I remember when I was in the third grade and had reached that point in life where I began to love learning. In the beginning, it was just the fact that the teacher had told me I was special and different because I was moving at a faster pace in school than other kids. I loved the fact that I stood out and I was not ordinary. Later on, I had taken a test that determined if I got into the gifted program (REACH) or not. I thought it was hard at the time, but I succeeded in getting into the program and that felt great. When I told my mother I had made it into a program that was meant to challenge kids at a fast pace, I could see how proud she was of me and it felt amazing. All I ever wanted was to see her smile and feel the vibrant joy that seemed…show more content… A specific topic I poured my heart and soul into that I will never forget, is my research project on the Aurora Borealis. It was when I was in the sixth grade and the REACH teacher had told us to pick one of the Seven Wonders of the World to research. I continued to wonder in my life why I remembered how much I was obsessed with the Aurora Borealis. And now that I think of it, it was because it gave me hope. During the sixth grade I had lost my father and it really changed me, just going into my first year of middle school and becoming a teenager, I thought I had lost everything that was meaningful to me. The day my mother had arrived from Dominican Republic a few days after my dad’s passing, she had picked me up early from school. That is when I knew he was not coming back. The moment she reached over to me to give me a warm welcoming hug, I broke down that day and that was the hardest experience I had to endure. As I went on not knowing how to cope with this traumatic event, I tried my best to do well in school. Things changed when the REACH teacher had assigned the research project. I now believe the reason I love the Aurora