Sasha Hernandez

UCONN Day of Pride Scholarship

1 November 2018

I’ve come to realize throughout the years that you will always need school to get a good
education. Although, something that people forget sometimes is that while you’re attending
school and working on keeping up your grades, you also have to take time to get an
understanding and experience things in the world in your own unique way. Many people do this
by getting into clubs and sports that are provided by the school, which helps them expand their
communication skills by encouraging them to speak to other students and teachers. Although
some students take a different route and decide to get experience and skills through community
involvement.
I had the resources to get involved in extracurricular activities from the school, but I
decided to get involved in activities outside of school. I thought about a different ways that I
could help out in my community and decided to volunteer to clean the church that I attend. I
grew up with a strong connection to the church and became a part of the youth group as well. I
thought my involvement would help me communicate with different people and decided to get
experience by working. My job gave me a feel of what it could be like when I go to college
because I’ll have to work while being a student. Although I decided to go about getting
experience a little different from my peers, I believe my experiences still gave me the resources
and skills that I will need in the future.
I started attending the church Las Buenas Nuevas in 2013 with my family. Throughout
the years I started to get more and more involved. I joined the youth group where I attended
meetings every wednesday and I helped organize some of the services. I helped pick out who
was going to do what and helped the leader of the youth group plan out events. I was chosen as
the secretary of the youth group, meaning that I had to take notes of when, where, and why we
met in order report our progress to the pastor. Based on my notes, the leader of the group would
write a report to inform the pastors of what we did throughout the year and to inform those who
attend the church.
 My involvement in the youth group helped me to build relationships with many people
around my age that are different in their own unique way. Although, I became extremely close to
four girls that were also a part of the youth group; we’re all different. What brought us closer
together was our love to praise dance. One day, we praise danced together for a birthday party
and from then on we decided to start our own group. We started a praise dance group called
Ministerio de Danza Shekinah. We started the group at the beginning of 2018, practicing in the
basement of my house. We have performed multiple times at the church we attend and at events
our church has been involved in. Although now we are getting a step closer to our goal, which is
to perform not only at our church but other churches. We have been organizing and
choreographing our own performances with no ones help.
As I was attending church Sundays and Thursdays, the youth group on Wednesdays, and
the praise dance groups Saturdays and Sundays; I was applying to jobs. In 2017 from January to
March, I worked at Windham Falls retirement home as a server. I worked after school from
5:00pm to 7:00pm. I grew to love and care for many of the elders that lived there and very
quickly started to memorize their drink orders, which lead great happiness. Working there I
learned from each person that I spoke to. One day, I was cleaning the table and an elder man was
still sitting in the dining room. He had called me over and started talking about his involvement
in the military, as I listened to him I realized how hard he had worked for what he wanted. That
day I learned that I can’t expect things to just come to me, but I have to work hard to get to
where I want to be.
These experiences have helped me understand people that are from different age groups.
It has helped me realize that sometimes you have to make the change in your community by
getting involved, speaking out about your ideas, and helping to organize events. We have the
opportunity to make a change and make relationships! We have to take opportunities and do the
best that we can. Making friendships in your school and community helps you to have a balanced
and healthy life.