Have you ever done something new and life changing? Well, in the month of July of this year, I went to Pennsylvania to attend an academic program called John Hopkins Center for Talented Youth, or CTY. It was my first time at a sleepaway camp, and I would be away from home alone for three weeks without any of my family members. I had chosen to go to this camp because a friend of mine recommended it, and it gave the opportunity to learn high-level subjects. The subject I chose to learn was Engineering Design since I want to end up in the engineering field. I thought the camp would allow me to have a good start on the teachings of engineering, but it ended up teaching me much more than just engineering. CTY turned out to be an event that …show more content…
Luckily, there was a Dollar General nearby and we were able to get them there. Afterward, my parents left and camp started the next day. Needless to say, I had gotten off to a bad start. I was already feeling apprehension, thinking that my carelessness would lead me to screw up massively. Out of pressure, I started noticing things I didn 't like about the camp right away, the first being that there was no internet. I had brought my tablet, but it would have much less use without the internet. This obviously annoyed everyone at the camp, not just me, of course. Another thing that my classmates and I realized was that the classes were hard. Extremely hard. Not to brag, but I was in the top five of the class and I would have failed it if it had counted for school. A third thing I had noticed was that the activities did not seem well organized. The tennis courts only had six balls, the swimming pool didn 't have any equipment, and the indoor soccer field was played on a field hockey pitch. One of my friends had left on the third day because of this, and this had shaken me since he was my closest friend at the camp. When we first met, the first thing we talked about was the faults of the camp. Building on this subject along without other similarities had allowed us to form a friendship. However, I never thought that the reason for our friendship would be the same exact reason I will probably never see him again. I was thinking of leaving too, but I decided
I moved to the state of Delaware and I had been sitting “dormant” for about a year and I was doing my own thing. Then, one day I was going for a motorcycle ride and I saw “volunteers needed”. It was a marquee board outside of a firehouse in Little Creek Delaware. I decided to stop and see what they had to offer or should I say now what I had to offer them. I stopped in and talked with the chief and I decided to give it a shot. I never realized how rewarding it was going to be. May of 2013 changed my life for the better. It made me realize I had purpose in life and a passionate career to pursue.
One experience I have had in high school is to be Vice-President of Key Club, a volunteering club. Through Key Club, I discovered that I have a passion for volunteering and helping out those who are less fortunate than I am in hopes of helping them live a better life. As Vice-President, I get to share my love for helping others in my community with my fellow peers in hopes of inspiring them to help others as well. This has led me to realize that I want to ensure that I will continue to participate in my community and that I want to be a part of Engineers Without Borders in college. This would allow me to apply what I will be learning through my major of engineering to provide solutions to problems in communities all around the world. Being
There comes a time in everyone’s life when they realize something or experience something that changes them. For the first twelve years of my life I didn’t realize there was anything new that I needed to open my eyes to, my defining moment came at thirteen years old. That defining turning point in my life was when I was invited to join the National Junior Honor Society. When I was in the seventh grade, I joined the National Junior Honor Society and began community service.
In coming here I expected to just learn about engineering and create a toy for a kid in need, but it ended up being so much more than that. I can now differentiate the types of engineering and which ones I like the best. This camp also helped me realize how I like the physical building and sketching process of engineering rather than the computer components. I also didn’t expect most of the trips and tours that we went on to be intriguing, but I found myself enjoying almost all of them.
When I went to my Boy Scout summer camp during the summer of 2014, I wanted to go home right when he arrived that the camp. The camp was dry, dusty, and reeked of old smelly socks. I really didn’t like the environment because it seemed to be a little unhealthy. When we were introduced to our counselor, Hipster Haya, I knew that this was going to be the best summer camp ever. He was one of the most chill counselors ever and he introduced us to our campsite. Right away, I started to feel uncomfortable when I saw what we were going to sleep in the because the tent flaps were opened and there was no safety from the outside critters. Even though I didn’t enjoy the camp, our counselors were developing new ways every day to increase
During the week in Chicago, I grew closer to God, learned how to be a better leader, and learned to put others before myself, which is what helped me become a better person. Serving others that had situations worse than I could imagine was life changing. The idea I could make such a tremendous change in someone’s life while doing activities I enjoyed, opened my eyes to the potentials of serving. After the week ended and I returned home, I wanted to do more for the people around me who were less fortunate. Going into freshman year, I made the decision to volunteer at Urban Vision. I help kids who have newly immigrated to Akron and the United States find items at a holiday shop for their families and themselves. Many of these kids went directly to the necessity aisle, (i.e. toilet paper, laundry detergent, and soaps) to get these items for their families, even though there were plenty of toys for the kids themselves. These kids helped me realize I should be grateful for everything in life, from shelter over my head to the clothes on my
Now looking back I realize that 1 group of people can sit together and change the world I really and deeply care for people who need help in any way. I started to be a little less self centered and decided to be a little more caring to others who had less things than I did. My experience at the camp let me see how some people are living a hard life. I know that school is the only way to learn to stay out of those sad times. But every time I go to bed It reminds me of the people who needs someone who is happy with life the way they have
A major event in my life that marked my transition to adulthood was the summer of my 9th grade year when I was accepted into a pre-college program called the Young Scholars Program offered at the University of Maryland. Upon arrival they told us you are a college student working for college credit, which scared me because this experience was totally foreign to me. This program had a class called CMSC 198B: Computer Science– A Hands off Approach. This class was an eye opener because I had no indication on what computer science was at the time. I lived on campus with over 100 different students, we were all taking classes there for the summer to gain more educational experiences beyond high school. I was alone without any friends or family for the first time in my life. This was also the first time I had done
As Eleanor Roosevelt said, "The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the fullest and seek eagerly without fear new experiences that will enrich us." There have been many experiences in my life that have helped me shape, define, and demonstrate my character. None of those experiences have impacted my life and influenced my character more than the Student Science Training Program (SSTP) at the University of Florida last summer. In the program, I grew socially, personally, and intellectually and I learned things I never thought I was going to learn when I started the program. More than just getting a positive attitude and increasing my knowledge, I grew in many other areas, such as increasing my leadership skills and my creativity.
A life-changing event is not something to be taken lightly. Throughout our lives, we encounter many obstacles and changes, some of which bring us joy and excitement, others of which may be hard for us to handle. When I look back on my relatively short life, it may, at first, be hard for me to think of an event that has truly molded and shaped the person that I am today. I have encountered several changes, but at the time, they felt like mere speed bumps along my path. Looking back now, it is easy for me to see that these changes were not by chance, but were placed in my path to form the person that I am today.
After four years, I am now at my graduation ceremony, standing on the stage, waiting for my name to be called and looking back to the day I first came to Augie. Everything was so new to a girl that has never lived far away from her parents. I did put my very first step in the new learning environment with completely new friends. I have been through many sleepless nights with deadlines and assignments; there were homesick nights with thoughts of family and friends at home. I have never thought that I would be able to overcome those difficulties. However, four years passed by, everything has changed. I am no longer a shy girl who didn’t dare to raise hand or to speak in class, who couldn’t balance between school work and activities, who didn’t
Walking into the gym to join everyone else, I saw that there were different groups of people. Nobody had told me anything about the camp, so I did not have any idea what was going to happen. Once I found my group, I noticed that I knew a couple of other people that I have seen around on campus or even my other classes. We all sat down and began to do some icebreaker activities. Once everyone was accounted for the groups got together and learned some math songs and dances, then we began our activities.
Everyone has that one experience that makes them look at life with a new set of eyes. My life changing experience happened a little earlier than most. It was the summer before first grade. We had gotten an exceptional amount of rain in the past months even though it was summer. I did not notice, though, because summer was every six year old's favorite holiday, next to Christmas and their birthday. My summer was supposed to be like any other but it quickly took a turn. For the best or for the worst? That is debatable.
Living for me really didn't start until about a year ago. As cynical as that sounds, this was a time where I realized I had followed the wrong path in life. The path I chose was the easy way out, the thought of failure and change scared me. I have attempted three majors so far: Aerospace Engineering, Anthropology, and Business. After each change I found myself uninterested in these majors, and my motivation diminished each time. However, I finally took a chance to discover who I am meant to be, and I stepped outside my comfort zone to start a new lifestyle. Last August, I decided that it was my repetitious lifestyle that was holding me back from being unique and living up to my potential. With a little encouragement from my friend and ex-college program cast member, Danielle Ruffolo (Skipper/ Hotels), I applied for Disneyland’s College program and was accepted. This simple lifestyle change made me uncomfortable, but thrilled. Change has always made me nervous and skeptical of the outcome, but once I paid my deposit I was tethered to the program with no turning back. It wasn't until the week before move-in that I was sure that this is what I needed to do to redirect my life into a more positive direction. This single step, or “living”, is important. Being in one city for too long limited me and created this fear of failure when it came to confronting new obstacles. To me, life is being spontaneous despite any fear I have when it comes to change and adversity. It wasn't until
Imagine having a safe haven at your hands, any time of the day. It is 2013, and I am in seventh grade. I am scrolling through Twitter in my dark room when I come across a page called Buddy Project, and decide to read into it. As I am reading, with the light from my phone illuminating my face, I find out that it 's a nonprofit organization that pairs you with a person. It is meant to help you deal with an eating disorder, self harm, suicidal thoughts, and mental illnesses. I am seeing all of this information and I know I need to join the project. It was that one day in November that changed my life forever.