My name is Heidi Andrade Castillo and I’m an 18 year old born and raised New Yorker. I am Mexican American and the middle child of 3.  My parents are from a small town in Puebla, Mexico and immigrated to the United States at the ages of 15 and 18 in search for a better life just like most that leave everything they know behind. As long as I can remember we’ve lived in New York, more specifically, Staten Island. I would say I consider overthinking to be the greatest threat to my happiness. As a shy person I don’t have it easy when it comes to making friends and to add the fact that I am an over thinker doesn’t make it any easier. I get in my head on why people are nice to me, why people want to be my friends or why I am where I am when I’m the happiest. I do enjoy my happiness in the moment but after I go back to those happy memories and they turn into denial from over questioning myself. I am working on becoming a better person day by day and pushing that part of me away because overthinking does me no good but rather puts me down than lifting me up. Growing up numbers have always been my thing, I felt out of place whenever someone would tell me that I was weird for liking math. To this day I don’t know why I enjoy numbers, however I do know that I want to continue my passion of helping others but more so through accounting. Throughout my high school career I was in a finance program and took extra College Now classes focusing on the business path. I intend on graduating with my bachelor’s degree in BA, however I have a long way to go but focusing on my studies is all I can do at the moment in order to get closer to my goal in the future. 

Walking into an unfamiliar environment caused me to feel extremely anxious not knowing what to expect. I decided to sit next to a peer which I found out later on that her name was Dio. She seemed quiet but that was how everyone felt that day. Later on I got to know her while doing ice breakers in which it helped me open up and vice versa. We connected more about how she enjoyed watching kdramas and listening to K-pop songs. I found that fascinating because I also enjoyed doing those activities as my hobbies. She would love to travel to South Korea because she enjoys the culture. Speaking about our perfect partners she spoke about having a significant other who is taller than her with dark hair and has a humble yet genuine personality as well as someone who is willing to try new things that she enjoys doing. She has a brother whom she would defend if it meant lying for them to protect them and she finds her mom to be her motivation to wake up early in the day. Her mom whom she loves starts her day pretty early therefore she knows that waking up early would help her accomplish more things throughout the day rather than waking up later on in the day. Dio mentioned that she would like to reconcile with people she dropped specifically people whom she could give a second chance to because she is overall a sweet person. Dio’s positive vibe definitely helped when I was speaking to her about my life, in which I hope she reflects it towards others.