Application Essay for UIUC Community

My passion for technology goes a long way back to when I was a teenager. I've always thought of myself as being technical and as such I would always look out for opportunities where my desire for technical work would be fulfilled. Coming from an under-privileged background, I never had tech toys or cool gadgets to play with so I resulted to playing with almost anything that seemed interesting. I took apart my family's old laundry iron to see what was inside because I was curious to know what caused the iron to be extremely hot. I ended-up ruining the iron and got a very good beating for it.  That didn't stop me. I kept my curiosity alive and then coming to Canada made it even more real and achievable. I joined to the Robo-gals club in my school

Born and grew in a materialist country like mainland, China, where people cannot gain access to spiritual guidance easily, which makes the public simply to view religious groups as superstitious, and hateful entities. Throughout the years, I witnessed cases and cases of unfair intervene from the Communist Party of China to limit the free practice of religions, a burning desire has risen to be someone other than a spectator, but to understand a spiritual call to enrich the spiritual diversity of China, and free the minds of my people from the yoke. The robust presence of God vibrantly working in my life has led me to develop a further understanding of my call, and I would like to continue this journey to grow, and expand my horizon in spiritual

Snow crunches under worn heels, marking a single path across frozen empty cornfields spread afar and ever so still. It is an empty canvas, glowing lustrous in the light of the splendor above. The night is ablaze in flickers of light cast scattered across the darkness. Upon this frigid expanse I stand alone from the world, but for the dead remains of cornhusks trapped beneath the ice. My skin burns from the bite of the wind, but when I glance above, caught among the stars, I am perfectly content.

Ever since I was little, I worked to perfect every craft form that I took an extreme interest in and so that I may strive in my artistic career. Although achieving perfection is an impossible task, it is a driving force for my passion of many art forms. The main fields of my artistic interest include theatrical performance, vocal performance, costume design, and educating others about my passion for art. There are many things that drive my passion for art, but of all of my motivations, the most important is that I change the world using art.

From drawing m&ms in ms paint with my dad in between deployments to sketching the forest covered mountains on long car trips through Panama art has been an important escape for me. I used my craft to understand my emotions, define my identity, and was something that I took pride in. Until that day my art was a way of interpreting the world around me, but hearing as only parent I had disprove of my craft,

Growing up I taught myself how to draw by spending hours with my dad by my side plus a couple of printed out sheets of cartoon characters. I never thought that one day I would move forth and want/have art as a career goal. Attending an art college came into consideration when I eventually understood the meaning of art I realized how beautiful and astonishing art can be with a single brush, pen, or pencil also with a little creativity.

How did I decide I wanted to become a professional artist? Choosing to become an artist was an easy decision for me. I chose art because I am very good at art and I knew I would be able to succeed in art even on my worse days. Many people think art is just an hobby. Art is something very deep and it has many inspiring meanings. In art you just do not just color, draw, paint, or sculpt things. You will learn more about art like: the principles, elements, and the basics of art. In this speech, I will outline the job description, preparation and advantage/disadvantages of a careers in Fine Art.

An experience that has influenced my decision to apply to the College of Human Ecology has been my science classes. Throughout these classes, I have noticed the human aspects of science interest me the most. To further my interest I took human anatomy and physiology as well as healthcare science classes. In my human anatomy and physiology class, I was fascinated learning about body structures and then being able to see and dissect real ones. My health care science classes were very involved and taught me basic skills that gave me the inspiration to pursue a career in healthcare.

My parents migrated from the Dominican Republic in order to achieve the ‘American Dream’, the national ethos, the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. However, my mother comes home from work exhausted, with her hands peeling from harsh chemicals and soaps, propagandizing the importance of a college degree to me while she slips off the shoes that she put on at four in the morning. My mother tried to complete an associate degree after my birth, but the series of tribulations associated with raising two children, maintaining a part-time job, and trying to get a college degree was too much to bear and she did not complete her education.

Two semesters ago I met a very strong woman, and she opened up a part of me that I had mostly given up on. The part of me I had given up on over a decade ago was my artistic side. I simply felt that it was a waste of time to spend hours perfecting something that would most likely never make me money. Also, I would look at the multitude of staving artists online, and consider how much better they were than myself, and how even the most talented artist starves from time to time. Have you ever heard the phrase “rent’s due art boy”. Well I got tired of hearing it, and went to drafting school. It wasn’t until this last semester, in my 19th century art history course, that I learned that most of my favorite artists started out as draftsmen, but we will talk about that later. Until recently, I had forgotten that i actually enjoyed the peacefulness of the artistic process. I had forgotten that during this process I tended to become very focussed and all of my life’s daily problems seemed to fade away.

When I was an adolescent, I considered myself to be a shy, introverted person. Growing up, I had always admired my father’s adaptability through obstacles, but it wasn’t until high school that I discovered I had similar qualities of my own. During my sophomore year, my father was brought into the hospital for having five Abdominal Hernias as well as Hypertension, he was immediately brought into surgery and remained at the hospital for weeks. Each day, I visited my father at the hospital for hours and took care of my father's work at home. I also maintained my performance and reputation at school, balancing my many rigorous courses, as well as my multifarious extracurricular activities.

My college search did not start out on a good note. During my senior year of high school, I was at a difficult time in my life, and filling out college applications was not at the top of my list. I figured that it did not matter what school I went to, so long as I got an education. My older brother and sister attended James Madison University and they seemed happy so I decided to give it a shot. I turned in the applications for JMU with only hours to spare. I figured I had done my part and everything would move along smoothly after that. I did not discover the error of my ways until my first semester at JMU.

I admire my passionate character. Whenever I find something that greatly interests me, I will work as much as possible to learn more about it. For example, back in seventh grade I became greatly involved in technology after joining the class “Gateway to Technology”, and even now I am in programming and engineering classes, on the path to become an engineer when I graduate. Whenever I decided that I enjoy doing something, whether it comes to hobbies or work, I will devote myself to it.

I come from a working class family, and I am the first in my family to go to a college and get an education. Since childhood, art has been the integral part of my development as an individual. At the age of six, I was giving drawing lessons to kids who struggled to draw. As a result, It helped build my confidence as a young girl. My classmates and teachers were impressed by my fluency of imagination, expression, and elaboration of various forms, and the various objects and people I could draw were endless. This helped build my confidence because academics was not my strongest area as a child.

Shakespeare once said, "We know what we are, but know not what we may be." While I do not know what my future holds or how I will spend the bulk of my adult life, I know that only education will give me the opportunity to detect my interests and enrich my soul. I believe the University will provide me with the perfect atmosphere for bettering my life and my creative abilities.