A 26-hour long bus ride, from Mexico to the United States, was all it took for my life to change for the better. As an eight-year-old girl, going from a small town in Mexico to what seemed like a movie set was very surreal. I was amazed at my new reality, at what I would call my new home. I found myself lost, unable to comprehend the world around me due to my inability to speak English. Being left with a sense of not belonging, I quickly found a community in which I felt welcomed, and no longer like an outsider. The Hispanic community was a key stepping stone to my feeling of belonging. My community helped me navigate my newly found home. I am deeply grateful for my community’s generosity as they positively impacted my family and my life. With the help of my community, my mom was able to find a job at a small family-owned business and helped my sister and I get enrolled in school. I couldn’t help but notice how entrepreneurial my community was. Everyone had made a life for themselves, and were now helping people from their community do the same. They all started with a dream, the same dream that I had, the American Dream.  

Since then, I have been inspired that one day I could become like them, not only by becoming an entrepreneur myself but by helping other immigrants the same way I was helped. As my family always says “You are no use if you are not helping others” which is something I live by. This goal starts by attending college to get the education and resources needed to start a business. Getting a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration will help me obtain my goal of helping my community. Small businesses are essential and are key opportunities for communities to come together. I hope that through my college education, I will have the ability to create a space for my community to unite once again. After the president went into office I started to take notice of my community being negatively impacted. The feeling of not belonging has resurfaced, not just for myself but for many members of my community. It feels as though we are outsiders and my community is no longer welcome. At such a divisive time I want to make sure that my community continues to be supported. 

This is why I want my business to be a place where people from the Hispanic community can feel comfortable and for those who have recently immigrated to feel as though they belong here. Through my business, I would like to organize different events and fundraisers in hopes of achieving a level of unity within my community. These events and fundraisers would gather different small Hispanic-owned businesses for members of the community to be part of. By organizing these events it would bring my community together in hopes of feeling like they all belong together. I want to be able to give those who are here for the American Dream guidance in this new chapter of their lives. I hope to be a person in which my community can rely on the same way my family and I were able to rely on our community at the beginning of our journey. I want my family to be proud of the person that I have become. I hope that my family will be able to see the value that education and helping others have in my life and for other people who are like me to be inspired and to shoot for the stars.