Prompt 1

Being a straight 'A' student was something I never

was, while my older brother was indeed a straight
'A's' student. Both of my parents felt the need to
compare me to him, which put a lot of pressure on me.
I admire him and see him as a role model, but we are
different people. I may not always learn things right
away but with studying and diligence, I can learn
anything. This comparison with my brother was supposed
to motivate me to be as successful as him. In a way it
did motivate me to strive more in my academic life,
but it also affected my personal non academic life.
Since my brother was primarily at the house every day
during most of his high school career reading and
studying, I was not always given permission to leave
house.
Although I did not always like the comparison, it did
make me participate in activities I would not have
done otherwise. In high school, my brother
participated in the Neighborhood Academic Initiative
Program (NAI) so my mother decide to enroll me in the
program as well. I was accepted in the NAI program in
8th grade and I still continue being a part of it.
After giving the program a chance, I knew it was where
I needed to be. The program expects high standards,
which motivated me to study constantly in order to
strive in my present and future life. Similar to my
brother, I decided to devote my entire time just to
study. I remember entering high school with such
enthusiasm to learn because I knew I was getting one
step closer to attend a university just like my
brother who had gone of to a prestigious university.
All I could think of while being a freshmen in high
school was my mother's voice telling me "Be in the top
ten of your class just like your brother was top ten
of his senior class in high school."
I had the intention to be like my brother so I joined
the NAI Theater Workshop since he had participated in
it as well and I thought it would be a fun educational
activity to do after school.
Now that I was started getting involved in activities
I still made sure to have my priorities in order. I
work hard to accomplish my short term and long term
goals the have been placed on me and the ones I have
placed on my own. But I decided to make a change and
things my way. I have my own style of motivation to
strive with my own methods of how i want to do things.
I applied to the Summer Math and Science Honors
(SMASH) Academy at USC, a five week summer program for
three summers that take place after 9th, 10th and 11th
grade. I applied to obtain new experiences such as
living in campus all three summer to have the college
life like experience as well as being exposed to STEM
fields since I was always told by my family members to

enter in a health career.

By taking that first action I knew it would be the
beginning to the real Lizzeth Coria. I started being
my true self by going out to adventure what is that
amuses me and how I can make a difference in life. I
learned to be happy with myself and not have to live
pretending to be someone else only please others. As I
go on each day being who I am my parents and family
members are slowing accepting me be myself and what
they want me to be.
Prompt 2

To be apart of the SMASH Academy Program was an

experience that changed my perspective on so many
things. Not only was I enriching my education for the
next school year and taking classes that are not
offered in my high school such Computer Science and
Engineering I was exposed to different careers that I
had not known about but I also learned more about who
I am and discovering the person I want to become.
Aside from the Academic courses the program made us
aware of the different societal issues and challenges
the people go through and no one does anything about
it. For example, stereotypes on how people judge
others, gender base like pink is for girls only and
green is for boys. I learned about these real world
issues that I never used to pay attention to which
they should be because these issues are being placed
into one's head without even realizing.
The program has helped me discover who I am, I can say
I am a person that wants help. Since there is only so
much I can do I started helping buy tutoring kids in
my neighborhood because I think the beginning to a
bright future starts at a young age. I did not have
people help when I was younger but if I can help
others that will a difference that I make because in
time those kids will hopefully help other kids. If
more and more kids are getting the support needed for
school then more kids will want to go to college and
pursue a higher education just like I want to pursue a
higher education after I graduated from high school.
Additional Comment

My SAT test scores and GPA to do not describe the type

of person because even if they are low I know what I
want to do, and that is to help others in any possible
way that I can. Even more since the test is timed I
did not have enough to time to answer all of the
questions but if I had more time I would have been
able to answer to more questions or even all of them.
The reason I started doing so bad after ninth grade
was because of family issues that started to up rise.

I tried hard so that it would not affect me but it

still did. My parents always argued even if I closed
my bedroom door I was still able to hear them. It was
hard not having no one to talk to because my brother
left to attend a university so that just left me with
my parents. Adding on to my parents arguments and me
feeling depressed since I was so used to having my
brother to now not having him with me anymore was
difficult enough but then my Grandmother got very sick
to the point where she had a stroke that caused her to
be semi immobile and she had lost the majority of her
memory. I was one of the few people that she
remembered so I had been carrying a huge weight
because it was mainly up to me show her how to eat,
speak, and help her recover her memory so that she can
recognize her children are all grown up and have their
own children.
After a few months of being my grandmother's teacher
her health worsened and was sent back to the hospital,
after a few days the doctors told us her condition had
gotten to the point where the nurses and doctors could
not do anything anymore. It pained me to see the sent
from relearning to not being able to move or speak at
all. At this point it was up to my father and his
other siblings to decide what they were going to do
about her since the doctors could not do anything
more. My father and his siblings decided is was better
to let her go meaning she was no longer going to be
plugged. At that moment her heart started to stop
working to the point where she was no longer alive. I
was not easy saying good by since I spent so much time
with her because by father always said "Family always
goes before anything." It was a struggle to manage
school and be a teacher to my grandmother but it
helped me realized I want to help people.
So much happened in so little time and nothing was
getting better, I was not able to handle everything on
my own so I started ditching school so that I can have
to think and reflect on everything. Soon my mother
found out that I was ditching school and she finally
saw what her daughter was going through all on her
own. So my mother decided to take me to three
different therapy session with different people so
that I would get my life back together and thankfully
I did.