It is because I have struggled so much to accept my Latine identity that I fight so strongly for it. Through my educational future and in my daily life, I strive to challenge the stereotypes and barriers that hold the Latine community down. Even from a young age, my identity as a Mexican-American has comprised a large part of how I see the world. When I stepped out into my majority white, affluent neighborhood, when I heard the ignorant and offensive comments against Latine people at my school, I felt a responsibility to challenge that demeaning rhetoric. In an environment where Latine students were few and far between, I felt the need to step into the role of an advocate for my community. Whether volunteering for my school's minority outreach program or attending protests advocating for the rights of undocumented and immigrant peoples, I made sure that I was uplifting the voices of my community. In high school, I joined Black Latinx Student Union, and found a collective unity with people that shared my love of advocacy. There, and in other classes such as Contemporary Issues, Facing History, and Ethnic Studies, I began to realize the power of the stories I told. I wrote and spoke up in class about the imposter syndrome I felt as a minority in a magnet school, of the importance of amplifying the beautiful and diverse perspectives we all share. My deep connection with my Latine identity inspired me to take Spanish throughout middle and high school so that I could get back to my roots and be able to connect with my community on their level. Whether at a gathering at the capitol or talking to the Hispanic janitors at my school, my background opened up an entirely new world of connection.

I want to pursue higher education both to create a space where genuine improvement and education can occur and to push for greater equity and diversity in academic discussion. I have always had a passion for academia, cultivated by my family and their hard-fought pursuit of higher education. My mother and paternal grandparents being immigrants themselves, I am a firsthand example of the power of schooling. Their advocation for better educational opportunities for themselves and their children inspires me to continue that legacy of academia and advocacy. I see education as a proponent for both self-improvement and greater societal change. Learning about the world around me is something that I find very exciting, and rewarding, as I believe it allows me to widen my own perspective and be a more productive member of society. Through classes such as Facing History, Contemporary Issues, Philosophy, and World History, I was able to discover my passion for learning about other cultures, history, and the subtle ways in which our perspectives are shaped. I want to get a master’s or possibly Ph.D. in anthropology, as I am very interested in the intersection of biology, culture, and evolution in the origins of our groups, actions, and thought. I hope to use higher education as a way to explore this passion and help both myself and others to see the shared humanity and wealth of diversity that is essential to our world. College-level and/or Ph.D. programs would give me the ability to both explore my interests and to be able to further research the cultural, racial, evolutionary, and moral aspects that we still face, and how we can most effectively dismantle our long-held biases and divisions in order to move forward. After all, it was the gift of public education that opened the world’s knowledge to my eyes. With the dawn of high school, I wasn’t special in my worries or the identity I had sought to hide. I was opened up to the truth; that marginalized people had a place in American history. It was the “divisive” critical race theory classes and non-white narratives that allowed me to find myself in the pages of history and the faces around me. Finally being exposed to environments and peoples that not only reflected my own experiences, but also sought to amplify the voices of others inspired me to dedicate my educational future to doing the same. I am very passionate about social justice, as I believe that is essential, to try to make a difference and try to help others access the opportunities necessary for equity, self-advocacy, economic and social betterment. Many critical social issues are still very prevalent but often ignored, but I believe that if we join in collective action and solidarity, we can generate widespread change. Above all, I want to make a difference - to uplift the voices of marginalized communities, and provide a space for their lives and discussions to be held. I understand that only the individual action of a few cannot change processes centuries in the making, but I think that we must try to use our own privilege to educate and uplift others. I believe that higher education would allow me to not only prove the increasing role minorities can play in academia but also to foster such change and improvement through comprehensive research, discussion, and action. I want to use my love of education and exploration to help shape a world where we understand and acknowledge the darker sides of history, and move forward - together.

Coming from a multicultural background, my family and my cultural history have instilled in me a desire to push for a future that is open for all. It is because I have struggled so much to accept my identity that I fight so strongly to amplify the voices of the unheard. Through my education and in my daily life, I strive to challenge the stereotypes and barriers that hold the Latine and Pakistani community down. When I step out into my majority white, affluent neighborhood, when I hear the ignorant and offensive comments against Latine people at my school, I feel a responsibility to challenge that demeaning rhetoric. In undiverse environments, I felt the need to step into the role of an advocate for my community. Whether volunteering for my school's minority outreach program or attending protests advocating for the rights of undocumented and immigrant peoples, I made sure that I was uplifting the voices of my community. In high school, I joined Black Latinx Union, and found a united collective committed to advocacy and social change. There, and in other classes such as Contemporary Issues, Facing History, and Ethnic Studies, I began to realize the power of the stories I told. Speaking up in class about the insecurities I felt as a minority in a magnet school, of the importance of our history, and of the need for an inclusive education helped to bring necessary discussions to the table. Through education, I wish to advocate for a future where we all acknowledge and address the implications of our own biases and amplify the voices of those who need it most. I strive to advocate for a future where we all acknowledge and address the implications of our own biases, and create a diverse world committed to equity for all.

My sophomore year, I was selected by my school to be a “shadow host” for my school's equity outreach initiative: an effort to bring students from more diverse backgrounds, especially underprivileged students, to our magnet program. Through the initiative, several middle schoolers from lower-income neighborhoods would "shadow" me throughout the day, and I was encouraged to show them my perspective on being a Latinx at my school. I was assigned one student a week prior, then given three, perhaps due to shoddy planning or dropouts or performative action, who knows. None of them seemed confident in their chances of succeeding here. Coming from schools with much larger minority populations, my school must so affluently white. But what stood out to me was how surprised these girls were that I, a Latina, was thriving in such a "good" school. It hurt to see how hesitant these students were to even apply. However, what really struck me was when one shadow joked “any Black kids here?”. Although phrased as something comical, it was a troubling truth. I had never really noticed, or perhaps not chosen to see, but only ~1% of our students were Black. As I showed these kids around, I realized that even if a few students were shown these schools, that wouldn’t fix the real issue; the inequity they faced. Having them see a random high school wouldn’t fund their underserved schools or raise their parent’s economic statuses. As a person with middle-class parents, I had never had to face the triple disadvantage of being a minority woman from a poorer area. How could these students, who were never given the same opportunities, compete with white kids being painstakingly nurtured from birth? I remembered magnet kids bragging about having their parents rewriting their essays and hiring tutors. How were these kids supposed to do that if their parents didn’t speak English? Or if they worked 16-hour days to survive? Being in the affluent, sheltered bubble that had been my magnet high school and middle school, I hadn’t stopped to consider how unfair this was. These centuries of redlining and racism and continued discrimination didn’t just affect people in the 1950s, it affected their kids. Kids who weren’t provided the support of a stable household or income or greater educational foundations that could be passed on, who couldn’t move out of marginalized neighborhoods because that’s where they had been caged into. Plus, affirmative action couldn’t solve bigotry. I still remember a white mom from my school telling my immigrant mother that I was going to get into my magnet school easily “because I was Latina”. Not because I wanted to learn, or that I worked hard, but because I was Latina. Adding a few ethnic kids wouldn’t erase centuries of oppression and continued ignorance. Although this revelation may have been late in the making, it really opened my eyes to how much needed to change, both in my community and the greater society. Through further research, it made so much more sense that there was such a large diversity gap in elite areas, since minorities are disproportionately affected by historical disadvantage, discriminatory practices, and live in lower-income areas. Though not completely positive, my experience generated a positive change: it pushed me to do something. I began to understand how needed diversity was in my community, our spaces, and our schools. I was forced to see myself not only in light of my ethnicity and education, but also the advantages I had been afforded, and to advocate for those privileges to not be a privilege but instead a right for all.

These photos are from my Kajukenbo brown belt test. It was 90° and outdoors with masks, and I had prepared for this test for months. Brown is a big step in martial arts, and to get it I was to prove mastery of my forms, fitness, and self-defense without help. It was a big challenge that I was very anxious about, but I pushed myself and stepped up, completing the eight rounds of back-to-back sparring, cardio, and forms with confidence. Knowing all these forms and having the skills to complete this really emboldened me to face my fears and succeed!

I want to pursue higher education both to create a space where genuine improvement and education can occur and to push for greater equity and diversity in academic discussion. I see education as a proponent for both self-improvement and greater societal change. I have always had a passion for academia, cultivated by my family and their hard-fought pursuit of higher education. My mother and paternal grandparents being immigrants themselves, I am a firsthand example of the power of schooling. Their advocation for better educational opportunities for themselves and their children inspires me to continue that legacy of academia and advocacy. Learning about the world around me is something that I find very exciting, and rewarding, as I believe it allows me to widen my own perspective and be a more productive member of society. Through classes such as Facing History, Contemporary Issues, Philosophy, and World History, I was able to discover my passion for learning about other cultures, history, and the subtle ways in which our perspectives are shaped. I want to get a master's or possibly Ph.D. in anthropology, as I am very interested in the intersection of biology, culture, and evolution in the origins of our groups, actions, and thought. I hope to use higher education as a way to explore this passion and help both myself and others to see the shared humanity and wealth of diversity that is essential to our world. College-level and/or Ph.D. programs would give me the ability to both explore my interests and to be able to further research the cultural, racial, evolutionary, and moral aspects that we still face, and how we can most effectively dismantle our long-held biases and divisions in order to move forward. I am very passionate about social justice, as I believe that is essential, to try to make a difference and try to help others access the opportunities necessary for equity, self-advocacy, economic and social betterment. Many critical social issues are still very prevalent but often ignored, but I believe that if we join in collective action and solidarity, we can generate widespread change. To help address these issues, I frequently attend protests at the Texas capitol for issues such as immigration rights, Black Lives Matter, women’s rights to autonomy, education not criminalization, and other issues with classmates and groups such as the Black Latinx Student Union. I also volunteer with multiple organizations as I am the treasurer of my school's American Red Cross Club, a Beauty Becomes You (BBY) Teen Founder, and a Feeding Austin artist. These are all organizations that I feel are trying to make a real difference in the world, whether through social and global outreach and support (Red Cross), mental health support for the elderly (BBY), and providing aid to underserved Austin communities (Feeding Austin). Additionally, I am a brown belt in Kajukenbo martial arts and a boxer at an all-women's club, where I found the community and skills necessary to defend myself and grow with strong women that inspire me. Above all, I want to make a difference, to uplift the voices of marginalized communities, and provide a space for their lives and discussions to be held. I understand that only the individual action of a few cannot change processes centuries in the making, but I think that we must try to use our own privilege to educate and uplift others. I believe that higher education would allow me to not only prove the increasing role minorities can play in academia but also to foster such change and improvement through comprehensive research, discussion, and action.

Although the world is progressing, many facets of art are still very much dominated by the older, white, male crowd, with the “traditional” values and people that “traditionally” held all the power. I want to tear that barrier down. As a woman of color in a very Western-centric society, I want to be able to express not only the complexities of my culture but also provide a more nuanced perspective in both art and life. I want to use my art to share my identity and show that there is a space in art and in the real world for women of color, for our stories and our struggles. I also want to help to address the very real history of violence and apathy that humanity has caused. As someone extremely committed to social justice and the amplification of marginalized voices, I see art as an essential avenue of mental revolution and societal change. I wish for my work to transform the way people see the people and structures around them, and question what they believe. I want to generate an emotional response, to shape the way people think, to highlight or destroy a facet of modern society through paint or charcoal lines. I aspire to make a mark on the minds of others, not only in the few minutes people take to appreciate my art, but long after my piece has faded from their minds. I want the idea and message that my pieces carry to stay. I believe that the most valuable human advancements always occur first in the mind, not the body, and I hope to use my art to provoke those transformations. Without a shift in mindset or structure, it is difficult to generate any long-term improvement or revolution that many of us seek to bring on. I want my pieces to provoke those seeing them, to challenge the ignorance and detachment that has pervaded many facets of society. Art such as Oswaldo Guayasamín’s The Dead Children, Pablo Picasso’s Guernica and Massacre in Korea, and Nicky Nodjoumi’s “Long Live Freedom” unashamedly encapsulate the pain and cruelty of humanity, the issues of our world that are so often ignored. Many of these pieces are graphic or extremely emotional, but I think that is what makes them so powerful. When I see their work, I see the brutality that we often shy away from or even glorify, but in a way that I cannot ignore. When I see these deeply political works of artists, I am not only forced to address our complicity in this violence, but I am also inspired to do something about it. That is the beauty of art. It can transcend language, time, essence, while still carrying meaning to all the people that see it. That is what I wish to do. I wish to use my art as a tool to expose the darkest parts of us and work to break us free of their hatred and dispassion. The suffering captured in these pieces allows us to see our own inhumanity. It rips us from our day-to-day monotony, from our ignorance or indifference, and makes us acknowledge what greed and war, and hatred have done to us and what we must do to prevent that. I want to be able to commit my time, my being to making a change such as the artists have done and continue to do, to use art as a weapon against passivity and bigotry, and the aestheticization of politics and life that many forms of media seem to portray. This scholarship would give me the base to start that journey, the opportunity to finally explore my passion for art and change as a future, not a hobby. I have always been hesitant about pursuing art as a career or major focus of interest. Many have said that it is too hard to get a job, to make a difference, that you have to be a prodigy to make it in the art world. I am not a prodigy. But I have a passion and love for the world, and a desire to make it better with my own hands. This scholarship would not only help me get the financial basis for my dreams but also convince both myself and those around me that I am good enough, that my dreams to inspire and challenge the world can be realized. I want to be the change, and I know this scholarship will help me achieve that.

Both within our social spheres and through efforts reaching across the globe, it is more important than ever to make a difference and try to help others access the opportunities necessary for self-advocacy, economic and social betterment, and equality. Many issues such as homelessness, poverty, racial injustice, and prejudice are still very prevalent but often ignored on both a local and global scale. It is crucial, especially as citizens of a global world who have the privilege to use our voice, that we actively use privilege to amplify the voices of those struggling for justice and recognition. I believe that all of us have a responsibility to bring these issues to the forefront and take concrete measures to address them through actions such as community organization, civic engagement, and peaceful protest. It often feels that our world is often filled with hyper-nationalized and exclusive rhetoric, with headlines pushing only one point of view and demonizing the other instead of trying to understand why these events are occurring. Yet, every day, hundreds of life-changing protests, actions, and organizations are fighting against oppression and prejudice, and they need our help. That is why it is more essential than ever to not simply support the ideas we've grown to accept, but to and challenge the preconceptions and people we may have supported. With this, it is also important to look further than our own social group and push to uplift the peoples that have been ignored and oppressed. One of the most powerful instruments to achieve this transformation is our capacity to spread awareness and encourage change. With the growth of international platforms such as social media and the web, it is easier than ever to advocate for your community and the communities around you to a much larger audience than previously possible. The internet and other forms of communication have been shown to be a valuable forum to bring awareness to injustice and ignorance and dismantle societal harms. By addressing the biases and issues prevalent to both your community and the greater population, more people can become aware of prejudices they may have not been cognizant of, and escape the cycle of intolerance and apathy that many communities grapple with. That being said, simply informing people of the struggles that are occurring will not be enough to create concrete solutions. Only through actual involvement and action to address the root cause(s) will far-reaching issues such as bigotry, inequality, and hatred even begin to be solved. Whether it is calling your senators, working to provide stable living conditions for the unhoused, or joining organizations helping to bring greater infrastructure and freedom to marginalized communities around the world, online advocacy must be combined with civic action to most effectively create positive change. As a strong proponent of both individual and collective action, I also try to get involved with my community both in school and in my daily life. At school, I am a member of our Black and Latino Student Union, National Honor Society, Feeding Austin Project, treasurer of my school’s chapter of the American Red Cross, and work with these groups to provide both monetary and physical support to the greater Austin community and beyond. As someone with a passion for art, I designed and painted tote bags for the Feeding Austin initiative, with all proceeds going to supporting unhoused and at-risk community members. Through the Red Cross, I worked to bring awareness to the signs and effects of natural disasters, and how to prepare your area in case of such danger. As our chapter's treasurer, I worked with Red Cross and community members to raise funds for international relief initiatives aimed at providing medical services and support to underprivileged communities, and educated Austinites about the causes that Red Cross supports. Outside of school, I try to remain socially active by attending protests and online programs advocating for the rights of the unhoused, concrete action against police brutality, greater representation of minority groups in government and society and a multitude of other events around social justice. In addition, I work with organizations such as Grassroots Law, Get Involved Austin, and DoSomething.org to write to senators and make a difference in my community. One of my favorite programs is The Beauty Becomes You Foundation, where I work as a founding member of the Circles of Light Teen Board to connect with isolated seniors in the greater Austin area through letter-writing programs. Throughout all of these initiatives, I hope to be bettering my community in a way that will push for the rights of our minority, and marginalized neighbors, while also helping others to do the same. Above all, I want to see the world become a more empathetic and selfless place that advocates for all peoples, not simply a select few. I want to see us grow, not only within our communities, but as a worldwide movement towards a greater understanding of each other regardless of background or origin. In a world budding with endless opportunities for international connection, for chances to go beyond our traditional social groups, many people still hold on to the biases their background or society has taught them. I hope that as a society, we face those prejudices head-on and really try to see why those (often unconscious) grudges have even been fostered. I also hope that as a global community, we will work collectively to dismantle and move past these grudges. In an age of increased social and cultural change, it is critical that we take the time to actually look around and to put ourselves in the shoes of people different from us instead of being blinded by bigotry and ignorance. Only then, will real change occur.