Personal Statement

Hello my name is Daisha LaRock. I grew up in the Bay Area. I moved around
from the cities of San Leandro, San Lorenzo, Hayward and Oakland. All the cities were
very similar. A lot of diversity, very popular and it has its good and bad parts. In some it
would be very nice and some not so much, the parts I grew up in were the better parts.
Once I turned 14 I moved to a city named Merced. Merced was an agriculture
community, rural community, diverse and had a population of 90,000 people. The
difference between the two places I have lived is that Merced was very secluded, not
that many things to do, a big change in the weather. My education changed too. I think
that in the Bay Area I learned more easily but in Merced it was more difficult. I will
graduate in June 2024.

Something that happened to me is that growing up I was somewhat poor. I lived

with my family and me and my mom stayed in a home where they helped my mom look
for a job and we didn't pay for rent, and they provided us with food until my mom was
stable enough for the rest of us. Once we got out we went and lived with a cousin. While
we lived with my cousin it was not the best, her and her boyfriend would get into
altercations alot and he would leave and she xxxwould do things little kids shouldn't see.
We would get the power off and the water sometimes too. She would eat the food that
we bought, leaving me to go to bed without eating sometimes. I would walk to school
because we had no car and then walk home too. Once my mom got a job we got a little
better, still lived with them but no car, not our own home but i got my clothes and shoes
and other necessities. We got on food stamps and would use that for food.

I dealt with this by just living with it. I think I was too young to understand any of
it. Now that I am older I can really see how we struggled so much. Once I turned 13 we
moved in with my sister. At my sisters we had our own house with her. My moms
boyfriend would help with rent and water and electricity. My moms friend gave her a car
and she still uses it. I learned to not ask for much from my mom and I learned that I
need what is necessary and not what I want. When she can she will buy me and the
house things that I want. I think that we have succeeded a lot since we moved and I am
very proud of my mom.

Going there will make me want to be a better person in a lot of ways. I will want
my own house, my own car and I don't want to depend on anybody. I think that going
there will help me want to be better not only for myself but my mom too. I will get the
education that I need to get a good job so I can make sure I make myself proud and
give me what I deserve.