My name is Joseph Ortega and I am a senior at Abraham Lincoln High School. My long term goal is to be able to acquire a PhD in psychology so that I am able to give back to my community by providing them with an ability to be helped in mental illnesses. I participate in social rights movements, and also participate in organizations that advocates for communities. Through my years of school I was able to experience the hardships of expressing my culture, which ultimately resulted in me losing a huge part of my culture. I chose to participate in the YESS Mentoring program in hopes of empowering youth to get an education and also to help youth love themselves and embrace their culture.