My grandparents came to this country after fleeing Fidel Castro from Cuba in 1960. They had no money and had to get creative about how they were going to make it in this country. They raised my dad to always excel in school, to be goal-oriented, and to always use your mind because it is a special gift from God; that he gave you a brain to think. Growing up, my dad instilled in me the same lessons that his parents gave to him. By the time I was in grade school, my dad already got his Master's degree and was a fairly successful lawyer. He read for pleasure, and he even had a bookshelf in the living room, floor to ceiling that covered the whole wall. As I came of age, I witnessed his supply of books slowly fill the shelves until he ran out of room. At which point, he commandeered a wall in another room to build a similar shelf for the future books he intends to read. Verbally and as a constant visual reminder, my dad taught me how reading books and receiving an education can open my options and help me rise up in the world. Unfortunately, it's true that I did take a detour in my life before completing high school and enrolling in college. I struggled with active addiction and skyrocketing depression, anxiety, and general insecurity as a youth. I had given up on school, and education in general, to seek a world of never ending pleasure; but that was a fool's game. Somehow, I eventually found the strength to recover and become sober. Honestly, one of my sources of strength in my journey of recovery was how my dad would react to my behavior. I would be reminded of how he wanted much more for me, believed in me, and always supported me in my education. So I read up on addiction, joined AA, and became more knowledgeable and educated about how to battle my predisposition. With education I was finally able to free myself. Now that I am sober and in active recovery with 4.5 years clean thus far, I am receiving an education in social work. Hopefully I will have a Master's in Social Work and be licensed within the next 2 years. I wanted to get an education in Social Work because I knew it would open more opportunities for me to help people. I already volunteer and advocate at my states capitol for different causes and organizations, but I specifically wanted a better education in this field so I could hep people who are oppressed and marginalized; to help them professionally, not just personally. Education has allowed me to see things clearly. It opened up my mind to different cultures and how different people react to the same event. It taught me how to be more trauma-informed and how to help people on their level; to meet them where they are at. With a push from my dad, I am able to utilize education to try and make the world better than how I found it. Finally, education has shown me how much work still has to be done.