Undergraduate / UC prompt 2- "what sets me apart" [3]

Prompt #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?

It was one suicide, after another and another. Basketball tryouts had just begun and I was learning that making the team wouldn't be as easy as I had originally thought. Though I was overjoyed of not being cut like many other novice players, I still felt out of place. The other boys were tall, fast, and strong, while I was among the shortest and least athletic of the group. Never having tried out or played a sport in my life this would be as new to me as it was challenging.

As each day of tryouts passed, the practices became more intimidating. My confidence began to be conflicted by thoughts like, "Am I tall enough" and "Am I strong enough?" In the midst of practices my nerves would subdue me from divorcing those negative thoughts and allow me to break out. But then I reminisced on why I was so determined to make the team. I let my passion fuel me through every stride and give me confidence when facing the bigger and the faster. I finished those weeks of tryouts after playing like I had nothing to lose and working on my skills independently a few hours a day. I made sure that I was the person that would decide if I was to be selected or not.

Looking back, I feel overwhelmed with pride on how I overcame the many adversities before me. Those weeks I learned that nothing comes easy, but with hard work all things are possible. Imagine if we lived our lives without motivation, passion, or drive, where would we be? There would be no above average people, society would be at a standstill in terms of progression, and the world would be without leaders.

In retrospect this experience has shown me that life still holds many challenges for me that will not be easily overcome, but it has also given me great insight on the amount of hard work needed to succeed in life. My passion, willpower, and hard work were key to my success. My want to be great at my craft and in life is what sets me apart.

I am applying to LA and Berkley so please go hard!! lol

Undergraduate / 'Northern India, the birthplace of my parents' - where I come from UC personal [5]

Check it out (UCLA UCD and UCB are my top and also the conclusion has yet to be written lol)

Prompt #1 Describe the world you come from - for example, your family, community or school - and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.

Northern India, the birthplace of my parents and the birthplace of my aspirations, has affected me greatly. Can you visualize the sweat dripping down the brow of my people? Children study yet the future in India yields no progress for the youth. The bazaars are crowded and beset with bacteria and diseases that remain unheeded. The small cities of California and the village I call my home in India, both are without sufficient health care or even enlightenment of how to fight off one of their greatest enemies. I have always had the desire to do something, and what a better issue to tackle than one that has affected me thousands of miles away from me. Around middle school it finally impacted me and since I have wanted nothing more, but to go back to where it started and make a change.

My parents worked countless hours every day, so I was already being deprived of the quality time kids need, but this is a common theme in the lives of first generation Americans. Middle school was around the corner and I was just another Asian kid who excelled at everything, but I without any aspirations my future was a foggy one. That all changed by the time my grandma, who suffered a stroke many years ago in India causing paralysis in her left hand, part of her leg, and received nerve damage. Strokes are usually preceded by symptoms, but in a third world country nobody knows about them or can they received proper care. My grandma was robbed of the care that many others get, which augmented the damage she had been afflicted. This inspired me to pursue a career that would help alter the same scenario from turning out as such.

A couple of years removed from then my diabetic father was diagnosed with leukemia. Here I am juggling my education with sustaining my family through these difficult times. I was forced to work daily after school to help my mom take care of our convenience store, while my dad lay in bed fighting cancer. This has put me at a deficit of extra time to do the things that I love. I had to quit playing basketball both my sophomore and junior year, but I was determined to maintain the academic level of performance I was used to. I have now been alleviated of many of my responsibilities as my dad has entered remission. Now in my senior year I have begun to volunteer at a local clinic, where I plan to begin my development as a person who can make things better for others. If not to make direct impact I want to give people from North India, ghettos, and all other locations afflicted with poverty the tools to not embrace, but to fight the preventable.

My desire is to reach out to the people that have been left in the dark, those people that feel helpless because of where they were born, etc.