There have been multiple challenges that I had to face as an immigrant. Not only did I struggle with a lot of things outside of school, but in school it wasn’t any better. Opportunities have been presented in my life that would have been useful if I had only been born in America. I remember a program presented at my school that grabbed my interest. It was a program that helped one go through college processes with one on one help, helped one know which colleges to choose from, and even had special college trips. It all sounded way too good to be true, especially for someone like me who only began to start to understand the concept of college in their senior year. Well as it turned out, it was too good to be true. One of the requirements was to be a U.S. citizen. Hearing that made my heart drop, especially after listening so attentively to it. Something so good was right in front of me, yet a huge barrier given to me at birth that was near impossible to change was stopping me. Although it sucked, I knew it was something I couldn’t mourn about. After all, it wasn’t the first time my status affected me like this. The process of becoming an illegal immigrant to a legal immigrant is something I kept in the back of my head for as long as I can remember. It’s a long process to become legalized, so I had to find ways to overcome my challenges. Most of them, I really can’t do much about. For example, when I was applying for colleges, the first thing off my list was ivy league schools. While it would have been good to apply and get accepted into them, I couldn’t risk traveling and being deported. Travel inability limits the number of schools I can go to. Talking about schools, due to my mother’s fear of deportation, she took me to an extremely small school (consisting of a total of 100 kids all from 6th to 12th grade). This had a major impact on my education, as there were a lot fewer classes, no sports, and fewer opportunities, hence why I didn’t know anything about school when I transferred in my junior year. In addition, not being able to work affects my ability to support my mom financially with my school payments. How someone would face these challenges differs from person to person. I wait it out and have been doing so for the duration of my life. This is because I am on track to become legal. But for the other barriers that don’t allow simply waiting, I try to find similar opportunities or strive through them, not giving up. It has been hard, but there have been people to help me. I dream of becoming an orthodontist. I have always been insecure about my teeth. I want to help fix people’s smiles. Not only that but being a type of doctor is seen as a huge thing in my family. My family line doesn’t contain a single well-paying/difficult-to-get-in job. I know it will make my mother very proud to see how I ended up. Although my status may be something that affects me negatively, I know if I use it correctly it can benefit me, inspire many people like me and show that struggle is temporary only if you never give up. That is the main reason I continue in post-secondary education, and I won’t stop pursuing that goal until I am holding a medical degree in my hands.

As someone who came from a low income household, it’s difficult to say with a smile that life has been easy. I will say though that I am lucky to have a household. After all, not everyone has somewhere to call home. For the majority of my life, I lived with my mom, an immigrant as well as a single mother of 4. She faced a lot of challenges throughout her life. She crossed two borders to try to give me and my older brother a better chance at life. Yet, right before crossing the U.S. border, I was born. At a young age, I didn’t understand why my brothers and I had to share clothes. I didn’t understand why we had to use the same shirt for three days in a row. I didn’t question it as I thought it was a very normal thing to do. It was until one day in around 5th grade, a kid asked me if I was using the same shirt as yesterday. Without thinking much of it, I said it was. Little did I know, agreeing to that would cause people to view me differently. They thought I was nasty and that I smelled bad. I got insecure about what I was using. I remember complaining to my mother why we didn’t get new clothes. What I didn’t understand was that she was working 8 hours a day to barely afford giving us a place to live and food to eat. What made my situation worse was that my father never did anything that greatly contributed to our family. He never took my brothers and I to the doctor, never bought us things out of love, and never took the time out of his day to understand us. He doesn’t even pay child support. I still love him, as I don’t think hating someone is the way to go. Just like trying to stop fire with fire, hatred doesn’t resolve things. Though, it did hurt as a kid seeing him take better care of his wife’s kids; kids who weren’t even his. As much as this can hurt someone, I never let it get into me. Being from a low income household has shaped me to become grateful for whatever is given to me. Whether it be money, clothing, education, or even love, I adore it with all my heart. I know how it is to not have something. I’m in the U.S. as an undocumented child. It’s difficult for me to find a job, learn how to drive, or to even have dreams of traveling. But I will continue fighting for a better chance at life, as that’s something my mom would do. My goals for the future include helping those in similar circumstances as I am. But first, I have to get out of my tough situation. I’ll go to college to pursue a good career. One that will hopefully give me a lot of power to aid those who need it. From there, I will repay my mother for everything she went through. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be here. I hope to someday create a resource center where immigrants like to have a place to feel welcomed. A place where they don’t have to worry about being defined solely based on their status. My goal is to become someone people can look up to and know they’re not alone.

Living with mental health challenges has been a part of my life for a very long time. As a child, I always felt anxious and overwhelmed in social situations to the point where I learned that not speaking was for the better. But in reality, what I thought was for the better was actually for the worse, as it only added to my already low self-esteem as a teenager. Over the years, I've learned to manage my mental health in various ways which I am very proud of. Firstly, mental health is important because it affects our overall well-being. When experiencing mental health problems, we feel anxious, overwhelmed, and depressed. These feelings can significantly impact our ability to take care of ourselves as well as form and maintain relationships. Neglecting our mental health negatively affects us, even if we think rejecting it is the only way to go. It can lead to an inability to complete simple tasks, low confidence, and depression. On the worst occasions, it can lead to self-harm, substance abuse, and even suicide. One of the most important things I've learned about mental health is that it's okay to not be okay. For years, I felt like I had to hide my struggles and pretend like everything was fine, even when it wasn't. This only harmed me. It was like relying on a rubber band to hold weight. You can keep adding weight to it, but eventually, the rubber band will snap. Yet, mental health is something that can’t be dealt with alone. Everyone struggles with it, and sometimes even a little help is enough. Two rubber bands will hold a lot more weight than just one. When it comes to managing my mental health, there are a few things that have been helpful for me. One is exercise. I started going to the gym at the age of fifteen. It helped me realize that I am worth something and that the amount of effort I put in will give me a satisfying outcome. Not only did exercise improve my mental health, it also helped me gain confidence and bettered my discipline. Another thing that's helped me is self-care. This can mean different things for different people, but for me, it means taking time to do things that make me feel good, like working on improving my Spanish, taking walks, or doing chores. When I'm feeling stressed or overwhelmed, I try to prioritize self-care and permit myself to take a break. It's not always easy to do, especially when there are a million other things I feel like I should be doing, but I've learned that taking care of myself is probably one of the best ways of improving my mental health. Finally, I've found that it's helpful to connect with others who understand what I'm going through. Whether it's through a support group, an online forum, or just talking with friends and family, having a sense of community can make a big difference. Knowing that I'm not alone in my struggles has been incredibly comforting. It made me realize that I’m not the only one going through terrible things. Not only that, communities like these helped me grow as a person and even gave me a chance to help other people who are struggling with things I struggled with. In conclusion, mental health is an essential part of overall well-being. Living with mental health challenges can be difficult, but by acknowledging our struggles, seeking help when needed, and taking care of ourselves, we can improve the way we choose to live.