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Yasmin Martinez Olea

335

Bold Points

1x

Finalist

Education

Orange Glen High School

High School
2020 - 2024

Miscellaneous

  • Desired degree level:

    Bachelor's degree program

  • Majors of interest:

    • Behavioral Sciences
  • Not planning to go to medical school
  • Career

    • Dream career field:

      Apparel & Fashion

    • Dream career goals:

      La Santana Scholarship
      I became obsessed with telenovelas from a young age. It wasn't the scandals like love triangles or affairs that piqued my interest though -it was the villains. One of my favorites is the iconic "Teresa", she is a textbook narcissist and a master manipulator. I wasn't familiar with such behavior and I was fascinated by her being. The highlights of my day were covering my mami with a blanket and resting my head on her bum as we watch the wickedness of Teresa. The show was so enthralling -yet my mother slept through most of the episode. While my mother snored the day away my pupils were so concentrated on the screen I hardly even blinked. I was engrossed by Teresa's doings. I couldn't miss a single thing because I needed to fill my mom in on what she had missed. I needed to be as descriptive as possible so we could debrief each episode together. In our debriefings, we discussed the actions and behaviors of the characters. From my mom's point of view, our debriefings were casual but to me, it was detective work. It felt like we were creating a case file just like the detectives I had seen on TV. I became very fixated on the idea of human behaviors so the question, Why do people do what they do? grew in my mind. From being exposed to telenovelas where some characters' actions are unexplainable I wanted to figure out the reason behind their turpitude. I wondered, Why did Teresa manipulate the men in her life? That question was simple to answer. She was money hungry and greedy. I began to apply my curiosity in my day-to-day life. I wondered, What made my mom work so tirelessly to the point she couldn't stay awake through a 45-minute episode? That answer held more complexities than just having to do with my mother's personality and motives. She is hardworking and resilient, but she has also been taken advantage of by the job market in this country that overworks and underpays its immigrant workers. The combination of exploitation and my mother's work ambition was the cause of her fatigue. It is because I live in a country with such unfair systems, that I know a young Mexicana like me must seek higher education. Especially one with dreams like mine of studying Behavioral science to then working myself up to a position at the Behavioral analysis unit of the FBI. I want to know more about, What triggers the mind to act out? and What creates a bad person? The actions of villains like Teresa are often excused by a difficult upbringing. Though that is true the cause of her actions goes much deeper than that, it all connects back to the hard wiring of her brain. Since she grew up poor but always desired more, the moment she had a taste of wealth she was consumed by its power and would do anything to keep it. The same goes for real-life villains like larcenists, arsonists and murderers. Committing crimes gives them the thrill and power they lack in their lives. I want to decypher the obscure actions of these criminals through behavioral analysis work at the FBI. My career desires play into a bigger dream of creating a safer world. With the help of higher education, I will study human behavior to become more knowledgeable of the real villains in our world and put them behind bars and keep them away from all that is good.