I have come from a single-mother household, but our household was rarely ever just the two of us. During my lifetime, my mom has been in two separate long-term relationships that have had a tremendous affect on me. I have always been a curious person, anything controversial or massively criticized- even feared- I have done my due diligence to be informed. I've always felt like my story was too wrapped up in other people's lives, so I've hesitated to share mine in fear of revealing too much of someone else's, but I have a right to my own life. My mom was with a person who was very turbulent to say the least. She was with that person for over seven years. Her name was Ronda. Growing up in my adolescent years, Ronda was the type of person who strongly valued intelligence, at least, the appearance of it. She always encouraged me to be well-rounded, and one of the tenants of my "circularity" was having emotional intelligence. This led me to become someone who attempted to be very reflective of my intentions and the "whys" of my actions, in doing so I became instilled with a sense of responsibility to becoming the best version of myself that has not left me. My mom was kind of the opposite of Ronda. She has never pressured me academically, in her words, she never needed to because I put that pressure on myself, but she always told me that no matter what I do she will support me in my endeavors as long as I am happy. We left Ronda during the beginning of my freshman year, and I took off like a bullet in terms of my academic and extracurricular ambitions. It took a minute to get steady footing. We left her and her house, and lived in a room together at my aunt's place until we finally got an apartment. My family has always been there to support me. It was in leaving our previous situation that I was able to see my mom and my family more clearly. Time does not stop for anyone. I've realized that time's persistence does not have to surpass my own. If you can remember the feeling of love and support in the present, you can bring it forward into your life. The impact I want to make in this world is bigger than I can see. I have always cared about social equity and environmental sustainability. I don’t want to take any opportunity I have for granted, which means acknowledging the power I have to offer others- what my mom offered me: the support to be who I truly am. My plan on making a positive impact on the world is by harnessing as much knowledge as I can about our government, sustainability, and economics, and using that knowledge to make informed decisions on a national and maybe even international level. I want to handle public policy. I want to ride the wave of our government system changing and evolving. I want to make the empowered decision of taking responsibility for the freedom I have to put myself in a position where I can make it easier for people to have access to education, enjoy the environment and deepen their relationship with each other as a tenant of democracy. My understanding of the world continues to be comprehensive and interconnected. I know now that I want to be in a position where I can make lives better and easier for children to become empowered as future leaders and that change has to be foundational.

There is nothing better than dipping your fork into the entree of your dreams, knowing that every bite is another gift to your overall well-being. For me, I have the rare opportunity for that dream to actualize in my reality on various occasions. However, eating healthy is not consistent in my household, and I want to do something about that. It's not a difficult task to find restaurants that offer food with affordability in mind. However, nutritional value is another subject entirely. I was a vegetarian for almost two years, and although I valued my diet, it was not sustainable for me. I live in an apartment with my mom, and I didn't want to burden her with the expenses of having a specialty diet. That being said, transitioning into eating regular food again made me realize how uncomfortable I was with the quality of food in restaurants and grocery stores. Documentaries not only perpetuated my concerns but validated them. I walk home from school daily, and on my expeditions, I have discovered dandelions, winter gourds, and the Sweet Indian Mallow. All of which are native and edible. Besides cultivating an essential skill for life, culinary arts can provide me with the opportunity to nourish myself and others both physically and mentally through food. When I was a vegetarian, I was forced to explore different possibilities with food, and I loved it. I remember making pineapple salads, making soup with tea, and connecting with my Mexican roots by making nopales and eggs. Big change calls for big ideas, and instead of complaining, I want to deliver a solution to the masses, and those local to my community in San Antonio. I participated in a Land Stewardship Ambassadors program, and there we learned about native plant species in Texas and how ancient civilizations and indigenous cultures have utilized the plants and animals around them. After learning about native species, creating a way to deliver native edible plants to people has played around in my mind. However, with greater consideration, I thought about creating a restaurant that supported independent farmers and brought people closer to the wild that always surrounds them. The restaurant would be called Farmed & Foraged. It would be located on a ranch, and through utilizing sustainable land stewardship practices, people could harvest food together, from their own Texas backyard. My idea could even be expanded into ecotourism, and encourage people to educate themselves on the living world around them. Through my foraging initiative, employees would be instructed on how to properly harvest goods and paid for their cultivation in the wild. In some instances, this could have a broader application through community service and volunteering. The menu would be unpredictable, but exciting. I want a degree in culinary arts to experiment with native edible plants, and discover new possibilities for different palettes. The menu is only one aspect to the plan. Farmed & Foraged would stake hold in the heart of the city, ensuring accessibility for a broader audience. The restaurant would incorporate green architecture and utilize the space to maximize vertical farming. I would also love to incorporate pop-up shops while supplies last. I deeply desire to give people more opportunities to appreciate the world around them.