Sixteen years ago I was born into this world to two teen parents. My Dad was fifteen and my mom was sixteen. My grandma and my aunts stepped in and raised me because my parents made horrible choices over the years and they weren’t ready to raise a child. It was tough to accept and sometimes difficult to understand this concept but with therapy, the love, support of my grandma and aunts I think I’m doing pretty good. Growing up in such a divided diverse family can feel overwhelming. At times I felt alone because I didn’t feel like I belonged anywhere. My Grandma was a daycare teacher and took me to daycare everyday and then my aunts would come to take care of me the rest of the time and buy all my school clothes and supplies. My Grandma became handicap and I started helping her in her classroom with younger students. I helped set up arts and crafts. I graded papers for my peers in the school age class and felt like I was helping. I believe this is where I fell in love with the idea of teaching. When I started first grade my aunts took over completely and I lived with them. Over the years my mom has came around but it has always had a negative impact on my life and bad things have happened. These experiences makes me want to become a child advocate of some sort to make sure children are being taken care of and have a voice. My dad has also tried to be apart of my life over the years but he just is incapable of being a father and struggles with maintaining any normal lifestyle for himself. Though we don’t have much . My aunts signed me up for sports and activities through the city to keep me busy but it was the softball field that brought me peace. It’s where I learned how to be on time, not buckle under pressure and team work. I learned how to pitch and even volunteered to help my pitching coach teach younger kids last fall. I love working with kids and seeing their face light up when they learn something new. I was even playing travel ball but my aunt got Cancer and couldn’t travel anymore. Shes not cancer free but finally doing a lot better and is back to work. My aunts and I live in a small upstairs apartment on the border of Buena Park and Fullerton, Ca. I’m a Junior student athlete at Buena Park High School. Growing up here was hard but I wouldn’t change it for anything. Since I was little my aunts taught me education ,perseverance , and hard work is the way to a better life. I plan on using any scholarship money I get to pay for college classes, books, and school supplies to support my dream of helping children like me who don’t come from traditional families and being a support system the way my Grandma and aunts have been for me. Thank you for the opportunity and considering me for this scholarship.