Going to a university is the way to prepare me intellectually and socially for my future career. I hope it will help me develop skills and give me experiences that will lead me to find my interests and motivations to become a better version of myself.

My dedication and responsibility have always been my forte and have led me to be the best in my class. They have taught me not to give up in any area and look for all possible solutions to a problem.

I have always been a reserved girl, and sometimes I’m afraid to leave my trust zone, but that’s because that’s how I’ve been raised, in a humble and somewhat conformist family. My father, the sole breadwinner for a family of six children, never demanded a penny from me and much less pushed me to get a job. However, more than anything I knew that one day I would be an adult and would have to fend for myself. 

Ever since I was in elementary school, I knew that my goal was to go to college and get a career. I tried hard to be the highest average and I did it. Neither of my parents finished high school so they couldn’t help me with my homework but with my effort and dedication, everything went well. 

Coming to the United States complicated my life a bit, not only because of my lack of understanding of the language but also because I became my parents’ translator in areas I didn’t know, like health care, school, and laws. I was afraid of failing them or giving wrong information. It was more difficult because sometimes I had to leave my own responsibilities to help my family. 

I am now an adult, and as difficult as it is to separate from my parents, I know that I need to find myself and finally complete my dream. I have made an effort and I hope the finances are not a problem because I really think I deserve it.

The aid from SLI has helped me tremendously as a first-generation student. I have not had any financial stress as most of my peers do nor have I taken out loans or have used any other money. I get to focus more on my classes without worrying so much about how I am going to pay for next semester’s tuition. I am blessed and grateful for the opportunity SLI has given me to continue my education. Even a little can go so far for me. 

I hope to transfer to a university next year, so I want to learn how to become the best version of myself. I realized the potential I have through college and continuing for another year at community college will hopefully help me understand what I am capable of. I recently took a chemistry class and it was my first time ever presenting in front of new people I didn’t already know. It was terrifying to me, but I realized that we were all on the same boat. We are all students willing to learn from one another. 

I have been told by my peers and professors that I work well under pressure. I am not good at math, and I have often had trouble understanding some topics. But I learned that if I go up to the board and work out a problem there, I can understand it.

My first semester in college was chaotic. Everything was happening really fast. My grandfather had passed away a few months before school started and due to covid restrictions, my family and I were unable to travel. As the start of the school year came closer (less than a month away), we had to go on a rushed trip to Mexico so that we could have our visas renewed. I returned to the U.S. with a renewed visa two days before school started. I had barely any time to process what was happening because of all of the things going on in my life at that moment. 

During my first semester I soon realized that I was unhappy in mechanical engineering. I had felt like I had to continue the family’s line of engineers, but after a talk with my father, I felt relieved of that thought and decided to change my major to something that I am truly passionate about and feel like I can do more in. I am now double majoring in criminal justice and homeland security. My vision is to go to law school to become a lawyer. 

I am currently an intern with one of the best attorneys in the state. I have always been attracted to the legal field, and I have a strong sense of justice and advocacy. I feel like as a lawyer I will have more power to stand up to people, and to help my community from any unjust treatment.

My only source of income is my father. My current type of visa does not allow me to have a job. This is one of the things that have me constantly worried. Knowing that I cannot help my family financially is a big concern for me.

Psychology, Latin American Studies

Some of my most memorable accomplishments in high school consisted of many great activities that helped me to become a well rounded student. In the beginning of my freshman year, I joined the volleyball team, and continued through my junior year before the pandemic hit. My sophomore year, I had the opportunity to take classes to become a vet assistant, something that I became very passionate about. I also took three years of American sign language, and was able to hold a conversation with some people. 

I also began working during my sophomore year. Working a part-time job and being a full- time student isn’t easy, and I worked very hard in both school and my job. 

Now I am a full-time college student working a part-time job as a vet assistant at an animal hospital. It makes me feel proud knowing that my parents came to a foreign country away from their home to give their children a better life. I am where I am because of their hard work. 

Now that I’m in college, my expectations and goals for myself are many. I’ve had the opportunity to join a club and connect with more students like myself who share the same interests. One of my goals is to come out of my shell and try new things.

And as I continue my years in college I hope to accomplish more goals like doing outreach and learning more about how to become independent step by step. I still live with my parents, so I commute. But being on my own, driving to school and spending more time on campus, is teaching me what it is like to do things on my own. I hope to learn this new stage in my life, and to adapt to it fast.   

I have always enjoyed writing, and being in SLI for three years helped me strengthen that ability. I am a first generation college student and the oldest child, but my parents, close friends, and amazing professors and mentors all push me to give it all my best.

Ever since I applied to be a SLI scholar, I knew two things for certain: I wanted to go to a four-year college, and I wanted to study computer science. [Now I am in college to] fulfill my biggest goals, and I’m confident I will have the tools available to stay up to date on new and evolving technologies and build my knowledge of computer science concepts and languages. I hope to have networking, internships, and work opportunities available to help me be active in the tech world. 

I am grateful to SLI for all the help and support it’s given me and others.

My biggest strengths are my adaptability and optimism, which will continue to help me as I enter college. The tech industry grows and involves at a rapid pace, and I need to be able to adapt to it. The pandemic forced me to become more adaptable to anything and challenged my optimism. However, I figured out how to stay optimistic by taking everything in, letting myself take breaks, and seeing the light at the end even as the world grew bitter. Whatever the industry decides to throw, I know I will be able to adapt and figure out any new technology. And when it eventually gets frustrating, I will remind myself of the light at the end of the tunnel. 

In college having to program and find different solutions to problems will allow my creativity to grow. As an artist, I have countless drawings filling space on my hard drive, but this talent also allows me to figure out creative ways to solve a problem. Programming is all about trial and error, so even if a solution seems impractical, I still need to try it and see if it gets me anywhere. To be able to create great programs, test out features, or go bug hunting, I will need to be confident in my creativity.

By attending college I want to learn how to be the best ESL teacher I can be. I want to learn how English is taught so I can do that well, and I plan to get a master’s degree to expand my options and make me a better educator.

I also hope to learn more about the world and other people, and perhaps to one day also teach English in other countries. Learning history and about cultures all over the world will allow me to better connect with my students and people around me.

My family is not able to financially support my education, so I am determined to do my very best to pay my way through college. I have a passion for learning, and will make certain to take advantage of every opportunity I am given to continue my journey. 

My strengths are in my character and dedication toward achieving my goals. I’ve been told that I am kind and compassionate, which will help me to be a good and understanding college student and future teacher. My determination will help me to keep on track and do the best job that I can towards achieving the future I want for myself.

SLI: What are some of your interests?

I love to draw and write. I am interested in learning about sewing, and I love the thought of designing clothing. Some of my favorite classes are both English and science, which are the main classes I’ve had.

What would you like to share about your family or life history?

My parents came from Guatemala to California and later to Virginia. They had me here. 

What are your college/career goals?

I want to go to college to experience and learn. I want to learn more about the science of the human body and join the medical field as a registered nurse, or work in the ER.

Why did you decide to become part of SLI?

SLI has helped me realize I might need extra help, considering I would be the first in my family to go to college. I do not have an older sibling who has graduated from college and could guide me. I was also interested in the many opportunities that SLI offers, and I met such wonderful people. I even made an awesome friend from SLI and we talk almost every day! I love being part of SLI. It is an incredible experience. I’ve heard from those who have gone into SLI and shared their experiences, and I agree with them: SLI is a life changer, and with the help of everyone I’ve learned so many things since I’ve joined! I do not regret joining.

SLI scholar Emma ’22 is using her experiences and love of academics to help others in similar situations. An equity ambassador for her school, she also leads students in tutoring their English as a Second Language (ESL) classmates.

What’s something you’re looking forward to about your senior year in high school?

I’m going to have calculus, statistics, and physics. It’s going to be really hard, but I’m kind of looking forward to really being there in person with my teachers and asking them how to really improve and do well, the best that I can. 

I am part of the center for medical sciences [at my high school]. You can take really cool elective classes, microbiology and genetics and that type of thing. Last year I took microbiology. It was a great experience, but the thing that was missing from it was the labs, since we were online. That was kind of sad, but despite that, I was still able to learn so much and it was such a fun experience.This year my physics class will have labs, and organic chemistry. That’s one I saw when I was a sophomore, and they do a bunch of labs with chemicals.

Are you planning to go into a medical career?

I wanted to go to [my high school] in the first place to figure out whether a medical path would be good for me, and I’ve discovered that basically it’s really, really hard. They really force you to go outside your comfort zone and teach you how to do research, how to do a scientific research paper and all of that. Maybe I want to pursue something related to that. 

I’ve done plant-related research projects since my freshman year, and last year I actually won first place at a science fair. That was kind of shocking. My project was called “The Effect of Lipid Second Messenger Phosphatidic Acid on Spinach Growth.” I have learned a lot about how to do plant research. It’s fun.

What have been your school experiences?

I moved here from Mexico when I was 10 years old, in August 2013. I went to fourth grade, and my teacher met me for two months and then went on maternity leave, so I got another teacher. I didn’t know how to speak English, but she treated me like any other student, and I was forced to learn English really fast. By fifth grade I was already at level four in ESL, and sixth grade was my last year taking ESL.

I worked really hard to do well. I’d look at my classmates who were in advanced classes, and I was just really sad that my teacher didn’t put me in any of them, because I had good grades in science. She knew that I liked science, but I guess she didn’t think that I was capable. 

That made me kind of sad or disappointed, that she didn’t think that I could do it, so I just took it upon myself to do well in my science classes. I kept asking my teachers, “Hey, do you think that I could take this advanced class next year? How does that work?” In seventh grade I took two science classes at the same time. I just was like, “I’m going to do it.” 

I took all the middle school classes that I needed to take to be accepted to [my high school], and I ended up doing really well. I guess that was really a good moment for me in school.

What else motivates you?

I came to this country so that I could improve, to get a better education and a better life. 

My dad ended up out of school after third grade, but he did learn how to read and do math, so that was really helpful. He always says, “Yeah, I didn’t didn’t even get to finish more than third grade because I had to work, but I want you to really learn.” 

My mom finished elementary school and then she had to start working at a factory so that she could support her younger siblings so that they could actually stay in school for a little bit longer.

My parents have always talked to me about how important school is and how it can get you really far in life and can just help you in many ways. Even my grandma always talks about school. She never learned how to read or anything. She feels bad that she doesn’t know how to read, but she always said, “My kids are going to learn how to read, and they’re going to stay in school for as long as humanly possible.”

How did you get connected with SLI?

In my first year of high school, I began to notice that my classmates already knew how to write science papers. The most I’d written in middle school was three pages, maybe two pages, but they had already written eight- to 14-page research papers, and had been reading scientific literature. I was like, “Okay, I am miles behind everyone else.”

But my science teacher, even though she was really intimidating and at first I was just a scared freshman, really encouraged me. She made sure that I knew that I could ask her any kind of questions, and just helped me a lot. She also got to know me personally. Then her husband heard about SLI, and so that’s how she gave me [the SLI founder’s] email. I reached out to him my sophomore year, and I’ve been able to get so much out of this wonderful program and am very thankful for this opportunity.

This summer I took a French class and a government class. Then I took two weeks off, and then I got back into work on my SLI paper that we were working on. I finished it last week and turned it in, and now I’m going to just get as prepared as I can for the ACT and the SAT, and also review a little math so that I’m not completely at a loss when I get to school.

You also enjoy helping other students, right?

I am an equity ambassador, which is a program that focuses on bringing the same opportunities to every student. One day, during a meeting with the principal, the counseling director, some teachers in the equity team, and parents, I took it upon myself to bring up that ESL students could really use some peer support, especially in high school. 

My sophomore year, at around the same time that I started SLI, I began tutoring a brand new student from Honduras. She didn’t know anything. It was her first year, so I had to teach her a lot of things and help her with math and English. 

My principal gave me the opportunity to have a club to help ESL students. We’ve been working on that, helping ESL students, and trying to recruit student tutors that speak different languages but also that are passionate about helping other people. Most of the time that is very much the case, because they also have shared the same experience of coming here and being absolutely lost, especially with virtual school. 

I have really enjoyed being able to help people in some kind of way. Even if we help just one student it will all be worth it.