WEBVTT 00:01.000 --> 00:05.000 My dad is a pastor and my mom was a stay at home mom. 00:05.000 --> 00:08.000 They didn't have, like, too much money to give to us for college. 00:08.000 --> 00:11.000 Growing up, I just didn't see too many people who looked like me 00:11.000 --> 00:15.000 kind of going and being doctors or engineers or astronauts. 00:15.000 --> 00:16.000 I considered the military. 00:16.000 --> 00:19.000 I was very, very adventurous. 00:19.000 --> 00:22.000 So I wanted to enlist when I was actually 17 years old. 00:22.000 --> 00:26.000 But my mom, she she thought it was a phase and she really didn't 00:26.000 --> 00:27.000 want me to go to the military. 00:27.000 --> 00:30.000 So she she actually applied to colleges for me. 00:30.000 --> 00:33.000 I did a little research and I found that Cal Poly, Pomona 00:33.000 --> 00:35.000 and was one of the better schools that I got accepted to. 00:35.000 --> 00:39.000 So I ended up coming here. 00:39.000 --> 00:39.000 I really was 00:39.000 --> 00:42.000 kind of lost coming in my freshman year. 00:39.000 --> 00:45.000 Benny was the undeclared academic advisor. 00:45.000 --> 00:48.000 I just remember there's a sheet on his wall with all the majors, 00:48.000 --> 00:51.000 and the first one starts with “A” was Aerospace Engineering. 00:51.000 --> 00:53.000 I remember that really caught my attention. 00:53.000 --> 00:57.000 He was like the first one who really inspired me and made me believe 00:57.000 --> 01:02.000 that I can do more than what I had already kind of set for myself in my mind. 01:02.000 --> 01:08.000 But unfortunately, I lost my financial aid 01:08.000 --> 01:10.000 when I dropped out of school for that year, 01:10.000 --> 01:12.000 that was really, really discouraging for me. 01:12.000 --> 01:15.000 I didn't know what the Veterans Resource Center was 01:15.000 --> 01:18.000 but I knew it was a place where I can kind of talk to somebody. 01:18.000 --> 01:20.000 They really encouraged me 01:20.000 --> 01:23.000 that I can go to officer corps and get my bachelor's degree. 01:23.000 --> 01:26.000 So they gave me the number for an officer recruiter. 01:26.000 --> 01:29.000 I called her that day and she explained to me 01:29.000 --> 01:31.000 I can get a guaranteed spot at flight school. 01:31.000 --> 01:35.000 It was just like a dream come true. 01:35.000 --> 01:36.000 Had a lot of motivation. 01:36.000 --> 01:38.000 I was really encouraged because I had a plan. 01:38.000 --> 01:42.000 And even though I didn't have financial aid, and I didn't have a car, 01:42.000 --> 01:44.000 I just had to make it happen. 01:44.000 --> 01:48.000 So I had to take the bus it would take about 4 hours to get to school 01:48.000 --> 01:51.000 It was a whole semester that I had to bus and I ended up getting straight 01:51.000 --> 01:55.000 A's because I had that drive and I had that motivation that I could do it. 01:55.000 --> 01:57.000 You know, 01:57.000 --> 01:59.000 I was officially in my last year. 01:59.000 --> 02:01.000 I couldn't afford a car while I was paying for school. 02:01.000 --> 02:04.000 So my sister, she had a motorcycle, I was like, you know what? 02:04.000 --> 02:07.000 I'll just use a motorcycle. It was two weeks into school 02:07.000 --> 02:12.000 when I was just cut off by a car and I just went down. 02:12.000 --> 02:15.000 Went to the hospital and I was like, geez... 02:15.000 --> 02:19.000 you know, like, I’m on my last year finally. 02:19.000 --> 02:21.000 And this happened. So- 02:21.000 --> 02:26.000 I don’t know how much more I have. 02:26.000 --> 02:27.000 There was no way for me to get to school at that point. 02:27.000 --> 02:28.000 I couldn't even walk. 02:28.000 --> 02:32.000 And I was just considering taking withdrawals from my classes. 02:32.000 --> 02:36.000 My captain told me that I could get dropped from the the program. 02:36.000 --> 02:39.000 And, you know, my dream of being a pilot, being in the Marine Corps 02:39.000 --> 02:42.000 as an officer, that would have been gone. 02:42.000 --> 02:45.000 When I came back, was so lost. 02:45.000 --> 02:47.000 I reached out to my professor, Dr.Caine 02:47.000 --> 02:49.000 I just went to his office and I said, Dr. 02:49.000 --> 02:51.000 Caine, like, I'm going to fail. 02:51.000 --> 02:53.000 I take or not, I'm going to fail the class. 02:53.000 --> 02:58.000 So I just want to talk to you about options. 02:58.000 --> 03:02.000 Over winter break, he met with me He gave me like a structured plan 03:02.000 --> 03:06.000 and he instead of the final, he replaced it with a project 03:06.000 --> 03:16.000 And I'm just so blessed to have teachers that really cared about me and my success. 03:16.000 --> 03:18.000 It was surreal. 03:18.000 --> 03:21.000 Graduating. 03:21.000 --> 03:23.000 It was really great for everyone to be there and, you know, 03:23.000 --> 03:26.000 hear them cheering for me and, you know, being in the front row, 03:26.000 --> 03:30.000 seeing them smiling. 03:30.000 --> 03:32.000 Getting my bachelor's degree, that was the hardest thing I've ever done 03:32.000 --> 03:36.000 and that gave me so much more confidence in my abilities. 03:36.000 --> 03:38.000 So I have a spot in flight school now. 03:38.000 --> 03:43.000 My big dream is to apply for the astronaut corps that's been like a really 03:43.000 --> 03:45.000 far off dream of mine. 03:45.000 --> 03:49.000 But, you know, at this point, I think anything's possible.