McDonalds Essay: Please include a personal statement detailing how you have acted as an exemplary role model in your community and the initiative you have taken to fulfill your educational goals.
I arrived in the US as a non-English-speaking seven-year-old. My mother, who's a single mom, had to constantly abandon me in day-care for hours while she scrubbed the toilets of wealthy people. We lived in a minuscule room that we shared with one other person; the room was located in a high-crime area. The rocky commencement to living our "American Dream" is what inspired me to become a Community Adviser and volunteer at the Florida Institute for Community Studies Multicultural center. At FICS, we focus on helping minority groups adjust and thrive in our community. We specifically target children from the high-crime area I used to reside in. Every afternoon at our free daycare service, we tutor myriads of children who can't comprehend English, much less read it.
Also, at the FICS Community Adviser meetings, we've given birth to an idea that will revolutionize the way teenagers are viewed in society. Various adults associate the word teenagers with trouble, rowdiness, and disrespect. However, most teenagers that partake in atrocious activities do it because they've been raised in malicious environments. Take, for example, my two closest friends: one had an alcoholic single mom whom she'd often find passed out in the bathroom; the other had a single mom who was always either at her boyfriend's house or at work. Out of lack of a nurturing environment, my friends eventually succumbed to drugs. One was eventually kicked out of her house; she was forced to go live with her father, an ex-drug dealer. The other was murdered in a drug-deal gone wrong. These were very difficult things to witness, and though I tried to halt their wrongdoings, my attempts were futile. However, if they had been given an opportunity to do selfless acts for the community, and had obtained the much needed praise and attention that they lacked at home, they would've been more inclined to make better decisions. This is why we (Community Advisers) created the "A Nicer Tampa Bay" organization. The organization consists of people wearing bracelets inscribed with "I made Tampa Bay nicer." Every time someone does something kind for a bracelet-wearer, the bracelet is passed on to the Good Samaritan, with instructions to pass it on to the next Good Samaritan. This organization has been featured in Creative Loafing Magazine and Fox News. It has even been chosen a finalist in the CTB's 10:100:1000 Challenge.
The success of A Nicer Tampa Bay inspired me and my peers to create an organization in school to promote a healthy environment. Green Team has accomplished much since its birth; it's responsible for the recycling bins located in every classroom, the water-sampling stands that inspired students to ditch bottled water in favor of reusable water bottles, and the organic food stand at our school's annual international festival. Though I am proud of every "Green" accomplishment, I am exorbitantly proud of the organic food stand. I brought this idea to life because I 'm a fervent believer in the healing properties of natural foods, supplements, and treatments. For example, thanks to the ph-balancing properties of organic apple cider vinegar, I no longer have to spend my weekends in the E.R. holding back my mother's hair as she vomits because of her intense stomach pain. And thanks to my organic Calcium-fortified diet and twenty-one hours of weekly intensive chiropractic treatment at home and in the chiropractor's office located in another city, I've been able to avoid a life-altering spine surgery. Therefore, I am exceptionally grateful to Mother Nature's purest forms of food. With the Organic food stand, I strive to share my positive outlook on organic living with my peers by offering them free samples of delicious organic versions of typical American food, like pasta and chicken strips. It is astounding to watch my peers' faces radically change from one of disgust and distrust to one of delightful amazement as they shatter their misconception that food can't simultaneously be organic, healthy, and delicious.
I wasn't always this passionate about organic living. When I was a child, my mother and I would walk to the street across our apartment complex every Friday. This street held junk-food galore. We'd devour greasy pizza and burgers, blissfully unaware of the negative toll these foods were taking on our bodies. When our arteries started screaming "stop!" we'd rapidly silence them with another fry. Afterward, we'd walk to the K-Mart across the street. My mom was utterly convinced that rapidly walking around a few isles would somehow erase the calories she'd just gained. Meanwhile, I'd sit in the book section, devouring as much knowledge as I could. Thanks to K-Mart I learned how tornadoes form, the role of enzymes in our digestive system, who the Virginia Dynasty presidents were, and a myriad other things. Unfortunately, this lovely tradition was brought to a halt when doctor's found what looked like a malign tumor in my mother's left kidney. After a major surgery to extract the tumor, the doctor gave us the blessed news that the tumor had been benign. However, we were instructed to halt our consumption of fatty foods as a precaution. This frightening experience has inspired me to participate in various cancer-related walks and fundraisers as a commemoration for those who were not as lucky as we were to walk out of the O.R. with good news.
In life, there are two methods of dealing with negativity: continuing it with more negativity or utilizing it as inspiration to do wonderful things. I strive to accomplish the latter. This has not only helped me attain a leadership role in my community, it's also fueled my ardent passion for academic greatness. My academic goal for this year is to become a National AP scholar, and I know this is possible because through avid studying and diligence I've achieved the highest standardized tests scores (AP, SAT & ACT) in my school. I hope to utilize the academic and leadership skills I've attained to prepare me for a fulfilling career in Integrative Medicine.
