Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.
Live Life to the Fullest
My family and I visit my grandmother's grave every year on her birthday. The first time we came to visit, I remember being so bored because at the time, I did not understand the significance of being there and how much it meant to my father. So naturally, as a kid who had nothing to do, I began to examine my surroundings. I read every single grave that I could find and even calculated how long they had lived for. I stopped at one grave. It was simple and didn't have the fancy script that the others did, or let alone a picture of the deceased. All it had was the name, date of birth to death, and a short message from his family. When I looked at the date, I realized that this person had only lived for a day. It shocked me because all the other graves beside it, according to their dates, lived much longer. Looking at all of that and to suddenly see a grave of a person who lived for only one day surprised me. I called my brother over to tell him, but he just looked at me and said, "So what?" like it was nothing to him. It was more than just another slab of rock to me because there lied a boy whose family cared enough to actually put his body in a grave even though he had only lived for a day. It dawned on me how lucky I was to be alive at that moment because I was already living years more than what this person would ever be able to see. With that realization came guilt because I realized that I was wasting the precious hours, minutes, and seconds that I had more than this person. I felt lucky to even be able to wake up in the morning because it was another day that I had more than that boy. I was lucky to just have a life that I could actually experience. After that, I swore to never take anything for granted again. I swore that I would seize every opportunity, and enjoy every moment I had no matter how small because each day is precious. People die everyday, but that grave in particular made an impact on me because it reminded me of how fragile life is. Now every year we visit my grandmother's grave, I make sure to pass by his as well to remind me of how lucky I am to be alive.
Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences in the space below (1000 character maximum).
Landas ng Karunungan (path of wisdom) is a summer tutorial program for public high school students. Established in 1986 by Fr. Patrick Lim of the Sta. Maria Della Strada Parish, LnK has helped send hundreds of Balara High School students to school. Volunteer tutors come from different high schools in the Metro. I was one such tutor privileged to spend my summer in the company of such bright students and the only thing holding them back was that they lacked the means to really flourish. I would teach first year English and second year math and it astounded me how eager they were to learn every time I would teach a new lesson and how they saw mistakes as not failing but getting closer to the answer. With the company of my group of good friends, we taught the class together for 10 weeks one subject after another so that the most deserving of students could get a scholarship for their high school tuition fee to be lessened. It would always warm my heart whenever they would greet me in the morning ot say thanks you after every lesson because I knew they truly meant it. Of course, it wasn't all fun and games, there were some students who had a hard time and gave up right away but their fellow classmates would always help those who didn't understand the lesson, they had each other's back. I really did create a lasting bond with these students and I know that they will go far. That is why I will be coming back next summer to help these children and myself because it's a learning experience for both teacher and student.
Thank you!
Live Life to the Fullest
My family and I visit my grandmother's grave every year on her birthday. The first time we came to visit, I remember being so bored because at the time, I did not understand the significance of being there and how much it meant to my father. So naturally, as a kid who had nothing to do, I began to examine my surroundings. I read every single grave that I could find and even calculated how long they had lived for. I stopped at one grave. It was simple and didn't have the fancy script that the others did, or let alone a picture of the deceased. All it had was the name, date of birth to death, and a short message from his family. When I looked at the date, I realized that this person had only lived for a day. It shocked me because all the other graves beside it, according to their dates, lived much longer. Looking at all of that and to suddenly see a grave of a person who lived for only one day surprised me. I called my brother over to tell him, but he just looked at me and said, "So what?" like it was nothing to him. It was more than just another slab of rock to me because there lied a boy whose family cared enough to actually put his body in a grave even though he had only lived for a day. It dawned on me how lucky I was to be alive at that moment because I was already living years more than what this person would ever be able to see. With that realization came guilt because I realized that I was wasting the precious hours, minutes, and seconds that I had more than this person. I felt lucky to even be able to wake up in the morning because it was another day that I had more than that boy. I was lucky to just have a life that I could actually experience. After that, I swore to never take anything for granted again. I swore that I would seize every opportunity, and enjoy every moment I had no matter how small because each day is precious. People die everyday, but that grave in particular made an impact on me because it reminded me of how fragile life is. Now every year we visit my grandmother's grave, I make sure to pass by his as well to remind me of how lucky I am to be alive.
Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences in the space below (1000 character maximum).
Landas ng Karunungan (path of wisdom) is a summer tutorial program for public high school students. Established in 1986 by Fr. Patrick Lim of the Sta. Maria Della Strada Parish, LnK has helped send hundreds of Balara High School students to school. Volunteer tutors come from different high schools in the Metro. I was one such tutor privileged to spend my summer in the company of such bright students and the only thing holding them back was that they lacked the means to really flourish. I would teach first year English and second year math and it astounded me how eager they were to learn every time I would teach a new lesson and how they saw mistakes as not failing but getting closer to the answer. With the company of my group of good friends, we taught the class together for 10 weeks one subject after another so that the most deserving of students could get a scholarship for their high school tuition fee to be lessened. It would always warm my heart whenever they would greet me in the morning ot say thanks you after every lesson because I knew they truly meant it. Of course, it wasn't all fun and games, there were some students who had a hard time and gave up right away but their fellow classmates would always help those who didn't understand the lesson, they had each other's back. I really did create a lasting bond with these students and I know that they will go far. That is why I will be coming back next summer to help these children and myself because it's a learning experience for both teacher and student.
Thank you!