I was born and raised in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Growing up my parents demonstrated and instilled in me that developing resilience, persistence, and interpersonal skills would be helpful driving forces for success in life. This advice stuck with me and has helped me persevere throughout school, jobs, and life experiences. While attending college at UC Santa Barbara and undergoing my studies for a degree in communications I was also required to work and make a living for myself. During those years I learned that I was much more capable of persevering through tough times than I was aware of... I was proud that I was a full-time college student as well as full-time server at a restaurant in downtown Santa Barbara. As those challenging years went by I reflected on how my core values: resilience, persistence, and having great interpersonal skills completely helped guide and were the backbone of my success during those days. Reflecting back to those years of academics and serving at a restaurant I am grateful for the growth that it provided. I learned that I can endure difficult or stressful situations and come out the other side with integrity and grace. Looking back on my accomplishments offers me perspective on how I was put to the challenge, overcame my fears, and in result became more empowered to succeed. Again it further validates the values I learned growing up to keep pushing, overcome obstacles, and work well with others. These strengths helped me get to the next stepping stone and ultimately encouraged me to keep going. I hope to further apply these values that were embedded in me and be able to apply them in my next job opportunity.