One of the most defining experiences in my life was returning to the United States as a teenager after growing up in Mexico. I was born in the U.S., but after my father passed away when I was just a year old, my mother took me to Mexico. Eventually, she could no longer care for me, so my grandmother raised me with love and stability. When I was 15, she passed away. I was devastated and completely lost. I isolated myself, neglected my hygiene and health, and turned to unhealthy internet friendships in search of validation. I became pre-diabetic, unmotivated, and disconnected from any sense of future. Then my cousin visited from the U.S. and was shocked by what she saw. She brought me back with her to give me a second chance. Adjusting to a new country, school system, and language was overwhelming. Even though I was a U.S. citizen, I barely spoke English. I had never earned anything above a D grade. I felt like a failure. I didn’t see college in my future. In fact, I couldn’t see a future for myself at all. But my cousin saw something in me. She didn’t let me give up. She broke down schoolwork in ways I could understand, pushed me to keep trying, and reminded me that success comes from effort, not intelligence. Her belief in me sparked a transformation. I began taking care of myself. I lost over 70 pounds, reversed my pre-diabetes, and even started running marathons. I went from barely passing to becoming a straight-A student, not because I suddenly became smarter, but because I decided I was worth fighting for. I learned discipline, resilience, and self-respect. Being autistic added another layer to my struggles. Many people around me misunderstood what autism is. I wish more people understood that autism is not mental retardation. We simply need a different kind of support, something that is not always available. Most people assumed I was limited, even if they didn’t say it out loud. For a long time, I believed them. But my experience taught me the opposite. I am capable. I am focused, driven, and thoughtful. I process the world differently, but that difference is a strength, not a flaw. I now understand the phrase “it takes a village.” My mother couldn’t take care of me, but my family and family friends always looked out for me. My grandmother raised me with love and stability, and when she passed away, my cousin took me under her wing and helped guide me onto the right track. Their constant presence and encouragement showed me the strength of a united community. Because I was embraced by the village, my path was one of growth and not self-destruction. This experience taught me that community is not just a safety net, but a powerful force that shapes who we become. I learned to value connection, to lean on others without shame, and to give back the same support I received, which has deeply influenced how I see myself, the world, and my role within it. Today, I serve in my church’s high school ministry, co-founded the gaming club, and participate in community service. I am part of Teens Exploring Technology, Student Council, and the Computer Science Virtual Academy at LAUSD. I plan to study software engineering and become a mentor to students like me, first-generation, autistic, and underestimated, because I know what it’s like to be counted out, and I want to be part of someone else’s village.

This starts a few years ago, when I was a High School Freshman, my cousin who is very into it about computer science and programming, she decided to show me and teach me about programming, for me this was something incredible see how can I transform lines of text into a website or even an application. In the beginning, it was very difficult, I didn’t understand everything about coding, it was like another world, but I am still persistent and continue my journey of learning. Time passed, and my coding skill was showing an improvement with the most basic languages: HTML and CSS. I was very proud, but my cousin showed me another language that was like the organs for the websites: JavaScript. I started to get more into it. By watching courses on Youtube and Udemy about how to make games with JavaScript, learning about Document Object Model (DOM). After that, I created a Github Account where I could submit all the projects that I made by following the courses. After a few years, my cousin encouraged me to enroll in the summer program Teens Exploring Technology (TXT), where I could learn more about coding and leadership. When I started meeting other young people like me, who didn’t know about coding. The program shows us how the Technology Companies works, how the teams works and the functions of each team member with their nominated role: Scrum, Product Manager, UX/UI Designer and Developer. After a few weeks of learning and field trips to a few companies like SnapChat and Riot Games. A competition started, was about making an Application that could resolve a problem in our community. There were like 9 teams, each one with 4 members. In my team I was assigned as a developer, the one who is responsible to code the app by following the instructions and suggestions of the Scrum master and UX Designer. When I started to code, It was very different to where I used to be, because instead of using JavaScript we were using a framework from it, called React Native. But this instead of making me feel discouraged, it gives me more encouragement to continue. It was very exciting doing something that was new to me. We worked on our app for 8 weeks, until the demo day, where each team presented their applications to a group of judges, and explained why they should invest in their applications. After that, even If we didn’t win, I was very grateful for gaining all the knowledge about the tech industry, how the team works, and learning more about frameworks. This gave me more motivation to learn other languages besides javascript. I started learning python and Artificial Intelligence with the purpose to work in a chatbot. Learning more about backend like MongoDB and Express.JS, I thank my cousin for all this knowledge, journey, experiences that I have about Programming. This motivates me to became a software engineer, and work in a big tech company to improve, repair and create applications and websites. Being a software engineer would make me also a problem solver, who not just writes code, I also would be able to understand the code and be able to explain it to anyone.

I would like to be and work as a software engineer, by working in a big company to working on applications or websites that can help people in their daily lives, as for working on problem resolving to fix other problems that my community could have, and learning how the algorithm works to improve more applications. My passion for coding started when in 2022, my cousin introduced me to programming. At first, it felt impossible, I couldn’t wrap my head around the concepts. But I stayed curious, kept going, and eventually, things started to click. This past summer, my cousin encouraged me to join Teens Exploring Technology (TXT), an 8-week leadership and coding program. In TXT, we worked in teams of four, with roles like developer, project manager, UX designer, and scrum master. I was the developer on my team, and we built an app using JavaScript. On the final day, we even pitched our app to potential investors. It was such an eye-opening experience, and it sparked an even deeper interest in building real-world applications. I especially want to develop an application that would help a lot of families that are at risk of deportation. The application will use react native (which is a framework for a coding language called: JavaScript) as a front end, mongo D.B for the backend as a database. The application offers essential resources like legal aid contacts, emergency numbers, power of attorney documents, and consulate contacts. Plus, it’s bilingual (English and Spanish) with plans to add more languages soon to be more accessible for more people whose English is their second language. My goal is to launch RISE as an open-source tool in 2025, so others can contribute and help expand its reach to more communities across the U.S. Looking ahead, I want to use my education and coding skills to keep developing tech solutions that make a difference. Whether it’s helping families navigate immigration challenges or tackling other social issues, I’m committed to creating tools that would help a lot of people and making safe and inclusive communities for anyone who needs the help and this could impact my community. The best part is that the application would be open-source which means that anyone can help and contribute to add more things that can help the people or fix some stuff in the code. Many families would receive the help that they need.