Hearing the phrase "First-generation student" it paralyzes me with fear. It seems like a simple phrase but people like me it can motivate your entire future and dreams. My mom never finished high school when she moved to the U.S. in 10th grade and my father graduated high school in Costa Rica and immediately moved to the U.S. so when it came to school I was always doing it on my own. I was really young when I realized I would always be a setback compared to my friends, friends who had parents that not only finished high school but continued on to a higher education and they knew that it is never early enough to get your kid prepared for college. My parents are amazing and did everything for me and for that I am forever grateful but there is only so much they can do for me. My father works in construction while my mom quit her job when my sister was born, growing up we only had one income supporting our family and sometimes it showed in our daily lives. Being a "First-generation student" means go big or go home because when your parents sacrifice everything for you it means you soon have to show them it was never wasted. I applied to so many scholarships in hopes that I could afford college and even though it didn't really work out I still chose to attend Michigan State University in the fall. Now I know it wasn't financially responsible but I fell in love, you know what they say "love makes you do crazy things" I mean I didn't even visit the school once before committing, wasn't a choice but spending money to just visit definitely wasn't in the picture. However, I fell in love with the beautiful school, the majors offered, and the faculty. Everything about Michigan State made me sure this was my school and a place where I can succeed and reach all my goals. This past summer I have done so much to make any money possible I'm currently working as a cashier at a local grocery store, while also taking dog walking gigs and selling clothes online now this is just some things but I have been saving up because any little bit is going to help me fund my education. This scholarship would help me immensely in funding my dreams, if i were to receive this scholarship it would go towards my tuition, mainly towards paying for my books and school supplies since those are my immediate expenses. My school supplies are more expensive than other majors because I am majoring in agribusiness management which requires me to pay for a lot of equipment. Being a "First-generation student" means to put my heart into everything I do because no matter who I am or where I come from I deserve the same opportunities as anyone else and with these award it puts me one step closer to doing so.

My name is Jasmine Perez and I come from a very household. I am Puerto Rican and Costa Rican, my mother is a Baptist Christian while my father is Catholic. Growing up I have attended church from 1 time a week to almost everyday a week for so many different things. I grew up learning Christianity through a Baptist point of view and whether it was an after school program learning about the stories in our bible or going to Christian jeopardy I was constantly learning about our lord. For a while I had no problem with this, in fact I actually loved going to church but then we moved. I was around 11 when we moved and we no longer had a church. We started struggling financially and my family was under constant stress, after a while my parents began to work so hard to keep up financially we hadn't found a new church and I began losing my faith. I was 12 when I started claiming atheism because I felt like God let my family and I down. We went months without electricity and gas, we took cold shower and had to walk around with flashlights and had candles around the house. My sister and I had to stop all extra activities because we didn't have the money to pay for anything besides the necessities. We finally got all our power and gas back, my family was truly so happy and it felt like a weight had been lifted off of me. I never knew this until I was 14 where the money came from, I was so young and never thought about it. My mother told me a friend of hers gave her the money, she had let my mom borrow enough to get us back to normal. I wondered why she would help us so much when we had nothing to give her back but she kept on claiming that it was what the lord would have wanted. It made me realize the kindness her faith gave her and how much hope it gave me. I convinced my mom to find a new church and even though we haven't found one that feels right we still independently read the bible as a family and learn more about our religion everyday. I still struggle keeping consistent with my faith but I work hard everyday because my faith is what keep me strong and shows me the kindness I can bring to others. Even though my family went through a rough patch in our life we still came out on the other side strong and protected because God always has a plan. He guides all of us on our each individual paths so that we can strengthen our faith. That time in my life only strengthened my religion and allowed me to make my own decision in believing not just a religion taught to me but one I fully allow in. I am off to college in the fall and hope to my church home. My faith will allow me to show others compassion for our environment, which is why I hope to became a climate scientist and help others understand how important our earth is. God created our planet and I will treat it with respect and stand up for it. God has guided me to show others that being kind is the truest form of practicing Christianity and that is all I wish to do in the future.

I have been watching love island for a while and I started watching it with my mom it was kind of our bonding show. Every summer we watch love island laugh and we vote for our favorite couple. My favorite part of the show has always been the challenges because they add so much fun to the show even when there is drama the challenges allow everyone to relax and have fun. If I had to create a challenge for the contestants to do on love island it would be called "Out of Your League" and it would be a kickball game girls vs boys. The girls will wear tied up t-shirts with short ripped up jean shorts while the boys will be shirtless with loose jean shorts. Each base including the home plate will have a basket next to it with all the names of the opposite team every time you land on a base you have to take a name and then you must decide if you wish to kiss them or take a strike. Three strikes and your out so you have to at least kiss two people from the four baskets to kiss. In order to reach each base you must slide down the water slides to each base, first to ten wins. In order to get an out the other team must tag or hit you with the ball or the person in the outfield catches one of your kicks. I think this challenge idea is similar yet different to previous challenges that audience members would enjoy. It is fun and lightweight with some steamy action which is why I would love to see something similar on love island.

My sister taught me how to litter like it was nothing and for a while I thought it wasn't a big deal, but one day I saw a dead pigeon on the sidewalk and in its mouth was a snickers wrapper. My mom told me that the bird probably choked and then she walked away but I cried about it for a week. I think in that moment I realized how impactful we are to our environment. I plan to study environmental science at my dream college Michigan State and it is something I am so passionate about. So many things in my life has motivated me to care for the things no one else does, to be the voice for the voiceless. Our planet can't speak up for itself and so many people take advantage of that but I want to bring awareness to that. I hope to minor in animal science and learn more about wildlife. I want to be a environmental scientist and learn more about our planet and how to properly coexist with our ecosystem without harming it. I want to be a wildlife vet as well and travel the world taking care of wild animals. I think it is so important to do everything in life with full passion and to be as genuine as possible. My heart goes out for our planet and I express my passion for my environment in all ways. I know I am a pretty passionate person maybe obnoxiously passionate but I never noticed others noticed me. When my mom got diagnosed with cancer I got really depressed, it was like all the sunshine disappeared because when I looked at the person I loved the most she was in immense pain. I went to school like it was routine and barely smiled. One day a girl I have never spoken to came up to me and said asked me if I was ok and for some reason that broke me and I cried right in the hallway. After I finished crying she said she was sorry for asking but that reason she asked is what changed my look at everything. She said she has never seen me not smile or laugh throughout the day and when she saw me she realized she missed me, even though we never spoke. I try to smile everyday and my laugh has never been so loud. I realized that life could be hard but you are truly never alone. My mom got better and beat cancer and that girl is now a good friend and I know this sounds like a lame movie script but life really is so unreal. So I am not obnoxious but instead passionate, and my love for things no one likes lead me to my dream job.

I believe the one of the primary causes of food waste in my community is portion control or lack of. The U.S is known for our obese rates being higher than most countries. The U.S is also known for our crazy portions, our smalls are usually other countries large in the food, but on a smaller scale my community has portion control issues. I am Hispanic so community is everything and so is parties, we have so many parties and people make so many dishes for just one night. Sometimes there is too much food and it goes to waste. Whole platters of rice sit in fridges for days until its trash day then they get cleaned out. This happens in many other communities and even public settings like buffets or hotpots, which are really popular right now. My mom calls it eating with your eyes and I can't think of a better way to describe it. We see so much food and go crazy, forgetting how much food we can actually eat. This happens a lot without anyone even realizing it. A step we can take to stopping can be adding an extra food fee. If there is leftover foods at buffets or hotpots people should be charged a certain price because what happens to that food is just so wasteful. Some hotpots have already applied similar rules and it is really affective. Another step we could take is to shrink our portions. As I said earlier we have crazy portions compared to other countries and it would not hurt our health either if we cut back. If fast foods and other food production places shrink portions then society would start adjusting to it and it can become our new norm. We do not need all the food we order and if society starts believing that then we can cut back on so much unused food. A third step could be meal prep. I know it seems like a lot of work but it can have so many benefits, prepping allows you to save time in your daily life and know what your going to eat. It also helps you only prepare what you need sometimes if we make food while we are hungry we will more than likely eat with our eyes. Portion controls is such a huge factor of food waste, not only in my community but other as well.