Being a child of Hispanic immigrants, immigrants who did not graduate high school, was extremely difficult in terms of being a college-bound student and a person in American society. My parents are immigrants from Mexico and both come from small towns in the states of Zacatecas and Aguascalientes. When they both migrated to the United States, they did not speak the language and had only a few family members in the area. My mother told me how she would often watch kid shows like Barney to pick up English because no one around her spoke English. Spanish was my first language and when I began school, I was put into my school's ESL program because of the obvious language barriers. Due to being constantly around English speakers, I began to speak English at home, and my ability to speak Spanish diminished. I regretted speaking English so much because I struggle a little bit now to speak it and my American accent is more noticeable. I knew from a very young age that I wanted to pursue a career that would be able to help people. I am currently studying Political Science and Women and Gender Studies with a minor in International Studies with the hope of pursuing law. I have witnessed firsthand, the horrifying truth of the Immigration system within the United States. I have witnessed family members get deported, friends' family members get deported and heard even worse stories. Pursuing immigration law will give me the chance to help people in this broken system obtain citizenship at a faster and easier rate than now. The immigration system, much like many systems in the United States, is so beyond fixing and resolving any issue is like putting a bandaid on a gunshot wound. Pursuing immigration law will not only help family members receive the help that they do not have the resource to do so, but many other people receive the right to become American citizens. Growing up, I had many nicknames ranging from Gordita to Bola to many other ones. One that I remember was morenita. Morenita roughly translates to someone having a darker skin complexion. I have lost my color throughout the years because I rarely went outside but even now, I am still a little darker than my relatives. I never really thought of this nickname to be anything but positive but it was until I realized that my sister, who has a lighter complexion, and lighter features, was favored in many aspects. I began to realize colorism in my life and especially in Hispanic cultures. Hispanic culture is so beautiful whether that be the food or the variety of languages spoken within each country, there are so many issues that need to be talked about and resolved. Issues like sexism and colorism are the main issues regarding the Hispanic culture and being able to comprehend that these issues exist change my view of the world and my family. I began to look more in-depth into issues like colorism and sexism in Hispanic culture and that is when I learned about cityrsectionality. Intersectionality is defined as how a person’s various marginalized identities work together to impact a person. Understanding this topic and the firsthand experience I had with colorism and sexism, made me aware of so many other issues not only in the United States but worldwide and has helped shaped the person I am today and has also helped me fight for people whose voices are often silenced.

My whole life, I have always wanted to fight against a system that was created against us. At a young age, I knew my purpose in life was to help people in any way. I have witnessed people in power abuse their positions and pass legislation that ultimately negatively affects people's lives. I began volunteering during high school at many different sites. These include my local library, assisting little kids, and many other small jobs. What impacted me the most during high school was becoming a part of Julia's Legacy of Hope. Julia's Legacy of Hope is a non-profit organization that raises money for pediatric cancer research. I came across this organization within my school during lunch hour. My study hall teacher at that time was the Co-founder, and he was telling us the story of how he lost his daughter, Julia, to leukemia. I was moved by his story and asked him what I can do to help and become a part of this organization. I began volunteering at stores to raise funds and we even raised enough money to hold our own St. Baldricks. Throughout this experience, I have heard many stories similar to Julia's and my teacher and witnessed all the good things this organization has done for pediatric cancer research. As stated, I knew from a very young age that I wanted to pursue a career that would be able to help people. I am currently studying Political Science and Women and Gender Studies with a minor in International Studies with the hope of pursuing law. Many people assume that I am going into Corporate Law or Business Law, but I want to pursue Immigration and Human Rights law. I have witnessed firsthand, the horrifying truth of the Immigration system within the United States. I have witnessed family members get deported, friends' family members get deported and heard even worse stories. Pursuing immigration law will give me the chance to help people in this broken system obtain citizenship at a faster and easier rate than now. The immigration system, much like many systems in the United States, is so beyond fixing and resolving any issue is like putting a bandaid on a gunshot wound. Alongside becoming an Immigration lawyer, I also want to pursue politics because I have realized that the change that many people desire can only be made by ourselves and we cannot rely on the current people in power to do so. Being able to receive an education that will put me in a position where I can create actual change is what I have always aspired to do and by obtaining these degrees, it would push me closer to create actual change.