Undergraduate / Persistent-UBC Personal Essay- Tell us about who you are [3]

TELL US ABOUT WHO YOU ARE.

How would your family, friends, and/or members of your community describe you? If possible, please include something about yourself that you are most proud of and why. (maximum 250 words)

To everyone I have ever met, I am outgoing, talkative and amiable, at least for the first thirty seconds. Being a girl in a society whereby the way you look people determine your capabilities, I have learned having those three adjectives being my only descriptor is not enough if I want to achieve my goals in life. As people get to know me, their description of me changes to passionate, hardworking, and ambitious, but what I am the proudest of is being described as persistent.

In elementary school, when I first immigrated to Canada, everyone in my community, including my friends, treated me as if I did not have the capabilities to have higher-level thinking due to my language barrier. I showed I was persistent when I worked hard and improved my English skills to change their perception.

In 2017 within the span of one year, I lost my grandmother, and my father was admitted into the ICU; these two events affected me very deeply. My grades began to slip, but when I realized if I wanted to help people like the doctors that helped my father, I persevered and brought my grades up.

I continued with my persistent mindset as I was determined to help people even with the COVID-19 restrictions. By joining a volunteer project and organizing university information sessions, was my way of providing support to my community during these unprecedented times. This was a time where my persistence not only helped me but also helped others.