Everyone’s personal life stories are different, for I was put into the foster care system young and was able to get out more sooner than others. My story consists of my mom being a drug addict and my biological family not having any more room to be able to adopt me. In 2018, so just a few years ago, I was able to reconnect with my older biological siblings and was able to meet almost my whole family. My grandmother, who just passed away recently, was able to tell me how my mom was like when she was young, she also apologized to me for not being able to take me in. Growing up was kind of difficult for me, due to me being different than everyone else. Everyone that I grew up with knew both their parents, were able to know what diseases roamed in their families but I didn’t have any of that. I didn’t have the luxury of knowing where I came from, getting to meet my mom, or not even knowing who my father ever was. With my family I am with now, they taught me how to stand up for myself when situations get tough, and to also push myself to my highest limits because they knew how smart I am. They have also shown me what true love feels like, and have always treated me like their own, and I am their daughter. I also have a little sister who was also adopted but not put into the foster care system. Currently, I am a sophomore at our local community college working for my Sports medicine A.S degree to be an athletic trainer. I fumbled back and forth with my major, as every student does, but I just knew I had a love for helping other people. My future goal in where I want to take this profession is to be an athletic trainer for either an NBA or NFL team, something huge like that. I always knew I had a passion for helping people, I just needed to incorporate a major that included both topics in which I enjoy, which are sports, medicine, and helping others. Before being an athletic trainer for a professional team, I want to come back and help my community with my skills. I want to come back and be an athletic trainer for my old high school so I can make my skills stronger, get used to having a familiar setting, and also return the respect that I was given from my athletic trainers and the whole staff, back when I was in high school. Although I wasn’t in the foster care system for long, it has molded my thinking extremely. I am a whole lot grateful for a lot of things in my life, I always remind myself to work hard because a lot of students aren’t able to have what I have. Most importantly, I am so grateful to have a family who pushes me and loves me more than anything in the whole world.

My name is Yesenia Ramirez, I recently just graduated from Shadow Hills High School (Indio/CA) back in 2020. Last year was a hard year for anyone, and if you were to ask me back in March of 2020, what I would be doing a year from then I wouldn't have a clear answer. My current major and what I think I would be doing for a while because I enjoy it so much is Kinesiology. While picking my major I shifted back and forth from a couple of options but I wanted to choose something that involved medicine and sports, which are the two topics that I enjoy. My plan is to ride this out until I fall out of love or I physically can't anymore. I want to be able to further help athletes with their injuries and their recovery process. My future goal in where I want to take this profession is to be an athletic trainer for either an NBA or NFL team, something huge like that. I always knew I had a passion for helping people, I just needed to incorporate a major that included both topics in which I enjoy, which is clear that is sports, medicine, and helping others. I should be considered for a "Your Success" Youssef Scholarship because before being an athletic trainer for a professional team, I want to come back and help my community with my skills. I want to come back and be an athletic trainer for my old high school so I can make my skills stronger, get used to having a familiar setting, and also return the respect that I was given from my athletic trainers and the whole staff, back when I was in high school. By acquiring this scholarship, it would help me tremendously. It would help me in the long-run for my career as an athletic trainer, which I am very passionate about. I am very determined in helping athletics, whether it is guiding them on how not to get hurt, helping them while they're hurt and what to do to improve their injury, and also being apart of their recovery process so they will be able to jump back to the sport in no time. One of a huge factor that motivates me to succeed to my highest limit is my parents, their patience with me, combined with my endurance in wanting to succeed is what keeps me going from day-to-day.