For the entirety of my seventeen years I have lived in San Antonio. I have left Texas three times to visit colleges. I have lived on the west and east sides of San Antonio. Both left their marks. From birth to fourth grade, I lived on the west side of San Antonio. I could not go out at night alone, even if only to look at the stars. Prostitution, gang violence, and kidnap polluted the world outside my home. I had to understand Spanish to take part in that world. If I could not pronounce "la Michoacán" or "tamales", I got funny looks. Because of this, I remained quiet and to myself. Books were my safe haven. I could understand books, unlike people. People were always hard for me because of the inconsistencies and uniqueness. My teachers believed I was smart and treated me so. In Grade 3 I tested into gifted and talented classes. I was always surrounded by smart kids, so I felt the need to be better, smarter. My …show more content…
Here, I entered a single-sex class. The girls didn’t like me because I wouldn’t give them the answers to our tests. I still had my old friend books, but now I had a new friend. In middle school I joined the orchestra and knew I had found my place. Later in high school I joined the band which made my love for music grow. Because few people interacted with me I was able to focus on myself and my academics. I only had my books and music to keep me company. Without the social experience most people had, I figured I would work to be better than before. Now here I am. My family has supported me on my academic journey. My parents ,Tias, Tios, and cousins congratulate me on every accomplishment I make. It makes me happy so I keep trying. I have five siblings and I am the oldest of us six. I will be the first in my family (at all) to go to college after high school. I want to be the catalyst for the rest of my family. They motivate me to keep going and I want to succeed so they see that they can