Personal Statement : ' The Military Sector ' At West Hills High School '

One thing I have a strong passion for in life is sports. My favorite one was volleyball. It taught me a lot about life and myself. My sophomore year I made varsity, but was upset when I sat the bench more than I played. However, I still pushed myself every practice and never gave up hope. This payed off because the next season I was a starter and a team captain. Being a student athlete has been an incremental part of who I have become in the future. I did not realize it at the time, but my participation in sports has affected my life in more ways than I thought. Consequently, sports have had a major influence on the career path I have chosen, and have also been a significant part of bringing my family together.

My Mother and Father relocated from Costa Rica to New York City where they met got married and where I was born. When I was just two years old, always wanting the best for us, my father moved our family from New York City to Jacksonville, FL in search of a better paying job and the American dream so he could provide us with a better quality of life. To ensure we were always clothed and feed, my father sacrificed everything for us and worked long hours to do so. Though I did have a pronounced, safe and active upbringing the North Florida school system didn’t expect much from the Hispanics that were starting to move to the then small town; unfortunately since my parents worked so much they expected the school system

My love for baseball started a long time ago when I was still a little kid, I Must have been six or seven years old. I could not have been younger than this, although I can vividly remember the experience as if it was yesterday. It was actually the very first time that my dad volunteered to take me to a real baseball game, he must have seen my love for baseball due to the fact that I loved playing catch when I was a young boy. From this observation he must have seen a future baseball player. He was also a baseball player, so baseball was not actually new to the family. I had the thought that I might have been a basketball star, however i enjoyed baseball too much and was much to short to be much good at basketball.

¨ Baseball is 90% mental while the other half is Physical.¨- Yogi berra. Baseball is my favorite and number one sport. I have played baseball my whole life and know how important my position is. I played for mountain range summer ball and a league called Thornton baseball association. We call it TBA for short but TBA compared to mountain range is more complicated than TBA. Ever since I took that leap from TBA to Mountain Range was a big step it improved everything that I struggled with running the track now is way easier.

My name is Nico Elbert T. Foronda. I'm currently pursuing a bachelors degree in Nursing with a minor in Public Health at Old Dominion University. I served as a Navy Corpsman for five years then separated the military to pursue higher education. A majority of those years I was performing direct patient care for military members and their families which ultimately developed my passion for health care in

As a young child, I learned that education would be beneficial to not only myself but also all humankind. Growing up in a Northeast Florida housing project my father and mother did the best they could to raise nine children. My father worked seven days a week in the service industry as a waiter and bartender while my mother worked as a domestic employee in the homes of more affluent people in the south. My father had an eleventh grade education and my mother had not passed the tenth grade before she bore her first child. Neither parent completed high school but they had dreams of their children far exceeding their educational accomplishments. I was child eight of the nine and I knew early on that I did not want to live

Currently, our world is transforming rapidly to be more accepting of differences and learning to celebrate what makes people unique. This occurred through small strategic wins around the globe when people fought for what they believed in. I have faith that everyone can positively impact the people around them in a meaningful manner. Combining my past experiences and my aspiration to better the world, my dream is to go into the medical field. I would like to do research and study the human nervous system, searching for and finding a way to cure neurological disorders. I have prepared myself through science classes, AP exams, attending health/medical conferences, and volunteering at the Eagle Ridge Hospital, always pushing myself to excel at everything I tried. I received high marks alongside 5s on every AP exam I took. This past December, I was even chosen to attend the Mini-Med Operations Conference which took place at the BC Children’s Hospital. There, I learned about the world of surgery and how surgeons can aid developing countries. It covered topics such as Global Surgery and mental health.

We all have moments in our lives where we need to step up to lead. In my life thats almost everyday. My high school Marmion Military Academy is unique in its beliefs and morals. Originally being a Benedictine private school it already had a rich background that could be traced back into time giving a long line of academic excellence. Once WWII broke out the United States government took control of the school making it a military school on top of the preexisting Benedictine platform. This created a one of a kind high school experience nothing could rival. Exclusive only admitting in less then 165 male applicants the school creates a very competitive atmosphere. This is where my leadership skills come into play. As a military high school we do

In fact, throughout the years, I have wanted to be nearly every kind of doctor that there is: family practitioner, pediatric surgeon, neurosurgeon, cardiac surgeon, oncologist, and so on. However, for the last three years, I have been intent on becoming a pediatric surgeon. The thought of saving children’s lives someday has motivated me to excel not only in my school work, but also in every extra-curricular activity I participate in. Over the past four years, I have overcome every obstacle and trial set before me and have accomplished many dreams that I never thought I would achieve. I ran a half marathon with some of my greatest friends, became one of the valedictorians of my graduating class, and achieved the prestigious rank of Eagle Scout after six years of interminable work. Each of these accomplishments taught me one invaluable lesson; I can achieve anything that I set my mind too. Unfortunately, the road to achieve my goal of becoming a surgeon is long, arduous, and costly. With mounds of debt in the foreseeable future, my parents and I are diligently searching for scholarships to help me along the way. That is why it would be an honor to receive the American Legion Scholarship; so that I can once again overcome the odds and achieve my impossible

I have played baseball since I was five years old and am as passionate about the game as I am about my academics. I would be honored to play baseball for the Air Force Academy. Enduring the rigors of baseball and difficult classes, simultaneously, is a challenge that I have always prided myself on. My ability to multi-task will keep me proactive and an asset to the Air Force Academy. I consider myself a leader on many levels, as the top role is always trusted in my hands.

Throughout the ten years of my Army career I have aspired to be a consummate professional and set the example for my peers and subordinates. I have always demonstrated my ability to lead by consistently filling in for positions above my pay grade without dereliction. I have proved to be resilient throughout my career by overcoming all of my obstacles set before me. Failure has never been an option for me as the accomplishments of all of my missions and the welfare of my Soldiers have always come first. In all of my assignments, I have made a name for myself to be a person of integrity, knowledge and reliability.

Once I graduate from La Serna High School, I will partake in a stressful journey into becoming a neurosurgeon. Neurosurgeons are physicians who perform surgeries on the brain to treat diseases or injuries. Besides surgeries, a neurosurgeon diagnose people, prescribes medicine, and also considered the surgical risks of proceeding with a surgery. This career is probably one the most stressful jobs in the world, due to all the information they must know and because of all the pressure that is on them during a surgery. The reason I am interested in this career is because, I have always been fascinated with the brain and how it works, not to mention I love helping people treat diseases or injuries.

help me try and get my life together with the very busy schedule that I

I started playing tee-ball baseball when I was 5 and have been playing ever since till this day. I started off young going to baseball practice, and training on the side

I’ve been playing baseball for over 7 years and over those 7 years I’ve never been on a team that made it to the final game in a baseball tournament to win the championship. I also have been on the A team for baseball 3 of those 7 years. Baseball is my favorite sport to play because a lot of my friends play baseball and I always know a lot of the people on my team, since I have been playing for so long.