This is correct. Your thesis statement is the base for your entire essay. Hope this helps!
The thesis statement is usually the statement that presents the author's view or main idea of the subject.
First person
It takes a bit of reading into the passage to see what point of view it is, because there is little indication in the first paragraph. The first indication that it is written in first person is the use of "us" at the end of that first paragraph. Then, in the subsequent paragraphs the reader sees that the author uses "I" several times, indicating first person perspective.
