Growing up, I had a few dreams of what I would want my adult life to be like. Of course, many have failed. Never was I someone to give up though but sometimes things just do not work out the way I had planned them to. If there is one thing I learned, it is for me not stick to just what I had planned because in times life gives me different ways of accomplishing my goals and they could be better than what I had pictured, as long as I am still getting to where I want to be. I have done so much in my life to get where I am right now, and I do not regret any of it. Everything I have gone through has just made me who I am. The strong independent individual I have become. It is important for me to have something I want to achieve, not only for myself, but for my family. I came from an unfortunate Mexican family, struggling to get by. It was tough, and I know I was little and do not remember much, but there is one thing I will always remember: Seeing the pain my mom went through, the struggle she went through trying to provide for her family. She was only seventeen and already set out on her own with a family. Selling fruit at the swap meet, and cleaning family members’ homes for some extra cash. After a while she took a friend’s advice and my mother and I moved to Las Vegas where she managed to find a job quickly and afford an apartment. Because of my past, I have some high standards for myself. I want to show my mom that all the hard work she did when she was young was worth it. I want to show her she raised a well-educated, successful woman, who never gives up no matter what the conditions are, just like her. Thinking back, I have set a lot of goals for myself. Some are short term, and some long term. Most of the goals I had set for myself fell apart, and some until this day I am still striving to accomplish. For example, some things I wanted to achieve but I could not accomplish are going to UNLV for nursing, purchasing my own car,