Essay topics: focus primarily on your academic/career/life goals indicating how past achievements, hardships you have overcome, or family influences are related to these goals.
I am not a stranger to poverty. It has long claws and sharp teeth that can rip apart the strongest souls and sink them into an abyss of despair. I've seen good friends turn into thieves and become apathetic to the suffering of their community because of the pain of being in poverty that consumed them. At times, I felt as if all the crossroads I walked lead towards an impasse. Nonetheless, there was a driving force greater than poverty: love. The love of my family towards me and keep me in the right direction. However, it is not the love they had for me that drove me want more for myself. My father and mother have worked in their shop side by side each other since my earliest memories. This gave me a unique opportunity to see their hard work on a daily basis. At times I tried to work the same hours as they did but by the thirteenth hour of nonstop work, my legs just could not stand the effort at my young age. The next day I would normally want to sleep in the whole day because of my soreness. However, that was not the case for them. The love of my brother who, in every moment he had to spare, spent his time teaching me all that he could; relaying his experiences and academics. To this day, he continues to disseminate his new findings.
At sixteen, I decided to travel to California to complete my junior and senior years of high school in Aliso Niguel. My passion for knowledge engulfed the ache of leaving behind my loved ones.
Aliso Niguel had few Spanish speaking students. One of the hardest experiences I had to endure was the language barrier that isolated me from my peers in high school. Once veneered as my virtue, language was now the laughing stock for the kids on the block. But their laughs melded with my desire and became the fuel for my endeavors. I worked hard to study both mathematics and language. To excel in these areas, I believed, would be most important to my future and the aspirations of ... To my surprise, the algebra that I had been taught in Puerto Rico was not algebra but pre-algebra. Since I wanted to be an...
I look back to those years and I can only hope that someone had given me the advice that I have gained through my experiences. I want to be that someone who plays an active role in the improvement and educational enrichment of my community. I want to have a voice loud enough so that it can be heard by those who are in a desolate or desperate place in their lives; to be able to give them hope that if I was able to achieve my goals, so can they.
The most important of all of these lessons can be expressed, remarkably, in just one word. Perseverance. Financially, I have been in situations that ordinarily may seem impossible to surmount. If it was not for my parents' fiscal sacrifices, I would not be in college pursuing two bachelors' degrees one in computer science and electrical engineering, at this time. I know that my family have never had too much to give but fortunately when I have needed something they have responded. I want to do be able the same, not only for them but for other people in my community as well.
engineer I had a lot of catching up to do since I only had two years to get to pre-calculus. I have to admit now that I had all these challenges I was the happiest I had been in a long time.
I have matured significantly since high school. I am not seeking a brighter future solely for myself but for my community. I have not been sitting idly or patiently waiting until my graduation to have an impact on my community. I have been trying to get involved in various engineering department programs and to work intimately with faculty members. After three years of stalking faculty and asking them if they need anything at all, I finally found Mike Obermeyer, the electrical engineering technician. Thankfully, he has given me an opportunity to work alongside him on the electrical engineering lab's website. The project's main focus is to make the website accessible to students with disabilities and create an online learning environment. This project will provide a student-driven community-based website that will enrich learning at CSULA. Also, it will allow disabled students to enjoy the benefits of the website since it will meet the accessibility standards necessary for them to use the resources on the website.
