I was five years old the first time my mom took me to a toy drive at the Mariachi Plaza on First Street. I desperately waited my turn in the cold because as a child I knew that creating my own Christmas list was not an option. Neither was visiting Toys R Us because my parents could not afford the expensive holiday Barbie dolls. That evening I was given a beautiful tea set of white plastic with pink flowers. I was amazed and as I held it against my chest I knew that one day I wanted to make someone feel as happy as I did the moment I was given my present. Growing up, I understood that I would have to obtain a good education to be able to give back to my community and until this day, that has been what drives me to move forward despite all the obstacles. When I began my education in this country, I didn’t know english because I grew up in a Spanish-speaking home. I was only six years old when a teacher crumbled my paper because I was struggling to follow her instructions due to my inability to understand English. However, I was able to learn the language and became one of the top students in the classes that followed. As a freshman in High School, the possibility of joining any extra-curricular activities that would help my college applications was very low because I couldn’t give myself the luxury of wearing a red and gold uniform. My parents had just enough money to pay for our needs, and not these privileges. Even so, my struggles have taught me to take advantage of resources that benefit my education. I have been a part of various educational programs like the LAPD Cadets, Upward Bound, Planned Parenthood Peer Advocates and HOSA. To pay for my activities and uniforms, I worked for two consecutive summers and saved up to avoid asking my parents for the money they worked so hard to get. These setbacks have stopped me from doing many things, but they have become my motivation to succeed and change the never-ending cycle of failure within my community. After graduating from Mount Saint Mary’s University with a biology degree, I plan to work as a Clinical Scientist and want to give back to the Boyle Heights community. If I am blessed with the opportunity to receive a scholarship, I will be able to pay for any additional certifications to become qualified to work as a full-time scientist and also give back to the community that saw me grow up. My greatest desire is to inaugurate the Gonzalez Garcia (G&G) Organization which will offer paid internships to high school students where they will help prepare events like turkey giveaways and toy drives for families of the community while gaining the necessary leadership skills for college and so that they won't have to worry about being able to afford extra-curricular activities as high school students. As a child, a plastic tea set gave me hope for a better future and it taught me to value the small, but life-changing things in life. With my education, I will inspire future generations to pursue their dreams and accomplish their goals, but most importantly show them that it is possible to overcome the struggles of coming from a low-income community and the public school system because it doesn’t matter where you start, what matters is the journey and ultimately, the destination.