I was never a believer, because I always thought that if God were a loving God, he would have not put me through an alcoholic and violent household. My English teacher became my mentor; She shared so much with me, her life and my life were similar, and I felt related to her. Later in life, she told me that she started to pray for me when I was in second grade, and it was not till seventh grade that I opened up to her. She helps me to understand that everything happens for a reason and that God would not put me through something that I am not capable of handling. 2017 was a rough year, I have built up so much hate for my parents, and all the pain that they caused to my life, that it was affecting me day by day. I was spending time together with the wrong people, and doing things that I should not have been doing. Around February we had a women’s group, and we had a night just for women, I remember the lady who was speaking, she had such joy and she looked genuinely happy; even though all the things that went through. I wanted that, I wanted to be happy and have peace. That night God spoke to me and told me that it was time for me to let go, to let him deal with everything. I immediately started crying, and that night I gave my life to Christ. My English teacher came to the altar and prayed with me. After that night, everything changed, my visa got accepted for me to come to the States, a family from West Monroe Louisiana offered to take care of me so I could come to school, and I realized that I should not be letting my parents’ actions determine my life. I moved to the States, and He has had such an impact on my life. Everything that I went through had a reason. I am even thankful that God put me in that situation because it shaped the person that I am today. I met my Fiancé here, and he is such an amazing guy, he respects me more than my dad ever did, he takes care of me, and he follows God. I have an amazing American family that has done nothing but treat me as one of their own and help me with everything. I am a College Student, and for the longest time, I thought that was not possible, and that all was going to waste. Lastly, I am surrendered to people who love me so much, that they would be willing to sacrifice things for me, people that support me every step of the way, and people that want me to succeed. God changed my life, He changed my mentality, and the way that I see life, a solid proof of Him, is all the people that He has placed in my life.

I was never a believer, because I always thought that if God were a really loving God, he would have not put me through an alcoholic and violent household. My English teacher became my mentor; She shared so much with me, her life and my life were similar, and I felt related to her. Later in life, she told me that she started to pray for me when I was in second grade, and it was not till seventh grade that I opened up to her. She helps me to understand that everything happens for a reason and that God would not put me through something that I am not capable of handling. 2017 was a rough year, I have built up so much hate for my parents, and all the pain that they caused to my life, that it was affecting me day by day. I was spending time together with the wrong people, and doing things that I should not have been doing. Around February we had a women’s group, and we had a night just for women, I remember the lady who was speaking, she had such joy and she looked genuinely happy; even though all the things that went through. I wanted that, I wanted to be happy and have peace. That night God spoke to me and told me that it was time for me to let go, to let him deal with everything. I immediately started crying, and that night I gave my life to Christ. My English teacher came to the altar and prayed with me. After that night, everything changed, my visa got accepted for me to come to the States, a family from West Monroe Louisiana offered to take care of me so I could come to school, and I realized that I should not be letting my parents’ actions determine my life. I moved to the States, and He has had such an impact on my life. Everything that I went through had a reason. I am even thankful that God put me in that situation because it shaped the person that I am today. I met my Fiancé here, and he is such an amazing guy, he respects me more than my own dad ever did, he takes care of me, and he follows God. I have an amazing American family that has done nothing but treat me as one of their own and help me with everything. I am a College Student, and for the longest time, I thought that was not possible, and that all was going to waste. Lastly, I am surrendered to people who love me so much, that they would be willing to sacrifice things for me, people that support me every step of the way, and people that want me to succeed. God changed my life, He changed my mentality, and the way that I see life, a solid proof of Him, is all the people that he has placed in my life.

My mom, her name is Magaly Cordon, and she is my role model in life. Ever since I was a kid, I always admired her, she is the most hardworking, loving, and caring person that I have ever met. My parents went through separation when I was about six years old, even though my dad was supposed to be taking care of my brother and me, he never supplied much for us. When this happened my mom did not hesitate to work even more and provide whatever we needed, even taking us on trips sometimes. I was too little to understand everything, but when I turned twelve, my mom left to go to her hometown, so I only saw her during weekends. My mom went through abuse, physically, mentally, and emotionally when she was with my dad; even still, she never wanted us to hate my dad. But my mom did not let that stop her, she graduated with a degree in business and administration, and later in life she got her master’s degree in humanities. I always looked up to my mom, not just because she never gave up, but because she was not afraid of work; she would work in any area, even if she had no experience in the job. She is not afraid of phasing new things and challenges, she did all of this with a purpose, and that purpose was her kids; she is willing to do anything and everything for her kids. And one of the things that I admired the most about her, is how she loves to take care of people, she always told me that one of the things that I could not feel bad about spending my money, was when I used that money to take care of others; she never denies helping others, not even people that hurt her extremely, including my dad. I told her that I wanted to move to the States when I was 16, and she looked at me and said “Okay, let’s come up with a plan” She was supportive since day one; it was a big deal because I am the only girl, and the youngest in the family and moving countries is not an easy thing to do in Guatemala. She helped with all the paperwork to get my visa, and she even got a loan to show her financial statements to the embassy; my mom was the only one who had helped me financially during all of these years. I moved here in 2019, my mom prayed thousands of dollars per year, just so I could get my education here (1 dollar is almost 7.5 Quetzales in Guatemala) including personal expenses, and she never complained about it. She is proud of me, and everything I do, I do it for her. I want to show her that all her hard work was worth it. I wanted to give up so many times being here, but she always had the right words to say. She showed me how to be independent, and to have a mentality that I can achieve everything that I put my mind to it.

When I was living in Guatemala, I was in a Christian school, that was founded by an American, and he has a ministry called Inn Ministries up till today. When I started 7th grade, they offered me to start translating for the missionary teams that came every summer, and I agreed to do it. Serving others changed my life completely, and watching people come from another country to serve God’s people was one of the most amazing things to watch. Through the school in Guatemala, I was able to apply to Claiborne Christian School in West Monroe LA, and I have been here since my sophomore year. I am a Sophomore in College, and I am majoring in Toxicology and hoping to get a minor in Biology. When I was in high school, I was awarded the science student of the year by my chemistry teacher; in her speech before she gave the award to me, she said “She has an extremely big heart for service, and our world desperately needs come true Christians to follow scientific fields.” My career can be used in different ways, but I know that whatever I decide to do with it, it will be used to serve His Kingdom. I want to go back to Guatemala and create a ministry that helps women, to show them what God has done with my life, I want to support women who think they have no way out of their situation. Guatemala is a third-world country, and a lot of women in communities still think that all their worth is just to have babies, they have so many that none of those babies get further education than probably 3rd grade. I want to be able to help my country and develop a new mentality that God has greater plans for them. I want to be able to help the planet and help others with my degree. I will serve others by learning about things that are causing damage or affecting the earth. I will work with chemicals to know what is toxic and harmful to society. It is my passion, and even though I will probably not interact with many people, I will make sure that the people around me know that I serve the Lord. Everything that I have came from Him, everything that I will have will come from him. I would not be standing here without Him; coming to a different country and being away from all my family is hard, and if it were to be of my own will, I would be back in Guatemala. But God has a plan for me and a purpose for why I am still here. I appreciate you considering this application and the time to read this.