My father is from Ecuador and my mother is from the United States, therefore I have been raised knowing two cultures. This will hopefully give me an advantage in the healthcare setting. Being Hispanic can have a positive influence. First of all, speaking Spanish can be an invaluable asset when communicating with Hispanic patients and families, which can create a bridge of trust and understanding between the patient and the provider. Additionally, having a personal understanding of Hispanic culture can help the provider to gain insight into the patient's mindset and improve the provider-patient relationship. Moreover, being Hispanic can help break down language and cultural barriers, allowing for a better understanding of healthcare-related issues and concerns. As a future PA, I hope to provide patient-centered care that promotes health and well-being. Another goal is to build strong relationships with patients and families by practicing ethical and culturally appropriate care. It will also be important to effectively communicate with colleagues and other healthcare providers to ensure quality patient care. Above all, I plan to advocate on behalf of patients and their families. Being a Hispanic PA can be a huge benefit for healthcare as it allows for increased cultural understanding within the profession. This can lead to better care for all patients, as well as removing language barriers when caring for those who may not speak English. Additionally, having a Hispanic PA in the healthcare environment can lead to a more diverse, inclusive staff that is better suited to meet the needs of a wide range of patients, both Hispanic and non-Hispanic. One day I hope to be a PA to provide patients with healthcare under the direction and supervision of a physician. I want to learn to perform physical exams, diagnose and treat illnesses, order and interpret tests, assist in surgery, and write prescriptions. Physician assistants help reduce the cost of healthcare. The United States is becoming majority-minority, and the Hispanic community is one of the largest contributors to this shift. The Hispanic community is already facing significant health disparities, and physician assistants can help to address some of those disparities. Many Hispanic people do not have access to quality healthcare and have higher rates of chronic health conditions that are not being treated adequately. Physician assistants can also be a valuable voice for the healthcare needs of this community. Overall, having Hispanic physician assistants is necessary for providing quality health care to Hispanic communities.

Finding Your Voice My parents, teachers, and coaches helped shape me into the person that I am today. What does it me to Find Your Voice? I have always been a very shy child. Despite my mom being my principal, I was still very timid and afraid to really talk to a lot of people including my teachers and coaches. My kindergarten and first grade teachers thought that I could not talk. My mom worked hard to match me with a small group of close friends and would create time outside of school to help me become comfortable with my friend group. My parents also kept me involved in baseball year round to hopefully help with socialization and my anxiety about talking to others. I think there were many times that my parents worried that I would never outgrow the anxiety of talking to others and the feeling of only talking when it was really necessary. Through the years, I worked to overcome this anxiety. I stayed involved in the service club at my school and played year round baseball for a travel baseball team and my school team. I received several awards for citizenship and many times my coaches would recognize me as one of the best players, but the quietest as well. I can remember one coach saying, "This guy doesn't say much but when he gets on the mound his pitching does all the talking." I still through the years did not talk in public unless it was absolutely necessary.When I reached high school, my parents decided that I may need to go to some type of behavioral therapy. I did attend therapy and began to realize that my anxiety and insecurity to talk out loud was something I had to overcome. I have always maintained a straight A average and have been awarded with the highest average in Algebra I, Physics, and Bible at my school. I was also inducted into the National Honor Society. I knew that I would one day go to college and that I needed to be able to interview and talk to people. During my junior year in high school, the principal at my school chose me to serve on the SALT team, the Student Academic Leadership Team. This team worked with our principal to collaborate and to give a student voice and perspective on different projects. We also were responsible for delivering a Bible lesson to a small group of 6th graders during small group chapel on Tuesdays. When I was chosen, I really did not think I would be able toactually teach a bible lesson to these young men. To my surprise, I did a fantastic job and actually got used to talking and teaching them and began to feel myself "Find my voice". Proudly, I am excited to pursue a career in Pharmacy and plan to enter into the Pre-Pharmacy program at Auburn University in the fall of 2023. Auburn offers two routes to enter into the Pre-Pharmacy program. My choice is to enter with a Bachelor's degree in Nutrition Science, because I do have a love for maintaining my health through nutrition and exercise. During my baseball career, my coaches expected team members to be in tip top shape which took discipline in diet and exercise. My junior year at Auburn, by maintaining a 3.5 GPA, I plan to be accepted to the Harrison School of Pharmacy to finish the doctoral program. I found my voice and can hopefully help others find theirs.

At Mobile Christian High School I had the opportunity to serve on the SALT Team (Student Academic Leadership Team). This opportunity was given to students who demonstrated academic excellence and leadership in our school. This team served as a student advisory team. We met weekly with the headmaster to discuss current issues on campus. We also lead prospective families and guests on tours of our school. In addition, we were responsible for teaching the small group chapel lessons to a group of younger students. This opportunity helped me find my voice as a student leader and gave me the confidence to talk in front of others. This type of experience helped me know that I want to help others and gave me the confidence to pursue a career in Pharmacy. I also have had the opportunity to be a part of MCSN Live. This club was responsible for presenting a LIVE broadcast every morning at our school. We created the morning announcements, sports reports, birthdays, and general reminders for students. I served on the production team and was responsible for running the equipment and sound panel for the show. This gave me experience with working behind the scenes for a broadcast. I was expected to report to school 45 minutes early every day to prepare for the morning show. This taught me the value of responsibility and the dedication it takes to be successful in a real-world situation. Through high school, I have worked hard to keep my academic record high and now I feel like my focus has to be on my career in Pharmaceuticals. Further developing my math and science skills will serve me well in the future. Hopefully, spending my resources and time on my career will make an impact on not only my life but on the life of others. I also collected over 200 volunteer hours during my high school years. These volunteer hours included volunteering at the Bay Area Food Bank, the 18U World Series, cutting grass and completing tasks for the elderly and people in underprivileged areas.

At Mobile Christian High School I had the opportunity to hear about serving others daily. We focused on what it means to help those in need and that God wants us to treat others like ourselves. At school, I had the opportunity to serve my classmates by being on the SALT Team (Student Academic Leadership Team). This opportunity was given to students who demonstrated academic excellence and leadership in our school. This team served as a student advisory team. We met weekly with the headmaster to discuss current issues on campus. We also lead prospective families and guests on tours of our school. In addition, we were responsible for teaching the small group chapel lessons to a small group of younger students. The groups I served were 6th-grade boys and 8th-grade boys. We met each Tuesday to discuss the chapel/Bible lesson for the week. This opportunity helped me find my voice as a student leader and gave me the confidence to talk in front of others. I also have had the opportunity to be a part of MCSN Live. This club was responsible for presenting a LIVE broadcast every morning at our school. We created the morning announcements, sports reports, birthdays, and general reminders for students. I served on the production team and was responsible for running the Magicoder and sound panel for the show. We broadcast our show on our school's YouTube channel. This gave me experience with working behind the scenes for a broadcast and what it takes to stay on task when your team is live in front of our entire school body. I was expected to report to school 45 minutes early every day to prepare for the morning show. This taught me the value of responsibility and the dedication it takes to be successful in a real-world situation. I also received over 100 service hours during my high school career. These service hours were given for helping the elderly in my community and spending time at the Bay Area Food Bank where I help separate and prepare food for those in need. I also worked countless hours in the summer at my high school helping in the bookstore. Another project that I was involved in was Serve Mobile Day. On this day I worked with another group of boys to clear an overgrown area and pick up trash in a neighborhood that needed some help. All of these experiences helped me become the person I am today. I feel that it is important to give back. There is nothing like the feeling of helping others.

Finding Your Voice My parents, teachers, and coaches helped shape me into the person that I am today. What does it me to Find Your Voice? I have always been a very shy child. Despite my mom being my principal, I was still very timid and afraid to talk to a lot of people including my teachers and coaches. My kindergarten and first-grade teachers thought that I could not talk. My mom worked hard to match me with a small group of close friends and would create time outside of school to help me become comfortable with my friend group. My parents also kept me involved in baseball year-round to hopefully help with socialization and my anxiety about talking to others. I think there were many times that my parents worried that I would never outgrow the anxiety of talking to others and the feeling of only talking when it was really necessary. Through the years, I worked to overcome this anxiety. I stayed involved in the service club at my school and played year-round baseball for a travel baseball team and my school team. I received several awards for citizenship and many times my coaches would recognize me as one of the best players, but the quietest as well. I can remember one coach saying, "This guy doesn't say much but when he gets on the mound his pitching does all the talking." I still through the years did not talk in public unless it was necessary. When I reached high school, my parents decided that I may need to go to some type of behavioral therapy. I did attend therapy and began to realize that my anxiety and insecurity to talk out loud was something I had to overcome. I have always maintained a straight A average and have been awarded the highest average in Algebra I, Physics, and Bible at my school. I was also inducted into the National Honor Society. I knew that I would one day go to college and that I needed to be able to interview and talk to people. During my junior year in high school, the principal at my school chose me to serve on the SALT team, the Student Academic Leadership Team. This team worked with our principal to collaborate and to give a student voice and perspective on different projects. We also were responsible for delivering a Bible lesson to a small group of 6th graders during small group chapel on Tuesdays. When I was chosen, I did not think I would be able to teach a bible lesson to these young men. To my surprise, I did a fantastic job and got used to talking and teaching them and began to feel myself "Find my voice". Proudly, I am excited to pursue a career in Pharmacy and plan to enter into the Pre-Pharmacy program at Auburn University in the fall of 2023. Auburn offers two routes to enter into the Pre-Pharmacy program. My choice is to enter with a Bachelor's degree in Nutrition Science because I do have a love for maintaining my health through nutrition and exercise. During my baseball career, my coaches expected team members to be in tip-top shape which took discipline in diet and exercise. In my junior year at Auburn, by maintaining a 3.5 GPA, I plan to be accepted to the Harrison School of Pharmacy to finish the doctoral program. I found my voice and can hopefully help others find theirs.

My educational and career goals include acquiring a Bachelor's Degree in Biomedical Science while applying to a Pre-Pharmacy program. Next, I plan to finish Pharmacy School at the Harrison School of Pharmacy. I hope to become familiar with the processes in place in a hospital setting for maintaining pharmaceutical records as well as impact the proper dosing and administration procedures for vital medications for patients. I would also be interested in possibly working with a pharmaceutical company to help with the proper dosing of medications and possible interactions. Through the years of high school, I have maintained an A average and Math and Science courses seem to come easy to me. I was awarded the highest average in Physics and Algebra II. Math and Science have been part of my life and it just seems fitting to pursue a career in Science. At Mobile Christian High School I had the opportunity to serve on the SALT Team (Student Academic Leadership Team). This opportunity was given to students who demonstrated academic excellence and leadership in our school. This team served as a student advisory team. We met weekly with the headmaster to discuss current issues on campus. We also lead prospective families and guests on tours of our school. In addition, we were responsible for teaching the small group chapel lessons to a group of younger students. This opportunity helped me find my voice as a student leader and gave me the confidence to talk in front of others. This type of experience helped me know that I want to help others and gave me the confidence to pursue a career in Pharmacy. I also have had the opportunity to be a part of MCSN Live. This club was responsible for presenting a LIVE broadcast every morning at our school. We created the morning announcements, sports reports, birthdays, and general reminders for students. I served on the production team and was responsible for running the equipment and sound panel for the show. This gave me experience with working behind the scenes for a broadcast. I was expected to report to school 45 minutes early every day to prepare for the morning show. This taught me the value of responsibility and the dedication it takes to be successful in a real-world situation. Through high school, I have worked hard to keep my academic record high and now I feel like my focus has to be on my career in Pharmaceuticals. Further developing my math and science skills will serve me well in the future. Hopefully, spending my resources and time on my career will make an impact on not only my life but on the life of others. Please consider my application for scholarships. We are a middle-class family where both of my parents work hard to provide for my sister and me. They have been great role models and examples for us and as we have begun looking at colleges the only way for us to afford for me to go to college is to take out loans. I do not want my parents to be burdened with loans that could last into their retirement days. All aid and many scholarships are only for those students who do not have parents who work or are in the poverty range. There is no assistance for middle class families. Please consider helping me help my family with the burden of hundreds of thousands of loans just so I can have a successful career.

Finding Your Voice My parents, teachers, and coaches helped shape me into the person that I am today. What does it me to Find Your Voice? I have always been a very shy child. Despite my mom being my principal, I was still very timid and afraid to talk to a lot of people including my teachers and coaches. My kindergarten and first-grade teachers thought that I could not talk. My mom worked hard to match me with a small group of close friends and would create time outside of school to help me become comfortable with my friend group. My parents also kept me involved in baseball year-round to hopefully help with socialization and my anxiety about talking to others. I think there were many times that my parents worried that I would never outgrow the anxiety of talking to others and the feeling of only talking when it was really necessary. Through the years, I worked to overcome this anxiety. I stayed involved in the service club at my school and played year-round baseball for a travel baseball team and my school team. I received several awards for citizenship and many times my coaches would recognize me as one of the best players, but the quietest as well. I can remember one coach saying, "This guy doesn't say much but when he gets on the mound his pitching does all the talking." I still through the years did not talk in public unless it was necessary. When I reached high school, my parents decided that I may need to go to some type of behavioral therapy. I did attend therapy and began to realize that my anxiety and insecurity to talk out loud was something I had to overcome. I have always maintained a straight A average and have been awarded the highest average in Algebra I, Physics, and Bible at my school. I was also inducted into the National Honor Society. I knew that I would one day go to college and that I needed to be able to interview and talk to people. During my junior year in high school, the principal at my school chose me to serve on the SALT team, the Student Academic Leadership Team. This team worked with our principal to collaborate and to give a student voice and perspective on different projects. We also were responsible for delivering a Bible lesson to a small group of 6th graders during small group chapel on Tuesdays. When I was chosen, I did not think I would be able to teach a bible lesson to these young men. To my surprise, I did a fantastic job and got used to talking and teaching them and began to feel myself "Find my voice". Proudly, I am excited to pursue a career in Pharmacy and plan to enter into the Pre-Pharmacy program at Auburn University in the fall of 2023. Auburn offers two routes to enter into the Pre-Pharmacy program. My choice is to enter with a Bachelor's degree in Nutrition Science because I do have a love for maintaining my health through nutrition and exercise. During my baseball career, my coaches expected team members to be in tip-top shape which took discipline in diet and exercise. In my junior year at Auburn, by maintaining a 3.5 GPA, I plan to be accepted to the Harrison School of Pharmacy to finish the doctoral program. I found my voice and can hopefully help others find theirs.

Learning from Failure The nervous feeling in my stomach grew as the time came closer to 5:30 pm. I was a closing pitcher, so I would only come in at the end of games if needed. I was not aware, but this game would be the game that changes my view on life’s problems itself. We were winning three to zero. My nerves were going crazy because this is when I tend to get playing time. “You got the next inning,'' my coach said. I would be pitching in the bottom of the sixth inning. I ran down to the bullpen to get loose and my nerves spiked. I jogged out onto the field, placed my feet on the rubber of the mound, and said to myself, “You got this.” The first couple of batters I faced got base hits. The next batter approached the plate with a determined look on his face. I threw a fastball and the batter put a perfect swing on it. The ball flew about four hundred feet over the fence. My face turned as red as a tomato and the game was now tied. The emotions in the game increased and the crowd became louder. At this moment I had to do better, or we would lose the game. My teammates came to talk to me on the mound to help calm me down. I was so frustrated with myself. The next two batters got hits too! I began to feel so worthless to this team. The score was now four to three. We were losing. The next three batters got out. I walked back to the dugout with shame. We had to score this inning or the game was over. Sitting there hopelessly, I heard the crowd scream. I looked up and with a few hits, we took the lead. We were winning five to four. The inning concluded and I was given a chance to redeem myself. I went up to the mound shaking. I quickly got the first two batters out and excitement rushed through me. Fear struck after giving up a base hit to the next batter. With a look on his face, I will never forget, the batter and I battled for about twelve pitches with a three-two count. The game was on the line. The batter hit the ball over the fence! I lost the game for us. It felt as if my life had ended on that mound. It took me weeks to get over this game, but I gained more from it than I lost. Failure can help us more than success. I was relatively new to playing on the varsity team and I learned that the competition was high. I needed to improve my strategy for pitching. This game motivated me to work harder to become the best pitcher and person I could be. Later, I succeeded in a playoff game because of the way I learned to battle through tough situations. This changed the way I looked at life. It made me realize that I am going to have hard times and it is going to be challenging to get through, but I have to push through and learn from the hard times to help better myself for what the future holds. Although this event might seem small to someone who did not experience it, it drives me in my everyday life to push through any kind of adversity and work as hard as I possibly can to become the best person I can be.

Finding Your Voice My parents, teachers, and coaches helped shape me into the person that I am today. What does it me to Find Your Voice? I have always been a very shy child. Despite my mom being my principal, I was still very timid and afraid to really talk to a lot of people including my teachers and coaches. My kindergarten and first grade teachers thought that I could not talk. My mom worked hard to match me with a small group of close friends and would create time outside of school to help me become comfortable with my friend group. My parents also kept me involved in baseball year round to hopefully help with socialization and my anxiety about talking to others. I think there were many times that my parents worried that I would never outgrow the anxiety of talking to others and the feeling of only talking when it was really necessary. Through the years, I worked to overcome this anxiety. I stayed involved in the service club at my school and played year round baseball for a travel baseball team and my school team. I received several awards for citizenship and many times my coaches would recognize me as one of the best players, but the quietest as well. I can remember one coach saying, "This guy doesn't say much but when he gets on the mound his pitching does all the talking." I still through the years did not talk in public unless it was absolutely necessary. When I reached high school, my parents decided that I may need to go to some type of behavioral therapy. I did attend therapy and began to realize that my anxiety and insecurity to talk out loud was something I had to overcome. I have always maintained a straight A average and have been awarded with the highest average in Algebra I, Physics, and Bible at my school. I was also inducted into the National Honor Society. I knew that I would one day go to college and that I needed to be able to interview and talk to people. During my junior year in high school, the principal at my school chose me to serve on the SALT team, the Student Academic Leadership Team. This team worked with our principal to collaborate and to give a student voice and perspective on different projects. We also were responsible for delivering a Bible lesson to a small group of 6th graders during small group chapel on Tuesdays. When I was chosen, I really did not think I would be able to actually teach a bible lesson to these young men. To my surprise I did a fantastic job and actually got used to talking and teaching them and began to feel myself "Find my voice". Proudly, I am excited to pursue a career in Pharmacy and plan to enter into the Pre-Pharmacy program at Auburn University in the fall of 2023. Auburn offers two routes to enter into the Pre-Pharmacy program. My choice is to enter with a Bachelor's degree in Nutrition Science, because I do have a love for maintaining my health through nutrition and exercise. During my baseball career, my coaches expected team members to be in tip top shape which took discipline in diet and exercise. My junior year at Auburn, by maintaining a 3.5 GPA, I plan to be accepted to the Harrison School of Pharmacy to finish the doctoral program. I found my voice and can hopefully help others find theirs.

My goal is to attend Auburn University and major in Pre-Pharmacy: Nutrition Science and start Pharmacy classes during my junior year. After that I plan to become an emergency Pharmacist. This requires a doctorate in Pharmacy.

Math is my thing! I find it intriguing to work through the intricate problems and gain an understanding of how numbers interrelate. I am lucky enough to be math minded and Math comes very easy to me. I have never made less than an A in mathematics. Most years in high school I maintained higher than a 100 average. I enjoy working through detailed algorithms and long word problems that most people cannot understand. Math is a way of life for me. I see math is everything I do. I am constantly calculating all situations. Numbers are everywhere and having an understanding of how numbers work together helps one understand the ins and outs of situations. I want to pursue a career in pharmacy and work with medications to create compounds and dosages that will help those people who are in the most critical condition.

I am planning to major in Hospital Informatics and to apply for the Pre-Pharmacy program at Auburn University. I want to get a bachelor's degree in Hospital Informatics and learn the technological processes behind the all hospital data. Keeping accurate records on patients is of upmost importance. Many times when people become sick they are seeing many different types of doctors and it is so important for those doctors to have accurate records in order to make informed decisions especially with regard to medications. During my junior year, I hope to be able to start the Pharmacy Program at the Harrison School of Pharmacy. With a bachelors in Hospital Informatics and a Doctorate in Pharmacy I hope to make an impact on the processes for delivering and dosing the correct medications for some of the most ill patients. With technology that is available today, processes could be streamlined to help patients receive medications quicker and safer in US hospitals. Many times it takes too long to receive urgent medications due to slow processes. During this past year, I have debated the best career choice for me. I am naturally gifted with a mind for Mathematics and I have a love for computers and technology. Combining these two degrees I hope to be successful in this career.

Baseball has been a huge part of my life. I started playing at the young age of 5. Currently, I play on the Varsity team for Mobile Christian High School. Our team has won five state championships and two while I have been on the team. I have also played on a travel team in order to stay active and improving for the whole year. During my baseball career I have mainly played as a middle infielder. During my junior year, my coach decided he wanted me to become a pitcher ONLY. I am able to throw the ball to specific spots and I learned to throw different types of pitches. Although I do not have the velocity of some pitchers, I do have the accuracy. This was a hard pill to swallow. Through hard work and determination, I overcame this idea and decided that I needed to be the best pitcher I could be. During this time I researched really good pitchers. Mariano Rivera’s inspiring story of making his way up to the Major Leagues in baseball and becoming one of the best closers in MLB history really interested me. Mariano Rivera grew up in Puerto Caimito, Panama. During Mariano's free time he loved to play any type of game that involved a ball, but his favorite was a game where they would get a piece of cardboard and cut three holes in it, and string it up between two sticks in the sand. Then he and his friends would stand about twenty feet away and see who had the best accuracy at getting the rocks through the holes. Mariano would always win. His aim was amazing . He could throw the ball wherever he wanted to place it. This reminds me of how I throw and why my coach wanted me for pitching only. Mariano Rivera made his MLB debut in 1995, partly being a starting pitcher and partly being a closer. He won five American League Rolaids Relief Man Awards and three Delivery Man of the Year Awards, and finished in the top three for voting for the Cy Young Awards four times through his 19 years with the Yankees. My favorite baseball team is the Braves. I really enjoy watching the Braves play mainly because they are close enough for me to be able to attend the some of the games. I live in Mobile and so they are the closest MLB team. I have been to several MLB games including the Astros. My favorite position is still short stop. When I was younger my parents taught me to catch and worked with me to be able to field any type of grounder. My mom specifically would hit me grounders in the backyard until I was able to field 100 out of 100 cleanly. She loved doing this with me starting as young as 7 or 8 years old. As I began playing in high school we had to stop because I became stronger than her and it was hard for her to catch the balls I would throw to her. My dad had to take over that role. Baseball has been a sweet spot and a great activity that my whole family has been involved in my entire life. My parents and my sister have traveled with me to baseball tournaments since I was very young. We would spend our weekends and summers at ball parks all over the southeast. Although, it was sometimes very hot we loved every minute of the time together and I loved just playing baseball.