My life thus far has been a bit out-of-the-box compared to many people around me. I was born in San Salvador, El Salvador, an environment surrounded by poverty and crime but a lot of love and unity. I moved to the United States in January of 2017; throughout, I have encountered a variety of challenges and barriers, and an important quote (which appears at the end of the essay), all of which have built upon many memories and milestones in my life. I grew up in a poor community, my friends and I had fun playing soccer-tennis on a self-made court or solely by putting plastic bottles in the back of our bike wheel to imitate the sound of a motorcycle; my family lived paycheck to paycheck and bank loans stole our dreams month to month. My mother could not afford to send me to a well-established school or involve me in clubs or activities to fulfill my craving to learn, yet she always looked for ways to better the man I blossomed to be. As a single mother, I have a lifetime of gratitude for her effort and love. Eventually, my life became repetitive; there were no more new class subjects or corners to explore with friends until I experienced a drastic change. In my culture, there is a common practice on Christmas Eve; it consisted of walking outside of one's home and facing North to the sky with some sort of baggage on hand as a way of calling for opportunities and success in the land of the free, lucky for me, this became true. Selecting the perfect warm outfit and peeking out the plane window depicting a beautiful image of my life left behind kept my mind distracted from the challenges I was facing forth. Upon arrival, the never-faced cold weather seemed easy to handle (until I had to start warming up my car in the mornings), but the grand scheme of things was more complex to understand in the mind of a thirteen-year-old, once again, education was my main focus. I was originally enrolled to repeat 6th grade, but advanced to 8th grade thanks to an evaluation test shortly after. At this point in time, my biggest obstacle was the language, which was defeated by my dedication. Unfortunately, now, I face financial challenges I can’t overcome with my passion to succeed. As an immigrant family with my mother, our income is greatly affected by the fees in our nationalization process. My mother is married to my step-father who’s income has helped us tremendously, but also affected my FAFSA greatly when he doesn’t plan to give out money for my education like a biological-parent would. As I now head to college, I pray to find the resources and help from people like you to help me achieve my dreams, whom I promise to not regret choosing me. Sometimes some people live in an injustice but I trust “GOD’S GOAL IS MY CHARACTER, NOT MY COMFORTABLENESS”.

My life thus far has been a bit out-of-the-box compared to many people around me. I was born in San Salvador, El Salvador, an environment surrounded by poverty and crime but a lot of love and unity. I moved to the United States in January of 2017; throughout, I have encountered a variety of challenges and barriers, all of which have built upon many memories and milestones in my life. I grew up in a poor community, my friends and I had fun playing soccer-tennis on a self-made court with chalk and rope or solely by putting plastic bottles in the back of our bike wheel to imitate the sound of a motorcycle; my family lived paycheck to paycheck and bank loans stole our dreams month to month. My mother could not afford to send me to a well-established school or involve me in clubs or activities to fulfill my craving to learn, yet she always looked for ways to better the man I blossomed to be. As a single mother, I have a lifetime of gratitude for her effort and love. Eventually, my life became repetitive; there were no more new class subjects or corners to explore with friends until I experienced a drastic change. In my culture, there is a common practice on Christmas Eve; it consisted of walking outside of one's home and facing North to the sky with some sort of baggage on hand as a way of calling for opportunities and success in the land of the free, lucky for me, this became true. Selecting the perfect warm outfit and peeking out the plane window depicting a beautiful image of my life left behind kept my mind distracted from the challenges I was facing forth. Upon arrival, the never-faced cold weather seemed easy to handle (until I had to start warming up my car in the mornings), but the grand scheme of things was more complex to understand in the mind of a thirteen-year-old, once again, education was my mind focus, not the weather. I was originally enrolled to repeat 6th grade, but advanced to 8th grade thanks to an evaluation test shortly after. At this point in time, my biggest obstacle was the language, which was defeated by my dedication. Unfortunately, now, I face financial challenges I can’t overcome with my passion to succeed. As an immigrant family with my mother, our income is greatly affected by the fees in our nationalization process. My mother is married to my step-father who’s income has helped us tremendously, but also affected my FAFSA greatly when he doesn’t plan to give out money for my education like a biological-parent would. As I now head to college, I pray to find the resources and help from people like you to help me achieve my dreams, whom I promise to not regret choosing me. Sometimes some people live in an injustice but I trust God’s goal is my character and not my comfortableness.

My life thus far has been a bit out-of-the-box compared to many people around me. I was born in San Salvador, El Salvador, an environment surrounded by poverty and crime but a lot of love and unity. I moved to the United States in January of 2017; throughout, I have encountered a variety of challenges and barriers, all of which have built upon many memories and milestones in my life. I grew up in a poor community, my friends and I had fun playing soccer-tennis on a self-made court with chalk and rope or solely by putting plastic bottles in the back of our bike wheel to imitate the sound of a motorcycle; my family lived paycheck to paycheck and bank loans stole our dreams month to month. My mother could not afford to send me to a well-established school or involve me in clubs or activities to fulfill my craving to learn, yet she always looked for ways to better the man I blossomed to be. As a single mother, I have a lifetime of gratitude for her effort and love. Eventually, my life became repetitive; there were no more new class subjects or corners to explore with friends until I experienced a drastic change. In my culture, there is a common practice on Christmas Eve; it consisted of walking outside of one's home and facing North to the sky with some sort of baggage on hand as a way of calling for opportunities and success in the land of the free, lucky for me, this became true. Selecting the perfect warm outfit and peeking out the plane window depicting a beautiful image of my life left behind kept my mind distracted from the challenges I was facing forth. Upon arrival, the never-faced cold weather seemed easy to handle (until I had to start warming up my car in the mornings), but the grand scheme of things was more complex to understand in the mind of a thirteen-year-old, once again, education was my mind focus, not the weather. Although I was enrolled to repeat sixth grade, I advanced to eighth grade after an evaluation test shortly after. The frustration was inevitable; I wanted to excel but that was significantly harder to achieve with a language I was unfamiliar with; my grades were poor, and my stomach was not welcoming to the new food. I faced countless challenges, but I understood that the main educational barrier I faced was the language and became my main focus. I started from the basics, I spent most of my time studying or actively speaking/hearing; I knew how to maintain a short conversation but that was useless in classrooms teaching history or science, so I looked elsewhere. I talked as much as possible or listened to conversations around me; I was a little 'nosey' at times, but thankfully, everyone was welcoming. For the next six months, my search history consisted of unknown words, pronunciation videos, and even tongue exercises to familiarize myself with the new movements. I watched countless movies with English subtitles to compare sentences, and music remained on repeat in my room as I tried to identify words. These barriers greatly affected my grades as I found my way through high-school hallways. I take pride in my current grades as they more accurately reflect my effort and dedication. Even today, I am still learning new words, polishing my English, and starting French. I feel comfortable with the system around me as I now prepare for college; I have many more challenges forthcoming, but I will fight to overcome them all once again.

My life thus far has been a bit out-of-the-box compared to many people around me. I was born in San Salvador, El Salvador, an environment surrounded by poverty and crime but a lot of love and unity. I moved to the United States in January of 2017; throughout, I have encountered a variety of challenges and barriers, all of which have built upon many memories and milestones in my life. I grew up in a poor community, my friends and I had fun playing soccer-tennis on a self-made court with chalk and rope or solely by putting plastic bottles in the back of our bike wheel to imitate the sound of a motorcycle; my family lived paycheck to paycheck and bank loans stole our dreams month to month. My mother could not afford to send me to a well-established school or involve me in clubs or activities to fulfill my craving to learn, yet she always looked for ways to better the man I blossomed to be. As a single mother, I have a lifetime of gratitude for her effort and love. Eventually, my life became repetitive; there were no more new class subjects or corners to explore with friends until I experienced a drastic change. In my culture, there is a common practice on Christmas Eve; it consisted of walking outside of one's home and facing North to the sky with some sort of baggage on hand as a way of calling for opportunities and success in the land of the free, lucky for me, this became true. Selecting the perfect warm outfit and peeking out the plane window depicting a beautiful image of my life left behind kept my mind distracted from the challenges I was facing forth. Upon arrival, the never-faced cold weather seemed easy to handle (until I had to start warming up my car in the mornings), but the grand scheme of things was more complex to understand in the mind of a thirteen-year-old, once again, education was my mind focus, not the weather. Although I was enrolled to repeat sixth grade, I advanced to eighth grade after an evaluation test shortly after. The frustration was inevitable; I wanted to excel but that was significantly harder to achieve with a language I was unfamiliar with; my grades were poor, and my stomach was not welcoming to the new food. I faced countless challenges, but I understood that the main educational barrier I faced was the language and became my main focus. I started from the basics, I spent most of my time studying or actively speaking/hearing; I knew how to maintain a short conversation but that was useless in classrooms teaching history or science, so I looked elsewhere. I talked as much as possible or listened to conversations around me; I was a little 'nosey' at times, but thankfully, everyone was welcoming. For the next six months, my search history consisted of unknown words, pronunciation videos, and even tongue exercises to familiarize myself with the new movements. I watched countless movies with English subtitles to compare sentences, and music remained on repeat in my room as I tried to identify words. These barriers greatly affected my grades as I found my way through high-school hallways. I take pride in my current grades as they more accurately reflect my effort and dedication. Even today, I am still learning new words, polishing my English, and starting French. I feel comfortable with the system around me as I now prepare for college; I have many more challenges forthcoming, but I will fight to overcome them all once again.

My life thus far has been a bit out-of-the-box compared to many people around me. I was born in San Salvador, El Salvador, an environment surrounded by poverty and crime but a lot of love and unity. I moved to the United States in January of 2017; throughout, I have encountered a variety of challenges and barriers, all of which have built upon many memories and milestones in my life. I grew up in a poor community, my friends and I had fun playing soccer-tennis or solely by putting plastic bottles in the back of our bike wheel to imitate the sound of a motorcycle; my family lived paycheck to paycheck and bank loans stole our dreams month to month. My mother could not afford to send me to a well-established school or involve me in clubs or activities to fulfill my craving to learn, but I noticed there were other passions I started to develope which take an important role in my life today. I love music, like 24/7-on-repeat love music; I love designing and have started designing tattoos and logos which you can check out @6reneguardado on Instagram. I love creating, weather it’s music, art, or a piece of oragami, it’s the being able to create something only I have done that makes me thrive. In my culture, there is a common practice on Christmas Eve; it consisted of walking outside of one's home and facing North to the sky with some sort of baggage on hand as a way of calling for opportunities and success in the land of the free, lucky for me, this became true. Selecting the perfect warm outfit and peeking out the plane window depicting a beautiful image of my life left behind kept my mind distracted from the challenges I was facing forth. Upon arrival, the never-faced cold weather seemed easy to handle, but the grand scheme of things was more complex to understand in the mind of a thirteen-year-old, once again, education was my mind focus, not the weather. Although I was enrolled to repeat sixth grade, I advanced to eighth grade after an evaluation test shortly after. I wanted to excel but that was significantly harder to achieve with a language I was unfamiliar with; my grades were poor, and my stomach was not welcoming to the new food. I faced countless challenges, but I understood that the main educational barrier I faced was the language and became my main focus. I started from the basics, I spent most of my time studying or actively speaking/hearing; I knew how to maintain a short conversation but that was useless in classrooms teaching history or science, so I looked elsewhere. I talked as much as possible or listened to conversations around me; I was a little 'nosey' at times, but thankfully, everyone was welcoming. For the next six months, my search history consisted of unknown words, pronunciation videos, and even tongue exercises to familiarize myself with the new movements. I watched countless movies with English subtitles to compare sentences, and music remained on repeat in my room as I tried to identify words. These barriers greatly affected my grades as I found my way through high-school hallways. I take pride in my current grades as they more accurately reflect my effort and dedication. Even today, I am still learning new words, polishing my English, and starting French. I feel comfortable with the system around me as I now prepare for college; I have many more challenges forthcoming, but I will fight to overcome them all once again.

My life thus far has been a bit out-of-the-box compared to many people around me. I was born in San Salvador, El Salvador, an environment surrounded by poverty and crime but a lot of love and unity. I moved to the United States in January of 2017; throughout, I have encountered a variety of challenges and barriers, all of which have built upon many memories and milestones in my life. I grew up in a poor community, my friends and I had fun playing soccer-tennis on a self-made court with chalk and rope or solely by putting plastic bottles in the back of our bike wheel to imitate the sound of a motorcycle; my family lived paycheck to paycheck and bank loans stole our dreams month to month. My mother could not afford to send me to a well-established school or involve me in clubs or activities to fulfill my craving to learn, yet she always looked for ways to better the man I blossomed to be. As a single mother, I have a lifetime of gratitude for her effort and love. Eventually, my life became repetitive; there were no more new class subjects or corners to explore with friends until I experienced a drastic change. In my culture, there is a common practice on Christmas Eve; it consisted of walking outside of one's home and facing North to the sky with some sort of baggage on hand as a way of calling for opportunities and success in the land of the free, lucky for me, this became true. Selecting the perfect warm outfit and peeking out the plane window depicting a beautiful image of my life left behind kept my mind distracted from the challenges I was facing forth. Upon arrival, the never-faced cold weather seemed easy to handle (until I had to start warming up my car in the mornings), but the grand scheme of things was more complex to understand in the mind of a thirteen-year-old, once again, education was my mind focus, not the weather. Although I was enrolled to repeat sixth grade, I advanced to eighth grade after an evaluation test shortly after. The frustration was inevitable; I wanted to excel but that was significantly harder to achieve with a language I was unfamiliar with; my grades were poor, and my stomach was not welcoming to the new food. I faced countless challenges, but I understood that the main educational barrier I faced was the language and became my main focus. I started from the basics, I spent most of my time studying or actively speaking/hearing; I knew how to maintain a short conversation but that was useless in classrooms teaching history or science, so I looked elsewhere. I talked as much as possible or listened to conversations around me; I was a little 'nosey' at times, but thankfully, everyone was welcoming. For the next six months, my search history consisted of unknown words, pronunciation videos, and even tongue exercises to familiarize myself with the new movements. I watched countless movies with English subtitles to compare sentences, and music remained on repeat in my room as I tried to identify words. These barriers greatly affected my grades as I found my way through high-school hallways. I take pride in my current grades as they more accurately reflect my effort and dedication. Even today, I am still learning new words, polishing my English, starting French, and have developed my designing skills. I have a passion for music but I’ve noticed my talent in different arts, I design tattoos, logos, etc. (Attachment Below; Instagram Highlights “Tattoo Designs”). I feel comfortable with the system around me as I now prepare for college; I have many more challenges forthcoming, but I will fight to overcome them all once again.

My life thus far has been a bit out-of-the-box compared to many people around me. I was born in San Salvador, El Salvador, an environment surrounded by poverty and crime, but a lot of community love and unity. I moved to the United States in January of 2017; throughout, I have encountered a variety of challenges, but the impact the people around me had allowed me to never give up. I grew up in a poor community. My friends and I had fun playing soccer tennis on a self-made court or solely by putting plastic bottles on our bike wheels to imitate the sound of a motorcycle; my family lived paycheck to paycheck and bank loans stole our dreams month to month. My mother could not afford to send me to a well-established school or involve me in clubs or activities to fulfill my craving to learn, yet she always looked for ways to better the man I blossomed to be. Not only her, but it was also my community that always helped me forget about the difficulty of our life; they pushed me to be better, to find a way to be great and to remember I always had a place to call home- until my life took a drastic turn. In my culture, there is a common practice on Christmas Eve; it consists of walking outside of one's home and facing North to the sky with some sort of baggage on hand as a way of calling for opportunities and success in the land of the free, luckily for me, this became true. Selecting the perfect outfit and peeking out the plane window depicting a beautiful image of my life left behind kept my mind distracted from the challenges I was facing forth. Until finally, the reality that the community I loved so much was gone. Upon arrival, the never-faced cold weather seemed easy to handle, but the loneliness I felt was not. Although I was enrolled to repeat sixth grade, I advanced to eighth grade after an evaluation test shortly after. I wanted to excel but that was significantly harder with a language I was unfamiliar with; my grades were poor, and my stomach was not welcoming to the new food. Nothing seemed to be favoring me until a couple of guys asked how my day was going. A couple of guys became a friend group, which later became a community. I attended St. Anne's Middle School Parish and everyone seemed to have the mission to help me grow. I started to feel comfortable with calling this new reality home, I started to hang out with friends, help at my parish, and have a group of people that helped me grow with them. The barriers I faced greatly affected my grades and accomplishments as I found my way through high-school hallways. I take pride in my current success as it more accurately reflects my effort and dedication. But that is thanks to the people that made that possible for me; the friends that corrected my English, the teachers that were patient to teach me, and the family that opened so many doors for me. Today I realize that my communities have built me to be in the position I am today, and that means a lot to me. I hope that one day I am able to be in a position where I am able to give back to these people and more, as I now prepare for college and plan to reach for the starts along with the new community I will be a part of.