Monterey Peninsula College Application Essay

Growing up, school was not a major factor in my life. I come from a hard-working, middle-class military family. My mother, a Filipino immigrant, was a homemaker. My father was a 21-year United States Marine veteran. They were my first impression of what I thought my future would be. Being the youngest of four children, I was expected to fall in line behind my siblings when it came to education. I was never pushed to excel in my studies, so I did just enough to get by. As I watched friends escape the grasp of a military town and ascend to their respective colleges, I was left wondering what was next for me. I attended my local community college for a brief period of time. I treated college no different than high school. I

At the young age of eighteen, fresh out of high school, I was confused and felt no direction in what exactly I wanted to do or be when I “grew-up”. I decided to enroll at my local community college in the liberal arts program to see what

My intended major at this university is sociology. My interest in sociology was developed after speaking to several people while I was in my former school. During my time in school, I always found that observing other people is exciting. I would sit and listen to them talk about their lives, their relationships with their friends, families and teachers. I

When I visited Florida State’s campus, I automatically felt welcomed and met students with varying backgrounds. Therefore, my college experience at Florida State University will continue to build my exposure to diverse cultures, and make me feel a part of a close knit community that brings us all together around its education standards, local community involvement, and its sports programs. As a member of the FSU community, I will contribute to its diversity, become an engaged member of the micro-society and find ways to volunteer my time to local programs, such as animal care and compliance within the FSU Office of Research. I embody Florida State University’s motto, “Vires, Artes, Mores”. I continue to leverage my strengths, sharpen my skills and build upon my reputation and

Montclair State University, home of the Red Hawks has always been a college that has interested me. As a kid, I often would visit the beautiful campus to watch baseball games at the Yogi Berra Stadium located inside. I have always been a fan of schools with big campuses. The campus is not the only thing that caught my interest, after doing some research I found out that Montclair State has a one of the best business programs in the area. The best part is I only about fifth-teen minutes away.

After high school, I chose community college to work on basic courses while I decided on my future bachelor degree. At Tompkins Cortland Community College, I maintained a 3.37 GPA, qualified for the Dean’s List in two semesters, and graduated with honors. As a reflection of my abilities at the time, I would say that despite my achievements, my GPA was not as high as it could have been. None of the classes were overly challenging and I was dedicated to my studies, but my job took up valuable time. On average, I worked thirty-eight hours a week in order to support myself in college. I often felt crammed for time, and cut corners in order to get assignments in on time. For the quality of work I was able to put in, my GPA is accurate. However, given better means, I know that I could have graduated with a more appropriate GPA.

Excellence motivates me to achieve, regardless of hardships and obstructions in my path. I put in effort and hard work to maintain a healthy balance with school, work, and extracurricular activities, so that I can continue to achieve. I have visited Rutgers University several times last year and each time lowered me in more and more. My first visit was to the Rutgers Camden Campus for Open House event. The information received sparked a curiosity inside of me to check out what the other campuses had to offer me. After doing much-needed research on what I really wanted to do with my life and career goals I began to have my eyes set on Rutgers University Newark Campus. I then made sure that I had to make it to the next upcoming Fall Open House to experience this wonderful campus for myself.

Recently, my appeal for more financial aid has been rejected. While this is a disappointment, I would like to further explain my situation as to why I am asking for more financial help. While I first started the college process, I was engaged and eager to finally step out of my comfort zone. After researching Ithaca for the past years and visiting during accepted students day, I knew that Ithaca College was the best fit for me. The idea of living there on my own for the next four years seemed like a great opportunity to develop my independence and to gain new experiences. Unfortunately, the opportunity of attending Ithaca isn’t as simple as I want it to be. As a first generation student, I am the first out of my family to attend college. Throughout

This is a reflective essay concerning my READ 3423.01 with Dr. Reid in the fall of 2016. As I wrap up my first semester at Texas Women’s University I am awed and thankful. I am the first person in my family to attend University. Some find this surprising because I do come from a family that has done well professionally, but that was due to grit and personalities. The fact is, I was never even spoken to about attending college while I was growing up. I believe this is because no one before me had this experience to share or encourage. The truth is I tried my hardest to not be at school from middle school on, I just wasn’t engaged in the process. Of course, there were a few teachers I connected with, like the business and history teachers, but I hated the rules and structure of the environment. I amazedly graduated with my high school class, as my friends went away to Universities I took some classes at the community college. What I found was that when I got to pick my classes I flourished. Even the classes that others said were too hard to take during summer quarter, I excelled in those as well. As life unfolded I got married, moved out of state and had two daughters. When it was time for my daughters to attend school I was pretty apprehensive about the idea of it. I opened a preschool in a mother-in-law apartment we had on our property and decided they could learn there in a small community. That preschool led to homeschooling, and large educational co-ops. I lived in a

Througout my academic career, I have learned as much about myself as I have learned in school, whether it be from high school, to community college, and my journey that lead me to Arizona State University. I can honestly say as my parents did, that I wish I would’ve tried harder in high school. I scraped by taking the easiest classes possible and choosing to take the easy way out. Looking at my transcript makes me cringe, because I know that I am capable of so much more. I wish that I would’ve taken the honor classes and tried so that I would’ve been able to apply to a college other than a community college. My time at Mohave Community College was a significant improvement from my experience in high school. Not only did I graduate with near honors (3.49), I had made the Dean’s list and Honors List for three out of my four semesters, the first time this had happened since middle school. I had never felt more motivated and focused in my life. I was taking 16 credits and prospering and had a balance of work, school, and a social life. I had never felt more proud of my self in my life. As I sit here and write this paper, I question my time here at ASU as I try to plan the nex chapter of my life. I wonder where I am supposed to go and what I am supposed to do.School for the first time had become a priority, however, it began to consume my life. I would spend hours and hours on end doing homework and studying, and although there seems to be nothing wrong with this, I wouldn’t go

After my first year at Skyline College, I ventured out to find ways I can volunteer in my community, in hopes to find interest in a field I would like to study one day. When I first started volunteering at Mills Peninsula Hospital, I thought it would be like those medical drama shows such as House, or Grey's Anatomy. Where I would meet the real life versions of Dr. House and Meredith Grey and get to be shadowed by them and learn the ins and outs of hospital and the secrets of medicine. However, when I first stepped into Mills Peninsula, I knew meeting Dr. House and Meredith Grey were very unlikely. Right when I entered the hospital I see the rushes of turquoise colored scrubs passing by me, hearing the clanks of the walking sticks from the elderly, and often times the squeaks from the wheels of the wheelchair. Yet, through these passing moments, there was always that lingering of emotions evoked in the air; moments passing between a mother and her newborn baby, the anxious faces of families pacing back and forth, and the

As I continue with social work, I developed an interest working with children and youth in a school setting. Eventually, I switched my major and was probably the toughest decision I had to make. Studying social work as an undergrad at Humboldt State helped me find who I am and what I want to become. I found a sense of belonging by developing a perspective of my own struggles while growing up. I realize how common systemic oppression affects not only me, but everyone around me. Understanding systemic issues, knowing the barriers that people face first hand, encourages me to want to work hard to fight against inequality.

If someone asked me where I am going to be in ten years, this would be my answer. I will have a great, high-paying job, and beautiful wife and family, and a nice sports car parked in front of my lovely house. When I look into the future, I see myself being successful and happy. Even though I always pictured myself this way, I never worried too much about how I would get there. I feel the Suffolk University can lay the groundwork for making these dreams into reality.

Before entering into the application process for Boston University, I completed a review of my goals around my career. In applying for a certificate in Data Analytics. Currently I am the lead of a research project, which will determine strategic direction for my organization. During this project, I utilized many of my marketing skills, specifically qualitative and market research based on consumer use and need around our service and product line. My role has provided the opportunity to gather data, manipulate it to tell a story, recognize trends, and change direction where needed. Throughout my career, I have been involved on many levels in data collection and its analysis for various projects.

For many, after graduating high school the next big step is college. I never asked myself why or if I even wanted to. Yet, since I was not yet ready to join the work force, and didn’t want to disappoint my parents, I simply followed the path that I was supposed to take. For a while I had no direction, but through the loss of my high school English teacher and my dream of making my family proud, I discovered that college was the place I wanted and needed to be.