My children have been my inspiration to go back to school. I want to give them a great example and I want to show them that it can be done. I have 4 children, a very supportive wife, and a full-time job. Soon I will also be taking care of my aging parents and in-laws. Education is very important to me as it shows me the way on how to deal with life.

I stand for education and the benefits of it. I have been an influencer to my family. I started school in a rural town in Guatemala. There was no way of advancement from where I come from. My family decided to immigrate to the USA and brought me with them. I can say without a doubt in my mind that if I hadn't stayed on the right path I would be telling this story today. I kept my head low and worked as hard as I could to achieve my dreams. Since all of my family members saw the struggle and the daily battles that I had in order to achieve my dreams, I am now an inspiration to them that it can be done. Now I am going back to school for two Master's degrees after finishing two under grad degrees. I have been committed and will continue to be so.

I stand for education and the benefits of it. I have been an influencer to my family. I started school in a rural town in Guatemala. There was no way of advancement from where I come from. My family decided to immigrate to the USA and brought me with them. I can say without a doubt in my mind that if I hadn't stayed on the right path I would be telling this story today. I kept my head low and worked as hard as I could to achieve my dreams. Since all of my family members saw the struggle and the daily battles that I had in order to achieve my dreams, I am now an inspiration to them that it can be done. Now I am going back to school for two Master's degrees after finishing two under grad degrees. I have been committed and will continue to be so.

One of the hardest things to realize is that we are getting old and our people around us are aging as well. I am 36 years old and I am coming to an age where my parents, my in-laws and close relatives are aging. It is hard to swallow that reality. I currently take care of my mother in law with my wife. My mother in law is only 63 but has had COPD for the last 15 years. She is on constant oxygen assistance. It is extremely difficult to see her struggle to catch her breath and a few times she has almost died on us. Getting an education is important to her and I want to make sure to fill her dreams as much as I can

As I move through life I dodge and weave through the obstacles that are in place. I feel like I have accomplished most of my goals in life. I come from a very humble background and I thrive on that. I always look back at my beginnings and I can push myself to do better based on the fact that I know I have done better. I want to set an example for my children and teach them that it is doable. It is possible to get an education and have a family life. It is possible to achieve your goals and enjoy life every day. My dream life is happening now. I feel blessed that I can continue furthering my education and achieving every goal that I set for myself as a child. If I had to do it all over again I wouldn't change a thing. The struggles have taught me very valuable lessons that I can use in my everyday life now.

Life is a circle, it goes around and around. Mine is not a circus and I am not a clown.

I immigrated to the United States of America back in 1998. I emigrated from Guatemala. I was 14 years old when I arrived in this country. I came from a very humble family of 7. Neither one of my parents have more than 1st-grade education. None of my siblings have more than a 9th-grade education. Since I was a little boy, I believed that education was the most important tool to become successful. I believed that education was not a waste of time as most of my family members believed. When I came to this country, I did not speak one word of English and I had just finished my 7th-grade education. My parents were both cheerleaders in my corner and they believed that education was key to success like I did. My parents made sure that I continued my studies rather than going to work at an early age. I pushed myself to learn English and to get good grades. I graduated high school with a 3.95 GPA. To most people, this would not be impressive, but considering what I had to do to get there so quickly, it was an inspiration and a behemoth of an accomplishment. I started college by going to a community college and getting an AA in Business Administration. I ended up with a 3.89 GPA there. I didn’t know whether I was ready to take the next step, but I pushed myself and I transferred to a 4-year university to get a BS in Business Administration. I transferred to the California State University of Los Angeles in 2011 and finished my degree in 2013. By the time I finished my degree I had 4 children and a wife at home, but I still managed to get a 3.5 GPA.

I immigrated to the United States of America back in 1998. I emigrated from Guatemala. I was 14 years old when I arrived at this country. I came from a very humble family of 7. Neither one of my parents have more than 1st grade education. None of my siblings have more than a 9th grade education. Since I was a little boy, I believed that education was the most important tool to become successful. I believed that an education was not a waste of time as most of my family members believed. When I came to this country, I did not speak one word of English and I had just finished my 7th grade education. My parents were both cheerleaders in my corner and they believed like I did that an education was key to success. My parents made sure that I continued my studies rather than going to work at an early age. I pushed myself to learn English and to get good grades. I graduated high school with a 3.95 GPA. To most people this would not be impressive but considering what I had to do to get there so quickly to me it was an inspiration and a behemoth of an accomplishment. I started college by going to a community college and getting an AA in Business Administration. I ended up with a 3.89 GPA there. I didn’t know whether I was ready to take the next step, but I pushed myself and I transferred to a 4-year university to get a BS in Business Administration. I transferred to California State University of Los Angeles in 2011 and finished my degree by 2013. By the time I finished my degree I had 4 children and a wife at home, but I still managed to get a 3.5 GPA.