Undergraduate / UC Personal Statements Prompt 1: Acceptance of who I am [2]

Personal Statement
Prompt #1:
Describe the world you come from - for example, your family, community or school - and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspiration

Family values are the very foundation of Filipino culture. Big families are usually a must. With five siblings, I never went without someone to play with. What my parents never realized, however, is that their standards for success would accumulate with every respective child, leaving me with an unbearable burden.

I've realized that the pressure of doing the right things - such as being skinny, getting good grades, going to college, and acting responsibly - and not making mistakes sure to break their hearts that my siblings did- such as getting pregnant out of wedlock or moving away - seemed to weigh down on me. I profoundly needed my parents to accept and love me. I've always tried to prove to them that I am worthy of their love and able to learn from my siblings' mistakes.

This pressure affected my self-perception and compelled me to conform into a person that would do or say anything to gain a person's approval. To illustrate: my grandmother used to like me, before I became overweight. I remember how, when I saw her, I immediately thought to myself that if I told her I was beginning a new diet, she might approve of me, so I did. But instead of her approval, she eyed me over and gave me a sharp smirk. This cut me to pieces and I wept until I had red, puffy eyes. I imagined that she would approve of me if I at least tried to be the person she wanted, but instead I only received her scorn.

I realized that the more I focused on the way others saw me or expected me to be, the less I accepted myself. Thus I was often angry, tense, and intolerant. On the outside I turned into a phony; but on the inside I yearned to be recognized and appreciated by my friends and elders. An atmosphere of negativity surrounded me, everywhere and always.

Then two years ago, when I was feeling depressed, vulnerable, and ugly, God acted through my best friend to lead me to a new understanding of things with which I had been wrestling for such a long time. This friend, in whom I trusted and confided, showed me how I had come to despise myself. She had become weary of my many doubts and complaints. She simply insisted that I stop worrying about what others thought or said about me and that I should just be me. It took all of my fifteen years to grasp the simplicity of accepting human diversity.

I realized that I had nothing to prove to anyone. I saw that I possessed a singular and unique greatness which had nothing to do with comparison to and acceptance from others. I have now walked into my true identity of magnificence, determined to be the exceptional person I was created to be. My name is Glory-Gee. My name defines me; I am great beauty and splendor, marked by exquisiteness and resplendence. No one can change that.

Book Reports / UC Application Prompt #2: Tutoring/teaching [2]

Prompt #2:
Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud, and how does it relate to the person you are?

My participation and leadership in groups such as Pittsburg High School's Oasis Christian club, Puente, my church's Hula Dance Team, and tutoring my uncle's kids kindled a passion for helping others that I was never aware of.

A few weeks ago, my counselor emailed students about an opportunity for community service. It was for senior Puente students that wanted to get community service hours by tutoring. A few more hours of community service would not be so bad so I responded to her saying that I was interested. I have never really seen myself as the teacher type, mostly because my patience for other people is a bit slim depending on the circumstance; however, there was no pain in trying.

One of the first times I experienced the sensation of accomplishment, was the day I came into class F205. My teacher told me that there was a student that needed some assistance with their essay. When I came to her, I asked if I could read what she had. It was absolutely terrible; I wondered if this person had known how to even speak properly.

I knew that I NEEDED to help her. I aided her and then I saw it. The surge of enlightenment and knowledge flickering in her eyes, in that moment our minds connected and the wrinkles on her forehead vanished and was replaced with a smile of accomplishment, eagerness and hunger to learn more; the thrill of wanting to move into a deeper and more complex task and me wanting to guide her there.

Teaching that student allowed me to be in a position in which I can make a difference in their life not just with their experience in writing but in their ability to learn academically.

As a person that has volunteered to assist fellow underclassmen, my goal is help them understand that school is something not to dread, fear or stress about but to actually enjoy and indulge in the idea of getting farther in their educative experience. I encounter students every day when I tutor my uncle's kids who have a preconceived notion that school work is not their strength but their enemy; an eleven year old child who is labeled as a class clown, and even a thirteen year old who is diagnosed with autism. It is important that their foundation of education is established and I am prepared with the newly found patience and persistence to do just that regardless if they gave up. I am ready to motivate and challenge them to discover intellect in a new light.