I still remember the quiet panic in my parents’ faces as we sat around the kitchen table, unsure of where we were gonna live next. Another house turned us away, this time because we were “too many.” Six kids, two parents and nowhere else to go. Rent prices were more than what we could afford, and housing security felt out of reach. In that moment I realized how often the world lacks compassion for families like mine; families doing everything right but still treated like we don’t belong.
To me, compassion is more than just empathy, it’s recognizing someone’s struggle and deciding to act and change that. It means coming back to the communities others overlook and becoming the person who listens, who helps, and who fights for what is fair. My family situation opened my eyes, and it gave me a purpose. I want to be the person who changes the system that once turned my family away. Compassion also means giving others what you once needed: stability, safety, and support. My situation reshaped my goals, I no longer just want to succeed for myself, but I want to become the person assisting others. I want to return to my community and become a resource, an advocate, and a builder of the clean, safe environment we deserve. Growing up, my neighborhood lacked green space and suffered from environmental neglect, like overfilled-trash, and polluted air and water. These issues are deeply connected to housing insecurity, and health injustice. I want to break the systemic barriers that have affected families like mine for generations.
This is why I plan to double major in Environmental Science and Political Science. Environmental Science will help me address the physical conditions harming low-income
communities, while Political Science will inform me on ways to challenge the policies that allow these conditions to occur within my community. I want to bring both scientific knowledge and legislative power back to my community where compassion was the initial building block, and soon became the motivation for future generations.
I have already taken steps towards my vision. Through Media Rebels-a youth-led civic engagement group- I worked to support social and environmental justice in Los Angeles. We campaigned and canvassed for propositions like “Measure A,” which will help create more affordable housing and green spaces in under-resourced communities. By knocking on doors, connecting with my community, and talking to voters on the propositions, I saw the power of acting with compassion. I learned that real chance begins when people care enough to show up for one another.
Compassion is essential in today’s world because too many people are left behind to suffer in silence. I refuse to let this continue; I want families like mine to know that they are not forgotten, that they have someone fighting for them. Compassion is not just a feeling, it is the reason I fight and the fuel that drives me to build a future where no one is turned away for being “too many.” |
