<p>Prompt:</p>
<p>Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you.What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?</p>
<p>Personal Statement:</p>
<p>I have had many experiences in my life that you may consider unique. My Mother, Marcella, was raised on an island in Mexico and illegally immigrated to the United States. My Father, Scott, is a native Californian who was raised in the Big Bear mountains. They met at a donut shop, and not too long later, my siblings and I had come into existence. I was raised in both Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area. My first job was as a substitute Special Education teacher. Soon after I started I left and joined the Army at the age of 18. I was sent to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida train to become an Explosive Ordnance Disposal technician. I was a week away from earning their badge. I felt like I was on Cloud 9. But I was young, and reckless, and unfortunately one weekend I consumed alcohol. Of course, I was caught and rigorously disciplined. I lost my career and was sent to train in Fort Huachuca, Arizona. My orders indicated that I was to become an Imagery Intelligence Analyst. This wasnt the noble profession I enlisted to do. I wanted to protect the Soldiers fighting on the battlefield and even fight alongside them, but Imagery Analysts give briefings. Although I supported everyone I trained with, I had lost my motivation. I objected to the role I would have had in the war; so, quietly, with the aid of a sample of medical marijuana from California I took my leave from the military. It was over so fast. After two years in the Army I was thrust headlong back into the real world. Little did I know, this would lead me directly to the very person that would change my life forever.</p>
<p>I came back home to live with my family in Stockton, California in the summer of 09. While I was away my parents had taken out a loan to buy a nice prefabricated house in a gated community that was slowly sinking under a sea of weeds. My older sister, Adrianna, and my younger sister, Carmen, were both already living with them; along with them was the newest member of my family, my niece, Elina. She was born on October 5, 2008. I had met her once before, but it felt like a lifetime ago but since then she had changed and grown so much more that she looked almost exactly like Adrianna did when we were kids. If it wasnt for her slightly darker skin I would have swore she was cloned. Matter of fact, maybe she was Regardless, I did what I always do when confronted by a young child. I made a fool of myself to try and make her giggle and smile. Im happy to say that I still get to do this almost every day.</p>
<p>Elina has a biological father, but that is pretty much all he has been for her. I knew this, so the first day back I decided that if I was ever around, it was my duty to make sure that fact would never become an issue for her. I didnt know where to start, so I just did what I always did in a jam, I imitated my dad. I laughed, played, engaged, interacted, and devoted myself to her total enjoyment. It worked, and I had a great time playing with her. Eventually I became the one to babysit my niece, and I had to change my first diaper which I can honestly say is one of the worst experiences of my life. I assisted in diapering a special education student in the past, but holding a shirt and arms of a ten year old kid is nothing in comparison to doing the dirty deed with a tiny squirming baby. But I did it! The diaper was lost, blown to smithereens, but I had defused the situation and rendered the area safe.</p>
<p>Eventually the honeymoon ended and reality started to set in. Thankfully, I was able to start my first semester in college and managed to get a part time job at a grocery store before things went south. But things started going wrong. My parents were having a hard time. My father had gotten injured while working, the loan they had taken was unrealistic, and I suspect predatory, considering how much money they made in comparison to the cost of the house. Eventually they had to default and we were back in the San Francisco Peninsula. On top of this they had to start taking care of my niece full time. First of all, my sister is a good person, but I dont believe she was ready to become a mother. She meant well, but had started growing more distant even though she lived close by. She fell back in with a bad crowd and stopped coming by to take care of her daughter. Since my parents didnt always have the, they needed me to bear some of the responsibility so I took on a third occupation. Raising my niece. This was hard for me at first. It radically changed my view of what an uncle really was. My uncle Ramon was a regular part of my childhood, but my parents were there for me and my siblings. Still, I was always aware that whatever minor inconvenience it may be for me to raise a child it was so much more important that my niece would have a normal childhood.</p>
<p>Still I was greedy when caring for Elina. I took every experience and stored it away in memory. I made sure that I did all that I could to hone my skills for when I become a parent. Mostly I learned that parenting is so much more than keeping a child alive. Parenting gives you the greatest opportunity to catalyse growth and evoke thought in someones mind. Every time I am with my niece I get to relax and I get to teach. Everything aspect of the world I try to present to her not only gives her a leg up in school, but it also reinforces my own understanding. Recently she just started learning to read and write, and I got the opportunity to show her how to sound out letters in a word and even touched on counting syllables. I see the world in a new way thanks to her. I am so much more willing to pass on information and tutor my classmates thanks to the knowledge I gained about the act of teaching. I know I understand something whenever I explain it simply to her, or others. I have been doing better in college because of her, and everyone who meets her instantly finds out just how gifted she is. She loves learn just like I do, and my pride in her has been growing exponentially ever since I started playing with her.</p>