“Educate yourself for a better life, education is key”, these were the messages I received from my papi, my father, throughout my life. My dad was the hardest worker I have ever known. He emigrated to the United States from Mexico to provide his children with the opportunities he never had. My father had a sixth grade education, he did not speak English, and he worked minimum-wage manual labor jobs his entire life. My papi would have done anything for his family, and he did. Seeing his hard work and the toll it took on his body was incredibly difficult. From a young age, I knew I would fight to take advantage of every opportunity I had. I enrolled in the International Baccalaureate program, I sought out and enrolled in a college access program, I became involved in numerous extracurricular opportunities, and I developed strong relationships with my teachers and counselors. I worked hard, and it paid off. I was accepted to Stanford University. As a first-generation, low-income, Latina, whose parents do not speak English, my family and I could not have been more proud. I still remember the moment I told my dad I was accepted to Stanford. He was beyond proud. He was so immediately supportive, and willing to do whatever it took to get me there. My dad was such a selfless man, I don’t know if he ever truly realized that it was his hard work, sacrifices, and love that made it possible. Attending Stanford University was life-changing. One of the best moments of my life was my graduation. That was the first and only time my dad was able to visit me. He was using a walker at this point, and it was not easy for him to be there. However, I will never forget the moment that I handed him my diploma and the tears of joy in his eyes. That is a moment I will cherish forever. At Stanford, I had pursued my degree in Psychology. I was also interested in the education system and knew I wanted to work with students. I began working at a youth development organization. There, I had the opportunity to mentor 32 young people from their sophomore year through high school graduation. My role allowed me to build strong relationships with each student and support them in their socio-emotional development, educational journey, and post-secondary plans. All of my students were students of color, from low-income backgrounds, and first generation. I am so passionate about my work and in order to continue and do so to the best of my ability, I realized my best option was to pursue a career in school counseling. I decided to apply for graduate school last year. I made this decision in the midst of my father’s illness. My father had been diagnosed with bone cancer. He spent the last few months of his life in hospice. Watching my strong, proud, father become a shell of who he was, was excruciating. My papi passed away on March 4th, 2021. A week later I was accepted to the Vanderbilt and Harvard Graduate Schools of Education. I never got to tell him and that will always hurt. I never got to see the smile on his face, never got to tell him thank you, never got to see him recognize that I accomplished this because of him. I love him and miss him so much. I chose to enroll in the Vanderbilt Human Development Counseling Program with a School Counseling Track this fall. In the last few months I have lost my father, moved to a new city where I don’t know anyone, left the job I was comfortable and financially stable at, leased my own apartment, built all my furniture, and bought a car. It has not been easy, but I have been able to do it all because my father raised a strong, independent, and capable woman. Graduate school is a new beginning for me and I know I’m on the right track. My papi was always a kind and giving man. He taught me the importance of community and building up others. That’s why it’s important to me to dedicate my career to supporting young people from systematically disadvantaged communities and identities. I love working with students, and I’m so excited to be a school counselor. Graduate school is not easy, but my papi raised me to fight for what I want. I honor my papi by continuing to pursue my education and by ensuring that my education will support the next generation. I will be forever grateful for him and I will always miss him, but I know he would've been so proud of me and because of him I will not give up.

“Educate yourself for a better life, educate yourself because we couldn’t”, these were the messages I received from my parents throughout my life. My parents only had access to a sixth grade education, they emigrated to the United States from Mexico so I could have better opportunities. While I am grateful for their support in my pursuit of my education, I also felt a lot of pressure to “succeed” and make their sacrifices worth it. In fifth grade I realized if I wanted to go to college I would need to fund it. To me this meant enrolling in the International Baccalaureate Program and maintaining over a 4.0 GPA in high school. I remember being constantly stressed, tired, and scared of failing. My mental health took a toll. When my parents saw how stressed I was, they were worried and wanted me to take better care of myself. I did not know how to explain to them that I was doing this because I wanted to be worthy of their sacrifices. In the end, it felt like it paid off. I was accepted to Stanford University. At Stanford I studied Psychology. My interest in mental health and education, along with my own experience receiving support in high school, led to my desire to pursue a career in counseling youth. Three years ago, I began working as a mentor to 32 high school students. In my work with my students, who were all first and second generation immigrants, I saw how many of them also felt a similar pressure to “succeed”. They put their mental health aside in the pursuit of being accepted to college. Sometimes the pressure was internal, sometimes it was explicit from parents or schools. Then the pandemic began and I watched more and more of my students struggle with their mental health. At the same time, I became depressed. Not only because of the pandemic, but my father became seriously ill. In the last few months of 2020, I started having suicidal ideations. I was exhausted, hopeless, and scared. Applying to graduate school gave me hope. It reminded me that I have goals to achieve and things to accomplish in this world. My goal is to dedicate my career to supporting young people from systematically disadvantaged communities through high school and in reaching their post-secondary goals. Our education system is not adequately set-up to support students in their mental health. Immigrants and children of immigrants are often left to navigate these systems on their own which can adversely affect their mental health. I want to start changing that. I want to support students in being whole, happy, thriving, young people who are able to build the futures they want for themselves. I am so excited for my life, and that was not something I could say a few months ago. Mental health is extremely important to me in both my personal and professional journey, and I plan to dedicate myself to supporting the wellbeing of our youth.