I was born and raised in the small town of Lindsay, CA where mostly everyone has a similar background and mine is no different. Our community is very understanding for that reason, nobody is judged because we all understand that life can get hard especially in a Hispanic community where the main source of income is in agriculture. My parents like others in my community have worked hard and continue to work hard to give me what I need and I appreciate everything they do for me, my brothers and sisters. It’s hard at times because I see them struggle and I see their pain and I would do anything to change their way of living and give them a better life, but at the same time seeing this has encouraged me to try my hardest.
My parents determination to support me and my family is my motivation to never quit. My dad like many of my friends parents has worked in the fields for a very long time;over 30 years and has always put his family's health and well-being before his own health. Although I have never worked out in the fields, I have seen what the working conditions have done and can do to field workers. Workers face hardships such as long hours of stoop labor, exposure to pesticide and the worst part is the limited access to health care and poor health. I have experienced first hand what they go through when they are injured and the long term problems that are developed and I wouldn't wish it upon anyone. It is a horrible experience but I’ve learned to always take something positive from a bad situation even when it seems impossible to do so and that's exactly what I did and will continue to do. It didn’t take long and wasn’t very hard either to realize that I wanted to help people, the hard part was deciding in what way I wanted to do so and this situation assured me that I wanted to go into a nursing field where I would help those with similar problems.
All the tough situations I've been through have helped me find myself and also realize who I want to be in life. I have always used my parents determination as my motivation because it pushes me to work hard in school to make them proud but I have also used the criticism from others around me as my initiative. I like to think of their criticism as advice because it’s what I use it as. Instead of letting it bring me down I have used it to push me to go further in my education.