Scholarship / Vandy Chancellor's Scholarship on Values [3]

I still have 50 more words I could use to reach the max word limit. Any advice could be useful.

The values promoted by the Chancellor's Scholarship are leadership, scholarship, diversity, and citizenship. Please describe how one of your activities from the list above has contributed to your understanding of these values. Please limit your response to 500 words.

Everyone stood still. The atmosphere in the room gradually became more and more awkward. My fellow club members struggled to break the ice as the children stared at them, expecting them to say or do something. The Bustamante Hospital for Children takes care of some of the most severely ill youngsters in the country. Hence, it can be a frightening experience for first timers who are not used to the sights and cries of the children in pain. As vice-president of Octagon Club, it was time for me to step up and take responsibility of the club members who were under my command. This was my first volunteering trip as vice-president, but I had to think quickly or the trip would be a waste for the children. "What do kids love to do?" I wondered. "Play games!" I said to myself as I quickly recalled that most of the club members had tablets and phones with a variety of games on them. Slowly but surely, these games proved to be the ice breaker as I watched each club member getting more comfortable with the children. The unfortunate conditions of these youngsters can make it easy to forget that they want and enjoy the same things as any other normal child. Understanding this fact is the key to any successful volunteering activity with children. From then on, I could inspire my fellow club members to express themselves, so that the children can find joy in the time that is spent with them.

Octagon club has also given me the opportunity to interact with children who are economically disadvantaged. Every year the club has a stuffed teddy bear drive for less fortunate children during the Christmas holiday. This has given me a new perspective on the simple things in life many of us tend to overlook. My first Christmas drive proved to be a learning experience in regards to economic diversity. The children are always filled with joy when they realize that they will receive a gift for the Christmas holiday. Even though these toys are second-hand gifts, many of them no longer wanted or needed by their owners, they are grateful for the fact that they can say they got a present for Christmas. As vice-president at my second Christmas drive, I was able to bridge the gap between the club members and the children by showing them how to interact with each child. In this way, I helped to promote diversity to the other club members. Therefore, I have used my learning experience at Octagon to not only teach the members of the club the importance of giving back, but also how best to interact with those who are from different backgrounds.

Undergraduate / McCormick School of Engineering's NORTHWESTERN SUPPLEMENT: UNIQUE QUALITIES [7]

Need some quick responses on this supplement as I am trying to send it off ASAP. Any constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated.

Northwestern Statement: What are the unique qualities of Northwestern - and of the specific undergraduate school to which you are applying - that make you want to attend the University? In what ways do you hope to take advantage of the qualities you have identified? (250 words)

Northwestern Statement: What are the unique qualities of Northwestern - and of the specific undergraduate school to which you are applying - that make you want to attend the University? In what ways do you hope to take advantage of the qualities you have identified? (250 words)

Clicking link after link, I searched desperately to find the right school where I would be able to enjoy spending the next four years of my life. My search ended the moment I found Northwestern's website. My imagination went off at the idea of relaxing at the university's private beach in front of the beautiful Lake Michigan to painting artistic masterpieces on The Rock and participating in a variety of activities such as the Dance Marathon. I can see myself enjoying the school's fantastic sports teams and I hope to bring the sport of cricket to this institution. These qualities, combined with the diverse student population dispersed throughout the residential colleges and its location close to the city of Chicago, made selecting Northwestern an easy choice as an international student.

More importantly, Northwestern's programs are expertly designed to prepare its students for the world beyond university. An electrical engineer who visited my school once said to me that communication and working with people are important in the field of engineering. The Design Thinking and Communication Course will aid me with developing these skills as it integrates collaborative work and communication skills in a group setting to solve problems. The chance at working on projects submitted by real clients will be a great experience that most universities do not offer. Northwestern is a school that is highly ranked in both Industrial Engineering and Communication. There is nowhere else where can I find such a stellar combination to equip me with a high quality education from both fields.

McCormick School of Engineering's co-op and internship programs will give me invaluable work experience. Acquiring this experience will be crucial in preparing for life after university and I intend to use these programs to display my ability to companies. Therefore, these programs are a stepping stone towards getting a foothold in the working world. McCormick School of Engineering's focus on exposing its undergraduate students to engineering at an early stage appeals to my pragmatic nature. These unique qualities make Northwestern pop out from just being another top school on a list, to a place where I would truly enjoy learning as a Wildcat.

Undergraduate / I have achieved many milestones; Accomplishment or event, formal or informal [5]

Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family. (250-650 words)

I have achieved many milestones throughout my life but only one experience so far has truly propelled me into the realm of adulthood. This process took place over ten months and culminated in a few hours. Being the youngest of three children I always dreamed of having a younger boy in the house to play with and the most likely possibility of that happening was through my sister. However, the years went by until that almost long lost childhood wish came true on October 2, 2012. Onaje came into this world at a point in my life when I was struggling between school work, giving my all in my activities and adjusting to the significant increase in difficulty of the work load upon entering sixth form.

Unfortunately, shortly after his birth, my sister became seriously ill and had to be hospitalized. At that point I was automatically assigned the task of taking care of this innocent child as the older folks in the house struggled to maintain the high levels of energy needed to manage Onaje. My evolution started as I moved from changing diapers to bathing him meticulously to ensure his cleanliness remained intact. Along the way, I picked up some of the tricks of the trade for getting a baby to fall asleep and at times I even tried my hand at singing. These became regular aspects of my daily life that had to be balanced with the increasing work load as my internal exams drew closer. However, help arrived in the form of his father after I had completed my exams in December. From then on I played the role of assistant until he had to leave in August of this year to take up a job opening abroad.

It was at this point near the end of summer that I decided to take a bus to visit my family in rural Jamaica. My sister requested that I take Onaje along with me so as to ease her burden as she had not fully recovered. So, on that rainy afternoon with baby in hand, I climbed the steps of that bus with the eyes of the passengers immediately greeting us. They seemed to assume I was a teenage father. At the start I quickly used my reasoning skills to see that he was drowsy and so I fed him to sleep. However, he woke up an hour later with a burst of energy that could contest with the healthiest of people. For the next three hours of the journey I scrambled to find things to occupy his interest. These ranged from playing with the cup holders to pointing at things flashing pass the window to me making a fool of myself in games of peekaboo for his entertainment. There were times I allowed him to greet some of the passengers and he reasoned with them via his own language.

As we approached our destination something about me felt different. The entire journey was a powerful bonding experience. As I disembarked the bus, with Onaje sleeping on one shoulder and his bag over the other, my cousins greeted me with surprise at how comfortable and experienced I appeared. This entire experience which culminated on that day had taught me a level of responsibility I had never been exposed to before. Even my time management skills improved significantly as I juggled school work and helping out with the baby. Life was not just about working hard and achieving success but also involved caring for your family and those around you. Onaje was a reminder that my determination to succeed primarily comes from the desire to improve my family situation. Therefore, I gained a new sense of maturity. It is my personal belief that this entire experience has equipped me with important skills that will benefit me later in life and can be applied to the rigors of college life.