my hands placed on a piano before I could even learn how to walk. I am the daughter, son, and child of a piano teacher who was a prodigy at a young age and had traveled the world to perform in contests, though she was from what was once a sleepy municipality in Mexico. Her side of the family has a lineage of brilliant musicians, and my grandmother owns what is known as the Instituto Musical Nazario, which is a well-recognized school of music in Ojo de Agua. My uncle is a singer for several restaurants; my cousins teach drums, violin, and opera, and my grandfather has his school, too, while skilled in over twenty instruments with his family since he divorced my grandmother. I wish to tell others that I am also experienced in various instruments, but the reality is that while I could play well, it was never my interest to do so. I had been learning piano up to twelve years old when I became the host of my mother's piano recitals instead, which held audiences of up to two hundred people. Over the years, my microphone skills grew exponentially, giving me confidence that proved helpful since I settled on singing. I was already performing in my church's youth choir at the time, but now, I am starting to work as a choir singer for significant events such as quinceanera masses, weddings, etc. I know in my heart that while I love singing, that is not where my passion lies. There is only one thing I can say I know better than the rest of my family: my knowledge of music. I listen to hundreds and possibly reach over a thousand songs from dozens of genres of different time points. I enjoy New Orleans street jazz or Neo-Swing when working, Chilean rap when painting, Alternative Indie during road trips, Caribean beats when cleaning, Cree drum music in the morning, and Italian classics when cooking if I'm not feeling French pop that day. I have them all memorized; I can recall the song's name and artist at the first note and guess the era or if it is the original version, all of which my mother praises as she claims I have surpassed her knowledge by now. I recently learned how I could turn that into a career; I could be a music supervisor for films. That would allow me to use my musical library to select songs and participate in what I believe is the most crucial aspect of film. I was listening to a song that was once played on the show Moon Knight, called “Mas Allá Del Sol” by Manuel Bonilla, one day in the living room, which caught my father’s attention. He asked me where I had found that song and sat beside me as he explained that his mother would often play for him when he was a boy. I thought about how I hadn’t known my grandmother all that well, but it felt like the show was gently guiding me to her and finding another way to connect with my father while my phone softly played. I listen to that song constantly now since it makes me feel closer to my family, and if that is what the music supervisor of Moon Knight could do, then I wish to do the same for others.

Being a U.S. citizen does not mean my first language is English. My immigrant parents had only ever known Spanish and knew very few phrases in English since the area we live in has so many Spanish speakers that it wasn’t necessary to learn English. As a child of immigrant parents with a lack of understanding of English, this led me to learn Spanish first, but when the time came to go to school, I struggled. I understood English fairly decently, but the words didn’t make sense when they came out of my mouth, and my accent had me fumbling with my s’s, which made me ashamed of all my mistakes. It didn’t help that when I was a toddler, I was evaluated by psychologists who determined that I should have gone to special education. My parents refused, saying I could learn at the same rate as everyone else despite the many times I felt I couldn’t keep up. So they did the next best thing and placed me in programs that would help with my learning and English. That didn’t exactly work, and my teachers had to send me with other students to a small room the size of a closet with a cramped table where a staff member would work on speech. I remember the beautiful folder I had, a magenta folder with gold and shiny green details in the style of a mandala, which, I suppose, made the days feel less tedious. After months and months of work to correct my accent, I could hardly hear it anymore. But just because I spoke correctly did not mean I understood the words properly. My parents paid my teachers throughout elementary school to tutor me after school, making me feel uncomfortable as a fourth grader sitting in an empty classroom until my teacher returned from her small breaks. This made the little nine-year-old me feel obligated to clean it up, which meant picking up pieces of trash, placing the chairs correctly, and putting all materials back where they belonged. It gave me a good feeling since I had nothing else to do and surely the teacher would like it. I’d spent about an hour a few days weekly, and the changes were noticeable. My teachers were unsure how to help me, so they only taught me the next day's lesson, ironically making me more advanced in English than my peers. However, that wasn’t always the case since I still struggled. I spent many late nights reading under the covers with a flashlight like in the movies, trying not to make any noise since my parents slept next door. I read until I could hear the creaking of the kitchen cabinets at exactly 4:30 AM, which signaled that my father was waking up. I had built a vocabulary list like no other and became an avid learner of different types of mythology since I mostly read that. I became a strong English student, and my love for the subject began to form. I didn’t solely focus on English, but I also did my Spanish for Spanish speakers classes since I was scared of being a No Sabo kid, and I haven’t lost my love for my native tongue. I help my parents with their English now, and they have become skilled enough to teach their friends. These days, I skim the texts they're about to send to people, and I feel proud of them. Writing this essay is a significant accomplishment because I know a younger me would have been proud too to know what I am doing now.

The very first thing I did in this world was play the piano. I had my hands placed on a piano before I could even learn how to walk. I am the daughter, son, and child of a piano teacher who was a prodigy at a young age and had traveled the world to perform in contests, though she was from what was once a sleepy municipality in Mexico. Her side of the family has a lineage of brilliant musicians, and my grandmother owns what is known as the Instituto Musical Nazario, which is a well-recognized school of music in Ojo de Agua. My uncle is a singer for several restaurants; my cousins teach drums, violin, and opera, while my grandfather has his school, too, and has been skilled in over twenty instruments with his family since he divorced my grandmother. I wish to tell others that I am also experienced in various instruments, but the reality is that while I could play well, it was never my interest to do so. I had been learning piano up to twelve years old when I became the host of my mother's piano recitals instead, which held audiences of up to two hundred people. I thought I would be more nervous, but over the years, my microphone skills grew exponentially, which gave me a certain level of confidence, and that proved helpful since the form of music I settled on was singing. I began to sing in my church's choir at seven and kept doing so. Now, I am starting to work as a choir singer for significant events such as quinceanera masses, weddings, etc. I know in my heart that while I love singing, that is not where my passion lies. There is only one thing I can say I know better than the rest of my family: my mental recollection of songs. I listen to hundreds and possibly reach over a thousand songs from dozens of genres from different time points. I enjoy New Orleans street jazz when working, Chilean rap when painting, Alternative indie during road trips, Caribean beats when cleaning, Cree drum groups in the morning, and Italian classics when cooking if I'm not feeling Vietnamese pop that day. The odd thing about this is how I have them all memorized; I can recall the song's name and artist at the very first note and guess the era or if it is the original version. I love listening to music, and I recently learned how I could turn that into a career; I could be a music supervisor for films. That would allow me to put my musical library to use to select songs and have a part in what I believe is the most crucial aspect of movies: their music. I am a seventeen-year-old Latine asexual gender-queer who tries to understand myself when the only thing I know is music while having the "female role" engrained in me and am with a caring partner. I've had people tell me all the time that the way I am is not right, from friends and family, and when my heart breaks a little each time, I turn to music to heal. I wish to share the music that inspires and soothes me to those around me, which is why I know my path is to be a music supervisor.

Success looks different to everyone and has a variety of impacts on that can be personal or to a community but my first major accomplishment shaped my life in the best way. I am a U.S. citizen, but that doesn’t mean that my first language was English. My immigrant parents had only ever known Spanish and very few phrases in English since the area we live in has so many Spanish speakers, it wasn’t necessary to learn English. This led me to have learned Spanish first but when the time came to go to school, I struggled. I understood English fairly decently but the words didn’t make sense when they came out of my mouth and my accent had me fumbling with my s’s which had me incredibly embarrassed from all my mistakes.It didn’t help that when I was a toddler, I was evaluated by psychologists who determined that I should have gone to special education. My parents refused, saying that I was capable of learning at the same rate as everyone else despite the many times I felt like I couldn’t keep up. So they did the next best thing and placed me in programs that would help with my learning and English. That didn’t exactly work and my teachers had to send me with other students to a small room the size of a closet with a cramped table where a staff member would work on speech. I remember the beautiful folder I had, a magenta folder with gold and shiny green details the style of a mandala which I suppose, made the days feel less tedious. After months and months of work in order to correct my accent, I could hardly hear it anymore. But just because I spoke correctly, did not mean that I understood the words properly. My parents paid my teachers throughout elementary to tutor me after school which led me to feel weird as a fourth grader to sit in an empty classroom until Mrs. Wahl would come back. This meant the little nine year old me cleaned it up which consisted of picking up pieces of trash, placing the chairs correctly and putting all materials back where they belong. It gave me a good feeling since I had nothing else to do and it was a way for me to show my appreciation. I’d spent about an hour a couple days weekly and the changes were noticeable. My teachers were a little unsure of how to help me so they only taught me the lesson of the next day which ironically enough, made me more advanced in English than my peers though that wasn’t always the case since I still struggled to learn at the same rate as everyone else. By the time I entered middle school, I had told myself to read as much as possible. I spent so many late nights reading under the covers with a flashlight like in the movies, trying not to make any noises since my parents slept in the room next to me. I read until I could hear the creaking of the kitchen cabinets at exactly 4:30 AM that was a signal to me that my father was waking up. I had built a vocabulary list like no other and had become an avid learner of different types of mythology since that was what I mostly read. I became a strong english student and my love for the subject began to form. I didn’t solely focus on English but I also did my Spanish for Spanish speakers classes and I haven’t lost my love for my native tongue. I help my parents with their English now and they have gotten skilled enough to be able to teach their friends. This was the first success in my life and there were so many that came after that. Simply by overcoming that challenge had motivated me to do things that have later become beneficial to my education and this scholarship could be one of those things too. I consider writing this essay a success because I know a younger me would have been amazed that they are capable of doing what I am doing now. Success comes in all shapes and sizes and this is what success looks like to me.

The connotation of our universe is complicated for me. My understanding of the universe is amateur, from small educational videos you can find online to documentaries. But when talking about the universe, what does that mean? Are we talking about what's there? What isn't there? So, I'll begin with what isn't there. I spent about a week in my freshman year of high school working on a physics project about black holes, which hooked me. How could something be absolute and unfathomable? It was a concept that had me so fascinated and wanting to learn more even though, truthfully, the class was incredibly dull, and I spent most of my time filling out the letters on the packets they gave me with my colored pencils. In the end, the class served its purpose by teaching me enough to be able to memorize the definitions of the words for the quizzes and granting me a chance to get at least a B. Yet, I'm still thinking about it halfway through my junior year. Unsure of my present and confident in my future. I spend countless staring at the night sky, trying to count all the stars I could see from the little closed street I live on. Most of the time, I imagined half of them, desperate to see a sky littered with stars. It was hard to envision something that is so far away when I can't even see what is right in front of me. But the same applies to the universe. We are trying to see something more significant and bigger than us when we can't even see what we have in front of us. If we are to talk about the universe, we need to talk about what is part of the universe, which means us. I had asked a friend who is attempting to do this scholarship, too, what do you understand of humanity? She didn't know how to answer and only told me two things: 1. She doesn't understand humanity, and 2. People are weird. Both to which I responded with a laugh. I had to agree with her and thought about how I understand humanity. The most consistent way I have learned about humanity is through music. Growing up as the child of a piano teacher who worked at home meant that there was always music playing. Truthfully, I doubt I can spend a day without music. The silence feels meaningless without it. So, I carry at least two earbud sets with me at all times. I spent years developing my musical taste and building a mental musical library that constantly impresses people. But what I loved was that I managed to listen to so many genres. But I learned so much through those genres and began to love them. I spend my hours listening to rock, indie, 90s rap, swing jazz, bossa nova, pop, alternative, and so on. But the song that I felt most connected to what it meant to be human for me is Vienna by Billy Joel. The verses "Slow down, you're doing fine, you can't be everything you to be before your time" and "You got your passion, you got your pride, but don't you know only fools are satisfied?" tend to pull at my heartstrings. It makes me want to argue against it, but I can't help but agree. I see this directly through my parents. I have seen how my mother always runs to one thing and then to the next, never stopping. It drives me wild to see her not genuinely appreciating what she has at the moment, and it annoys me to see how my father never seems to strive for more. But then, what are we meant to do as humans? Never stop or never move? I tend to check the news, trying to inform myself of everything happening and seeing the same patterns. Some people have no choice and are forced to never stop, or they'll lose it all, while others never seem to change and commit the same actions that hurt people. I want to say that this isn't what humanity represents, yet this is what I've seen from the present. Reflecting on the past, I've realized it also had the same issues, but at least it was easier to start anew. Even though I don't have a well-developed knowledge of the universe, I am certainly an expert on mythology, at least for a sixteen-year-old. If the nights I had spent looking at the stars were countless, then my days studying mythology and history are incomprehensible. I always ran to the Egypt section of one of the museums at Balboa Park, and speed walked around the Getty Villa as running would be improper. I studied Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Norse, and Japanese and dabbled in the legends of the country where my family is from, Mexico. I bought dozens of books, watched documentaries, and even attended an archeology camp. That was one of the first ways I understood how people acted, but it also taught me how we should act. I admired Egyptian mythology for years for how the myths taught that a small action can sow great futures and a cocky behavior gets you hurt, if not worse. Those myths felt more like how humanity should be, yet I can't see that in the present, at least now. I can't understand the universe through science and math like others, but I am quietly observing how the world moves through its words, whether it be in stories or songs. And I'll continue doing so for the years to come.

Back in 2020, my Tio used to come over and he cooked while I did online school at the counter. I'd get distracted seeing everything he did, he made cooking look so easy and special. I didn't have much of an interest in anything at the time and seeing how my uncle cared for every step of the process was something different. The days he used to come over were ones where we used to stay up talking about anything, eating grapes. We'd talk about the news, documentaries, history, and culture. He'd especially tell me about the things he heard about the production of the latest Indiana Jones movie because he knew how much I loved watching the Indiana Jones film series. I used to not believe him, thinking that there was no way that there would be another movie, its been too long. Then a couple of weeks ago, I got to see the movie in theaters with him and there was just something so awe-inspiring in hearing the theme, a song that I learned how to play on the piano when I was 8. I felt like the little kid who watched those movies with so much eagerness and having my Tio watch the movie with me after all those years left me in tears that day since I used to be unsure I'd be there to watch it. That little kid who watched those movies called him dad for years on accident. I mentioned this to my therapist once and she told me that it was because that's how I saw my uncle. I gave this some thought but the reality was that my uncle has felt more like a father my entire life. He is constantly teaching me things, he supports me always, and he takes an interest in anything I mention. He is the one who got me so interested in trying new recipes knowing that in the end, it would be delicious. I know this by seeing how my friends at school would always ask me what kind of soup I made that morning. I like mechanics now after seeing how Tio would constantly work in the garage with my father and he'd tell me to come over so that he could teach me some tips for when I had a car or what tools to use. I'd show him my art and he'd comment how much he appreciated me showing it to him when I felt like nobody understood my drawings since my mom would just stare at the drawings blankly. He was the one who taught me that no matter what I do with my life, I keep on learning. My uncle is an immigrant from Mexico who takes jobs cleaning buildings or museums and rents a small room to live in. Yet, never complains about the way he lives, he always finds a way to give money when somebody needs it and helps out at family events by making the best food. I recently learned that before I was born, Tio had cancer and had almost died. I knew my uncle wasn't the healthiest person in the world but I never imagined that he used to have cancer. I can't imagine a life where he wouldn't be there. And when the day comes when I won't have him by my side, I'll miss that kind smile, I'll have his picture ready for the ofrenda for Dia de los Muertos, and I'll tell him everything I accomplished that year, knowing he would be proud as always.

It was easy to pick up a device when I wanted to watch DC, Marvel, or whatever I could find when I wanted to escape reality when I was little. I was much more of a fan of DC than anything but as a teenager, Marvel caught my attention more. It led me to watch almost all the movies and shows even the lesser known ones. But Spiderman was the only one that I had watched consistently, whether it was Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, or Tom Holland. Then Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse came out in 2018 and I was amazed, there wasn't anything like it. I watched it several times and reminded me that greatness comes in different forms. I was reminded of this again this year with the Across the Spiderverse movie. It was practically revolutionary for me to see Spiderman 2099, Miguel O'Hara. As a brown Mexican-American, I didn't see much representation for Latinos and I didn't mind it, I didn't need a character that looked like me to represent me. But as I grew older, it started to hurt to see a lack of brown characters on the big screen. Seeing this version of Miguel O'Hara left me shocked as he wasn't just another Latino character in a movie used for comedy relief with a silly accent. He is a serious character that has depth and he has his issues but I loved seeing every single second of him. When I learned that Oscar Issac portrayed him in the movie it made me even more of a fan. Oscar Issac was one of the first Latino actors that I saw in a big-screen franchise, Star Wars. I remember the day I saw a clip of him in one of those movies and it made an impression on me ever since. In 2022, the show Moon Knight came out and it starred Oscar Issac too. I was mostly curious since one of my other hobbies was to study Egyptology and all its myths. So I watched clips of it and was immediately hooked. It quickly became a comfort show that I always come back to. One of the characters Mr. Issac plays was Steven Grant and I truly had never connected to another character as much as Steven Grant. And seeing Miguel O'Hara this year did that for me again. So I ended up looking for the comics and I spent countless nights reading them till morning. Though of course, I had my issues with the comics due to the misspellings of poor mistranslations of Spanish and certain details about Mexican culture that had me wondering what the creator's source was, it was still enjoyable for me. And Mr. Issac's portrayal felt more genuine to the Mexican culture that I was exposed to growing up. Miguel O'Hara may not be the average Spiderman but he did so many things for me. When the Across the Spiderverse movie came out, I was in an art slump at the time and as someone who spent years dedicating myself to studying art, it was rough. Slowly but surely, I grabbed my pencil more often and messed around more with mixed mediums which made me energized again. I bought the behind-the-scenes book and watched the movie almost weekly that led to my art style improving. It felt refreshing to see the artistic side of me again and my love for superheroes grow stronger. In only a couple of months, I felt more comfortable with who I am and regained a sense of self which is due to Spiderman 2099 and Oscar Issac.

Another chip has been carved. That’s what I tell myself some days. Whenever I felt like I lost hope, when I was desperate or furious, I imagined somebody carving a chip away from my heart. I felt it quite often. Sometimes there was this itch. It was an itch rooted in me that was so aggressive it made me want to peel off my skin. I’ve always felt uncomfortable in my body, and as the years I had passed, it only increased. The truth was I didn’t know where my mental problems came from. I have had an amazing childhood with loving parents, supportive friends, and compassionate teachers. I didn’t realize I grew up with so much anxiety and never learned to manage it. I always felt that I was going to lose the life I had. Throughout the years I had made numerous plans of what to do if there was ever a fire in the house, if we were going to get attacked at night while we were taking a walk, and what I would do if my parents passed away. I had planned and perfected everything. I still make these plans, and I wasn’t aware of how much these thoughts affected me. I went to therapy in the hope of understanding. The therapist was kind, and she helped a bit, but as the year passed, I realized that I felt like I was treated like another case. I think it was mostly my fault. I had always planned the main topics and the appropriate responses to any questions, and then I had never said what I had planned. I kept many things to myself and didn’t give myself a chance to say anything. I can seem very open and share a lot, but there is some stuff that I never get to say, no matter how much I try. I wouldn’t say no to therapy if I ever got the chance to go again, but it still wasn’t a good experience. So I decided to take matters into my own hands. Maybe talking it out isn’t the method that works for me, so maybe actions would work? This year I had to take on more responsibilities than I ever did. I took various difficult classes along with four clubs and a sport. It worked fine at first, but then I noticed that my ability to concentrate had dissipated. It started to affect my grades, so I stayed up late, which worsened my sleep schedule, which was already so irregular. The anxiety had increased, and the scarce hallucinations that I had seemed to happen more. I realized that maybe taking those actions wasn’t the most effective form of help I could have. I have stopped forcing myself to understand or improve, but I realize it will take time, and the results aren’t always immediate. I track my mood, develop my coping skills, and use positive affirmations to counter the thoughts that come with the depression of the anxiety. I took part in my school's Metal Wellness Club and became president. I’m happy to say that we have a garden and our little community. I’ve learned to accept my limits and know when I can’t control something. Even though I will not go into a career that specializes in mental health, I am proud to say that I will take part in what I love, so that is good enough for me.