My name is Lexi Vargas. I am a 17-year-old senior at Enochs High School. I was born and raised in Modesto California. I have three brothers, one older and two younger and I have two younger sisters. Ever since I was a little girl, I have always wanted to become a nurse. I have had different phases throughout my childhood like wanting to be a lawyer for a little bit, then to be a veterinarian. I have always been passionate about helping people, but I never really felt as passionate about those particular careers. There are many different reasons I decided nursing is where my passion is. One of them is because my aunt is a nurse, and she would tell me about her job and the things she would do there and it immediately caught my attention. It sounded like the perfect fit for me. Another reason is that I love being able to help people who can't help themselves. Ever since I discovered my passion for nursing, I have been working towards achieving the goal of becoming a Registered Nurse. I am currently in the CNA program through my school and I love everything about it. I love my teachers and the friendships with my classmates I have created that I wouldn't have otherwise if I weren't in the class. More so, the connections I have made with the patients and their family members bring me great satisfaction. There are so many different types of nurses. There are Nurse Practitioners, traveling nurses, and School Nurses, the list goes on and on. My current interest is to be a traveling nurse working in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. I want to become a Travel Nurse because I have always loved going to different places seeing and experiencing new things. I also love being around babies and taking care of them so being able to do both things that I love couldn't be better. Another reason working in the NICU caught my attention is because I have twin brothers who were born 13 weeks early due to in-utero drug exposure and spent the first three months of their lives in a NICU. In a way, it is my way of giving back what they were given. As a registered nurse, I will spend time at my job offering support to babies who have a similar start to life, as well as connecting with their family members to offer direction and resources. I plan to volunteer in my community, working with children and their families with a similar history. I am also interested in serving on community committees and boards whose goal is to provide assistance and resources for children born into adverse situations and environments. Knowing how my brothers benefited from the care they received, I plan to make a positive impact on my community's children and their families through my nursing career and community involvement.

I have been overcoming adversity since the day I was born. My life started out being born to drug-addicted parents who had no desire to prioritize parenting children over their lifestyle. My great-grandmother stepped in and was granted guardianship of me and my siblings. She had just retired with plans to travel and start doing the things she had worked all her life to be able to do but instead put those things aside to put me and my siblings first. She did everything for us that a great parent would do: woke up every morning, made us breakfast, dropped us off and picked us up from school, had homemade treats waiting for us, helped us with our homework, and always prepared home-cooked meals for us to eat every night. She made sure we had the health care and dental care that we needed. She prioritized us before anything and everything. When I was seven years old she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and passed away just a couple of months later. Before her passing, she transferred her guardianship to my great-great aunt, assuring that even after she was gone, we would be well taken care of. Losing my grandma was one of the hardest things I had to deal with. From the perspective of a seventeen-year-old looking back at the start of her life, I’ve learned the importance of having a strong support system that prioritizes me and my future. I learned the importance of surrounding myself with strong people who have good intentions. I’ve learned what I want my future to be like and what I don’t want it to be like. I’ve learned that service to others is important. I’ve learned the difference we as individuals can make in other people's lives and I’ve learned the beginning of your story does not predict the end. I will never forget the sacrifices she made for me. Her sacrifices taught me what a big difference an individual can make. They remind me that I should always live each day to the fullest and not waste any time because, in the blink of an eye, everything can change. I was young at the time, but I look back and think there are so many things I wish I would've done differently such as spend more quality time with her while I had the chance. I don't want to look back and have any regrets. I want to make each day count. Her sacrifices have shaped me into a hard-working and motivated individual. I am currently a high school senior, maintaining a 4.0 GPA, and excelling in the CNA program through my school. In May, I will graduate from high school becoming the first generation in my family to do so. I will then attend college, again becoming the first generation in my family to do so. I plan to become a registered nurse so I can help people like my great-grandmother helped me. This is the life my great-grandmother wanted for me. I will not let her sacrifices be a waste.

I was born to drug-addicted parents who had no desire to prioritize parenting children over their lifestyle. My great-grandmother stepped in and was granted guardianship of me and my siblings. She had just retired with plans to travel and start doing the things she had worked all her life to be able to do, but instead put those things aside to put me and my siblings first. She did everything for us that a great parent would do: woke up every morning, made us breakfast, dropped us off and picked us up from school, had homemade treats waiting for us, helped us with our homework, and always prepared home-cooked meals for us to eat every night. She made sure we had the health care and dental care that we needed. She prioritized us before anything and everything. When I was seven years old she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and passed away just a couple of months later. Before her passing, she transferred her guardianship to my great-great aunt, assuring that even after she was gone, we would be well taken care of. Losing my grandma was one of the hardest things I had to deal with. This taught me how to deal with and overcome adversity in my life. I will never forget the sacrifices she made for me. Her sacrifices taught me what a big difference an individual can make. They remind me that I should always live each day to the fullest and not waste any time because, in the blink of an eye, everything can change. I was young at the time, but I look back and think there are so many things I wish I would've done differently such as spend more quality time with her while I had the chance. I don't want to look back and wish I would've done things differently. I want to make each day count. Her sacrifices have shaped me into a hard-working and motivated individual. I am currently a high school senior, maintain a 4.0 GPA, and am excelling in the CNA program through my school. In May, I will graduate from high school becoming the first generation in my family to do so. I will then attend college, again becoming the first generation in my family to do so. I plan to become a registered nurse so I can help people like my great-grandmother helped me. This is the life my great-grandmother wanted for me. I will not let her sacrifices be a waste. Her sacrifices shaped every corner of my life.

I challenged myself academically in high school by taking an AP class for the very first time in my junior year. It was an AP United States history class. I decided to take it because, in my sophomore year, I discovered that I love to learn about history and I'd never taken an AP class, so I thought I'd give it a try. I was used to taking all CP classes, so I wasn't used to having summer assignments, writing DBQs/ LEQs, or taking an AP test at the end of the year. At the beginning of the year, it was hard to keep up with the teacher because he went through the lectures so fast-paced, but I didn't let it stop me. I was determined I was going to finish and successfully pass the class. I set aside 1-2 hours every night just studying my notes for the class because I knew if I wanted to pass and make sure I was caught up with the rest of the class who was used to the speediness, that is what I was going to have to do. I would write down notes from the slides he posted for us to copy into our notebooks, but after taking the first quiz in his class, I learned that I should write down more of what he says, rather than what's written on the slide and that's what helped me the most. I was able to successfully acclimate myself to an AP class.

The family member I lost was the most important person in my life, my great-grandmother. She is one of the biggest blessings I have had in my life. I don't know what I would have done without her there to look out for me and my siblings. She gave up living her own life so I could have one. I could not be more grateful to have had her in my life. I was born to heroin-addicted parents who had no desire to prioritize parenting children over their lifestyle. My great-grandmother stepped in and was granted guardianship of me and my siblings. She had just retired with plans to travel and start doing the things she had worked all her life to be able to do, but instead put those things aside to put me and my siblings first. She did everything for us that a great parent would do: woke up every morning, made us breakfast, dropped us off and picked us up from school, had homemade treats waiting for us, helped us with our homework, and always prepared home-cooked meals for us to eat every night. She made sure we had the health care and dental care that we needed. She prioritized us before anything and everything. When I was seven years old she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and passed away just a couple of months later. Before her passing, she transferred her guardianship to my great-great aunt, assuring that even after she was gone, we would be well taken care of. I will never forget the sacrifices she made for me. Her sacrifices taught me what a big difference an individual can make. They remind me that I should always live each day to the fullest and not waste any time because, in the blink of an eye, everything can change. I was young at the time, but I look back and think there are so many things I wish I would've done differently such as spend more quality time with her while I had the chance. I don't want to look back and wish I would've done things differently. I want to make each day count. Her sacrifices have shaped me into a hard-working and motivated individual. I am currently a high school senior, maintain a 4.0 GPA, and am excelling in the CNA program through my school. In May, I will graduate from high school becoming the first generation in my family to do so. I will then attend college, again becoming the first generation in my family to do so. I plan to become a registered nurse so I can help people like my great-grandmother helped me. This is the life my great-grandmother wanted for me. I will not let her sacrifices be a waste. Her sacrifices shaped every corner of my life.

What inspires me the most about Jack Terry’s story is what he chose to do with his life after the unimaginable things he experienced. It reminds me that it truly is up to you how your life turns out. I find it remarkable that he had no more than an elementary school education, spoke no English, and endured the beginning of his life to make his way to medical school. Again, it is a reminder to me that anything is possible. A person could start life in a horrendous situation, but that start does not define your future. My life started out being born to drug-addicted parents whose last priority was to parent their children. I was fortunate to be saved from exposure to that environment by my great-grandmother who did prioritize my life. She provided a safe and loving environment for me and my siblings for the first seven years of my life until she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and passed away. I was then fortunate to have a great-great aunt take over my guardianship, secured by my great-grandmother before her passing. I have resided with that great-great aunt for the last 10 years. This beginning of my life presented many adversities for me to overcome. I lost the person I loved the most, feeling different from my classmates who had intact families, having to change schools and leave friends behind, as well as having to adjust to a new home environment and a new parent. From the perspective of a 17-year-old looking back at the start of her life, I’ve learned the importance of having a strong support system that prioritizes me and my future. I learned the importance of surrounding myself with strong people with good intentions. I’ve learned what I want in my future and what I don’t. I’ve learned that service to others is important. I’ve learned the difference a single individual can make in another person's life. And like Jack Terry, I’ve learned the beginning of your story does not predict the end. I plan to be a Registered Nurse, focusing on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). I have twin brothers who spent the first three months of their life in a NICU. In a way, it’s my way of giving back what they got. As a Registered Nurse, I will spend time at my job offering support to babies who have a similar start to life as I did, not only by providing medical care but also by sharing my story with parents. As a Registered Nurse, I plan to volunteer in my community, working with children born in similar circumstances as mine. I am also interested in serving on community committees and boards whose goal is to provide assistance and resources for children born into adverse situations and environments.