Why Now, Why Usc?

First, I’d like to discuss a topic that I had referenced in my Personal Statement about personal hardships and hardships of those close to me. As the instructions imply, challenging experiences not only show us who we really are in the moment but they also influence the person we will become. The story of my life would be far from a tragedy, but these defining moments carry weight and showcase how I handle stress both in myself and in others. When I turned 5 years old, my parents had a divorce. I have always grown up with two homes and moved my stuff from house to house every week. For my five year old self, I didn’t really understand the divorce well enough for it to burden me. Yet, at a young age, it introduced me to therapy to see how the divorce was affecting me. The elementary school that I attended had a counselor who worked there and I had one hour session with her weekly. After a while, it taught me the importance of being open and honest. It also lead me (or lead my parents since I’m only six at this point) to pursue other avenues of stress relief, suggested by the therapist, like Judo. I hadn’t really mentioned Judo in my Primary application because it is not very directly related to the medical field and I also stopped at the age of 17. However, it has been a significant part of my life and Judo taught me many things in the 11 years I spent trying to develop my martial art. It developed my sense of belonging by introducing me to my judo coach, who is now my

“You are not good enough.” Those are five words; no child or adult ever wants to hear or tell themselves. On the other hand, life will always be filled with occasions like these where we believe life plainly just sucks; where people, including ourselves, will believe we are so worthless, insignificant, and dim-witted that we are incapable of achieving something grand. In fact, no matter how much we deny it, these are the experiences that will always stick with us and affect us in one way, big or small. Yet, the thing many of us fail to discover is that the best opportunities come from these moments where proving we are capable of something is most vital. Thus, I have gone through many obstacles in elementary school that I am proud of because it has carved the successful and fortunate person I am today in school and life.

I’ve been lucky enough to have experienced a tremendous amount of success and opportunity throughout my life. I had always performed well in school, I took advanced courses, I got into the private high school my mother went to, and because my parents owned a little Thai restaurant since I was four, I had an extracurricular that taught me people skills and offered me more work experience than any of my peers had. When I realized that I was exceeding the expectations of my parents and those around me, I became content with not reaching my full potential. It was until much later that I realized that adopting that mindset was where I went wrong. When my high school decided not to accept me into the National Honor Society during my junior year, I was devastated.

Then I began to spill out the emotions of never being able to compete in college sports. My competitive nature will always be a part of me, and now I would have to find something to replace my participation in organized sports. As I was writing this, other ideas began to flow. Attending such a close-knit school for four years, the next ideas inevitably began effortlessly pouring out: missing my peers and teachers, being

Throughout my freshman year at Notre Dame Preparatory I have participated in many new activities that have allowed me to grow in character, leadership, and service. Examples of such activities include school athletics, membership in the United States Civil Air Patrol, and ushering at my Catholic parish. Through school athletics I have not only grown in my athletic ability in the sports of track and cross country, but I have grown in my ability to move through adversity and challenges. In addition to my participation in school sports I joined the United States Air Force Auxiliary, the Civil Air Patrol. Through Civil Air Patrol I have grown tremendously through classes every week, a week long training

My grades were going down beacuse I always got home late from practice. I was so occupied with baseball that I never focused at school. “How can you play if you can’t focus during scool.” This time, my dad said it in a depressed way while walking out of my room. He got tired of raising hs voice. I looked at myself in the mirror and promised to fix myself, day by day, to become an example of being a student athlete. The following day, I took a lot of notes, asked questions, worked with my teachers after school when I needed help, and I never fell asleep before completing all of my homework. Things immediately picked up with my grades and baseball. I still carry out these habits until now. With all the hardships that I have been going throughout my highschool career, my work ethic is still strong. I continue my endeavors to become a star student and an outstanding baseball player, even if my schedule is full. As people had brought me down in the past, I am now grateful of their opinions. I was able to stop slacking on what’s important. I learned that life has given me obstacles so that I would be the prime example of what I promised myself to

I remember vividly arriving on the first day of seventh grade not really focused on the school year, but focused on my first day as a Collegiate football player that afternoon. However my new English teacher Mr.Bradshaw, noticed that on the first day and changed my priorities very quickly. The first semester of seventh grade was tough for me, learning how to balance school and sports is a vital part of my growth as a student athlete, which I am still trying to figure out today. Seventh grade was definitely a year where I learned a lot, I learned to not eat my snack in assembly from Mr. Rider, I learned that Bubba’s barber shop gives crummy haircuts, I learned the importance of leadership, and preparation, I have learned to dream, and not make dreams my master, I have learned to think but not to make thoughts my aim. I came out of seventh grade confident in myself and in my abilities, and ready to embark on the last part of my middle school journey, eighth grade. I went into eighth grade knowing my role as a leader of the middle school and ready to embrace it. Now at the end of my eighth grade year, having learned a lot in middle

I interviewed a beautiful and courageous woman, of African descent. Born and raised in Monrovia, Liberia on May 20, 1969. In addition, she has one biological brother and three step siblings. Currently she resides in Loganville, Georgia, where she lives with her two children. By the same token, she and her husband been married for twenty-one years to her loving high school sweetheart husband. Due to unfortunate circumstances, she lost her husband in the line of duty. Causing her to become a widow, continuing to survive life without her husband. When I conducted this interview, had one topic in mind that I wanted to learn more about her life as an immigrant and how did influence her life.

Being born in Jackson, TN life was different for me than those that grew up in the integrated societies in California or the yanks up north. My momma was always having me help around the house and cook, clean, and tend after my five younger siblings. My daddy ran a small farm that provided for our family. It wasn’t a lavish life by any means but we got by and had each other. Our family mainly grew corn on our farm but we had a couple of cows and chickens to keep the family fed throughout the year. Being the oldest child and a girl I mostly focused on helping momma around the house when I was at home, but my parents instilled a great faith in all of us children

At the start of high school my life began to take a turn. Up to that point my life had been predictable. I had the same friends, played the same sport, and was still an introverted person. My life was bland. Baseball is what I grew up playing throughout my childhood. It was that sport I looked forward to practicing, playing, and enjoying. As I started to get older, the people and coaches I played with changed. I began to play less, and wasn’t improving every week like I had hoped. I even tried out for the school team, but I was cut. For these reasons, my dedication to this sport was deteriorated. Trying out for the school team wasn’t what I wanted to do, but it’s what I presumed everyone expected of me. Once I ran passed this realization, I stopped playing baseball. This is not how I envisioned the future.

As a first generation Chicana scholar, I have to say that receiving my bachelors degree from UCSD, has been my most meaningful accomplishment within the past 4-5 years. First of all, growing up I never imagined that I would have the opportunity to attend a four year university. I was unaware that a young girl from East Los Angeles, could have been given the resources to pursue higher education. Nonetheless, in high school I found the unconditional support of friends, family, and mentors that I had been needing all along. I was able to achieve academic excellence and attend my dream school, UCSD. Once in college, I was challenged socially, psychologically and academically. It was the first time I was away from my family and community. I felt

Throughout my life, from as a child to a young adult, my parents were never ones to shy away from introducing me to the mechanics of the real world. It was never a specific time of day, but a situational occurrence where I would be taught the values of hard work, what fruits my labor would bear, and how best to use the fruits of my labor. However, during all this time, I never truly experienced much hardship. This all changed beginning the freshman year of high school, my first experience in a competitive marching band.

Looming in front of me was something new, a fresh start. Despite being this, it seemed cold and trying, something that sent shivers down my spine. Mixed emotions of uncertainty and optimism had filled my first day of middle school; and as my final year is drawing to a close, I realize that this place-this transitional time in my life- is something that I never want to leave. I created a home away from home, and a family, over the short three years spent learning here. Each school year, from first to concluding, brought new experiences in which have altered my life. These are the things that I am hoping to carry over into high school-my next chapter. Every experience in which middle school has brought leaves me changed indefinitely, shaped for the future ahead.

Entering high-school was a bitter sweet feeling for me. I found myself coming upon new adventures, meeting new people and seeing new aspects in life. Quickly, I started to re-evaluate my life. I thought to myself that maybe I shouldn’t just limit myself to football, although at the time that’s all that I knew. Even with me growing I began to doubt my decisions but I didn’t

My grandmother, Esther Turner, has impacted my life in more ways than just simply being there for me, as a grandmother. She’s much more than that, in my eyes. Being the eldest of three, I’ve always taken on more responsibility as the older sister. It was my job to show my little brother and sister which paths were safe to take in this wild, confusing maze called life. At times, I felt like a mother myself, and at a young age, I found myself slightly intimidated by all the responsibilities that were laid on my shoulders. The main person I could talk to freely and openly, without judgment, was my grandmother. We have always been able to speak to each other about any and everything, nothing was off limits. That’s what I think brought us so close, the fact that she accepted me entirely for the person I presented to her.