Growing up, I was always an athlete constantly in a sport. No matter if it was indoors or outdoors on grass or on concrete. One thing I always struggled with was my allergies during these sports. It was never an issue but always a distraction and it even happens till this day. Itchy eyes, sneezing, and shortness of breath would constantly happen but day after day I would convince myself I do not have allergies because I never wanted to let my dad know. I would get asked by coaches and my father if I'm okay since I had red eyes or a runny nose most of the time and I would tell them, "I can walk it off." Now most times I did but other times I could not and it completely ruined my day or even week. Having to deal with allergies sucks because it is something I could not control and maybe if I did tell my dad than I could have been able to control it. When I played outdoor sports, more specifically, football, I would constantly have my allergies bother me. My eyes would itch and or have a runny nose which would bother me so much since I would get so distracted from my goal of the game and would sometimes mess up on plays. Even when I played basketball, there were times I would sneeze a lot and would always wonder what it was. Looking back I know now that it was my allergies and because of this most of the time my allergies would come up, I would play bad and let my team down. I felt sick and even at my lowest point and it would cause me to feel drained and unhealthy to the point where I didn't even want to play basketball anymore but instead just lay in bed. This not only applied to sports but in school as well since I would always play on the field during recess and lunch with friends. Again and again, itchy eyes, runny nose, and sneezing, all the symptoms you can think of when allergies appears. I could not focus in class or even bother to listen because of how sick I felt and only now do I wish I would have told someone. Now that I am more aware of my allergies and now have help from my parents and friends I feel better about myself. I don't get mad or upset anymore when my allergies appear because I know how to handle it safely and properly. I am more invested in my education now and have chose to pursue my education after high school so being able to control my allergies will help with my mental state and be properly caught up with my academics. A transitioning point from moving into a life without parents and adults around you will be tough especially since my parents would remind me about a lot of things that I may have forgot about. That is apart of the journey of maturing and being responsible. I have goals of earning my masters degree in aerospace engineering and I know I can achieve this it is just up to me whether or not I want to put in the work. My confidence is most important since I always doubt myself but one other obstacle is my allergies. My allergies would affect me and bother me to the point of wondering, "why am I even in school." It was bad and now I only plan to be able to control my allergies for a better future.

Civil engineering is an important piece to this country and this world since without civil engineering most of our world would be in pieces. Bridges, skyscrapers, businesses, houses, without civil engineering most of these would not stay intact or even exist. Thousands of engineers work together to create something to help mankind continue evolving. Structures such as the Golden Gate Bridge, the White House, and even schools helps thousands to millions evolve as people. Schools allow for more students to learn and even learn about civil engineering. The Golden Gate Bridge has a significant mark in human history and is known as one of mankind's greatest infrastructures. Civil engineering means a lot to me since it is something that I have thought much about to pursue after my high school experience. As a kid I was always a builder, creating things out anything that was given to me. But one thing that every successful man has to overcome is obstacles and adversity. Without a challenge, no successful person on this earth would be where they are now. Everyday as you drive by a store, drive across a bridge, or go through a tunnel on the freeway. The main reason that bridge is able to sustain every cars weight or how a house is able to withstand earthquakes to a certain level is because of civil engineering. This field has helped millions of people day after day, disaster after disaster, but no regards or thanks are given to these engineers who construct these towering buildings. During an earthquake, if it were not for civil engineering no one would know how to construct a building that can withstand a large earthquake without collapsing on everyone below. Civil engineering ensures public safety to enable others to grow as people and let our economy grow as well. Water systems, pipelines, roads, everything you can think of that you would use on a daily basis is what civil engineers ensure to be as safe as possible for you to be able to use. Cities with strong a stable infrastructure allows for a greater economy and for people to grow as business man, family man, and for the future of this world, children. As a kid I would love creating stuff no matter what it was. It could have been a car, a plane, a house, or an alien gun. I would create this imaginary objects from anything that was given to me and that went from wood, cardboard, lego, and even plastic. I love creating things not even for myself but for other people to and my family would enjoy getting these gifts from me. They would tell me how talented I am, how smart I am, the usual compliments that a child would get. But there was a specific moment when I gave my grandmother a cardboard plane that I seen as my greatest accomplishment. She told me, "Ryan, this may seem huge to you now but for everyone else in this world this is something a child does as an everyday thing. You have creativity, take that, use it because unlike many of your cousins, uncles, and aunts, you have an imagination, creativity, and the brain to do whatever you please to do." This moment means so much to me because my grandma humbled as a child telling me that I have the potential to do what I please to do if I only I put my all into what I want to really do. After researching on what I really want to do after high school, I came to several options and one of my favorite options is civil engineering. I really have a connection to something in this field not only because of my liking of just building but because of the people who are pushing to work harder and harder everyday to do what I really want to do in life. Overcoming challenges is something every man and woman has to deal with in order to achieve their goals and aspirations. I have faced several challenges throughout my life that I have always found ways to push through. I faced obstacles with my personal life, my school life, my relationships but, I still found ways to push through and climb a ladder to become a better person. One obstacle that I cherish deeply is the time I forgave my mother for everything. My mother was not always apart of my life after my father took me from her. My time with her I never really spent time with and always was home alone, some days with a meal that would not be enough to feed a four year old child. After my father took me, I tried several times to reach out to her and hopefully she would reach back out to me and consider being apart of my life again. I invited her to my sports games, recitals, birthdays, holidays but in the end, she never showed up. I cried, I hated everyone including myself, I told myself I don't care but I always did. Of course as I grew older I matured more and realized that if I hold onto this resentment, it will only affect me and my future. I have faced several obstacles that some would say be my final straw. My dreams and goals are something nobody will ever be able to stop me from achieving. I was raised to push through my limits and know as a fact that the only person who can stop me is myself. Everyone and anyone can talk me down, insult me, and even hurt physically or mentally. But at the end of all of it I will always find a way to stand back up and take a step forward from where I left off because I have no intention of stopping my journey to be successful.

I have faced many adversities in my life since I have always been a sports person. I faced struggles with learning how to play with new teammates, new coaches, new rules, I have faced all you can think of in sports. I have also faced obstacles in life as well such as new schools, new friends, parents, girlfriends, and even myself. My mother was never part of my life since she never showed up to many of my events or bothered to reach out to me. I faced having to adapt with a new role model in my life, my step mother and I also had to adapt with living with a sibling, which I have never had in my life before. Having to learn new things for new classes that I never knew existed before, I have several experiences where I had to adapt and achieved things I never knew I could reach before. But there is always certain events that stick with me and in a situation where I had to face many obstacles and push through, I have certain experiences that I am grateful for today. One experience I keep dearly in my heart is the time I had to push through my mother's absence. As a child, my mother and father never really got along with each other since they both had different opinions on how to raise me and how to stay together as a couple. There were times where my mother would not take care of me at all and it was left to my father who had to work countless hours. My grandmother ended up taking me as her own raising me as if I was her son. Soon later my mother took me away from my family which was not the greatest time in my life. I was home alone, days where I could not have a full meal, or have to go to sleep with no parent in my house. My father ended up taking me and raised me from then on out. I tried several times to reach out to my mother to show up to my sports games, recitals, birthdays, holidays, but she never showed up. It was hard to grow up during this time since I was only five years old. Going through elementary school, middle school, wondering "Why does everyone else have a mom." It was hard for me to understand the why's and always blamed myself. Of course as a matured and became a young I realized it was never my fault. I pushed through and was able to forgive my mother for everything and realized having hate towards someone like her would childish since it is all in the past now. I am about to graduate high school and turn eighteen and now more than ever have realized that I need to grow up and be a man. holding resentment towards someone for something that has happened in the past will only anchor me down, holding me back from what I can do. Forgiveness is the best thing someone can do especially when entering adult hood. Holding opinions and hate towards anything or anyone can cause damage towards your future due to how much wasted time and feelings are put towards this person or thing. Being the "bigger man" is way better than arguing, fighting, and questioning the person because it can lead to good, but it can also lead to bad and in both situations you may never receive the answer you were always looking for.

I am a young hispanic teen living in a house of four aspiring to complete my college education to one day earn a successful career. I grew up in a religious household with my grandmother and father. My father was not as religious as my grandmother but they both equally taught me wisdom, knowledge, to survive in this world. There are many stories I have since I grew up in a hispanic household but there are ways certain events that stuck in my head. Going from life lessons to moments that I'll never forget because of how happy, excited, or grateful I was during the moment. Key events that have made me who I am today and events that are making me the man I will become one day. My culture is very important to me since I have family that came from Mexico and are indigenous people with Native blood in them. I have not recently dug deep or learned much about my culture but I do appreciate it and hope one day I could I can have the time learn more. When I used to play basketball as a kid, my grandmother would show up to all of my games. She would be there chanting my name, supporting me, making sure I am okay, she was always my biggest fan. In middle school, I played for our school's basketball team and so did many of my other friends. We were able to bring our team to the district championship for the first time in our schools history. My grandma would of course show up to my championship game and support me as much as I can. During the game she could see that I was nervous and I could be doing better than what I am doing. During the halftime, my grandmother told me to go up to her in the stands. I did not know what she was going to tell me or do but I still went to her to see if there was an emergency. As I walking to her she would talk to me in Spanish and this only happens when she is mad at me. "What are you doing I know you're better than that go show them who you are." I approached her and she gave me her blessing, we prayed, and we hugged each other. It may sound simple but this helped me during my game because I felt energized. I felt like I was boosted up with endless amount of energy and confidence after our prayers. This is special to me because I didn't realize how much a prayer could help someone believe they are the best player, student, son, friend, and or even father in the world. I carry this with me because anytime I feel like I can't do something or I don't have enough confidence to do something, I always pray to be given the confidence to do what I need to do. During a test, a party, concert, asking a girl out, I pray so I can gain the confidence to be able to do what I never thought I could do.

My father is a science man and has always been since he was a child. He loves science, math, technology, basically the whole STEM field. Me and my father would have conversations about our planet asking why we do so much damage and how we could come up with solutions but never do. I prize this world not only because I live on it but because of how much we could do if we just listened to our planet. I would say I love the mysterious of our world. I know this may sound simple but I say this because of our oceans and not what creatures lie in the deepest parts no one can reach, but what else is down there with them. Everyday scientist finds new species of spiders, frogs, centipede, it is amazing to know that throughout our time there is constant evolution leading to new species being born. Mystery is something everyone is interested in no matter the context. It could be from a book, a TV show, a movie, people, to even our world. I have seen articles and shows where people take these questions about the planet and take matters into their own hands by answering these questions themselves. One question that interests me the most is what really lies beneath ocean. Of course we know there are depths where no man can reach due to the pressure but as time goes on, humans have discovered unknown species roaming this deep in the ocean. From species that look alien to species that look like the animals we know of today but larger, scarier, more intelligent. It interesting to find these species but I also think that finding out what else lies with these unknown species is interesting as well. Since no one can enter these depths we do not know what is hiding down there. Maybe there is a mineral that can solve diseases, a metal that produces unlimited energy, an animal with cells that can cure a disease such as cancer. This applies to areas that have never been walked on by man either since there are several places in this world where no man has walked or can't due to the danger. The mystery, the questions, the interest in finding out what lies in unseen areas of this world may not be possible in years to come. I say this due to climate change, water pollution, atmospheric pollution, and humans in general. I myself do the simple stuff such as recycling and throwing away my trash. But I do more than just this, I pick up trash for others, I make sure me and my family are as natural and clean as possible to keep this world healthy, and I make sure that I always find a way to keep the air, the water, the ground, healthy. I wish I can do something that could impact the whole world so they can see how much I do so they can learn how much this world means to us. Doing the simple things, like myself, does so much for this world. My actions have a larger meaning on a city scale, but in a world wide scale, my actions are meaningless. Unless we all take action and work together to find ways to be able to live a life without having to worry about, is our air safe, is this water safe, and ask, is this food safe. Without a healthy planet, we put ourselves at risk of extinctions since we run off our planets resources so much, what are we without Earth.

I grew up in a household where my grandparents and mother came from Mexico. Of course. being Mexican myself, I learned my culture and understood the difference between life in America and Mexico. My grandmother raised me most my life teaching me morals, wisdom, and knowledge needed to make it through life. My household was very religious, we would go to church every Sunday, pray, give each other our blessings. Growing I separated from this part of my family due to personal reasons which caused me to separate from God and my grandmother as well. My grandmother is my motivation to pursue an education and earn a successful career to be able to retire my grandma so she no longer has to work. As I said before I grew up very religious but now I have slowing drifted away from my religion. I know everything I was taught is very important to me but there are times I wonder about my religion. Questions like, "was everything I was taught true?" My grandmother loved these questions because she was able to tell me about her life in Mexico and how she also had these same questions and so did my mother. My grandmother has a very special place in my heart and I soon wish to be able to get her off her feet and retire her as soon as I can. My parents and grandparents life before America is important to me since it shows me how much work they put into their lives just so I can have an opportunity to achieve all my goals. They have always pushed me to do better and be better than all of them no matter who gets in my way because they know that is my dream, to be successful.

Growing up, I always loved building, creating, and designing anything that would come to mind. It went from a wooden bow and air to a cardboard plane that could fly over 50 feet. I always loved building and working with my hands since I was also a sports person. I want to pursue into civil engineering since I know a field like this can lead me to a successful career. I chose this path because I always loved math and the STEM field in general since me and my father would have conversation just about math, science, and technology. Working with my hands is something I always loved to do since I always loved building even with little things like legos so I know civil engineering would be something I would be more comfortable in. I also do want to create a safe environment for those around me since I do see many during any day and especially during natural disasters, have their houses, businesses, destroyed, left in pieces. I have been a people person even though I can seem socially awkward and introverted. Even though I am very quiet around people, I do love helping people as much as I can. I was raised to have manners and respect towards everyone who gives me the respect back. I know there are many out in this world who would appreciate any amount of help from me no matter if it was food, clothing, or technology. Civil engineering would allow me to help create a safer future for the children who are soon to walk our cities. Knowing I can help build bridges, buildings, houses, that can mean so much to many people, I would want to make these buildings as safe as possible for the people who plan to fill these buildings up. Not only because it is my job to, but because I always care for the people around me and want to make sure they are just as safe as I am. This field is something I am interested in because I have family that have studied this field during their time in college. Studying this field allowed them to obtain a career where they no longer have to work with their hands but is now the person who calls the shots. Designing the buildings they would build before, designing the bridges they would build before. I took that as inspiration to one day become like this family member but take it further than what they went too. of course I want to be the person to call the shots, designing bridges, buildings, and houses because seeing my designs built into the real world would make me have a special feeling in my heart. But I would also want to be my own boss and create my own business. Being a CEO of a company that helps those with building what ever they need. Of course many people do have dreams of starting their own business, being an entrepreneur but I do believe I can achieve something like this just by studying civil engineering. My heart for the people, my passion for a great career are things that will allow me to achieve my dreams and be able to earn all the aspirations I strive to reach. Civil engineering is something I would love doing and would be an amazing opportunity to become someone who is known for helping his community. As a people person I do believe I will have the supporters and confidence to reach my goals.

Throughout my four years of high school I pondered the question on what to do after I graduate. I really wanted to take my basketball talents and evolve as an athlete. I have more recently thought about college and doing something I know I can do which is engineering. I say this because I also realized throughout my high school experience that I can easily catch on to math lessons on quicker than others. I plan to major in aerospace engineering but have had some thought about it as I get closer and closer to graduation. I have recently thought about trade school and it has become one of my contenders to what I choose to do after high school since I have two uncles who went to trade school and now live a great life with their families as electricians for the city. I was taught to never fall in love with money but with my dreams. Going to trade school to study to become an electrician is something I really don't see myself doing since it is something I have never thought of doing and was never really a passion of mine. I have talked to my uncles and learned things here and there, learning about the time I need to put into a career like this, and the sacrifices I have to make. I have done research on trade school and which one I would attend if I were to choose to pursue into trade school. I have gotten some interest into trade school and saw some classes I could take that would interest me the most. As I said before I have an interest in math and the STEM field as a whole since I grew up learning the most about science, math, and technology due to my father. Being an electrician would be inserting and something that I would probably like doing as a career. But it is not something that is my dream and my dream job since I would rather be an engineer, more specifically an aerospace engineer. College is something that I am very passionate about since I would be the first in my family to be accepted into college. Trade has never come to mind till this year and this is the very first time I have heard of trade school. Trade is a great opportunity for many people and even myself. I push myself to be better than what I know I am since I have always been pushed my entire life by my father. I have the mentality where I have no boundaries or limits to my name. Trade is something I never saw myself doing since it seems like something that I would be passionate about since I know I can attend high level four year university colleges. Financially wise, it is a struggle so many of my dreams are shut down due to money. I do have help from family members but I cannot leech of them for the rest of my education. Trade would allow me to save money and be more comfortable financially in the future. Being is student debt is a scary thing to hear since I know student debt can ruin peoples lives and even cause them to end up switch routes leaving them with a career they do not like or would find themselves in at all. Trade would allow me to guarantee a successful career but will it let me be happy, satisfied with my life, dreams came true? It is a difficult decision since I am still young.

When I was young my father introduced me to a movie called Iron Man. This is a superhero movie about a genius who turns his work from making weapons for the military to creating a titanium suit with the power of the sun. This suit allowed him to protect the people he loved and be able to protect those around him. He has a huge target on his back due to his fame, power, wealth, and intellect. This movie inspired me to one day be like him and create something with the same amount of power. This movie back when it came first arrived in theaters, many thought this movie to be a fantasy that no man or industry can come up to and even recreate a proportion of. Now in 2025 as I end my last year of high school. The impossible and what may have been only seen to be possible in movies and comics is now coming close to being tangible. An example that I just have experienced is from my father, he told me about an article he just read talking about time travel. My father is a real science man and loves everything from math to biology. Hearing about time travel in almost every situation may seem comical and the conversation may end up turning into jokes. But hearing this article from my father made me think more than laugh due to the actual facts that were making sense. This only made me realize that the movies I watched as a kid and still see today are going to one day become true. I see random everyday people create metal suits that are able to fly with jet packs just like the movie Iron Man. It may not seem as advanced, yet, but it is very close to what I see on the big screen. Just to know what the government and scientists do behind closed doors makes me wonder if they have discovered, created, or developed the technology close to what I saw from my favorite movie Iron Man. For me, this movie was a huge inspiration to me since I always wanted to be like my favorite superhero like almost every other kid in the world. I stuck with the motivation of hoping one day to become as smart and intelligent as Iron Man so one day I can create all the inventions he created. Over my four years of high school I realized that I am more skilled in the STEM field that I thought I would be. I understood and learned quicker than others and realized I could take this beyond high school. I plan to pursue an education after high school now majoring in aerospace engineering. I chose this field specifically because of the movie Iron Man and I saw that this field could help me reach my true dreams that I have had since childhood. I researched this major time and time again realizing that if I put all of my hardworking and effort into this, I can become a real world Iron Man. This movie has inspired to do so much and become more than what I always believed in. I push myself everyday to become as close as I can to this character Iron Man to prove to not only myself but to the children that they can too also become their favorite superhero if they put their all and heart into it. My father always told me that the only person who can stop me is me and plan to never put myself down but up.

Since a child, I have always been an athlete no matter what sport it was, basketball, football, soccer, track and field. I always loved and still love being active. I particularly gained a passion for basketball and put my heart into this sport. I played for several teams during my time in middle school and before quarantine played for my school and was able to win us our first district championship. After quarantine I played for several AAU teams traveling the state and country as well, playing in tournaments. In my senior year I have decided just for now to step away from the sport to focus on my education due to several reasons. I am shorter than most would expect being 5'10 and one that I don't really like to use as an excuse is being a hispanic young man in this new world. Being on teams made me realize I was singled out and many people of my ethnicity were not playing basketball and if they did, were not up to my skill level. I have always loved math and the STEM field and plan to pursue an education after high school by majoring in aerospace engineering. I loved playing basketball and of course had dreams of going pro, playing for colleges, and one day playing for the NBA. I was always the shortest guy on the floor unless there would be someone way shorter than me which was a rare occasion. During high school I hit a growth spurt and began to grow slowly started to tower over most guards that would guard me. Now that I am 5'10 I am taller than most guards that guard me in my age range. I have realized that my height may not be ideal for most teams beyond high school but my skills do go further than a high school level in my opinion. I have always wanted to get offered to one day join a college, particularly a D1 college but I would be grateful if it was D2 or D3. I still have plans to pursue my athlete career and try out for walk ons in the college I plan to attend since I do still have great love for basketball. But as I said, I do have interest in other areas other than basketball. I have a lot of interest and liking towards math and the STEM field. I realized over my four years of high school that I have an easier time understanding classes that include any type of math. I latch on rather quickly compared to others and am able to learn visually keeping, for example, equations implanted and "tattooed" onto my brain. I never realized that I liked math because I was focused on basketball so much until my senior year. I took a break from the sport and put my focus onto what I could realistically do after high school since many would look at me differently when it comes to sports due to many reasons. In the end, I still do have plans to pursue my athletic future and career goals, one day joining, l the college I plan to attend, basketball team. This sport will never leave my sight since it helped me push through many hard times. But I have also realized that I am skilled in other areas of my life besides basketball and have decided to pursue this due to the time I live in and will grow up in. In the end, basketball will never leave my heart and the same goes for my education.

Many of my friends and student peers have taken or are currently in a calculus class. Many have mixed opinions about the subject and what kind of impact it has towards us as students. Of course the basic answer is, "When will we ever use this after school is over" or "This will only be useful to take the class I need for my major to get my degree." Others also say this will help with real world situations and help people problem solve, work together, and come up with solutions to the problem. My own opinion is that calculus or any kind of math subject is important to many real world problems and especially for someone who is planning to major in the STEM field. Most classes include calculus in their curriculum and requirements to be able to earn the degree for the major. Calculus is also good knowledge to have in case it is needed, since for example, my statistics class contains little calculus knowledge needed to understand a certain lesson and unit. I plan to pursue my education after high school and major in aerospace engineering. This field is a more challenging field compared to other STEM majors known due to the amount of classes, knowledge, and confidence needed to earn a degree in this field. For this class, I need to complete physics, chemistry, aerodynamics, and of course calculus. Calculus might seem like a pain and a burden to many students due to the fact that, from what I heard, it is just basic algebra with more numbers and variables. I enjoyed my calculus class but I also have always enjoyed the math subject in general so I am different compared to others. I believe it is important for one, it is a requirement for most classes needed for a STEM major, and two, in my own eyes, it is interesting. I like the subject because it allows me to work my brain since in most of my math, algebra, or geometry classes, I would finish assignments rather quickly. Most test and quizzes were easy to me since I understood equations and "math talk." In any STEM class there is always some kind of algebra and more specific, calculus. Calculus is always somewhere with statistics, physics, and really any STEM class you can think of. For example, in my fourth year of my high school experience, I am taking statistics which is a more intriguing class and interests me more than most STEM classes I had previously. Of course starting off I thought this class was going to be completely different than an algebra, calculus, or math class I have taken but about three units into this class, calculus "speak" was starting to show up within lessons. What I mean by "speak" is that more and more equations, graphing skills, and variables you would normally see in calculus was showing up in more of my statistics units as my year is coming to a close. Knowledge of any kind of calculus is important for most classes you would and will take in either high school or college even if you think it will be a class including no trace of calculus. For this, I believe calculus is important in the STEM field because it is now a requirement for most majors in the STEM field and good knowledge to have in your head for future purposes. Even after your education, a career you pursue may even include hints of calculus even in a job no one in the world would think include any sort of math.

As a kid, my father put on a movie that inspired me to pursue an education after high school in engineering. This movie was Iron Man and yes this is a fictional, fantasy, movie but still, as a kid I dreamed of flying and designing a craft that I could one day fly to another planet. People tell me "That's just a dream" or "What do you really want to do" but truthfully this is what I really want to do. Day after day the world advances in technology and hypothesis are becoming fact, no longer fiction. Over ten years ago people would never believe a self sustaining energy source could be materialized but now, we are only inches away from creating a source that has the power of the sun. In only a few several years, the world will close to seeing someone we would call a "superhero." During my four years of high school, I realized I had an ease through my math classes. Most classes came easy to me and I realized that I could use this to my advantage and take this beyond high school. During any of my math classes, I understood each unit quicker than most but one thing was, I needed to personally see how to solve and set up an equation to be able to practice it on my own paper. Once I have done this it locks into my head until I move on to another unit and learn about another equation. I told my parents about this and they soon to realized that I should take this into my advantage and find a way to use it as a tool. So I did and I will, I have decided to take this and pursue an education after high school and major in aerospace engineering. I chose this major since it interested me the most out of most fields that I researched and of course from my childhood. This field interests me since I always had a dream, as a I said before, to design a craft that could get me anywhere I wanted. I do plan to earn my masters in this field and take this knowledge into a career that will allow me to be successful. I am still young and I, not like many others, have time to decide. I have thought about many things such as the Air Force and I really like the idea of the Air Force since going into this field can allow me to expand and learn about more careers that I can join. Of course when earning this successful career, I want to help others, give people opportunities that no one else would have given them. Today, I have volunteered at different events giving out to those in need proving food, toiletries, and other necessities. I do want to one day start my own charity and provide for children with chances that no one else gave them so they can prove than what they are just what the eye meets. When my father was a child, he was never given an opportunity to show what kind of man he can become. He never had someone to guide him or support him, he was always on his own having to push himself. I am thankful my father was able to support me and help me through my time in school to be able to get past any obstacle. I want to help those out there with no role model or guide and allow them to become what they dream to be.

Every Thanksgiving, me and my family volunteer at a local church. During this event, we provide food for those who cannot make Thanksgiving meals for themselves and their families. During this event, we set up tables, make food, and seat families down like a we are waiters at a restaurant. I love this. event because those who come for the food do not have to serve themselves and make their own plates. We make the plates for them, provide their drinks, and help them with whatever they need. Most people that have come to this event are elderly and some have trouble walking, some have disabilities, so I think it is great that during this event we can help more than other volunteering events that I have gone to. But not only that, I feel like this event is great for more than just what we are able to do for those who come for the food, I think it is great for the families themselves. Many families grow up in poverty, not many have the ability to provide a warm meal everyday for their families and make a big meal for holidays like Thanksgiving. We cook warm meals that are plated by us to the families who eats the plates standards. Whether they want a little or big plate they will always get what they want since many don't eat for days before this event and this food is for them as well. Also, walking around seeing these families, I see smiles, people laughing, kids stuffing their mouths with food and playing. What I see gives me a smile and makes me feel more positive about myself. Not only that, I see people making new friends that they never thought they would have become friends with. This event does not only provide for the less fortunate with food but with happiness and smiles. This event allows for new relationships and emotions that are sometimes too much to handle that they just eat and laugh loud. I have myself learned a lot from an event like this. I have learned how blessed I am to be given an opportunity to enjoy a family meal on a special holiday with everyone I love at a table. I learned how blessed I am to be given an opportunity to go to school and pursue an education after high school. I am grateful for everything that has been given to and by going to these events, it made me more grateful for everything and everyone I have in my life today. I have also talked to many of these people who have come to these learning a lot about them and their lives. I have talked to people who were former military and even war veterans. One I do see that all these people have in common is that they smile. All of these are smiling and are happy to be where they are at and are grateful for what we are doing for them. There were many times where many people have smothered me with thanks and thank you's for me and yes I may have been a little annoyed. But after a while I realized that what I am doing for them is something out of the kindness of my heart and something I love doing and they are thanking me for doing something for them with nothing in return. Taking time out of my day to do something for others is something I am always willing to do since not only does it help me personally, but it helps others.

At a young age, my mother and father had conflict causing them to separate from each other. I lived with my mother for a few years and it was not in the best conditions. After a couple years of rarely going to school, staying home alone, and living in a dangerous neighborhood. My father took me from my mother and raised me from then on. That was eleven years ago about to be twelve once I turn eighteen. I have tried several times to contact my mother and my father himself tried to convince her to come back into my life. Most times she would never respond, or she had an excuse, or she would show up but never contact us again for months. My father raised me to be a strong minded man with ambitions and goals to one day achieve not for anyone else but for myself. I wish my mother was here for my childhood, there were days I cried, wondering why it was me who had no mom and not anyone else. As a child I believed it was always my fault, waiting for her at my basketball games, football games, recitals, middle school graduation, first day of high school, I felt as if I was the one missing out but in fact it is her. Of course I have grown as a person, matured, and now about to become a young man and graduate high school. My father has taught the importance of being a man, a gentleman, and of course a good person overall. I am not perfect and have made mistakes here and there but I have learned to say sorry as a man. Growing up with a single father, you get the idea that a man should never cry, be in pain, and be big and tough. But as of now, I realize it is okay to cry as a man, experience pain, and be vulnerable and my father has taught me all of this as well as his wife, my step mother. From the beginning from when my father first took me, he made me fall in love with sports. I loved basketball the most because of my dad of course and started to play from leagues. Basketball allowed me to become a better man and distract myself from becoming someone I am not. Basketball allowed me to learn how to be tough, how to be confident, and how to be driven. Basketball is not just a hoop and a ball, but an experience. An experience that I was shown by my father and allowed me to develop as a man. My father has always been and will always be there for me through my worst and best times. Being there for me when I feel bad about myself and there for me when I achieve everything I have always wanted. He is my hype man, my sidekick, my mentor, and my best friend. Everything I know I learned from him, from school, to sports, to life in general. He had a harsh childhood that he never wanted to give me so he worked hard to be able to give me a life with opportunities. I feel like growing up with a single father allowed me to open up more as a person and yes, having no mother is something I would not wish on my enemies but it is life. I believe God did this for a reason to make me the man I will one day be. I appreciate my father for everything he has done for me.

Me and my mother volunteer at several events in our city. We volunteer at churches, non profits, and we even provide to others ourselves. Not only have we volunteered but I myself have helped people emotionally, physically, I like helping people because I feel like I have experience that some other people don't have and once they experience it, I am there to help them get through it. In my future I do want to help in more ways and help more people once earning a successful career. I have a lot of plans for when I am older like helping others get an opportunity that they were never given so they can prove they are more than what the eye meets. Today, there are a lot of issues, certain perspectives, and opinions that people have the right to have but in my opinion I do believe there are some ideals that people have towards others that aren't reasonable. For example, about a year ago, I was helping someone with their homework in my algebra class. She was struggling with her assignments and could not understand most of the work. I sat next to her so I was able to help her here and there since I was nice enough to take my time to help someone else. This person thanked me a lot but her friend was not a fan of me helping her for some reason. This friend always felt like I had other intentions with this girl and I am only helping her so I can get a chance to "ask her out." This friend felt like I was using her when in fact, I was just trying to be a nice person and help someone out who doesn't understand math. This friend came up to me and tried starting an argument with me telling me "You are using my friend making her think you're trying to just help her with homework when I know you are trying to do more with her, like make her think you're a good enough guy to be able to ask her out." I was confused and really felt like I was misunderstood. She was making assumptions that were totally false but she has her own opinions that she has the right to have. I stopped helping this person who sat next to me and really went back to what I was doing before, staying quiet and minding my business. She would talk to me here and there but I ended the conversations quickly. I was afraid of getting false accusations so I reframed from doing something like this with anyone else afterwards. This example is a major reason why I think in todays age, it is very hard for people who jus want to do the right thing can be accused of something they aren't doing at all and profiled as a bad person. I wish I could express my own feelings and opinions but it would only cause more drama. I am not a drama person and I respect others opinions and ideals. Like this girls friend I respected her opinion and I reframed from a social contact with her friend afterwards just to respect the both of them. In the future I believe this won't change but will be more of a "problem." I don't think it is necessarily a problem but I do think it will cause people to think "what am I doing wrong, I am just trying to help." In my future I hope others like myself will be able to help everyone they can.

In my sophomore year of high school, I had a Spanish teacher who was always my favorite teacher because he is really relatable. He is a funny guy and always made class fun with his jokes. I felt like I had the same humor as him since it was different from what others would think when they hear about a funny teacher. In my junior year I felt like I was maturing more and more conflict started to enter my life. I had classes, girl problems, and at home problems that I felt like I couldn't hold in anymore. I decided to go to my Spanish teacher's class and just talk to him to relieve all of the stress of my head and finally talk about it. My teacher heard me out and I started visiting his class more often. We would talk about personal things, outside of school things, and really anything you can think of as two guys who just have a normal life. I thank my Spanish teacher and would hope one day I can see this teacher again in my future to thank him for being there for me and taking his time to talk to me and be there to hold me up when I couldn't hold myself up. During my senior year of high school, I felt like I was at an all time low. I was going through a lot and felt like I couldn't handle it anymore. I felt like I was going insane but one day I decided to go visit my Spanish teacher once again and just talk. We would talk in the mornings, during lunch, and anytime I was able to visit his class. I would talk for sometimes the whole time we had and he would be there to listen and he would give me his feedback. He was one of those teachers that I felt like he experienced everything you can think of. He had stories after stories and sometimes they were sad, exciting, interesting, but I felt as if I can always relate to him in some way or form. As a teen sometimes you feel like you can't talk to your parents or family members and you have to rely on someone else. My Spanish teacher was there for me and listened and I felt comfortable with saying some stuff that I just needed to release from my mind so I can let go of my stress and worries. Not only was my Spanish teacher there to listen and support me, but he also had a lot of advice for me. He taught me things that are useful for life and helped me push through some things I felt like I couldn't get passed. Of course he was somebody who I thought was able to experience life at the fullest. His experience and wisdom I felt was passed down to me and I feel honored. As a young adult and soon to be college student I feel like he was preparing me for life after high school. I am going to experience conflict, obstacles, and have my ups and downs. It is a guarantee when growing up and becoming an adult to face the worst of the worst conflict you can think of. My teacher helped me understand more about life in general and helped me a lot in school, for example, learning more about time management and telling me how important life after high school is. Like me, he had dreams as well and like other students, he wants everyone to achieve them.

As a kid, I wanted to become one of my favorite superheroes of all time, Iron Man. Many kids have dreams to become their favorite superhero but as time goes on, I realize more and more that becoming someone like Iron Man can become reality. During my four years of high school I realized that I had an interest in specifically math. I was able to understand and learn in all of my algebra, geometry, and now statistics classes quicker than most. I am a visual learner and I have a great memory when it comes to numbers so I really imprint most things in my math classes in my head. During my summer break after junior year, I started doing research on majors I can pursue after high school. I came across several fields and majors but ultimately I came down to one that I really found an interest in, that was aerospace engineering. I looked at the classes necessary for this major and told myself it is a challenge but it's something that I know I can do with time and effort. Most of these classes deal with math, computer science, engineering, problem solving, these are something I enjoy doing in school. STEM is really a fascinating field and I love everything about it. This is one of my reasons why I chose to pursue a degree in aviation or aerospace engineering. Once earning my degree in aviation, I have thought a lot about what I want to do after earning my degree. But I have not narrowed down to my one choice, I have had options like first getting my associates then applying to the air-force and hopefully get a job in this field that I will enjoy. I have really surrounded most of my options around the air-force since it can lead me to more successful careers such as a pilot or even lead me to transfer to a field like NASA. I am still young and still have a lot of time to decide what I want to do after completing my degree in aviation. Of course I plan to test and design what career I go into after college since this is what I am most interested in and have done similar things before as a child when I would create cardboard planes that were the size of two liter soda bottles that can actually fly. But as I said before I still have plenty of time to make my final decision and when that time comes, I know I will make the right choice that will benefit me to be happy and successful. Me and my mother have volunteered at several events over the course of six years. We have volunteered for churches, non profits, and even have provided for the less fortunate ourselves. Every thanksgiving, my family and I go volunteer at a local church that provides free thanksgiving meals to those who are not able to make a meal for themselves and their families. We start this event in the morning till the afternoon. After this event, we go home and begin our family Thanksgiving after being able to bless those who cannot cook meals for their families on a special holiday. We love helping others and I love helping those who aren't given everything. I believe in opportunity and believe in chances, this is why I believe everyone should be given a chance no matter how they grew up or how they are profiled. People are not always what they are seen like in public.

When I was younger, my mother and father had conflict towards each other leading to problems for everyone including me. She took me away from my father for almost two years, I rarely saw my father and was never able to spend time with him. Over time my father was finally able to take me back from my mother and raise me as a single father. It has been eleven years since that event has happened and my mother has not reached out to me ever since. I have seen her once in a while but it was on a rare occasion. I have never blamed everyone for what has happen in my past since these events have made me the man I am today and am going to be in my future. Of course growing up I had several questions, wondering where she was, why she never talks to me, and why it happened to me. As a child you think you are the center of the world so I always wondered why I was the only one who had to experience a life without a mother. I would get jealous seeing my friends get picked up by their mothers and wonder why I always had to make mothers day cards for my aunts and grandma. I never believed any child should experience a hardships such as not having a parent in their lives or face questions wondering, "Am I the problem?" I was able to forgive my mother for everything since I believe that what has happened throughout my seventeen years on this planet was for a purpose. I believe my purpose is to set a mark in history and be better, achieve more, and be the successful man my father has pushed me to become. I still have a lot more to learn being so young and I know I have room to improve as a young man. Of course I wish I was gifted financially to be able to provide for myself all throughout college. My parents can help me here and there but can't fully provide me throughout my college experience. Financially my parents can only do so much for me since they have to provide for themselves and my little brother as well. My step mother runs a business and has to be able to provide for that as well. I do not plan on asking my parents much for help since I never wanted that to happen. I always wanted to be able to become the successful man I will soon be so I can be able to retire my parents and repay them for how much they have done for me. This scholarships would lift weight of my shoulders and leave my parents less worried about how I will be able to provide for myself throughout college. This scholarship will help me pursue my goals, be able to achieve my dreams, and give back to my community.

As a child, many want to be several things in their future such as an officer, astronaut, or even a professional sports player. Growing up, I played a lot of sports, football, basketball, and soccer. Of course I have always had the dream of playing professional sports especially for the NBA. Basketball was amazing to me and it helped me get through a lot in life. I fell in love with the sport and trained every day, played for several teams and had hopes to soon play for the bigger leagues in my future. But overtime throughout school, I opened up to more than just basketball and stopped having tunnel vision. I realized I was very good at math for some reason and could understand it faster than others. I took this to my advantage and now plan to take my education beyond high school and major in aerospace engineering. As a kid, I did believe I could one day become an engineer for one reason only. That reason was because of a movie named Iron Man. This movie inspired me to do so much and to pursue so much more than what I only think I can do. This movie was introduced to me when I was only one years old and since then, this movie has been such a great influence on me. Iron man is a movie about a genius entrepreneur who is an engineer who one day creates this suit made of pure titanium and technology allowing him to protect the people around him. Of course this movie is a fantasy but in today's age, a suit allowing you to become a superhero does not seem too far away from reality. Of course every kid wants to be a superhero no matter how you grow up. I aspired to be Iron Man and become the engineer he was to be able to one day create a suit to allow me to help those around me. As I said before, as a child, you wanted to be everything that sounded or looked cool no matter what anyone else thought. Of course I had dreams of joining the NBA, NFL, becoming an astronaut, but as I mature more and become more of a young man who is about to enter college, becoming an engineer sounds most favorable to me. I believe what I wanted to be as a child is still my career path since I wanted to be just like this character Iron Man. Looking for challenges and pursuing a successful career, I of course want to graduate college with a masters degree in aerospace engineering. My father always told me that I could be anything I wanted to be as long as I worked hard and smart for it but becoming an engineer just like my favorite superhero was something I believed no one could do in this world. Now that I have been given the opportunity to be able to become someone I looked up to is a dream come true of course but also a blessing. I would say what I wanted to be as a child is still my career path today and will be the one thing I work hardest for to be able to achieve a successful career.

When I was a child, I loved sports and was interested in several different sports such as basketball, football, soccer, hockey, and even volleyball. I loved being active and I loved doing something that was fun. Overtime these sports all leaded down to one single sport, basketball. Basketball is and always will be my favorite sport and one of the first things I have gained a passion for. I trained, practiced, played in leagues, I believed that one day I will play basketball for a college and soon make the NBA league. Of course not everything works out as planned and quarantine began stopping me from training. This made become unfit to play basketball like I used to and ultimately I left my basketball dreams behind me. Over my four years of high school, I realized that I am more skilled at math more than others. Math came easy to me and I took advantage of this and started taking math college classes. I love math because it is something that many people need to construct almost anything and metaphorically math constructs our future. As a child I would make these cardboard planes that would take me days of constructing and problem solving to make a plane that could fly further than any paper plane I made before. I was able to make several different planes and they would all fly further than any paper plane I had created before. I love challenges and especially when they are within the STEM field, this is why I took these math college classes in high school. I believe the STEM field is the future of this world and it has been changing history ever since the birth of technology. After high school I plan to major in aerospace engineering and pursue a successful career once earring my masters degree. Being young has its advantages since I have so much time to choose a path that I will soon walk. Of course as the days go by that time shortens but I have as much time in the world to be able to take my time and choose a path that will be able to give me a successful career and be happy with what I am doing. I chose aerospace engineering not because it is part of the STEM field, but because I see it as a challenge. This major is comes with challenges and classes that will have to make me push my limits further than ever before. I have help from my family and my friends to push me and be able to achieve the goals I have. I have big aspirations with so much time, I believe one day I will be able to achieve all these goals and be able to give back to the world. STEM gives many an opportunity and I am taking advantage of this chance so not only can I become a successful man, but so I can be able to give back.

My name is Ryan Ramos, I am young hispanic student aspiring to pursue an education after high school. I love the STEM field and also have a passion for sports since I was a child. Over my four years of high school I have realized that I am a great student when it comes to math and I took this skill and now plan to major in aerospace engineering after high school. I am the first person in my family to be able to pursue an education after high school and have been given an opportunity to be able to complete my dreams of graduating from college. My father was not given the life he has given me, unfortunately he could not pursue his dreams after high school and continue his education. I believe everyone should be given an opportunity and I myself try my best to be able to help those who cannot pick themselves when they are knocked down. Me and my mother have volunteered at different events, providing for the less fortunate with food, toiletries, and clothing. We have volunteered on weekends, Thanksgiving, and have tried our best to give away anything we plan to throw away since someone out in the world could have use to what we are throwing away. In the future, one of my goals is to start a charity for children who are growing up like my father. My father grew up on the streets, days without food, a shower, and had to find ways to survive. He was never able to focus on school due to having to find ways to get his next meal or find a place to sleep. My father always told me he loved school and wanted to pursue education if he was given a chance. In the future, I plan to start a charity for children who are not given an opportunity to do what they really aspire to do. Many children are given up on, not believed in, or can never pursue their goals due to reasons outside of school. Children are the future of this world, legacy is important to me because without leaving a legacy, there will be no future. There are many children out there who have been given up on and not given a chance to prove everyone wrong and show they are more than what the eye meets. As I said before I plan to major in aerospace engineering, with a degree in this field it can lead me to several careers. I am still young and still have the option to choose a path out of thousands of paths that have been given to me. I have faced several adversities in life, mentally, physically, and emotionally. One obstacle I have faced that I believe has a major impact on me is how my mother left me at a very young age. I faced a lot of questions as a child wondering where she went and why it was me to have lost my mother. Over time I cried, was angered, knocked down, I felt emotions I believe no child should experience. But every single time I have pushed through and got right back up and took 10 steps forward. As I mature and get older, I realize that not everyone in this world is perfect and even though she is my mother, I do not blame her or anyone for what has happened. I have become the bigger man and left everything in past because as of now, I am focused on my future and my aspirations.

Being the first in my family to be accepted into college and pursue my education after high school, I have big aspirations and a bigger drive to work hard for a successful future. As a kid, I used to play a lot more sports and more specifically I played basketball the most and had a passion for this. I always dreamed to one day be a division 1 athlete for basketball and soon enter the NBA. Of course as kids we all have a big dreams and some dreams are destroyed due to life. When quarantine had started in 2020, I believe I was the most athletic, strongest, and skilled in sports in general and I knew I was able to become better than I was. Over the lock down, no one could leave their homes, go to a gym, or even play basketball anywhere. I stopped training and as quarantine came to an end, I was to unfit to be able to continue playing basketball and pursue my dream. I have no one to blame but myself, I could have trained at home or even done some exercise in my room but I didn't and stuck to video games. I still poke at myself, regretting not training for basketball and staying fit for when basketball would open up again. But by this, I was able to open and no longer have tunnel vision allowing me to find a liking in the STEM field. Over my four years of high school, I found a liking to math and the STEM field in general. Now in my senior year, I do have a goal to soon earn my masters degree in aerospace engineering and obtain a successful career with this degree. Being young has its advantages and I am able to create paths that I still have plenty of time to choose to walk. Of course after I am able to complete my education and earn a successful career, I do want to be able to help others. My father used to tell me stories about his childhood, telling me how he was not given everything as a child, growing up in the streets, he was never able to pursue what he really wanted to do which was pursue his education. My father proved everyone wrong and became a man no one believed he would become. In my future I do want to be able to help children that are like my father, never given a chance or prove they are more than what the eye meets. Me and my mother have volunteered at several different events, providing food for the less fortunate even on days like Thanksgiving. We don't do this because we are forced to but because we have the time to be able to provide for those who aren't blessed with a life that me and my family have been blessed with. I am grateful for everything my parents have given me and I am grateful for the opportunity I have been given to able to pursue my education after high school and soon graduate with my masters degree. I have motivation to one day set a mark on human history no matter if it is what I do in my career or if it is how I am going to help those out in the world who struggling everyday, never given the chance to prove what they can do for the future of our world.

My name is Ryan Ramos, I am a young, ambitious, student, planning to pursue my education after high school. Over my educational years, I have a gained a liking and even a passion for the STEM field, allowing me to make a decision to major in aerospace engineering in my college experience. I have faced several obstacles and adversities that have never been able to stop as I was able to push through. Even though there were times I felt at lowest and I took 100 steps back, over time I would get myself back up and pushing 101 steps forward. After high school, as I said before, I do plan to pursue aerospace engineering. Being young has its advantages since I have so much time and opportunity to choose which path I want to walk on. I do have a path of first getting my associates degree, then enter the Air Force with the hopes of being able to test and design air crafts. As a kid, I had a big imagination, I would make something out of nothing even if it was with a stick and dirt. One thing I loved to do was create planes out of cardboard. Not like a paper airplane, these planes were constructed over days and I was able to come up with ideas, equations, and figure out ways for this little plane to be able to fly further then any paper airplane I have created before. Even though it was something as simple as a cardboard plane, I always loved to take on a challenge and do better than anyone else has done before me. I believe I should be selected for this scholarship because not only do I have drive but I have a purpose. Being a young Mexican American, it is difficult for many of my people to able to pursue their education after high school. I am grateful that I have been given an opportunity to pursue an education after high school and be one of the first in my family to be accepted into a college. Not only do I plan to finish my college education with a masters degree but I also know I will too, I was raised to never doubt myself since it will only hold me back from my true capabilities. Being chosen for this scholarship will allow me to lift more weight off my shoulders and be able to pay for my college tuition and more importantly pursue my dream of finishing college and soon to earn a successful career. My father used to tell me stories about his childhood and these stories made me want to help children who grew up like him. My father wasn't given everything as a child, growing up in the streets, not able to pursue what he really wanted to do which was his education. My father was never given an opportunity like others but was able to push through his obstacles and become a man no one believed he could be. After completing my education, obtaining a successful career, I want to be to create a charity and provide for those children who are not given opportunities so they can do what they really dream to do. Children are our legacy and the future for this world, many are not given a chance to prove what they can do for this world and are left behind to be forgotten. My heart is to big to allow this so I do want to be able to soon help children become more than what the eye. meets.

Growing up my father trained me to play basketball and I soon gained a passion for the sport. I played for my local park when I first started playing, I had a coach that believed in me and after several years of playing at this park my coach was always right there by my side to help me improve my athletic capabilities. In middle school, my school had finally created a basketball team that I can play for and I was super excited that not only can I play basketball for my school but besides my friends who also loved basketball. Our first year playing, we had great chemistry, playing teams that had no chance against us, we felt unstoppable. We were able to win our school our first basketball championship and set a mark in our schools history. Playing basketball was a distraction for me and allowed me to keep my mind off all the negative influences around me. I had something to look forward to do after school and basketball was the reason I wanted to keep good grades so I can be eligible to play for the team. Unfortunately, when quarantine had started, I was unable to play any sports including the one I loved the most, basketball. Basketball allowed me to improve my leadership skills and become a better person overall. I met new people, made new friends over the time of playing basketball, and now I usually play basketball at parks since I still do have a passion for basketball. It is like my therapy and when I usually have a lot of stress, anxiety, or too much on my mind I go play basketball since I put all those emotions and thoughts into the game and release all the negativity. I love helping people because I know there are probably people out there who are experiencing what I have already experienced. For example, at my school I have several friends who play for the basketball team and sometimes they ask for my help with plays, coaches, or even how to balance life and basketball. A lot of other people to at my school ask for my advice and help for certain things that can involve either school or something from their personal life. By any means possible I would love to help the people that are in my circle if I can and no matter what it is I would work with them to be able to push through whatever they are struggling with. After high school I always planned to pursue basketball in college but over my four year high school experience, I have opened up and now gained another passion. That passion is for my education and more specifically in the STEM field. I plan to pursue my education and major in aerospace engineering being the first in my family to be accepted into a college. I have big aspirations and a drive that I know will lead me to success and earn what I have been working so hard for which is a successful career. As I said before, I love to help people and one day I do plan to be able to create a charity to help those who are not given an opportunity so they can prove that they are more than what the eye meets. My father was never given an opportunity as a child but he still pushed through and became someone no one thought he would end up being. I would like to give children out there who are struggling an opportunity they weren't given.

Throughout human history, one brave person has always come up to take the position as "leader." Leader can be seen in different ways such as a king, emperor, and even a president. Without these leaders, the way we live now, how laws are set in place, and how some countries keep their peace would never exist. Without leaders we essentially have nothing because without people who are brave and confident enough to step up and say something, everyone would be sitting ducks, with their thoughts and ideas stuck in their head. Science is interesting because science has been defined differently throughout the years and due to technology developments throughout the centuries, science has been used differently. Science is key to evolution and plays an important role to what our species will look like in the future. Starting with leadership, I would like to give an example from my experience of taking on the role of leadership. In middle school, I joined our basketball team that had barely started its program the year before. So coaches were new, there was not a lot of equipment, it was a starter kit in simple terms and our team was there through the ride. My team were all equally talented, we all had our own special skills and play styles making us good in our own ways. Through our season I started to notice a lack of discipline and essentially a captain of the team. No one would call out plays, tell their teammates on what to do and put them in line, we were all just having fun and listening to our coach. I had a mentality of winning, I played basketball for years and was always put on a lower skilled team since I was one of the higher skilled players in my league. I was tired of always losing and at some point it hit me, I told myself, "I need to take charge because if no one else does who will, we'll end up losing once again." So I took charge, I slowly started putting my foot down and making myself the leader of our team, calling out plays, calling out teammates when they are off task, soon enough our team was back on track to winning. In the end we were able to win our first championship since we were able to work as a team and set ourselves in line. I believe if I never took charge of this team we would just be another good team in our league but I know I made all of us on the team better than how we started our season. After high school, I plan to pursue my education into the STEM field and major in aerospace engineering. My liking to all of STEM has grown over time and it would have never started without my father. My father shared his passion of the STEM field with me and I took on his legacy. Science is interesting because science can be seen in several different ways. Growing up me and my father used to watch basically any show that was part of the STEM field but as I watched these shows I started to realize how important science is. I believe without science there would be no STEM field and I say this because science is not just what everyone thinks of first, science is several different things. I believe without science there is no future with evolution, with change to our species. Science allows us to discovery, adapt, and evolve as a species as time goes on.

Growing up, my father showed he had a passion for math and engineering but was never given the opportunity to pursue his education due to financial reasons. Over time, after watching shows, videos, and school in general, my father's passion for math and engineering had passed down to me. I gained a liking to math in school mostly since it came easy to me and I understood it more and faster more than others. This continued all throughout my education and it allowed me to gain a greater liking to math but not only math, the STEM field. I liked creating random objects, especially with cardboard for some reason as a kid. I always loved the movie Iron Man and was gifted several toys from the movies. I wanted to find a place to store these toys so I came up with several ideas to find a way to store them. First I created these showcase pockets that were made of cardboard so I can see the toys at all times but they were safely stored somewhere. I wanted to make this showcase more interesting so I configured some ways to make it more interesting by creating an elevator all out of cardboard. This was made by making a trap door behind the toys and whatever toy I wanted to play with I would push it so it would fall through the trap door and go through a series of tunnels. It would then end up in a rectangle box that was able to sustain the weight of the toy and I would then pull a tiny rope that would bring this elevator up. It was not needed but in my opinion it was cool. I am telling this story because if I were to find this cardboard showcase, I had written all my work on the cardboard to make the measurements perfect and the elevator work perfectly. Several equations, geometry and algebra used, without evening noticing I used math to create something that I found useful for myself. I made math fun to me and it allowed me to gain a passion for math. This passion for math is going to continue after my high school education and pursue into my college experience. I plan to major in aerospace engineering and soon earn my masters degree and pursue a successful career.

Growing up, my father told me about his passion for math and engineering but was never able to pursue his education due to financial issues. Over time my father passed on his interest for math and engineering to me and I soon gained a liking to math, science, and engineering. In school, math would be my favorite subject and the most easiest subject to me. It would come easy to me and I would learn fast, whatever I saw or was taught I was able to pick in almost an instant. Over time I gained a liking for really the whole STEM field, watching shows, looking at videos with my father, I gained more and more of a liking for the STEM field now. When high school started, I did not know if my liking to the STEM field would continue but it did. I realized more that I enjoy more of the math and engineering areas more than anything else but I still have a great liking for this field of study. I have taken a computer science class, math classes up to algebra 2, and I am currently taking a statistics class. These classes allowed me to open up to more than just math and find out more about what I would want to major in after high school. I am a big dreamer and have aspirations that I soon plan to accomplish, for example, being the first in my family to get accepted into college is now becoming a reality. I plan to pursue my education by majoring in aerospace engineering, after several days of researching this field, I found a great liking to it and I am up for the challenge. Going back to when I was younger, almost every child dreamed of going into space and being the first to be on any planet. I was a little different, I always wanted to be the one who created the ship that got those astronauts on that planet. I dreamt of this because I felt that having the accomplishment of designing and testing a craft that was able to get our species onto another planet was something better than actually being on the planet. I say this because without the designers and engineers who did not create the crafts that got those astronauts on the moon, there would be no one to ever step foot on the moon or even exit our atmosphere. As I said I have big aspirations that soon plan to achieve, one goal I have is to soon design and test a craft that was able to humans onto a planet beyond the astroid belt. Yes it seems like something out of a movie but technology advances quicker and is now evolving exponentially. It is only a matter of time till fantasy and events that people only saw out of superhero movies for example, will become reality. I desire to be one of those engineers who changes the course of human history by creating a ship that was able to have humans inhabit other planets. Being bullied, picked on, and told I was wrong, no matter what it was I did not listen to any of it. I played basketball as a kid and was told by my father to ignore the negativity since they are just whit noise. I took this idea of white noise and put to almost everything in life including education, I was doubted and bet against on but over and over again, I proved everyone wrong because I know I have still not reached my academic potential.

During middle school, my father had me gain a passion for sports and more specifically basketball. I was a great player and practiced and worked hard every single day. I played for a recreational league and for my school as well, I was prospected by several teams and was even offered to join an AAU team which is a travel basketball team. I was proud of myself to get an offer like this at my age. When quarantine hit, everything shut down, no gyms, no courts, no schools, nothing. Me and my father did not know how I was going to be able to practice and be able to get ready to join my high school basketball team. In the end, we did nothing, we found no ways to be able to practice so we stood home like we were supposed to. I got unhealthy, unfit, and was not in the right shape to play basketball. I knew this but I still loved basketball so I tried out for my high school team. Unfortunately I couldn't make it, I tried until this recent year trying out but never made it. I had the dream to go pro like every kid but unlike every other kid I knew I had the talent to get to where I wanted to go but I was held back and I was stopped. I knew I could never get back in the shape I could and play like how I did because I never had the time and place to be able to put in the work. I started focusing on my education and really I found a passion for my education. I will always have a love for sports and especially basketball but, I was held back and could not show the world my true talents and be the athlete I wanted to be. The many times I tried, the many teams I tried out for I knew my time with basketball was coming to an end. There were many times I would blame the world, my father, but really it was my fault. I was heartbroken, I could not do the one thing I dreamed of becoming which was a basketball player and not just any basketball player but one who was able to go pro. Ultimately from this, I let go of basketball and by this, I was able to find something else I loved which is my education. I have found a liking to the STEM field and found that it's not all just about sports but there's more to life and I found something that I want to pursue after high school which is aerospace engineering. But more importantly I was able to open the doors up. By this I mean I was able to see more than just basketball, I was no longer tunnel visioned on one thing but was able to open up, experience, and learn new things. With this I was able to find something I liked and enjoyed and now plan to be the first in my family to go to college and soon finish. If I were given the opportunity to mentor in the Inspire11 program, I would help many to learn that they also do not just have one choice and opportunity after high school but they have hundreds of opportunities in their hands that they can pursue. I have a big heart and would do anything to give students an opportunity to show the world they are far more amazing then what everyone else assumes they are.

I've experienced several challenges throughout my experience causing obstacles, falling down but always got back up. When I was younger, my mother had left me and my father with no plans in returning into my life. Before she left I had lived with her for several years, bouncing around schools. In some schools I would make friends, some I was left alone with no one, and most I was bullied. This lasted for two years where I had to experience this, of course being bullied so much can take a toll on someone especially a child. I felt emotions and had questions that I believe no child should have towards themselves. I asked why was I the one getting bullied, left with no friends, made fun of for my shoes, or even just being me. When I lived with my father I was homeschooled to end off my third grade year to finally enter my fourth grade year. I had joined a school where I was able to make friends the first day, being called the new kid and having fun. I was able to make friends that loved what I loved which was sports. I met a lot of new people, had a friend group, played on the schools team, and honestly enjoying every moment in that school. When quarantine started I had moved out from the city I used to live to go live with my step mother. I was going to join a whole new school living in a whole brand new city. It was weird since it wasn't what I was used too, I grew up in East LA and I never really experienced the bad side but I did live on a side where I was not the fanciest. Moving to this new city was great because it was and is such a great city. But when high school started for me it was kind of tough. Of course I didn't want to move from my old school since I made many friends and was planning on staying friends with them for the rest of school. When I started high school, I was alone with no friends and really just did my work and went on with my day. This lasted for about a semester and one problem I had was not opening up to other people. I did this because I felt like I found my people at my old school and I felt as if I could not make anymore friends. After months I finally decided to open up and make friends, which allowed me to be more happy and actually enjoy school now and have a reason to go. I am now in my senior year and the friends I met in my freshman year are still my best friends from today. What I really learned from this was to not be tunnel visioned and to be open to new opportunities. I believed I could not find anyone else who was like me in a brand new school because I thought I did in my old school. I finally opened up and found friends that I now call my best friends and even my brothers. They mean a lot to me and have helped me through ups and downs and I did the same for them. This did not only apply to my social life but to every aspect of my life as well trying new foods, classes, clothing, experiences, volunteering, ultimately leading me to become more mature and have clearer view of what kind of man I will be.

My father raised me a single father growing up, working over 12 hours shifts almost everyday. My mother hasn't done much for me and my father for over a decade. We have both tried to reach out and get her attention to hopefully one day be apart of my life and no longer my father's. But when I was younger, when my mother left, it left me with questioning towards myself that I believe no child should have to ask themselves. I was left feeling alone and wondering why it was me. My father did everything and I am grateful for everything he has done for me. The advice, knowledge, and wisdom he has passed down to me led me to become the aspiring young man I am becoming today. My father had a love for math, engineering, and science that he could not pursue due to his financial matters when he was younger. His passion ultimately passed down to me leading me to want to pursue my education in aerospace engineering. During the times my father didn't take me somewhere like go-karting, we would watch movies, shows, and he would lecture me about math or engineering. We would watch shows like Myth Busters and Modern Marvels learning new things and really how to create and design. My father loved everything apart of the STEM field and was always fascinated by anything that included something from this field. This passed down to me and now I find interest and have a passion for the STEM field leading me to ultimately want to pursue in the STEM field in my higher education. When I was younger, I was bullied, I experienced feelings that I believe no child should have to go through. I ended up moving schools due to this and other personal reasons. When I finally settled into a school, I found friends that really related to me. These friends lived a life close to mines and liked the activities I liked. My teachers were very nice as well which ultimately led to gain a bigger passion for math. The way my math classes were taught by my teachers made me enjoy it and gain a liking to it more. My father would give me these workbooks over the summer to study and get ahead for the next grade. For example when I need fourth grade I was given a fifth grade work book to get ahead of the class. This workbook had all the subjects you needed to learn for the next grade but more math than anything. Of course this made me gain more of liking as well causing me to finish the math sections weeks before school started on my own. I have made the decision to enter college pursuing to earn my masters in aerospace engineering. I was fascinated by this major when I researched the classes and opportunities I can gain with a degree in this major are so interesting to me. I am the first in my family to attend college and soon finish college as well so I have several motivations to keep going and work harder than everyone else around me. My father has always believed in me and my step mother as well and they push me everyday to become a better man. I take their advice and wisdom so I can become more successful than them and be able to earn a career that will allow me to retire both my parents and grandparents.

I am a young ambitious son living in a hispanic household of four. I have big dreams and aspirations to one day earn a successful career that will allow me to be able to retire my parents and my grandparents. I am currently in my last year of high school and plan to be the first in my family to be accepted into college. I am currently in the process of adapting into my young adult life and learning more and more on how to become more responsible and mature. In the past I have helped several times in my community by providing food and necessities to those who need it. I have also helped several times around my neighborhood with different task that are assigned to me. In these recent years I have been volunteering with my mom at an event called Esperanzas Health and Wellness. This event took place every weekend, during this event we would set up stands with food that was given to us by grocery stores. These food items are given to the less fortunate who need it. We would provide food, toiletries, and from time to time clothing. I have also volunteered at event at a local church in my area. In this volunteering opportunity we would arrive every Thanksgiving morning, setting up tables, food, seats, and drinks. This event would be for the less fortunate and to those who cannot make a Thanksgiving meal for their family. This event would last until early afternoon so we could go home and set up our Thanksgiving for our family. I have also done many things for neighbors and friends providing them clothing and assistance around their houses. Now my mother has done her own kind of volunteering, picking up free food from our local market and given out to those who need it. I help from time to time with this, giving out food to the elderly, the unhoused, and to others who need the help and food. As I enter into higher education, I do have help from my parents and other family members. My family cannot provide for me throughout my whole college experience. My parents work great jobs that allow them to give me and my brother an amazing life but unfortunately college is expensive and if they were to pay for my college they would not be able to keep themselves and my brother on their feet. My family members are pitching in giving me bits of money here and there but not enough to pay off my whole college expenses. My family is very young and I have many younger cousins who look up to me. I try to teach them all the time to treat someone how you would want to be treated. I believe that one day they will all become great and amazing people with amazing careers and aspirations. I try my best to protect them and make sure they are okay from no matter what. If that were to be a natural disaster or from someone who bullies them. I was bullied myself growing up, it left me with emotions I believe no child should have so I took this and now try to protect not only my cousins and family from bullying but other kids who are bullied. Everyone has something going on in their lives like my father. He was bullied for wearing the same clothes everyday even though he was homeless. I would never want this upon any child in the future so I try to help and protect them however I can.

When I was younger, my mother had left me and father during a rough period leaving my father to raise me as a single father. My experience with this, I never understood why she had done what she done and I always had questioned myself on why she left me. At a young age I faced obstacles, emotions, and questioning that I believe no child should have to face. Today I have forgiven her for the most part, I do not blame her anymore since I have grown as a person and matured. My father worked long hours and worked very hard to provide for us. The time me and my father did spend together he disciplined me, taught me right from wrong, and made me the man I am today. My father made me fall in love with math and engineering. My father is the main reason I have fallen in love with the STEM field and now plan to pursue my education in aerospace engineering. I could not spend a lot of time with my father since he worked over twelve hour shifts almost everyday. The time we had together, me and my father would do fun things and have a great time together. But on the times we did not do something fun or exciting we did something productive. Luckily my father is fun and someone who you would enjoy talking to. We would have lessons, facts, and shows that we would learn and watch that were mostly about engineering or something in the area of the STEM field. My father could never pursue his education due to his financial struggles and no providence from his parents. My father had to pursue in his job and never went back to school. Although, my father was very intrigued by math, engineering, science, and all you can think of that can come out of the STEM field. He passed down this passion to me and made me form a passion and love for math, engineering, and science. I'm grateful for my father and my step mother, they have done so much for me that I will one day repay them. I plan to pursue my education and major in aerospace engineering and one day obtain a successful career so I can be able to retire my parents and my grandparents. My parents work great jobs and have great careers, they give me and my brother everything you can think of and I am grateful for all they have done. With my talents and academic excellence I want to change the world and create a turning point in the history of mankind. I have always wanted to set my mark and put my flag down in history by helping the people of this world evolve and adapt. I have a big dreams and ambitions and my ultimate goal is to one day be the designer of a craft that got humans to be able to adapt on another planet. But I also do want to provide to those children who aren't given a chance by starting a charity. My father was never given a chance and was given up on as a child. There are many children today who are not seen and given a chance that I would love to help so they are given an opportunity they deserve to be given. I believe this world will run off legacy and children is everyone's legacy to be able to pass down knowledge and help our species evolve.

When I was younger, my mother had left me and father during a rough period leaving my father to raise me as a single father. My experience with this, I never understood why she had done what she done and I always had questioned myself on why she left me. At a young age I faced obstacles, emotions, and questioning that I believe no child should have to face. Today I have forgiven her for the most part, I do not blame her anymore since I have grown as a person and matured. My father worked long hours and worked very hard to provide for us. The time me and my father did spend together he disciplined me, taught me right from wrong, and made me the man I am today. My father made me fall in love with math and engineering. My father is the main reason I have fallen in love with the STEM field and now plan to pursue my education in aerospace engineering. I could not spend a lot of time with my father since he worked over twelve hour shifts almost everyday. The time we had together, me and my father would do fun things and have a great time together. But on the times we did not do something fun or exciting we did something productive. Luckily my father is fun and someone who you would enjoy talking to. We would have lessons, facts, and shows that we would learn and watch that were mostly about engineering or something in the area of the STEM field. My father could never pursue his education due to his financial struggles and no providence from his parents. My father had to pursue in his job and never went back to school. Although, my father was very intrigued by math, engineering, science, and all you can think of that can come out of the STEM field. He passed down this passion to me and made me form a passion and love for math, engineering, and science. I'm grateful for my father and my step mother, they have done so much for me that I will one day repay them. I plan to pursue my education and major in aerospace engineering and one day obtain a successful career so I can be able to retire my parents and my grandparents. My parents work great jobs and have great careers, they give me and my brother everything you can think of and I am grateful for all they have done. College is very expensive but is very important to me, I would never want my parents or any of my family members to give me any money due to my ego. My parents have a great job as I said but if they were to provide for me during college they would not be able to provide for themselves and my brother as much. Financially we are okay but we are not rich which is something we say as a family. We wish as a family that we could have the money to be able to provide for me and my brother's future but unfortunately we live in a scarce society where everything is not provided to everyone. This money will be able to help me and lift a lot of weight of my shoulders and this would help my parents worry less about how I will be able to provide for myself financially. I have big goals and ambitions that I plan to one day achieve, this money will help me with my goals and my dreams.

Growing up, I lived with my father who was not very religious. My grandmother who helped raise was very religious and I took on many of her religious ideals growing up with her. As a kid, my mother left me and never showed up or helped in my childhood. It was a very tough time since I always asked myself why she never stood with me and why everyone else had a mother but not me. I faced several obstacles asking why me, where is she, and when she will come back leading to emotions that a child shouldn't experience. I had no one to run to while my father was working twelve hour shifts, I didn't feel as comfortable talking to my aunts or uncles, and my grandmother was not around at the time. I never told anyone but until recently I have started to tell more people and close ones that I ran to God and I asked for his help. I don't consider myself a religious person or a very big religious person but I do believe God is always there to help everyone. I prayed several times a day, praying my mother is protected, my father, my grandmother, and my family. I prayed that my mother will one day come back when she is ready, I prayed I pushed through this obstacle and be the happy kid I am supposed to be. I never thought to myself that one day I will one day have to run to God not because I don't believe in him but because I have been blessed with an amazing life that my father and step mother have provided for me. It took time to be able to understand, this is how life is. God spoke to me, he told me several times that he would not wish this pain upon his worst enemy, "My child this is what is going to make you the man you are going to become." After several years I finally realized what this meant, I understood that this was apart of my story and if something else happened then I would not be the young man I am today. I understood one day I will be able to let go and forgive my mother. When I was younger, I played sports and participated in several events and I would always ask my mother to come to one of my events. I would wait and look out to she if she ever showed up, she showed up to only two events out of the many times I asked her to make an appearance at one of my events. I always thought that I was missing out, I was the one who was losing something and not experiencing something. As I grew older I started to realize more that I was not the one who missed out on my basketball games, football games, recitals, birthdays, Christmas because I was there at all of those. My mother was the one who missed out on all of these experiences that her son experienced. I know I still have grudges and resentment that I believe I have moved on from that I will one day actually move on from. But today I have grown as a person thanks to the person who helped overcome my emotions, God. I thank God for all he has done for me as a child till now and I am blessed to have the life I have today and the opportunity I have been given. Without God I believe I would be a different man.

I am young hispanic adult with dreams of becoming an aerospace engineer. I have always loved math and engineering in general. As a child I made cardboard airplanes from scratch with no instructions and most of the time they would actually fly. My father is a big math, science, and engineering guy but he never had the opportunity to chase his dreams in school but had to pursue in a career in the railroad to provide for me and him. Watching movies and shows with my father I had gained a loved for the whole STEM field in general. My father taught me everything he knows about science and engineering and till this day we learn new things today as the world continues to evolve through technology. I have many different paths to choose from, I am still young but I for sure know that I want to pursue my future in STEM and I plan to finish college with a masters degree in aerospace engineering. As a colored student, I want to prove that my people, Mexican Americans, are more as people and I plan to make our stereotypes proven wrong. My grandparents are from Mexico and came to America with nothing, they could not provide much for my father but I learned so much from my father for he learned much while growing up in a harsh world. He taught me ideals, respect, knowledge, wisdom, and everything you need to know to have a great future and so I can be a great man in my future. But not only do I want to prove the stereotypes wrong but I want to do more for my people and not only just for them, but for everyone who aren't given an opportunity. I want to help those who are aren't given an opportunity like how my parents weren't. Many children and students are left out and are never seen for who they truly are. I was blessed to be given an opportunity to become something more than what my parents could be. I have been given the chance to show what I can really do as colored student. I have ambitions to one day use my knowledge to join the air-force. I have chosen the air-force as one of my choices because the air-force can take me to careers that can lead me to further success like joining NASA. I have always had dreams to test and design a craft that will one day be able to inhabit humans on other planets. It is a dream that is seen in movies, books, or in a child's dreams. But, today we have seen so many new inventions, creations, and inventors who prove that these movies, books, and fantasies are no longer just fiction but will one day be in the palms of our hands. I have taken this as inspiration to take my academic excellence and pursue my education in aerospace engineering to one day change the course of humanity for the better of our species futures. Legacy is important to me and even though it is far from near, Earth will one day no longer exist, being able to make sure our future kids or disciples are guaranteed safety and use our knowledge and creations to further evolve human kind.

My father raised me a single father, he always used to tell me my education is my future. Of course as a child I never listened to him because I hated school. My father was not given opportunities when he was my age to be able to attend college and fully pay for it. My father had purse his future into his career in the railroad. He had to focus on the money since he had no one to support him growing up. He eventually had me and never went back to school to finish. My father raised me to see school as my job and that he will always have my back to support me during my education. I no longer dislike school for I have what some would call a love for education. I love math and engineering growing up, I always constructed cardboard planes and just always loved math class. Today, my father has told me to use my love for these two fields and pursue it into college. I plan to major in aerospace engineering and soon earn my masters degree. My father has never attended college like I have said, being the first to attend and soon finish is an ambition of mine to show my father that his hard work, his sacrifice to leave school, was not in vain but allowed me to grow as a person to be able to continue my education. I have a drive to be able to retire my parents one day and my grandparents since they have done so much for me during my life. I know the obstacles, sacrifices, and emotions that I have to go through in order to achieve this. Time, patiences, and motivation only drives me further to one day make all my dreams into reality. Not only for myself but for the people I love as well. I am still young and have not yet experienced life as a young adult. I am still seventeen years old living with my parents. I have not experienced the full, harsh world yet, but my parents have done so much to prepare me teaching me right from wrong. My step mother has taught me more in the past five years than I have in all of my seventeen years being on this planet. She is truly a great soul who has prepared me for life outside of their arms and a life that I have to take care of myself and no longer have to rely on others. I have ultimately decided to pursue into community college for financial reasons. My parents work great jobs and make enough to support all of us and be able to get us what we need. My parents cannot provided for me financially throughout college and I never hoped they would. I am young and do not make enough money to be able to attend a university that I soon get accepted into. I plan to take a smarter path to be able to save money for myself and not get into too much student debt. Community college is a great path that has been given and taught how to take advantage of in order to be successful in my future. Of course after my two years I will be transferring into a four year college. I have been prepared my whole life by the great role models who surround me till this day. I am still young and will make plenty of mistakes but in order to grow and learn from something you first have to make mistakes.

Since I was born, my mother and father always faced conflict and were never cordial towards each other. My mother took me from my father for almost two years and the only way for him to contact me was if he were to provide for my mother's finances. During this time with my mother I faced questions and hardships that a child should never go through wondering "why me." Growing up, I realized no child should be able to realize at such a young age that the world is not al rainbows and butterflies. When my mother took me from my father, I never spent time her. Since she was always going out and never in our apartment I was left alone with sometimes nothing to do but to find ways to entertain myself. My mother had a boyfriend who would take her out and would give more attention too than her own 4 year old son. There would be times I would be given to our apartment manager to be taken care of and times where the manager gave me no respect. I was young and did not know what was going on at the time. I thought having no friends, no parents around, and no discipline was normal. I made friends in this apartment that were not great influences but for the most part I made friends finally and I was no longer alone. During these two years I did not go to school much and I had barely just started, I was missing school and was kept in my apartment to do nothing but wait for my mother to come home. I saw and experienced things no child should go through and truthfully it scarred me. The time my father came to take me, my mother was not in our apartment. I was happy he was taking me but not happy that my mother made up lies about my father. It has been eleven years since my father has taken me, my mother has not reached out, provided for me, or socialized with me during these eleven years. I would ask her to come to my recitals, sports games, my grandmothers house, movies, dinners, arcades, my own house, but she never came. I was left there, waiting, for hours, days, wondering "Mom are you coming." I was lost and my father didn't know what to do. In school I wondered why every kid was making cards for their mothers but I made mines for my aunts, grandmas, and not my mother. I wondered when she will come back, I wondered why me, I wondered what I did wrong, I wondered when this anger, sadness, and questions will end. Today, I am about to graduate high school and be the first generation college student. My father taught me and I gained a passion for basketball and math and I am now pursing a major in aerospace engineering. I have become a bigger man and forgiven my mother, I have moved on realizing it's only hurting me and not her since she could've came back into my life at any time. To those who are going through my adversities, I tell you that it is not your fault. You are an amazing person who deserves everything in this world and to be given a chance and be loved. The pain, sadness, anger, and questioning are something you have to go through in order to realize that it was never your fault. Whether you believe it or not, these experiences are making you the great person you will be.

Since a child, I have always wanted to be an engineer. Like Joe, I share a motivation that I myself have saying for myself every single day I wake up, "Charge Up, Today and Another." My father passed on his love and passion for the STEM field and it allowed me to want to pursue a career in aerospace engineering. I have several goals with having major in aerospace engineering. Ambitions to be the first in my family to enter and finish college with my masters degree, enter the air-force to have an opportunity to enter a better career, and to be able to provide for my future family and retire the important people in my life, my father, step mother, and grandmother. My parents will not be able to provide for me throughout my college experience since they themselves have to be able to provide for themselves and my little brother. I will financial help to be able to pursue my goal of finishing college. I plan to use the money I make in the future and now and save it for college purposes. I was raised to save as much as possible and now that I am becoming a young adult I need to be able to save and not use money on items I want but need. The resources that I will need will be transportation, housing, food, education items such as binders, and of course a way to be able to provide for myself financially. My parents always told me that I need to focus on my education since my future depends on it. They never could finish their education so they know how important it is and how much it will impact my future positively. Over the years, my parents taught to not have tunnel vision which basically means to not have one plan and one plan only. Over time I have come up with several plans and paths for my future. Of course I have a focused on my plan to major in aerospace engineering but I also love film and cinema. And if the air-force does not seem according to plan I have been inspired by a family member to have an idea of becoming a teacher. I have plan A, B, C, all the way through Z. I am a very organized person and some would call me OCD. I hate when something is not in line or going in the right way so I try my best to figure out several ways to fix it or find out how to do it. As I said before I am very motivated and driven to complete my goals that go from small to big and short to long term. I know it takes time for certain ideals and I know patience is key. I workout with my father lifting weights. He's told me several times that change will not happen overnight, it takes patience. Weight lifting is another passion of mines since I love doing it and have goals to change my body significantly to better myself and my health. Everything takes time and patience and I know achieving a masters degree in aerospace space engineering will not be earned over night but will take sacrifices, hard work, anger, sadness, regret, but most importantly patience. Like how it will take patience to earn the body physique I want to earn for myself. At such a young age I have many opportunities and I am blessed to be given the chance to be able to become a successful young man.

My grandparents were and born raised in Mexico until eventually moving to America in their twenties. They could not give my parents everything and could not provide everything my parents could ask for. My father faced poverty, living in the streets, and no access to proper education even during college which he could not finish due to financial issues. My mother was raised by my grandmother who tried to give my mother everything and did. My mother did not take advantage of the little and herself could not finish college either due to financial issues. My father raised me as a single father and provided for us as much as he could. Working over twelve hour shifts, I could never really see him. Today my father has given me the opportunity he was not given due to living in poverty. My mother does not do much for me today but my grandmother has done everything that I appreciate her much for. She moved to America with no idea what to do but years later she is giving all of her advice and wisdom to me since she knows she raised to be a great man that will soon enter and finish college and be a successful man. My parents were not immigrants but the effects of my grandparents being immigrants did pass on to my parents since they were not given everything and money wise, they could never finish college. I plan to pursue a major in aerospace engineering and provide my knowledge to fields such as the air-force. Since a child, I have always been fascinated by engineering and created my own projects. I am a big family man and as of right now I am very worried about the state of the world. Of course I want to take my knowledge to the air-force to be able to test and design projects that will be able to protect my family. Personally, I have always had an ambition to be a creator, designer, and in general an engineer. The air-force is a path to further my career with the education I gained from my major to soon enter fields such as NASA but the air-force can lead me to several different paths that I still have options too since I am so young. I want to bring ideas and evolution to the people of our world through my education. I want to achieve new goals no one believed I could achieve. Goals such as designing a craft that'll one be able to inhabit humans on other planets. I am a bigger dreamer and have big goals that I plan to one day achieve through my mind. I also want to start charities, volunteer, and provide for those who were not given an opportunity like my parents. Knowing how hard it can be for children with immigrant parents or who are even in poverty to able to prove they are more than what they seem is a painful sight. I plan to one day be able to help and provide for these kids who are not given the chance they should be given. As an engineer I do want to be able to design and create items and projects that will change the world since as I said I have big goals that I soon to achieve. As a first generation college student, I plan to prove that I am not like others but I am the man who will one day change the course of humanity.

Since I was young my father always made me watch shows and movies based on technology, science, and videos about math. His passion for the STEM field passed down to me. He was never able to pursue in college but I will be the first to enter college and complete it as well in my family. Movies like Iron Man, shows like Myth Busters and How It's Made, I found love for engineering and math. I always loved math class in every grade I have been in and have been fascinated by it. Like others in the STEM field, I want to advance in technology, I want to evolve the field and see what more we can do with it. I want to find out how much more we can discover and create to make our world a better place. As I said before, my father made me fall in love with the movie Iron Man. Since first watching it, this movie has been my inspiration for almost everything I do. This movie is about a genius engineer who creates a suit that can fly and can sustain an energy source that is as powerful as the sun. Today I plan to pursue a major in aerospace engineering, I chose this because it is a challenge I am able to take on but not only this, but because in the movie, I was inspired to one day make a suit that I am to make fly. Now in reality we may not need this suit since that movie was based off a superhero comic book but what I really want to do is test and design aerial crafts. I loved planes growing up, seeing jets fly by, watching videos on planes and even creating mini cardboard planes and jets as a child growing up. My father also imprinted his love for engineering into me as well. He always told one day I will create something great that will change this world. Of course many children are given this but too me I felt as if my father was seeing what I was creating just out of the imagination of my head and knew one day I will end up in a career of engineering and designing something that will change the course of humanity. Of course my goal is to enter the air-force after completing my masters program and my ultimate goal is to one day enter NASA. Space has always been fascinating to me and I have always wondered what's out there like many others. I've seen our planet slowly die as my years have gone on but of course I will not be alive on the day Earth decides to go. Legacy has always been important to me and leaving something for the future to continue is something big in my family. My father passed down his legacy to me to become something great and I plan to do the same with my children. I plan to one day be the designer of a craft that will be able to allow humans to inhabit other planets. Yes it is a child's dream and a theory as of right now. But I think about our future and I know for a fact that there will not be enough room for humans on earth one day and one day Earth will not be able to stay alive and provide for us no longer. Inhabiting other planets is important for our species since we need to complete this for the futures of children and beyond. This scholarship will allow me to put my full focus on my education. My father never had support to pay for community college so he had to drop out and focus on working. I do not want to do this and I was raised to pursue my education so I am able to achieve more than anyone else has. I have been given this opportunity to achieve my goals, this scholarship will lift weight of me and my families shoulder so I do not have too struggle and stress over financial need and allow me to excel to become a successful young man.

When I was younger, my father and mother never were cordial towards each other leading to separation between them. My mother took me away from my father for several years and used my father for finances which allowed him to see me. My mother has not been apart of my life for over 10 years now since my father took me. She is able to contact in any way possible anytime she could but never does. She has never participated in anything throughout my childhood and never helped my father raise me. Having a mother to me is very important for a child since it can cause struggles and questioning that can lead to consequences. Seeing the other kids go home with their moms, makes mothers days cards at school, or even spending time with their mothers made me wonder what was wrong with causing several obstacles to appear. My mother took me when I was about three or four years old, she had me till I was 6 until my father decided to take me from her. During this time my mother never spent a lot of time with me, she was always out, never home, or when she was home she never spent time with me but with her boyfriend at the time. I made friends in the apartment we lived in so I wasn't alone all the time. My grandmother would come to help and realistically raise. My grandmother is the greatest woman on this planet in my eyes, she did so much for me when she did not have to but did because she knew that I would one day do great things for this world. During this time with my mother I was really uncontrollable because I had no proper parenting and I really missed my father. I bounced around schools and could never make real friends. I always saw myself as a loner and a loser who couldn't make friends but was just bullied. When my father took me I had been put in homeschooling to finish my fourth grade year. I then joined a school that I would end up staying up till eighth grade. I made many new friends and had such great times in that school. But during this time I was struggling with the question "where is my mother." Now I have really moved on and tried to leave it in the past so I can grow as a person. I know there will be a day where I ask my mother why but now I strive to become a better man than my father and achieve goals no other has obtained. Being the first in my family to enter college is motivating to me to do better. The complications with my mother only now pushes me to be better as well, since I felt left out, hated, not believed in, I want to prove that I am not what society sees me as but what the people who raised me to be the man I am today see me as. These people inspire me to pursue my education and soon one day have a successful career. With my love and passion for peace I do plan to help in charities and volunteering in my future and soon one day start my own charity. The career I am pursuing for will only allow me to do great for my family and for others who aren't given an opportunity like I was as my ambition is to help those who are not given a chance and are given proper materials.

Losing someone close to you can be agonizing and traumatic to one. The memories made with this person are remembered once again as you reminisce over the times you had with this loved one. I have experienced several passings of relatives who were close to me. I know the pain and the regrets that are brought upon you as you continue to ponder on the "what ifs" questionings to yourself. I've lost grandparents, aunts, friends, and no matter the situation, I give myself the drive to continue my path not for myself, but for them as well as they watch me from above. Like Kalia I share a passion for sports and since childhood I have always played sports no matter what. I've always loved to move and be in action even if it meant just going for a run with my father. I play basketball, football, and soccer, I have never tried track or cross country like Kalia but I have always aspired to participate in this sport. Recently I have taken my academic skills and focused on education more than anything as I have realized how far I can take myself with my intellect to be able to provide for the important people in my lives. I am a hispanic teen in a house of four living in the city of Burbank in California. I have always been doubted and counted out for no one believed I could be more than what they saw on the outside. I dreamt of being a professional sports player and taking my skill to the major leagues, but as I grew older I realized that academically, I am more likely to make dreams into reality. I told myself growing up "Love for the game only takes you further." Passion and love for basketball and football made me a better player, I was recognized by multiple coaches and offered to several teams. I took my love and passion and put it towards education, this ultimately led me to outstanding achievements. I reached peaks no one believed I could reach. I am a humble person and do not go around show boating my talents for attention, being recognized for my intellect without even "showing it off" as some may say, means a lot to me. Of course in sports I was recognized just like Kalia in track, but I always wanted to be seen for more as well showing I am not a one trick pony and be known as the boy who can only play sports. I've grown as a man becoming more mature realizing the bigger pictures. With this scholarship, I plan to pursue majoring in aerospace engineering. My family cannot provide me throughout my whole college path, with this money it would lift a lot of my shoulders. My parents and myself would not have to worry as much financially. My father never had the support to be able to complete college due to financial issues so he continued his path to work. he raised me to realize that I was given an opportunity that not many children have. I plan to continue to pursue education and prioritize my future through academics since I have been blessed to be able to be the first to enter and soon to finish college. My ambitions are to ultimately finish college with my masters degree purse a career in the air-force and branch out to other, more successful careers. For my family, my goal to become a successful young man becomes reality to help my loved ones and retire them.

My name is Ryan Ramos and I attend John Burroughs High School planning to pursue a masters degree in aerospace engineering. I plan to attend community college to then pursue into a four year university. I have a goal of becoming a test and designer for the air-force to then further my career in a bigger field involved aeronautical engineering. I am motivated with a drive like no other to have a successful career to one day help children in poverty who need there one opportunity to show their ambitions of being successful. I've volunteered at several programs such as Esperanza's Health and Wellness. In this non-profit, several volunteers including myself will provide food to the less fortunate and those who need it and we also provide toiletries. I have volunteered at a church every Thanksgiving morning to give out Thanksgiving meals to those who cannot provide one for themselves and their families. We sit and serve to families and after the event, we will cleanup and put all seat and tables away. I volunteer in my own community as well giving out free food that me and my mother get from Whole Foods to those who need it in our neighborhood. I also help locals around there houses such as mowing their lawns or doing something simple like walking their dogs. I do not play sports anymore but I did play for a long for a recreational team that was a park near my old house. I love basketball and football with a passion and continue to have the passion for these sports. Currently I am more focused on my academic skills but I still do love playing on my free time and playing as both sports are my therapy. I also do workout with my father since we have weights and machines at our home that we can use anytime. Later in time, I plan to help children in need who are in poverty and need to be given an opportunity that they aren't given most of the time. My father was not given his opportunity as a child living poverty, he was smart kid but never given the chance to do what he really wanted to do. He raised as a single father and worked everyday for over 12 hours. He's made a great young man and gave me that opportunity to be where I am at today. Without someone like my father I would not be the first in my bloodline to be able to be attend college. Throughout America there are many young children who live poverty and not given the right materials to become something greater. I plan to start a fund that will help provide the right materials for those children who are not shown the path they must pursue. Considering how my father grew up and how he gave me everything to become a successful, I plan to do the same for others that were like my father and I. Tutoring, finances, study materials, in this charity, myself and my volunteers will complete a goal of helping children achieve their highest academic abilities and given the opportunities they should be given as a young son or daughter to become successful in their future.

After high school I want to pursue my education in the engineering field. I plan to major in aerospace engineering and earn my masters degree. I plan to have a successful career to be able to provide for myself and my future family. I also do want to payback to my loved who helped me as a child. I plan to make school my job and become something no one has become in my family yet. I am the first to be able to go to college and finish but that's not all I want to do. I want to be able to tell my parents they do not have to work anymore, I want to be able to tell my grandmother the same thing, and I want to be able to have a family that does not need to worry about when their next meal will be or where they will sleep tonight. The goal ultimately is to not have to worry about when I can get new clothes, a meal, or bed to sleep on, or a house to sleep in. My father grew like this and he became a hard working man and provided for me as much as he can so I could never go through what he did. He inspires to do this for myself and my future kids and even more. I never want to tell my family they can't have this certain item since we need the money for more important things. I want to be able to provide the things my family will want only with a reasonable reason why they want it. At this age I have seen many relationships, not only couples relationships but families, friends, and to themselves. I have seen many bad and good relationships and I never want to be the man that can't provide for his loved ones. I'm still young and have many ambitions to become great and I have experience pain and broken hearts that make myself realize more that I will become a great man for everything I have gone through since at this moment, I'm here, I haven't been stopped, so what is going to stop me going forward and farther. After college I want to go into a career that involves testing and designing, a job somewhere in the air-force would be my number option at this moment. The air-force can help me learn and discover new careers that'll be better for me such as moving to the NASA field or going to somewhere like SpaceX which are two of many options I can get from going to the air-force. I have multiple choices to pick from at young age still and I have realized that. I have gotten options to being a teacher, a designer, an engineer, and the list can go on. At the moment I do not have the one answer to what I want to be but I know what field I want to work in which is the STEM field. In the end I have drive to be better than everyone and I know I am better than everyone. I have the mindset of nothing can stop so why stop at such a young age. As I count the days to start my college path, I remind myself of who helped me in my past to put me where I am and how those people set my future to be great for myself and my future family.

I am a young student living in a hispanic house of four. I grew up with my father being a single father working hard every day. I was mostly raised by my grandmother and my aunts. My father made time for me but never had all the time in the world. I never blamed him for this since he was working hard to provide for the both us. My mother was never in the picture and never really helped my father to raise me. It was always my grandmother and my aunts, they would be the ones to buy me new clothes, shoes, and food. Of course my father did this as well but when he couldn't they did. During the conflict between my mother and my father, I moved to several schools and was at some point homeschooled. I was bullied, made friends, and or alone doing my own thing. This really made me a quiet kid and I choose my friends based off myself, they faced the same conflicts, same lifestyle, and have the same personality as me. This helped me make great friends and helped me get through many hard times in my life since I finally made friends to distract me from the real world. Now I live in Burbank, I moved here when I started high school so it was tough for me to make friends and start a new life there. Over time I made friends and they helped me as well with hard times and ultimately helped academically, in life, emotionally, and really almost everything. Growing up without a mother was definitely hard to where it made new relationships hard to maintain since my mother put a giant scar in me. I can never really accept attention and emotional connections with someone since me and my mother never had that and till this I still wait for her to come back. It was hard and it is harder on my step mother who is a great mother and takes great care of me. I never take anything for granted and I appreciate everything I have been given, no matter the pain, the hate, the broken hearts, the crying, I appreciate it all and thank God for everything he has done for me and my family. I plan to pursue a career that allows me to be successful to be able to retire and provide for the ones that did so much for me as a child growing up. I'm planning to major in aerospace engineering and pursue a career in the airforce. Of course I am still young and have many options to pick from and still have many outcomes to choose. I do not pursue the money but I pursue the happiness not just for myself but for my family. I want them to be able to sit back know everything they did made me the man I am today and am going to be. A man who faced hardships and the worst any person can think a child can go through but still kept going and told himself "Nothing can stop me, if I got here with no mother, being bullied, no friends at some point, then what can stop me." I tell myself this everyday now and everyday I pray to God and thank him for everything he does for me and I thank my family, my father, my step mother, and especially my grandmother for all they have done for me.

As a child I grew up with my grandmother who was born in Mexico and raised with the Mexican culture of my great-grandmother. She told me the ideals of respect towards others and myself and of course she taught me about our culture. Of course a very obvious is about the dead and of course the holiday Dia De Los Muertos. My grandmother always told me our loved ones who passed are not gone but only moved on to a better and beautiful place. She told me the end is not the end but a beginning for a beautiful life to see our family tree grow. The dead watch us and protect us constantly and see our family grow and as well as watch the people grow as individuals. A spiritual world seemed like a movie when I was younger but with the blessing I was given and the opportunities I have gained I do believe even more now that my ancestors do watch me everyday and make sure I have a great future and career. Everything she has told me does help me personally and only give me more motivation to do better for our family and of course myself. I plan to major in aerospace engineering and pursue and earn my masters. Of course I want to do this to only guarantee a great successful career for myself and be able to help my grandmother and parents financially and soon to retire them. As of right now, my parents cannot help me full-time financially with college. The colleges I plan to enroll in do cost much but are great schools for the education I want to pursue. My parents cannot take on my college financials and also keep themselves and my brother on their feet at the same time. This scholarship will help me financially and give me the opportunity to pursue my career and lift more weight off me and my families shoulders.

I plan to major in aerospace/aeronautical engineering throughout my college experience. Throughout my academic experiences, I have faced hardships throughout my years. I started school at a younger age at about four years old so I have been always the young one of my grade. When I started my parents started to have conflict and soon separated. My mother took me from my father and I had to grow up in an unstable and unsafe neighborhood while alone. I never knew where my mother would go so I would make friends in the apartment I was in to not be alone. After a year and a half my father decided to take me away for the better of my future. My mother hasn't been in my life since and till this day it is a struggle to push through wondering if my mother will ever reconnect with me. I bounced around schools and at some point was home schooled. In many schools I was bullied and some I made a couple friends here and there. My father worked full time and I never had much time with him but he worked hard every single day to give us a better life. As I become older I appreciate everything he has done for me and taught me because without it I don't think I would have the opportunities I have today. In high school, I started as a new kid. I had no friends or anyone to really talk with besides my family. Over the years of course I started to make new friends and build relationships. My father also married my step-mother so that was also a big change for me. My step-mother is a great person and without her I would have been a different person and most likely not be able to go to college. I have always been a quiet kid and never a really loud and social kid. It was hard for me throughout the years switching schools and making new friends because I always reserved myself for specific people who are just like me. Soon enough I found my closet friends and now have a little group of my own. I still face the adversities of my mother and try to talk with her and hopefully have a relationship with her. I would beat myself up over why she left me and it really affected me in school since I had days I cried and could not focus at all leading to a bad grade on a test or a homework assignment. I try to move on but it gets harder and harder as I get older. I know soon I will leave all the questions and anger towards her behind me and start my own life. But my tío and father always tell me to keep going and my tío has always told me since he grew up like me, I made it this far with everything I have been through, he knows and I know I can and will get farther and achieve the great things I know I will in my future. I am still 17 years old and still have a lot of time to mature and become a young man. But as of right now everything I have been through I believe was for a purpose and only makes me a better and more successful man at the end of the day. I want to have a successful future and education and I only push myself harder and harder because I know I will reach the top.

When I was a child I was introduced to a movie called Iron Man by my father. This movie has been a big part of my life as the main character of this movie is a genius tech and an inventor. My father raised me to fall in love with math, science, and technology leading me to pursue my education to gain a degree for aerospace engineering. My reason for wanting to my pursue my education in this field is because I always loved number and technology and have always wanted to be a major influence in the world by creating or inventing something that helps humans as a society evolve. Me and my father would always talk and give each other ideas on how we could possibly leave this amazing planet that is perishing due to us, and be inhabitants of several planets. It may seem like something out of a book or out of a movie, but as time goes on technology evolves and so do we and fantasies are becoming reality. The best example I can provide is a man like Elon Musk who is creating AI and technology no one believed could be possible to have a decade ago. Seeing this inventors and these people like Elon Musk creating technology like this only inspires me more to go farther than them and achieve more than they did. Of course at home and at school I have a hobby of coding here and there and making games and other types of code in that area. I know I have the potential to do way more than that and of course I have always loved building and getting my hands dirty since I was a child. So choosing aerospace engineering felt perfect for me and my experiences with that kind of work. And of course gaining a degree in aerospace engineering I want to pursue my career in the airforce and test and design aircrafts. But not only that, I want to progress and pursue to a career in NASA to also test and design aircrafts. Like I said, I will be that young man who is known for building that ship to get those astronauts or those pilots to a several planets that can soon be named a new home for humans. I've faced many obstacles, having to grow up with no mother, being bullied, and not having many friends. I have always been good academically and always loved school. A hardship I do face now is how I am going to pay for my college. I live in hispanic house with two full time working parents who provide for me and my brother daily. But my parents can't pay for my whole college tuitions and fees since it would lead them to not keep themselves and my brother on their feet. Of course they can help me and provide for me here and there but other than that, I have to provide for myself the rest of the way. It would amazing and I would be grateful to earn this money for my college since I know it would not go to waste since I know my drive and my motivation will take me beyond my education and soon obtain a career that will be successful and change lives.