My mother, Rudionna Garza, has taught me the importance of education and cultural identity. She has always made sure that I stayed on track in school and learned about my heritage. She divorced my father when I was about two, and has shared joint custody with him since then. Recently, however, I decided to live full time with my mom because during COVID my dad began to drink too much while “working from home” and lost his job. I learned that sometimes I have to look out for myself. I am proud of my mom for being the first in her family to graduate from high school and college. That has set a standard for me to live up to. She lost her mother to AIDS when she was a senior in high school, and her father was usually in jail. Both used drugs. She and her siblings were placed with other family members or in foster care. Despite all this, my mom found other mentors and worked hard to give me better life. She still carries scars from childhood and sometimes has difficulty managing her moods. I know these problems are not my fault, but I try to comfort her when she is sad or anxious. When it came time to pick a high school, I wanted to continue in public school with my friends, but she knew our local school wasn’t so good at preparing students for college. We applied to Regis Jesuit High School, and they accepted me. Thanks to a generous need-based scholarship, I was able to go. I feel well prepared for college study. My mom also encouraged me to be a high school mentor in the “Journey Through Our Heritage Program” sponsored by the Chicano Studies Program at Metro State University. It included interactive, engaging activities for the children to teach them about their own culture and history. The public school system does not teach Latino history and heritage in-depth. Children greatly benefit from having a culture to identify with. These days many children just stay in the box they are put in and do not think to look further. When children learn about the culture of their own people, and the history of where they live, it creates a newfound sense of pride. Despite the fact that she is a college graduate, she is not great at managing money. This prompted my interest in a business career. My mom said I had to go to a campus-based summer program between my junior and senior year in high school. I chose the CU Boulder Leeds School of Business KeyBank Program for under-represented students. I learned a lot about working with a group towards a common goal. Then mom said I had to take the Personal Finance elective class at Regis. I have already learned some things I can share with her and my extended family. They're not too good at managing money either. She has raised me to value helping others. I hope to bring principled leadership to my career in business. I am glad to see ethics and sustainability courses among those listed for business majors at Colorado State University.. They will help me become a leader who does not lose track of the common good. In short, I appreciate all my single-parent mom has done for me, and I plan to take it to the next step.

My mother, Rudionna Garza, has taught me the importance of education and cultural identity. She has always made sure that I stayed on track in school and learned about my heritage. She divorced my father when I was about two, and has shared joint custody with him since then. Recently, however, I decided to live full time with my mom because during COVID my dad began to drink too much while “working from home” and lost his job. I am proud of my mom for being the first in her family to graduate from high school and college. That has set a standard for me to live up to. She lost her mother to AIDS when she was a senior in high school, and her father was usually in jail. Both used drugs. Despite all this, my mom found other mentors and worked hard to give me better life. I am grateful. When it came time to pick a high school, I wanted to continue in public school with my friends, but she knew our local school wasn’t so good at preparing students for college. We applied to Regis Jesuit High School, and they accepted me. Thanks to a generous need-based scholarship, I was able to go. I feel well prepared for college study. My mom also encouraged me to be a high school mentor in the “Journey Through Our Heritage Program” sponsored by the Chicano Studies Program at Metro State University. It included interactive, engaging activities for the children to teach them about their own culture and history. The public school system does not teach Latino history and heritage in-depth. Children greatly benefit from having a culture to identify with. These days many children just stay in the box they are put in and do not think to look further. When children learn about the culture of their own people, and the history of where they live, it creates a newfound sense of pride. My mom has researched her family’s history in New Mexico and discovered that our heritage is both Hispanic and Indigenous. I am proud of both backgrounds. In the future I will continue to support programs that teach cultural history and instill a sense of pride in children. Despite the fact that she is a college graduate, she is not great at managing money. This prompted my interest in a business career. My mom said I had to go to a campus-based summer program between my junior and senior year in high school. I chose the CU Boulder Leeds School of Business KeyBank Program for under-represented students. I learned a lot about working with a group towards a common goal. Then mom said I had to take the Personal Finance elective class at Regis. I have already learned some things I can share with her and my extended family. They're not too good at managing money either. She has raised me to value helping others. I hope to bring principled leadership to my career in business. I am glad to see ethics and sustainability courses among those listed for business majors. They will help me become a leader who does not lose track of the common good. I notice that in business, ethics is not always the focus, and I hope to contribute to a shift in that. In short, I appreciate all my single-parent mom has done for me.

Throughout my high school years at Regis Jesuit, I have volunteered a lot, and not just because it was required. I worked at food banks, Habitat for Humanity, St Elizabeth's School, and Journey Through Our Heritage that teaches Hispanic children their history and culture. I also volunteered in support of my church. I learned a lot about myself and others doing this work. For one thing, although my family has its problems, many others are even more desperate. I think we can do better as a society in meeting their needs. My long-term goal is to be immersed in a business career I enjoy, and to be the person in my family to break a cycle of generational poverty by becoming financially secure, stable, and literate. Introductory coursework will help me determine my focus. Being bilingual, I have found the international business major to be appealing. Additionally, I am interested psychology as it relates to marketing. My motivation for these goals originates from my upbringing. In a family with limited income, often there is poor money management, and honestly not much money to manage. My family works hard for their money, doing manual labor or getting a second job to pay the bills. I have seen what it means and takes to give it your all, and for it to still not be enough. Last summer I had the opportunity to attend the week-long CU Boulder Leeds School of Business KeyBank Program for under-represented students. I leaned a lot about working in a group towards a common goal. My group met with the CEO of a consulting firm and recommended ways for him to grow his business and customer base. This year I joined the Future Business Leaders of America club, and our school has qualified for the state finals. Again, I am working with other students to develop and present a business plan to manufacture bamboo utensils. It is fun and educational. I plan on attending Colorado State University, because I thought it did a great job empowering students with barriers like me to be their best. I wanted to participate in the diversity and inclusion programs on campus. Now, since CSU has gotten the "Dear Colleague" letter from the federal government, those programs may be shut down. it sounds like the university risks losing more than 400 million federal dollars if they have any DEI programs or benefits. We will see how this plays out, but it's hard to believe they'd give up that kind of money for the sake of under-represented students. In this political climate, it is really important for me to reach my goals and help others reach theirs. I want to model what financial stability looks like for my family. I want to teach them what I learned about managing money. I already know more than they do just by taking a Personal Finance class in high school. I also hope to bring principled leadership to my career in business. I am glad to see ethics and sustainability courses among those listed for business majors at CSU. They will help me become a leader who does not lose track of the common good. I notice that in business, ethics is not always the focus, and I hope to contribute to a shift in that.

My long-term goal is to be immersed in a business career I enjoy, and to be the person in my family to break a cycle of generational poverty by becoming financially secure, stable, and literate. Introductory coursework will help me determine my focus. Being bilingual, I have found the international business major to be appealing. Additionally, I am interested psychology as it relates to marketing. My motivation for these goals originates from my upbringing. In a family with limited income, often there is poor money management, and honestly not much money to manage. My family works hard for their money, doing manual labor or getting a second job to pay the bills. I have seen what it means and takes to give it your all, and for it to still not be enough. Last summer I had the opportunity to attend the week-long CU Boulder Leeds School of Business KeyBank Program for under-represented students. I leaned a lot about working in a group towards a common goal. My group met with the CEO of a consulting firm and recommended ways for him to grow his business and customer base. This year I joined the Future Business Leaders of America club, and our school has qualified for the state finals. Again, I am working with a group to develop a business plan to manufacture bamboo utensils. It is fun and educational. I plan on attending Colorado State University, because I thought it a great job empowering students with barriers like me to be their best. I wanted to participate in the diversity and inclusion programs on campus. Now, since CSU has gotten the "Dear Colleague" letter from the federal government, those programs may be shut down. it sounds like the university risks losing more than 400 million federal dollars if they have any DEI programs or benefits. We will see how this plays out, but it's hard to believe they'd give up that kind of money for the sake of under-represented students. In this political climate, it is really important for me to reach my goals. I want to model what financial stability looks like for my family. I want to teach them what I learn about managing money. I am already learning more than they know by taking a Personal Finance class in high school. I also hope to bring principled leadership to my career in business. I am glad to see ethics and sustainability courses among those listed for business majors at CSU. They will help me become a leader who does not lose track of the common good. I notice that in business, ethics is not always the focus, and I hope to contribute to a shift in that.

I identify as Genizaro, people in the Southwestern United States who have mixed Hispanic and Indigenous blood. Many “Hispanics” don’t know they too have mixed heritage. I know due to a DNA test. Because of the atrocities committed against Native people during colonization, they have struggled to maintain their culture. I volunteer to help them do it. Both Hispanic and Native students are under-represented higher education. They are more likely to drop out of high school and abuse alcohol and other drugs. I believe that understanding history and taking pride in one’s heritage and culture can address this social issue. I have volunteered many hours over years with the Indigenous People’s Community Church. For instance, I joined tribal members in petitioning the Boulder County Parks and Open Space to find suitable land for our ceremonies. We signed a Memorandum of Understanding for five years with the promise that we will have the land they granted in perpetuity. The site was an abandoned tree nursery. On two occasions, we worked with Boulder County employees, volunteers, and members of our community to clean up the space. We believe that exchange of money is not necessary. There is only the exchange of service. If we need something from the community, we give back through labor. Now we have a local site to exercise cultural, linguistic, and religious revitalization and expression of who we are as Genizaro people. My involvement through this process has taught me how systems work and how to navigate them successfully. Additionally, I have learned the importance of collective community engagement. Without help from others, it is more difficult to reach goals. It feels good to have a safe space for our community to gather. I will continue to learn, practice, and hopefully one day lead ceremonies. We practice our lodges both locally and on ancestral New Mexican land. Sadly, a wild fire burned through our New Mexican ceremonial land in 2022. When I arrived at our annual gathering that summer, almost all the trees in the area were charred or turned to ash. The fence around the property was completely destroyed. Our elder’s art, music, and relics disappeared in a flash. At the end of the day, I realized that what remained was our bond with each other, our community. That year more people than I ever remember seeing showed up to rebuild. After an opening ceremony offering prayers and stating our intentions, we divided up the projects and got to work. We scraped the grounds to rebuild, replaced the mechanism on the well, and installed new infrastructure to reconnect the electricity. My crew rebuilt fencing around the property. We hammered metal posts into the hard-packed ground and stretched fencing between them. The work was difficult, but I was spending time with my people. The air was filled with laughter and joy. Working to address a social issue is important to me. I seek to deepen relationships, to better understand others and discover how I can support them. I gained perspective from this loss. No matter how much may “burn” in my life, I know that I can go back to my community and find people who are authentic and willing to help. Likewise, I am there for them when they need support.

Grit runs in my family, and I’ve got it. Some of my relatives have a history of making bad decisions. I will not fall victim to their way of life which includes drug abuse, incarceration, and failure to support their families. On the other hand, there are those with grit who work hard for a better life. My mother is one of them - a first-generation college graduate who has set a standard for me to live up to. My mother lost her mother to AIDS when she was a senior in high school, and her father was usually in jail. He is still incarcerated. Both her parents used drugs. Despite this, she found other mentors and worked hard. So have I. She focused on her own goals and provided a stable life for me. I am grateful. My parents have had equal joint custody of me since I was two years old. I changed houses every other week, and I never had an issue with it. Recently, I had to make a hard decision. Before COVID, my father had a stable job. While working from home during the pandemic, he began to drink to excess without caring about the consequences. As a result, everything went downhill. He lost his job and was often gone. Sometimes he would go out “to buy groceries for dinner” and not come back until after I was in bed. I felt very sad and alone when I was with him. These problems also affected my life at school. It was hard to concentrate when I had this to worry about. I decided to go live full-time with my mom. This does not make my father a bad person. I love my father, and he loves me. I was able to set a healthy boundary for myself and stay on track in school. My long-term goal is to be immersed in a business career I enjoy, and to be the person in my family to break a cycle of generational poverty by becoming financially secure, stable, and literate. My interest in a business major originates from my upbringing. My family has limited income and poor money management. They work hard for their money, doing manual labor or second jobs to pay the bills. I have seen what it means and takes to give it your all, and for it to still not be enough. They fall into debt easily. I hope to model what good money management looks like for my family. I have already learned a lot in my Personal Finance class. I also hope to bring principled leadership to my career in business. I am glad to see ethics and sustainability courses among those listed for business majors at CSU. They will help me become a leader who does not lose track of the common good. I notice that in business, ethics is not always the focus, and I hope to contribute to a shift in that. Observing family problems has changed my perspective on life. Getting through my own challenges has taught me the importance of grit, hard work, and taking care of myself. Thanks to a generous scholarship from Regis Jesuit High School, I feel well prepared for college academically. Thanks to handling challenges, I am also mature. Sol Armstrong GPA 3.63 Regis Jesuit High School