The Puerto Rican Hibiscus has a high concentration of calcium, iron, and potassium. It is mostly cultivated as an ornamental tree for the beauty of its large flowers, but can be also used in desserts as a softly sweet ingredient.

My childhood was a constant shift between my Dominican and Puertorrican roots. My cousins and I are first generation of Puertorrican-born from Dominican parents, meaning that I was always being influenced by customs at home and other customs at school, mostly based on language and idiomatic differences. During elementary school I was very studios, yet talkative in the classroom. By the end of second grade I was informed that I would be skipping the third and going straight to fourth grade. It took me some time to adjust to new people and different rules. Ever since then, most of the people i tend to familiarize with are older than I am. The media I watched also had an influence on how I thought about myself. What i said, how I actedAside from that, i would be found writing short stories, painting chalk, or drawing.

My most memorable moment, which I am unsure I have the authority to call mine was finding out about the death of an acquaintance. He was the friend of a friend, shot dead at a collegetown bar last year. I remember I only saw him once, the day that I met him. He was with my friend looking for apartments to move in together and three weeks later I saw on the news and in social media the report about his death: he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was hard to see and support my friend. But in that process I learned that life is fragile and that every moment and breath we have is an opportunity to be better and to help others be better. I promised myself, after that, that I would never let my feelings towards issues or other people go unheard.