I had the drive, the passion, the strength to carry my weight through a path of deterrents during my life. I was barely 13 years old when perseverance arose in me. After arduous work of completing all assignments and passing a series of credits by exams, I was prepared to take the challenge of high school. Without knowing the language, the culture, and being the youngest at my school, it was only natural to be questioned by the registrar department upon meeting me. What was not acceptable to me is that even with evidence of my academic performance, tenacious personality, and documents proving that I earned my place in the grade level, that I continued to be questioned. Comically, it took exactly 13 denials before I was finally accepted into high school, alongside a note on my enrollment papers stating: “You’ll fail. You’ll see.” I wish I could express that the rest was a smoother path. Oppositely, it was just the beginning of harsher obstructions. 

 

From the process of taking my English placement test, to reaching pre-ap and AP courses, it was an array of dismissive remarks, diminishing comments, lack of support, bullying, and rebuttals to assist me in my academic progression. I was determined to protect and reach my goal of graduating early at all costs. It reached a point in which I had to pretend I was a senior in order to acquire help from someone who did not know me. I brought the semester schedule that I had meticulously formulated (by personally speaking with every teacher in my school and inquiring about their class schedule), to accumulate my credits and graduate that semester. After surpassing all expectations and invalidating those that wished for my failure, I graduated high school shortly after turning 16 years of age, achieving a 4.11 GPA and placing #8 ranking out of 568 students in my class. 

 

Similarly, when applying for university admission, I was rejected for being too young to go to college. I was even advised to “take a year off” to rest. Instead, I doubled on courses and achieved my dual Bachelor’s degree in 3 years. I graduated top of my class at 19 years old. To get into the details of the comments I received along my journey towards reaching an “inconceivable, impossible dream,” to describe the restrictions placed by the school, staff, teachers, assistants, peers, family members, is a book pending to publish in the near future.

 

My experiences in education have led me to stay in the field for over 15 years, carrying now the weight of others through their own paths of deterrents. I have personally taken the responsibility to push and encourage all individuals that I encounter, making an impact on their journey to success. For me, no one fails, nothing is impossible, nothing is inconceivable. My life’s purpose is to find the greatest potential in individuals and help them understand the value behind continuing to grow. 

 

Life is all about learning, indefinitely, passionately, arduously. To thrive in a highly versatile, digitalized, and globalized world, individuals need to become lifelong learners. Only then is when the real step towards achieving a unified society will be accomplished; a unified society in which every individual, regardless of location, culture, and age, will carry the weight of bettering the world for the future generations.