Two years ago my younger sister began to experience symptoms of schizophrenia and it took over my family's lives. She had been experiencing episodes and sudden changes in emotions leaving the family arguing and screaming, putting our home in disarray. My dad too suffered from untreated schizophrenia for a long time as well as other mental health issues so my family had grown accustomed to dealing with these types of issues stemming from my sister but it was scary to see in someone so young. Living with them and getting to understand their mental illness to the best of my abilities furthered me to do my best to understand their circumstances and how this will be one of the biggest struggles they will ever go through. We all had to be patient and give up our own time to care for my sister and suddenly her issues began to overlap on my own. Though I knew what she was going through was very serious I felt my struggles such as anxieties and fear of failure were being veiled. At home, it became too chaotic of a place to study and do school work so I had to manage my time wisely to get all my work done. While at school, use any free time or break between lessons to do other work. Even in school, there were many times I had to leave mid-class to go comfort my sister down in the nurses' office. I felt I had to be working two times harder in school to catch up. To overcome this obstacle being dealt with at home and seeping into my school life I decided to share what I was dealing with at home with a trusted friend. I had done research and went out and found ways to which I could be helped and found that talking to someone is one of the greatest ways to get help. Talking to someone who reassured me everything would be okay. I felt that this was exactly what I had needed my whole life. This gave me the strength to motivate my sister to get the help she needed by encouraging her to learn from my own experiences. Eventually, she gained the confidence to go talk to a therapist. This experience inspired me to continue helping kids and drove me to go to school and learn early child development so that eventually, I can be there for kids and provide them with the aid they need at a young age before symptoms worsen. My goal now is to continue my academic journey by earning a degree in Clinical psychology at UC San Diego, while also getting a teaching or counseling certificate and eventually embarking on a fulfilling career as an educator/counselor. I believe that every student no matter the situation, has the potential to achieve great things and I am dedicated to providing them with the support and recognition they need to develop their skills and reach their full potential.

With my degree in childhood development and early childhood education I want to help change young kids life and helping the the best way I can as their teacher. To me children are the most important part of our community because they will be the ones to bring change in the future. Focusing on the children and adults of tomorrow will be the way to growth and development in society. As a teacher I will help teach each and everyone of my students the importance of education and community together. Once I get my degree I will focus on finding a job in a elementary where I plan to change live for many children and do more than teach required learnings but also start the ideas of self importance and helping others in the kids minds. By helping this bright young minds and not neglecting any due to schools unfair treatment and equal opportunities to some groups of people, I will work with each individual child and give them the learning they need. One major factor in this job I want to pursue to and help those most important in our community is the fear of school shootings. It is a major topic that as been talked about for too long but not fixed. I plan to promote and advocate and speak out for laws put in place to protect our children in these schools that many tragedies have shown unsafe. With my degree I plan to spread the words of many teachers around the country and share the worries and fears that are very prevalent in educators minds today and will not stop till the issue has been solved. Though the career I want to pursue has many worrying possibilities it will not discourage me from pursuing my goal which is to help the children in our society especially those of low income households and children of color like me who as a child loved school and found it amazingly fun till you faced with the realities of money worries such as not having enough for school events or supplies and micro aggressions made from other classmates or unfit teachers. I will want to change this reality for many students like me by becoming the teacher who reaches out to students and lends that helping hand that is much needed and appreciated. This help given to those who may be scared to ask for it will be the change in society we need and the step forward to a better community.