My mother was a single parent who raised three kids, ages 3, 10 and 15. As I got older she would tell me stories of how she struggled to raise us but pushed through to give us the best life possible. She has always been my and my brother's biggest supporter. She has always shown up to every school event I've had no matter what it was, if it was a concert, an awards assembly, or a game, she was there for me. When I started high school my mom would always tell me that anything is possible if I put my mind to it and that no matter what happens, to keep my head up and keep going. When I had no motivation in school or was feeling stressed about my grades my mom was there to listen to me and would give me advice on my situation. After having our talks I felt relief and motivation to keep going to make her proud. When the pandemic hit I had more motivation to keep my grades up because everyone I knew was just giving up. I kept my mom's words in my mind and kept trying my best to do well. We ended up getting Covid during that time and my whole family got sick. I was doing my best to help everyone out because I was the one who got the least affected, I realized I wanted to be a nurse from then on. After we all got better I told my mom about how I wanted to become a nurse. She was proud of me and told me to keep doing well in school so I would be able to get into a good college. For the last three years now, almost every morning my mom will tell me little things to keep me motivated in school. She'll tell me how proud she is to have a smart and hard-working daughter and a future nurse. Since I kept my grades up in high school because of my mom I was able to get CSF (California Scholarship Federation) and now I will be graduating with a gold robe. Also from my mother's motivational comments, I was able to apply and get accepted to a 4-year university where I will be majoring in Pre-Nursing to get my BSN and become a registered nurse and hopefully get my MSN to finally become a nurse practitioner. I was able to do all this just from my mom's support. Without my mom I don't think I would have been able to come this far.

Seeing my oldest brother get arrested in front of me at the young age of 11 was a traumatic experience for me. I looked up to my oldest brother, he was someone who I saw as a father figure. It was traumatic for our whole family. It was upsetting when friends would come over and ask where my brother was, I was sad and worried about what they would think of him and us because people see those who are incarcerated as "bad" people. I would lie and say he was just on vacation somewhere out of town and he'd be back soon but in reality, he was locked up and I had no clue when he would be getting released. My oldest brother was always in and out of jail after that. Every time he went in it made my heart hurt and I always felt guilty because we were out enjoying the world while he was in there. A few years ago my other brother and uncle were also incarcerated. Witnessing that all at a young age made me grow up mentally. I started to help my mom out with more things and felt guilty whenever I needed something because she already had so much on her plate. I also saw how much having both of my brothers and uncle incarcerated affected my mom, and I realized I had to be the change for her. It was so much stress on her no matter how much she denied or tried to hide it. It took a huge toll on her mental and physical health. I used that as my motivation to do well in school and get into a good university for nursing. I wanted to go into the nursing field because I wanted to be able to help my family when they were sick or injured, and they wouldn’t have to worry much because I’d be there to help nurse them back to health. These few years of high school I’ve tried to keep my grades up and make sure I always had good news about my grades to make my mom proud and less stressed. Now in my last year of high school, I managed to keep most of my grades at A's and B's. I was able to make it into CSF (California Scholarship Federation) and I'll be graduating in a gold robe. I also made it into a 4-year university where I'll be studying Pre-Nursing to get my Bachelor of Science in Nursing to become a registered nurse and go on to get my Master of Science in Nursing to finally achieve my goal of becoming a nurse practitioner. I’ll finally be able to help my family out in other ways that I couldn’t before because I was just a child.

Everyone has different role models but mine has always been my mother. My mom has a kind heart, she's strong, hardworking and always sees the good in others no matter what. My mom has been through so much throughout her whole life, she's been hurt and betrayed by others and raised three kids all on her own while working to support us but she has never stopped smiling. My mom always taught me to stay strong and treat others with kindness. She's always told me to be kind to others because you never know what they're going through. When she goes out to places and sees others struggling and asking for money she'll give them as much as she can even though she may not have a lot. From a young age, I would see her actions and would always try to stay strong no matter the situation I went through and be kind to others. In school, I would be nice to every student I talked to, even though it was extremely difficult at times. It always stuck in my mind when my mom told me, "You never know what anyone could be going through," and it's true. No one knew the struggles we went through, so anyone out there could be suffering like us, or worse but they keep it hidden to not worry others. Whenever I go out places I try to tell people good morning and have a nice day because my mom also taught me that it never hurts to tell someone those kind words. A simple good morning can have a big impact on someone for the rest of their day. Throughout my years in high school, she has also been my biggest motivation to stay strong and keep going. She always made it known that no matter where she was, she will always make time to be there for me. When I would feel stressed out about any situation I was dealing with she would be there to give me advice and tell me stories about her years in school and the problems she dealt with throughout her life. I felt better after our talks about my problems, she always found a way to help me pass these obstacles. My mom has had a huge impact on the person I've become. I'm a strong, confident, and respectful woman thanks to her. She will always be my biggest role model because of everything she has done for our family and others.

My mom always taught me to do what I can for others who don’t have enough like us. I would see her help others out with different things like giving them food, giving money even though we didn’t have enough. I felt proud to see her do the most she could for others. I wanted to be the same as her and help others out, I was young so I didn’t know how I could help people out. Many people don’t get the same chance that others get, they don’t get to go to college and learn about the careers they want to pursue. Thanks to my mother and brothers I was given the opportunity to continue studying past high school. I’ll be going to a four year university in order to study for nursing. I want to be able to help those who need help, no matter the situation they are in. Once I finish studying and continue my career I want to help others reach the same point I was able to thanks to my family. Everyone deserves to do what they want and love. I also want to show people what they can do to help themselves when they’re injured. To avoid infections and things similar to that. Many people can’t afford the same health care or basic necessities so I want to be able to show them how to care for themselves. Everyone should try to help others who are in need, I will always stand by that. My mother showed me that people can try to help others no matter what. With my career in nursing I really believe that I will be able to give back to those in my community.