As I look back to my childhood I never realized the sacrifices that my mother made to provide the best life for me. My mother immigrated from Vietnam to the United States at the age of 13 to live the American dream. She went from being in her third year of college at the ripe age of 20 years old to being a mother. As I am now at the age that she had me, the thought of even having a child is frightening, so I cannot even imagine how she must have felt. My mother left her college life to work full time, 8 hours a day, 6 days a week. I got to witness my parents get married when I was 5 years old, but then only after a few months of the marriage they divorced. This left my mom to be a single mother. This meant that growing up I felt lonely most of the time because my mom was away at work and I grew up not having many family members around as we lived in a single bedroom on the side of a house. As I continued to grow up I realized how much my mom lived through me. When I graduated high school I told her that I did not want any big celebration, but she still threw me a party anyway. As I was discussing with her my upcoming college graduation I also told her I did not want a big party, but she insisted anyway. It was when I finally realized that she was celebrating not only my achievements but her achievement as a mother. It was her way of celebrating the person I have grown up to be and celebrating how much hard work she has given into raising me. I look at my life now and how her life must have been at my age, realizing that she never got these big accomplishments. It made me recognize how big these milestones are and how to even appreciate the little things because one day life might hit you with the biggest curveball. My mother has constantly told me that hard work will pay off and she is the embodiment of what I define as hard work and perseverance. She left her dreams behind just so that she could provide a life where I could pursue mine and for that, I will never take anything for granted. As someone who wants to pursue a career in nursing, I am constantly hit with the fear that I might not make it or all this work will not reach the end goal. Just when I am wanting to give up, I am reminded of my mom and how she probably wanted to give up so many times, but she didn't because she was thinking of my future. She will always serve as my motivation as to why I am so blessed to be able to continue with my education. The thought of her celebrating my accomplishments will be a reminder of why I work so hard.

When I was 16 years old I was admitted into the hospital for the first time. I came in thinking I would be able to go home after a quick check-up, but that ended up not being the case. I had to stay overnight for monitoring and as a 16-year-old, the thought of staying in the hospital overnight was scary. I was lucky enough to be in the care of two nurses who helped ease my worries and fears. They were constantly checking up on me and reminding me that if I needed anything to not be afraid to ask. I remember they even gave me a dog plushie to cheer me up. When I was staying there I was telling them about my upcoming summer class final and my upcoming trip to Hawaii. Once I was discharged from the hospital, a few weeks later I received a letter from them. They were asking how my finals and Hawaii trip went. There was something about receiving that letter that made me realize how much these nurses cared about their patients. It made me think, "They must love their job and be patient to remember the things I told them and even go out of their way to write a letter to me." The experience that they gave me and the feeling of security that was left, helped me realize that nursing was what I wanted to pursue. I wanted to be able to leave that kind of impact on someone's life and maybe one day I can help someone realize their own career goals. I always had a natural caring nature and knew that I wanted to enter the medical field, but the thought of it always scared me. I did not think I had it in me to go through medical school. The experience I had with those nurses was just the push I needed to help with my decision. I wanted to focus specifically on the pediatrics department because that was where I was admitted at the time of my stay in the hospital. The thought of the hospital is scary for any kid and as someone who had experienced it themselves, I wanted to be able to create a warm and safe environment for someone else to comfortably recover. I want to be able to build those connections and relationships where people will see how much I truly care about simply wanting to help others. Maybe one day I will be able to write my own letter to my patients.

The sixth paragraph discussing the different settings that Gen Z now lives in really left a mark on me. I am constantly bombarded with information about inflation and how life is becoming practically unaffordable. As a 20-year-old, working a part-time job, I am always hearing my coworkers share their financial problems with me. Many people of my age are living by themselves and are barely making enough to pay rent, let alone for all their other necessities. The minimum wage in California is $15.50 and that is not even close to being enough for how much the average apartment costs to rent. The liveable wage to live in California is unrealistic and almost unachievable for Gen Z, who are struggling to maintain the work and school balance. I have also noticed how when even applying for financial aid, those who live by themselves and are supporting themselves are still asked about their parent's taxes. Many students do not receive financial aid, simply because their parents make enough to support their education, when in reality their parents are not even in their life anymore. I have come faced with the fact that I might have to pay for school out of pocket now because of my current job. It seems that my current job is considered "enough" to pay for the incredibly high tuition that I owe. I thought that my only worry was having to do well in school, but I now worry about even being able to afford it because of what is considered "enough" to pay for my tuition. Gen Z is what I feel is the epitome of entering the adult world unprepared. Being faced with taxes, all the different insurances, figuring out what a credit score is, how to maintain a credit card, filling out a 401K, having to make sure they have enough money saved away to retire, etc. These are things that were never taught in school, yet millennials and older generations shame us for not knowing them. We were thrown into this new lifestyle simply expecting to know everything and with the instilled fear of asking questions. I remember the joy of getting my first paycheck, only to see practically 20% of the money I made being taken away by taxes. Reviewing the list of taxes being applied not knowing what a single one of them meant and simply accepting the fact that I would have to work more hours to make up for the loss, only then to be hit with the fact that the more I worked the more taxes were applied. The paragraph, "Yet so many of our youth are excited to be a part of life! Do they know something that we older folks missed," resonates with the mindset of many Gen Z individuals. While we continue to be faced with struggles, disappointment, and the unknown, what pushes us to be excited about the future is they know what they are working towards. We choose to know forward to what's ahead, instead of letting these setbacks stop us in our tracks. We want to be the future that tears away and breaks the standards that we currently live in for future generations.

As I look back to my childhood I never realized the sacrifices that my mother made to provide the best life for me. My mother immigrated from Vietnam to the United States at the age of 13 to live the American dream. She went from being in her third year of college at the ripe age of 20 years old to being a mother. As I am now at the age that she had me, the thought of even having a child is frightening, so I cannot even imagine how she must have felt. My mother left her college life to work full time, 8 hours a day, 6 days a week. I got to witness my parents get married when I was 5 years old, but then only after a few months of the marriage they divorced. This left my mom to be a single mother. This meant that growing up I felt lonely most of the time because my mom was away at work and I grew up not having many family members around as we lived in a single bedroom on the side of a house. As I continued to grow up I realized how much my mom lived through me. When I graduated high school I told her that I did not want any big celebration, but she still threw me a party anyways. As I was discussing with her my upcoming college graduation I also told her I did not want a big party, but she insisted anyways. It was when I finally realized that she was celebrating not only my achievements but her achievement as a mother. It was her way of celebrating the person I have grown up to be and celebrating how much hard work she has given into raising me. I look at my life now and how her life must have been at my age, realizing that she never got these big accomplishments. It made me recognize how big these milestones are and how to even appreciate the little things because one day life might hit you with the biggest curveball. My mother has constantly told me that hard work will pay off and she is the embodiment of what I define as hard work and perseverance. She left her dreams behind just so that she could provide a life where I could pursue mine and for that, I will never take anything for granted. As someone who wants to pursue a career in nursing, I am constantly hit with the fear that I might not make it or all this work will not reach the end goal. Just when I am wanting to give up, I am reminded of my mom and how she probably wanted to give up so many times, but she didn't because she was thinking of my future. She will always serve as my motivation as to why I am so blessed to be able to continue with my education. The thought of her celebrating my accomplishments will be a reminder of why I work so hard.

I was what my family would call "the translator" of the batch. When my mom immigrated from Vietnam to the United States she did not know any English. She was only a teenager when she came over here with the rest of the family. She was on her way to pursue the typical American dream of pursuing one's education and career. This was until she got pregnant with me at the age of 20 and had to put her education to a halt to provide for my upbringing by working full-time. At the age of 25, my parents got a divorce and my mom was left by herself to raise me. She worked 8 hours a day, 6 days a week, which meant I spent a lot of time either by myself or with my grandma. Growing up with my grandma allowed me to be as fluent in Vietnamese as I am now, but that also meant I was the one left to translate anything and everything for her. It's hard to imagine a 10-year-old trying to explain to their grandma about their medical documents. Not only was I trying to figure out what it meant in English, but then I had to somehow figure out what it meant in Vietnamese. Even though I struggled to connect my American and Vietnamese cultures, I believed this helped with my social skills, along with my natural ability to help lead people. As I would come to appointments and random errands with my mom, I noticed how much people would take advantage of her broken English. Being just a kid, it seemed as though the world was too big to fight and I felt helpless in helping my mom in these cases. I now want to pursue a career in nursing, to be the voice for people who not only are already feeling scared about their medical concerns but about not being able to properly communicate with their medical providers. I have witnessed countless individuals get frustrated and even scared trying to express their feelings in English, with the fear that they might say it wrong or get belittled for it. I feel as though it is also very prominent in the medical field that many people still have encounters with doctors and nurses who do not speak a second language, leaving them with even more concerns and questions. I will admit that my Vietnamese is not perfect, but if my ability to be multilingual can be put to use to ease someone's stress then I feel it would be a waste to not put it to use. I want to use the helping and caring skills that have been embedded into me by two amazing women that worked hard to raise me, to not help someone else. Not only would I be able to help an individual feel better physically, but also mentally which I think is very needed in the medical field.