Perez, Honey 1

Honey Perez

Ms. J.Snyder/A. Holl

Senior Capstone- Rough Draft

Dreams To Reality

I never realized how different everyone's life could be let alone how difficult either.

Growing up as the first daughter in a Mexican household comes with many responsibilities. It's

like you're the second mom; my parents always count on me for everything. Are the kids

hungry? Make them something to eat. Do the kids need help with their homework? Help them

understand how to do it. Is the house dirty? Put them to cleaning. As you can see, growing up the

way I did has shaped me into the person I am today; I like being organized, I like being a leader

not, a follower, I hate when I don't do something right, etc… I have even been told that I act just

like a Mom, but I am not sure if I should take that as a compliment; it's just who I am. I am

Honey Perez.

Before I moved here, I went to a predominantly white school in Holland, So it was quite

a change when we moved to Wyoming. When we lived in Holland, I was in soccer, swim class,

girl scouts, ballet, etc. It's like my mom always wanted us to fit in, but that completely changed. I

made friends quickly, and they were all Hispanic and always understood what I was going

through. When they would come over, my mom wouldn't need to worry about speaking Spanish

or raising her voice because all my friends understood it and had a mother the same way.

Moving to Wyoming most definitely changed a lot about me, I was no longer the shy girl or the

girl who didn't live in a big house; I was just me. I am now a senior in high school with only two

months left of school! Graduation has come faster than I expected.

 Perez, Honey 2
Honey Perez

Ms. J.Snyder/A. Holl

Senior Capstone- Rough Draft

''Researchers found that children’s immediate neighborhood area has significant effects

on life outcomes, and those outcomes can differ considerably compared to those experienced by

children just streets away'' (Kramer). One of the main reasons I decided to go into real estate is

because having a nice house is something I didn’t have growing up. Maybe I do sound selfish

because I should be grateful that I even had a roof over my head. I would never invite people

over to my house because I was always scared of what they would think, even if they didn’t

mind. All my friends always had nice houses with nice rooms, painted finished walls.

My goals for this year are to graduate high school and go to college to obtain my

associate's degree in business. I am still not very sure if I want to go to a community college like

Grand Rapids Community College because school has never been for me. If I don't end up going

to college this year, I will end up applying to Michigan State to get more school experience. As

of right now, I plan on going into real estate. A real estate agent is "a person who sells and rents

out buildings and land for clients"(Oxford Languages). Over time, when I have experience with

real estate I want to start to do interior designing and more construction work to flip houses. I

haven’t really researched a lot on what I need to do, but I do know what careers I want to focus

on. Throughout this whole process, I hope that I will be financially stable to provide my mother

with the house she deserves. There’s not a day that goes by when she doesn’t remind me that she

counts on me to help her get out of this hole we have dug ourselves in.
 Perez, Honey 3
Honey Perez

Ms. J.Snyder/A. Holl

Senior Capstone- Rough Draft

''Zuberi points out that where you live as a child can determine how much you’re exposed

to crime, gun violence and even mental and physical health hazards” (Kramer). I do believe

heavily in that if I hadn’t experienced all these things first hand I would be going into a different

career. Just as kids who experience deportations with family members become immigration

lawyers or people who have lots of family deaths become something in the medical field. This is

why real estate has been a career that has always interested me and I am going to follow through

with my plans. In order to obtain and accomplish all these goals that I have put in front of me, I

plan on going to GRCC this upcoming fall to start the path to receiving my associate's degree in

business. I will also enroll myself in a program to obtain my real estate license and soon after,

finally start applying for a job to begin my new journey. During this time, I will probably be

working a third shift job to be able to pay for any of my costs. Studying is something that I have

never been able to do, but I know if I want to get ahead in life, I need to start focusing on my

future.

Graduation is coming up so fast that I never realized how past seniors would say, “Enjoy

these years because, by the time you know it, you will be a senior graduating.” They were indeed

very right about that. I will be officially the first person in my family to graduate and receive my

diploma. I can’t wait to make my family proud and even more proud when I accomplish all my

goals.
 Perez, Honey 4
Honey Perez

Ms. J.Snyder/A. Holl

Senior Capstone- Rough Draft

Works Cited

Kramer, Mark. "How The Neighborhood You Grow Up In Affects Your Future". Publicsource,

2022, https://projects.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-neighborhood-success/.

“Oxford Languages and Google - English.” Oxford Languages, languages.oup.com/google-

dictionary-en/.