From the first warm caress to the belly-aching laughs, shared heart to hearts, and shaking moments, my mom has been the ever-present force in my life, always by my side. Until returning home from college, I never fully understood the extent to which my mother's various chronic illnesses affected her. Growing up, she always smiled through her pain and remained present, never allowing it to hinder her from being actively involved in her children's lives. When returning home, after four months apart, I saw for the first time the anguish she endured that progressed to severe arm, spinal pain, and herniated disks. On countless nights, my mother arose from her sleep in overwhelming pain and tears as I tried to comfort and massage her. Seeing my mother in this constant pain disheartens me and often brings me to tears. Although her ailments take a mental and physical toll, she is determined to get relief and become the healthiest version of herself. One such way is by reciting Emile Coue's quote, "Every day in every way I am getting better and better." After delving into the Furniture Flipping Teacher's YouTube Channel's videos, she was convinced that with her eye for design, furniture flipping would be the best subsequent pursuit on her complex and lifelong journey. Her determination and invaluable motherly love encouraged me to show up for her as my first best friend, helping her pursue her entrepreneurial furniture refinishing and refurbishing dreams, creating a positive outlet for her pain. I proceeded to help her research, create a business plan, and track inventory and furniture renovations. With all of the initial excitement, we quickly faced the unexpected reality that furniture flipping is a tedious and laborious task requiring lots of cleaning and prep work and that there's a learning curve for every new technique and product. Additionally, the consistent pain in her left dominant arm hinders her from working continuously. Whenever the pain becomes unbearable, she guides me through technical processes, and I become an extension of her arms, helping her stay motivated. We finished our first furniture piece, a long wicker dresser, in January 2022 and were excited to sell our creation on Facebook Market. After I wrote the sales description and edited the photos, we posted our product and waited for interested buyers. Unfortunately, no serious buyers contacted us, and we sadly took our post down. My mother and I thoroughly analyzed our mistakes, conducted market research, and learned more about other furniture flippers' experiences and tips to overcome these beginner challenges. As we continued to educate ourselves, we realized that wicker dressers are not as popular in the current furniture flipping market. Solid wood pieces were the most popular and high-selling pieces. Now, I am eager to say that my mother and I are on the cusp of finishing three wooden furniture pieces to sell. My mother sacrificed her time participating in all of my school events instead of fully cultivating her interior designer dreams, so helping her finally realize these dreams was truly a humbling experience. It made me reflect on the values of empathy and compassion instilled in me as a child and recognize that while it is important to support others, it is also important to promote your personal journey and aspirations. Reflecting on my personal journey of allyship, supporting the woman who gave me life strengthens my desire to continue to help people. Through my contributions to "Casanova's Refurnishings", I have found that being an ally to others always leads to a more fulfilling life.

Growing up as an Afro-Latina, my community has always been diverse. As my parents brought our home to life with Puerto Rican and African roots, they encouraged me to appreciate the different lived experiences of others. Gathered around the table each year at Thanksgiving, I fondly remember looking down at my plate and seeing the varieties of cuisine present from the pasteles and Arroz con gandules, traditional Puerto Rican food, delectable dishes of the South: collard greens, yams, and other fixings. Food is such an important aspect of understanding culture, history, and traditions. Experiencing this fusion of culture cooking with my mother and father enabled me to gain a cultural appreciation and understanding of culturally significant practices passed down by my ancestors. Now, I find comfort immersed in environments with people with contrasting ideas worldwide, challenging my boundaries of understanding. Undoubtedly, my desire for a well-rounded perspective led me to have a friendship opening my eyes to the immigration system's injustices. A friend of mine is under the DACA program, and the restrictive immigration policies of the previous administration threatened to upend his life. Before the Supreme Court overturned the movement to rescind the DACA program in 2017, the threat of deportation loomed over recipients and possible repercussions for their families. His immigration status led him to face this predicament, at risk of returning to his home country. For many months, he never alluded to his situation, radiating positive energy, and when he shared, I admired his resilience while facing difficult circumstances. In addition, his college plans were postponed; he had to work to have finances to continue his education due to limited scholarship access because of his immigration status. After working diligently, my friend accessed higher education and enrolled in a university that accepted DACA students. While he continues to be a DACA recipient, I am hopeful he will continue navigating the roadblocks he encounters and gain access to citizenship. His friendship, leading to dialogue about his lived experiences as an immigrant and DACA recipient, called me to action, inspiring me to fight as an immigration lawyer for people experiencing a similar plight, majoring in Political Science, International Relations, and Spanish minor at Howard University. Being an immigration lawyer will give me the potential to improve America's immigration system. Ending family separations will ensure human dignity is retained and the cease of trauma endured experiences. It will provide me with the opportunity to advocate for the closure of detainment centers, replaced with Immigrant Community Centers redistributing often-obscure resources that can help lead immigrants on a path to citizenship. I hope to give immigrants a voice, providing a degree of empathy for those navigating the process. Although many experience hardships in their home countries, forcing them to leave, rhetoric that demonizes their experiences is dangerous to all immigrants. An immigrant's plight should not be burdened alone. I intend to use my role to uplift immigrants like my friend, fighting for inclusivity and the cultivation of diversity throughout the United States.

My experience as a drum major is one of the most impactful life experiences I have had. During this time, I had the privilege of conducting with eight other drum majors, each of us playing a vital role in leading the band and setting the standard. When comparing my first year to my last year as a drum major, the transformation is undeniable. Some of the personal, leadership, and musical development achievements include improving my conducting, learning servant leadership, problem-solving, and developing the communication skills necessary to resolve conflict, build consensus and confidence, all while finding my own voice. When friction arose amongst the drum majors, I used my communication and leadership skills to refocus the group, reminding them of the larger, essential vision: to forge a bond, lead the marching band to success, and uphold our legacy. By proactively addressing the minor issues and redirecting our focus, I brought our drum major group together, resulting in the broader success of the marching band. Being placed in these sometimes uncomfortable situations required me to step out of my comfort zone and apply the skills I developed over time to triumph over adversity. The marching band provided me a comfortable and diverse space to call home. It immersed me in an environment with people challenging the boundaries of my understanding and broadening my perspective, enabling me to gain insight from my peers, create connections with my bandmates, and collaborate in student leadership, developing invaluable and transferable life skills. Nurturing these relationships led me to have one of my greatest friendships that, at the same time, opened my eyes to some of the injustices of the immigration system. A friend of mine is under the DACA program, and the restrictive immigration policies of the previous administration threatened to upend his life. Prior to the Supreme Court overturning the movement to terminate and rescind the DACA program in 2017, the threat of deportation loomed over recipients and possible repercussions for their families. His immigration status led him to face this predicament, at risk of returning to his home country. For many months, he never alluded to his situation, always radiating positive energy. When he finally shared his situation, I admired his resilience while facing difficult circumstances. In addition, his college plans were postponed; he had to work to have finances to continue his education due to limited scholarship access because of his immigration status. After working diligently, my friend accessed higher education and enrolled in a university that accepted DACA students. While he continues to be a DACA recipient, I am hopeful he will continue navigating the roadblocks he encounters and gain access to citizenship. His friendship, leading to dialogue about his lived experiences as an immigrant and DACA recipient, called me to action, inspiring me to fight as an immigration lawyer for people experiencing a similar plight, majoring in Political Science, International Relations, and minoring Spanish at Howard University. Being an immigration lawyer will give me the potential to improve America's immigration system and end family separations ensuring the retainment of human dignity and cease trauma endured experiences. It will provide me with the opportunity to advocate for the closure of detainment centers and work to replace them with Immigrant Community Centers to redistribute often-obscure resources that can help lead immigrants on a path to citizenship. I hope to give immigrants a voice, providing a degree of empathy for them as they navigate the immigration process. Although many are experiencing hardships in their home countries that force them to leave, rhetoric that demonizes their experiences is dangerous to all immigrants regardless of their status. An immigrant's plight should not be burdened alone. I intend to use my role to uplift immigrants like my friend, fighting for inclusivity and the cultivation of diversity throughout the United States. My next steps for future advocacy beyond becoming an immigration attorney are to become a world traveler with the Peace Corps and foreign diplomat, playing a critical role in US relations with other countries and their response to global poverty. Responding to the global issue of poverty will positively impact other issues, such as immigration and allow me to enact change for the world.

Being an immigration lawyer will give me the opportunity to help correct some of the ways our immigration system has failed so many, with the outcome being that they retain their human dignity and cease to endure trauma from their experiences within our system. I hope to give immigrants a voice, providing a degree of empathy for them as they navigate the immigration process. Although many are experiencing hardships in their home countries that force them to become refugees and leave, rhetoric that demonizes their experiences is dangerous to all immigrants regardless of their status. An immigrant should not be made to shoulder this burden alone. I intend to use my role to uplift personal friends and other immigrants by fighting for inclusivity and striving to normalize diversity throughout the United States. Growing up as an Afro-Latina, my community was always diverse. My parents’ contrasting life experiences, bringing together both Puerto Rican and African American traditions, encouraged me to appreciate different life paths and cultures. Now, I find comfort immersed in environments with people of varied demographics, challenging the boundaries of my understanding and broadening my perspective. This awareness helped me gain insight, create connections with the people I meet, and celebrate our unique differences. Through a personal friendship, I began to see the real-world consequences that the inaction of lawmakers creates for immigrants. A friend of mine, who is under the DACA program, had an unobstructed view of the restrictive immigration policies of the previous administration, which threatened to upend the only life he has ever known. It upset me to hear how this made his future aspirations and dreams uncertain. He was a model student who, under any other circumstances, would have been able to attend any school. Because of his immigration status, he encountered significant roadblocks to securing a better future. For a while, he was at risk of involuntary deportation to his home country. Thankfully, my friend had the fortitude to never give up on his dreams and gained access to higher education. While he continues to be a DACA recipient, I am hopeful he will continue navigating the roadblocks he encounters and ultimately gain access to citizenship. For many months, he suffered in silence, never speaking of his situation but rather always radiating positive energy. When he finally shared his situation, it saddened me, and I admired his resilience despite his unfortunate circumstance. His friendship and knowledge of his situation were my calls to action, inspiring me to major in Law, International Relations, and Political Science in order to gain the knowledge necessary to fight as an immigration lawyer for people experiencing similar circumstances. My next steps for future advocacy beyond becoming an immigration attorney are to become a world traveler with the Peace Corps and foreign diplomat, playing a critical role in US relations with other countries and their response to global poverty. In preparation for my career and life’s journey, I have visualized a plan that maximizes all the resources available to me while attending university. I plan to pursue internships that will give me further insight into immigration law and International Relations. Also, I plan to become a part of organizations that prioritize the issues I hope to solve with my career. Moreover, I also plan to forge connections with professionals and alumni from the university to establish lifelong connections with those that can be of great assistance to me in the future. Lastly, I plan to study abroad in Central America. Central America has a high percentage of immigrants to the United States due to poverty, social and economic instability, violence, and other factors resulting in immigrants fleeing their home country. For me, studying in Central America will provide an immersive cultural experience. It will require me to adapt and improve my understanding of the conditions many citizens who flee their home countries face—thereby preparing me to enter the Peace Corps. Obtaining these resources and degrees of International Relations and Political Science in college will enable me to have a broad base of knowledge as I work towards my stated goal. Through the college experience and the other experiences that I have mentioned, I will gain invaluable life tools to utilize in my chosen career and position me to respond in an authentic and meaningful way to the global issues of immigration, poverty, and other ancillary matters that petition us to enact lasting change for the world.

I have found that the most memorable and fulfilling moments in life have been the opportunities for giving instead of receiving. The volunteer work that I have done is intentional, and it is done to tackle issues while assisting and bringing joy to others’ lives. So many people lack the support and assistance they need. As an involved community member, I have participated in service activities impacting those with special needs, the visually impaired, detained immigrants, the impoverished, and those needing to improve literacy, to name a few. To date, my personal growth is a product of increasing my awareness of issues, cultures, and varying perspectives across a broad range of disciplines, specifically within my community. The community I reside in is the embodiment of diversity. In my neighborhood, we have 15 – 20 families with life experiences that expand beyond the United State’s borders. I have continued to use my prior experiences with different groups of people to spread my love and passion for assisting people from varying economic and social backgrounds. When I first began serving my community, I did not feel like I was doing enough; I struggled to balance community service with my extracurricular activities. As a member of the Hispanic Organization Promoting Education (H.O.P.E.), an organization that does community outreach, my goal was to become more involved and committed to becoming a more active member in my sophomore year of high school. I found tools and techniques to help me manage my time better to take advantage of social interactions by participating in extracurricular activities and fulfilling my extracurricular commitments. With this goal in mind, I regularly participated in service projects, became an apprentice to the chapter leaders, and served as Ambassador for our annual International Night for two years. Now I provide virtual service opportunities as a Vice President of Service for members to get involved. As the service project leader of my organization, I have been able to help others feel the same fulfillment of serving the community and gaining more understanding of what it means to find societal gaps and fill them. I am hopeful that my example encourages others to serve and that their service is the imprint of compassion that lives forever in the spirit of the individuals or groups that they help. Community involvement is essential overall because it helps us to see a cause that is greater than ourselves. When we connect with a more significant cause, it becomes easier for us to be sacrificial with our time, talents, and treasure. We also have a greater degree of empathy when we connect on deeper levels. With the digitization of our world, the community is taking on a very different meaning. Most times, the community of social media creates a reality that does not exist. By volunteering and staying connected to the community, we have a better appreciation for what it means to be connected. Having developed a heightened sense of cultural awareness from partaking in these communal experiences enabled me to gain insight, create connections, and celebrate unique differences in these settings. One such connection was a friendship that I developed that opened my eyes to the immigration system’s injustices and set me on a path to be an agent of change to make the lives and experiences of immigrants in the United States better. As an immigration lawyer, I will improve America's immigration system from the inside so that immigrants can retain their human dignity and avoid the trauma that they often experience within our system. I hope to give immigrants a voice, providing a degree of empathy for them as they navigate the immigration process. Although many are experiencing hardships in their home countries that force them to leave, rhetoric that demonizes their experiences is dangerous to all immigrants regardless of their status. I intend to use my role to both uplift and provide hope for my friend and other immigrants, fighting for inclusivity and the cultivation of diversity throughout the United States. My next steps for future advocacy and involvement within the global community are to become a world traveler with the Peace Corps and foreign diplomat, playing a critical role in US relations with other countries and their response to global poverty. Responding to the global issue of poverty will positively impact other issues, such as immigration, and allow me to enact change for the world.