 Growing up in a family where finances were always the core of the problems, I saw that and I also saw my parents working so hard and not enjoying what they do. Both of my parents didn't go to college and I thought, hmm, maybe college. I didn't know what that was, but I knew that maybe that would be the way. I am the owner and founder of College Confectionista and that is my cheesecake business that I started when I was a senior in high school in order to help me bake my way through college. I put myself through three years at Santa Rosa Junior College and I'll be transferring into UC Berkeley and I have enough saved up for two years at UC Berkeley. So fast forward to senior year in high school and I'm feeling so overwhelmed with all of the applications and the payments for sending off AP scores and everything. And I thought, this is too much. I just need to do a little pause, a break. So I decided, you know, I'm going to make a cheesecake. My mom gave one to her co-worker and they absolutely loved it. And she gave me $40 for the cheesecake and in that moment a light bulb went off and I thought, this is it. This is how I'm going to do it. This is how I'm going to fund my higher education. In my cheesecakes, I always do four flavors each month depending on what kind of local produce is in season or what kind of holidays are coming up. Farm fresh eggs, local cream cheese, local produce and just make it as fresh as possible with the best ingredients as possible. That's how to make the best cheesecake. I applied as a senior in high school to UC Berkeley and got rejected. Then I did two years at Santa Rosa Junior College and was ready to transfer. Excited, submitted, rejected. And that was absolutely crushing. That could be titled as a failure. I didn't see it that way but it was a let down and how do I come back from that and grow and do it better so that I get in next time. Then I applied again and got in the third time. What I'd like to do is create my own major. So I'm planning to take some courses through Rhetoric and through Haas and create a business communications major. I'd like to turn college confectionaries into this nonprofit organization that gives back to women like me who come from low income families, who come from minority families who are the first in their family to go to college, who have that drive, that passion to seek a higher education but don't have the financial means and that's where I would come in and support them with scholarships and also provide mentorship and changing their mindset about what they can achieve and inspiring them to go big. I have a story that can inspire other people to rise up and be better. So if I just be me, then it'll all work out.