Being a first-generation college student is very important to me. Being a first generation American on my mother’s side, having the opportunity to further my education at a higher level is something I am very grateful for. Being involved with my school and community throughout my high school career has enabled me to have a better sight for what I envision myself doing in the future; becoming an educator. Through these extracurriculars such as being a peer leader to freshmen students, a member of the yearbook club, the captain of the varsity volleyball team, a member of clubs that collaborate with other schools to fight racism, along with others, I have realized many things about myself. The most important one to me is that I am a leader. I like taking action and guiding others. I am known as a helping hand and a shoulder to cry on. These clubs and activities have helped me envisioned becoming a teacher one day. I know that I want to lead others to succeed like how my parents led me. My parents did not have the opportunity to graduate from college, so being able to make them proud by wanting to enrich myself in a higher education level means so much. My mother is an immigrant from Ireland, therefore her family was not familiar with the American education system. My father was a product of a single income household, therefore he did not have the opportunity to carry out his college degree and graduate. Both of my parents have worked very hard for me to have the opportunities I have today, and for that I am forever grateful. After years of working hard in school, being involved in activities, and giving back to my community through volunteer work, I am very proud to be able to apply to great colleges that have outstanding programs in the field in which I want to pursue. Throughout high school, I always knew that it was in my best interest to get involved. I have developed many leadership qualities due to these clubs and involvements, mainly from being a class officer for my grade. Through being a class officer, I have assisted in organizing the homecoming dance and prom, food drives for my community’s food pantry, and single handedly designed my class, senior year apparel. Being a first generation college graduate means the world to me, as I know I couldn’t do it without the help of my parents. But I am also left feeling proud of me, knowing that I got involved in as many clubs as activities as I possibly could. I have taken a total of five AP classes throughout high school, and if you told that to my seventh grade self, she would not believe you. The title of being both a first generation college graduate and a first generation American allows me to be proud of who I am today and what I have accomplished.

I hope that when I die, people remember me as someone who changed others for the better. I want to be known as someone who inspired others and taught people how to be good. I want to leave this Earth knowing that I have touched the lives of many. My dream career is to become an elementary educator. To me, this is more than demonstrating how to add numbers, or reciting the alphabet. Being an educator means I have to become a role model to easily impressionable young minds. Children look up to their teachers, and I want to be seen as an inspiration. To this day, I still remember my first grade teacher, Mrs. Rissoff very vividly. I remember her energy as she walked into the classroom every day, and that has resonated with me greatly, and has influenced my career choice. I am now a senior in high school and can still remember how she constantly encouraged everyone and how she would use names of the students as examples for questions in the tests to make us feel important. I want to be like that some day. Teachers change the lives of many. They aid students in learning basic skills needed to be successful in later levels of education. Elementary teachers specifically lay down the foundation for success within the new generations. I dream of my legacy to be as someone who deeply cared about others, and someone who parents and students trusted. I hope that when I am laying in my casket, someone will look back on the times I spent with them and know I had a positive impact on their life.