My identity has always felt inextricably linked to what Miami is. A city that is teeming with immigrants, a city with dreams stacked and slopped atop each other, and a city that is living proof of the failed American dream. I say so because of my early observation that generation after generation of immigrants often seemed to stay trapped in dead end jobs; I saw this within my own family – within my grandmother, my aunts and uncles, and even my cousins. Here it was even within my own family tree the deep implicit message that there was no way out of our socioeconomic level. When I made it into an Ivy League college, it was a message that was slowly re-enforced by the fact that my demographic was the most represented in the custodial staff rather than within my own classmates. I often wondered why, and the answer slowly became obvious within my own experience. Throughout college, I was often distracted from my studies because of economic and personal pressures. I slowly came to realize that being able to focus on your goals is a privilege that is often not granted to individuals of a low socioeconomic level. The stakes were high for my academic and professional goals, but they were often seemingly made unattainable by personal pressures. …show more content…
This is because I question if I could have done a better job of compartmentalizing my personal struggles with family matters and mental health. This is something I have struggled with, but I am proud of the performance I put forth, because I know that even staying in college seemed to difficult at times. More than that I value the experience as it slowly taught me how to compartmentalize at a high level, something that I know will be useful for a career in