Money and influence, this is why I am pursuing an education. The standard of living has risen significantly in ways that puts those of low income at a huge disadvantage. As a first generation college student from a Hispanic family, my goal is to make the money and have the influence to not only comfortably support my family but also have enough to give to others who need it. I have a large family, raised by single women living paycheck to paycheck. My grandmother is in her sixties and works the night shift as part of the airport cleaning crew to make money that barely pays her rent and bills. She was recently given medical leave due to a work related injury and not having the luxury of retirement just yet, she plans to continue working for as long as she can. My mother is a stay at home mom who receives help from the government because my brother, age 7, needs 24/7 care. This government help, as well as all my mothers savings, is what has helped us live comfortably recently, but we are still struggling at times. My two younger sisters 7 and 3 also need constant supervision. Mia(7) has behavioral problems due to a missing chromosome and Daniella (2) was diagnosed with level 3 autism. As the oldest in my family I juggle school, work and work study, as well as caring for my family daily because I want to give my family the luxury of not worrying about bills being paid. I know that there are always struggling families out there, 1 in 7 Americans are a paycheck away from homelessness, and I want to have the money and influence in life to help. To give others the chance I feel I didn’t always have. I want to be successful in a way that guarantees not only luxuries I would wish to afford but also just the basic comfortability in life. No worries about bills being paid or not having enough food in our kitchen and having money I can spare to others, in a good tip at a restaurant or a donation to an organization. Even to scholarships such as this one, aiming to help others succeed. I feel that listing money as a reason for success is always met with a negative response. Constant retorts of “money doesn’t buy happiness.” For some people, however, it’s not happiness it’s buying. It’s food, water, shelter, and good hygiene. It’s going home to your kids at a reasonable hour and not working multiple jobs to meet the rent that’s due and the bills that need to be payed. I want to earn a comfortable living wage that will support me and my family and others if I can. I want to pay my bills and rent without the constant stress and anxiety my family faced growing up. I want to pursue a higher education to make money, because I deserve to live a comfortable life and because my family deserves to experience living, not just surviving.