How I Changed My Life And Career

My parents made sure that we were all taken care of. My father never graduated from high school or college. But both of my parents were faithful to each other and loved each other and their children. That is something that is lacking in our world today. The family image today is part of the problem for some families that do not follow what the family should be or that they

My grandparents raised me when I was young because my parents were busy toiling away at work to support my siblings and I. Through my grandparents, I learned strength. My grandfather, a former political activist and soldier in Vietnam, suffered a gigantic loss: Losing the Vietnam war. Still, he refused to kneel under the hand of oppression. He restarted his life in a brand new, foreign country with seven children,

Growing up, my mom was a big impact on my life. Two days of the week she was a dental assistant. The other days she was just my mom. When she came home on the days after work she would smell minty and fresh from working in her dental office. I feel blessed to have been able to have my mother as a constant influence in my life. She showed me that I could be as mother as well as have a good job; I did not need to pick one or the other. My mother taught me how to stand up for myself and how not to be a pushover. One of the most important things I think that my mother taught me was how to be compassionate. Even as a young child when I heard about some of the terrible things that had happened in the world, my heart broke for those

Both my mom and my dad have taught me numerous life lessons they learned through their own life experiences. For instance, my dad’s abusive aunt kicked him out of the house at the age of fifteen. Luckily, he still graduated high school and moved on to join the Navy Seals so he would be able to afford and attend universities. Unfortunately, in one of the missions he sustained an injury, but he recovered and attended law school, even though the doctors thought that he would need assistance for the rest of his life. My mom immigrated here to the United States and vowed to herself that she would be successful and help people while doing so.

My parents were my first real teachers. My dad, a police officer, and my step-father, was an EMT. Both of them taught me early, the value of hard work, discipline, compassion, and sacrifice. They taught me how to listen with

One of the experiences that touched me the most was going to a humble community on Children’s Day. When we got to the place, I gave to a little boy, his present, he smiled, hugged me and told me: “Come back next year please, I feel that I love you right now”. And since that moment I created one of my biggest dreams, being a philanthropist to teach humble communities how to eat with their own sources of food around the world.

Growing up, my uncle Frank would volunteer at the local soup kitchen every Saturday. At an early age, he started taking me and my cousins along with him to help feed the homeless. One of my earliest memories is actually serving soup to the needy out of that kitchen. I remember seeing how appreciative the majority of them were when we served them food. Being able to count of three meals a day was something I had always taken for granted. The people we helped did not have that luxury. This taught me at an early age

Sometimes in life you don't understand what you have until you see others who don't. I was with my family in Honduras, which is a very poor country. As we drove to my abuela's house on the side of the road hundreds of people were living in tiny huts even what appeared to be cardboard boxes. I learned that I benefit from giving back.

While there are people that are inspired and motivated by the stories and actions of other individuals, there are also those that are inspired and motivated by their parents, like myself. Over the course of 18 years living with my family, I have come to appreciate the amount of effort they have made into making sure I succeed in life and making sure that I learn from their experiences. My mother, Melania Santos de Marte, has always been the one that took care of me the most from when I was a kid up until today. My father is Amable A. Santos and he was the reason why my mother, sister and I were able to come to the United States. He was the one that made sure we had a home to go to and also the reason why we were able to come to the U.S. in the first place. The willpower and endurance my parents have displayed inspired, and motivated me to get an education so that later in the future I would repay them for their support.

In my junior year of high school, I took a class called “Bigger Than You”, which allowed us students to create a non profit organization. The group I was part of founded and ran a non profit organization to provide relief to leprosy victims and orphans in India. We named our organization, “Touch the Untouchables” to symbolize the status of leprosy victims throughout the third world. They are not viewed as people at all, they are largely shunned by their communities. Leprosy victims are a forgotten people, so we took advantage of our great opportunity to provide some much needed aid to them. It was a sobering experience. Connecting myself to the lives of the impoverished lifted the veil shrouding my middle class existence from the adversity

If I had to name important characters I learned from my parents, I would say they are being a hardworker and humble individual. Both of my parents do not have a post-secondary education making me the first to attend college, which is a privilege. I have an immense respect towards my parents for being fieldworkers because even though it is not a “high statues” ideal career they do what they can to provide for our family. They have worked blazing summers and frigid winters to give us the chance to educate ourselves. These sacrifices have become ultimate motivation factors that push me forward when I feel frustrated with school.

With the little Income I had growing up I tried to buy vegetables and fruits every day for my brothers and sisters. We would have meat twice a week and occasionally milk when I could afford it. The main concern was the diet of my siblings and myself. My mother passed away when I was very young, and I took after the groceries that she would buy. In the event that one of us would get sick, my father Jose Cruz would make hot soup that contained chicken, carrots, potatoes, and lettuce. Medication was too expensive at the time and not an options to relief health or pain.

When I was going into my freshman year of highschool, I attended a mission trip with my youth group at church to Bell county, Kentucky. Before I took this trip I did not involve myself in volunteering and religion because I did not see the value and desire in it. I felt that being involved in a community and doing work to help others , I was making personal gains. Helping two families repair their house from store damages not only made me realize how much I had compared to them, but presented the importance of what I was doing for them. They were unable to repair, repaint, and clean because they had already had so much on their plate with their family, job, and other commitments. The help that I gave began to open my eyes to the positive outcomes of volunteering.

There have been very few events throughout my lifetime that I feel have impacted or inspired me with such noteworthiness and that I know will change my outlook on the world and affect me forever. One of those events occurred when I traveled to Portugal, my parent’s homeland. From this excursion in 2007, I learned the importance of family, most importantly the distant kind. It provided me with a totally different perspective on the world and how large and extended one’s family can really be; even across cultures and continents. I felt so fortunate learning this lesson at a young age and growing to appreciate the ideals I was brought up with as a child. The family I have in Portugal has always been there; however, their faces have aged and

My father's protectiveness and selflessness generated at a young age for him. He is the ninth of twelve children, and often told us stories of how he had to look after, and practically raise his three younger siblings after my grandfather had passed. He made certain they completed their chores around my grandmother's farm, maintained good hygiene practices, and kept up with their schoolwork. School was extremely important to my father, because he knew an education was the only way he could be successful.