'Honor role / Marching band / Flute / Science and sports' - NCSSM Essays #1-5

Hello, My name is Micah Halter and I am applying to NCSSM, the NC School of Math and Science, and I wanted someone to please look over my essays and tell me grammar mistakes, things I could add, if they're too short, etc. The character limit is 1500 characters including spaces. There are 10, but I have only done 5 for now. Thanks.

Awards, Certificates, Projects and Recognitions:

Straight A Honor Role 9th and 10th grade, Certificate of Achievement in Drafting I and Symphonic Band, Acceptance and Completion of US Naval Academy summer STEM Program --Summer 2012, 1st chair in 9th grade Concert Band and 1st chair piccolo in 10th grade Symphonic Band, Beta Club, Acceptance into the Duke TIP Program

Extracurricular, Community Service and Volunteer Activities (both in-school and out-of-school):

Blue Regiment Marching Band 9th and 10th grade, JETS club, Winter Percussion Ensemble, Cabarrus County Library Summer Reading Program mentor, 7th grade band flute tutor, Mallard Creek Presbyterian Church (Active Teen Fellowship Member, Volunteer with Crisis Assistant Ministries Shelter, and Urban Ministry Food Bank), Fundraising and Participation in JDRF Walk for Diabetes and CROP Walk to Stop Hunger, and Cabarrus County Habitat for Humanity Volunteer (Landscaping).

Leadership Positions and Activities:

Flute section leader in 9th grade concert band, Project leader for JETS Club Trebuchet Competition, and Project leader for Drafting I Bridge competition.

Have you engaged in activities that demonstrate your interest in mathematics and/or science?
If so, please describe the activities and the extent and nature of your involvement.

Yes, I am in the Hickory Ridge HIgh School's JETS Club. JETS Club is the Junior Engineering Technical Society Club. You come together with other people interested in Engineering and Mathematics and build things. Right now, we are working on designing and building trebuchets for a competition. Throughout the year, we will participate in a Trebuchet Competition, Bridge Competition, and Robotic Competition. My trebuchet group gets together every Sunday and a couple days throughout the week to work on the trebuchet. Also, this past summer I participated in the STEM Program at US Naval Academy. I registered in February by filling out essays and scoring a 24 on the ACT. Once accepted, I traveled to Annapolis, Maryland for summer residency camp. We stayed in the dormitories and got to experience what classes and studies were like in their state of the art engineering labs. We also go to explore their Science Laboratories and Mathematic classrooms. It was a great experience and solidified my interests in pursuing a career in Mathematics and Engineering. My high school has also allowed me to advance in my math so that I am a math course ahead of my grade. The normal math class for sophomores at Hickory Ridge High School is Geometry, while I am going to take Honors Algebra II this year. I am working on participating in every activity my school has to offer for mathematics and science. I have taken all honors level classes and I plan to take some AP mathematics and science classes.

Other Interests, Talents & Hobbies:

Science, Mathematics, Technology, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Programming, 3D Animation and Graphics, Blue Regiment Marching Band, Flute, Piccolo, Piano, Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, Percussion (Marimba and Snare), Collecting Music, Arranging Music, Learning new Instruments, Intellectually Challenging Puzzles, Anything that will really make me think and ponder. Watching lectures on Science and Mathematic topics, Basketball, Tennis, Teaching others, Helping people in need, Using my talents as a musician to make other people happy, Anything I can do to Volunteer in my Community, Band Fundraising, Reading books by James Patterson and O'Reilly programming books, and to push myself to my intellectual limits.

Change role to roll.
Will you please go check out mine?

**UPDATE** These are the new questions that I have answered including the ones that I have revised and rewritten.
Hi I am a sophomore that is currently applying to NCSSM. Below are 8 out of 10 questions I have answered. I would greatly appreciate it if I could have feedback on any grammatical mistakes or any suggestions by November 12th. Each question has a 1500 character limit.

1.) Award, Certificates, Projects and Recognitions:Straight A Honor Roll 9th and 10th grade; Certificate of Achievement in Drafting I and Symphonic Band; Acceptance and Completion of US Naval Academy summer STEM Program --Summer 2012; 1st chair in 9th grade Concert Band and 1st chair piccolo in 10th grade Symphonic Band; Invitation and Acceptance into Beta Club; Invitation into the Duke TIP Program; Trebuchet, Bridge, and Robotics project and competition in the school's JETS Club;

2.) Extracurricular, Community Service and Volunteer Activities (both in-school and out-of-school):Blue Regiment Marching Band 9th and 10th grade, JETS club, Winter Percussion Ensemble, Cabarrus County Library Summer Reading Program mentor, 7th grade band flute tutor, Mallard Creek Presbyterian Church (Active Teen Fellowship Member, Volunteer with Crisis Assistant Ministries Shelter, and Urban Ministry Food Bank), Fundraising and Participation in JDRF Walk for Diabetes and CROP Walk to Stop Hunger, Cabarrus County Habitat for Humanity Volunteer (Landscaping).

3.) Leadership Positions and Activities:Last year in first grade, I was 1st chair in the school's concert band. All of the first chairs in the band are made the section leaders. Being section leader, I got to lead the flutes when we were in sectionals. I helped them with their technique and playing. Going over notes and rhythms. Also, I helped my band teacher Mr. White. Doing small jobs like copying music and organizing the music library. Also in 9th grade during my Drafting I class, we had a bridge competition. We got partnered with a random person in the class. I was assigned the project leader out of my partnership. I did most of the designing of the bridge and then my partner worked mostly on the building. Our bridge did very well in the competition. We came in first and held the most weight out of the other groups in the class. Just this year I joined the JETS Club at our school. JETS stands for Junior Engineering Technical Society. This month we competed in a trebuchet competition.We got to get into groups of four to five. I got assigned as the project leader with this competition too. I got the plans for the trebuchet and led most of the building process. We did fairly well in that competition too. Out of the 15 or so schools that were there, we came in around fifth and sixth. The next competition in our JETS Club is a robotics competition. Technologies and electronics are my favorite and I am hoping to be the project leader of that group too.

4.) Have you engaged in activities that demonstrate your interest in mathematics and/or science?If so, please describe the activities and the extent and nature of your involvement.

Yes, I am in the Hickory Ridge HIgh School's JETS Club. JETS Club is the Junior Engineering Technical Society Club. You come together with other people interested in Engineering and Mathematics and build things. Right now, we are working on designing and building trebuchets for a competition. Throughout the year, we will participate in a Trebuchet Competition, Bridge Competition, and Robotic Competition. My trebuchet group gets together every Sunday and a couple days throughout the week to work on the trebuchet. Also, this past summer I participated in the STEM Program at US Naval Academy. I registered in February by filling out essays and scoring a 24 on the ACT. Once accepted, I traveled to Annapolis, Maryland for summer residency camp. We stayed in the dormitories and got to experience what classes and studies were like in their state of the art engineering labs. We also go to explore their Science Laboratories and Mathematic classrooms. It was a great experience and solidified my interests in pursuing a career in Mathematics and Engineering. My high school has also allowed me to advance in my math so that I am a math course ahead of my grade. The normal math class for sophomores at Hickory Ridge High School is Geometry, while I am going to take Honors Algebra II this year. I am working on participating in every activity my school has to offer for mathematics and science. I have taken all honors level classes and I plan to take some AP mathematics and science classes.

5.) Other Interests, Talents & Hobbies:I have many other talents and hobbies outside of mathematics and sciences. I have an extreme passion for music. Really anything that has to do with music. Playing instruments, composing pieces, arranging pieces, and, of course, listening to music. I play an array of instruments including guitar, flute, piccolo, piano, dulcimer, percussion. I also plan on expanding my knowledge and learn even more. I participate in all of the school bands that I can including marching band, concert band, symphonic band, wind ensemble, and the winter percussion ensemble. Besides music, my next biggest passion is with technology and computers. When I am not making music or practicing my instruments, I am working on my computer. I have started learning a couple programming languages, perl and python. I would like to learn more because I am not that great at teaching languages to myself. I would like to take some actual programming classes to help me. I feel that if I take a class on it I will be able to focus a little bit more. I have learned a lot of things on the computer including 3D animation, webpage design, and programming. The few times that I am not doing something with music or computers, I am challenging myself with puzzles and brain teasers. I like doing anything that will challenge me intellectually like sudokus, crosswords, and playing games like scrabble and tetris. I have a couple interests in engineering. I am planning on pursuing a career in mechanical or electrical engineering.

6.) Describe your personality and what makes you unique:Outgoing, enthusiastic, bright, and curious. These are a few words that describe my personality. Anywhere I go, I immediately make friends and meet new people. I am not the kind of person who sits in the corner alone and shy. Even in the classroom, I participate 100% and try my hardest on everything. Along with that, I am very enthusiastic in what I do. If I have to do something, I make as fun as I can and go all out. Even if it is something that I don't particularly like, I look on the bright side and find pride in everything I do. Another couple of words I would use to describe my personality is bright and curious. I am very smart and bright. I have been a straight A student since 5th grade and am keeping that streak going still today. I work as hard as I can in school and will bring this hard working mindset to the classrooms of NCSSM. Another word that goes well with being smart is curious. I use this word because I may be smart in some subjects, but I don't know a lot in others. I am very curious in school and work to explore these subjects to expand my knowledge. I feel like my curiosity is unique and sets me apart from others. There are a lot of smart people out there, and these smart people are usually curious. Although, not everyone pursues them like I do. If I am curious, I am going to pursue it and learn all about the topic. Also, once I start learning or doing something, I don't stop. I will not stop working or trying until I achieve and surpass my goals.

7.) What words best describe your character. Give specific examples of why each word is applicable.Funny and witty, book smart, hard working, and aspiring are the top words to describe my character. I consider myself very funny. I always try to keep the mood light hearted and warm. Like if someone is down or sad, I use humor to cheer them up. Being humorous is just I how I am and act. I am always cracking jokes and kidding around. Although, I do know when to tone it down and be serious too. There is a time and place for everything. Also, I would describe my character as book smart. I am very good with my studies and remember most of the information. I am not one of those students who forgets all the material after the class is over. I tend to retain the information and apply it to day-to-day life. Some material that I learn is in the back of my mind, but once I encounter a problem dealing with the subject, it all comes back and I remember. Hard working and aspiring are the last two words I will talk about now. When I am in school, I go all out. If I have a project or an assignment, I do it to the best of my ability. I also don't wait until the last minute to do something. I pace myself and use the allotted time to do the assignment as best as I can. I am a perfectionist also, so I don't settle for anything less than perfection. All of my projects and assignments are clean and pristine. Aspiring is part of my character because of my hard work. I work hard so I can have the best grades and be at the top of my class. Even now, I aspire to make it into this prestigious school.

8.) Have you had any adversity in your life that you want to explain?Since I was born, I have been raised as a presbyterian christian. As a child, you pretty much believe everything your parents tell you and want you to believe. Religion is a big believe that is passed down. As you grow up, if you are raised in a christian home, it is almost engraved in your mind that christianity is the only way to go and the one and only truth. Most kids as that get older, they just stay how their parents raised them. Within the past year, I have gotten a lot more involved and interested in science and more specifically evolution. This has made me look back and reconsider all of my beliefs. I have been doing a lot of thinking about it and haven't decided where I stand on the topic, or what I believe. The hardest part of the situation was telling my parents. I really didn't want to disappoint them. I know that if i had kids, I would be a little disappointed if they said they didn't believe my religion and beliefs. I would feel like I didn't do a good enough job as a parent and would probably feel a little distant. I did get to tell them and they understood why I was questioning it. They were disappointed like I thought, but it wasn't too bad. The fact that I am not definitely atheist or not has helped a little. I haven't decided yet whether I believe in God or not, but I am leaning towards not.

Try not to use contractions a big no no.