Pushing Me to My Best by Ria

Pushing Me to My Best by Ria - March 2023 Scholarship Essay

She bungee jumped over the ‘Zambezi river in Zimbabwe. She exhibited her virtual reality work at the Louvre. She spoke at a CEO summit for the Wall Street Journal Europe. That was all before I knew her, before me. My mother is my role model, and I aspire to be her. A single mom, she seems to fear nothing, pursues life to the fullest, and loves her family above all. My mom says fate called her to me, and she adopted me when I was 11 weeks old. She’s not left my side since. She has given all to her work, sometimes taking calls during dinner, but always stopped when I walked through the door, and never missed a school event.

As a result, I gave my all to my schoolwork. In high school, I took AP courses, achieved a 4.1 and was a member of National Honor Society. Now that I am in my first year of college and taking 18 hours each semester, I have given even more time to all my schoolwork, making sure that I do my very best in my classes. Her support in my academics has made me push myself to become the best student I can be. I ended my first semester of college with a 3.625 and that was all from her support. She exposed me to sports, art, music, and theatre. I’ve given my all to each of these, which led me to finding my talents in music and receiving awards and even performed a solo at Carnegie Hall. My mom was cheering on the sidelines the whole way. It wasn’t important how well I did, just that I did my best.

When I had health issues, my mom was with me every minute, researching online, taking me to specialists, and eventually to Mayo clinic when I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease (ITP). Even though she was with me the entire time, she encouraged me to take independence on my own health. So, I quickly became the one talking to my doctors, taking notes, and tracking my medications and results. I joined an international organization focused on ITP and this last summer; I was in the opening video to their annual conference.

My mom has exposed me to different cultures. Being adopted from Guatemala, my mom always made sure that I was still in contact with my heritage. She enrolled me in Spanish camps when I was young, and we visited Guatemala every year where I learned to love my birth country though trips to villages and Mayan ruins across the country, visits to the marketplace, horseback rides through coffee fields, and even during morning intensive Spanish courses with a local school.

My mother sits on the board of one of our local non-profits and has shown me that giving back to the community should be integral to our lives. My mom and I were a part of National Charity League, a mother daughter organization which encourages philanthropic work. We volunteer every weekend and I’ve learned so much about our community, with my favorite organization being Meals on Wheels. All these traits of my mother that have impacted me have led me to become the person that I am and have led to my hopes and dreams. My goal is to become a nurse and work to overcome the health disparities in underprivileged communities.