I have demonstrated my success in overcoming the most difficult challenges during my college career which is a trait that I find crucial to being "successful" in life. The woes of my journey started during my freshman year of college as I was the first person in my family to pursue a bachelor’s degree. The truth is, the life of the average first generation college student is never easy. It is riddled with hardship and requires that one be enveloped with an unbounded mental toughness to endure a constant malignant cycle of disadvantage. My story as a first generation college student was no different. I had to work weekly to supplement my family’s income, while taking on a rigorous engineering course load, honing my leadership abilities in various student organizations, and working to secure valuable professional experience in my field of study. For five years, illness, stress, depression, and sleepless nights became the norm as I tackled my job, academics, and co-curricular activities. While this might be necessary to achieving the American Dream, it is not a healthy lifestyle to live because we can't achieve the American Dream when we're dead, right? It is not my intent to seek pity but this is my personal testimony on what it takes to set a goal and achieve it. It requires a strong sense of inner-directedness, resilience, tenacity, and discipline: qualities that have brought me this far. 

I became a first generation college graduate in the Spring of last year and now, I am ready to tackle the next big goal of mine that no one in my family has done before: purchasing a home. For us, this is the first step toward living a decent life. I have found the mortgage that is right for me and I plan on negotiating seller concessions to cover my closing cost but the down payment is of course, the biggest challenge that I have right now. I am saving up as much as I can but even though I work full-time, it is hard to take care of myself, supplement my family's income, and save for a down payment. Please help me take a step toward breaking a cycle of disadvantage so that my family and I can have a small taste of the American Dream.