When I arrived in the U.S. back in the year of 1994, I found myself in an unknown land surrounded by the intimidating sound of an unfamiliar language. This made my academic and personal development difficult at first, but I learned to take risks in order to enhance both my personal and academic growth.
As an immigrant, starting from behind gave me the inspiration and fortitude to move forward and go beyond any expectations. Not choosing to conform to the minimum expectations that other individuals or institutions had set for me, I rather opted to take advantage of as many academic and extracurricular activities as I could in order to maximize my subsequent opportunities. It was this continual acceptance and perseverance of challenges that has allowed me to be where and whom I am today.
I graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a B.A. in history in the Spring 2008. With my desire to constantly challenge myself, I decided to study abroad in France my junior year. In addition to being so passionate about history, it was a great privilege to visit many historical regions and sites throughout France and Europe. This experience will surely prove beneficial when I begin to pursue a doctoral degree in the near future.
I've experienced and accomplished so many great things because I have chosen to take many risks. This means that anybody else can have the same or even better experiences and opportunities as me as long as they challenge themselves. The reality however, is that many Latinos do not challenge themselves because they lack the academic and/or economic resources and role models needed to inspire and encourage them. This is why I have been constantly involved in helping the Latino community and other minorities at UCLA and in the surrounding communities. As the Coordinator of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund Scholar Chapter at UCLA and as a mentor and tutor for underrepresented students, my main goal is to empower others. My efforts hopefully will result in the creation of a larger educated Latino population with greater opportunities in the near future.
Having confidence in oneself is crucial to fulfilling one’s goals and experiencing greater successes. The more confident one is, the more opportunities one will seek and when challenges do arise, to not deter away and persevere. This mindset leads to great success in the future. It's ones duty to find the vast array of opportunities, whether academic or extracurricular, a university offers but that are not highly exposed. To not do so will result in future regrets.
I do what I do because I genuinely care about the future of our Latino students here at UCLA and throughout the nation. Together, we can help produce a new educated generation of Latinos.