“ You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself” - Leviticus 19:18 The message of Leviticus 19:18 has been a message that I have carried throughout my entire life. In the world we live in today, the Bible is used as leverage in order to push an opinion or an agenda that is not Christian-adjacent. There are pastors spreading hate, pushing their political agendas, and profiting off of the faith of others, and in no way does this benefit our religion. I use that as motivation. I have made it my life mission to lift others up and use my resources to give back to the community that has made me who I am today. Whether it be through social activism, donating money, or just offering a helping hand, I try my hardest to do my part in fulfilling what God put me here on this earth to do. One specific way I put forward the spread of love and inclusion is through a club I started. My current high school has a huge lack of diversity and representation, with most people coming from a similar background. Viewing what we had in our school, my friends Fernando, Diego, and I proposed to our school that we start its first-ever Latino Student Union. Through this Union, we have been able to make valuable connections with the school as well as members working within the district office as well as connections with fellow students. Our union is majority white, and well I tell that to people they tend to ask me if that bothers me, but it does the exact opposite. Our goal at LSU is to educate people about the different parts of Latino culture through a combination of a quick history and a fun activity involving the culture such as Piñata making, Dia de Los Muertos Sugar Skull Painting, and Puerto Rican Vejigante Mask making. From this, we’ve gained a consistent wave of returning members that have grown to be passionate about Latino culture, some even applying to become next year’s new leaders and purchasing merchandise in order to represent the union. As a leader, I have put in many hard hours of work into making sure meetings run smoothly and stay a safe and welcoming environment for whom ever is interested in joining. The other leaders and I pay out of pocket for all these meetings, we create a slideshow, I designed and set up a website for merchandise, we advertise through instagram, we create flyers, and so much more, and we are incredibly proud of what we’ve created. Although I as well as 2 other leaders are graduating this year, my brother, who is a Junior and is also a leader, is going to carry the torch and continue to expand the Union with more advertisement and a greater amount of leaders. I plan on continuing this work through my career, Multi-Cultural Level marketing. With this career, I will give back to the community that made me who I am as well as other represented communities, just as Jesus would have.

As a Latino student in a majority-white school, I have been asked questions such as “What part of Mexico are you from?” and “When did you learn English?” I am a second-generation American who has spoken English my entire life. Almost two years ago, I moved from Joliet, Illinois to Lakeville, Minnesota. My previous high school has a crazy amount of diversity in terms of cultures and income, making it the perfect place for me to grow and learn about the views and perspectives of other people. My current high school has a huge lack of diversity and representation, with most people coming from a similar background. Viewing the lack of representation we had in our school, my friends Fernando, Diego, and I proposed to our school that we start its first-ever Latino Student Union. They agreed, and to say it has been great is an understatement. Through this Union, we have been able to make valuable connections with the school as well as members working within the district office as well as connections with fellow students. Our union is majority white, and well I tell that to people they tend to ask me if that bothers me, but it does the exact opposite. Our goal at LSU is to educate people about the different parts of Latino culture through a combination of a quick history and a fun activity involving the culture such as Piñata making, Dia de Los Muertos Sugar Skull Painting, and Puerto Rican Vejigante Mask making. From this, we’ve gained a consistent wave of returning members that have grown to be passionate about Latino culture, some even applying to become next year’s new leaders and purchasing merchandise in order to represent the union. As a leader, I have put in many hard hours of work into making sure meetings run smoothly and stay a safe and welcoming environment for whom ever is interested in joining. The other leaders and I pay out of pocket for all these meetings, we create a slideshow, I designed and set up a website for merchandise, we advertise through instagram, we create flyers, and so much more, and we are incredibly proud of what we’ve created. Although I as well as 2 other leaders are graduating this year, my brother, who is a Junior and is also a leader, is going to carry the torch and continue to expand the Union with more advertisement and a greater amount of leaders. We started last year with just 10 members and currently have around 30, which is still unbelievable. I believe my brother will continue to encourage inclusion and educate students on our culture and how beautiful it is.

Music: A 5 letter word that holds so much gravity. When said to someone, many different meanings can rush to them. It could be genres, artists, songs, emotions, memories, or if you’re weird, absolutely nothing. Music means everything to me. I understand that isn’t controversial, and the standard response to that is something along the lines of “Oh but it’s different to me cause (generic thing).” I don’t say that to be different, I say that because I mean it. All pivotal moments in my life so far were enhanced by the music attached to them. Being a Mexican-American raised by my parents and grandparents, I was exposed to a wide variety of music. Whether it was my dad’s love of the fun sound of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, my mom’s infatuation with the smooth sounds of Lauryn Hill, or my grandparent’s fondness of the macho ballads of Vicente Fernandez, I was always singing and dancing along. These artists connect me back to my childhood. The same power can be felt when listening to music that connects me to my Tio Ramon. My Tio Ramon was a truck driver who lived in and out of Texas and Illinois, the latter being where I spent the majority of my upbringing. When living in Illinois, he would stay at my grandparent’s house and would sometimes bring along my cousin Carlos, which caused us to have a very good relationship. When I was 12, I would walk to my grandparents house every morning before school to pick up Carlos. Without fail, Tio Ramon would always be in the kitchen making breakfast and blasting music. He would greet me with a “Hey good morning papi!” Followed by a hug and a kiss on the side of the head. I would sit on the couch, taking in the smell of the food and the different kinds of music he would play. It was different every morning, but one thing always stayed consistent: the music was always outstanding. Eventually, my Tio and Carlos had to migrate down to Texas. Although the mornings of music left, the impact on my taste stayed. Two years later, in May of 2022, my Tio Ramon passed away in his sleep. On the day of his funeral, Carlos and I were remembering him, and on recurring topic of conversation was music. My Tio loved music. Music was even one of the last things we ever talked about! I had shown him this punk band I like called “Dead Kennedy’s”, and I remember him having this look on his face that said “Hmm… this is… interesting?” (70’s/80’s punk is an acquired taste). During the car ride after the funeral, my cousin and I put headphones in and listened to songs he had shown us. The one song that made me think of him the most was Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden. I had discovered that song through my Tio , and the chorus “Black Hole Sun, Won’t you come, and was away the rain.” reminds me of my Tio, as he was a “Black Hole Sun” to many people, always there to “wash away the rain.” It’s coming up on three years since he passed, and every time I hear any of his songs, I am overwhelmed by a feeling of longing and comfort. This experience reminds me of how beautiful music is. It has helped me grow into myself, connect with others, and remember the ones I lost. I don’t know where I’d be right now without it, and I’m glad I never have to find out.

Music: A 5 letter word that holds so much gravity. When said to someone, many different meanings can rush to them. It could be genres, artists, songs, emotions, memories, or if you’re weird, absolutely nothing. Music means everything to me. I understand that isn’t controversial, and the standard response to that is something along the lines of “Oh but it’s different to me cause (generic thing).” I don’t say that to be different, I say that because I mean it. All pivotal moments in my life so far were enhanced by the music attached to them. Being a Mexican-American raised by my parents and grandparents, I was exposed to a wide variety of music. Whether it was my dad’s love of the fun sound of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, my mom’s infatuation with the smooth sounds of Lauryn Hill, or my grandparent’s fondness of the macho ballads of Vicente Fernandez, I was always singing and dancing along. These artists connect me back to my childhood. The same power can be felt when listening to music that connects me to my Tio Ramon. My Tio Ramon was a truck driver who lived in and out of Texas and Illinois, the latter being where I spent the majority of my upbringing. When living in Illinois, he would stay at my grandparent’s house and would sometimes bring along my cousin Carlos, which caused us to have a very good relationship. When I was 12, I would walk to my grandparents house every morning before school to pick up Carlos. Without fail, Tio Ramon would always be in the kitchen making breakfast and blasting music. He would greet me with a “Hey good morning papi!” Followed by a hug and a kiss on the side of the head. I would sit on the couch, taking in the smell of the food and the different kinds of music he would play.It was different every morning, but one thing always stayed consistent: the music was always outstanding. Eventually, my Tio and Carlos had to migrate down to Texas. Although the mornings of music left, the impact on my taste stayed. Two years later, in May of 2022, my Tio Ramon passed away in his sleep. On the day of his funeral, Carlos and I were remembering him, and on recurring topic of conversation was music. My Tio loved music. Music was even one of the last things we ever talked about! I had shown him this punk band I like called “Dead Kennedy’s”, and I remember him having this look on his face that said “Hmm… this is… interesting?” (70’s/80’s punk is an acquired taste). During the car ride after the funeral, my cousin and I put headphones in and listened to songs he had shown us. The one song that made me think of him the most was Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden. I had discovered that song through my Tio , and the chorus “Black Hole Sun, Won’t you come, and was away the rain.” reminds me of my Tio, as he was a “Black Hole Sun” to many people, always there to “wash away the rain.” It’s coming up on three years since he passed, and every time I hear any of his songs, I am overwhelmed by a feeling of longing and comfort. This experience reminds me of how beautiful music is. It has helped me grow into myself, connect with others, and remember the ones I lost. I don’t know where I’d be right now without it, and I’m glad I never have to find out.

A huge smile appeared on my face as I watched Richard Montañez become the head of Multi-Cultural Level Marketing at Frito Lay in the movie “Flaming Hot”. After so much trial and error, he ended at the top. I was the only Latino student in the Spanish class where I watched that movie for the first time, and I felt special. At that moment, I decided I wanted to be just like Richard Montañez and work in Multi-Cultural Level Marketing. While it was outed that 90% of the story told in that movie was fake, the impact it had on me was very real. The struggles he faced as a Mexican-American reminded me of stories from family members and experiences I’ve had myself. I struggled with my Hispanic identity. As a Mexican-American, I am expected to assimilate into American culture, but not too much because then I’m a “no sabo” and “whitewashed”, but at the same time I can’t be too Mexican because then I’m not American enough. When I was in 3rd grade, a presidential candidate who ran on building a wall along the southern border caused major division in my school. Some students whose parents liked that candidate weren’t very fond of their Latino peers. One in particular had a fixation on making this known through me. He would constantly throw racist remarks my way. I knew what to do was to tell my teacher, who was no help and would tell me “I’ll deal with it.” And proceed to do nothing. I felt alone and vulnerable. I eventually went to my parents, who were angered by the situation and helped me understand I wasn’t alone in this and that they understood. We went house and got to know his grandmother, who was horrified at her grandson’s actions and told us of his upbringing and how his views were shaped by his father. I no longer felt hatred, but empathy. I overcame the situation through understanding, forgiveness, and community. This scholarship will help me accomplish what “Flaming Hot” portrayed Richard Montañez as. In the major business world, I feel as if there is almost no Latino representation. I plan to change that and be a voice for the community. I want to further my education to get to a point where I can recreate what Montañez did for me and inspire Latino kids to say “He did it!”

A huge smile appeared on my face as I watched Richard Montañez become the head of Multi-Cultural Level Marketing at Frito Lay in the movie “Flaming Hot”. After so much trial and error, he ended at the top. I was the only Latino student in the Spanish class where I watched that movie for the first time, and I felt special. At that moment, I decided I wanted to be just like Richard Montañez and work in Multi-Cultural Level Marketing. While it was outed that 90% of the story told in that movie was fake, the impact it had on me was very real. The struggles he faced as a Mexican-American reminded me of stories from family members and experiences I’ve had myself. I struggled with my Hispanic identity. As a Mexican-American, I am expected to assimilate into American culture, but not too much because then I’m a “no sabo” and “whitewashed”, but at the same time I can’t be too Mexican because then I’m not American enough. When I was in 3rd grade, a presidential candidate who ran on building a wall along the southern border caused major division in my school. Some students whose parents liked that candidate weren’t very fond of their Latino peers. One in particular had a fixation on making this known through me. He would constantly throw racist remarks my way. I knew what to do was to tell my teacher, who was no help and would tell me “I’ll deal with it.” And proceed to do nothing. I felt alone and vulnerable. I eventually went to my parents, who were angered by the situation and helped me understand I wasn’t alone in this and that they understood. We went house and got to know his grandmother, who was horrified at her grandson’s actions and told us of his upbringing and how his views were shaped by his father. I no longer felt hatred, but empathy. I overcame the situation through understanding, forgiveness, and community. This scholarship will help me accomplish what “Flaming Hot” portrayed Richard Montañez as. In the major business world, I feel as if there is almost no Latino representation. I plan to change that and be a voice for the community. I want to further my education to get to a point where I can recreate what Montañez did for me and inspire Latino kids to say “He did it!”

I live in an ignorant community. I say this with no hatred or ill will, as it is more of an innocent ignorance. As a Latino student in a majority-white school, I have been asked questions such as “What part of Mexico are you from?” and “When did you learn English?” I am a second-generation American who has spoken English my entire life. Viewing the lack of representation we had in our school, my friends Fernando, Diego, and I proposed to our school that we start the first-ever Latino Student Union. They agreed, and to say it has been great is an understatement. Through this Union, we have been able to make valuable connections with the school as well as members working within the district office as well as connections with fellow students. Our union is majority white, and well I tell that to people they tend to ask me if that bothers me, but it does the exact opposite. Our goal at LSU is to educate people about Latino Culture through a combination of a quick description and a fun activity involving the culture such as Piñata making, Dia de Los Muetros Sugar Skull Painting, and Ecuadorian Tagua bracelet making. This has caused our members to become more involved with and passionate about Latino Culture with some purchasing our merchandise as well as applying to become leaders for next year. Although I as well as 2 other leaders are graduating this year, my brother, who is a Junior and is also a leader, is going to carry the torch and continue to expand the Union with more advertisement and a greater amount of leaders. We started last year with just 10 members and currently have around 30. I believe my brother will continue to encourage inclusion and educate students on our culture and how beautiful it is.

A huge smile appeared on my face as I watched Richard Montañez become the head of Multi Cultural Level Marketing at Frito Lay in the movie “Flaming Hot”. He finally did it! After a so much trial and error, denial, and heartbreak, he ended at the top. In a sea of white, I was the only Latino kid in my Spanish class where I watched that movie for the first time, and I felt special. In that moment, I decided that’s what I want to do. I want to be just like Richard Montañez and work in Multi Cultural Level Marketing. While it was outed that 90% of the story told in that movie was fake, the impact it had on me was very real. The struggles he faced as a Mexican-American hit very close to home, reminding me of stories I hear from family members and experiences I’ve had myself. I have had the amazing privilege of growing up around areas where I don’t have to face the extreme amount of systematic racism my family had to endure, but that still doesn’t exclude all forms of racism. When I was younger I very much struggled with my Hispanic identity. As a Mexican-American, I am expected to assimilate to American culture, but not assimilate too much because then I’ll be labeled a “no sabo” and “white washed”, but at the same time I can’t be too Mexican because then I’m not assimilated enough into American culture to be counted as a true American. Around that same time, a presidential candidate was on the rise, and one of their main selling points was building a wall along the southern border. I was in 3rd grade at the time, and none of us understood how complicated something like that was, all I had known is that the kids in my grade who’s parents liked that candidate weren’t so fond of their Latino peers. One kid in particular had a fixation on making this known, and used me as his main example. He would call me names and constantly throw racist remarks my way. All I knew to do was to tell my teacher, and she never did anything about it, she would just tell me “I’ll deal with it.” I felt so alone and vulnerable. At the same time I was dealing with a cultural identity crisis, I was being racially bullied. It forced me to want to further myself from my Hispanic identity. I eventually went to my parents, who were angered by the situation. They helped me understand I wasn’t alone in this, and that them and the rest of our family all knew what it was like and could be my support. They then helped me speak to his family. We went to his house and got to know his grandmother, who was horrified at what her grandson had been doing. It was then I learned of his upbringing, and how his views were shaped by his father. I no longer felt hatred toward him, but empathy. I overcame the situation through understanding, through forgiveness, and through community, and I came to love my culture. This scholarship will help me accomplish what “Flaming Hot” portrayed Richard Montañez as. In the major business world, I feel as if there is almost no Latino representation, and I plan to change that and be a voice for the community. I want to further my education in order to get to a point where I can recreate what Montañez did for me and inspire Latino kids to say “He did it!”

No matter how old you get, creativity will never die. That is a firm belief of mine that has been prevalent throughout my so far 17 years of life. I have always been the artistic type; Building worlds with my action figures, drawing people that have never existed, throwing together outfits and naming them heroes, etc. Out of all of the ways I have expressed myself creatively however, writing has always been my favorite. This is due to writing helping me when I feel trapped. When I was younger, I used to write stories of super heroes battling the common cold or ridiculous amounts of math homework. Everyday I would get up and staple a few pages of construction paper together and get to writing. Booger Man and Napkin boy were always on the case. Astro Man and Stretch were chasing the baddies down. When I was done, I would run to my mom and show her of all the adventures my guys went on and how awesome it was. Now, I write about identity. I am currently writing a movie about a group of Hispanic kids growing up in an all white town. They struggle with whether or not to embrace their culture or throw it all away to fit in, either way, they won’t be happy. This is a struggle I have faced all my life. As a Mexican-American, you are expected to be “Americanized”, but not too Americanized because then you’re white washed, but then you can’t be too Mexican, because you have to assimilate. You can make the argument that a lot of kids like me never feel adequate within either culture. Writing has helped me cope with that, helping me get my ideas of what it is to be a Mexican-American out into physical form. This has also furthered my relationships with my friends, as they feel the same way and want to be apart of my movie. Writing is a tool that I will never hang up and forget about, it’s going to be with me for the rest of my life. In college, I want to continue writing the same way I am now. I want to bring people together, I want to get my ideas of culture and identity out there and help other people like me. I want to be a voice that speaks to and for people who so badly want to belong, but are unable to know how. I am still only at the beginning of my journey as a writer. As a college student, I will have new experiences that will push me to further and deepen my ability to tell stories.