The smell of water always takes me back to early morning runs with my cross-country team. Do I live by any significant body of water? No, in fact I grew up in West Texas, Socorro, Texas to be exact just a few miles outside of El Paso, Texas. I do love the ocean, and you will always catch me knee deep in lakes or bodies of waters I can find. I was even on the swim team; my twin brother and I were captains. I come from a family grounded in love, faith, and hard work. We share a strong Christian foundation that guides how we treat others and the world around us. That same spirit carries over into my current job at a coffee shop owned by a fellow believer. It’s been a blessing in my life although I'm pretty sure I am growing a small addiction to caffeine. Who knew that would happen? I am currently majoring in Ecology and Evolutionary biology. I want to understand the earth and how we react to it the way we do. We share this planet with many interesting animals and biodiversity. The number of plants and organisms (living and non-living) we interact with daily could often go uncared for, but I believe there is meaning in every interaction. It's beautiful what nature can do on its own. Not to mention, how we as humans can help increase its beauty and protect it from harm. I personally find benefit from hands on learning and have found this major to be beneficial to both my learning and how I interact with others in day-to-day life. In the future, I hope to serve my community as a water quality scientist or an agriculture specialist with the U.S. Border Patrol. In El Paso, nearly 40% of our water supply comes from the Rio Grande. As a proud Mexican American and lifelong member of the border community, I feel a deep responsibility to protect our local water resources. I understand firsthand the needs of families like mine, and I want to help ensure they have access to clean, safe water — not just today, but for generations to come. On the opposite side of my street are pecan farms that rely on this same river for irrigation, or down the street in Fabens, Texas where bee farms are being used for income. Clean, sustainable water doesn’t just serve homes, but can help people make a living. By studying water sustainability and how ecosystems function, I hope to develop smarter, more sustainable ways to manage this vital resource. I believe science can be a tool for compassion — a way to serve and protect both people and the planet.

On May 15, 2022 at 4:45 in the morning my eldest brother, a navy veteran committed suicide. It was an unexpected loss. It was tragic and heart-wrenching. There were no signs, letters, or even a phone call to say goodbye. He had plans for later that day, plans throughout the week he would never get to complete. As a Christian, the first thing I wanted to do was pray that he was in heaven safe. It scared me to think that he would punished for this eternally. Although I know that God forgives every sin, the thought frightened me. But who was I to tell my mother who had just lost her firstborn son, that we needed to pray? That day was silent, the most silent my family had ever been. The initial shock, the feeling that I needed to step up, the fear of the future. Would my parents divorce? Would my dad kill himself as well after the news? What caused this? Are we sure it was suicide? Was it the alcohol he consumed? What did we miss? In the weeks leading up to the funeral, I slept in my twin brothers' room while my parents rarely slept. With my father's stone-cold face and my mother's random sobs, it was hard, and awkward. As a Mexican, family runs deep in our roots, so the calls came flooding in, the doorbell rang every five minutes for two weeks, and family friends, cousins from out of town, and people who had just gone on vacation ran back to El Paso. The constant hugs, my grief didn't hit me right away so that was awkward plus I'm not a hug person. Church people, I had never met before had created a food train for the two weeks until the funeral. Our community gathered around to support us. To not break my mother more I called the VA and declared my brother dead. It was hard but my other brother took over halfway through the phone call. It's been two years since my brother died, and I miss him every day. Since, his death I've realized God has had a plan, he turns graves into gardens. When my brother died I knew I could not turn to drugs or alcohol, because what would that do? I was a sophomore in high school, and in some way that would through my life away. So, I joined the cross-country team and ran. I ran every morning that year and just kept running. It was my escape, it was my peace. God even gave me a strong Christian community that first year I went to bible study and grew even closer with God. I want to continue what my brother started and continue going to college even after previous failures, my brother was a " C's get degrees" type of guy but he instilled the importance of education in me. However, throughout all this, I worried for my family's peace even my dog Chocó's peace. I realized however that as a family we would continue to trust in God in his mysterious ways. We each grew closer to our God and for that, I am forever thankful for. I pray Emilio is happy and at peace on a boat in Heaven.