Undergraduate / UC Prompt 2: Small town living, and how it shaped me [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?

This is a brief rough draft, I would love some feedback soon, under a deadline :)

As I went outside and felt the cold breeze wafting off the hills. I look around and see the glorious snow capped mountains and smell the brisk "air freshener" aroma blown from the plentiful pine trees; I realize there isn't a much better place to live. Having grown up in a small beautiful town in the northern California region, where a lumber mill is the towns main source of economic stability, the population is less than four-thousand, and there isn't even a single stop light; I have thrived where others haven't. If I had not grown up here I don't think I would be the same person today. I guess it's a choice one makes when faced with the adversity of small town living where there is limited employment and undefined career paths within the sanctum of the community.

Education and hard work has made it possible for me to change the course that so many have followed. Most individuals stay within the confines of a small town and let the employment opportunities dictate the direction their lives take. I on the other hand have changed this by having strong family core values and a motivation to do well in school.

Through the help of one particular teacher, Mr. Ferguson, who taught six advanced placement classes, Chinese on his lunch hour, and advanced physics on his preparatory break, I saw that the opportunities were endless when given a chance to prosper. His encouragement to succeed helped to motivate me in furthering my schooling past high school.

Most of my cousins live in the same area as I do and I see the way they were molded, allowing drugs and peer pressure to determine the way they live their lives.

Undergraduate / UC Prompt 1 Transfer: Film Studies [4]

What is your intended major? Discuss how your interest in the subject developed and describe any experience you have had in the field-- such as volunteer work, internships, and employment, participation in student organizations and activities-- and what you have gained from your involvement.

This is a rough draft and I intend on editing further but I would love some positive feedback and critiquing.

My decision to major in film and media studies feels completely natural. Growing up as a shy, observant child in a small town in northern California where there was hardly anything to do, I took solace in movies. Like most children during the 90s, I grew up watching Disney movies, with their fantasy storylines and somewhat docile nature, but unlike most kids I was curious as to how these films were being made and who was creating them.

In 1997, when I was seven years old, I ventured into the theaters with my parents and my sister to view the re-mastered Star Wars: A New Hope, when the opening title-music began along with the classic scrolling text, I watched and listened in amazement, completely enthralled by what I was experiencing. This was a defining moment in my childhood. I now knew what I wanted to do when I "grew up." I had to be a part of what was occurring on the screen in order to make movies as epic as those seen and cherished by so many individuals. I knew that I wanted to create something that made other people feel the way I did as a child and still do. When watching a television program or a film, and I get goose bumps or my heart starts to race because of a particular scene, I know that I would like to be able to make the audience as emotionally connected to the characters or the plot. I began to expand my interest by watching old films and learning about how characters are developed.

I love the film and media studies major because it is an interdisciplinary study and therefore crosses traditional boundaries between academic studies. This subject is creative and requires a certain passion for sharing with an audience. I want to learn how films are formed from the "ground up" and why directors do the things they do. What I like about this major is it incorporates things like culture, diversity, and several other themes through film.

During high school I became the reporter for the Grass Valley Creek 4-H club and this began my first real experience with the media. I worked closely with the "Trinity Journal" to provide information concerning the 4-H club by writing articles concerning everything from our involvement in community service to the awards received by the individuals in the group. I later became Vice President of the club which helped me overcome much of my shyness and take on more responsibilities and a greater leadership role. My senior year I helped create the Trinity High School yearbook by helping arrange, organize, and develop the advertisement sections that sponsor the book.

Recently I started interning at a local news station, News Channel 7 KRCR-TV, to broaden my knowledge of how a local media source works and changes. This has allowed me to learn from some very talented producers and directors about what it takes on a daily basis to get current events to the public. Some of the day to day activities that I have taken part in are: selecting interviewees and staying in contact with local law enforcement and fire departments for recent updates. I have just begun to learn the editing and filming process that goes along with being a reporter. Since beginning the internship I have had to learn to think on my feet, as deadlines near; the station can get hectic, but through this experience I think I am more prepared for what lies ahead.

By transferring to a University that has a specific film studies degree program, I hope to continue building on what I learned while studying at Shasta College.