Scholarship / "Improving environment in community" - ideas for the topic of community needs? [2]

In 500 words or less, please describe how you plan to help fulfill the needs of your community after you've completed your education.

Ever since I was little, I had always wanted to better the environment and community because that is what we are going to remember till we move and go off to places. We remember how beautiful the scenery is and peaceful and full of life it was. But when trees are cut down to build houses on, while there are many houses that have not been sold yet, breaks my heart because I see all these wildlife lose their homes for human reasons that are not necessary.

I plan to help my community by donating my time to the events that they have. Helping the community to raise money and donate money to improve the conditions of the schools I attended because they gave me the foundation to build my education. Also the community may need a fresh new outlook on the way they have been helping students and I can contribute because I would have new ideas to share. I have a list of things I would to help my community which are improve transportation and try to reduce my community's Carbon dioxide emissions.

I feel the need to improve our environment because living in South Florida we have nature all around us and it is important to preserve it so I would probably give notice to Everglades and how it needs to be preserve. Cutting trees around Everglades are taking homes away from wildlife and it diminishes their survival rate and affects our ecosystem.

This fulfillment will not only help my community but my state and for them to be aware of what is going on. Our community can work together and change our surroundings like live healthier and longer like taking more nature walks. Also that this volunteer work can inspire other high school hopefuls to start something that they are passionate about and pursue it.

Scholarship / struggles of having low-income family and fear of leaving home- [6]

In 500 words or less, please provide information about any personal or financial obstacles that you have had to overcome. If you do not have any community service involvement, you may use this space to tell us why. Do not repeat anything that you listed earlier.

Certain financial obstacles would be with my parents' income because it restricts a lot of things for me. My mother works as an Elementary School lunch lady and my father is a Hotel Maintenance Worker. Although they provided me, my brothers and my sisters with a good home, we have very little extra money. As a result, I had to choose between going to homecoming and saving for college. I chose saving because college will do more for me in the long run. Getting this scholarship will make attending University of Florida a lot less of a hardship. Also my parents still managed to give me certain resources like provide a home, food, and internet for me and my siblings, I overcame this by learning that I do not need a lot of material things and that it is about quality not quantity.

Personal obstacles would be to really decide what I want to do in life and what path to choose. I could have easily pass high school with the bare minimum requirements, but I did not want to because I wanted to challenge myself even though I had some mishaps at least I tried.

Also moving from Chinatown, New York to Pembroke Pines, Florida was a huge culture shock to me because I went from having many Asian people in my class to having one or two in my classes. Also the language barrier was difficult because I started to lose my Cantonese language as I spoke more English but I still spoke some Cantonese with my parents. I use to be ashamed of being Chinese because I was the only one and felt awkward but I soon grew out of it and started embracing the Chinese culture and was not so afraid of speaking Cantonese in public.

Another personal obstacle would be that I feel like I have a responsibility to my parents because they do not speak English that well and would need me to help them but yet I want to move away from home to experience other things. This scholarship will help so much because it will take the burden of my parents to pay for my college tuition and on campus housing.

new revision any mistakes?

Scholarship / "to be independent, be happy, and give back" -about my struggles and goals in life [2]

In 500 words or less, please describe your personal and educational goals. What challenges have you faced that have helped shape those goals? How have you dealt with those challenges?

My personal goal in life is to be successful, independent, and happy. I want to give back to my parents and community. My educational goal in life is to either have a career as a pharmacist or physician's assistant.

Challenges that I have faced that helped shape these goals are my parents. They are rather motivation than challenge because they make me want to strive harder than they had and attend college. Also seeing how my sister has to work two jobs right now to save up to move out on her own shows the career choice you make affects you and I don't want to work two jobs when I can get a better education and get one stable job. Another is my parent's low income hindered their outside activities like taking family vacations, instead they are working overtime.

These challenges were hard to deal with because while kids my age were going on vacations, I was at home either reading or watching television. I barely got to see my parents. I had a hard time bonding with them because they neglected me and I had to grow up alone at a small age. For instance, my parents left me and my little brother home alone while they were away at work. My dad worked at a restaurant and would not be home till 11pm. My mom worked a second job and would not be home till 10pm. I commend them for trying to provide for us but the emotional attentiveness was not there and it affected my relationships with friends and guys. I would never get to close to a person to the point where I can tell him or her everything. Also I try not to show my emotions to much because it shows a sign of weakness from the neglect of my parents.

Now that I am older, I realize that my parents had their reasons and that I have to accept the fact that we have a different culture from people where it is work hard to provide family then fun with the family. I come to realize that I am being selfish now that I am older and that they work less to not try and build relationship with them. So now whenever my mom wants to go to the mall of grocery store I go with her to help her and keep her company.

Undergraduate / about my experience during summer camp (vires, artes, mores) [3]

"The Latin words "Vires, Artes, Mores" have been the guiding philosophy behind Florida State University. Vires signifies strength of all kinds - moral, physical, and intellectual; Artes alludes to the beauty of intellectual pursuits as exemplified in skill, craft, or art; and Mores refers to character, custom, or tradition. Describe how one or more of the values embodied in these concepts are reflected in your life." The essay should be one page in length and no more than 500 words.

Aldous Huxley once said "Experience is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you." What it means is that you may experience something dramatic but may have no effect on your life unless you do something with it. Those are the words I live by while I go through life's experiences wondering, why is this happening to me? I was always one of those girls who did not care much about other people and would not go out of my way just to help somebody.

An experience that taught me something new about myself was volunteering at the City of Pembroke Pines Towngate Summer Camp for three years which was a life-changing moment. I realize that even though I was not being paid does not mean my help/work was any less important. This showed my character because it was out of character for me to volunteer, help others and dedicate myself to an organization. Little did I know then that I would fall in love with the children.

As crazy as it sounds, I enjoyed waking up early and clocking in at 7 a.m. almost every day of summer because I was greeted by the most wonderful group of kids. This shows my strength because of my willingness to wake up every morning to volunteer. It warms the heart to be able to make the little kids happy simply by remembering their names, and it is an added bonus when they remember yours. We did all the busy work that the counselors did not want to do, and it was a relief for the counselors to have volunteers because it was less stressful for them when volunteers helped keep an eye on the kids. There was a situation where these sisters were about to go swimming and the older one was hesitating to change into her bathing suit in the bathroom. The problem was that she felt fat and wanted to be skinny compared to her seven year old sister. This girl was only ten and I was horrified that she said that. I told her that worrying about her weight is silly and that you should be having fun and not be stressing about these things. This situation exemplified my Vires because the moral of it was that she shouldn't be worried and reflected on me that I shouldn't be worried about my weight either.

This experience helped me develop a sense of selflessness because this was not about me or my hours, it was about helping others. There is no doubt in my mind about how I have become the person I am because of what my experiences have taught me. It became part of my personality to just want to help, even in school when someone asks me how to do something, I will drop everything and help them.

Above all, I can contribute my volunteering skills to anything the school is sponsoring whether it be building houses in New Orleans, helping out in animal shelters, or help at a daycare. I am going to bring the experience from volunteering at the City of Pembroke Pines Towngate Summer Camp by donating my time to the Florida State University for whichever causes they support.

In the end, maybe I can help people around campus who get so wrapped up on grades, parties, or boys to realize that it is not all about that and that other experiences help change yourself within. I would love to open up a club or join one that just donates part of their day or time to help the community out on homeless shelters, or raise money. Selflessness is not a quality you are born with but acquired through your lifetime.

Andrea Tham