Scholarship / Math: Essay about the subjects in which you excel or have excelled. [3]

Math and foreign language (Spanish) are the two subjects that I have always excelled in. My success in these two subjects is not only due to my passion and diligence, but it is also largely due to having dedicated and influential teachers.

Ever since elementary school, I have enjoyed math. For me, math was simple. It felt very rewarding every time I solved a problem correctly. While entering high school, math changed drastically. The high school math consisted of new terms, new formulas, and new numbers that I have never seen before. It was overwhelming at first, but I was fortunate enough to have amazing math teachers to guide me through them. One of these teachers is Mrs. Schade. Mrs. Schade not only taught math very well, but she was also very supportive and accommodating. During every math class, she would strongly encourage her students to ask questions on the topics that they had troubles with. I can remember there were many times when she would offer extra help after school. With her encouragement and motivation, I was able to do extremely well with math in high school.

In addition to math, foreign language was another subject that I have excelled in. Since I was already fluent in both the English and Chinese language, learning a third language was very exciting. It was difficult at first, but I caught on very quickly. Fortunately, like in math, I also had a great teacher. Her name is Mrs. Calabrese. What separated her from the rest of the foreign language teachers was her method of teaching. Instead of just writing down notes and taking tests in Spanish, she took teaching and learning to a new level. We learned Spanish through doing projects. Some of the projects consisted of performing skits in class. One of my favorite skits that my partner and I did was making a television ad. The objective of this ad was to convince the audience, or my fellow classmates, to buy our product, which was a Colgate branded toothpaste. These skits allowed us to interact and use Spanish more fluently.

Till this day, I still have huge success in both math and foreign language.

Undergraduate / Essay on discussing the subjects with which you had difficulty (meetings) [2]

Unlike my fellow classmates, growing up in a rural American town was a challenge for me. My family and I migrated to the United States when I was very young. It was a challenge for me everyday because I had to adapt to a new culture and learn a new language.

As a foreigner, I found it very difficult in meeting new people since I can't speak English language. The level of anxiety and stress associated with moving to a new country can be overwhelming and frightening, especially for someone of a young age. I can still remember, as if it were yesterday, when I first moved to America and attended school here. I was in kindergarten. During my first day of school, as I was walking into my class, the only thing I can remember was seeing how different my fellow students were from me. Even though everyone was very nice, I still felt there was a huge gap between us, largely due to my race.

My sense of anxiety and discomfort finally disappeared after my classmates started talking to me. Although it took me a while just to get used to my surroundings and understand what other students were saying to me, I adopted quickly and next thing I knew, I was communicating and playing with them.

As I grew older, my communication skill continued to grow as the years progressed. By the time I reached the sixth grade, I made more friends and was fluent in English. Thankfully I was able to keep my Chinese language also, largely because I had to speak it at home with my parents. Both of my parents knew very little English. My older brother was the only other person I would speak English to at home. Even with him, we would speak both languages at times.

Realizing my own weaknesses, I used that recognition as a motivation to improve myself everyday in every way. As of today, I continue to learn ways to further my English language skills.

Undergraduate / Bullying - Essay about an unfair situation [3]

What is bullying? Bullying is defined as the repeated direct or indirect intimidation of others by the real or threatened infliction of physical, verbal, written, electronically transmitted, emotional abuse, or through attacks on the property of another. It may include, but not be limited to actions such as verbal taunts, note passing, teasing, name calling, and put downs. These types of remarks include ethnically-based or gender-based verbal put downs. In addition to direct attacks, bullying may also be indirect by causing a student(s) to be socially isolated through intentional exclusions, spreading rumors, and endorsing social isolation.

During my sophomore year, I conducted a research project for my English class on the topic of bullying in school. Through my research, I discovered that according to the most recent statistics on the National School Bullying Statistics and Cyber Bullying Statistics Survey of 2007, approximately 30 percent of U.S. students from grades six through ten are involved in some types of bullying. They include bullies, victims, or both. Based on the statistics, one out of every four kids is bullied. After reading case studies of the shooting at Columbine High School, University of Texas, and Virginia Tech, I realized that bullying was a huge factor in causing deaths to high school students. The victims in these fatal incidents did not deserve to die. They did absolutely nothing wrong, and yet their lives were still taken by another.

One day during that same year, my school had an assembly in which we were visited by a nationwide school outreach program for the prevention of teen violence called Rachel's Challenge. They showed us a powerful video/audio footage of Rachel's life and the Columbine tragedy that led everyone, including me, spell bounded. I realized that these terrible events could have happened anywhere, including my own school if we weren't careful enough. During to this presentation, I was inspired become a better person. I started to become more compassionate toward others. I was hoping that my positive actions toward others could benefit my school and help to prevent tragedies like the one that occurred at Columbine High School. Ever since that day, the nature of my school changed dramatically for the better.

Undergraduate / "electrical engineering" - Discuss your short and long-term goals and priorities [3]

Would humans have improved their way of living without the evolution of technology? In today's world, technology has greatly impacted our way of life. It has brought simplicity to our everyday lives from the bridges we cross to the handheld wireless phones we use to communicate freely. These sorts of advances in technology could not have been achieved without the minds of brilliant engineers like Thomas Telford and Martin Marty Cooper. Their knowledge, skills, and creativity gave birth to magnificent creations in the world of technology.

In college, I want to pursuit a degree in electrical engineering. I want to use my degree to work on improving the existing electronic systems and creating new ones. Another goal I want to achieve with my degree is to improve the lives of people in third world countries. My parents grew up in a very poor environment in China. Therefore, I want to help other families and prevent them from suffering from bad living conditions as my parents did. I plan to travel abroad to provide aid to those in need.

My short-term goals are to graduate from high school with an advanced high school diploma and to learn as much as I can to prepare myself for college. Additionally, I am also working on scholarship application in hope of receiving scholarships to help with my education. If I achieve these short-term goals, I will be able to achieve my long-term goals of working as an electrical engineer and making a positive contribution to the world.

Undergraduate / Discuss your involvement in and contributions to a community near your home [2]

A couple of years ago, I had the honor of volunteering with The American Cancer Society Relay For Life, which is a life-changing community event. The event provided everyone across the globe a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease.

Most of the participants were split up into teams of twelve to fifteen. I had a team of ten and most of my team consisted of friends. Our main objective of the relay was to raise money for cancer research and cancer patients while also spreading its awareness. I was nominated as team captain by my fellow team members. As team captain, I had numerous responsibilities. I had to organize fundraising events, arrange monthly meetings, and represent our team. At first it seemed a little overwhelming, but fortunately, I had wonderful teammates who supported me.

My team was able to plan and execute a number of fun and creative fundraising events. For instance, we held special sporting events at my school. One of the sport events consisted of a basketball game between the school's faculties and the school's varsity student basketball team. We also held other events like fashion shows and casino nights. At these events, I had the pleasure of meeting several cancer survivors and was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to hear their remarkable stories.

In the end, my team managed to raise over $20,000 dollars. It was an incredible feeling; one that I cannot be put in simple words. We all knew that the money we raised was going to help promote the research in curing cancer.

Because of this experience, I have become a more active individual. I became more involved in community services. I know that contributions toward society will always benefit another in need. Due to this experience, it has inspired me to use my talents and skills to help others, and to take full advantage of my college degree in order to make the world a better place.

Undergraduate / Discuss a leadership experience you have had in any area of your life [4]

When the word leadership is mentioned, I think about my family and how we adjusted ourselves after migrating from China to the United States. Ever since I was young, my older brother has always been the one who took on the responsibility of taking care of family issues, due to my parents' lack of English language.

My life changed drastically while entering my freshman year of high school, because that was also the year in which my older brother went off to college. Being the first person in our entire family to go to college was a huge deal. It made my parents very proud. My family owned a Chinese restaurant at the time. Before my brother's departure, he was usually the one who took care of most of our family's errands and responsibilities, such as translating for our parents, doing our taxes, reading our mail, and helping the family business. After my brother left, those responsibilities were handed down to me. It was very difficult at first because I never had so many responsibilities before. However, because of this experience, I have become a stronger person.

With this new role and vast amount of responsibilities, I had to step up and change for the good of my family. I also made sacrifices by giving up spending time with friends and other school activities. For example, on any given week, I would work at my parent's restaurant after school or after sport practice, including weekends. At the restaurant, I would take on several tasks including being a cashier and/or a waiter.

I would not have become the strong person that I am today without going through this experience. Due to this experience, it has influenced me to work hard and diligently in school. There is a saying that leadership comes with responsibilities, and from what I have been through, I have fully recognized the value of it.

Undergraduate / Anxiety may even kill you, but it may also lead to poor decision-making, thinking, and socialization [3]

Other than through classes in school, in what areas have you acquired skills
Anxiety will not only kill you, but it will also lead to poor decision-making, thinking, and socialization.

Ever since ninth grade, I have always been under constant stress due to school, sports, work, and extra curricular activities. I never realized how damaging it was to my health, both mentally and physically, until one week when I had endless headaches and back pains. I asked my friends who have participate in the same activities for advice on how to cure these pains. They recommended me to take some sort of a yoga class. At first, I thought they were just being silly, but I took it into consideration after I had another week of continuous distress. Therefore, I decided to partake in a yoga class that was held every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of every week at my school. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

After the first few weeks, I started to feel a lot better. The pains and tensions that I had throughout my upper body stopped, and I began to feel more relaxed. It was unbelievable. My mind became much more focused than usual, and my breathing felt smoother. I was astonished and became so appealed of how making simple physical postures, mediating, and deep breathing had helped me so much.

Even after yoga classes ended in my school the following year, I decided to continue it while at home. I do the same exercise I have learned every night right before I go to bed. These techniques have truly changed my life. Thanks to my friends' recommendation, my body is as healthy as ever. Some time in the future, I hope to teach these skills that I have learned to those who have suffered from the same types of pain and stress as I have.