“We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere.”

The strongest influences in my life are whomever I remember most vividly because they possessed a quality that I really liked about them or made a small difference in either my life or somebody else’s life. It could range from something as significant as how my parents raised me - that would determine my manners, my behavior, and some of my beliefs; but it could also range from people I've never even met but seen on the media, like Victoria Beckham, my top fashion icon; various fashion designers, for their talent on designing beautiful garments that serve as inspiration for some of my sketches; but ultimately, the way I was raised and taught about what is right and wrong, made me the person I am today, so I would have to say my parents are my biggest influence.

For the most part, I agree with the Tabula Rasa Theory. It states that an individual is born with no innate or built-in mental content and that their entire resource of knowledge is built up gradually from their experiences and sensory perceptions of the outside world. So in addition to life experiences, the values we were taught as children, determine how we act and re-act to people in different life scenarios. That’s how we decide who and what influenced us in our life.

I learned a lot during my four years of high school. For example, some people might like and admire you because you’re smart, pretty, fun, athletic, or talented but then another group of people might also despise you for the exact same reasons. You can't please everyone at the same time - a cliche saying but it's true. My mom always told me to never let anybody else’s opinion bring me down or affect me. When someone can’t do something, out of envy, they want to tell you that you can’t do it either. My mom always stressed how important my education was and so I’ve been conditioned to stay focused on that. My dad, who’s basically a perfectionist and takes his work very seriously, also taught me a strong work ethic and to be determined in accomplishing my goals. But in addition to the way I was brought up, I would still have to say that my “inner self” is a strong influence in my life as well. To this day I still haven’t tried a single drug and I don’t plan on it. It was never difficult for me to say no to those kinds of things, nor was I ever curious to try.