Undergraduate / My intended major is Informatics and I hope to focus on Human Computer Interaction. UC Irvine essay [4]

Hello everyone,
I'm currently a community college student in the state of Washington and I'm hoping to transfer to UCI for their informatics program. Here is my essay for prompt #1, it's just a draft I've typed up so far.

My intended major is Informatics and I hope to focus on Human Computer Interaction. As a young college student who lives in Seattle, WA technology is all around me, and it is something that I use every day. My interest sparked when I was in eighth grade and I visited the Microsoft campus in Redmond, WA. The sight of all the amazing products that Microsoft had, the cool perks of free soda and free stuff that the employees got was mind blowing. These people made some of the greatest technological advances in the history of mankind, they are like the modern day superheroes, making the lives of others better. And I had told myself that I want to be like one of them, I wanted to be a superhero. My love for computers and technology had exponentially grew from there, I applied for a high school internship at Microsoft when I was a junior in high school, although I was cut in the last round of interviews, the internship had made me want to work with technology even more. After my experience with Microsoft I had taken the challenge of learning how to code. I started with Ruby, then went on learning HTML, CSS and JavaScript. I then took the intro level CS class at my high school and was able to work with some amazing employees from Microsoft. My path to become a super hero was being paved and nothing was stopping me.

After I had graduated I decided to attend community college for two years and then transfer to a four year university afterwards. My path to becoming a superhero was just four short years away. I knew I wanted to major in computer science and help with some of the greatest technological advances to date. But then I realized something, do I really want to sit in front of a computer all day and just code for the rest of my life? I realized after asking myself that question and doing research, that Informatics was just the thing that I needed to do. I wanted to interact with people, see how they use a computer, how I could make their lives easier. I started off learning more about human computer interaction by participating in user research studies for HTC, Microsoft and other companies. I job shadowed with a friend of mine who is a UX designer at Expedia and gained more love for the field. I ran for student government and won the position of Emerging Technology Representative as my goal now is to make the lives of students better when it comes to work with technology by fixing the Wi-Fi, making a school app and putting in cell phone charging stations to make the students experience easier. I believe that my path to becoming a superhero is almost complete, but I'm just missing one thing, and UC Irvine is the key to that one thing.

Undergraduate / 'Tell us about your college career to date ...' - UW Seattle Personal Statement - Academic Elements [5]

As a high school student I didn't put much effort into my work. I would slack off and hang out with my friends and had the mentality of "C's get degrees." I regretted that attitude because it wasn't until my second semester of my junior year where I had really started to focus on my studies. However, the damage was done and I graduated with a 2.8 GPA.

After I graduated, I decided to attend Bellevue College and transfer into the Informatics program at the University of Washington. Seeing the prerequisites for the program made me realize that the journey would not be easy, and I couldn't keep that same mentality that I had in high school. I took the challenge by taking advanced courses like statistics and computer science. I consciously decided to spend hours in the math lab and the Academic Success Center instead of hanging out with my friends and procrastinating. I knew that this was my second chance, and that I had to make the most of it. I decided to get more involved on campus. By networking with other students via clubs and programs, I was able to create study groups to improve myself academically and saw a huge improvement from my high school grades to my college grades.

My intended major at the UW is informatics. My goal is to become a successful UX Designer. I have prepared myself for this career path by networking with mentors who are UX Designers at companies like Expedia, Microsoft and Citi Bank. My friend, who is a Senior UX Designer, has helped me enroll in an intro level design course for people who aspire to become UX Designers. I have learned HTML, CSS, and JavaScript from Codecademy.com and plan on taking some graphic design classes and web development classes at school. I also successfully ran for Technology Representative for my college's student government. Since I've been elected into office, I constantly survey students on how they want to see the campus be changed whether it's by getting cell phone charging stations on campus, or getting a mobile app for the school.

After attending information sessions with admissions officers for the Informatics program at UW and talking with the general transfer admissions officers who come to Bellevue College, I feel as if I am prepared for my intended major. I have an academic plan for which classes I need to take in order to fulfill all the prerequisites for the major, and am on track to get my associates by spring quarter. I chose Informatics as my major because I have a passion for technology and working with people. I love seeing how other people use technology, and facilitating that is something I enjoy. I first heard about the program from a friend of mine at UW. Upon further research, I discovered that Human Computer Interaction was a degree offered by the Information School. I believe that the UW will assist me in achieving my goal of becoming a UX Designer because the Informatics track is a unique program that is a combination of technical and social skills, and can be a way to express yourself through design. After considering my academic, personal, and career goals, I believe that the Human Computer Interaction track within the UW Informatics program is the right fit for me.