Melissa Carrillo Garcia

My name is Melissa Carrillo Garcia. I was born in Sharp Hospital on December 17, 1999 in the evening. I’m a hard worker, and I find great pleasure in running, so I joined Hoover’s Cross Country team. Through the lens of a cross country runner, I would say that I joined the team to escape my worries, and challenge myself to go past the bare minimum to achieve something. Cross country has a legacy of having a team that overachieves, and I joined to make a statement, even if that means appealing as being crazy through the eyes of others.
I’ve faced a lot of hardships in my life, but the most challenging one that has affected me significantly is my family’s financial issue. I’ve seen how hard my parents try to obtain money through extra work. This really has caused me to doubt myself and my future, worrying that I won’t be academically successful. I’m glad I know the value of money. I can see that, with money, you only really need the vital things and basic survival resources such as food, water, and shelter. My family could provide me with more unnecessary things, but I know the struggles my family faces, so I choose to be minimalistic. This also somewhat leads me into becoming an independent person.
I grew up with this mentality of not relying on others to help me. I don’t want to depend on others because it would be very limiting for me to achieve a goal, and I want to take on new challenges because I believe I’m strong enough to do so. Everyone has role models, and traditionally, someone’s role model is older and wiser. However, my role models are the freshmen. The freshmen on the cross country team are ambitious and hopeful people, and they give me more hope to look forward to the future.
When I grow up, I want to become a representative for the United States and combine social work and anthropology to travel the world and help those in need. I want the culture shock to hit me, and see the differences between the freedoms in the U.S. and the restrictions other people in different nations. With Step-Up, I was able to take a class called Social Work 120 with SDSU and it helped me learn beneficial material that I will able to use for my career. I learned a lot about government, the pharmaceutical companies, and LGBT communities and the affects on today’s society. I also helped tutoring kids with a tutoring system under the Fairmount Park system of City Heights. With the vision that these kids have shown, I was able to realize that it’s the fun that counts when you’re trying to achieve your goals, and that being in the present moment and not worrying about the past or the future allows you to be the best version of you.