Undergraduate / What is your greatest skill and how have you developed it over time (UC essay question) [3]

I would love feedback on the writing and on grammar/ spelling and structure! Thank you!

my greatest skill: dancing

Hard work, leadership, and passion are only a few of the many things I have learned through my greatest skill: dancing. For me the famous saying "dance like no one is watching" is entirely true as I am known to dance anywhere and everywhere that I go. As a young girl I was apart of dance teams and companies where I learned to dance in various styles such as jazz, tap and ballet. At the age of 13 these classes became too costly for my parents which lead me to not take a conventional dance classes for the next four years.

Even though I was not taking dance classes I used what I learned in prior classes to maintain my flexibility and continue to develop my dancing skills. Throughout this time my passion for dancing helped me learn how to be a leader and instructor as I coached myself, taught my sisters choreography and put on my own shows for my family. With the time and hard work that I put in the four years I couldn't take dance classes I was able to get onto my high school dance team.

Over the next three years on the team I excelled and pushed my body to be the best dancer that I could be. While I excelled on the team and was able to be be in every group dance, a background leader, and awarded solos; I also struggled with various injuries. My first year on the team I sprained both of my ankles several times that lead to tear ligaments in my left foot. After a several month-long recovery, my second competition season resulted in patellar tendinitis in my knees that have yet to completely heal. Even with these injuries I was able to become a co-captain for the team my last year on the team and lead them to win the first national championship title in team history.

Since high school I have taken several dance classes at Saddleback College, learned the limits of my body, and in this past year I have stopped taking dance classes as I heal my injuries from my time in high school.

Undergraduate / UC Question: how you have worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced (Dyslexia) [2]

WITH DYSLEXIA AT SCHOOLS

The greatest educational barrier that I have faced and am still faced with is dyslexia. I was tested for dyslexia while I was in elementary school in an effort to find out why I wasn't able to keep up with the rest of my class. With this information my family and I were faced with the decision to either hold me back a grade or not. Knowing that I was struggling to keep up, I decided to move along with the rest of my class on the condition that I would have to do extra work outside of school. While I received help from teachers, tutors and my family the person who has helped me the most in achieving my academic success is my grandmother.

My grandmother is a retired elementary school teacher who has worked in an English as a Second Language school, and with countless of children with different disabilities. Because of this she knew exactly what it would take for me to get to where I am today. She would spend hours with me after school and during summers to make sure that I was getting more instruction in reading, writing, and spelling. In addition to the regular homework that I had for class we would do various activities to work on my reading and spelling such as phonics that correlates sounds with groups of letters.

In elementary school I started off not enjoying reading or writing, but with the help of those around me, and especially my grandmother, I was able to learn how to read, write, and spell and catch up with the rest of my class by the time I went to middle school. In my last year of high school I was able to take advanced world literature and composition, and at Saddleback College I have taken honors principles of composition. In all, growing up and living with dyslexia is hard but I have never let it set me back in life or deter me from my academic goals.