For a long time, I didn’t notice the difference between my family and other families. Something so simple changed the trajectory of my life, and how I view life today. I only started noticing once I went into middle school, when I realized kids my age had the privilege to go on trips and ask their parents for money like if money wasn’t something so important and precious, like how it was to me without realizing it. I am a first generation American, both my parents being immigrants from Mexico. They grew up in more devastating circumstances than I ever did, and for that, I give them their flowers. Being aware of this made me be grateful of the hard work my parents gave into making ends meet and still do. However, this also makes me want to work harder for what I want, it’s hard to not be able to ask for simple things, knowing that whatever they would spend on me could’ve gone to paying the rent, paying for gas, or even buying groceries. I started working at sixteen, getting in thirty hours a week to help out my family and give back what was given to me, even if it wasn’t much. I was also balancing out school and extra lessons for my drivers education program. On top of that, my mental health was at its lowest. Little to no sleep was causing my grades to drop and being extremely tired without being able to cope due to my conflicting schedule. Thankfully, I overcame that stage of my life. But that time of my life underlined to me the life my parents have been living for years. This is why I’m applying for the Douglass M. Hamilton Memorial Scholarship. I would use this scholarship to go towards my education and become a Physician Assistant through Portland State University and the Oregon Health and Science University. I simply do not want to make my transition of pursuing education after high school a burden on my family. After college, I want to help my parents. Not only financially, but to experience life without having financial worries. I want to take them to their motherland to see their beautiful Acapulco one more time. I want to take my dad to Japan someday since that’s his dream place to visit. I want to take my mom to see her family in Atlanta, Georgia that she hasn’t seen in years after they went separate ways immigrating to the United States. I want my parents to live in the suburbs, and retire once they’re older. My whole life, money has always been a thought in the back of my head. And by pursuing a career, I want to make this an experience that I can look back on and think it was worth it. As my dad has always said ‘If you pray for flowers, don’t wonder why it rains’.