I was born in Guatemala. At the age of three, I stopped living with my biological mother. I lived with my foster mother for about two years and was adopted by a woman from Montana. I lived with her for 10 years. At ten years old, I began to struggle with depression and anxiety. My adoptive mother wasn't the most nurturing. When I was 15, I entered the foster care system once again. I was removed from my mother's care, not once, but twice. I began a lengthy and exhausting journey of being in and out of mental health treatment centers. I was diagnosed with disorders such as eating disorders, PTSD, major depression, and anxiety. I attempted to take my life too many times than I care to acknowledge. Today, I am thankful that none of my attempts were successful. I consider myself lucky in that I have many people who have helped me to realize my self-worth. I am now 18-years-old. I still struggle with depressive episodes, but I have grown a great deal stronger. When I feel down, I think of all the things that I have accomplished. I also think about all the things that I would like to do in my life; I want to become an obstetrician and I would like to help others. My battle with mental health has been hard and long. I have come out the other side a strong, capable person who wants to help others. I know that there are going to be days that are harder than others, but I also know that I cannot give up. I hope to spread the lessons that I have learned. One of the biggest ones is "you can't set fire to yourself to warm others." It's essential that nobody sacrifices their own happiness for the comfort of others. Otherwise, the pressure will eventually catch up-- when it does, it's very hard to recover from. If you are experiencing difficulties with anything, reach out. Open up. Be fearless. Don't let lose yourself. There are so many great things yet to come.

I need this scholarship for many different reasons, the main one being so that I can go to school at the University of Montana/ Missoula College. I am in the foster care system and am about to age out of the system. I currently have no funding, except for the Pell Grant. I have no expectations that any of my family will help me pay for college. Since I have been in foster care, I have moved around, both through group homes and treatment centers. For this reason, I have not been able to work a job, as I was never in a place long enough to get one. I have done volunteer work, but I have no other experience than working with kids. I hope to pursue a career in the medical field as an obstetrician. I cannot pursue that dream without a little bit of help. I really hope that I can get the help that I need so that I can lead a successful life. I am currently in an academy, but I have no way of knowing how I am going to pay for food, clothing, and other necessities once I graduate from the academy. My main concern is eating. I do not want to go hungry. I realize that I have people who will help me, but I also don't want to take advantage of everything that they have done for me. Thank you for considering me for this scholarship. It means a lot to know that there are people who are willing to help others, even if I don't receive the help.

From the time I was five years old, I have wanted to be a doctor. Over the past 13 years, the kind of doctor has changed- from surgeon to pediatrician to obstetrician. Nevertheless, I want to help people. I know that the only way that I can become a doctor is to pursue college. I want to pursue higher education to be able to purse a career in medicine, as well as learning new things. I have always liked to learn new things, no matter what it was. I love learning anatomy, mathematics, history, science- anything. I have participated in many extra-curricular activities with school. I have participated in Math Counts, Science Olympiad, Robotics, and a multitude of sports. My biggest passion currently is poetry and music. I hope to one day share my poetry and music so that I can reach other people and connect to them. My dream in life has always been to help others. I don't know if I will be able to do this through poetry and music, but I know that I can accomplish this through a medical career. I have lost people to cancer and other medical issues. I am familiar with the pain that comes with losing a friend to something so incurable. Even though I know this pain, I also understand that the doctors and nurses who worked with the people I have lost did everything that they could. I appreciate their willingness to do whatever they could to make my friend comfortable, as well as helping her family prepare for her passing. I have also had a lot of contact with doctors myself, whether it be through surgery or monthly check-ups. Every doctor and nurse that I have interacted with have been very kind. I really appreciate everything that they have done for me. Because of these experiences, I want to be able to do the same for others. I want to help a family know that their family member is comfortable. I want them to feel at peace with whatever outcome comes their way. I am confident that I could help people in the way that others have helped me. I really hope to continue my education that I can reach my dreams, as well as help others. I also want to be able to learn about many things that I wouldn't necessarily be able to learn about if I am not able to go to college. Even if I am not able to become a doctor, which is my biggest goal, being able to continue learning would be a great opportunity that I would love to pursue.

At 5 years old, I was adopted from the developing country of Guatemala. I was raised by a woman who was born in Colorado, but I was raised in Montana, alongside an adopted brother from Belarus. My experience as a Latin/Hispanic citizen was never difficult. I was never made fun of for my skin color or culture. Even when I was, I wasn't bothered by it, because the only reason that people make fun of you is because they don't want to deal with their own struggles. I admit, I missed out on a lot by coming to the U.S. I wasn't able to experience a lot of things that a typical Latin American child would have experienced. My future career goal is to enter the medical field and become an obstetrician. My family has always supported that goal. I didn't realize when I was young that my background would affect me, but my mother made sure that I got the same opportunities that everybody else did. She made sure I did well in school so that people would look at my accomplishments, and not my skin tone. When I get enough experience in the medical field, I hope to travel around the world and help in developing countries. My hope is to return to my country of birth as well. I would like to be able to touch as many people as I can, and offer them some of the same opportunities that were given to me, such as good health care. I also hope that by traveling the world in a profession, I can learn about a lot of different cultures, not just the Latin/Hispanic culture that I missed out on.