Growing up in Baldwin Park, an area impacted by food insecurity and homelessness, I sought to combat the negative effects of these difficulties through volunteering. Distributing and organizing food at Shepherd's Pantry, I witnessed the relief of the families who found free essential services. After my mom’s separation from my father, my brother, mom, and I was nearly homeless therefore I empathize with the desperation of underserved communities. As a result, I happily reciprocate the support we have received from strangers through volunteering and have developed deep friendships with other volunteers based on our passion to make a difference. Once, I witnessed a homeless woman’s entire demeanor improve when we offered her free shoes and clothes. She sat up straighter, smiled widely, and at that moment I felt the positive impact of making a difference in my community. As a first-generation Mexican-American, I never take for granted the opportunities that I have been given. I work hard in and outside of school to ensure I earn a position in higher education. I academically pushed my limits by taking 8 honors classes and 9 AP classes during my four years in high school and have earned my position in the top 5% of my class. Dissatisfied with my mathematics grade, I began attending office hours and asking more questions in class thereby raising it by an entire letter grade. As such I aspire to represent my cultural background and exceed the expectations of educators. I am passionate about giving back to my community because I have been on the receiving end of food assistance due to financial hardship. Thus far, I have volunteered in my hometown at Shepherd's Pantry by distributing food, hygiene products, and clothes to homeless individuals and families. I also enter new family information into computers and document their additional needs like diapers. I have been frequenting this pantry as a recipient since childhood. I was grateful to be able to support under-resourced families at this non-profit organization. I am also passionate about working with Parent’s Place, an organization for families of children and young adults with special needs. My brother, who has autism, has received services from Parent’s Place therefore I gladly volunteer at their events. One particular event, “Life After High School: What You Need to Know,” was a very meaningful experience because I supported many families whose children were transitioning into adulthood with navigating post-high school options. I was responsible for the morning setup, checking in volunteers, and directing families to information booths.

The public policy I would develop to end diabetes, heart disease, and obesity would be to create government-funded gyms that are open to the public with a rewards system in place, create a tax on unhealthy food, and open government-funded food pantries with fresh food. Factors that contribute to diabetes, heart disease, and obesity include; unhealthy eating habits, lack of exercise, stress, and genetics. I would begin allocating funds from taxpayers' money to a health initiative. The first step would be to build gyms that are paid for with the taxpayer’s money. Members are allowed to go to any gym in any location created under the given initiative. Once the gyms are built I would charge a $10 membership that can be refunded if you come to the gym for four times weekly. This will motivate citizens to come to the gym. I will also put in place a rewards system. Members are automatically entered into a monthly raffle with various healthy rewards. For example, some rewards would be one month's supply of fresh groceries like fruits and vegetables, a free bicycle, 1 free year-long gym pass, $100 gift card to a grocery store or supplement shop. As a result, citizens will be motivated to implement exercise in their daily routine since they directly benefit. I will also implement an unhealthy tax on foods that are unhealthy. Foods that do not have nutritional value and are damaging to one’s health such as chips, soda, and candy will have an additional tax known as the “unhealthy tax”. This will discourage shoppers from purchasing specific foods because it will cost them more. Since healthy foods are more affordable in comparison to unhealthy foods, the decision for individuals grocery shopping will be easier. The tax from given foods will support the health initiative that keeps government-enforced gyms and food pantries open. Lastly, government-funded food pantries with fresh groceries such as fruits and vegetables will open in every town. Low-income communities will directly benefit from this program because they are more likely to seek out free food opportunities than individuals with a higher disposable income. Grocery chains will be obligated to donate 10% of all total fresh groceries they obtain. They will be persuaded to do so because they will receive a tax break that matches the price of groceries given to food pantries. For example, Food 4 less must provide 10% of the 100-pound shipment of fresh vegetables and fruits they received. This means 10 pounds will be given to the food pantry. The cost of the 10 pounds of fruits and vegetables will be calculated. For this example let us say that 10 pounds of groceries are $1000. $1,000 will be deducted from their taxes at the end of the year. This is only $1,000 for that shipment. The tax deductions will add up for each shipment. My health initiative will create jobs for many Americans ultimately benefiting the US economy. The health of Americans will improve because there is a system in place that wants to see Americans become healthier. The “unhealthy” tax, free gym memberships, and rewards system combined with the food pantries directly benefiting low-income communities will create noticeable change.

My dream goal is to help as many people as possible improve their confidence. This aligns with my goals of being a reconstructive surgeon for patients with breast or skin cancer and those who have suffered from severe burns. I am working towards getting an education that will allow me to reintroduce the normalcy of cancer and burn patients by restoring their former physical appearance that was stripped from them.

Coming from a low income, single parent household as a woman of color, living in an unsafe neighborhood was the greatest adversity I’ve faced thus far. Based on my neighborhood I was assigned to a high school where there was frequent gang activity, bomb threats and constant violence. My mother did not want me exposed to an environment where my life is at risk daily and because of its poor academics. Due to this I attended online school and as a result I was excluded from social experiences such as making new friends, going to prom, homecoming, and many more activities teens my age experience. I overcame the harsh reality of sacrificing my social life for my safety by keeping myself busy and dedicating myself to giving back to my community. Though volunteering at the district attorney’s office, animal shelter, and food pantry I met many interesting people and became more compassionate towards other people’s backgrounds. I have volunteered as law clerk at the Los Angeles district attorney’s office for the pomona branch. During my time there I organized miscellaneous materials, stored archived files, searched for bench warrants and assigned case numbers for felonies and misdemeanors. My assistance greatly contributed to the understaffed clerical group. My peer and I were able to put files away into boxes for them to be sent to archives which is a year overdo. As a result there is more space for cases to be properly organized to prevent them from getting lost. I plan to pursue a bachelor’s degree in political science and work my way towards obtaining a Juris Doctor degree. My passion of helping people impacted by crimes seek justice combined with my educational goals will help me give back to my community via legal representation. I plan on giving back to my community through pro-bono work and eventually being a district attorney of my city. My personal knowledge of my city affords me the deeper understanding of a person’s upbringing, socioeconomic status, and environment which are contributing factors towards a person’s behavior that can explain the motive of a crime.

I remember learning in chemistry class that the ocean is blue because water us unable to absorb the color blue from the light spectrum. At the time I did not understand why it the ocean would be a color that it is unable to absorb from the light spectrum. Therefore my favorite scientific discovery is spectroscopy, the study of absorption and emission of light, because there is an endless amount of colors of which are reflected because a specific color goes unabsorbed by a particular item. I love colors because they are aesthetically pleasing and because they help me see since I have impaired vision. I am unable to rely on my vision therefore seeing different colors helps me understand the potential danger of something approaching me.

My mom has supported me the most in reaching my academic goals by encouraging me to pursue a higher education. She always reminds me of her regret for being unable to pursue higher education. Witnessing her regret and suffer from not pursuing higher education motivates me to what she has always wanted to do but was unable to. Since she did not go to college she struggles to pay bills, lives in an unsafe neighborhood and lacks financial freedom. My mom doesn't want me to lead the life she does, rather help her get out from harsh conditions. I am motivated to make my mother proud because of all of the sacrifices she has made and because I want to live a life of financial freedom. My mom has helped me reach my educational goals, thriving in school, by making sacrifices such as driving me out of town to go to a safer school. In addition she encourages my interests that are not school related by buying me books. She supports me by giving me words of encouragement, reminding me that I only have to do my best regardless of the outcome, and making sure that I feel heard. A hard worker is not something you can learn rather a characteristic trait that she believes is essential for me to thrive in any aspect of life. She leads by example by being a mom, who works the graveyard shift, has two kids and isn't receiving child support. She makes me feel heard by making sure my mental health is also intact. I have depression and school worsens it therefore she takes me to therapy to ensure I have someone to talk to about my feelings so my academic performance is not impacted.

Coming from a low income, single parent household as a woman of color, living in an unsafe neighborhood was the greatest adversity I’ve faced thus far. Based on my neighborhood I was assigned to a high school where there was frequent gang activity, bomb threats and constant violence. My mother did not want me exposed to an environment where my life is at risk daily and because of its poor academics. Due to this I attended online school and as a result I was excluded from social experiences such as making new friends, going to prom, homecoming, and many more activities teens my age experience. I overcame the harsh reality of sacrificing my social life for my safety by keeping myself busy and dedicating myself to giving back to my community. Though volunteering at the district attorney’s office, animal shelter, and food pantry I met many interesting people and became more compassionate towards other people’s backgrounds. I plan to pursue a bachelor’s degree in political science and work my way towards obtaining a Juris Doctor degree. My passion of helping people impacted by crimes seek justice combined with my educational goals will help me give back to my community via legal representation. I plan on giving back to my community through pro-bono work and eventually being a district attorney of my city. My personal knowledge of my city affords me the deeper understanding of a person’s upbringing, socioeconomic status, and environment which are contributing factors towards a person’s behavior that can explain the motive of a crime.

Coming from a low income, single parent household as a woman of color, living in an unsafe neighborhood was the greatest adversity I’ve faced thus far. Based on my neighborhood I was assigned to a high school where there was frequent gang activity, bomb threats and constant violence. My mother did not want me exposed to an environment where my life is at risk daily and because of its poor academics. Due to this I attended online school and as a result I was excluded from social experiences such as making new friends, going to prom, homecoming, and many more activities teens my age experience. I overcame the harsh reality of sacrificing my social life for my safety by keeping myself busy and dedicating myself to giving back to my community. Though volunteering at the district attorney’s office, animal shelter, and food pantry I met many interesting people and became more compassionate towards other people’s backgrounds.

Coming from a low income, single parent household as a woman of color, living in an unsafe neighborhood was the greatest adversity I’ve faced thus far. Based on my neighborhood I was assigned to a high school where there was frequent gang activity, bomb threats and constant violence. My mother did not want me exposed to an environment where my life is at risk daily and because of its poor academics. Due to this I attended online school and as a result I was excluded from social experiences such as making new friends, going to prom, homecoming, and many more activities teens my age experience. I overcame the harsh reality of sacrificing my social life for my safety by keeping myself busy and dedicating myself to giving back to my community. Though volunteering at the district attorney’s office, animal shelter, and food pantry I met many interesting people and became more compassionate towards other people’s backgrounds.

I plan to pursue a bachelor’s degree in political science and work my way towards obtaining a Juris Doctor degree. My passion of helping people impacted by crimes seek justice combined with my educational goals will help me give back to my community via legal representation. I plan on giving back to my community through pro-bono work and eventually being a district attorney of my city. My personal knowledge of my city affords me the deeper understanding of a person’s upbringing, socioeconomic status, and environment which are contributing factors towards a person’s behavior that can explain the motive of a crime.

I have volunteered as law clerk at the Los Angeles district attorney’s office for the pomona branch. During my time there I organized miscellaneous materials, stored archived files, searched for bench warrants and assigned case numbers for felonies and misdemeanors. My assistance greatly contributed to the understaffed clerical group. My peer and I were able to put files away into boxes for them to be sent to archives which is a year overdo. As a result there is more space for cases to be properly organized to prevent them from getting lost. I plan to pursue a bachelor’s degree in political science and work my way towards obtaining a Juris Doctor degree. My passion of helping people impacted by crimes seek justice combined with my educational goals will help me give back to my community via legal representation. I plan on giving back to my community through pro-bono work and eventually being a district attorney of my city. My personal knowledge of my city affords me the deeper understanding of a person’s upbringing, socioeconomic status, and environment which are contributing factors towards a person’s behavior that can explain the motive of a crime.