I was born and raised on the East Side of San Jose, a city from northern California. This city can be seen as having a bad reputation, “ Get out if you can” is a phrase that greatly sums up how the east side of this city is in reality. This phrase describes the east side of the city because there are a lot of people from the lower class and in very specific areas it is extremely easy to become a part of a gang. Living in this part of the city has greatly impacted my work ethic. Daily, I have seen and lived through many struggles. There are a great number of people who did not attend college compared to other areas of the city, and I see how deeply they’ve been struggling to find a job that can allow them to pay off all their bills. As I see …show more content…
Though pressure wasn’t put on me to receive good grades, I told myself I wanted to go a different route and receive those “good” grades. Once I had this mindset, things began to fall into place, I worked hard and hard work attracts the right people into your life. One person that completely changed my life was my chemistry teacher, Joanna Shea, I know that things happen for a reason and that it why I was placed in her class. She motivated me, pressured me, and helped me build a very strong foundation in chemistry. I was a very timid freshman, but once I met her, she guided me through the whole year and showed me how much potential I have. I was not sure what I wanted to study or major in, but once I was introduced to chemistry I began to grow a passion for it. I found myself reading books about this subject on my free time, I understood the topic very well, and I simply felt comfortable when learning about it. After sophomore year, I went on to AP Chemistry with a teacher named Leslie Bailey, this teacher was also a catalyst towards my “success” in being