“I’m human, I make mistakes, but as I grow up, I learn.”  Life for me isn’t easy, especially since I just started my first year as a teenager. Like every other teen, I’m having girl drama, boy drama, hormones, etc. but what helps me get through it is knowing myself. Knowing where I come from, and who my family is. Also i keep myself busy with things I like to do, and be with my true friends. I am on my way to accomplishing all my dreams in MY life.

December 8, 1999  was when I, Guadalupe Mendez, was born here in San Diego, CA. My parents are immigrants from Mexico, and came to the United States for a better future. My mom, Maria Rosario Zamora, migrated with my older siblings and began their life. Then my dad, George Andres Mendez, came with a few friends and began to work. A few years later my parents met in 1990 where six years later my parents had my older brother, Jorge and realized that their number one goal was to create a big family! Three years later I was born, then my youngest sister, then my youngest and last brother. Three boys, three girl, including me, are all happy and thankful for each other.

At  the age of 2, I went to my very first day of  school – daycare – Colonel Solomon. I was there until the age of 5 and moved to Washington Elementary: Magnet School. I was happy to be there, and make friends at the age age of 2 and continue to be friends until this day. Then for third grade I moved to Grant K-8 School with my older brother, Jorge, as well as my youngest sister, Natalia. All my teachers that I had there were very committed to their work. To be honest I always struggled in school with math and history. However, when my teachers found out they offered some tutoring classes for me. Then by the middle of 4th grade I was always the first one to put my hand up after every math problem. Now for middle school, I was invited to Old Town Academy with my sister. I’m having really fun here, it’s not easy sometimes, but what really helps is being able to talk to my classmates and teachers about problems or things we just learned. For high school I’m going to apply to: High Tech High, Francis Parker and e3 Civic High School, because their system is very organized and the teachers seem to give more attention to you. Making you feel special and making sure you get all the help you need is most important.

Apart from being a student and loving to work all the time, I enjoy to do regular teenager things. As a kid I loved to be artistic, between the ages of 3 and 8 I loved to dance and sketch, then 9 and 11 it was all about art. Drawing everything I saw. Now all I carry with me is a camera and a pair of headphones. Art understands me, I express my thoughts and my feelings through it. I also enjoy competing in sports. Although, I don’t do sport competitively, I like to be active and do it for fun. Soccer is the number one sport in my, all my uncles and cousins have played. But I like to do other sports other then soccer like tennis, swimming, rock climbing, running, and golf. Sometimes my brother and I go to the gym and just work out, making sure we stay fit. Some new sports I want to try out are: surfing, volleyball, lacrosse, and kick boxing. Maybe over summer I might just learn something new! I’m a student, artist, photographer, an athlete and….. a “chef”. Since the age of 4 I loved to be in the kitchen. The first thing I learned to make was cereal (of course). Then every time my mom would prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner I would always help. Then my dad taught me how to use a knife at the age of 5. I mainly cook Mexican food with my mom, but when she gets sick I’m the one who takes charge. Baking is also another thing I like to do. Cakes are my number one thing right now. When being in the kitchen I like to combine or create new recipes.

“Always, give thanks to god, for everything you have like: food, a bed to sleep on, a family, your arms, legs, hands, and eyes and every little thing because there’s people out there that don’t have what you have” – Rosario Zamora. My mom has always been a big part in my life, because not only is she my mom but she’s my best friend. When my mom first came to the United States she was a homeless for about a year and now is a successful women doing a fantastic job as a mother of 6. My mom is a one of a kind, she strong and doesn’t let anything get in her way. She fights for her family and makes sure we get everything we need to help us later in life, she has always wanted the best for me. Right now I don’t know exactly what I want my career to be when I grow up, but one thing I do know is, I definitely want to be the strong, independent, confident, educated women my mom is. With the help of my family and myself I would want to accomplish finishing school, with a degree and making sure I can be successful on my own. After school, I’m planning on traveling around the world, and learning new cultures, religions, and definitely new types of FOOD! One place I plan on traveling to first is with my family to Mexico, and going to the small towns my parents grew up in.