Scholarship / Math and science - discuss the subjects in which you excel or have excelled [3]

attribute your success?

My dedication and encouraging teacher in the gifted program have attributed to my success in math and science. In the first grade, I would always get in trouble for talking and bothering others while I should have been doing my work. But the thing was that I was done with my work, grew bored and was just trying to entertain myself. It came to a point where a parent-teacher conferences were needed because of my behavior. My mom demanded that I be put into classes that kept me busy and out of trouble. In my opinion that was the best decision my mother could have made, because it turned out that I was a very well behaved child I just needed something to keep me busy and that I have an act for math and science.

The gifted program was started for students who aren't challenged enough in the regular classes. And in the program math and science were the only subjects taught. The way the subjects were taught sparked an interest for me in them. Mrs. Smith, my gifted teacher for five years, made math accessible through back doors and underground tunnels. What I meant by that is that math doesn't necessarily have one way to solve it, it has many different ways of solving it. She also taught me without math, science was not valid. This in turn made me realize that I love math, which led me to love science as well. A love for these two subjects, gave me the courage to follow my dream of becoming a cardiologist someday.

When I look at my family I see struggling, hurting, suffering, and hardworking people. For the most part I don't want to be like them. I don't want to struggle, hurt, or suffer. For this reason I am determined to be successful enough to be well off in life and never have to worry about essentials.

As my educational career developed, increasing the levels of math and science every year, I started to understand that if I don't choose a path, stick with that path, excel in that path, I'm going to struggle in life.

Scholarship / Subjects you've had difficulty with. [2]

Discuss the subjects in which you had difficulty. What factors do you believe contributed to your difficulties? How have you dealt with them so they will not cause problems for you again? In what areas have you experienced the greatest improvement? What problem areas remain?

No limit on amount of words.

Tear it up. Not that good at writing essays would love for input.

History is not my subject, because history never excited me, it never caught my attention, it never made me smile, it never interested me. History is a bunch of facts that should stay when they happened, in the past. Every history teacher that I've had, has taught the subject lethargically, never with enthusiasm. Ever since I could remember most of my history teachers were a set image in my mind: an old, boring, and out-of-date teacher. I believe that the underlying reason for my difficulty in the subject lies physiologically because of the lack of enthusiastic history teachers.

Because I knew that I would have to deal with history for the rest of my life, I chose to develop a method to use so that history could get a grasp of my attention. Whenever I face a history problem: studying, taking notes, learning the section, ect, relate the situation to my life some way or another. For example, the Louisiana Purchase, was the purchase of land from the Spain for America. The purchase was done because the king of Spain was at war and needed monetary support in order to continue his efforts. I remembered this because I related it to my uncle Fred selling his BMW, for little money, in order to pay for his bills.

So far my new methods for history have worked, they have allowed me to study with ease. But even though I can stroll through history classes now, I still don't see what is so interesting about the history.

Scholarship / Long and short term goals (to become a world renowned doctor) [3]

Discuss your short and long term goals. Are some of them related? Which are priorities?

Throughout my life, I have always set my goals extremely high, so that if I fall short, I still feel accomplished.

In the long run, my foremost goal is to become a cardiologist. My aspiration to become a cardiologist is directly influenced by my family's long history of heart disease, cancer, asthma, and high blood pressure. It hurts to see people suffering from cancer, especially my family, waste slowly away, that they only have a small chance of survival. Witnessing first-hand the struggles of people suffering with cancer has motivated me to fight against the dreaded disease that takes the lives of so many.

I hope to use my skills as a cardiologist at Tampa General Hospital. Already an active volunteer at the hospital, it has been my dream to help the ill through this prestigious hospital. Since a child, I have always gone to Tampa General Hospital for any emergency. As a seven year-old, I was hit by a car, and immediately was rushed to Tampa General Hospital. There, I was treated like a king; nurses attended to me constantly, extra jello given whenever I asked, and the doctors were the nicest people.

From the moment I was rolled in by a wheel chair, people surrounded me. Some pouring questions to my mother and others attending me. The nurses were staring at my foot in despair, when I told them that my foot had been ripped apart by a car. Medicine and bandages were administered immediately. Their was a nurse in particular, who showed up on the hour and brought me a different flavored lollipop every time.

In order to accomplish my long term goals, small steps have to be taken in order to get there. I hope to take these first steps by getting excepted by the University of South Florida. The University of South Florida has a program with Tampa General Hospital, that allows graduate students intern at the hospital. This is the primary reason I chose the university. However, I can not afford to go to the university. My mother has been working pay check to pay check all of her life. We can barely afford essentials for three people. However, with this scholarship I would be able to pursue my dreams and par with the financial burden of the undergraduate and graduate portions of my secondary education.

Scholarship / Leadership.Football, School, Family [3]

discuss a leadership experience you have had in any area of your life: school, work, athletics, family, church, community, etc. how and why did you become a leader in this area? how did this experience influence you goals?

A leader is a person who guides others toward a common goal, by example and showing that you are a good listener, focused, organized, decisive, and a confident person. I would consider myself a leader at school on the football team and amongst my peers academically, and a leader at home amongst my family members.

The football team at Robinson High School has had a losing record for a couple of years, ending up with records of 1-9 and 2-8 in 2007 and 2008, respectively. Inexcusably, we were known as the worst football team in Tampa. One day, the juniors, future seniors, of the football team huddled up and each individual spoke with their heart, preaching that we need to turn this program around. Progressively, the seniors inspired the rookies and encouraged them to try their hardest.. We taught them to how to get out of their comfort zones, so they could see what they were capable of doing. We were a group of nine seniors, and we had to have a firm foot in the ground so that we could set an example for the thirty underclassmen on our team. For example, we were never late to practice, but if any underclassmen were to be late we would have a talk with them. We would ask them if they cared for the rest of the team, or if they even wanted to play. Asking them little questions like those two, would get into their heads and make them think if football was really worth it. Almost every time the talks worked and they were never late again.

After eight months of off season training, scolding, teaching, learning, running dieting, working, drilling, hitting, and hurting, our team, including our coaches, became a family and went 10-3, reaching the State Semi-finalists in the 2A-Florida division.. Losing to such a great team in the end, when we were so close the State Title, devastated everyone. The seniors told the rest of the team that they needed to take this feeling and strive on it, in order to be successful the year coming. This was my family, and we seniors lead the pack, in every aspect, We had a very good season that sparked greatness for years to come. I became a senior leader on the football team so that we would be successful and turn program around.

My school isn't a big school, it has approximately 400 seniors. Everybody is acquainted with one another. There are no cliques or labels branded on people, and that's what makes it such a great place. Throughout high school, late nights, online classes, Advanced Placement classes, and the Dual Enrollment Program were common things in my life. All of these factors, have lead me to earn my position of 2nd in my senior class. I have struggled and worked extremely hard to get where I am today.

I am a student that takes school seriously. I picture myself as a leader amongst my peers because I exhibit the qualities of a leader. Also because of my hard work and determination to accomplish my goals, my peers look up to me. Jumping from the rank of 23rd in my freshman class to 2nd in my senior class also shows that school is extremely important to me. I became a senior leader at school, to show that anyone can do what they put their minds to.

In my family, I might not be a leader, authority wise, but I am a leader when it comes to academics. Ever since I could remember, I have been helping the younger children in my family with their studies. Whenever there is a problem that they can't figure out, I am always there to help. For example, my cousin, Aaron, I would consider him my little brother, is in the fourth grade and he is not the brightest student. Everyday because his mother has to work in order to pay her bills, I help him with his studies. I wanted to become a leader amongst my family because I wanted the younger children to look up to. I wanted to show them that if they put their minds to it they can become anything they want to.

My experiences as a leader in these three areas, have deeply influenced my goals. Since I decided to step up and show people who I really was , I realized if I really work hared I

can do or be anything I want.

Scholarship / Obstacles in my life (no father, sick mother, and diseases consuming my family) [3]

Is there anything else you would like to tell us about that may help us evaluate your nomination (I.e. personal characteristics, obstacles you have overcome)?

In my life I have overcame many hurdles , but I never let them bring me down. As a child not having a father in my life was challenging. My mother lost her job for a period of time, putting our family on welfare to survive. She has also been through numerous life threatening surgeries. Many family members have died because of diseases that run through the families' genes. These mountains that I have managed to cross have only made me a stronger person.

Recently, I met my father, he is a great man that had a bad situation. As a child growing up, I looked around and all I saw were children with two parents, not one. I didn't have two parents. I cried many nights wishing that God would send me a father, even if he wasn't mine. One day, in the third grade, my class was asked question about our families', including question about our parents. It turned out that I was the only child of thirty students in the class not to have a father in his life. My friends teased me for days. Even though I look back at the incident and know that we were children, it still hurts. I'll never forget that day. My dad is an honorable man, because he left my life in order to fix his life and come back to raise mine.

A year of reality came when my mother loss her job, right after the terorist attack of September 11th, and we were put on welfare. Months of colds days in the winter and boiling hot days in the summers were endured because we couldn't afford a high electricity bill. Cereal for dinner was routine because the food stamps were sufficient. A positive that came out of this was that I learned the value of family bonding. Because we couldn't afford gifts or going out, during birthdays or Christmas, creativity and quality time was a huge part of my time. My family and I became a unit, without one another we wouldn't have made it.

My mother is a very unhealthy woman. She has gone through five heart wrenching surgeries. Many times I was up all night, thinking, praying, crying, and wishing for a miracle. Weather the surgery be the removal of a gall bladder or a total hysterectomy, emotionally I was impacted the same. I remember one night, my mom woke up in agonizing pain, the paramedics rushed her to the Tampa General Hospital screaming. She had a huge cyst on her ovaries, measuring 11cm by 14cm. Thank God that it wasn't cancerous. Following this surgery were two additional cyst surgeries, the removal of a gall bladder, and a total hysterectomy. My mom also has dealt with high blood pressure, asthma, and bronchitis. These conditions also have me worried all the time for her health.

My mother has been through so much, yet, she still keeps going no matter what. She's never let anything drag her down. She is a marvelous woman, who I would proudly call my mother.

The worst obstacle I had to tackle unexpectedly was the deaths in my family due to diseases. My family has had to endure so much pain due to missed people. So many close people to me have slipped away and others were yanked from my heart. One of my best friends was my grandmother's older sister, Carmella Merren, also known a Big Mama. Big Mama was the nicest person in the world, indeed she scolded me from time to time, but that's part of being an adult. She would buy me a min-candy bar every Friday and she would have it waiting for me for when I came home from school. I always came home with a smile. It killed me inside to find out that she had cancer in her face. Slowly she wasted away gradually mutilating pieces of my heart and soul. A month after her horrifying death, three of my family member died with because of cancer as well. This completely through my family off rhythm. Pain and suffering came like a non-stop train for my family.

Overcoming these three obstacles have made me a stronger person, emotionally. I have learned how to survive without luxuries, depend on my family, and understand that people die, but we have to keep living, taking advantage of every single moment we live.

Scholarship / Racism, Injustice (others were treated unfairly) [4]

Briefly describe a situation in which you felt that you or others were treated unfairly or were not given an opportunity you felt you deserved. Why do you think this happened? How did you respond? Did the situation improve as a result of you response?

On my way to a thanksgiving dinner at my grandmother's house, I received a phone call from my grandmother asking me to stop at a store on my way down to purchase a package of instant gravy. I agreed and searched for a store that was open on thanksgiving day. I search for maybe half an hour until I found Sweetbay Supermarket.

I rushed to find a parking spot. Me and my mother speed walked our way across the parking lot until we are panting as we walk inside the store. The toasty store gave off a sense of pleasure the instant we walked in. We scan the top of the store, hunting for the sign for the gravy ail. Sprinting up and down the ails, we eventually find the package of gravy. What made it even better was that the cans were buy one and get one free.

We reached the never-ending lines that reached the back of the store. Slowly we got closer to the cash register, yet, the line stayed just as long as when we entered the store. Thirty-five minutes later we were second in line when we noticed something was wrong with the way the cashier was looking at us. She was giving us rude looks and making awkward sounds like sucking her teeth at us.

When it was our turn to checkout, the cashier was very short with us, avoiding conversation and eye contact. She rung the two packages of gravy up. The cans came out to be regular priced. My mother simply asked her if she could check again because we saw that they were buy one get one free.

The next thing you know, the cashier is screaming and cursing her way from the cash register. She said "I can't handle this, these immigrants are getting on my nerves. THEY need to go back to where they came from." I watched her go insane as my mother retaliated with "What did you just say?". They were in a huge argument. I was trying to calm down my mother, but since that didn't work I went to the costumer service desk and demanded for the manager. He fled out of my his when he heard the news. The manager was appalled. He approached the cashier dragged her out of the store and fired her.

In my opinion, this happened because obviously she was racist, but what set her over the top were the factors involved such as: having to work on a holiday and the store being so busy. But there was no excuse for actions. Looking back at the situation, there was no other way to handle that would have helped the problem. My response enhanced the Supermarket, now they don't have such a rude, ignorant, or racist worker with a bad attitude.

Scholarship / Dual Enrollment Program - Courses that are difficult for me [2]

Ever since, I could remember, history has never been my strong point in my studies. I have always thought the subject was aimless and uninteresting. For example, I use to be on the brink of falling asleep every time my history teacher would start to lecture. Another factor that lead me to have difficulty with the subjects, is the draining thought of sitting there, studying facts for hours. In order to cope with the burden, I would relate the facts to my life: people with family member, events with incidents in my family, and wars and battles with fights.

One summer, in the Dual Enrollment Program, it was my first day in my early American history course and the teacher was an older gentleman, who taught with excitement and enthusiasm. He also taught how important history is. Mr. Fliegelman spoke of a quote, referring to George Santayana, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." This in turn made me realize that history was a vital course. The sudden passion for history, kindled the research of my origins. Discovering that I came from a Mayan culture, that was discovered by Columbus. To imagine that if Columbus didn't finish his last voyage, my family wouldn't be the family they are today.

After the history course with Mr. Fliegelman, my problems with the subject ceased to burden my studies.