Bryanna Ramos '16 Recruiting Profile

My name is Bryanna Ramos; I was born in south Los Angeles. Coming from an area where there is such a negative stigma there is always the prejudice glare. However, I do not hesitate to tell them where I come from because where I come from does not define who I am. When people come to Los Angeles, they imagine palm tree sidewalks and the Hollywood sign, but turn a blind eye to the graffiti billboards and trashed sidewalks down the Ten freeway.
 
            The house that I come from is one of a machista mindset where the woman stays at home while the man works. I live with my grandmother due to complications with my brothers and mother. Both my parents have had trouble with the law. My father, abusive and in a rush to gain quick money in order to provide for his raging drug addiction was incarcerated for possession of illegal substances and lying in a court of law. After receiving 25 years in 2003, I have only seen him once in my life. My mother fell into the same get rich quick scheme and received 3 years for attempting to smuggle Illegal substances across the border in 2005. As a child growing up in this environment, I was quick to catch on to the “keep your head low, and stay quiet” vibe. It didn’t take long for this way of being to catch up with me. As a result I had become so shy and had so much bottled up I began to turn my attention to animals because I was intrigued by how unaffected they were by their surroundings. I wanted to preserve that for them and from then I knew I wanted to work with animals.
Now I am a senior and every decision I have made has been based around becoming a veterinarian. From as early as fourth grade I joined programs such as college ready programs and took advantage of every opportunity I was given to learn more about the world outside of my environment. In middle school I joined MESA, and even began to join SRLA a running club that pays for the LA Honda Marathon. I told myself if I could run a marathon at thirteen, I could do anything. With a time of 4:20:21 I finished and I had never felt so accomplished. This inspired me to join sports in high school and I have made it to league finals in Track, Cross Country, and Soccer. Joining sports in high school brought me out of my shell and really inspired me to be active in my school as well as helping me manage my time along with AP classes.  In the summer of 2015 I was finally able to do actual volunteer work at a shelter. I ended up go ing to the SPCLA a high kill pet shelter. When I began I knew I would come across difficult cases. The experience there solidified my decision to become a veterinarian. I realize that seeing as how I am not in the best financial situation I plan to make it through college with earning an academic and running scholarship if attainable.