PROMPT :We are interested in learning more about you and the context in which you have grown up, formed your aspirations and accomplished your academic successes. Please describe the factors and challenges that have most shaped your personal life and aspirations. How have these factors caused you to grow?
"You're lucky that you're a Mexican." This is a phrase that I've heard many times from my peers. They only focus on my ethnicity and not my unique qualities as an individual. To them I'm just an immigrant who will be lucky to be admitted into college because I'm a minority. However, many of my classmates have little idea of the hardships I've had to face in order to be successful. I've always followed this simple principle: If you commit the time to something, amazing things will begin to happen. When asked about how I am "smart", I often trace my success in school back to my parents. Back in 2003, my father made the difficult decision to abandon his job in Mexico and come to the United States to look for a better occupation that could support my family better. He brought my brother and I along. Back then, I was merely a six-year-old, living happily in the comfort of my parents and siblings. All of sudden, that little perfect bubble I was living in burst. I was now in the United States, without my mother and my sister by my side. I had to attend a new school where I didn't know anyone, where I couldn't communicate with anyone because I didn't speak English, where didn't understand anything I was being taught because I was so far behind. I now lived in a small apartment with both my father and brother, living with limited resources The sudden realization of my new reality overwhelmed and depressed me for months. My mother was the main person in my life that filled me with comfort, security, and love; being able to adapt to life without her and my sister in the picture was the toughest thing I had to overcome. Many times I felt like giving up and succumbing to all the pressure and sadness inside of me.
Many months passed before I put it all beside me and began to feel better. My father and I talked one day and it was then when he truly, fully explained to me the reason why he brought my brother and I to the U.S. My parents wanted my father to find a better job as a teacher, and they also wanted to give my siblings and me a greater opportunity to go to college than what was possible in Mexico. My father also told me the reason why my mother and my sister didn't accompany us was because my mom had to stay in her job in Mexico, and my sister stayed behind to keep my mom company. Even though I had a broad idea of what my father talked to me about, it took me about two years to fully comprehend the sacrifice that my parents had made for me. My father was willing to leave behind his family, friends, job, and native country so that I could have a better opportunity for college. I realized that the best way to repay my parents was to do the best I could academically so I could be admitted into one of the best colleges here in the U.S. My parents' efforts and selflessness to give me a chance for a great life has inspired and motivated me to strive to achieve high success in academics.
The tough mental and emotional challenges that I had to face as a 6-year-old, especially the one of coming into a new country and having my mom separated from me, allowed me to mature at an early age, helping me to handle very difficult situations as I continued to grow up. The economic situation that I had to live in helped to understand the value of money, and learn to spend it wisely. My parents have always taught me to be humble, and learning to always be grateful for what I have. Although I have never had many of the luxuries like a personal laptop or a car that many people my age enjoy, lacking these luxuries in my life has helped me to become more connected to my family, and it has taught that there is more to life than just being a popular teenager or having the latest technology. Ironically, the relative absence of technology and the benefits it brings to people has always fascinated me. As a young child, I always had an aspiration to become an engineer and take part in making new innovating technology to improve the world. Now as a high school senior, the opportunity of a lifetime awaits, and I truly hope my dream of going to a college in the U.S. to study engineering can fully blossom and become a new chapter in my life.
"You're lucky that you're a Mexican." This is a phrase that I've heard many times from my peers. They only focus on my ethnicity and not my unique qualities as an individual. To them I'm just an immigrant who will be lucky to be admitted into college because I'm a minority. However, many of my classmates have little idea of the hardships I've had to face in order to be successful. I've always followed this simple principle: If you commit the time to something, amazing things will begin to happen. When asked about how I am "smart", I often trace my success in school back to my parents. Back in 2003, my father made the difficult decision to abandon his job in Mexico and come to the United States to look for a better occupation that could support my family better. He brought my brother and I along. Back then, I was merely a six-year-old, living happily in the comfort of my parents and siblings. All of sudden, that little perfect bubble I was living in burst. I was now in the United States, without my mother and my sister by my side. I had to attend a new school where I didn't know anyone, where I couldn't communicate with anyone because I didn't speak English, where didn't understand anything I was being taught because I was so far behind. I now lived in a small apartment with both my father and brother, living with limited resources The sudden realization of my new reality overwhelmed and depressed me for months. My mother was the main person in my life that filled me with comfort, security, and love; being able to adapt to life without her and my sister in the picture was the toughest thing I had to overcome. Many times I felt like giving up and succumbing to all the pressure and sadness inside of me.
Many months passed before I put it all beside me and began to feel better. My father and I talked one day and it was then when he truly, fully explained to me the reason why he brought my brother and I to the U.S. My parents wanted my father to find a better job as a teacher, and they also wanted to give my siblings and me a greater opportunity to go to college than what was possible in Mexico. My father also told me the reason why my mother and my sister didn't accompany us was because my mom had to stay in her job in Mexico, and my sister stayed behind to keep my mom company. Even though I had a broad idea of what my father talked to me about, it took me about two years to fully comprehend the sacrifice that my parents had made for me. My father was willing to leave behind his family, friends, job, and native country so that I could have a better opportunity for college. I realized that the best way to repay my parents was to do the best I could academically so I could be admitted into one of the best colleges here in the U.S. My parents' efforts and selflessness to give me a chance for a great life has inspired and motivated me to strive to achieve high success in academics.
The tough mental and emotional challenges that I had to face as a 6-year-old, especially the one of coming into a new country and having my mom separated from me, allowed me to mature at an early age, helping me to handle very difficult situations as I continued to grow up. The economic situation that I had to live in helped to understand the value of money, and learn to spend it wisely. My parents have always taught me to be humble, and learning to always be grateful for what I have. Although I have never had many of the luxuries like a personal laptop or a car that many people my age enjoy, lacking these luxuries in my life has helped me to become more connected to my family, and it has taught that there is more to life than just being a popular teenager or having the latest technology. Ironically, the relative absence of technology and the benefits it brings to people has always fascinated me. As a young child, I always had an aspiration to become an engineer and take part in making new innovating technology to improve the world. Now as a high school senior, the opportunity of a lifetime awaits, and I truly hope my dream of going to a college in the U.S. to study engineering can fully blossom and become a new chapter in my life.