Rosa Maria Jimenez, I want to start from the beginning which is with my grandma being an 11 year old girl who had to take care of her four younger siblings in a poor village in the Dominican Republic. She never attended school because she was too busy raising her siblings while her mom(my great grandma) was out all day 20 miles into the city to sell food in the street to bring back as much money she can. Once my grandmother reached 18yrs old she found a job being a maid for a wealthy family and worked for them for 5yrs, after that she got pregnant with my mother and knew raising her daughter in DR wasn’t going to be successful plan. She gave birth in DR but the family she worked for were flying to New York and got my grandmother a visa to go with them in which she came up with her plan. After landing and staying with them, on the last day they were supposed to fly back she snuck out hours before to a relatives home and decided leaving her daughter in DR for 3yrs is the best expedited plan so she could make enough money to buy a home and have stability for her family to bring them to New York. Doing this not only broke her heart but my mother, being without my grandmother forced her to become independent at a young age. My grandmother worked so hard and deserves the world, without her I wouldn’t be the woman I am today. She taught me that nothing should be used as an excuse and hustling is mandatory nothing will ever be handed out to you. We weren’t born fortunate so that means we have to work harder for our desires. My family is very old school oriented and religious so growing up weekly church visits and Sunday school were mandatory. In the beginning I dreaded going but as I got older I realized it was used as a mechanism to bring my family and I closer with each other through God. As my mother, Damarys Elizabeth Marte, raised me she tried her best to give me the life she wished she had, an actual childhood that I could enjoy being a kid without adult responsibilities. As she told me her stories ands struggles growing up it motivated me to work hard to make her proud that her daughter will accomplish the dreams she couldn’t. These two woman have influenced me so much by showing me I don’t need a man to be happy, successful or confident. I learned to love myself so much I don’t yearn to be loved anymore. When you are your biggest supporter all your dreams seem so much more achievable and failure should push your harder to make it a win. I still have many more life lessons to go through but as of right now I have strong, independent and brave woman to catch me when I fall.