Undergraduate / "My battle with a derivative dragon" - UVA prompt [3]

UVA prompt of how a subject has challenged or surprised you.

Everyone has talents, calculus just is not one of mine. There are people in this world whom I truly believe were put on this earth in order to solve ginormous derivative functions and graph grotesque logarithmic equations. I learned very early on in the beginning of junior year that pre calculus would be a lot harder than expected. You see, I consider myself to be rather good at relitively simple equations and formulae, but calculus seemed to be a whole other ball game. While some of my friends were flying through the material I was spending three times the amount of time necessary to complete a simple problem. Calculus became i path I could not navigate myself, forcing me to seek help from my peers and teachers. This whole concept was new to me as usually I was the great wizard behind the curtain who new all the answers, but now I turned into a clueless Dorothy walking along the off yellow tiles towards the palace of endless equations. Through my journey I was able to gain the courage to pursue my ever so daunting calculus career, the mental capacity to understand and flawlessly execute any trigonomic question thrown my way, the heart to help other like myself so that they too my succeed, and the knowledge of my true potential power that I had with me the entire time. Sometimes when the path ahead seems difficult I begin to doubt my success, but calculus thought me to pursue and for that I am grateful. I believe that everything we are fought in school will help us in our future, now I understand that in my adulthood I will most likely not be using my knowledge of the unit circle in my career path but I will use my fortitude. I am not the best calculus student you will come across, but I am a hard working one, I don't give up in epic battles between the fire breathing derivative dragon, rather I fight twice as hard, and seek new adventures to test my strength.

Undergraduate / Just keep swimming - UVA prompt - a quote that inspires you and can inspire others [5]

UVA prompt- a quote that inspires you and can inspire others

Children's movies are the best genre. Although this is a little biased coming from a self proclaimed Disney fanatic, whose Netflix suggestion box is rated for those between ages eight and twelve, it is a proclamation that I will bring to my grave. Today's "popular" films spend too much on explosions and costumes that it distracts from the overall theme. Movies should do more than entertain us for an hour and a half, rather they should teach us something to apply to our lives. I have seen "Finding Nemo" about a hundred times, each time, leaving with Dory's catch phrase "just keep swimming" stuck in my head for a week. It's a simple but inspiring phrase. There have been times in my life where it would have been easier for me to turn around or have given up, but if I did that then I wouldn't be where I am today. Dory teaches us that sometimes it is best to sacrifice our time in order to help others who need it most. For the past two years I have spent three hours every Sunday night volunteering at the hospital. I have unfortunately seen things that I will never be able to forget, things which left me feeling heartbroken, but rather than quit I decided to continue on with my journey to help those who need comfort the most. "Just keep swimming" is an easy, recognizable phrase that can be applied to many aspects of life to help people to continue through their hardships and to help others do the same, just as it has helped me to do so.