I am a first generation Salvadoran-American, and the second born and only son of two Salvadoran immigrants that came to America in 1989 to leave their war-torn home and start a family in Merced, California, near Yosemite National Park. This echoes the many stories of immigrants coming to America for a better life for their children. They would soon move to Texas, where we still reside today. Many years later, while attending the University of Houston earlier this year, I had the pleasure to go on a field trip to Big Bend National Park. Even though I did not spend a lot of time in the park, the natural splendor had gripped me to my core. During my time here, I followed in the footsteps of George Melendez Wright [another Salvadoran-American who did early surveys in Big Bend and other national parks], however in the field of paleontology and geology.