I have faced many obstacles to overcome in my life’s path to get where I am today. Overcoming obstacles has always been a part of my life and due to the valuable experiences that I have had, I know that I have prepared myself well.

 I was 10 years old, when my mom and my siblings first moved to downtown Douala, Cameroon. We had no money at all, my mom didn’t have a job or experience because she didn’t had the chance to go to school like every other kid. I was raised in poverty, so to go to school in the morning, first I had to sell cane sugar with my mom, to get some money to pay my tuition. As a child my dream was to free my mom from our misery and to give her anything she never had. But my mom always told me “if you go to school then you would have anything you desire and no one would tell you what you need to do”.

With the purpose to succeed, on February 14, 2009, I came to America. In order for me to succeed I brought with me all my dreams and the determination to achieve them, along with my personal motivation, perseverance and positive attitude. When I first arrive I didn’t know how to speak English because my first language is French. But over the last two years, I had not only expanded the command of the English language but also the challenges that I had faced living in and learning about a new culture have been met with enthusiasm and determination. While been in the US, I met a teacher who always told me that “nobody will believe in you unless you believe in yourself”. He explained to me that I must believe in myself in order to accomplish great things in life. All this happen because of my mom’s will, to bring us here, to have a better opportunity that she didn’t beneficiate when she was a child. My mother has been through so much, yet, she still, keeps going no matter what, and she never let anything push her down. She is a marvelous woman, who I would proudly call my mother. Everything I do, wherever I am is for my mom because she suffers for us so now it is time for me to thanks her by working hard and be the best person I can be in life. To accomplish my goals, I need to graduate from high school then go on to college to get my degree in medicine.

Overcoming these obstacles has made me a stronger person, emotionally. I have learned how to survive without luxuries, depend on my family. Now I can offer the strength o f experience, determination and the knowledge I have acquired throughout my life at Trinity University. Participating in the hiscip program, would be a great experience for me. I hope to learn more about the college life. 

the meaning of empowerment

 Feeling empowered comes when one is enabled to believe and/ or do something for their

Self they have always wanted to but yet have never done before. With empowerment comes a raise of ones self esteem, confidence, and courage that enables one to feel self powerful, and always used with humility.... This enabling of ones self can come through another person who we admire or has given us some form of an emotional/mental tool that encourages us to move forward in our life and we do. The suggestions of self empowerment have many sources, but until we apply any of them to our own lives, it is only unused information. Working through personal issues that have burdened us, to then find forgiveness and peace with them is very empowering to a person, as we then continue to walk our journey with much less baggage. To feel enlightened by certain information that is found in say a self help book, is to then know we have finally "got it" so to speak, and will then apply this to our lives for healthier all around living. Enlightenment which comes quite often through spiritual awareness or awakening is also self empowering and lifts one up to another level of consciousness into a state of calmness, peacefulness, and serenity that one may have never known existed. To see and feel anything in a better light is empowering for the person, even if they do not recognize this as self empowerment, in truth, it is. Feelings of empowerment, enlightenment generally occur when one is searching for a truth they know exists and then find it quite unexpectedly. There have been many times I've felt empowered as this is a part of everyday life for me, because I am open to learning something I haven't before or just haven't got the meaning to yet, like reading something over and over again but today it took on a new meaning for me. I will then implement this into my life which will empower me in becoming a little better of a person. To be enlightened is directly related to empowerment, and all of which is used for the good of anything.

Empowerment is not just about words it takes action to achieve.