My greatest achievement to date isn't even one so big but it means the most to me because it shaped who I became. My greatest achievement was when I was 8 and on my basketball team I own defensive player of the year. That year we had gone undefeated and our coach all gave us individual awards, I was never exactly good at basketball, I was never a scorer or a great rebounded but I loved defense and I love playing and being that role. I remember being so happy that I got defensive player of the year I was so proud of myself. That award shaped me to who I am, although my skills were lacked in basketball my coach always knew I had the IQ, whenever he asked a question I was the first to respond, whenever he asked of an assignment I made sure to do it to the absolute best of my ability. To this day I am 19, still playing collegiate basketball and defense is still my favorite part of the game and I can proudly say I have gotten defensive player of the year on all my teams since my very first award. With this I new that your name doesn't have to be the biggest or your stats sometimes helping anyone comes behind the scenes, sometimes it is making someone cause a turnover but it doesn't count as a steal, sometimes its playing such great defense the other team is fatigue and annoyed. I learned to use that throughout my everyday life, that it doesn't have to be big or shouted to everyone your stats or how well you do or are doing what truly matters is how you help others how you made others achieve this goal, because although offense wins games defense wins championships, its the little details that help me remember that the world doesn't need to know my "stats" I just need to know my worth on my own. I hope to achieve a lot in the future, I hope to continue playing collegiate basketball, go to nursing school, become a CRNA, travel the world and eventually have a family. In the future I want to be as successful as I can be and always remember my goals an my upbringing, how it took one little minor accomplish that no one but my parents saw to make me become the person I am today.

My name is Madison Guerrero, I am 19 years old, a college sophomore at Los Angeles Valley College I am studying nursing and play collegiate basketball. This scholarship would immensely help me, although I am blessed to have a home I am not fortunate to have that much assistance. In this last year my father suffered cuts in his hours at work and my mother had a severe pay cut at her job as well so this year was harder than others. I choose to go to community college to make it easier on my parents and myself, however now both my brother and I will be in college together at the same time, him an incoming freshman and me a junior. I want to become a CRNA, since this requires additional school I knew going to a Community college would allow me two year of free education, then transfer to get my degree and move on to my specialty without having suffered much debt. To help my community I volunteered at a non-profit organization Unidas pro Ella, it is an organization that is dedicated to helping young girls in their basketball journey but Las their self journey in learning confidence and how to love themselves. We help girls from the youngest age possible until senior year of high school, after that the college students become the teachers. A time I failed was my sophomore year of high school, it wasn't on a test or on a project, it wasn't even on my team I failed myself. My sophomore year of high school I was playing basketball, and the coach was demeaning towards me, but I felt so proud to be on varsity on a winning team so I stated silent. I failed myself because I failed to speak up, it wasn't until my parents could visibly see that I no longer loved basketball but resented it, I hated going to practice because I just new I'd be the target of my coach that practice and if I wasn't a target I wasn't even a person on the court but rather just a drag. However, I would say by biggest strengths are my adaptability and my perseverance. No matter how hard it gets I find just a little more I can give to keep telling me I can do it. I never give up, I get knocked down and I get up and I attempt it all over again. I know that I can do it, to me it is just a matter of how and when, nothing is impossible it is just a persons willingness to keep going no matter how hard it gets. This is my biggest strength.

One is "Ocean Eyes" this song got me through my breakup, it just was such a soothing melody and it resonated with me because I felt so alone during this hard time and just her tone, her emotion, the direction f it made me just feel seen and not alone. It felt personal and helpful it made me feel better in a way that is harder to explain. Another is "What Was I Made For?" Not only did the movie touch me but this song was on constant replay, as a woman, a Mexican American young girl it is hard and after what has in the recent election I feel threatened. However because of this song I feel somewhat put to peace that change can happen and that I am not and will never be alone, although being a woman is so tough and it comes with rules and regulations I eel no one captivated that message of the tone or even the emotion as well as Billie Eilish did. My last favorite is "Lovely" which features Khalid, when this song came out in 2018 I was 13 years old. I was barely figuring out who I was, who I want to be, and overall going through teenage years. This song was almost a tribute I made to myself that no matter how hard it got I was always going to find a way to make something of myself and make it out of just the stereotype that Mexican girls get pregnant and start a family rather than go to college.

When my brother back in 2016 at the young age of eight was diagnosed with a super rare disease called aHUS and was given only three years left to live I had found my calling. Since his diagnosis I knew I wanted to be in the medical field, I wanted to help others who did not know what to do to help themselves in these situations. I want to be the person they come to when something is wrong. For the longest time I didn't know what part of the medical field I wanted to get into it started with psychology to be a person that others knew would listen and help them it was because I knew my brother had a hard time talking to others about what he had gone through or even how the scar from his central line made him insecure. For the longest time I felt that was my true calling, however knowing the dark truth in psychology that it is a hard job I knew mentally I could not handle that position. Then I started dabbling into what I thought would be many different things. At first I wanted to go into orthopedics because as an athlete I am constantly at risk of injuring myself and currently I have a torn labrum in my left shoulder. I wanted to be the person for athletes that could fix them and get them ready for a new season. I found it interesting how fascinating the body and how it works and just how it can be repaired by taking a different tendon or ligament to make a new one yet how meticulously and carefully they do it. Part of me still loves this career option, however it is down to my core I am meant to be a CRNA. A CRNA’s job is so important and fascinating, their job helps people not feel a thing by putting them to sleep or giving them other medication to help them not feel pain. I love the stories and even one from my brother's surgery in which the moment he said ten he knocked right out. With being a CRNA I play a vital role in surgery, and I get to be a part of many operations I find fascinating in the medical field. Although it is small it requires loads of focus, intellect, attention to detail. I am not limited in the job of being a CRNA, although yes a particular role I am involved in many different aspects, the job would keep me engaged and throughout the process I will never stop learning. I am a first generation college student, I am second generation Mexican American as my grandparents migrated here. By applying and already being in community college I am breaking down barriers that prevented my parents and family from going to college. I have paved the road for my siblings to have an opportunity by being the first and going through this process not alone but without help from a parent or family member. I want to build a better life not just for myself but for my parents to show them that their sacrifices were not taken advantage off but rather used as a lesson and stepping stone to being better.