Growing up, my parents would always tell me how grateful I should be to live in this country. My father grew up in an impoverished town in Puerto Rico and my mother grew up in El Salvador, where a civil war was destroying the country. Both of my parents’ communities were very damaged, since my father’s family struggled to put food on the table and my mother’s family feared for their lives every day. As a result of their experiences in their own childhoods, my parents always told me that I was blessed to grow up here in Boston. My school and local community have provided me with opportunities that my parents never had when they were growing up, and as a result, I always felt an obligation to give back to my community. When I heard of this fellowship, I thought of no better way of learning about public service than by applying for this. I was very excited for this summer opportunity because I knew this would be a great learning experience for me and would allow me to give back to my community. This fellowship has already been an amazing experience. Councilor Campbell’s office is very engaged with the community they represent and it allows me to learn a great deal of public service. We take all of our constituent requests seriously and even went door-knocking to further reach out to the community. I am very grateful that this amazing opportunity was available to me and I know that it will help open doors for me in the future.