I still remember when my school almost got torn apart by a tornado. I was in the first grade and they had all the kids sit in the hallways. We waited a long time for the storm to pass and the teachers brought out books for us to read. I loved reading and helping kids my age so I read to my class for the rest of the day until the storm eventually passed. That day helped me realize my passion for teaching and helping others. From that day on, I would offer to help others who didn’t understand the work and would spend my days reading. When you work around young children and try to teach them, you find yourself in a new environment that can impact you in any way you can imagine. Because of this, I plan to pursue early childhood education as a career due to the rewarding experience and growth aspect from both ends. By this, I mean that you can watch these children grow as you help them through the most fundamental stage in their lives while also growing as a person. I plan to inspire the youth by educating them in the most integral moment of their childhood that impacts their growth in the future. This will inspire the youth by helping them develop a passion for education and learning from an early age in order to be ready for anything they may want to pursue in the future. Overall, if it weren’t for that tornado that almost hit us, I would not have been able to begin the journey that was discovering my love and passion for teaching and inspiring the younger generation.

Growing up with immigrant parents, I always received comments about my parents' status in this country and the overall opinion of those around me about them. I used to let these comments get to me and affect me and how I approached life, but I eventually learned not to let these things impact me and instead learned how to embrace my culture and my parents' background. Instead of running away or hiding from my family's history, I instead tried to use it as a reason for why I can and should be successful in everything I set my mind to. Since my parents immigrated from Mexico at a younger age, they have little to no education. My dad finished middle school and my mom finished high school. Because of this, they always emphasized the importance of education and achieving more extraordinary things than they did. I grew up hearing that I could do anything I put effort into. I feel that with the positivity they have given I have not been afraid to pursue what I want for my future. They have always told me that their biggest wish for me is to achieve more than they were able to. I plan to further my education by pursuing a career in bilingual education. If I receive the proper education, I will work to spread positivity and educate the way my parents would have wanted me to. Even though having immigrant parents might seem like a setback, I think that it serves as one of my greatest motivators toward success. Although it creates a lot of pressure, it has helped push me ahead when I need it most. Knowing that I am a first-generation student is an honor and a burden at the same time. I am glad that I have the ability to make my parents proud and create a change in my family that will ultimately benefit them, however, at times it gets difficult for me to make sure I adhere to the standards my parents have created for me and surpass them. Despite this, I try not to let this impact everything I do and instead focus on the positive side. When attending college, I hope to continue with this positive motivation to help me make my parents proud, which I feel is the greatest factor that a child of an immigrant has to use in anything that they hope to achieve.

I still remember the time my school almost got torn apart by a tornado. I was in the first grade and they had all the kids sit in the hallways. We were waiting for a long time hoping the storm would pass and the teachers brought out books for us to read. I loved reading and helping kids my age so I read to my class for the rest of the day until the storm eventually passed. That day helped me realize my passion for teaching and helping others. From that day on, I would offer to help others who didn’t understand the work and would spend my days reading and it became something I took a liking to that would eventually turn into more. I was able to further this passion by helping out in elementary schools and classrooms. I soon learned that this was beyond just reading books to students. As I began to struggle with mental health issues I saw that helping and working around early childhood education brought a new kind of positivity into my life. When you work around young children and you try to teach them, you find yourself in a new kind of environment that can impact you in any kind of way you can imagine. Because of this, I plan to pursue early childhood education as a career because of the rewarding experience and overall growth aspect of it from both ends. By this I mean that you get to watch these children grow as you help them through the most fundamental stage in their lives while also growing yourself as a person. Through working in classrooms with young children I was able to learn new skills such as patience, creativity, communication, and an overall understanding of how to be a more enthusiastic and caring person. This has helped me create an appreciation for teachers and the career in general. Although, this has also allowed me to figure out that early childhood education was my passion. Seeing teachers love what they do as well as see students enjoy going to school and enjoy learning has inspired me to become involved in early childhood education and hopefully become a Pre-K teacher. All in all, if it weren’t for that tornado that almost hit us, I would not have been able to begin the journey that was discovering my love and passion for teaching the younger generation.