Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.

When I was a little girl, my parents would fight a lot. This resulted in them splitting up for most of my childhood and me bouncing back and forth between the two of them. I remember not wanting to spend time with my dad alone because I could not predict his mood a lot of the time. One minute he would be very happy and the next minute he would be so angry and yell at me for no reason. Whenever he was in his angry state, he would call me demeaning names and blame me for him and my mom fighting. As a young girl I used to believe him and take what he said to heart. I always used to wonder why he would treat me like this. Years later, I found out that he had bipolar disorder and that he refused to seek treatment for it. It was then when I came to realize that the way my dad treated me and other people was not my fault but was caused by his illness and his refusal to confront it. My challenging childhood experiences did not break me but in fact have made me resilient. To me, resilience is being able to go through tough situations and to encounter great adversities but to not let them deter me and to grow from them. My experiences throughout my life have helped me learn how to pull through any challenge, and continue on to be stronger than I have ever thought. Resilience is the key to success. It is what drove me to thrive and to reach for my goals even with a harsh upbringing.

Seeing my father go through such a