I am the first generation to graduate high school in my family. I want to have the ambition to drive myself to many accomplishments. I am the first person in my family who has been able to start high school; I plan on being the one to finish it. In the future, I want to be able to help others as much as I am able to. My dream is to become a pediatric oncologist, helping children be able to fully live their lives. It may not be a job that many think is ideal because it’s cons, but someone has to do it. I want to be the one to help children fight their battles and be able to go on and do great things. Winning this scholarship will be another step closer to fulfilling this dream. Being able to accomplish my dream will take eight years of hard work and another couple of years for residency. It will be tough but if I am able to get the amount of financial help I will be able to fulfill my goal. Even though my family is not wealthy, we are stable and able to provide for our needs. College will be pricey and I want to avoid taking down student loans as I wish to not ruin my credit. I’m always super enthusiastic about helping my community. This past January, I partook in a service trip through my school. During this trip we partnered up with chaperones; my chaperone was an elderly woman who had a big impact on my town's local cathedral. I partnered up with her and we were able to clean many widows’ houses who were injured and were not able to clean up their homes. We made sure they felt comfortable in their homes and were able to make them feel proud of their homes. Being able to see the way their eyes lit up and their faces changing into one of gratitude, this made me feel appreciated and happy that I was able to do this for them. Even if my actions were not huge, they had an impact and were able to make someone feel better. This is why I decided to go into a career that helps people daily and makes them feel better about themselves. I plan on being able to help others by using my second language, Spanish. I want to help parents who may not speak English or their children who may be afraid when they walk into the clinic. Growing up with parents who didn’t speak English well and needed me to translate, I want my patients to feel like a child and not only the representative of their families. I want to be able to help people feel comfortable whenever they see me. I want my future patients to feel comfortable and safe enough to trust me with their feelings. With a better understanding, I can help them feel better. I want to strive to always make everyone feel comfortable no matter who they may be or where they may come from.

Life is short. This is why we choose to enjoy our life as much as we can. As a kid, I hadn’t comprehended that we were all going to die. Now or later we were all going to be gone. During the summer before fifth grade, my mom got sick and was in the hospital for a couple of weeks. She had gastritis. Back then I didn't know it wasn't deadly. But only a few 10-year-olds know the death rates of diseases. She had felt like she was dying and felt very weak. Whenever we visited she would be asleep or be too weak to talk. Throughout these weeks we had family come and visit us and help us around the house. I felt very grateful that we had them by our side and tried to make everything seem normal. We prayed a lot during these difficult times and God was one of our strengths. I remember I would cry in the shower sometimes because I worried and was unsure what would happen to my mom. I would lay in bed awake wishing it would all be a dream and everything would be okay. Little 10-year-old me wished someone had comforted her and supported her. I saw everything unfolding in front of me and had my first real taste of the real world. This woke me up inside and I saw reality unfold in front of me. My little bubble that had cartoons, Barbies, and Pokemon coming alive, had burst. Little 10-year-old me walked around with a heavy heart. I would pray to God every night, hoping he would stop Mom's suffering. After some time, my mom was discharged from the hospital. I saw this as God finally answering my prayers and helping my family out. When she came home, I was wary of being around her and careful not to try and hurt her. I tried my best to be a good kid during her sickness. Throughout those weeks I felt like God was a big part of it. God was always there and listened to my prayers. Especially when we all carried around our heavy hearts. During this hard time, it was hard to enjoy myself and go out and live. It opened my eyes to the perspective of the real world. I realized how much life can change in only a couple of seconds. It was a wake-up call. While it did open my perspective, I wished it would've waited a bit more. If anyone were to be in this situation I would give them advice to turn to an adult they trust so they can be comforted during these hard times they may face. No matter what someone is going through it is always a good idea to have a caring and trusting person by your side while hurting. I was surrounded by many people, but no one to comfort me. If this had happened a couple of years later I would've been able to save my childhood a little bit more. It opened my eyes. This revelation would have happened sooner or later. It only happened to come during a bad time for me.

I am the first generation to graduate high school in my family. I want to have the ambition to drive myself to many accomplishments. I am the first person in my family who has been able to start high school; I plan on being the one to finish it. In the future, I want to be able to help others as much as I am able to. My dream is to become a pediatric oncologist, helping children be able to fully live their lives. It may not be a job that many think is ideal because it’s cons, but someone has to do it. I want to be the one to help children fight their battles and be able to go on and do great things. Winning this scholarship will be another step closer to fulfilling this dream. Being able to accomplish my dream will take eight years of hard work and another couple of years for residency. It will be tough but if I am able to get the amount of financial help I will be able to fulfill my goal. Even though my family is not wealthy, we are stable and able to provide for our needs. College will be pricey and I want to avoid taking down student loans as I wish to not ruin my credit. I’m always super enthusiastic about helping my community. This past January, I partook in a service trip through my school. During this trip we partnered up with chaperones; my chaperone was an elderly woman who had a big impact on my town's local cathedral. I partnered up with her and we were able to clean many widows’ houses who were injured and were not able to clean up their homes. We made sure they felt comfortable in their homes and were able to make them feel proud of their homes. Being able to see the way their eyes lit up and their faces changing into one of gratitude, it made me feel appreciated and happy that I was able to do this for them. Even if my actions were not huge, they had an impact and were able to make someone feel better. This is why I decided to go into a career that helps people daily and makes them feel better about themselves. Something that holds a special place in my heart is helping those who do not understand Spanish. As a child of an immigrant, I needed to be there to help them understand English and help them translate during appointments. Because of this, I want others who may not understand English very well to feel comfortable in their own skin. I want them to feel comfortable talking to me no matter where I am. Being bilingual will help me help others who need a translator to understand. This way they can be comfortable in themselves and I can help people. I want to be able to help others throughout my life and to further my education. This is a goal I will keep throughout my life.

Life is short. This is why we choose to enjoy our life as much as we can. As a kid, I hadn’t comprehended that we were all going to die. Now or later we were all going to be gone. During the summer before fifth grade, my mom got sick and was in the hospital for a couple of weeks. She had gotten gastritis. Back then I didn't know it wasn't deadly. But only a few 10-year-olds know the death rates of diseases. She had felt like she was dying and felt very weak. Whenever we visited she would be asleep or be too weak to talk. Throughout these weeks we had family come and visit us and help us around the house. I felt very grateful that we had them by our side and tried to make everything seem normal. We prayed a lot during these difficult times and God was one of our strengths. I remember I would cry in the shower sometimes because I worried and was unsure what would happen to my mom. I would lay in bed awake wishing it would all be a dream and everything would be okay. Little 10-year-old me wish someone had comforted her and supported her. I saw everything unfolding in front of me and had my first real taste of the real world. This woke me up inside and I saw reality unfold in front of me. My little bubble that had cartoons, Barbies, and Pokemon coming alive, had burst. Little 10-year-old me walked around with a heavy heart. I would pray to God every night, hoping he would stop Mom's suffering. After some time, my mom was discharged from the hospital. I saw this as God finally answering my prayers and helping my family out. When she came home, I was wary of being around her and careful not to try and hurt her. I tried my best to be a good kid during her sickness. Throughout those weeks I felt like God was a big part of it. God was always there and listened to my prayers. Especially when we all carried around our heavy hearts. During this hard time, it was hard to enjoy myself and go out and live. It opened my eyes to the perspective of the real world. I realized how much life can change in only a couple of seconds. It was a wake-up call. While it did open my perspective, I wished it would've waited a bit more. If it had happened a couple of years later I would've been able to save my childhood a little bit more. This revelation would have happened sooner or later. It only happened to come during a bad time for me.

I am a first generation to graduate high school in my family. I want to have the ambition to drive myself to many accomplishments. I am the first person in my family who has been able to start high school; I plan on being the one to finish it. In the future I want to be able to help others as much as I am able to. My dream is to become a pediatric oncologist, helping children be able to fully live their lives. It may not be a job that many think is ideal because it’s cons, but someone has to do it. I want to be the one to help children fight their battles and be able to go on and do great things. Winning this scholarship will be another step closer to fulfilling this dream. Being able to accomplish my dream will take eight years of hard work and another couple of years for residency. It will be tough but if I am able to get the amount of financial help I will be able to fulfill my goal. Even though my family is not wealthy, we are stable and able to provide for our needs. College will be pricey and I want to avoid taking down student loans as I wish to not ruin my credit. I’m always super enthusiastic in helping my community. This past January, I partook in a service trip through my school. During this trip we partnered up with chaperones; my chaperone was an elderly woman who has a big impact on my towns local cathedral. I partnered up with her and we were able to clean many widows’ house’s who were injured and were not able to clean up their homes. We made sure they felt comfortable in their home’s and were able to make them feel proud of their homes. Being able to see the way their eyes lit up and their faces changing into one of gratitude, it made me feel appreciated and happy that I was able to do this for them. Even if my actions were not huge, they had an impact and were able to make someone feel better. This is why I decided to go into a career that helps people daily and makes them feel better about themselves. With all of these things in mind I hope you decide to choose me as one of the winners for this scholarship. I want to be able to help others throughout my life and to further my education.