Growing up in a Hispanic family household has shaped how I’ve viewed every opportunity that crosses our path in the borrowed time we have. From a young age, I was taught to value education and that there was always something to be learned even when you might think you may have mastered everything. This mindset has evidently allowed me to grow into the person I am now. My name is Sara Rivas Castro and I am a Salvadoran-American. My mom was born in El Salvador and immigrated to the United States in her early twenties with the illusions of a better life. Unfortunately, she was the last to be born in a family of six which meant little priority taken to her for when it came to studies. She was not enrolled in school and had to stay back at home while her older siblings attended school every other day. She states she didn’t mind it then but now if she could go back, she’d plead to have the same opportunities her siblings once had. She’s had to overcome several obstacles in her life due to the limited education she’s had. Growing up, it was no secret our family had financial issues. From a young age, all my mother dreamt of was for her daughters to accomplish what she could not do. While she envisions heading to school carrying book bag and notebooks, she lived vicariously through us. She used to dress me up in pigtails, my pressed skirts and long knee socks as I headed into elementary school. Watched as the clothes started to transition to khakis and a polo shirt and evidently to the burgundy shirt with the school logo plastered on that became attached to my skin with how long I wore it. And while she worked her night shifts to provide housing, food and necessities for me and my sisters, I would sit in the kitchen table finishing up my homework without constant reminders to do them to prove to my mother I appreciated every thing she did for us. And to show her I was taking my education seriously even if it was just second grade math homework. My mother has taught me that everything takes work and sacrifice. And while I was to start college back in 2021, I had to take a pause due to not being financially capable to continue studying and began working full time to help with the costs at home. Every day, my mom reminds me of the end goal and to finish what I started. She has and will always be my number one supporter and will be the first face I look for in the crowd when I walk across the stage at graduation. Receiving this scholarship would greatly assist in accomplishing not only my dream of completing my college degree but as well accomplishing the dream of those affected in our Hispanic community who like my mother had to put others in instead of themselves when it came to education. And to prove to her that education truly is the best gift we are granted in our lives.

When I was twelve years old, I knew something was off. I would look at my arm and notice a patch. A patch that would be a different color, and feel like a different texture, and I was worried. My family was too. Immediately I was taken to see a dermatologist and the words "morphea" escaped from his lips. At the time, I had no idea what it was. Even to this day, I still have no clue what it actually means. I just know I have it. I find myself constantly looking up the definition online and spending hours scrolling through the countless pictures similar looking to my arm. I was in middle school when I began taking experimental treatment as there really is no actual cure for morphea. And I was always feeling indifferent to my peers who had perfectly looking skin. I spent summers wearing long sleeves and hoodies in order to hide what to me was an imperfection. But I think what hurts the most about living with this autoimmune disease is that I do not have the support I'd wish I'd had since I was young. No one in my family truly understands what it is like living with this yet do not hold back on their comments anyway. And it hurts. But at the same time, I've become stronger by it. I've learned to not take everything so badly and actually have used it for my own personal growth. I have started to become more open about it and talk about it to people. I believe it is better to educate instead of shame when asked what it is I have. You see, morphea is an autoimmune skin disease still unknown to many. I mean, I went to the emergency room not so long ago and when the doctor asked for my medical history, I answered with, "Oh, I have anemia...beta-thalassemia" and watched as she typed it into the system before I continued, "And morphea". The look on her face is still something I don't forget. She goes, "What's that?" And here I go, in pain I may add, explaining it to not only her but to others as well what morphea was and how I have had it since I was in sixth-seventh grade. The look on their faces still is engraved in my mind as I showed them my arm which now is even worse than it was when I was that twelve-year-old girl. It's progressed. And hoodies seem to be my best friend as of now because of it. Although I am still quite insecure about it I would not count it as a weakness. I want to provide better resources for people like me and with my education, I hope to provide it.

Mirrors are my kryptonite. The glass portrays a version of myself I do not like. Portrays the person I wish I was not. Every day, the mirror taunts me with images of a person I do not recognize anymore. A person that seven years ago never crossed my teenage self's mind with how my future would turn out. I went from believing that everything happens for a reason to believing nothing ever works out for me. The past always comes back to haunt me, as if life is holding up a mirror and I can not close my eyes. Being forced to look at the reflection and what life has become like, I have gotten pretty used to not feeling so great in my own skin. From scrolling endlessly on social media, comparing my life to others who have achieved what I had planned on achieving. This has hurt the relationships I have held with friends and family as they are not able to understand. Often, I find myself wishing others around me were more vocal about feeling like this. Instead, I find myself isolated and feeling I am alone in the world. My experience with mental health has helped me broaden my horizon regarding how I think of myself and with how others think. It has helped me better understand that I might not be the only one struggling and could not be the only one in need of programs like the one I am inspired to create. As I had no one reaching out to me, I find myself sometimes stuck in the same mentality as my teenage self. But with programs, like the ones I am inspired to build, we can help others not struggle like I was. I once believed that everything was black and white. There was no clear answer and no good thing out there for me. But I was then faced with the reality that that is not the case. That there is more good than bad and that sometimes looking at things with the glass half full was better than looking at things with a glass half empty. Which is how I now perceive things. This means, that others who have had the same mentality could also use a reality check and be taught that being optimistic is not always a bad thing. That they could really turn things around for themselves. Therefore, this is what has inspired me to want to provide better resources to young women like myself who seem to never be comfortable in their skin like I am. I am very motivated to work in providing better programs by studying communications with a special interest in media/journalism. With this, I can help create websites or create a community where young girls and women can feel free to reach out. And have my own resources to help create this community. With this, I can also help myself by improving the relationships I have with myself and with others as well. .

As a student with a Hispanic family background, I have come to terms with just how important education is for myself and for my family entirely. Education has always been an important factor in my life and college has always been my goal. Despite, the lack of opportunities my family has had in the past with their own education, they have always stood tall and have supported my decisions and my ambitions for my career goals. This is why, I view education as a privilege in the world we live in. Ever since I was young, I have loved to read and write. From a young age, I have always been exposed to school and lessons which my parents were not. We lived with different opportunities that overall affected our present now. This is how I realize how important education is and how much it impacts the way we live in this world, especially being part of a Hispanic minority. I plan on majoring in communication, with a direct intention of focusing on media. And although my intentions on studying communications have not always been clear, my family has always been clear that they will always be there to support my choices. My family affected how I viewed the world by always supporting me and giving me a positive support system to try, fail, or grow. The most important factor for them is that I attend college as the first generation in our family to attend college. This leads me to realize how much I realize just how supportive my Hispanic family background truly is. From being there for me in the decision-making to being there for me when I am certain of what I want to study. They have impacted the way I view the world in a more positive way. My family has always been in my mind and soul when planning my future. Having a Hispanic family background, not only has it taught me of the disadvantages that exist in our education system throughout the world but it also has taught me how to persevere and follow my dreams despite any obstacles. Therefore, I have two sets of views within our world, the world of education I live in where I see just how possible it is to receive an education, and the world of education my family grew up in where they had no options for the education they were to receive. I have learned how to persevere despite any obstacles we have hit. .

Simple. I'd advise them that college is much more than classes. There is a huge misconception that college is for those who take learning and education seriously. But there obviously are people who just do not share those ideologies yet still attend college and why would that be? Yet if I were to persuade a peer to attend college if they did not want to, I would mention the way college helps growth and has so many benefits. For instance, college is the biggest and most acceptable place for making mistakes and growing from them. You are learning how to be independent and how to navigate a whole different world than how it used to be. When you become a first year, you are submerged into a world where there are no guidelines on how to act, how to be, and the way you react. So naturally, you are working on building your maturity as you begin to form your own separate life than the one you've been living your whole life. Which becomes the biggest benefit that can come from college. Remembering back to my first semester in college, I remember how freeing the time was. Many like to think of college as stressful and occupying but that is only if you let it. Many students prefer to have earlier classes in order to get on with their own hobbies and lives later in the day. Which is what helps build on time management which is yet another strength that comes with going to college. You begin to learn how to manage assignments, projects, and studying with all of the extra occurring in your life. Not only does this help practice for the real world when you are older and have like a million things going on at once, but it allows you to ease into it as you are getting all the practice you need in college. So, time management is yet another big benefit you'd get from going to college. And there are many more reasons why one should go to college. Obviously, to study for the career you envisioned for yourself must be a huge reason for it. But there are tons of subliminal lessons you get from going to college that truly do help you become the type of person you are. So if going to college is not a want then try to think of other factors that may be improved by attending. College is much more than a college degree but more of a life-lessons wrapped up and presented to you in those 2-4 years. And what could be better?

Sometimes I feel like I'm in a tug-of-war where there is not ever an absolute winner. On one side I am being pulled by the red, white and blue flag I was born in and raised and on the other I am pulled by the blue and white flag that symbolizes the land where my parents were born and grew up in. So naturally, Salvadorian blood runs through my body. Yet I never truly feel completely Salvadorian. But I as well never felt truly American. Or as American as can be with two born and raised Hispanic parents. Often fearing the questions "Where are you from?" or "What's your nationality?" In every ice breaker session held throughout my whole K-12 schooling, I've come to resent the questions all together. Because not only do the questions dumbstruck me but I am often led wondering which country I most identify with. Never truly identifying with either has left me with no identifying mark and no trace of who I am. Because who I am seems to depend on the country I identify with. If I identify as Salvadorian, does that mean I am a Spanish speaker who is not only enforcing the stereotype being casted on Latino communities despite the fact that I've only ever visited El Salvador as a five year old and have no recollection of it whatsoever. And if I identity as American, does that mean that all the values and hardships my parents have gone through to get me and our family to where it is at right now vanishes? Does it mean that I am not proud of my Salvadorean roots? There is a constant battle within me with not knowing which country I feel most at home with. Growing up, I always assumed I was alone. Never fitting in with my friends who found a home in one or the other. Never fitting in with my siblings who do not have the same ideas as me about how I feel I am most represented. Never fitting in with my parents who do not understand what it is like to grow up in a household so different from those of my peers. With no outlet and no support of how I truly feel, this has led me to kind of resent both of my nationalities which is something I wish for no one else to have to go through. As it truly does get in the way at times. While I seek out my psychology degree, I plan to start resources in order to better provide support to any and all Hispanic-children who may feel this way at any point in their lives. I want them to better understand what it is like to not feel so alone, like I have felt growing up. I want them to feel heard and represented in more ways than it has ever been. I plan on helping to better understand the feelings and thoughts that may come with the struggles. And hopefully better understand my own so I can be a better citizen to myself and to those around me. I want to be proud of who I am and if I find myself more at home with either El Salvador or the United States, then I want to as well be understanding to myself and not criticize my own self as I've grown up to do. Because it is time to celebrate my narrative but first I've got to learn to love it.

1. I deserve this scholarship because I am on the run from the financial-bill police and need money to negotiate my freedom. 2. To not end up in the financial-bill jail cell, I hear it's very ugly in there. 3. I overcame my fear of doctors thanks to binge watching Grey's Anatomy.

Christmas was always the time of year I looked most forward to when I was younger. The joy I felt when I opened up my presents was always a feeling I looked forward to whole year long. And while this joy must have been shared with hundredths even thousands of children worldwide in hopes of receiving toys for Christmas, my joy was simply due to the books I would receive. I was always a big reader and still am to this day. From reading The Magic Treehouse to Junie B. Jones to Dork Diaries and The Diary of the Wimpy Kid, I was always fascinated by what I read. A book that stuck to me though was the book Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper. This book opened up my fifth grade self in ways I could never explain fully. I was not always aware of the barrier that many people had within themselves. Like the main character Melody has. Yet she does not let it stop her in showing those around her how strong she truly is which is quite inspiring. Which inspired me ever since to always try to accomplish the hard goals in life which is something I used to avoid. And ever since I was young, I was always wondering why people did things. It is a question that everybody has at any age, that's for sure but for me that question seemed to stick with me throughout my whole childhood and teenage years. And so when the time to apply for college and decide on a major, I figured why not study psychology. I wanted to study psychology and am planning on using my degree on children. I want to work with children and provide a better mental health care system for children of this generation and the next. I always liked children and hope to surround myself with them when I am older. To this day, I am able to say that my career aspiration have come from the books I used to read, the love I had for children and the way I have always hoped to work within the mental health field.

5-7 songs: 1. Somebody - Bridgit Mendler 2. Find Your Way Back Home - Hannah Montana 3. Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield 4. We Are - Big Time Rush 5. I'll Always Remember You - Hannah Montana 6. Old Me - 5 Seconds of Summer 7. Mind is A Prison - Alec Benjamin Name for the playlist: "CAN WE GO BACK IN TIME TO PRE-COLLEGE DAYS?" Own artist name: MISSIN'YSRC

When I was twelve years old, I knew something was off. I would look at my arm and notice a patch. A patch that would be a different color, feel like a different texture, and I was worried. My family was too. Immediately I was taken to see a dermatologist and the words "morphea" escaped from his lips. At the time, I had no idea what it was. Even to this day, I still have no clue what it actually means. I just know I have it. I find myself constantly looking up the definition online and spending hours scrolling through the countless pictures similar looking to my arm. I was in middle school when I began taking experimental treatment as there really is no actual cure for morphea. And I was always feeling indifferent from my peers who had perfectly looking skin. I spent summers wearing long sleeves and hoodies in order to hide what to me was an imperfection. But I think what hurts the most about living with this autoimmune disease is that I do not have the support I'd wish I'd had since I was young. No one in my family truly understands what it is like living with this yet do not hold back on their comments anyway. And it hurts. But at the same time, I've become stronger by it. I've learned to not take everything so badly and actually have used it for my own personal growth. I have started to become more open about it and talk about it to people. I believe it is better to educate instead of shame when asked what it is I have. You see, morphea is an autoimmune skin disease still unknown by many. I mean, I went to the emergency room not so long ago and when the doctor asked for my medical history, I answered with, "Oh, I have anemia...beta-thalassemia" and watched as she typed it into the system before I continued, "And morphea". The look on her face is still something I don't forget. She goes, "What's that?" And here I go, in pain I may add, explaining it to not only her but to others as well what morphea was and how I have had it since I was in sixth-seventh grade. The look on their faces still is engraved in my mind as I showed them my arm to which now is even worse than it was when I was that twelve-year-old girl. It's progressed. And hoodies seem to be my best friends as of now because of it. Although I am still quite insecure about it I would not count it as a weakness. I want to provide better resources for people like me and with my education, I hope to provide it. And while yes, I may hide what I consider to be my "imperfection", I'd like to add that six years ago I would have never bothered opening up about it. Yet here I am six years in the future writing about it. I think it is time to start talking more and I am very proud of myself for being able to reach that milestone in my life as of now.

The pandemic has shifted us. In one way or another, we can all pretty much say we are not the same person we were before we were hit with the COVID-19 pandemic. For me, the pandemic affected the way I think and the way I lived my life. As well as influenced my career envisions and aspirations for myself in a positive way. I plan to work with children, which we can all quite agree have been impacted greatly by the pandemic. Socially, mentally and maybe even physically in certain aspects. I have been influenced by the pandemic by starting to think about the way all of the factors we constantly are living with might affect a children's way of living. They are either sheltered from reality or are slowly developing trauma from seeing many statistics and sick people all around. And while this is all negative ways on how the pandemic has affected others lives, I'd like to think something positive has come from it as I have realized I want to work with children in order to help them through their own trauma. That be either by pursuing a psychology degree or an early childhood educational degree.

What does great leadership mean to me? Well there are many factors that I include in great leadership descriptions. Firstly, I'd like to add that to me great leadership means the responsibility of oneself and of others. That does not mean to do everything by oneself or assign roles for others to do, but it means to be there when others need help and provide reassurance and conformity when they struggle. Secondly, great leadership to me means that we take action whenever and whatever we are needed. An example of where I demonstrated leadership within my high school was when I was in a peer-tutoring group and I was "manager". I was the leader of the group which meant I'd assign roles for tutors to students and would be there in case anyone needed any backup. While this role was meant as internship hours required for graduating, I really did learn a lot about being a leader and how it is simply not a title. You can call yourself a leader and be the most terrible at leading others to achieve success or you can be a leader who takes charge. And I did the latter. I spent my Mondays and Wednesday after school in a tiny English classroom helping others while I maintained my role as "manager" for the duration of the school year before COVID-19 began and enabled us to meet in person. Although even throughout the pandemic, I managed to keep the role and still met virtually with whoever needed any help. I'd like to think this was an impactful way on how I was able to demonstrate my leadership role in school. Another example would be how I manage to show my leadership in family roles. I manage to help out with my niece from time to time making sure they are being well taken care of. By managing their sleep schedule, feeding time and homework, I manage to work on my leadership skill by being responsible for another life and help out overall building trust and a relationship with the family member. If this is not great leadership, then what is? Great leadership has to be with trust and I really worked on it throughout both occasions, in school and in family. I think being a leader is important because it is important to have someone setting the expectations and be there whenever you need help or are struggling. It is important to have someone there as no one can go through something alone and it only gets better when you have a great role model such as a great leader in your reach. This is why I think being a leader is a very important thing to acknowledge.

​​It is no news that society constantly sets setbacks for women even to this day. In fact, it's been proven by countless studies of the different opportunities that women are deprived of due to their gender. You'd think just because we are in a new decade and 2021 is coming to an end, we would have made any progress with how women are treated in society. Yet there are still many setbacks women all over the world are facing due to society's norms. It's time for change to happen though, and it's time for society to take charge of the lives women are living. And help them not only thrive but also excel and survive in the world financially and emotionally. Unfortunately, we live in a society that has its challenges for women. This can be seen especially but not limited to in the education, job, and opportunities department. Yet what society does not realize is the effect they can hold to help women feel empowered. There is a lot a woman can do for the society and if the society were able to provide accurate help and helpful resources, then it would help. There are so many factors that society needs to work on in order to provide better for women. Things like equal pay and opportunities is where one can start with helping and providing ways in order for women to thrive. In order to meet the demands that society can have on empowered women, open the world up with opportunities, jobs, and resources for any setbacks a woman can have. We need to recognize that society fails to take notice of the impact women have on present generations and newer generations. It is time for the realization to hit. Women work. They take care of their families. They really do it all and are hardly recognized by society. They should be paid back with equal opportunities, like I've stated before, as well really help women be able to thrive independently. Women have a high impact on what shapes our society currently and we need to recognize what we can do to help them achieve their impact. Many women are taking over in politics, in STEM, in literature and it is because of the opening up of the mentality that women can really do anything. Which is true. So in order to help the women's change our society and help them feel more empowered we need to create a better environment and this starts with society treating women better financially and professionally.

There's a stigma that comes with mental health. There is no denying it. I had always thought that people who struggled with their mental health were either crazy or just faking it. But of course, when I go into seventh grade and start to have family troubles and start to feel the downside that comes when not being okay mentally, I realized, "Yeah, prioritizing your mental health is true." I was 13-14, when I saw my first therapist. From the moment I was suggested that seeing a therapist once a week was something I'd benefit from, I was scared. I was scared to admit to my feelings and doubts. Scared to talk to another human being about what it was that was affecting me so much. Yet within a few months as I began to talk with the women who would hear me rant and go on about what I was struggling about, I realized "Yeah, this is something that everyone should have access to". In all honesty, I would not be the person I am today if it weren't for those sessions. And I really believe that other people should as well be granted access to the proper resources in order to prioritize their mental health. And now my main career aspirations is to have my master and be able to become a child psychologist. Specifically, children is my main goal sight because I know that there is a lot that can be done in order to improve the decline that currently exists in children's mental health. I want to become a psychologist for children and work with trauma inflicted children. I want to break the current stigma that mental health has on children. When we think of mental health we do not automatically think about children. Yet while we are growing up we are surrounding by thousand of changes surrounding us and sometimes the way we react is not the best way. As well as children sometimes do not have the proper way of knowing how to express their feelings and therefore end up bottling it all up. I did that and even know a few people around me that has done that when we were younger. I'd like to think that my experience with my mental health has influenced my career goal but in all honestly, I always knew the career I wanted to go in had something to do with children. And what better way than proving a safe and nurturing environment to help children. And if you think about it, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the children from this generation are currently facing many challenges and this can lead to them having socializing issues in the future and as well as having trauma from all the precautions that has come with living in a pandemic. So really I am also planning on helping the children currently going through the pandemic with my studies and I really like to think about my inspiration to study for this career was my availability to receive the care I needed.