My Life : The Most Important Memories Of My Education

My educational history is very diverse. I went to Catholic school from kindergarten to sixth grade, then went to public school from seventh to twelfth grade. The transition from Catholic school to public school was very complicated but at the same time it was effortless. I did not have to wear a uniform, go to church, or learn religion anymore.

When I was younger, I had a fear on competing in front of judges and my parents. My stomach would get butterflies and I would start to second guess myself. In 2012, I somehow made it all the way to regionals for gymnastics. Fast forward to the meet. I had one more event left and was having the best meet of my life. Right before I jumped onto the beam, I took a deep breath and told myself that I can do this. The routine went incredible and my coaches picked me up and spun me around. My parents were crying and I was so confused why. My name then got announced for placing fifth in the region and advancing to nationals representing the United States. From that day forward, I always remember to tell myself that I can anything I set my mind to. It has helped me become a better student and person. Throughout my personal journey in education, I have learned that being involved with something you love to do helps gain confidence in yourself, find your true passion in life and help develop good habits.

There have been countless influential people in my life that I’ve come across. One who was a meticulous inspiration continues to be my grandfather. My grandmother had remarried to the one I call “grandpa” when I was at the age of five, and they both took to each other’s grandchildren as their own. With my mother and me only living a mile down the road from their farmhouse out in the country, I’d spent heaps amount of time there as a child. Indeed, I had been without a father but my grandfather stepped up to the plate and had taken me under his wing and willingly played the personification of a father figure.

When I was a child I watched as my grandfather passed away after battling with Alzheimer's

As a child, I thought my parents were invincible. I grew up believing they were superheroes who had the ability to whisk away all my problems. Unfortunately, when I was 15-years-old, my father was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The hardest part about his diagnosis was that his sister had been diagnosed with MS a couple years before and we had seen her health deteriorate so quickly that she was already wheelchair bound. During this time my family was scared. The little information we knew about MS did not seem hopefully and we were worried about what the future would hold for our family. Lucky, we were blessed with a great neurologist who eased the insecurity we felt and gave my father the strength to be optimistic about his diagnosis.

Continually, my father would come home from work weaker and disable sometimes he could barely stand up. He started getting blurry purple spots on him and that's when I figured something wasn't the same about my father. He used to always carry himself with energy and laughter but, now he couldn’t get out of bed. We took him to the hospital and they told us he had stage 2 cancer. This experience has not only changed me as a person but changed the way I had to live for a while. When my father had to be on around the clock care at the hospital me and my older sister had to help out around the house. While most 4th graders were outside playing with their friends, I was inside everyday helping my mom cook, clean, and feed the dogs. I had to step up a lot and do more thing that i'm not used to because my dad wasn't around to help us out. We would go up to the hospital about every other night and stay up there and spend the night watching over my dad at night. My dad’s cancer taught me that life is too short to be wasting my time on the little things that aren't even important! I’ve realized l I need to make every minute and every moment

“…As your father used to say, we shared the longest ride together, this thing called life, and mine has been filled with joy because of you.”

Both of my grandmothers Charleen and Carol were both diagnosed with deadly diseases when I was in middle school. My grandmother, Carol, had parkensinse and alzheimer’s disease. The condition that she was in made her have to live in a nursing

My sister has taught me to be grateful for everything you have and everything you are capable of. She has epilepsy, which are silent seizures, she cannot ride bikes, play sports or even walk near the road alone. It has always been really hard for her and for my family, but she is always positive about it. She says things like, that is what makes me unique. I admire her for that. She knows she can't do the things most of her friends do, she might not ever get to drive, live alone go to

As I think back on my high school career, of which I seem to be doing more and more lately, I now realize that I was fortunate enough to have more positive than negative experiences. I remember as I left middle school my main goal was to attend a high school where I would be able to further my athletic abilities. Luckily for me I went to a school which was great in both athletics and academics.

Junior year has been my most challenging year because it was a time where I balanced academics, work, and extracurricular activities. My typical days consisted of high school classes, cheer practice, diving practice, and college courses in the evening or working. My goals were to be in the top ten of my graduating class, earn a letter achievement in diving and cheer, and to save enough money to purchase a car for college. It was a time of adjustment to handle all these activities and complete the tasks excellently. I pushed myself by keeping my goals in mind every day. In the end I know that hard work will pay off. I changed how I used my time and used it more efficiently. I completed homework at school so that I could put my undivided attention

I still have no idea of what I am doing with my life but I am happy with the direction it is heading in. Although many people know from a young age what they wish to become when they are older, I am still unsure. My indecisiveness has driven all of my educational choices, from being in year 8 choosing my GCSE options to choosing my course at university.

My most meaningful accomplishment is my educational career. Immediately after graduating from Azusa High in 2010, I started school at Citrus Community College. After I spent three years at Citrus, putting the time I needed to transfer to UC Merced for a major in Political Science, I graduated with an Associate of Arts degree in Social and Behavioral Sciences. My first semester at UC Merced I had a little trouble with the workload but I did not let that stop me from successfully passing all my classes. The second semester was a lot easier to handle even with the extra commitments and class added to my schedule. I brought my cumulative GPA up from a 2.5 to a 2.8 while working two jobs and doing research, I was accepted into the University of

ALS, a dangerous disease that has no cure disables a person starting at the legs and continues up till it reaches the head while this happens the person infected slowly dies, but even when dying one man named Morrie continued living and teaching despite being retired. Morrie Schwartz was a retired sociology teacher who was at the time infected with ALS. Although having a disease which was incurable he was still teaching, not sociology but teaching people how to live life. A former student of Morrie, Mitch Albom started to visit him every tuesday while Morrie taught Mitch how to live. Of the various subjects Morrie taught Mitch, Death,Forgiveness,and Family stand out a lot. Morrie taught people how to live

When we were together we were invincible, us against the world. I’d look up to him, not only because he was 6’4, but because he was my grandpa. I have clear memories of him picking me up from school, playing old school reggae music during our adventurous car rides. We’d always sing along to our favorites, sometimes turn the music up so loud the people in the cars next to us could hear it. When I would visit his apartment, the familiar smell of drywall and pennies would fill the air. It was my hideaway, my home away from home. My grandpa collected pennies in water jugs. He would say that one day they’d be worth more than just pennies. I loved it there, not only because he had a freezer filled with many flavors of ice cream to which he would often say to me “you can have all you can eat” but because it was our time to bond. For five years it was my mom, my dad, and my grandpa helping me to grow. Those are my favorite people, my role models. Being around my grandpa brought me such comfort and joy.