In kindergarten, I enthusiastically presented myself as a veterinarian for career day. I was sure about this goal. Yet in middle school, I shifted from being the girl engrossed by science to a pre-teen who unconsciously thought science was too mathematical and out of reach. In reality, the STEM fields need gender and ethnic diversity to serve communities well. It was only in the IB program in high school that I came back to my love of science. I entered IB without any notion of being “gifted” but knowing IB would give me the most diverse, fascinating and challenging learning opportunities that my school had to offer - even if I couldn’t be the most dazzling fish in the pond and even when viewed as a token Latina allowed in the program. I couldn’t breeze through any of the work of IB classes but I wasn’t intimidated by the lack of immediate success. My biology teacher Mrs. Berlinghoff made me realize I still loved science even when it was difficult. I grew to love the challenge. Unlocking my scientific mind along with my love of animals made me want to be a vet. Who would’ve thought that five-year-old me had more clarity than 15-year-old me? The younger me also spent a lot of time with my Abuela. Before she was very ill, she would always tell me to stick up for the “little guy“ and to use my voice to lift the voiceless. As a veterinarian, I’ll be able to do just that. Most humans can communicate when something is wrong and they need medical attention but animals cannot. Recently, I’ve started working as a kennel assistant at a local vet’s office and it’s so amazing to see the veterinarians and the vet techs be able to identify what is wrong with an animal so quickly. I’ve been able to see little kids smile when their pets walk out of the office mended and well. I've been able to see dogs find new homes in just a short time. I’ve been able to demonstrate the special care a pet may need to continue a long and happy life. At times, I’ve been able to comfort a family and pet when going peacefully was the most humane thing that could be done. This opportunity to help both humans and animals has made me realize I am choosing the right career. As a vet, I’ll be able to be a voice for the voiceless just like my Abuela wanted. More importantly, I’ll be able to ensure that someone’s best friend is well. I am now attending university studying biochemistry on a pre-veterinary track. For graduate school, I intend to go to Virginia Tech or Clemson University as both schools have an amazing veterinary program. As a STEM major, I know it’s essential that people from marginalized communities are involved in planning, leading and interpreting research studies. There have been colossal failures from a lack of representation. Treatment and identification of heart disease is centered on white males, but early signs and optimal treatment differ for women and for other ethnicities. Technology has also failed marginalized groups - from automatic soap dispensers that are unable to recognize hands with melanin to photo scanners that interpret Asian faces as having closed eyes. STEM fields need gender and ethnic diversity to avoid such oversights and limited thinking. There are ways to integrate human medicine, veterinary medicine, and environmental science to improve the health of people, animals and ecosystems. I see my veterinary career being shaped by those crossroads.

I am studying Biochemistry as a way to contribute positively to my community. Biochemistry provides an amazing foundation that would allow me to attend graduate school in many fields such as medicine, pharmacy, public health and more. This journey of higher education is one that I deeply appreciate undertaking. I am especially drawn to the field of veterinary medicine because of its unique potential to make a positive impact on the community around me. I have been actively serving my community for over a decade in many ways from feeding the homeless to assisting local schools through other Eagle Projects. My Eagle project involved constructing a fence for an animal rescue shelter bolstered my aspiration to pursue higher education to improve animal and community welfare. Throughout my academic journey, I have faced various obstacles that have tested my confidence and determination. As a young student, I had difficulty focusing and with reading and I was placed in reading recovery. I felt I wasn't good enough to pursue higher education. Based on aptitude, I was encouraged to pursue cosmetology as a vocational program. Turns out my struggle was related to ADHD in addition to weak vision. I felt less ashamed and I learned compensatory skills. I also followed a strict regime of patching my eye while completing visual exercises that would physically nauseate me. Against advisement, I was determined to take classes that were prerequisites for entering the International Baccalaureate program in 11th grade. Still against encouragement, I entered the IB program without any gifted status or exposure. IB Biology would become the first time in high school I got to do hands-on learning. During the lecture, I struggled with the content being taught, but I could retain so much more and even excel during labs. IB Biology solidified my pursuit of higher education in the science fields. My biochemistry classes are still very challenging. I struggle to focus and I still must study much more than my peers. But by engrossing myself in labs and creating detailed and illustrated notes, I have allowed concepts to truly click for me. As the hardest working B student, I do not have the most exemplary talent or grades. However, my effort is notable and my lab grades have bolstered my overall grades for both Biology and Chemistry. These academic hurdles have strengthened me as a learner as well as taught me the importance of adapting and preserving when faced with adversity. I also want to use my minor in Spanish to connect with the Latino community. One requirement for the minor at my college is community engagement. In my first semester, I had the opportunity to help Latino kids with school work, which has been so important to me. Post graduation, and through my next years at school I hope to keep doing programs like this that better the Latino community. With a veterinarian degree, I hope to use my knowledge and skills to better families with pets. Animals can make a huge difference in the lives of others and I hope to keep these pets healthy for a long while or provide comfort to families if they ever lose a pet. My pursuit of higher education is a commitment to growth, the pursuit of knowledge, and the promise of contributing to my community. I am excited for the opportunities to come from college and I am confident in my ability to overcome or adapt to obstacles I may face.

In October, 2022, Rob Sheffield of the Rolling Stones magazine stunned me by placing Bad Blood as 229th in his ranking of Taylor Swift songs. I’ve always had a special place in my heart for her 1989 album and especially Bad Blood. How could anyone rank Bad Blood as dead last? The audacity! Perhaps, Bad Blood isn’t the best song from 1989? Quantitatively, my playlist shows that I listen to Wonderland and How You Get the Girl the most often. Clean is highly regarded as the most masterful song, while Style gets stuck in my head for days. Still, Bad Blood is my favorite of 1989 because it offers something more impactful than lyrics or even musicality. It’s special because it formed such a positive core memory in my childhood which became crucial to my identity. When the Bad Blood music video was released in 2015, it blew my little 5th grade mind! Watching Taylor become this epic fighter made me feel like I could do anything. This gave me a new level of confidence that got me through the rest of 5th grade and the horror that is middle school. I would get home from school and rush to the computer just so I could watch the Bad Blood video repeatedly. Even as my viewing intensity died down, I would still come back to it. Like a kitten viewing herself in the mirror as a lion, I could puff myself up with strong shoulders and a confident walk - even when I was feeling less assured on the inside. Further into the positive impact of Bad Blood was its collaborative energy. So much media focuses on pitting women against each other in frivolous competitions like, “Who wore it best?” Forever cheeky, Taylor Swift flipped this narrative with her girl squad circle and more audaciously by featuring 16 vibrant and diverse superstars in Bad Blood. It was inspiring to see so many women - Selena Gomez, Zendeya, Jessica Alba, Mariska Hargitay, Ellen Pompeo and many others being so confident, badass and, above all else, together. As Swift openly lifted other women and took back the cat-fight narrative, she also lifted me. I think of my shy, 10-year-old, tomboy self watching these ladies kill it, every time I listen to Bad Blood and the rest of 1989. Rabidly watching the Bad Blood music video may have been a glaring premonition that I especially liked and admired women. As my queerness formed in my teen years, the positivity of Bad Blood did so much to insulate me from the self-doubt and loathing offered by the homophobic messages and policies in my conservative community. I found my own squad of misfits and allies as we formed our school’s first Gay-Straight Alliance, GSA, working against stigma and promoting the well-being and mental health of LGBTQI+ youths. In juxtaposition to groups removing books, we prioritized diverse representation in our schools’ libraries. Not just for LGBTQI+ individuals, but with consideration for race, neurodiversity, class, size, and other underrepresented groups and intersectionality. We were also emboldened to successfully campaign to change the school’s Civil War name and mascot, which had been so openly hostile and unwelcoming for minorities. Yeah, we did that in a small town. Bad Blood was instrumental in giving me the confidence to be who I am while serving and lifting others. Now I am finding my voice and skills once again as a college freshman, still motivated by social justice causes. Bad Blood is my anthem because it carries invigorating fundamental core memories for me and offers empowerment to anyone.

Older Spanish-language telenovelas may feature clichés - a girl from humble origins meets a wealthy man; they fall in love and peripheral characters try to stop them. Contemporary telenovelas bridge the generational gap with intense storylines of trauma, revenge and murder. Once a chore among chores, I came to appreciate telenovelas, and how they are inextricably linked to my Latine identity, when Netflix gifted me with Jane the Virgin. Jane was unapologetically immersed in a fun telenovela; I already knew her as Juana la Virgen. I then realized such simple or outrageous stories thrive because they present us with shared tales of perseverance. Historically watched during tasks like cooking or laundry, telenovelas appeared to reinforce the housework gender gap. Yet bonding is essential. Feminist that I am, I’m grateful for the times I’ve spent working alongside my Abuela while following these storylines. As my Abuela taught me essential skills, we had our stories. My tenuous grasp of Spanish was challenged while I begrudgingly avoided stabbing my finger with a sewing needle or burning myself with caramelized sugar for flan. Abuela’s wisdom was bestowed in parallel to each telenovela. She provided unfiltered advice such as keeping my “purse” closed because consequences would be carried by me. She helped me become a centered person who can say no in any uncomfortable situation. My father was mortified that his 9-year-old was watching Vinceta’s cartel rise in Señora Acero, yet the American D.A.R.E program couldn’t touch the anti-drug lessons Abuela imparted during this series. All good telenovelas were aired again or rebooted; this allowed us to share Abuela’s favorite story. Dubbed from Brazilian Portuguese, El Clon was the first telenovela to feature a Muslim protagonist; improving Latine awareness of Islam. With a debut in October of 2001, its immediate, post-9/11 release was surprisingly providential. As many shunned Muslim communities, Latin Americans became enthralled with the beauty of Islamic customs and tenets. This debunked the media’s narrative of terrorism. During the 2010 Spanish-language reboot, my Abulea proudly shared how she was an emboldened ally when an Islamic woman was confronted in the grocery store for wearing a hijab. Still too young to fully appreciate this lesson, we’d have the opportunity to watch El Clon again on Netflix in 2016. While the story of Jade’s love triangle with Lucas and his younger clone should not be taken as a primer on Islam, it is respectful. These lessons of understanding and speaking up for any marginalized community only grow in relevance. As my Abuela declined from dementia, she would be excited by familiar and scandalous contemporary stories we’d share via Netflix whenever I provided care for her. Even though she’s now passed, I still pair many tasks with edgier telenovelas found on Netflix. Toiling through chemistry in preparation for an exam, I can smile thinking about Abuela’s notions of romantic chemistry, bad decisions and resilience. The skills and lessons Abuela shared remain intertwined with telenovelas. They will be relevant as I teach my daughters - and sons - to gain fluency in Spanish, to learn skills like cooking or chemistry, and to be stronger in the face of adversity. Scandalize your honorary Abuela as you’re enthralled by Barbara de Regil, absolutely killing it as assassin, Rosario Tijeras. Resolve fabulous family dysfunction through the dark comedy-drama, Casa de Flores. Maybe organ trafficking and vengeance in Colombia’s, The Marked Heart is your next obsession. Netflix’s wide selection of exciting telenovelas are available with dual subtitles through the Chrome extension, Language Learning with Netflix. Given the bite-sized seasons of telenovelas, you can learn or polish Spanish with repeated binges!

I recently reread The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and found myself connecting deeply with the main protagonist, Charlie. The Perks of Being a Wallflower impacted me when I first read it and I find myself relating to Charlie even more and being grateful for its positive influence as I begin a new phase in my life. Charlie is a socially awkward, introverted high school freshman on a journey of self-discovery. I feel myself relating to his struggle with anxiety and mental health. Charlie wanted to find a place of acceptance and genuine connection. His desire for a sense of belonging struck a chord with me. I clawed my way up from a reading recovery program in elementary school to my high school’s IB program. I had never been placed among gifted students and I had high levels of impostor syndrome. There were subtle, and often blatant, suggestions that I was in the program as a token Latina. I found myself constantly code-switching in an attempt to fit in. I struggled to maintain my voice and perspective while adapting to the hidden rules of this environment. This dichotomy fueled my ADHD and anxiety. Like Charlie, I constantly felt I would say or do the wrong thing and I was exhausted from carefully crafting my interactions. The way Chbosky explores mental health through Charlie is also relatable, Chbosky shows the darkness that comes with the transition from childhood to adulthood. The way Charlie grapples with his depression and his family dynamic resonates with me. The underlying theme of desperately trying to hide an intense inner struggle helps normalize mental health issues so readers can begin to open up and seek help. One reason this book is so impactful is due to its relatability one can come back to at different points in life. When I first read The Perks of Being a Wallflower in 10th grade, my mental health was precarious as I struggled with ADHD, anxiety and depression - I saw myself in Chbosky's pages. As a freshman in college, my mental health has improved with therapy but I still relate to Charlie's journey of mental health. Chbosky's writing style greatly contributes to why this book has stuck with me for so long. By formatting his book as letters I felt I had a more personal connection with Charlie, which helped me examine my mental state. The novel encourages me and other readers to have healthy discussions about mental health, relationships and how to grow as a person. Although my parents scoffed at my classmates' saccharine suggestions that I was on the Autism Spectrum, I am openly exploring this as a young adult utilizing support and finding strengths in attributes I’ve wanted to hide. The invocation of empathy and understanding found in The Perks of Being a Wallflower continues to have a powerful influence on me and my understanding of mental health as I offer compassion for myself and others. This interconnection with friends, family and support groups can benefit everyone involved. When I see a friend struggling, I listen with empathy and encourage starting with one manageable self-care practice such as a target sleep time or finding an accountability buddy for harder tasks. As someone experienced in mitigating ADHD, I guide others in developing customized goals to track due dates and project benchmarks so we don’t find ourselves overwhelmed. I’m a huge advocate for utilizing university academic support before difficulties become insurmountable. Most importantly, I realize that mental health concerns should be taken seriously and I speak openly about accessing professional help as needed.

I am a hodgepodge of Cuban and southern culture that comes together in Christianity. These sometimes seemed conflicting - Cafecito vs. Mountain Dew - yet both give me momentum. My abuela helped me become a centered and confident person that can say no in any uncomfortable situation. My Abuelo helped shape my values. He is the reason I voice my beliefs when I see injustice and ignorance. My grandparents are southern. PawPaw is from Appalachia and has taught me pride in physical labor. My Gram has fostered my love of the outdoors and appreciation of Creation. Overall, I would say my abuelos and grandparents guided me in my Christian faith. This has all shaped me to become an advocate in my community that is led by Faith. The past few years have been important to me insofar as my spiritual growth. I studied and journaled as I completed Confirmation as a near-adult with knowledge and fervent love of Christ. I also earned the religious emblems Ad Altare Dei and Mary the First Disciple which involved a year of study each to bring me deeper I. Faith. I also focused on service. A lot of my service and leadership hours since high school, totaling 500, have been spent in Scouting organizations, church, parks, and educational groups. But my deepest spiritual project has been for access to food in my community. During the earliest days of the pandemic groceries were particularly hard to access for families with limited resources. I worked on food drives and sorting to deliver food to many diverse families in Henrico experiencing serious hunger. This became especially important for families that didn’t qualify for other services because of status in the United States. These families needed compassionate discretion in addition to food. As COVID restrictions eased, more families were able to go back to work and established food pantries were able to open again. But nutritional deprivation hasn’t been eliminated in my community. I’m honored to prepare food a couple of times a month for Blessing Warriors serving unsheltered individuals in some of the harshest circumstances. Sometimes this involves moving quickly through large food donations that must be served the same day because there isn’t refrigeration space available. One time, I agreed to cook a case of chicken that a company was donating. While my parents were at work I was faced with one dozen WHOLE chickens. I had to safely thaw, separate and cook them. I didn’t have the oven space to cook them all on time but couldn’t let this food go to waste so I knocked on neighbors’ doors during peak COVID lock-downs to carry this out together. In serving the homeless on my own or guiding other youth, I have ensured safety and dignity. Blessing Warriors to assure this for my Abuela. As her dementia progressed, she needed a lot of supervision and care which made it difficult to do any activities outside the home. Although she could no longer help directly, she was happy to be included as we prepared things like hot meals, sandwiches and hard-boiled eggs. Be it my work for Blessing Warriors or leading others to build a large fence for my Eagle project, I’ve strived for positive servant leadership. This involves taking advice and having the integrity to know what needs to be done to ensure tasks are completed well. This does not come easily, but good intentions without productivity does not serve others well. I hope I can continue to serve and meet needs with integrity and Christ who strengthens me.

In kindergarten, I enthusiastically presented myself as a veterinarian for career day. I was sure about this goal. Yet in middle school, I shifted from being the girl engrossed by science to a pre-teen who unconsciously thought science was too mathematical and out of reach. In reality, the STEM fields need gender and ethnic diversity to serve communities well. It was only in the IB program in high school that I came back to my love of science. I entered IB without any notion of being “gifted” but knowing IB would give me the most diverse, fascinating and challenging learning opportunities that my school had to offer - even if I couldn’t be the most dazzling fish in the pond and even when viewed as a token Latina allowed in the program. I couldn’t breeze through any of the work of IB classes but I wasn’t intimidated by the lack of immediate success. My biology teacher Mrs. Berlinghoff made me realize I still loved science even when it was difficult. I grew to love the challenge. Unlocking my scientific mind along with my love of animals made me want to be a vet. Who would’ve thought that five-year-old me had more clarity than 15-year-old me? The younger me also spent a lot of time with my Abuela. Before she was very ill, she would always tell me to stick up for the “little guy“ and to use my voice to lift the voiceless. As a veterinarian, I’ll be able to do just that. Most humans can communicate when something is wrong and they need medical attention but animals cannot. Recently, I’ve started working as a kennel assistant at a local vet’s office and it’s so amazing to see the veterinarians and the vet techs be able to identify what is wrong with an animal so quickly. I’ve been able to see little kids smile when their pets walk out of the office mended and well. I've been able to see dogs find new homes in just a short time. I’ve been able to demonstrate the special care a pet may need to continue a long and happy life. At times, I’ve been able to comfort a family and pet when going peacefully was the most humane thing that could be done. This opportunity to help both humans and animals has made me realize I am choosing the right career. As a vet, I’ll be able to be a voice for the voiceless just like my Abuela wanted. More importantly, I’ll be able to ensure that someone’s best friend is well. I am now attending university studying biochemistry on a pre-veterinary track. For graduate school, I intend to go to Virginia Tech or Clemson University as both schools have an amazing veterinary program. As a STEM major, I know it’s essential that people from marginalized communities are involved in planning, leading and interpreting research studies. There have been colossal failures from a lack of representation. Treatment and identification of heart disease is centered on white males, but early signs and optimal treatment differ for women and for other ethnicities. Technology has also failed marginalized groups - from automatic soap dispensers that are unable to recognize hands with melanin to photo scanners that interpret Asian faces as having closed eyes. STEM fields need gender and ethnic diversity to avoid such oversights and limited thinking. There are ways to integrate human medicine, veterinary medicine, and environmental science to improve the health of people, animals and ecosystems. I see my veterinary career being shaped by those crossroads.

Literature provides an outlet while boosting intelligence and imagination. The best books provide a message that can be applied decades after their release. Although released in 1949, Orwell’s 1984 is relevant to current trends. In 1984, Orwell warned against totalitarianism and the loss of freedom and democracy. For this reason, everyone should read 1984 to gain important insights. One major theme is how a corrupt government can take control of the people and abuse their power. Many dictators like Kim Jong Un maintain power over people by manipulating media and history through propaganda. Countries like North Korea and Russia restrict access to literature and media to limit people's knowledge and beliefs making it easier for their leaders to remain in power. The abuse of power in North Korea has gotten so bad that many scholars and North Korean refugees have said living there was like being in 1984. If everyone in the world was able to safely read 1984, then perhaps the situation in North Korea and other countries ruled under a dictatorship could change. Sadly, in many of these countries reading such insightful books could result in harsh punishment. In the United States, we are free to read 1984 yet we still have waves allowing the insidious things Orwell warned us against. Censorship and restricting access to books are used to retain power. Today we see an increasing amount of book bannings occurring in many US districts. To “protect the children” from gaining compassion and understanding about marginalized communities or difficult circumstances, legislation is passed to remove books from school libraries. The authors, whose words are taken out of context from unread books, often come from underrepresented communities. Yet unsurprisingly, 1984 also faces another wave of banning in the US including my community, Hanover, Virginia, for being “pro-communist propaganda”. In the USSR it was banned for being anti-communist. In reality, it’s simply anti-totalitarianism. By banning 1984 and other books, school boards are proving Orwell's point. I believe that if a book is banned it should be read - 1984 is at the top of this list as it calls out the dangers of book bans altogether Orwell based 1984 on the political climate of Nazi Germany, warning how dangerous totalitarianism can be. Everyone should read Orwell’s 1984 to make sure it remains a warning and not a blueprint for what governments could do.

Después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, los Estados Unidos se encontró en medio de la Guerra Fría. Durante este tiempo, muchos estadounidenses temían al comunismo. Un hombre, el senador Joseph McCarthy, sacó provecho de este miedo. Debido a las acciones de McCarthy, el macartismo se generalizó en todo EE.UU. Hoy en día, muchos estadounidenses recuerdan macartismo y ven su impacto negativo. Sin embargo, el macartismo todavía puede enseñar muchas lecciones. Lo primero y más importante que podemos aprender del macartismo es no dejar que el miedo y los prejuicios nos controlen. El macartismo se volvió monstruoso porque la gente tenía miedo de lo que no era familiar. Hizo que muchos atacaran a los vecinos porque pensaban que ser diferentes los hacía comunistas. Esta inclinación y miedo se ha visto a lo largo de la historia. Después del 11 de septiembre, la cantidad de crímenes de odio hacia los musulmanes subió dramáticamente. Muchos estadounidenses temían otro ataque terrorista y tenían odio de sus vecinos musulmanes aunque que vivían vidas similares a las suyas y sin conexión con Al Qaeda. La ignorancia del Islam y los prejuicios raciales permitieron que creciera el miedo y la desconfianza. Cuando mucho era desconocido con respecto a CoViD-19, se intentaron ganancias policiales hablando sin sentido del "viró de China." La violencia contra las personas asiáticas y de herencia del pacífico creció exponencialmente. Hoy hay legalización que restringiría los derechos de la comunidad LGBTQ (lesbiana, gay/homosexual, bisexual, transgénero). La razón por la que se presentan muchas de estas leyes discriminatorias es porque los legisladores no entienden a la comunidad LGBTQ, lo que genera prejuicios y miedo. Crear miedo a cualquiera que sea “otro” permite un resurgimiento de las tácticas del macartismo. La segunda lección que podemos aprender del macartismo es el peligro de la censura. En la década de 1950, muchos miembros del Congreso se unieron a la cruzada anticomunista de McCarthy, uno de estos hombres fue George A. Dondero. Antes de ser elegido para el Congreso, Dondero era un abogado sin experiencia en las artes. Dondero lanzó la campaña en contra de lo que consideraba un frente comunista. Creía que el Arte moderno del tiempo era comunista ya que no glorificaba la belleza de Estados Unidos. Atacó y censuró a muchos artistas, incluidos Picasso, Braque y Dalí. Dondero no tenía idea de lo que estaba diciendo y usó su plataforma para tergiversar el arte. Otra forma de censura vista en este momento fue por parte del comité de actividades anti-estadounidenses de la casa, que persiguió a Hollywood y llevó a la lista negra de muchos actores, guionistas, directores y músicos. Además de esta película en la lista negra, guiones de cine tuvieron que ser revisados para asegurarse de que no tuvieran ninguna “ideología comunista". Hoy vemos una cantidad de prohibiciones de libros en muchos distritos del país. Con el ardid de “proteger a los niños,” evidentemente para que no ganen compasión ni comprensión sobre las comunidades marginadas o las circunstancias difíciles, se aprueba leyes para quitar libros de bibliotecas escolares. Los autores, de palabras sacadas de contexto de libros no leídos, son de comunidades subrepresentadas como LGBTQ, latinos y negros. Esto es tan peligroso como lo era en los años cincuenta. Provoca el entendimiento limitado sin permitirnos ver a los demás como seres humanos con valor. Si nosotros recordamos el macartismo, veremos las consecuencias de dejar que el miedo nos dicte. Si usamos las lecciones del macartismo podemos deconstruir nuestro miedo y prejuicios para mejorar el país en lugar de vilipendiar a los vecinos, y censurar el arte y la literatura como hicimos durante el macartismo.