Piloting the less traveled path empowers me to overcome life’s challenges and achieve my goals. As the first class of a pre-medicine focused middle college, I excelled to be a top student while working as a college-level writing fellow and tutor. During this time, I also worked in my mother’s ice cream shop and in my family’s grocery store to financially support myself. My single mother acted as my role model through proving that anything is possible if you work hard and stay determined. Without my father in my life due to his alcoholism, I learned vicariously through my brother; although, he took a different path than me becoming involved with prescription drugs and later heroin. By turning to crime to support his addiction, he is now serving
