Raised by a single Mexican immigrant mother, my childhood was marked by poverty. Our home was in an immigrant, migrant farmworker town where Hispanics and Haitians lived and worked. The needs, limitations, and struggles of farmworkers, immigrants, and single parents have been firsthand experiences, but also a driving motivator for my education to make things better for the underprivileged through education, legal support, policy, and advocacy.

Humanity has strived to understand and make sense of life through art, stories, culture, and psychology. We try to understand fear, fate, courage, and the meaning of our day-to-day existence. Outside of that, life remains to be personally experienced, and challenges that come with it, overcome. To some, challenges are manageable, and to others, challenges become tangled nets of trouble. Some challenges are brief, and others are prolonged throughout a lifetime, and in some cases, intergenerational. The mind can only make sense of so much pain, strife, and struggle. There are organization’s that are dedicated to helping people and individuals who believe that there is enough struggle in the world and wish to ease the suffering of others. My values and life goals are to help others, and although I’ve had difficult experiences, I consider myself fortunate and wish to give back to my community. My undergraduate is in Christian Counseling, which I hoped would help me serve immigrant families in issues related to academic success, poverty, or domestic abuse. I would like to share two reasons why I am pursuing a career in mental health or social services; they are due to my personal experiences and my personal life goals. In my childhood, I was exposed to violence and poverty. My father abandoned my immigrant mother to face an uncertain life with four children. My brothers struggled in school and failed in establishing social circles. Their loneliness worried me. My young adulthood was also marked by poverty as I tried to navigate decisions and finances in college as a first-generation student. During that time, I saw my siblings from afar, their stagnation and lack of motivation worried me. My adulthood, even after obtaining a bachelor's degree, was marked by poverty and homelessness. I was unable to secure a professional job in the mental health field. It confused and discouraged me. At that time, my mother and siblings were also undergoing their own struggles of poverty, homelessness, codependency, and increasing mental health problems. My mother and siblings are still struggling, their problems escalating to legal and deeper financial issues. Their issues preventable with mental health or social resources. I’ve always wondered, how much suffering can one person take? I am just one example of the complex and chronic issues that some people experience. I share my experiences to illustrate the need for social services and mental health as oftentimes their impact overlap and have rippling effects over a lifetime. This motivates me to help others in their situations and I wish to be professionally adept to meet their needs. As a result, my life goals have been shaped by my experiences in poverty and mental health. I am still fighting to overcome poverty in my life by being bold enough to invest in myself professionally. Ultimately, I want to help others overcome poverty. Secondly, the complexity of mental health and social issues requires professional development. For this reason, I am pursuing a dual Master’s degree in Non-Profit Management and Public Administration with the University of Central Florida. I hope to graduate and be competent to work either in a nonprofit organization dedicated to mental health, social services, legal guidance, and immigrant family support or with the government in capacities in social services, grant acquisitions, education, or community development. Both my personal experiences and life goals to help others overcome their life challenges motivates me to work in the mental health and social services. It takes special people to believe in others and enable them to overcome their life challenges. I hope you will believe in me to overcome.