Undergraduate / 'Los Angeles culture' - UC prompt#1; My parents are both from Egypt [7]

Within our dreams and aspirations we find our opportunities. Walking in the hot sun, the pyramid just a couple feet away from me, the rocks and sand beneath my feet, I know that this place isn't just a place where my family and I come to visit for vacation. My parents are both from Egypt. Migrating to Los Angeles, they had to adapt to the new cultural lifestyle. Growing up in Los Angeles, I represent my culture proudly. I love talking to my parents and family in Arabic and learning about my own culture. All of my elementary school, middle school and high school years when people ask me what my ethnicity is I'm proud to say "I'm Egyptian." I enjoy teaching people about my culture and how we celebrate things differently than other races. I come from a very conservative family and my parents are very hard on me and my brother. It benefits us because it keeps us motivated. Summer of 2005, my mom, brother and I went to Egypt. Getting on the plane hearing everybody speaking the same language as we do really felt amazing. After the long hours on the plane we finally arrive. The smell of the air, the people, the buildings were just so different. The guys were respectful to women. Women covered themselves even when it was hot. On Sundays, almost everybody in the neighborhood attended church. The lifestyle is so different compared to our hometown but I noticed that my parents raised us like if we were born in Egypt. They taught us manners, taught us to be respectful, taught us about religion and they made sure we attended church as much as we can. The best thing about being Egyptian is having a very large family. I love being the oldest of my cousins because they can look up to me and I can be their role models and teach them things as they grow older. I cherish my family and where I am from.

Undergraduate / 'Bible study and fun activities' - Elaborate on an extracirricular activity. [4]

Church isn't just a place where I attended on Sundays. Every summer my church has camp where they go on field trips and do fun activities every day. I volunteer as a chaperone and I have the responsibility of supervising a group of children for approximately six hours a day, five days a week. I learned a lot about responsibility. If a kid had to use the restroom, I made sure they went, If it was lunch time, I made sure that they cleaned up after themselves and threw away their trash. It made me a better person because the kids looked up to me and I had to set a good example and make sure they knew right from wrong. Despite all the fun activities, we were still apart of a church and had bible study every day for an hour. The bible studies helped educate the kids as well as myself. It was a very meaningful experience to me and helped me learn a lot about myself and I look forward to more opportunities like this in the future.