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respect mother nature, accept one another

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- Native American
- Irish
- Mexican

When I was growing up we only celebrated the Native American and Irish parts of my heritage. My family celebrated the Irish part by attending Irish festivals and listening to Irish music. My grandpa owned a bar in Philadelphia named, "The Barley Bree," and would hire bands from Ireland to preform there. My mother and grandparents would also cook many traditional Irish dishes. My favorite dish was always bangers and mash.

A huge part of my childhood was Native American traditions. Everyone in my family was married in Native American style weddings including myself. We also spent many spring, fall, and summers going to powwows. My favorite powwow was in North Dakota when I was 7 years old. Thinking about the music, food, and scenery still excites me to this day. Also, our home was filled with Native American art work usually bought right from the artist.

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I believe actions and behaviors say a lot about a person. In fact, I take what people say with a grain of salt and instead watch what they do.

I believe myself to be a very open minded and accepting person. I enjoy learning about all walks of life and truly believe we are should coexist with one another peacefully. Learning about different cultures not on expands your mind but can positively change you as a person.

I am a loving, compassionate, empathetic, and understanding person. I believe being this way has allowed me to excel at volunteer work with domestic violence shelters with my main focus being the child victims. I think everybody deserves kindness and empathy to help them through their dark times.

Lastly, I am an ambitious woman who follows through with her goals. I come from a long line of respectable women and I believe their is no excuse for me to wait around and hope my dreams come true. I believe it takes hard work and perseverance to get what you want and you must be willing to stop at nothing to get it.

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As a child, we celebrated holidays such as Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas as a family. My mother would prepare a big meal and we would value our family time. Now that I have my own children we still celebrate the same holidays but I have created my own traditions that hopefully my children will pass on to their families. My main tradition is to go on a family hike on the holidays. It's a great opportunity to spend unplugged time as a family, travel to a new location, it's educational, and it is fun!

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One thing that Native Americans, Irish, and Mexican families have in common is that they truly value their families. I have 7 siblings and one Mother. Both my father and step father are deceased. Now that we are all grown up and have our own little families we are even closer. We take the saying, "It takes a village," and fully believe and practice it. We are all faithful to one another and will always help each other through tough times. My mother also lives with my brother and his family. We truly believe you need to take care of your parents and find it to be a positive experience when grandparents are actively involved with their grandchildren.

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Something I truly value about my life is being able to find peace in the outdoors. I was educated since my toddler years about the different elements and as an adult I practice and teach the love of the outdoors to my children. Hiking, climbing mountains, fishing, traveling, and wildlife photography is my therapy. It is where I go to regroup my thoughts and meditate. There is nothing I love more than heading to the trail and listening to natures music.

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Something I practice on a daily basis is green living. I started living this way when I began living on my own. I truly appreciate the earth and will do anything to save it. My everyday "green routines" consist of recycling and composting. I recycle with my garbage company but also take the rest of my recycling to a local recycle center. The food I compost goes straight to my soil which provides my family with fruits and vegetables. Our home is on the smaller side which reduces our energy bill and it also makes us closer as a family. We eat the vegan way which saves many animals lives, reduces food and trash waste, and does a great deal of good for the environment. We also buy local produce and other items.  This keeps us actively involved in our community and supports local small businesses. Many people I know find our way of living unnecessary but it gives us peace of mind!

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Something I truly value is my education and my future as an educator. I was inspired by my own kindergarten teacher because of the kindness she showed me and my family. She taught me how to love school and she accepted me for the eccentric person that I was and still am. With my Early Childhood Education Degree I plan on becoming a kindergarten teacher at an innercity school to honor her but to also help other students who were just like me. Had Mrs. Forman, not taught me to love and appreciate my education, I may have repeated the circle of violence and poverty that I grew up in.