Growing up, I saw many of my friends place their grandparents in retirement homes or senior living communities, as their families did not desire to take care of their elders. As a Filipino-American, my family strongly believes in filial piety and taking care of our parents later in life. So when my Lola, who had Alzheimer's disease for over a decade, and my Pop Pop, who took care of my Lola through all those years, couldn't support themselves any longer, we brought them into our home. Bringing my grandparents was our duty as Filipinos, and I learned this at a very young age. Our family had the means to support my grandparents, so we renovated our garage into a master bed and bathroom for my Lola and Pop Pop. My parents taught me to how to care for my grandparents when I was only ten years old. I would dance with my Lola, read with her, and watch Judge Judy in her lap. During the later stages of her condition, I would help my grandfather feed her and help her walk through the house during the day. My friends would question me and ask why my family didn't send them to a retirement community. This made me proud of my Filipino identity, and this compassion for my grandparents has translated into my community service for my local non-profit organizations. Throughout my middle school and high school career, I committed over 450 hours of community service for a non-profit called the BIG Vision Foundation. I participated in hosting and setting up BIG Vision events such as John Paul II day; our event that hosted sporting events for local special needs schools. The years of hosting these kind-hearted kids, and watching them grow up and eventually graduate from their schools was truly an experience that has made me so passionate about community service. Their unconditional acceptance of me, even when I was a kid, reflected on me and lead me to volunteer for the Cups of Compassion event in Reading, PA; an event that aids the homeless every holiday season. I went on to win the BIG Vision Foundation Loretta Magary Community Service Award because of these wonderful experiences. I attribute all of my compassion and community service to my Filipino family's example. Their influence has truly made service one of my great purposes in life.

Entering high school, I was completely lost. My previous volunteer experience gave me an inkling of the person I was--goal-driven, passionate about my community--but I was ignorant of the path I needed to take to fulfill my potential. So, I took a chance on going to my county's technical school, Berks Career & Technology Center (BCTC) and majored in Business Management & Entrepreneurship. I figured that since my Dad seems so fulfilled in his career in business, I should try to achieve this too. While this educational path may have begun as a shot in the dark, it has been the guiding light toward my development, achievements, and aspirations as a young man. My experience at BCTC introduced me to so many opportunities to interact and learn from a very diverse group of people. My class consisted of people from all different school districts with many different ways of life and perspectives; people that I would have never had the chance to meet outside of BCTC. This experience brought so much value to my development as a young man, and has made me into an embracing and accepting person today. This educational environment truly cultivated my worldview into a positive force, this is one of the reasons I believe education is so important to have in this world. My education at BCTC also helped me realize my potential and understand the person I want to become. The opportunities in my program allowed me to work with my peers to create a virtual business dedicated to helping the environment. Our business was called BEE FRESH. We were a sustainable health & beauty company that was dedicated to advocating for bees and the environment through our business operations. This virtual business, coupled with my volunteer work, helped me realize that my passion in life is being a positive force in this world. This passion grew throughout my educational career, and along with this passion, my achievements and opportunities augmented as well. Because of my educational experience at BCTC and BEE FRESH, my team and I were awarded many national achievements. I was personally awarded two online National Gold Awards in e-Commerce Website Creation in both 2021 and 2022 from Virtual Enterprise International (VEI), and the teams I lead at BEE FRESH won multiple National Gold Awards in Elevator Pitch, Company Branding, and Video Commerical competitions from VEI. We then went on to win 1st place at the 2022 SkillsUSA National Entrepreneurship competition in Atlanta, GA. This showcase of achievements and experiences all link back to one decision: choosing to advance my education by going to BCTC. In my experience, education has been the catalyst that has given me opportunities to meet new people, learn new perspectives, and better myself as an entrepreneur and young man. My education at BCTC unlocked the potential in me that I never knew existed when I first walked into high school. This is why education has held such a high value in my life. I have taken steps towards furthering my education at Reading Area Community College, and I will graduate with my associate's degree in Business Administration only one year out of high school. I want to achieve my bachelor's at Elizabethtown college and study abroad to further my understanding of other world perspectives and situations. I hope that these future educational opportunities will help me have a positive impact on the world!