Why do some people struggle more than others? A question that I have wondered most of my life. As a child, I was raised in a Puerto Rican household while attending predominantly white catholic schools. My parents intentionally and directly tried to remove all barriers to my success. From my white-sounding name, catholic schools, to accent training my parents immersed me in a culture much different than our Puerto-Rican heritage. Growing up in a poor urban neighborhood didn’t mean anything to me as a child, in fact, we didn’t know we were poor. However, I did understand that I had more than others; even though I was on a scholarship I never quite understood why that was. My paradigm-shift occurred when I entered high school, and started volunteering …show more content…
With no support of my family, commuting over an hour to class, working full time, and paying out of pocket; there were many times I wasn’t sure if I would graduate. However, after quite possibly the longest journey I had endured, I graduated with a bachelor’s degree! In my last semester, I knew I needed guidance, I was confused as to what should be next for me. I was doing well in my career and was just ready to graduate. I asked to meet with one of my professors who was also named Tiffany. She asked me if I was going to pursue graduate school, I replied quickly and said “this has been hard enough, I haven’t even considered it.” Her response was “well that might be a mistake, for a young person like you who wants to take on systems, you have to further understand them and have the education to take them on.” I was shocked by her boldness, and at the same time absolutely in awe of her. She was unapologetically smart, bold, and brave, all characteristics that I strive to be. She went on to tell me a story about a friend of hers who was an urban planner, and had done work overseas supporting children who had experienced trauma.I immediately went home and researched every possible piece of information I could find on urban planning and social policy