Success, to me, is more than just achieving material wealth or professional accolades. It is about finding a balance between pursuing my dreams and enjoying the present moment, something often overshadowed by the relentless hustle culture that pervades American society. As a first-generation American, I have witnessed my family’s silent struggle to barely make ends meet. The tireless work without complaint, the constant pursuit of stability, and the sacrifices made have all been a part of my upbringing. For the past year and a half, I have been immersed in the demanding process of studying for the LSAT and perfecting my law school applications. It has been a journey characterized by dedication, focus, and perseverance—qualities instilled in me by my family’s example. However, amidst this pursuit, I have felt the weight of sacrificing the enjoyment of life around me. The relentless grind of work has often robbed me of experiencing the richness of relationships and the beauty of the world. Now, as I prepare to embark on the journey of law school, I see it as a pivotal moment where I can redefine what success means for me. I am grateful to have been accepted into a top 30 law school and being the first in my family to pursue a professional degree fills me with a sense of responsibility and pride. It is a step towards breaking the intergenerational cycle of struggle and paving the way for future generations to have more opportunities. Law school represents more than just a career path; it is a gateway to a life where I can finally enjoy the fruits of my labor. Success, for me, is about finding balance and the ability to live in the present moment, always having goals but never letting one part of my life wholly consume me from living it. Success is about having the security to ensure that my family and future generations won’t have a life characterized by struggle. Education is a privilege that not everyone is fortunate enough to have and as I step into this chapter, fully financially independent, I am keenly aware of the importance of financial literacy and security; especially coming from a family that never had the opportunity to learn the basics of finance and economics. This scholarship opportunity is crucial for me in pursuing my dream of becoming an attorney with as little financial strain as possible. It will enable me to focus on my studies and future career without the constant worry of financial burden. Moreover, it will allow me to give back to my family in ways that transcend monetary value. The sacrifices they made, and the love and support they provide, cannot be quantified by any dollar amount. Ultimately, success for me is more than a personal achievement, it is about creating a legacy of empowerment and opportunity, a world my family and I can enjoy and experience fiercely and abundantly without restraint. It is about honoring the sacrifices of those who came before me and paving the way for those who will follow. I have already met great success in my life and believe it will become an overarching theme and beacon of hope in my family, the best is truly yet to come, and success will inevitably follow.

For my Undergraduate Degree, I am pursuing a political science degree with a concentration in sociology. Considering your undergraduate concentration can be whatever you’d like as law school does not require a specific prerequisite degree; Sociology interests me the most considering my passion in life is social justice and reform. Sociology not only studies the development and institutionalized structure of different organizations within things like culture, gender, race, and society as a whole. However, sociology truly focuses on human interaction and why people do the things they do, and how the conditions they’ve been exposed to reflect the structure of their life. In order to be a criminal justice attorney, I would like to defend people with a substantive approach in mind, as opposed to minimizing them to a specific action or a crime. I believe in order to truly understand someone's wrongdoings sociological factors must be taken into consideration. At the end of the day, we are all human and that should always be remembered before judgment is cast especially as our nation has become more inept in dehumanizing and degrading perpetrators of criminal offenses. Although I have not personally had any problems with law enforcement, I know many people who have had various problems that could have been avoided. Within our modern-day society, social injustice has become more prominent for all the wrong reasons. People have not become worse when it comes to unlawful behavior, but many law enforcers have been given opportunities to unfairly highlight and persecute the behavior of numerous people whilst using the law to their advantage. Our criminal justice system needs to be reformed immediately. Our nation suffers from problems such as mass incarceration, police brutality, and social colorblindness. These concepts have allowed our criminal justice system to take many steps in the wrong direction. Being a criminal justice attorney will give me the proper outlet to advocate for people who cannot do it themselves, defend the defenseless, and fight for equality. Many people are persecuted simply because the odds were not in their favor and I want to see a day where everyone can live their lives fairly without the fear of being unjustly persecuted. With a firm understanding of the law, I will be able to make choices and aid people in being open-minded, progressing into a state where we can all coexist fairly, and make this world a better place. As an attorney, I hope to be the change I wish to see in the world. I hope for social justice and equality for all. I hope to see the justice system become one all can trust. Being a criminal justice attorney will give me the platform to achieve these goals as they are essential to ensuring a successful, nonpartisan, and equitable society for all.

The simplest pleasures in my life are the ones I miss most while away in college. When I come home it brings me indescribable joy when my mom has purchased our favorite organic juice boxes. It’s funny because we live with two eleven-year-old boys who have no interest in drinking from a juice box anymore but asking my mom “berry lemonade or fruit punch?” is such an unsuspecting pleasure that most would simply laugh at, but it's a shared delight that means the world to me. A guilty pleasure that my family enjoys is game shows! We make it a goal to never watch them when we’re apart as we like to gather our snacks, sit in the family room, and shout our answers at the television in anticipation of who is right. There’s no feeling more fulfilling than basking in the presence of all my family members as giant smiles and laughter consume our home. Another simple pleasure that fills me with joy is sleeping with the blinds wide open, regardless of what time of day I may be waking up, to me, there is nothing like waking up with the sun. Even if it’s to just watch the birds fly by my window before I slowly fall back asleep or watch the wind blow the palm tree fronds and create a current in the lake, it makes me feel close to the Earth, it makes this big world feel small, and it makes me take a moment to just be and appreciate the little things in life. I feel the most joy within my home, it is the space in which I feel most unapologetically myself, and the space in which the simplest of things bring about the most simple and genuine pleasures this world has to offer.

I have been a Christian since I was seven years old when I accepted Christ into my life with the assistance of my third-grade teacher at my private Christian school. However, as high school went on and life got in the way I started to lose sight of my faith and my own personal relationship with Christ. However, as my actions and choices caught up to me at the end of my junior year, I re-evaluated my life and rededicated it to Christ. This couldn't have come at a better time considering my faith must truly be my own as I enter this new season of life where there will be no one coddling me or guiding my faith. I have started living for the Lord again and reintegrated Christ-honoring values and choices into my everyday life and I couldn't be happier about who I am or what's to come. Now that I am in college, the temptation is more rampant than ever before. I am now in an environment that would've given my younger self the perfect platform to spiral out of control and disobey the Lord in more ways than one. However, ever since my rededication to Christ, the Lord casts conviction over my life whenever I seem to stray off his path; that leads me into a pensive state of self-discovery and evaluation. As of recent, I will not lie, my life has thrown me numerous challenges and I felt like I was suffocating, totally overwhelmed, and carrying the weight of the world. It was at that moment that I pleaded with the Lord to give me guidance and clarity on how to proceed. At that moment, it became apparent to me that I have become shallow in my faith once more and that rocked me to my core. How could I let this happen again? I am leading a good life and making wise choices, but I have grown distant in my faith, there is no constant prayer, no devotion, no church, no relationship. Everything that made me close to the Lord was no longer present. After this brutal realization, I realized that the new year was going to be the year of consistency. I know what I have to do to become the best version of myself. I know how rewarding obeying the Lord and actively pursuing a life of faith can truly be, and that is where I need to be. The call of the world is great but the Lord's will is greater. I have been reminded of my purpose and reenergized in my faith. I am going to focus on the path the Lord is walking beside me on and stop making excuses as to why I have no time for Him when He always has time for me. I have hit my rock bottom already, I have seen what sin really looks like, I have sulked in the consequences of poor choices and that was all a product of the distance from God. I never want to be that person again, when I focus my life on Christ, His light shines through me, and that light has never led me astray, and that light has never brought me sadness or despair. My trust is in Him and Him alone, and with this newfound perspective, I feel more confident in my faith than ever before, despite my slip up, despite my inconsistency, I am ready to grow and walk in the light again. The best is yet to come and I am fully open and expectant for what the Lord has in store for my life.