Leilanee Ramirez '21 Recruiting Profile

I was ten years old when my parents decided to separate. Some might think "so what, a lot of children come from broken families," but it was particularly hard on me because this meant my whole life was about to get flipped upside down. My parents tried their hardest to make this new lifestyle transition as smooth as possible, but that still meant that I would be moving to a new home, new school, and have to make new friends.

I left my life in Mission Viejo, and moved to Irvine to create a new one with my mom. My mom struggled significantly. Not only emotionally, but financially as well. We had a lot of new setbacks, but my mom and I promised each other that nothing was going to get us down or hold us back from achieving our dreams. My mom and I both became very active in our community and school events in an effort to make new friends and adapt to our new lifestyle. That is when I started softball and realized how therapeutic sports are for me.

Over the next few years there were many times that I would think back to before my parents got divorced and how great things were. My mom and I were now living in a small apartment together and times were still tough, but my mom would constantly instill in me to never give up and always stay positive. Our motto was "never look back unless it's to see how far you've come." I would repeat those words to myself almost daily. Actually those words helped me overcome a lot of obstacles during my elementary and junior high days.

As I sit here and type these words during my senior year of high school in quarantine, it makes me realize that those hardships (as minimal as they may seem to others) and my mom and I's motto pushed me to become the person that I am today. Never give up, always pursue your dreams, take life's challenges and turn them into life lessons, and most importantly, work hard for the things that you want. I look back and see that my mom never gave up, even though there were plenty of times where I could tell she had no faith left and use those experiences to toughen myself up mentally emotionally, and physically.

Life will always have its ups and downs, but it's what you do with those ups and downs that count. I want to count! I know that you will be reading thousands of essays over the next few months, and I want to count as a student that makes a difference in your institution. I'm ready and willing to take on the hardships and challenges that will come my way and allow them to mold me into an even better version of who I am today.

I have learned to not give up on my hopes and dreams but to work hard for them. Keeping my faith strong reminds me of the endgame benefits. I have seen them, lived them, overcome them and experienced that in the end, hard work always pays off. Here’s to my payoff.