Maria Mota

Every day I reminisce on how it has been possible to be where I am today. I continue to

tell myself that regardless of the circumstances, everything I have been able to accomplish is

because of my parents and my own hard work.

I have not lived the happiest of lives; however, all my life I have been surrounded with

tremendous love and affection from my family. I was born in the city of Brownsville, TX. The

city just on the tip of Texas. Brownsville is certainly not the most prominent city, but I was able

to get a fairly good education that led me to where I am today, which I am thankful for. Growing

up, I had a very unstable life. My father’s passing when I was eight years old brought a huge

burden on my mom to try to provide for me and my sister. However, I was gifted with a big

family that has been helpful in every aspect of my life, not only from my mom’s side but from

my dad’s as well where I have two older brothers and two older sisters.

The burdensome and toughest time in my life was losing my father. Every day I work my

hardest to make my mom and my dad, wherever he is, proud of me. After he passed, my life

changed drastically. Not only did my mother had to take care of me and my sister, but also my

cousin and a young lady that was given to her to take care of when she was only twelve years old

with a baby on the way. My family and I were forced to migrate to be able to pay the bills back

home so we decided to move in with my uncle in Florida. Shortly after, we moved to New

Brunswick, New Jersey. Our time there was a rollercoaster of emotions to say the least. We

moved about 5-6 times in a span of seven months and I moved schools twice. There was a period

where I had to miss school for a couple months. Luckily, my mom realized she did not want to

put me in my sister in the predicament where we miss out on a proper education so we went back

home. Nevertheless, my mom continues to migrate seasonally, yet it has never gotten any easier

Maria Mota

to see her leave and know that she has to work twelve hours straight and seven days a week to

help me and my family as much as she can.

All throughout my high school career I was part of the math club, history club, and one

that I truly valued, Keep Brownsville Beautiful. Keep Brownsville Beautiful Youth Advisory

Board worked to make a difference and clean up the streets of Brownsville. Twelve other

students and I organized many events promoting environmental health in the community. Since

coming to St. Edwards University, I have been part of SERVE Austin. I volunteered last spring

for VICTORY tutoring three second graders and profoundly enjoyed every minute. I am

currently volunteering for Foundation Communities at the learning center in Sierra Vista. The

learning center provides a comforting space for the elementary students of St. Elmo Elementary

to work on homework and do fun activities out in the playground or inside while learning all at

the same time.

For the majority of my life, I have known that I wanted to be in the field of mathematics.

Everyone always called me the ‘the weird kid in class’ or ‘the nerd’ because I simply enjoyed all

my math classes. Math is so intriguing to me and I have enjoyed every math class I’ve taken. I

know Math majors do have many options available and that’s what makes it so difficult. All my

life I dreamed of being a math teacher because I would always enjoy helping others. I have

gotten so many negative comments because I want to be a teacher for a living. However, I

ultimately get to decide my future and if I want to be an educator, I will. What I believe is my

greatest ambition in life is becoming a Mathematics professor. Maybe I won’t be able to afford

to go to graduate school right after I earn my bachelor’s degree, but it would be incredible if I

were to get the opportunity to earn my Master’s degree at some point in time.