“The picture that I have is of my graduation with my bachelor's degree in December of 2019, so it's just me in the picture. But behind the picture, there's all a lot of people that were at that event.

“Before I got to this moment, a lot of things had to happen. The first thing that had to happen was my parents decided to bring me and my siblings from Mexico to the United States, so I could get better health care, so I could save my eyes from losing their vision completely. 

“I was diagnosed with congenital glaucoma approximately four hours after I was born. And I was treated in Mexico until the doctors said they could no longer do anything else for me, and asked my parents if they had the ability to apply for a tourist visa, so we could travel to the US to get better health care. So the story that comes to my head when I see this picture is entering the consultation room. I was six years old, and I'm interpreting for my parents. The doctor evaluates me and turns around and tells my parents, ‘I'm not going to treat her because you guys don't know English. And because you guys don't have money, go back to your country.’ So looking at me being able to graduate, it's the all the memories, all the hard work, the persistence, not only from my parents, but from myself as well that I've been able to get to that point where I can say, ‘Hey, I made it.’

“When I think of hope, I think of making the possibility out of something that seems almost impossible. Having hope to graduate, having hope to even being able to see. I had hope that there was a way, and I found a way with my community and with different support systems. I think hope is having the ability to see a possibility where others don't.”