Personal Identity

My life and character are not defined by the situations or difficulties I encounter but by the way I respond to these. The core values, personal traits, and capacities that composed the person I am today and the goals I have set for my future have all had a beginning and a development. My identity and aspirations have been, and continue to be, formed and bolstered by various meaningful experiences and supportive individuals.
The first and most important factor that has played a vital role in determining who I am as a person and the goals I set for my future is my family’s support. My parents and siblings, which are my foundation, raised me to be an integral individual defined by strong morals, beliefs, and most important, faith in an almighty
creator. From an early age, I was motivated to expand my passions for learning, adventuring, and exploring; all of which further encouraged my physical, social, and spiritual growth. My academic successes and aspirations were initially acquired and strengthen by the excellent education I received at a Catholic school, or as I used to call it, my second home; where I attended from pre-kindergarten to sixth grade. It was during these early stages of my life, where I was able to witness the poverty, struggle, and abandonment in many areas of my native country, Colombia, which led me to form a distinguished quality of compassion and develop an enthusiasm for helping others.
Although these first years of my life, which were characterized by great prosperity and tranquility, significantly impacted my development and personal identity, the various challenges and obstacles that eventually followed influenced my character in a very profound manner as well.
The main economic source that provided my family with stability was terminated with the sudden, unexpected unemployment of my father, which severely affected my family’s life and led us into a very harsh economic crisis. After trying every available option in our native country to overcome this financial crisis, the best alternative was to migrate to the United States in search of the dream many attempt to follow: a better future and prosperous opportunities. To depart from my natal country, the land where I had developed my identity, where I had grown, where all my meaningful experiences prevailed along with everyone I had once known and loved, was one of the greatest, most challenging experiences in my life; however, it opened my eyes to see the world and myself from a different perspective. It was then upon these first years in the United States that my life became an aggregation of risks, fears, uncertainties, and changes as I was drawn away from the stagnant state of conformity and security in which I had profoundly been submerged. However, with my family’s support and God’s strength, gradually, I was able to learn, progress, and overcome every obstacle that came in my
way. Ultimately, the surrounding nurturing environment and supportive individuals present during the early stages of my life have cultivated the rigid values and morals that constructed the strong, motivated, and open-minded person that I am today and the future aspirations I carry within me. The multiple difficulties granted me the opportunity to discover that the best resource to surpass any obstacle or circumstance was myself. I was the one responsible for any failure or success; the challenges did not limit my options but allowed for growth if I was able to acknowledge the opportunity. Further, the difficult transition of adjusting to a new country not only enabled me to overcome my own fears, but it allowed me to explore the different opportunities for improvement, develop a new perspective of life, and attain distinct qualities that provide my future with opportunity, innovation, and success.