1. How have your past circumstances and experiences (such as your upbringing, community, and/or activities) impacted who you are, your future goals, and your choice of major? If you haven't decided on a college or major yet, briefly explain your intentions and aspirations for your first year at Illinois. Please limit your response to approximately 300 words.
My favorite superhero has always been Ironman. While not gifted with abilities like others such as Superman, he managed to use his innovative mind to make himself into something truly amazing. Ever since childhood, I have always been intrigued with how technology worked. I wanted nothing more but to create something amazing of my own, something that I'd be proud of.
As a child, both my parents and teachers realized that I had a natural inclination for math and the sciences. I remember being at a parent-teacher conference where my teacher told my mother "Your son has the potential of becoming a great engineer!" However, since childhood, I had always been timid and unassertive, and thus found engineering as too aggressive of a field for myself to enter.
Beginning in high school, I wanted to change. I made it my goal to break out of my shell and to become more spontaneous and assertive. My true transformation occurred when I decided to volunteer at a Youth Science Program, where I served as assistant teaching younger kids many scientific concepts from light to electricity. I truly enjoyed what I was teaching at the center, and this experience only made me further realize my passion for the field of technology. By going into engineering, I would be doing that I enjoyed as well as allow my imagination to soar. When it comes to doing something that I loved, I would not let my timidity stop me.
In an ever-changing world such as ours, we are in constant need for new innovators to develop technology. With an education from the University of Illinois, I believe that I can become one of these innovators as well. My aspiration simple: I want nothing but to make a difference in a field that I love. (300 words)
2. In no more than 300 words, tell us something about yourself that isn't covered elsewhere in this application, some interest or experience of yours that you think the University of Illinois should know about as part of the admissions review.
Henry Longfellow once said that "Music is the universal language of mankind." For me, music is the primary means of expressing myself, and at the same time it's more than that. Music to me is a way of life.
Since I was 4, my mother began making me take piano lessons. For the first few years, I brushed it off as a chore. I had no real interest in the songs my teachers would constantly require me to learn, and I didn't really enjoy the activity. I treated the trumpet the same way when I took it up in 6th grade.
When I entered high school, I joined the school's marching band. Although I treated it casually, others told me that I had talent, which encouraged me. Playing the trumpet and piano no longer seemed like a chore. I began to truly enjoy making music! It became a source of relaxation for me. Whenever I felt stressed, I would learn a new song that I liked, or try to improvise a new song.
As my passion for music grew evermore larger, so did my abilities. By sophomore year I got into my school's Advanced Jazz Ensemble and by junior year, I was leader of my section. There was no greater feeling for me then pulling off my solo perfectly during the spring concert. While the audience may have just heard only the melody, I felt every note, every heartbeat the song had to offer, and gave it my all.
Music has become an utterly irremovable part of my life. No matter what I become in the future, I will make sure that it always will have its place in my heart. Music is the language that I speak, and it will be how I express myself in this life. (300 words)
