Claribel+and+Tyese

Hi! My name is Claribel Faulkner. One wierd fact about me is my last name. It is not your typical spanish last name. I am dominican but have an english last name. It is because my grandfather who is my father's dad is not hispanic. He is from a british virgin island called Anegada. I am of mixed ethnicity but mostly hispanic even though i have ancestors who were not. From my mom's side I am mixed with filipino, puertorican and dominican. From my dad's side I am just mixed with an english islandand dominican. I am considered dominican because that is where my parents were born. I also have three sisters and one brother. I was the baby of the family until my neices and nephews were born. :)I am 16 years old and currently a junior at the Performing and fine arts Lawrence high school campus. I transferred to this school just last year. I remember not knowing anybody and the only people I knew was mostly from middle school. Once I joined sports and got involved in school activities, it shaped me to who I am now. I now know many other students even from other academies at my school campus and school is more excited to me now and less challenging as it use to be. I chose Performing and Fine arts school because I wanted to explore other sides of me. I was always involved in dancing since elementary school and I knew that PFA has a dance company, but I wanted to explore something new. All of my dad's family including himself know how to read music notes, play by ear and play some kind of instrument and i grew up seeing that. Now I am in my second year of band playing the clarinet. I have also experienced piano classes and currently in percussuion class as well. Next year is also my final year of high school. I am planning to go to college. My goal is to earn a scholarship and pay less for school and all of my materials. I want to be a major in nursing. I want to become a Nurse Practioner. I have always wanted to be in the medical fields since i was a little girl and I have visited and seen virtual tours of colleges and universities that have popular nursing programs! My plan is also to keep going to school and enroll in medical school after my 4 year of college. I know it will be hard and it will come with obstacles, butI know anyone can overcome anything. As I mentioned earlier, I do sports. I do cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. I was inspired to join these sports since I was six years old because my sister was the top runner during her high school years and i remember her achievments and i wanted to have that feeling that she enjoyed. I just love the feeling of knowing after each race that you are improving and you did your best and it shows. These sports not only help me physically but also mentally. I prepare myself mentally first because you need to always feel positive and never negative before a race because it will prevent you from putting your self- esteem down even when you see people passing you in the race. That just means I need to work a bit harder and stay focus. I really enjoy this student exchange project. Its an opportunity to meet kids that are miles away and are a different ethnicity because I am mixed with other ethnicities but i am mostly Dominican and the majority of my friends are too. It will be great to be a role model to others in the world. I always say that one little action or event can do wonders.