Community is empathy and compassion. As a child of immigrants who was brought here at the age of six, community is your everything you need. It is your family, your friends, your neighborhood. A place or person to fall back on in case you need help with homework or even help getting to or from school. Community is what gets you through the day when you have no food, no shelter, and no family. It can be your neighbor, friend, or even a stranger. My definition of community is what shaped my passion to look at myself in a couple of years. It makes me want to finish what I started, to find that passion to help just like people helped me. When I first arrived to the United States of America, it was hard to even understand my homework and even harder for me to be interested in school when I could not understand a word my teachers said. I met my first ESL teacher my first year of fourth grade, she became my friend and without her I would have lost all passion for school and learning. I want to finish my Masters degree as ESL elementary student and help incoming children who are learning English as their second language. I have always loved children, but feel that children who arrive from different countries hold a special place in my heart. I am ready to make the commitment, to become their community. I will teach them, and offer them any help they need, just like my community did that for me at six years old.

As a child I can remember my father always telling me, "Everything you learn, will never be taken away from you. Go as far as you can, and learn. No matter the outcome." I am a dreamer. I classify under an AB 540 student who was brought here as a child from Mexico. My father being an immigrant has always worked two jobs, we never stuck to one school as children, but we learned that education was are one way ticket to making it in America. I am the first in the family to achieve a higher education. Working two jobs and taking care of my oldest was not easy. The support of my family was essential. Even now, telling my children that I will be going back to school is somewhat comical when they see me get up at five in the morning and they know that I tend to fall asleep when they want to watch television with me. They have started wondering how I will balance their school and extra curricular activities plus my homework and school. But the change will bring great changes for all of us. Every time you do something to better yourself, out of love and passion things tend to work themselves out. Now that I have children of my own I can finally understand my father's advice. I was always unable to find a job in my career because I held no proper papers to work, volunteering was always a struggle if they asked for my fingerprints and identification. Nevertheless I paid for my tuition and got myself through Cal State Fullerton. Although the hardships were never ending I was able to achieve graduating in 2015. Not only did his advice push me to persevere, but it has thought me that I can do anything. Life has shown me that furthering your education especially with my limitations has brought along many blessings. I call them blessings because I have always had a job, and have achieved and learned many things that no one can take away from me. Currently I work as a lead server at a luxury fine dining restaurant. I know how to work under pressure, and I enjoy teaching and training incoming employees. I want to finish my Masters in ESL education, to be able to help children in elementary find that passion for learning. I have always loved to work with children, and even though my career pathway is changing at this age, I know that I can achieve anything. I have four children of my own, who depend on me and deserve more. Knowing that I have the opportunity to go to school and finish what I started now that my legal status is different will be an example for them to follow. Furthermore completing my Masters in education will solidify my fathers saying, and teach my children that they can do anything by learning, and by doing things with love and perseverance.