Teenage pregnancy happens when a woman under 20 years old gets pregnant. It causes life-changing and emotional decisions in a short period of time. When I was fifteen years old, I was studying technical public High School. One year later I was feeling nausea in the morning -- called "morning sickness," then I discovered my pregnancy. Suddenly I became a pregnant adolescent and my life turn upside down. Shocked, I could never imagine being a mother at this young age. My mother gave me all the support. She didn’t like that I had to stop my studies but agreed to help me. She dedicated to taught me how to cook, maintain the house and raise a child. My mother was there during my maternity until my first month at my house. I felt protected and relieved to have her support. After one year of immaturity marriage, my husband left me with my heartbroken then we walk into separate paths. It was a sad moment in my life when I found that he had another woman. My ex-husband lied to me just left the sorrow and endless pain. My mother saved me to not drowning deeply hole only crying for lost my first love. She gave me the strength to wake up in the morning and continue to live. Remove the bad thoughts that I was not pretty or that I was not a perfect woman or wife. I am proud to have a terrific, amazing mom in my life to be my role model. Even though I was the best daughter, she never gave up on me. Years ago, I was living teenage motherhood with an uncertain future. Today, I can be proud of my achievements because of my mother. My personal life goals modified rapidly and allowed me to raise a successful child with my mom's support through the worst moment in my life. My first son is twenty-four years old and graduated. I could overcome and learn by experience that my mom will be there for me that is empowered me to be a better version of myself.

Teenage pregnancy happens when a woman under 20 years old gets pregnant. It causes life-changing and emotional decisions in a short period of time. When I was fifteen years old, I was studying technical public High School. It was a new world with friends and relationships. I found my first boyfriend. One year later I was feeling nausea in the morning -- called "morning sickness," then I discovered my pregnancy. Suddenly I became a pregnant adolescent and my life turn upside down. Shocked, I could never imagine being a mother at this young age. My dedication, love, and efforts were redirected directly to them. Even though we were financially broken without a future we should continue to fight. The fight to survive and give a future to our son and not get angry against life. After one year of immaturity marriage, he left me with my heartbroken then we walk into separate paths. It was a sad moment in my life when I found that he had another woman. My ex-husband lied to me just left the sorrow and endless pain. My son and my parents saved me to not drowning deeply hole only crying for lost my love. They gave me the motivation to love myself first and the strength to wake up in the morning and continue to fight. I could look in the mirror and be proud of myself. Continue to be a mother, a woman, a daughter, and a fighter who never gave up. Years ago, I was living teenage motherhood with an uncertain future that impacted my relationships and aspirations for the future. Today, I can be proud of my achievements, I accepted who I am. My personal life goals modified rapidly and allowed me to raise a successful child. My first son is twenty-four years old and graduated. I could overcome and learn by experience that it is possible to accomplish the impossible.

The outbreak of a microscopic virus could spread and turn into a global health crisis that deeply impacting the civil liberties in the United States. The evidence of human transmission was key to determine what measures should be implemented. If a person was contaminated, the symptoms would appear on an average of five to fourteen days after the exposure. The cure or treatment may lead to uncertain results, and those who had the symptoms could recover, become critically ill, or the worst-case causing death. Because lockdown and travel restriction increased stress and apprehension; it modifies the social interaction, and it did not stop the U.S. from represent the worst-hit country of deaths and surpassing 10 million coronavirus cases. Air transmission was the primary justification to use masks social distance to reduces the spread of the virus. Conversely, the facts and reasons that lead to the government’s decision to lockdown were clear. The personal experience of the first stay-at-home order in California was not pleasant. Before that, I was a mother, an international student, and a wife. Moreover, I had to add responsibilities and become a psychologist, physical education, and elementary professor. Consequently, it altered our routine of being at school, staying outdoors, and practicing martial arts. The house became the school and the classes modify from personal to remote. Further, before the lockdown in February my husband had to travel to Brazil. He planned to come back four months later, but he could not due to government travel restrictions. Completely alone, I was responsible for my children during the period of lockdown. One of them is six years old, and the other is eight years old. They required support and attention to complete their school activities. Additionally, I continue to maintain the house by cooking, cleaning, washing, and dealing with my husband remotely. I had to learn regards the exposure to recurrent online meetings that require more focus than personal meetings. Three times a week, when the virtual meeting happened simultaneously, I had to manage three different devices. It was a test to maintain patience and attention. My little one was easily distracted and began jumping on the chair, touching the cellphone scream, and leaving the meeting. I learned how to deal with his distraction to focus on the virtual class and complete the tasks. Only after helping with their school, I could focus on my classes. The individual increases the anxiety when confined in their own space with strict personal interaction. As a family living in the same space, we learned how to live with less conflict by respecting each one boundary. There were days when the distance wound in my heart and I cried alone, missing my husband and parents but in the end, we could cope. After all, we were following the government rules and guidelines. It made us feel an important part of society than a complaint about our personal challenges. There is more than one personal evidence on the impact of COVID-19 on our ordinary activities. However, the U.S. government decided to maintain the health of American citizens by applying public health authority included a stay-at-home order, use of masks, and social distance. The number of U.S. is shocking, and it reshaped the social interaction at the same time it increased fatigue, tension, and stress. A modern period approached us abruptly and pressure us to adapt. Each survivor has a unique experience with a story to share. Through all the challenges we should be grateful for finding resilience living together as a family.

Teenage pregnancy happens when a woman under 20 years old gets pregnant. It causes life-changing and emotional decisions in a short period of time. When I was fifteen years old, I was studying technical public High School. It was a new world with friends and relationships. I found my first boyfriend. One year later I was feeling nausea in the morning -- called "morning sickness," then I discovered my pregnancy. Suddenly I became a pregnant adolescent and my life turn upside down. Shocked, I could never imagine being a mother at this young age. My boyfriend became my husband and he had to work. Then my family turned to be my everything. My dedication, love, and efforts were redirected directly to them. Even though we were financially broken without a future we should continue to fight. The fight to survive and give a future to our son and not get angry against life. We had to deal with the consequences- good or bad. After one year of immaturity marriage, he left me with my heartbroken then we walk into separate paths. It was a sad moment in my life. My ex-husband lied to me just left the sorrow and endless pain. My son and my parents saved me to not drowning deeply hole only crying for lost my love. They gave me the strength to wake up in the morning and continue to live. Removing the bad thoughts that I was different; I was not a perfect woman or wife. I live one day after another, fighting to finish my studies and earn money to sustain my son and myself. Even though, it was not easy to be different. Years ago, I was living teenage motherhood with an uncertain future. Today, I can be proud of my achievements. With the support from my parents, I could overcome challenges. My personal life goals modified rapidly and allowed me to raise a successful child. My first son is twenty-four years old and graduated. I learn by experience that I was never alone and I can say that is not wrong to be different. That is not unusual to create your own and unique path. With strength, self-commitment all the efforts can have positive results in the end.

It was a marvelous Sunday morning. Our dog Magali, my kids, and I were visiting their grandmother and her house has a great and enormous backyard. Magali's sister lives in the grandmother's house. Everyone could enjoy and play together. Magali was extremely excited and happy to see her sister again. As soon she got inside the house; she continues to run, jump and play with her sister. This picture demonstrated her happiness on that unique day. We brought her favorite snacks that she ate together with her sister with great enthusiasm. We love and felt grateful to live with Magali.

Teenage pregnancy happened when a woman under 20 years old gets pregnant. It causes life-changing and emotional decisions in a short period of time. When I was fifteen years old, I was studying technical public High School. It was a new world with friends and relationships. I found my first boyfriend. One year later I was feeling nausea in the morning -- called "morning sickness," then I discovered my pregnancy. Suddenly I become a pregnant adolescent and my life turn upside down. Shocked, I could never imagine being a mother at this young age. My boyfriend became my husband and he had to work. But my family turned to be my everything. My dedication, love, and efforts were redirected directly to them. Even though we were financially broken without a future we should continue to fight. The fight to survive and give a future to our son and not get angry against life. We had to deal with the consequences- good or bad. After one year of immaturity marriage, he left me with my heartbroken then we walk into separate paths. It was one of the saddest moments in my life when I found that he had another woman. My ex-husband lied to me just left the sorrow and endless pain. I get depressed with no ill to eat or sleep. My days were dark, I could not see any light in my future. I blame myself for everything, it was my fault. The question of “What if..” stayed in my mind. My son and my parents saved me to not drowning deeply hole only crying for lost my love. They gave me the strength to wake up in the morning and understand the world is not only the loss of a man in my life. Removing the bad thoughts that I was not good enough; I was not a perfect woman or wife. Years ago, I was living as a teenager motherhood with an uncertain future. Today, I can be proud of my achievements. My personal life goals modified rapidly and allowed me to raise a successful child. My first son is twenty-four years old and graduated. I could overcome and learn by experience that I was never alone.

I was born in Brazil and I was a young and single mother. I had to learn to survive and work with no time to spend on my academics development. Luckily, since 2005 I have been working with security software solutions from a sales perspective. Understanding the approach, the benefits of the solution to match the customer’s necessities. It was an important background that opened the doors to work with software solution companies. I participated in technical and sales training to partners. Even I was not deeply technical at that time, I could understand the concepts to spread the message. In my last work at Dell dealing with Partner Service, I had the opportunity to support a new offer of Cybersecurity. The additional offers allowed the company to increase the presence inside the customer. I was responsible to find partners with technical skills and capillarity to implement the solution in Latin American countries. I had to work closely to review the technical offers and narrow the price to be competitive in the market. Now my goal is to challenge myself to put it into practice by switching from the sales speech to the technical approach of what I learned over the years. My dream is to finally finish my degree and master academically in the cybersecurity field. My husband was the one who supported me. He gave all the financial support to fulfill my new path. He stayed in Brazil to work until I finish my studies. Unfortunately, last year he suffered layoff because of the COVID-19 situation. In addition, the economy is not improving as fast as we need to exchange the currency from real to the dollar and minimize the loss. The reason why I am applying for the scholarship to give him relief from his concerns and for me the opportunity to finish my craving degree. After graduate and secure a career, I want to be a role model. I want to inspire other mothers, women, and minorities that we can accomplish dreams. There is no limit of time, age, or resources for what we can do. I would love to participate in the community to training technically the first steps in the computer as a volunteer. In addition, I want to return the money I receive as donations from every institution that allows me to gain my degree.

Teenage pregnancy happened when a woman under 20 years old gets pregnant. It causes life-changing and emotional decisions in a short period of time. When I was fifteen years old, I was studying technical public High School. It was a new world with friends and relationships. I found my first boyfriend. One year later I was feeling nausea in the morning -- called "morning sickness," then I discovered my pregnancy. Suddenly I become a pregnant adolescent and my life turn upside down. Shocked, I could never imagine being a mother at this young age. My boyfriend became my husband and he had to work. But my family turned to be my everything. My dedication, love, and efforts were redirected directly to them. Even though we were financially broken without a future we should continue to fight. The fight to survive and give a future to our son and not get angry against life. We had to deal with the consequences- good or bad. After one year of immaturity marriage, he left me with my heartbroken then we walk into separate paths. It was a sad moment in my life when I found that he had another woman. My ex-husband lied to me just left the sorrow and endless pain. I get depressed with no ill to eat or sleep. My days were dark, I could not see any good in my future. I blame myself for everything. But my son and my parents saved me to not drowning deeply in the endless hole. They gave me the strength; they were there for me. They gave me reasons to wake up in the morning and continue to live. Removing the bad thoughts that I was not good enough; I was not a perfect woman or wife. Years ago, I was living teenage motherhood with an uncertain future. Today, I can be proud of my achievements. My personal life goals modified rapidly and allowed me to raise a successful child. My first son is twenty-four years old and graduated. I could overcome and learn by experience that I was never alone.

Sociedade Brasileira de Cultura Japonesa e Assistencia Social (Bunkyo -Brazilian Society of Japanese Culture and Social Assistance) in Sao Paulo (Brazil) was created to promote and stimulate the Japanese culture with philanthropic actions. When I was living in Sao Paulo, the institution received feedback from the senior community about the necessity to improve their basic computer skills. Seniors wanted to be included in the digital world and there was no place in the neighborhood to help them. The institution provided a place and my friends and I were looking for a computer's donation. After one month the project was available to anyone who desires to learn more about computers and navigate free of charge. The senior had the necessity to learn basic steps with the computer. With this challenge, I supported as a volunteer to be in the computer class and explained the first steps. Something that we think anyone will know. We had to adapt the content then explain step by step how to turn on the computer, use the mouse and navigate on the internet. We reinforced how they need to be careful on the internet with the invisible and unknowing threats. We delivered basic security advice for them. It required to have a good antivirus installed in the computers, never open an email from an unreliable source, and do not share their password. The security in the virtual world is different from reality but it can have extremely negative consequences such as monetary losses. It can be diminished with those active actions.

Since 2005 I have been working with security software solutions from a sales perspective. Understanding the approach, the benefits of the solution to match the customer’s necessities. Symantec is a company focus on security and well know by offer more than anti-virus solutions. It was an important background that opened the doors to work with software solution companies. I participated in technical and sales training to partners. Even I was not deeply technical at that time, I could understand the concepts to spread the message. In my last work at Dell dealing with Partner Service, I had the opportunity to support a new offer of Cybersecurity. Dell’s focus is not being a software company but to increase the offers to go beyond the hardware, inside the company exists different areas to work in those news propositions. The additional offers allowed the company to increase the presence inside the customer. One of the offers was to make a different approach to sell desktops and add the implementation of the Dell Data Security to manage the desktops. The installation will be made on the servers. I was responsible to find partners with technical skills and capillarity to implement the solution in Latin American countries. I had to work closely to review the technical offers and narrow the price to be competitive in the market. Cybersecurity is a market that never stops growing. It urges people with knowledge in security. As a result of the shortage of trained professionals in this field, organizations are looking beyond those with computer science and IT backgrounds. My goal is to focus on cybersecurity solutions to the cloud environment and challenge myself to develop my technical skills. Now my goal is to overcome and put into practice, switching from the sales speech to the technical approach, of what I learned over the years.

Since 2005 I have been working with security software solutions from a sales perspective. Understanding the approach, the benefits of the solution to match the customer’s necessities. Symantec is a company focus on security and well know by offer more than anti-virus solutions. It was an important background that opened the doors to work with software solution companies and gave me a passion to pursue a STEM career. I participated in technical and sales training to partners. Even I was not deeply technical at that time, I could understand the concepts to spread the message. In my last work at Dell dealing with Partner Service, I had the opportunity to support a new offer of Cybersecurity. Dell’s focus is not being a software company but to increase the offers to go beyond the hardware, inside the company exists different areas to work in those news propositions. The additional offers allowed the company to increase the presence inside the customer. One of the offers was to make a different approach to sell desktops and add the implementation of the Dell Data Security to manage the desktops. The installation will be made on the servers. I was responsible to find partners with technical skills and capillarity to implement the solution in Latin American countries. I had to work closely to review the technical offers and narrow the price to be competitive in the market. Now my goal is to challenge myself to put into practice switching from the sales speech to the technical approach of what I learned over the years.

My ancestors were born in Japan. The migration of my father from Japan occurred when he was 19 years old. My mother’s parents migrate before she was born. Notwithstanding, the few students of different races labeled us as Japanese. Constantly, they called me Japanese because of my appearance. Beginning with, it did sound wrong. It was me when I face the mirror, I saw my physical characteristics, an Asian girl. I accepted my identity and I did not realize it was racism against me. Later it created a dissonance for me about who I am. I was not born in Japan and did not speak Japanese why other children called me like that. Why was I considered different from them? The reason was my ethnic identity. Night and day, it bothers me and reduces my self-esteem. During the games, I was the last one to be picked. When I did something wrong, the children criticize me shouting words: “Go back to your country, what are you doing here? You do not belong here.” One remarkable episode happened when I was seven, during the art class. When I back from lunch all my colored pencils disappear from my desk. The class needed to begin the activity. Then the teacher realized I was not doing the draw. She came to me and ask why. My body freezing with fear when I answer that my pencils were gone. Perplexed, I look down to contain my tears. At the same time, I could hear other children laughing. Patiently, she took my hand and ask to look for them. After 20 minutes, we found it behind a box in the corner of the class. With great disappointment, the teacher turned to me and asked why I put it there. My answer was that I was unaware and clueless. She took a long breath and said that it was ok. It was required to finish the activity before the end of the class. After this episode, nothing happened with the culprit. The teacher did not take additional action. I had to cope with the stressful situation of bullying day after day. Later at home, I could not share with my parents and I just want to forget about the incident. Over my lifetime, I continue my connection with Japan by practicing martial arts, listening to Japanese music, and reading manga. I did not resent my parents. Conversely, I respect and admire them for their hard work and achievements.