Education is really my goal, attending classes and expanding my knowledge gives me purpose. Teaching others what I know, and allowing others to expand their knowledge, truly brings me joy. So no matter what my life brings me or takes me, I know that as long as I continue to expand my knowledge and help others along the way, I will be fulfilled in my life. Having goals helps you stay on the right path. But being open with your goal allows you to not be too blinded from other amazing opportunities. Currently working on my bachelor of biology, and planning on continuing my education after. I plan to attend pharmacy school and become a pharmacist. This is what drives me. But with obtaining such a degree, my goal is still to educate and help others. And that is exactly what pharmacist do. Pharmacist educate patients on medication safety and guide them on the current steps to take. So I feel, I have found the perfect career and continuing education choice. So though I aim to become a pharmacist, my goal in life is to be open to more knowledge and help others expand their knowledge too.

After high school, many students do not pursue a college education. Majority of the time, the reason for not attending college is due to funding. Not everyone is lucky enough to receive a scholarship or have parents that are willing to pay for their child to go to school. Todays economy has caused college students no other option, but to work and attend school. I have too much experience in this scenario. I work full time and attend school full time. No this is not impossible, but if I had the option of being able to not have to work full time, I would thankfully take the opportunity. However, like many college students, we are not blessed with such an option. Which is why, you have many of us here on websites ,such as bold.org, scavenging for scholarships to help afford tuition. We may have better luck buying a scratch off lottery ticket, at least we may win a dollar or two, compared to silent responses many of us receive. Tuition in todays school, cause many to not attend, drop out or withdraw. I love education, and knowing I may not have the money to finish my bachelors degree, truly hurts. I long to attend pharmacy school, but knowing the tuition that comes with that, I no longer know if I can start such a degree. Tuition should not be limiting who can go to college. Many future, doctors, lawyers, pharmacist and others can never be, simply due to tuition.

Throughout my life, I have had many hardships. Perseverance allowed me to overcome those hardships. A difficult situation that I endured, that guided me into the life I have today, was when my parents divorced. At the time, I was eighteen, barely out of high school, not even starting my own life yet. At that point, I became thrown into adulthood, because, I had to then care for my mother. And since then, I have been continuously caring for her. Seeing my mother sad, and knowing I could not take away her pain, to this day, remains a hurtful feeling inside me. So from then on, I have worked full time in order to help her. All while, attending full time college, as well. I say, this difficult situation shaped my future, because through the hardship I found my passion. At the time, I applied to the pharmacy technician program at my local community college. This was a decision I made, in order to increase my salary. But, as the program continued, I found that the world of pharmacy, would be my future. Currently I work as a full time pharmacy technician, and love what I do. After my bachelors, I plan to attend pharmacy school, and continue my path with pharmacy. Without my hardship, I would not have found my passion or purpose in life. Yes, persevering through that hardship was tough, and honestly the most difficult part of my life, thus far. But I would not change those times, for those times set the course of my life.

From a young age, I struggled with mental health issues. Never really knowing what was wrong with me, I remember most of my childhood as depressing. Not until the age of eighteen, did I finally receive help for my mental health issues. And in return, I received some backlash from family. Questioning my need to reach out for help, and accept that I need to be on medication. These voices of family still haunt me, and have me questioning my decisions. But, I have not let them stop me. I realized that only I know what is best for me, and choosing to reach out for help should never be frowned upon. And with that, I would say my mental health has not hindered me from achieving my goals. As of today, I have an Associates of Applied Science in pharmacy technology, which I received while working full time. And I am now currently working towards my Bachelor of Biology, with aspirations of applying to pharmacy school after. While also working full time as a pharmacy technician. Though I have many achievements, there have been just as many road bumps. Learning to pass through those, have helped me improve my mental health. But what really drives me, is knowing there are others like me, having the same battles. We are all unique, but are all the same, as well. What may seem as a singular battle, can actually be a war fought by many. I am glad to see many celebrities and notable people, announce that they struggle with mental illness. This allows us as people to see that we are all human. I want people to know, that having a mental illness does not mean you are less than or unable. You can do, everything anyone else can do and more! And I hope through my education and career, I can be there for those that need a shoulder to lean on or ear to listen with. No matter who you are, you are not immune from depression or any other mental illness. But knowing you have someone there for you, can truly make all the difference. And I aspire to be that one, for someone when they need me.

Diagnosed with depression, was both a blessing and a curse. Finally I knew why my life was always shadowed by a dark cloud. But, knowing my brain will have a chemical imbalance, no matter what I do, was hard to acknowledge. Prescribed medication to help my body live outside the dark cloud, was difficult for me to adhere to, as well. Knowing my own family disapproved of me accepting the help I needed, caused me to worry if I was making the right choice. But taking my daily pill, is my self care. Writing in my journal, about my day and thoughts, is my self care. Taking a nap, when both my mental and physical body need a rest, is my self care. And to me that is enough. Everyone has their own self care, they may not know it, but we all do. A simple activity we enjoy doing, such as reading, drinking coffee, going on a long drive. All self care. My self care, allows me to decompress and let out all of my emotions. And with todays society, we can all use a time to decompress and relax. Without my self care, my worth of life would be diminished. Self care allows my body to reset and recharge. So if you currently do not practice self care and find yourself stressed, burnt out or depressed. Take a moment, and find what soothes you, and make that your self care. Practice weekly, monthly, daily, your choice. Do something for you, and you will not regret your decision.

Friends come and go. But true friendship is hard to come by. I am twenty three years old, and would have to say that I do not have a single true friendship. Friendship goes beyond, accepting a friend request on Facebook, or texting you only on the holidays. Friendship should be unbreakable. Through the good and the bad, your friend should be there. Do we all have friends, yes. But do we all have friendships? I would say the majority of us do not. With social media, we only see the good parts of our friends lives. Calling your friend late at night and talking for hours, has become a trend of the past. Now we text, DM or Snapchat. Anything other than talk on the phone. Currently I do not have a friendship, but in the past I have. And that remains perfectly normal. Some friends are not meant to last through our lifetime. Just be there when we need each other, and as we age and grow, we go on to make new friendships. So with that, I will say friendship is ever changing, we grow and so do our friendships. But the memories we have with them, will always be part of us.

Popeyes chicken sandwich. Does anyone remember when the Popeyes chicken sandwich first became a menu item. The conversation of the sandwich at first was normal. Meaning people would compare the sandwich to the Chick Fil A crispy sandwich. Though in my opinion they are two different sandwiches. A proper comparison would be Popeyes crispy chicken sandwich to the Bill Millers crispy chicken sandwich. However, things took a turn for the worst, how or why, I do not think anyone truly knows nor will ever know. But there was never a time Popeyes did not have a line, both drive through and in the restaurant. This was pre-pandemic so the 6 feet apart rule, was non-existent. And people were not afraid to get close. And by close, I mean people were getting in physical fights over this sandwich. Every social media news feed top story was about the Popeyes chicken sandwich. To those unaware, a man was stabbed to death in Maryland over this chicken sandwich. An employee and customer, were involved in an altercation. Another instance, a women wrecked her car into the restaurant over this chicken sandwich. In what era, is a chicken sandwich worth murdering someone over, worth ruining your life over? How can a we as people feel, knowing a grown adult killed a man, over a fast food chain sandwich? This may have been foreshadowing to the lines at grocery stores during the pandemic, when people were just trying to buy toilet paper or water. Conspiracy theorist might be so bold to say that the Popeyes chicken sandwich caused the pandemic. This was in 2019, so seeing grown adults act in such a way, seemed ridiculous. But who knew, less than six months later, lines would not be outside Popeyes but outside grocery stores, in hopes of maybe getting half of your list checked off. The Popeyes chicken sandwich, was just a glimpse of how the majority of our lives would be for almost a year. And I have to say, I am not impressed with humanity now, and do not see a promising future. The Popeyes chicken sandwich, and now the COVID-19 pandemic has not shown the good sides of humanity. We as a society can only hope that future generations look at this time, and laugh at how incompetent we were, and how far we have come. As of now, humanity is on thin ice.

Before the pandemic starting, my life was not in the best shape. Working full time and going to school full time, began to drive my motivation away. But, then the COVID -19 pandemic started, my job shut down, but school and my life continued. A two week closure, turned into four months of not being employed. This time allowed me to reset, if you will, and dedicate my time to school, and my own well being. In the during of the pandemic lockdown, I finished my Associate of Applied Science in pharmacy technology, and started a new job at a hospital working full time. I also was accepted to the University of Texas at San Antonio, where I am currently attending, working on my Bachelor of Biology. So in a way, the pandemic truly was a tough time, away from family, unable to be there for the birth of my sister, and the fear of leaving the house. However, through this time, I was given a chance to focus on me and my life, and come out better than when the pandemic first started.

As a first generation student, finding guidance and help in college, proved difficult. Motivation drove me through these times. I felt, as a first generation student, my steps would pave the way for my following generations, but most importantly, my little sister Bella. Since the birth of my little sister, I knew every action, step, and decision I made, would be the stepping stones my sister would be able to take. The stepping stones, I lacked when first starting college. I am currently a full time pharmacy technician for Baptist Health System, and a full time student at University of Texas at San Antonio, working towards my Bachelor of Biology. And if I could do anything with my life, I would become a pharmacist. And that has been my plan since I began working on my associates degree. In high school, I would not have thought I would become a STEM major. Here I am though, working on completing my bachelor, with pharmacy school on the horizon. STEM, has been known to be a men dominated area of study. However, in the years that have gone by, women in STEM has increased. To me, that is what makes STEM exciting, how this field of study has grown, where having a female scientist is not uncommon or views as lesser then. Information technology, upon researching is the use of computers to create, process, store and retrieve information. With that, I can tell you in the pharmacy industry, health information technology is used daily. This is how patients medical histories are stored, for example. And most importantly how patient information remains secure. So through my future field of pharmacy, I know that information technology makes a hospital run. Current days, everything has gone digital, with no information technology, the ease of looking up a patients chart, remotely or on hand-held devices would not be. Information technology, I would say, has drastically improved health care. As stated previously, first generation college students have tough times in college, due to the weight we carry, in being the first college student. With that I would say that has been my challenge, managing school, work and my own personal life, has been tough. I still remember those late night studying and homework sessions, having to then wake up early for work. Like, so many college students, working full time and going to school full time has become the norm. How I have managed these tough and ongoing times, would have to be given to my future. I continue, and press on, knowing all of this hard work will pay off. Education is a rewarding passion to have, and I hope through my dedication and hard work, my little sister will see and follow in the same footsteps.