I've been able to live in my homeland Puerto Rico but not Cuba. Always living with and being told the stories of suffering from my great-grandparents, cousins, and family fleeing Cuba from Fidel's rule have always taught me to blend in, be loyal to family, and stand for what you believe in. From Cuba, my family moved to Puerto Rico and married into the island's people. Blessed with opportunity, my Cuban father joined the Army, married my Puerto Rican mother, and moved to the U.S. Having lived most of my life in different states, due to my father's 23+ years serving in the U.S. Army, I have learned to appreciate any experiences with friends and family. My father had moved out of our homeland, Puerto Rico, to America for better education and life. My dad joined the army to help with his student loans, move out of Puerto Rico for his family’s betterment, and express gratitude to the nation that took us in and for the financial support. My father, being a strict soldier, brought some army culture from the barracks, deployments, and missions home. Although his few moments at home were physically and emotionally violent due to his trauma, it did teach me lessons of discipline, honesty, and maintaining means of supporting your family and yourself. I am determined to take advantage of the opportunity my father made for us, his family. I have learned to appreciate any experience and learn new trades. I volunteered my time to help the community I was in and the hospitals. I interacted with my schools and their efforts to give back to the community, as well. In thanks for the second chance this nation gave my family, I always try giving back to the community in volunteer opportunities that I have available, such as at the Brooke Army Medical Center Hospital, Vacation Bible School, Lifeguarding at cancer awareness, and fundraiser events, Teaching taekwondo lessons at my dojo, and assisting in youth volleyball camps. I plan to continue in all of these opportunities for as long as they are available to me as thanks for the blessings given by the same community. I want to pursue my passion for helping individuals in the healthcare field as a surgeon, but also engineering-wise with the technologies used inside and out of the human body for the betterment of the individual. I suffer from a bleeding heart, always trying to help others and give back to the community in volunteer opportunities that I have available, for example, the Brooke Army Medical Center Hospital, Vacation Bible School, Lifeguarding at cancer awareness and fundraiser events, Teaching taekwondo lessons at my dojo, and assisting in youth volleyball camps. I’ve always had an interest in the health field and have had some experience through volunteering and family encounters. I have always loved helping in a hands-on sort of way, and I found a perfect fountain to help through medical care. As well as having a fascination with the body's processes, I fell in love with the possibilities of technologies that work with the human body. I always love helping with mental struggles but my favorite is the hands-on type of help. I love physically helping in curing and tending to wounds and seeing the body's reaction to the chemicals and technologies used to heal the body. I have always been enamored by the complex but completing cycles and processes of the body, let alone the discovery and creation of man-made technologies that serve to repair, aid, or completely replace certain bodily functions for the betterment of the individual and cure the body. Furthering my infatuation with medicine and health care, I’ve become interested in the possible engineering aspect of health care. I have proven I have the mental capacity and the personal drive required to pursue this extraneous journey. Along with my past experiences with high-stress situations and living on a busting schedule of school, tests, projects, volunteering, extra-curricular as well as overcoming my home situation, I have found that the only way to get what you want is to work for it and to get a task over with, the only way is through. Persistence and patience are key when achieving and completing something you truly want. I am working towards many scholarships to help alleviate the stresses of finances. I plan to further my studies for my greater life goals by funding my education at UTSA’s Honors College. This scholarship would grant me tranquility and allow my complete attention to my studies rather than stressing about bills. The ability to reach my full potential is ideal with my plan to go to medical school, become a doctor and help my community I am working towards many scholarships to help alleviate the stresses of finances. I plan to further my studies for my greater life goals by funding my education at UTSA’s Honors College. This scholarship would grant me tranquility and allow my complete attention to my studies rather than stressing about bills. The ability to reach my full potential is ideal for my plan to go to medical school, become a doctor and help my community. I am looking forward to explaining my education and maturing my passion in helping others. I want to be able to see medical changes in my local community and later, as big as I can get them. I want to better the medical lives and eventually the quality of life for the majority of my community. With my passion of healthcare and an emphasis on medical engineering, I expect to participate in causing, and later seeing the betterment in healthcare, particularly in underserved communities. I have proven I have the mental capacity and the personal drive required to pursue this extraneous journey. Along with my past experiences with high-stress situations and living on a busting schedule of school, tests, projects, volunteering, extra-curricular as well as overcoming my home situation, I have found that the only way to get what you want is to work for it and to get a task over with, the only way is through. Persistence and patience are key when achieving and completing something you truly want.

1. Why do you deserve this scholarship? Understanding why I deserve this scholarship is important because, the fact of the matter, is that I don't. There are probably students who need the money more than me and also have a higher GPA than me that deserve this money. At the end of the day, you'd be much better off giving the money to someone else. 2. What are your academic and/or career goals? I have yet to come up with any academic or career goals for myself as thinking ahead gets me stressed. So far, I plan to study hard enough to get the necessary credits for my bachelor's degree but not so much that I can't attend parties or hang out with my friends. 3. Tell me about a time you’ve overcome an obstacle. I do not enjoy challenging myself as it puts me under a lot of stress, so I haven't overcome many obstacles throughout my high school career. For example, my AP Biology test that had failed to study for in 2020. I didn't know how to answer any of the questions, but one look at my friend's answer sheet gave me everything I needed to score an 83.

https://youtu.be/8YgPpDtkJAM

Finding time for myself has been a struggle throughout high school, between studies, projects, community service, and work. With limited time, I find the most self-actuating stress reliever for me is music and playing guitar: acoustic, electric, and classical. I use playing guitar as a relief and a committed hobby of mine. Four years ago, I was gifted an acoustic guitar for Christmas and since then I knew I wanted more. I have saved and sold to build my collection of an amp, eight speakers, a receiver, three electric guitars, and a Classical guitar. I enjoy the electric best for the solos, crisp sound, and electronic alteration. My second favorite would be the acoustic where you can play with no speakers, no pick, and play pure sound, loud and emotional. The third would be classical, it's pure like acoustic but only certain music styles like Flamenco and Classical could be played. Having the speakers and guitars on display in my room reminds me to finish my pending tasks so I can dive into my own musical world that's waiting for me. I built shelves to hold the receiver, two record players, and records of Jazz, Rock, and Pop music. I salvaged a 1950 record player from my mother's childhood home in Puerto Rico, as well as a 1960’s Realistic record player from an estate sale and restored both to their working condition to play my vinyl records. The unmatched satisfaction of being able to replicate songs makes me feel talented and physically capable of making things with my hands. Practicing, expanding my collection, and restoring musical equipment allows me to pursue my own wants, accomplishing tasks I set for myself, not to fulfill a requirement or a curriculum, but to satisfy myself. At first, playing was painful, pressing down on the sharp, metal cables with the tips of your fingers, repeatedly, specifically behind the fret with a certain amount of force to allow the vibrations to pass down the string. The callouses on my fingers and damaged fingernails from strumming make me feel professional, suffering just a little for the art. Although it is frustrating at times, playing free notes with one hand and a changing pick-pattern with the other but practice betters my techniques. The frustration of not being able to fix the instrument or the equipment or having your work come undone is nothing compared to the sense of pride and accomplishment I feel for my work and astonishment towards those who have achieved the same. The ability to make things with my hands, either building or playing guitar reassures me of my cognitive and mental capabilities for other moments in life. I am studying to be a doctor and hopefully achieve my dream of being a surgeon. The ability to cure and heal with your hands and some tools are so fascinating to me and I want to help and serve others with my hands the same way I play guitar, with practice and accomplishing tasks.

Condensing my twelve years in Taekwondo and five in Japanese Jujitsu into a few words, I have learned to train in discipline, integrity, and respect for the art, myself, others, my mentality, physical strength, and self-defense as well as defending others. Martial arts has taught me to better myself, personality and mindset-wise for benefit of my own and for those around me. Training to be a wolf in sheep's clothing, being vigilant, practicing self-efficacy, and leading while still blending in and not being a distraction. I was a jumpy and energetic child that would skip to the end of lessons and jump into interactions because I felt like I knew more than those around me. The main skill I have applied directly to my life and focus on academics is staying quiet and analyzing. When you bite your tongue and just listen you learn more in class and notice more of people's intentions with their diction and tone of voice. I was not capable of applying such a drastic change to myself and my personality overnight, but the subconscious decision to train a change in myself has saved my life and my family's on multiple occasions and situations.

My favorite example of STEM and Art is a drawing portfolio I had made with my desire to help individuals via healthcare and a visual conception of my help to educate. Exploring how someone feels and sees the world and how the world sees them when affected by Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Anorexia, Borderline Personality Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder. Included are sketches of what the affected feel, my attempts to visualize for others the affected's experiences. Hearing psychiatrists' stories and the rise of the knowledge in mental health in the world had piqued my interest and led me to attempt to portray mental disorders for those that are not affected. The encouragement for the creation of these pieces was from my AP Drawing class. I have always had the drive for communicating and advocating for mental health and the class gave me the means to do so. I was told that such a weighted topic could be controversial and ambitious for such a short time frame. I had defied the odds and my teacher and processed to research and use many sources to render artwork that educates on symptoms and puts one in the shoes of people affected by mental illness. I am working towards my dream of being a physician to help individuals and better my knowledge in healthcare. I’ve always wanted to help those around me, emotionally by being a good friend and physically like a nurse, tending to scrapes. I am a Puerto-Rican volleyball player from a college preparatory charter high school, raised by a U.S. Army soldier. Curly-headed team player that is funny, kind, and puts family and others' needs over her own. Having a large family and employments, knows how to work well and help others and communicate in high-stress situations. Living with a current UTSA student for a sister and parents who have gone down the path of college, I have a strong sense of family and have a good idea of what path I want to take, as well as how I am going to achieve it. Diligent, independent, and disciplined, I've completed every task assigned to the best of my ability, as if the completion and quality of the task were to represent me. My family has always been from and lived on islands. I've been able to live in my homeland Puerto Rico but not Cuba. Always living with and being told the stories of suffering from my great-grandparents, cousins, and family fleeing Cuba from Fidel's rule have always taught me to blend in, be loyal to family, and stand for what you believe in. From Cuba, my family moved to Puerto Rico and married into the island's people. Blessed with opportunity, my Cuban father joined the Army, married my Puerto Rican mother, and moved to the U.S. Having lived most of my life in different states, due to my father's 23+ years serving in the U.S. Army, I have learned to appreciate any experiences with friends and family. My father had moved out of our home-land, Puerto Rico, to America for better education and life. My dad joined the army to help with his student loans, move out of Puerto Rico for his family’s betterment, and express gratitude to the nation that took us in and for the financial support. My father, being a strict soldier, brought some army culture from the barracks, deployments, and missions home. Although his moments at home were physically and emotionally violent due to his trauma, it did teach me lessons of discipline, honesty, and maintaining means of supporting your family and yourself. I am determined to take advantage of the opportunity my father made for us, his family. I have learned to appreciate any experience. Appreciating experiences and learning new trades, I volunteered my time to help the community I was in and the hospitals. I interacted with my schools and their efforts to give back to the community, as well. In thanks for the second chance this nation gave my family, I always try giving back to the community in volunteer opportunities that I have available, such as at the Brooke Army Medical Center Hospital, Vacation Bible School, Lifeguarding at cancer awareness, and fundraiser events, Teaching taekwondo lessons at my dojo, and assisting in youth volleyball camps. I plan to continue in all of these opportunities for as long as they are available to me as thanks for the blessings given by the same community. As a senior in high school, the realities of money and having to pay for my future have become a priority. I work 2 summer jobs and a part-time job during the school year while having taken 10 AP classes and 4 Post-AP classes currently, in an attempt to raise enough money for my dream of being a surgeon. I have proven I have the mental capacity and the personal drive required to pursue this extraneous journey, I am working towards many scholarships to help alleviate the stresses of finances. This scholarship would mean I can start my life debt-free, live to the fullest with minimum money stress and achieve my dream of being a doctor and truly give back to the communities that helped my family.

Everyone has bad days, but recently, with a global pandemic, there seems to be more than just a few bad days. Whether it is at home recovering from an illness, at school juggling multiple class projects, or dealing with complicated individuals, I find that the best way to get past it is seeing the humorous side and push through. My father has been the main person that has affected my life in both negative and positive ways. My father has been consistent in providing for my family and myself with food, shelter, safety, and education for my older sister, younger sister, my mother, and me, but he has affected me more emotionally. He is a U.S. Army doctor who has been deployed about three times now, and has left the country for almost eight additional missions, all for many months at a time. When he is at home, he has his positive moments, but the more distinct times in my mind were more physically and emotionally intense. The negative aspects have subsided as I am stronger, grew more resilient, and brushed off some occurrences with laughter. After the fact, I would joke about what happened and always hope for the best outcome. Regardless of what he did I always came back humorously, I would return to school with a smile, excel in my courses and in extracurriculars. My persistent ability to bounce back, be optimistic for better times, and push through is what has allowed me, and will continue to drive me, to push through life and studies.

1. Please tell us a bit about yourself and what specifically motivates you. If you could do anything with your life, what do you imagine you’d do? I am a Puerto-Rican volleyball player from a college preparatory charter high school, raised by a U.S. Army soldier. Curly-headed team player that is funny, kind, and puts family and others' needs over her own. Having a large family and employments knows how to work well and help others and communicate in high-stress situations. I have a strong sense of family and have a good idea of what path I want to take, as well as how I am going to achieve it. My family, giving back to my community, and helping others is what has motivated me into pursuing my dream of becoming a doctor. I would love to have the ability to cure and better individual's situations as a surgeon and a biomedical engineer. I can imagine myself curing people in the hands-on way that I love, inventing technologies that work with the body, and putting such technologies to work. 2. What excites you about STEM? How do you feel you could make a positive impact on the world through a job in information technology? Working with my faith and religion, I believe the scientific methods are fool-proof. I always love helping with mental struggles but my favorite is a hands-on type of help. I love physically helping in curing and tending to wounds and seeing the body's reaction to the chemicals and technologies used to heal the body. I have always been enamored by the complex but completing cycles and processes of the body, let alone the discovery and creation of man-made technologies that serve to repair, aid, or completely replace certain bodily functions for the betterment of the individual and curing the body. Always having an interest in understanding and curing the body, a recent class of mine piqued my interest in specifically the technologies used on or in the human body. I have the yearn and the capability of making a large, positive impact not only in my community but on the world working in the STEM field as a doctor and biomedical engineer. 3. Please describe the greatest challenge you’ve had to overcome and how you managed to get past it. The greatest challenge I've overcome is the complicated relationship and past I have with my father. He is a U.S. Army soldier that took discipline and punishments to the extreme in my childhood. Between the valuable integrity, honesty, and lessons of always being a hard worker, he had emotionally and physically violent moments. Although the negative moments have scared me, I learned how to persevere and adapt to my environment. I grew more resilient, overcame the memories and the adverse effects following. Being able to share this situation proves my growing strength and desire to persevere. I don't like letting anyone know because I don't want pity and to make it seem like I'm the only one suffering or that I am a special case. I know life happens and mine happened this way, I believe the only way to go is through. I want, and have overcome, and will continue to tenaciously persevere from where I started due to my drive and hard work, proven by what I’ve been able to accomplish from my home environment. From home I was able to survive eight years in a College Preparatory Charter School, achieve Commended Scholar, Honor Roll, pass nine AP classes and exams, get accepted to eight colleges, received invitations from prestigious Honors Colleges, and received a merit-based scholarship.

"Focusing on the stigma surrounding mental health, I attempt to express how certain mental illnesses feel for those unaffected by them. Exploring how someone feels and sees the world and how the world sees them when affected by Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Anorexia, Borderline Personality Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder. Included are sketches of what the affected feel, my attempts to visualize for others the affected's experiences. Hearing psychiatrists' stories and the rise of the knowledge in mental health in the world had piqued my interest and led me to attempt to portray mental disorders for those that are not affected. The encouragement for the creation of these pieces was from my AP Drawing class. I have always had the drive for communicating and advocating for mental health and the class gave me the means to do so. I was told that such a weighted topic could be controversial and ambitious for such a short time frame. I had defied the odds and my teacher and processed to research and use many sources to render artwork that educates on symptoms and puts one in the shoes of people affected by mental illness. I am working towards my dream of being a physician to help individuals and better my knowledge in healthcare. I’ve always wanted to help those around me, emotionally by being a good friend and physically like a nurse, tending to scrapes. I've currently been accepted to UTSA and their Honors College to further my education and live at home to save a few bills. Having taken AP exams I have credit at UTSA and have received a scholarship from the school. With the given aid, a job, and more scholarship I plan to fuel my education financially."

In my life, I have been confronted with my own, my father's, and my friend's mental illness. The disorders ranged from ADHD, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Intermittent Explosive Disorder, Suicidal Tendencies, and Borderline Personality Disorder. These experiences and relationships have taught me to live in the moment, treat everyone with love and respect, and that the only way to end any sort of episode is through, perseverance is a necessity. With the increase in knowledge of mental health, there has been an elaboration of illnesses and new modes in identifying affected, making mental illness less rare, as it has always been. There has not always been scientific evidence supporting large amounts of individuals suffering from mental illness because there was not as much knowledge in the fields, coupled with the lack of common knowledge in identifying such, but the truth is that everyone had been touched by some mental illness, just at varying severities. I am studying, working to earn scholarships, and saving money to fund my studies of becoming a doctor and a biomedical engineer. I always love helping with mental struggles but my favorite is a hands-on type of help. I love physically helping in curing and tending to wounds and seeing the body's reaction to the chemicals and technologies used to heal the body. I have always been enamored by the complex but completing cycles and processes of the body, let alone the discovery and creation of man-made technologies that serve to repair, aid, or completely replace certain bodily functions for the betterment of the individual and curing the body. Always having an interest in understanding and curing the body, a recent class of mine piqued my interest in specifically the technologies used on or in the human body. Specifically, neuroplasticity has interested me. With the rise in the knowledge of mental health, the origin has been commonly found to be the brain, With years of neurological research, scientists found and are attempting to repair neural networks that could be the stem of some mental conditions with artificial neural networks or repair the existing ones. Neuroplasticity is the ability of neural networks in the brain to change through growth, as seen in developing brains. Scientists and doctors have found how to manipulate and artificially replicate this and are attempting to reprogram the maladaptive behavior from mental illness and hope to produce long-lasting remission from illness. With the physical manipulation of the pathways in neurons, doctors could make healthy behaviors and positive emotions easier to experience when affected by mental ilness. Due to the natural occurrence of mental illness and the necessity of maintaining mental health, the de-stigmatization of such is required to continue growing as a society and scientifically. We must learn to accept the truth that everyone has a brain and we must maintain it. In efforts to de-stigmatize mental health and illnesses, I've attempted to demonstrate how it feels to be affected by mental illnesses: ADHD, Anorexia, BPD, OCD, and ASD. Having personal experience with each of these illnesses through myself or close family and friends. Through discussions with the affected and many Psychiatrists, I had creatively attempted to visualize the disorders for the unaffected. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is having trouble focusing attention on a single task or doing many activities at once. My piece is composed on canvas and depicts many torsos on the same legs pair of legs, implying the same person is doing many things at once. Anorexia is is an eating disorder that entails an intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted perception of weight. Commonly characterized by abnormally low body weight, I drew a hospital room containing a low-weight body in black-and-white inside a colorful 'fat-suit.' The colors are to differentiate what affected feels is real life, the color, versus what is reality, the black-and-white environment, and low-weight body. Borderline Personality Disorder symptomatically is overwhelming/ intrusive thoughts where you feel the only way for release is to self-harm. My painting has a thin woman sitting on the floor naked with a could of murky colors, her thoughts, and the same colors leaking from her wrists into a puddle. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is characterized by the counting amount of times action is done, seen in my photo by the tallies on the mirror into the affected head and the sickly face painted on. Autism Spectrum Disorder is symptomatically being overwhelmed by people, seen in my painting by the stress of background (environment of affected). Perspective is the inability to read social cues and how everyone appears to be a stranger. As the woman attempting to comfort is lost in the background. Portfolio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IwSbt0SBGImPYlRFEQdJGHRI1dncoeY2/view?usp=sharing

In my life, I have been confronted with my own, my father's, and my friend's mental illness. The disorders ranged from ADHD, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Intermittent Explosive Disorder, Suicidal Tendencies, and Borderline Personality Disorder. These experiences and relationships have taught me Perseverance, live in the moment, treat everyone with love and respect, and that the only way to end any sort of episode is through. With the increase in the field of mental health, there have been new modes in identifying affected, making mental illness less rare. There has not been scientific evidence that supports many peopling being affected because there was not as much knowledge in the fields, coupled with the lack of knowledge in identifying such, but the truth is that everyone had been touched by some mental illness, just at varying severities. I am studying and working on scholarships to fund my studies of becoming a doctor and a biomedical engineer. I have always loved helping with mental struggles and physically helping in curing and tending to wounds, seeing the body's reaction to the chemicals and technologies used to heal the body. I have always been enamored by the complex but completing cycles and processes of the body, let alone the discovery and creation of man-made technologies that serve to repair, aid, or completely replace certain bodily functions for the betterment of the individual and curing the mind and body. The technologies and chemicals that serve to cure, or lessen symptoms of mental illness are a passion of mine. The natural occurrence of mental illness and the necessity of maintaining mental health, the de-stigmatization of such is required to continue growing as a society and scientifically. We must learn to accept the truth that everyone has a brain and we must maintain it. In efforts to de-stigmatize mental health and illnesses, I've attempted to demonstrate how it feels to be affected by mental illnesses: ADHD, Anorexia, BPD, OCD, and ASD. Having personal experience with each of these illnesses through myself or close family and friends. Through discussions with the affected and many Psychiatrists, I had creatively attempted to visualize the disorders for the unaffected. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is having trouble focusing attention on a single task or doing many activities at once. My piece is composed on canvas and depicts many torsos on the same legs pair of legs, implying the same person is doing many things at once. Anorexia is is an eating disorder that entails an intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted perception of weight. Commonly characterized by abnormally low body weight, I drew a hospital room containing a low-weight body in black-and-white inside a colorful 'fat-suit.' The colors are to differentiate what affected feels is real life, the color, versus what is reality, the black-and-white environment, and low-weight body. Borderline Personality Disorder symptomatically is overwhelming/ intrusive thoughts where you feel the only way for release is to self-harm. My painting has a thin woman sitting on the floor naked with a could of murky colors, her thoughts, and the same colors leaking from her wrists into a puddle. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is characterized by the counting amount of times action is done, seen in my photo by the tallies on the mirror into the affected head and the sickly face painted on. Autism Spectrum Disorder is symptomatically being overwhelmed by people, seen in my painting by the stress of background (environment of affected). Perspective is the inability to read social cues and how everyone appears to be a stranger. As the woman attempting to comfort is lost in the background. Portfolio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IwSbt0SBGImPYlRFEQdJGHRI1dncoeY2/view?usp=sharing

I've attempted to use artistic creativity to demonstrate how it feels to be affected by mental illnesses: ADHD, Anorexia, BPD, OCD, and ASD. Having personal experience with each of these illnesses through myself or close family and friends. Through discussions with the affected and many Psycietrists, I had creatively attempted to visualize the disorders for the unaffected. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is having trouble focusing attention on a single task or doing many activities at once. My piece is composed on canvas and depicts many torsos on the same legs pair of legs, implying the same person is doing many things at once. Anorexia is is an eating disorder that entails an intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted perception of weight. Commonly characterized by abnormally low body weight, I drew a hospital room containing a low-weight body in black-and-white inside a colorful 'fat-suit.' The colors are to differentiate what affected feels is real life, the color, versus what is reality, the black-and-white environment, and low-weight body. Borderline Personality Disorder symptomatically is overwhelming/ intrusive thoughts where you feel the only way for release is to self-harm. My painting has a thin woman sitting on the floor naked with a could of murky colors, her thoughts, and the same colors leaking from her wrists into a puddle. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is characterized by the counting amount of times action is done, seen in my photo by the tallies on the mirror into the affected head and the sickly face painted on. Autism Spectrum Disorder is symptomatically being overwhelmed by people, seen in my painting by the stress of background (environment of affected). Perspective is the inability to read social cues and how everyone appears to be a stranger. As the woman attempting to comfort is lost in the background. Portfolio: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IwSbt0SBGImPYlRFEQdJGHRI1dncoeY2/view?usp=sharing

I am studying, working to earn scholarships, and saving money to fund my studies of becoming a doctor and a biomedical engineer. I always love helping with mental struggles but my favorite is a hands-on type of help. I love physically helping in curing and tending to wounds and seeing the body's reaction to the chemicals and technologies used to heal the body. I have always been enamored by the complex but completing cycles and processes of the body, let alone the discovery and creation of man-made technologies that serve to repair, aid, or completely replace certain bodily functions for the betterment of the individual and curing the body. Always having an interest in understanding and curing the body, a recent class of mine piqued my interest in specifically the technologies used on or in the human body.

Artist name: ROSALIE Playlist Title: FEW MORE years Song Titles and Names: Welcome to the Jungle – Guns N’ Roses College Kids - Relient K Strawberry Feild Forever- The Beatles After The Storm- Kali Uchis Manic Depression- Jimi Hendrix Revolution 9- The Beatles

Teaching is a Learning Experience Before making it to the glass door, I recognized the red mats, the wall of mirrors, and the hanging bags further in. It's been 3 years since I've walked into the tile lobby of my old dojo. Master Nguyen had called me in as one of the last black belts that earned the title and stayed in town. I had been focusing on my studies and had to take a rest from training but I finally had some free time to go back, but that wasn't the Master’s plan, he wanted me to help with his child care and teach classes at his Taekwondo Center. I hesitantly agreed but was pleasantly surprised to be initially an assistant instructor and now official instructor. After a few refresher classes for myself and acting as assisting instructor in a few more, I found myself alone, in front of a class of almost twenty lower belts from 5 to 11-year-olds. It was a struggle trying to keep all of their attention, teach new techniques, enforce the respect and discipline policies and maintain order as a deserted 16-year-old girl that didn't even have a lesson plan. After a few rough classes, I got the hang of teaching, pre-planning lessons, making techniques humorous, having fun drills, and less overview from the head instructor. Building more of a personal connection with the kids, setting standards of martial artists, expectations of performance, integrating the Code of the Dojo (discipline, integrity, and respect) for the future of the kids outside of class. I am proud to say the students have learned and all have had at least two well-earned belt promotions so far, with many more to come. Given the rare opportunity of teaching my own taekwondo class, given the key and responsibility of the dojo on occasion, and being trusted on my skill and responsibility for the good of others I have proved myself to the Master and the parents of the kids. From hesitantly agreeing and not being sure of my skills to having confidence in my leadership and teaching skills, I feel that this once-in-a-lifetime experience has made me step out of my comfort zone and made me learn techniques and strategies that I otherwise would not have acquired. I learned valuable communication, teaching, and leadership skills that are easily applicable to other employment opportunities, for continued studies on campus, and in a university environment. This experience definitely placed me in a greater sense of responsibility and realization of life relations, motivating me to further push for my dream of being a doctor, striving to be a surgeon, in a hospital, family-like community, similar to campus life. The knowledge I gained and my ability to adapt to new environments has allowed me greater access to resources so I can continue and further not only my studies but also greater life goals.

It's been 3 years since I've walked into the tile lobby of my old dojo. Master had called me in as one of the last black belts that earned the title and stayed in town for help with his Taekwondo Center. I found myself alone, instructing a class of almost twenty lower belts from 5 to 11-year-olds. Struggling to keep all of their attention, teach new techniques, enforce the respect and discipline policies and maintain order as a deserted 16-year-old girl that didn't even have a lesson plan. Building more of a personal connection with the kids, setting standards of martial artists, expectations of performance, integrating the Code of the Dojo (discipline, integrity, and respect) for the future of the kids outside of class. I am proud to say the students have learned and all have had at least two well-earned belt promotions so far, with many more to come. From hesitantly agreeing and not being sure of my skills to having confidence in my leadership and teaching skills, I feel that this once-in-a-lifetime experience has made me step out of my comfort zone and made me learn techniques and strategies that I otherwise would not have acquired. I learned valuable communication, teaching, and leadership skills that are easily applicable to other employment opportunities, for continued studies on campus, and in a university environment. This experience definitely placed me in a greater sense of responsibility and realization of life relations, motivating me to further push for my dream of being a doctor, striving to be a surgeon, in a hospital, family-like community, similar to campus life. The knowledge I gained and my ability to adapt to new environments has allowed me greater access to resources so I can continue and further not only my studies but also greater life goals.

Teaching is a Learning Experience Before making it to the glass door, I recognized the red mats, the wall of mirrors, and the hanging bags further in. It's been 3 years since I've walked into the tile lobby of my old dojo. Master Nguyen had called me in as one of the last black belts that earned the title and stayed in town. I had been focusing on my studies and had to take a rest from training but I finally had some free time to go back, but that wasn't the Master’s plan, he wanted me to help with his child care and teach classes at his Taekwondo Center. I hesitantly agreed but was pleasantly surprised to be initially an assistant instructor and now official instructor. After a few refresher classes for myself and acting as assisting instructor in a few more, I found myself alone, in front of a class of almost twenty lower belts from 5 to 11-year-olds. It was a struggle trying to keep all of their attention, teach new techniques, enforce the respect and discipline policies and maintain order as a deserted 16-year-old girl that didn't even have a lesson plan. After a few rough classes, I got the hang of teaching, pre-planning lessons, making techniques humorous, having fun drills, and less overview from the head instructor. Building more of a personal connection with the kids, setting standards of martial artists, expectations of performance, integrating the Code of the Dojo (discipline, integrity, and respect) for the future of the kids outside of class. I am proud to say the students have learned and all have had at least two well-earned belt promotions so far, with many more to come. Given the rare opportunity of teaching my own taekwondo class, given the key and responsibility of the dojo on occasion, and being trusted on my skill and responsibility for the good of others I have proved myself to the Master and the parents of the kids. From hesitantly agreeing and not being sure of my skills to having confidence in my leadership and teaching skills, I feel that this once-in-a-lifetime experience has made me step out of my comfort zone and made me learn techniques and strategies that I otherwise would not have acquired. I learned valuable communication, teaching, and leadership skills that are easily applicable to other employment opportunities, for continued studies on campus, and in a university environment. This experience definitely placed me in a greater sense of responsibility and realization of life relations, motivating me to further push for my dream of being a doctor, striving to be a surgeon, in a hospital, family-like community, similar to campus life. The knowledge I gained and my ability to adapt to new environments has allowed me greater access to resources so I can continue and further not only my studies but also greater life goals.