Ever since I can remember I have been fascinated by animals. From the elephant to the leopard gecko, I never cease to be impressed by the wonders of their nature, and how every single one of them is unique. My father saw this and every year on my birthday, he would buy me a miniature figure of an animal, and I would learn as much as I could from them. My collection has grown quite a bit, my favorite one being the Common Hippopotamus, but I don't plan on stopping anytime soon. I am pursuing a biology degree with minors in innovation and entomology, and though I am not sure where my career path will take me, I keep the dream of being a zoo or wildlife vet close to my heart. While I love all animals, I have always had a special interest in exotic ones, as they pose a greater challenge when it comes to caring for them. As I mentioned earlier, I would like to be a wildlife vet, working in sanctuaries and helping animals that otherwise would not have a chance to survive. I have the utmost respect and admiration for veterinary doctors who care for animals outside the regular cat and dog world, as medicine for these animals is still being developed and researched. They are pioneers that push the boundaries of our knowledge about nature and the mechanics of life. I aim to become one of these pioneers, preserving life regardless of who it belongs to, overcoming challenges, and improving the quality of the lives of the animals of the world. Through my major, I plan on expanding my knowledge of animal life and anatomy, as well as genetics and entomology. Ultimately I plan on attending Veterinary School, though I am not sure where I will go. Currently, I am enrolled in animal science and entomology classes, learning about what it takes to keep animals healthy and how they go about their day-to-day lives. I am also working part-time at a Veterinary hospital as a grooming assistant for dogs and cats, and through this, I have been learning much about how a vet handles a private practice. Step by step, I am confident that one day I will achieve my dream, regardless of how long it takes me, as long as I can help animals along the way. I am going to do whatever I need to achieve this dream of mine, and I hope that you consider me for this scholarship. If I am awarded this, I will be one step closer to pursuing a veterinary career and be able to focus more on my studies and helping animals in need. There is nothing I want more than to become a pioneer like Dr. Howard and follow his example of helping make everyone's life better, both animals and people.

At first, I was afraid, staring at the looming figure in front of me. But as it got closer, I began to see its beauty. The moisture in her nose, the curiosity in her eyes, the softness of her fur. It got closer and closer until I felt the roughness of the cow's tongue licking my little hand while I offered her some food. After that, all of my fear went away, and I became obsessed with animals of all sorts. I spend time with animals as often as I can. I used to work with horses throughout my high school years, and I learned a lot about the health of larger animals. I would often have to check their temperatures, heart rates, nose and ear checkups as well as hoof maintenance. This inspired me to work with other animals, and I started looking at work in other places. I volunteered for a while in a petting zoo, where I got to work with pigs of many sizes. I also spent some of my summers in Tennessee at a family friend's farm, where I would tend to goats, cows, and chickens day and night. Even though it was hard work, I have never enjoyed working more than when I am working with animals. It wasn't always happy times though. One of the hardest experiences at work was when we had a cow named Lola suffering from an abscess that had gone unnoticed for too long. We thought we had treated it, I helped change the bandages and keep the area sterile, but she had inexplicably started acting strange, and soon she died. The infection had spread around her body, and it was so advanced that the medicine did not fight it fast enough. Lola was a very friendly cow and loved being around people, so losing her felt like losing a friend in my life. This experience helped me realize what I wanted to do in life, and that was to help those who suffer in silence. In the future, I want to travel around the country, maybe even around the world helping the animals that have helped humanity reach the point we are at. I would love to specialize in cloven-hoofed animals, but I know in my heart that I will help any and every animal that I can. I want to make their lives as happy and pain-free as possible. Eventually, I would like to have my farm and work with my animals, but always willing to help those around me.

In life, there are some things I feel that I can't explain. One of these is the pride and love I feel when I see the Venezuelan flag. The yellow, the blue, the red, the stars, and the coat of arms hanging proudly in the wind stirs such emotion in me that I can't help but feel goosebumps. It has been a long time since I have been in my country, but I know in my heart that one day I will return. Venezuela has been in turmoil from long before I was born. Having some of the best resources in South America, it has been under the eye of many global superpowers for a long time. Unfortunately, the Venezuelan government did not think about protecting what we had, and through a series of irrational laws and corrupt leaders, Venezuela ended up having the highest inflation rate in the whole world. I left Venezuela when I was 10 years old. Even at that age, I was aware of the problems in my country. Protests would constantly take place right outside my school, and in many of them, students would get injured or worse. I remember feeling the tear gas linger in the streets after a riot. Everywhere you looked there was poverty, crime, and death. The face of former president Hugo Chavez covered every wall, billboard, and fence in the city. Though my parents didn't want me to worry, I knew of their growing fear of being in the country, and the anger that my family harbored toward the president. After he passed away, we thought it was going to get better, but things just kept getting worse and worse. A new president took the position, Nicolas Maduro, one who the public wasn't even sure was born in Venezuela. The corruption showed no sign of getting better, and when other nations started to meddle more directly with our elections and federal system, my parents knew it was time to leave. Leaving my home was hard, but leaving my family behind was almost impossible. It was by far the hardest goodbye in my life. Settling in the US was hard, but my parents never let me forget where I am from, and if there is anything sure in my future, it's that I will not let my country's beauty burn under the hands of the government. Though my major is focused on animal science, I also plan to pursue a career in Ecology and conservation. Venezuela has a medley of environments: ice-covered peaks, scorching hot deserts, endless plains, and lush rainforests. All of these environments house unique plants and animals that add to Venezuela's beauty, but they are being threatened by the insatiable thirst of our corrupt Government. Having one of the world's largest reserves of underground gold and oil, Venezuela's jungles and plains have become a feeding frenzy for illegal mining and deforestation. The majority of the gold that comes from Venezuela had been illegally mined in the Amazon forest, and the majority of the oil produced gets shipped out to countries like Russia and China, which both have deep ties to the Venezuelan Government. Using my career, I will work to protect Venezuela's fragile nature from the harm of the government. I will work to better educate the people of Venezuela to protect their country and encourage a move to cleaner power sources to better support our people. Venezuela is and will always be my home, and I will do everything I can to protect its beauty for the generations to come.

Generational wealth to me is the wealth that you can pass down to your children and the wealth that your children can pass to their children, and so on. In a world in which having assets is the most important way to gain wealth, thinking about what I am going to leave for my descendants is a way in which I can ensure that they are safe and stable, even after I am gone. Throughout various generations in my family, there have been drastic changes. For example, my grandfather moved to Venezuela under the promise of a big business opportunity by my great grandfather, but he arrived to find that he had lied and was nowhere to be found. On my mother's side, my grandmother and grandfather had both run away from their families to marry each other but struggled greatly to raise their own family without the support from their parents. And when it came down to us, my parents had to leave everything behind when we left Venezuela, and the assets that could have potentially served as a form of income for my family were either abandoned or nationalized by the government. Events like this have made it hard for my family to build any relevant generational wealth. Coming to the United States provided us with new opportunities to start gaining assets, but because of our volatile status and our constant struggle to gain residency, we had to resort to renting everything to stay afloat. We leased a car and rented an apartment, which didn't benefit us except for the present time. It wasn't until this year that my dad received a position that was stable enough that we could start looking to the future. With this change, my parents started many projects to start building up their generational wealth. One of these is the purchase of a property. As they go about the process, I have been learning a lot about what I can do to achieve generational wealth on my part. Investing in the real estate market is one of the best ways to gain valuable assets, assets that could serve as sources of income for my children and their children after. Another way is investing in stocks and cryptocurrencies, as it has been proven to be very lucrative in the long run. Achieving generational wealth is working to gain money in the long run, be it 40-60 years from when you start, and though it may seem as if you are not getting to use the money yourself, in a way it is investing for your future and your children's future.

I have always been mesmerized by the beauty of the sea. Growing up in Venezuela, our most exciting family trips would be going to the Venezuelan Keys in the Caribbean, and I would always jump in the water with my snorkel gear and set off. I have always felt a deep connection to the ocean and all of the creatures that live in it, and I want nothing more than to see it thrive and flourish without the threat of pollution. I have always been very passionate about animals, but for some reason, the creatures of the ocean have always had a special place in my heart. I can't remember when it started, as far as I know, it has always been there. I would collect little shark figures when I was younger, mesmerized by their beauty. It has just always been an ambition of mine to be more involved with the ocean. My family has always been environmentally conscious, and I remember participating in beach cleanups as young as 8 years old in Venezuela. As I grew I became more interested in the Ocean as a habitat. After taking Marine Biology in high school, I became obsessed with corals and coral reefs. Anything from the minuscule zooxanthellae, to the gigantic goliath groupers, I wanted to know everything about them. After high school, I spent the majority of my time on the beach, snorkeling, and swimming, and recently I have tried to pick up surfing. To be honest, anything that makes me feel closer to the sea makes me happy. I love the ocean, but I couldn't ignore the damage that we were doing to it. I remember being disgusted and angry at seeing my country's beaches littered with trash from the sea. It broke my heart to see how the reefs that used to be brimming with life in the Venezuelan keys were now being smothered by trash and surrounded by decay. It was traumatizing, to put it lightly, to see the seemingly unstoppable progress toward destruction in the sea. But I refuse to accept that there will be a future in which the oceans are void of life. Using my degree, which focuses on animal sciences, I want to better learn about the conservation of species like the giant manta ray, the green sea turtle, the vaquita and so many more. I don't plan to stop only on the ocean, I want to create a secure future for species around the globe, in the land, air, and sea. I want to specialize in endangered species and help in conservation, rehabilitation, and legal protection for those that cannot protect themselves. I want my children to experience the same wonder I experienced in those early years of my life, running across the sand and jumping into the welcoming arms of the warm Caribbean water. I want them to see the life that can flourish on our ocean if only we let it.

In today's world, you can reach a group of people that are thousands of miles away with a tap of your finger. Yet we are more disconnected from each other than we have ever been. I feel as if the people around you aren't really around you, but in their world altogether. This affects every aspect of a community, and letting it increase would risk losing what we need the most: face-to-face contact. I feel as if today people are too focused on themselves to worry about those around them. It's easy to forget that people exist around you if they all fit inside your pocket. But this creates a lonely world, one where you walk outside and it feels as if you are the last person alive at that moment. If there was a change that I would like to see, it is to encourage people to look up. Look up from the ground and at a stranger's face, and smile. Who knows? Maybe you can make their day, inspire them, or even just cheer them up in that particular moment of sadness. Human interaction is so important, and it goes a long way toward the improvement of a community. People that interact with each other are more likely to understand the other person's struggles, which in turn might lead to them helping out. Regardless of who you are, it doesn't cost anything to be kind, and saying hi to another person is not something you have to be afraid of. In this world, where one can stand in a room full of people and be completely alone, it's up to the people to make a difference. In my community, I participate in volunteering events to try to make a difference. I have volunteered in homeless shelters, beach cleanups, elderly homes, and therapy for people with disabilities. Regardless of where I am or who I am with, I try to be kind and reach out to somebody, anybody, just to interact with them. In the homeless shelter, I saw how even just asking a person how their day was would brighten their face. In beach cleanups, striking up a light conversation with a stranger would make walking in the hot sun much more bearable. In therapy, I would talk to the patients as if I was just hanging out with them, and it would make them so happy to be there. Having a positive attitude, and reaching out to people is the most fundamental change to make this world better.

One of my most meaningful songs is "Hurt" by Johnny Cash. It is a song about the fleeting nature of time, and how things can seem insignificant compared to the universe's greatness. I heard this song when I was still in middle school, and at the time I was reading a book called The Boat of a Million Years, by Poul Anderson, which touches on subjects like immortality and love. Even though it is rather somber, this song always reminds me to enjoy what little I have, because it will all be gone in the blink of an eye. It teaches me to enjoy my surroundings and my youth because that is something that I will never be able to experience again, and when I hear it I always think about my family and friends, because no matter how much wealth my work and studies will bring me, those connections are worth more than anything in the world.

Mental illness has been present in various forms throughout my life. I have seen many people I love struggle silently, and have sometimes found myself doing the same. It wasn't until I graduated high school that I realized just how much of a toll mental health can take if it is not cared for. My aunt committed suicide when I was in 6th grade. I wasn't told that she had taken her life at first, only that she had passed away. She died young, she was turning 27 that year and was about to marry as well. My dad was devastated, and my grandfather was too. When they explained to me how she had died, and why, I was left more confused than before. She was part of the Hindu community, and apparently, she had been cast out of her group because she had lost her virginity before marrying. My parents explained to me that they had sent her death threats, that her fiancé was harassing her outside of her home, and that she was so ashamed that she hid, even from us, until her final moments. She had no one to turn to, she was completely alone. My dad traveled to Venezuela to attend her funeral, but when he came back, things had gotten worse. My aunt's community stalked my dad on social media, sending him horrible messages about my aunt and even threatening him. My dad sank into depression, and even though he tried to keep it hidden from us, it was impossible to ignore the pain that he felt. My aunt's suicide took an incredible toll, and it changed the way I perceived things drastically. After her death, I was introduced to a world I had not previously been exposed to. It was the ugly side of mental health, the one people don't like talking about. I started treating people differently. No matter who it was, I would always try to help the person. In some cases, I was way out of my depth, but I tried so hard to help people struggling with themselves, even if it meant sacrificing my mental health in the process. I met so many people in difficult situations, I tried my best to befriend them. I never wanted anybody to be alone, not like my aunt was. Even if it was just talking to someone at the bus stop, or calling someone while they were down, I was willing to help. It became very clear to me, however, that I couldn't help everybody. Sometimes it got out of hand, sometimes they threatened to kill themselves, sometimes they tried, and I would feel so helpless, no matter how much I tried I couldn't help them. It was then that I realized that I was not alone, other people were willing to help. I found that one of the best ways to help somebody was to encourage them to talk to a professional or even just an adult. I started educating myself in ways to help people help themselves. Now I know that sometimes people suffer on the inside, and it can feel like an impossible battle to win. But I learned that being beside someone in their darkest, lowest and most difficult moment can be the difference between life and death. I strive to help those around me and encourage others to do the same. Sometimes it feels as if we are helpless, unable to save those around us. But, in the end, all it takes is your presence, and you might be a little less lonely after.

Mental illness has been present in various forms throughout my life. I have seen many people I love struggle silently, and have sometimes found myself doing the same. It wasn't until I graduated high school that I realized just how much of a toll mental health can take if it is not cared for, and looking back I see so many things that would have been avoided if I had just known how to deal with these things. My aunt committed suicide when I was in 6th grade, and the toll that it took on me and my family is still present today. I wasn't told that she had taken her life at first, only that she had passed away. She died young, she was turning 27 that year and was about to marry as well. My dad was devastated, and my grandfather was too. When they explained to me how she had died, and why, I was left more confused than before. She was part of the Hindu community, and apparently, she had been cast out of her group because she had lost her virginity before marrying. My parents explained to me that they had sent her death threats, that her fiance was harassing her outside of her home, and that she was so ashamed that she hid, even from us, until her final moments. She had no one to turn to, she was completely alone. My dad traveled to Venezuela to attend her funeral, but when he came back, things had gotten worse. The people from my aunt's community had turned to us, and they stalked my dad on social media, sending him horrible messages about my aunt and at one point even threatening him. My dad sank into a deep depression, and even though he tried to keep it hidden from us, it was impossible to ignore the pain that he felt. My aunt's suicide took an incredible toll, and it changed the way I perceived things drastically. After her death, I was introduced to a world I had not previously been exposed to. It was the ugly side of mental health, the one people don't like talking about. I started treating people differently. No matter who it was, I would always try to help the person. In some cases, I was way out of my depth, but I tried so hard to help people struggling with themselves, even if it meant sacrificing my mental health in the process. I met so many people in difficult situations, I tried my best to befriend them. I never wanted anybody to be alone, not like my aunt was. Even if it was just talking to someone at the bus stop, or calling someone while they were down, I was willing to help. It became very clear to me, however, that I couldn't help everybody. Sometimes it got out of hand, sometimes they threatened to kill themselves, sometimes they tried, and I would feel so helpless, no matter how much I tried I couldn't help them. It was then that I realized that I was not alone, other people were willing to help. I found that one of the best ways to help somebody was to encourage them to talk to a professional or even just an adult. I started educating myself in ways to help people help themselves. Now I know that sometimes people suffer on the inside, and it can feel like an impossible battle to win. But I learned that being beside someone in their darkest, lowest and most difficult moment can be the difference between life and death. I strive to help those around me and encourage others to do the same. Sometimes it feels as if we are helpless, unable to save those around us. But, in the end, all it takes is your presence, and you might be a little less lonely after.

I think that, in the long run, education is the most impactful way to combat climate change. One of the ways that education has served as a tool for improvement was when David Attenborough released his film Blue Planet in 2001. Before this, nobody knew about issues like whaling or coral bleaching, but people began to fight back after seeing the uniqueness of a whale's call and the beauty of a thriving coral reef. Before any major changes are made, the public must be educated truthfully about the damage we are doing to this planet, which would soon be irreversible if action is not taken. We need to show people the impact that a lifetime of pollution and deforestation can have on our planet, and then we need to show them what they can do about it. Once everybody knows what must be done, then installing solar panels in every household won't be a problem, and switching a city's power source from oil or gas to wind turbines and geothermal energy will be on everybody's mind. Our planet is dying, but nothing can be done until everybody accepts that as an undeniable truth.

Fear, excitement, dread, longing. The feelings each took their turn like the colors on the windows of the Miami International Airport. Leaving Venezuela was not easy. I had never felt so alone surrounded by people who you don't understand. Our immigration almost felt like an escape. No time for goodbyes, no time to bring anything. Just a suitcase and a bag, that was all we had. I was hopeful. Hopeful to return, that things would get better. But once I saw it from an outsider’s point of view, I knew there was no going back. Fortunately for us, my dad had secured a job before leaving. At first, we had to live crowded up, all in the same room. The school wasn't much better. The first school I attended here did not have an ESL(English as a second language) program, so I was left to learn English from the Spanish teacher, the only person "qualified" to teach me. I adapted quickly, scoring higher and higher on standardized tests, even higher than my classmates. Still, I wasn't ever welcomed there. There were always remarks about my accent, or how they were superior being born in the US. I never let it bring me down. We moved again, this time to an area with much diversity. I met people from all over and made friends. I kept pushing forward in school. Even though one traditionally stays in ESL, I was quickly bumped up to advanced English and math classes after my first. I excelled in all of my courses, became Capitan of the Swim team at my school, and made friends that are almost considered family. It was far from the fearful expectations that I had when arriving here. The experiences that I had made me realize something: one can never stop moving forward. Regardless of the situation, I found myself in, with the support of my parents, I always adapted and excelled at any expectations people had. I never let excuses hold me back. Regardless of where I came from, I strove to be better. I did as much as I could to improve myself and the community, volunteering every weekend, picking up new languages, and working on food drives for the poor. I wanted to earn my place here, and if I were to leave, to leave this place better than I found it. I will never forget my Venezuela and to me, it is still my home. But if I can overcome and adapt to that huge change, then I can overcome anything.