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A time when I took charge of a situation was when my dog was attacked by a bigger dog. It was early in the morning when I heard a familiar voice screaming coming from the front yard, "get him off! get him off!". I quickly ran outside and found my dog almost lifeless in the middle of the road. The sight of blood scared off my family so I had to take matters into my own hands and quickly carried my dog to the front porch of my house. With the help of my dad, we were able to apply pressure on my dog's bleeding neck to stop the blood. We brought him to the vet and all was well. I could clearly picture that day like it happened yesterday. It's hard to imagine what would've happened if I didn't take charge in that situation, I realized how important leadership can be in unexpected situations or scenarios.

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Ever since I was young I was always fascinated with art and the many ways you can express yourself through a canvas or even a piece of paper. Famous painters like Bob Ross, Van Gogh, Rembrant, and Michelangelo are just a few artists I have always looked up to when it comes to painting. Although I was never as good as these artists I have always learned that art is never planned, it naturally comes to you. The way you feel is the way your canvas will look. So, I have always used painting and drawing as a way to express hidden feelings I have towards something. I noticed that through these arts I would create, the only pieces of art that truly looked good were the paintings I did with a heavy heart. My love of art was never considered as a future career but more or so something I was able to project myself through that I'm incapable of doing through words.

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A skill I have always been proud of is my "creative thinking skills". Doing presentations, posters, art, and anything that involves creativity has always made me feel excited. This skill has always been meaningful to me because I'm able to come up with thousands of ways I could be creative. I always feel like a kid excited to draw on the wall with crayons when given any type of project involved with creativity.  I like to express myself freely on a blank canvas and I think that's a great skill to have. During this process, you are exercising the mind to think outside of the box alongside innovation. Many can lose touch with their creative side and I think it's important that we broaden our minds to new possibilities and ways of thinking. With "creativity" you can be fun, and adventurous, and even improve your overall mental health!

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Studying here at Health Careers Academy was definitely one of the educational opportunities that were significant to me. Coming here was never my plan when I was in 8th grade. I had always sought to experience the "high school experience" everyone would talk about. Though I knew this school would provide me with opportunities to further prepare me for the career I most wanted to pursue after high school. Adapting to a whole new environment was challenging at first but I was slowly able to enhance these skills later on. This school is filled with hard-working individuals and encourages you to become better and break educational boundaries and countless opportunities you set yourself when you were in middle school. Though I have never done internships I hope to do one in the future, although doing community service in places like the Stockton animal shelter provided me with a broad understanding of the daily duties of this career!

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Just like any other immigrant family hoping for a better future, my family had dreams and hope too. One of the most challenging parts of my life was coming here in the U.S and starting with nothing. Coming here in 2011 from the Philippines  and leaving my mom behind was definitely a hard pill I had to swallow at such a young age. Due to the long application process of coming here my mom was left behind on her own while me, my dad, and my siblings was headed off to conquer a new life 8,000 miles always from home. My dad worked in Alaska leaving me and my siblings behind with my grandma. I started kindergarten without having either of my parents to take me to class, I learned to wash the dishes, braid my own hair, make breakfast, and most importantly learn a new language. As a 4 year old I had to quickly mature at such a young age. Still now I carry this level of maturity that sometimes people assume I'm a "cold" person. Through this obstacle in my life I used it as a learning experience and a motivation that I can make the impossible "possible". I always apply this lesson in all scenarios in my life where I stumble and fall, question my abilities, and think of myself as "undeserving".

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The topic of mental health has always been important to me. Understanding how we think and why we think that way is critical when you try to reach out to someone going through a tough time. This topic is never talked about enough, it's important that we understand how our mind affects our behavior. This exact same curiosity is what convinced me to take "psychology". Learning and studying psychology taught me how broad this subject is. You learn about deeper topics no one dives into. Anxiety, depression, grief, eating disorder, panic attacks, and generational trauma are topics that this subject tackles. Through this class I understood that a lot of us function differently, traumatic events can be the number one cause of these unusual behaviors. It was an eye-opening class, I was even able to understand myself better in each lesson. After taking the class I was able to use the knowledge I had to understand my family and friends better. At times I would even feel like a psychologist and applied methods created by psychologists like Sigmund Freud. Subjects like these that can be truly applied to real-life situations have always piqued my interest ever since.

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What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?

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What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?

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Home always screamed out to me whenever I felt worn out. The last time I had visited my hometown was in 2018. Each time I would visit I would always realize how privileged I was. Life has always been hard in my hometown as I have remembered it to be. This pushed me to give back, there was no better feeling than seeing young kids have a wide smile on their faces as they are handed bread and canned foods. I hate how I couldn't be as grateful as they were receiving food. I hope in the future I am able to give back especially to the hospitals that are lacking in supplies. During my visit I saw how old these equipments were compared to the modern equipments that are used here in the U.S. Many of these third world countries have always been stingy when it comes to improving hospitals and it's health care systems. It's time that people pay attention to these issues that are not addressed by the government. I want to be able to have a role in the community where I can hopefully give back and improve their daily ways of living.

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Growing up family was always "people you could count on", but as I reached my teenage years I realized sometimes the ones you think you can depend on can either support you or discourage you. I dreamt big, "I want a house overlooking the sea! and maybe own 5 expensive cars!" though many would chuckle and laugh. Many would shrug my million-dollar dream off but ever since I was young I knew I could be something great. Despite this, I was always reminded of my mom, at first people stepped on her million-dollar dream but still, she made an empire of her own. This always gave me a reason to want to get myself into business and make a name for myself. I  always looked up to my mom as a businesswoman. She handled money well and invested her way into greater success.  It was powerful! Seeing women build their way up was empowering to me. Getting into business and a career in the medical field was always what I truly hoped to accomplish in the future. I think that's what is truly unique about me. I make the unexpected into reality and carry my million-dollar dream with me!

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Something that someone has done for you that has made you happy

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Something that someone has done for you that has made you happy

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Looking back at all of the nice things people have done for me,  one thing that stood out to me the most was when a girl made friends with me in 3rd grade. I was sitting alone during lunch and barely made friends because of the language barrier when suddenly a little girl with pigtails, blue jeans, a pink sweater, and glittery shoes came up to me and asked if she could sit next to me. She had a thick accent and she didn't know much English like me. Ever since that day, we were always inseparable, we ate lunch together, played in the playground, and did handstands against a fence under the scorching hot sun while we debated on who was able to hold their handstand the longest. That little gesture of kindness forever was engraved in my mind. She taught me the real value of kindness, and she wouldn't have known this but she took away a piece of longing I had felt not having my parents around. This taught me a life-long lesson that you can make a huge impact on someone else's life and you would never realize it, so always take the first step and initiate a conversation with a stranger.