My name is Arlene, and I grew up and was born in the warm, sweaty, beautiful, Panama City. I lived on and off of a military base with my parents and two brothers. Living on a military base gave me the remarkable experience of going to school with different people and experiencing a melting pot of cultures from around the world. Even though I moved around a lot, I was fortunate enough to be close with my family, and I never felt alone anywhere we went. Today, I still try to call my family members, specifically my mom, once a week to check in and see how she’s doing, and I always get a little boost of energy when I hear her delicate, liquid, and smooth voice again. I am grateful for her, as she allowed me to be a real child, and play outside with my friends and siblings before the hot pink and yellow rays of the sun peeked out over the lush trees, and until the crickets sang their harmonious songs at night. I can still remember the undisguisable and earthy, sweaty, pungent smell of us three kids after a day outside. Kids these days aren’t allowed to play outside for long without supervision with good reason. This world has become a different place than 1970’s Panama. As a kid, and even now, my mom would probably be my hero. When I was younger, she was my hero because of silly things, like how she would pack our lunches. She was a very traditional woman, and when she packed our lunches she would iron out white tablecloths that we would have to lay out on our desks along with pepper and salt shakers to use on whatever she packed us. She didn’t pack us the average peanut butter and jelly or ham sandwich. No, she packed us boiled eggs and warm, tender meals that fell off the bone and melted in your mouth. Now, she’s still my hero but for different reasons, because now I am able to recognize how she gave up her whole life and dreams to raise her kids, and you know she did the best she could with what she knew. She was raised in a different time and it was difficult for her to go off of tradition, but she did the best she could. We never were able to eat out together or go on many vacations together, but if we could all go on one, phenomenal vacation, I’d want to go to the Caribbean. To do nothing but sink our toes in the deliciously velvet sand, and wade in the warm, loud, tempestuous waters. To taste the salty, bitter, seawater that chapped my tongue, and to hear the incessant squawking of stunning red and green blurs dancing in the green growth of trees behind the waters. But the best of all would be the roars and howls of laughter that leave feelings of pure joy behind. I am so lucky to be blessed with such a wonderful family, and my goal in life is to be able to raise my daughter Alessandra with the same love and kindness I was raised with.