Undergraduate / 'Band Team Leader' - participation in extracurricular activities [2]

What have you learned from your experience(s)?

I know this is really, really, really rough. I'm just looking for tips such as how to make it flow better, ideas for a decent intro, etc. before I type up a (very) revised version. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Though my history in volunteering is not extensive, the experiences I've gained through helping in the community are quite so. In volunteering at the soup kitchen, one of the more comprehensive projects I worked on was collecting, sorting, and delivering used clothing from members of the community to the soup kitchen. In doing so, I not only recycled clothing that would have otherwise gone to waste in the back of a closet and eventually, the bottom of a landfill, but also the compassion of the members in my community. The clothing donated will have vastly impacted the lives of those in need; perhaps a donated suit was worn by someone to a job interview, and aided in impressing a potential employer into hiring them, thus improving their unfavorable financial situation. This project also impacted myself as well, in that I realized how easy it is for members of a community to reach out to those in need by doing something as simple as donating. Most people have a misconception about helping in the community, thinking that it requires more time and energy than they may have. However, in reality, even the smallest act of compassion can set of a chain reaction and touch the lives of countless people in need.

Also throughout my high school career, I have been an active member in band. This year, I was chosen through an application and interview process as a Band Team Leader for marching season. Just a few of my responsibilities were instructing the freshmen, making sure music was memorized, working on drill, observing and helping members of my section with their marching, and solving disputes between section members. Through this, I believe one of the most important things I learned is simply that patience is vital. It does one no good to get upset with someone because their marching isn't up to standard. Instead, working with them to improve whatever may be lacking not only helps increase their confidence and make the band better as a whole, but it helps avoid needless tensions and conflict. I also experienced first-hand how, as the saying goes, 'a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.' If a single person decides that they aren't going to take marching band seriously, it affects the entire band in that their substandard performance at competitions can significantly lower our scores despite how well everyone else marched. And finally, through my four years of band, I have had the privilege and experience doing something I love for the entertainment and enjoyment of others. That in itself is rewarding enough for me to want to continue playing the flute beyond high school band.

Scholarship / 'unique Puerto Rican heritage' - Hispanic heritage influenced your goals? [2]

Essay topic: Tell us about your academic/career short-term and long-term goals. How has your Hispanic heritage influenced these goals?

I was around five or six years old as I bounced eagerly on my abuelito's lap, begging him with childish enthusiasm to teach me how to count to one hundred in Spanish. At the time, I only knew how to count to ten, and what fun was a number as unimpressive as ten? I remember his patient smile as he counted, slowly, from one to one hundred over and over. (Uno, dos, tres...) At first, the words (...veinticinco, veintiseis, veintisiete...) sounded alien to my ears and tasted unfamiliar on my tongue as I attempted to repeat them. But soon, I became accustomed to them, the 'oh's and 'ay's that trailed from my lips, the richness of the sounds, and before I knew it, I had reached cien.

The next day I rushed into my classroom, bubbling with excitement as I gathered up my friends and burst into a deluge of Spanish. At the looks of awe and envy on their faces, I was filled with a sense of pride-not just for my ability to count, but for the beauty of the language, and for my unique Puerto Rican heritage. I have carried that pride throughout the years, embracing everything from my dark, curly hair and my unusually full lips to the unrivaled flavor of pasteles and arroz con gandules made at the wonderfully skilled hands of my abuelita.

Some would say I am at a societal disadvantage, being not only a woman, but a woman of color. I, however, do not see color as being a disadvantage to "overcome." Color brings to mind images of life, passion, intensity, warmth, and particularly, culture. It is because of the culture of my people, my heritage, that I became interested in cultures around the world, especially those of the past. In the fall, I plan to attend the University of Missouri as an honors college student with a double major in archaeology and photography. Both archaeology and photography have the ability to reveal to us the characteristics of a people of a culture-- one past, and one present.

My long-term goals include obtaining my Bachelor's Degree of Fine Arts in photography and a Master's Degree in archaeology. I also hope to study abroad at least a few semesters, if not an entire year. As for my career, I plan to be an archaeological field worker as well as a travel photographer. As my high school career is coming to a close, what was once viewed as the distant future through the eyes of an eager five-year-old- as distant as cien- is now the very nerve-wracking future of a soon-to-be adult. Though thirteen years have passed, I am still as eager to learn as I was that day as I sat upon my grandfather's lap- except this time, I won't stop at one hundred.