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Tell us about an experience, in school or out, that taught you something about yourself and/or the world around you.
A motley group of my classmates and I volunteered to teach underprivileged kids at a local school. We arrived everyday at 9 sharp to teach these kids subjects ranging from History to personal hygiene. By the end of week one, the eyes of every single kid longed for the our arrival. Even though they felt rancorous towards their teachers, they were nothing but magnanimous towards us.
Speaking with them, we learnt that these kids did not have access to basic amenities such as uniforms or food in some cases. The juxtaposition of their bleak situation with our lives rattled us to our roots so badly that what was supposed to be a two week project, ended up being three months long.
During this time, we arranged multiple clothing and book donating drives in the city for them. Basic medicines were donated by the local hospital for these kids. By the end, we were so emotionally attached to them that saying good bye released all our emotions, not something I expected at the beginning. I think it is safe to assume that the person who first took part in the project is different from the one who ended it. I
Be it inside or outside of the classroom, what have you done to challenge yourself intellectually? Describe an issue, topic or area of study that you have investigated or pursued.
A robotics team from the USA visited our school to showcase their robots. They offered a proposal for us to participate in a robotics competition against other teams. I was one of the members of the team representing our school. We had to design a robot, build it and program it, all in one month. A huge task was ahead of us.
There were multiple hitches along our journey. But the biggest problem was coding the robot to follow our commands. I was the only Computer Science student of the team so was tasked with programming it. The robot, which was made up of the Lego EV3 however needed some very different commands compared to the programming languages I learnt in class.
With the internet at my disposal, I got hold of e-books and tutorials online about programming robots and starting learning from them. As the deadline approached, a lot of work was still pending so all nighters became very common. Ultimately, we did design a robot albeit it was nothing great. But this ordeal or rather constructive experience made me realize that my true passion lies in the fields of computers and engineering.
Explain how you responded to a problem and/or an unfamiliar situation. What did you do, what was the outcome, and what did you learn from the experience?
My school was to perform a French play and the narrator fell sick. I was chosen as the replacement, someone who doesn't have any clue about French. I was tasked with memorizing and narrating the script, on a stage, my age old adversary. I associated public speaking with terror and this seemed no different. All this had to be done in two days.
I chalked out a plan. I recorded my voice and did it over and over. For two days I shut myself in my room and gave it everything. Even then, memorizing words you don't understand isn't easy. Whether it was se or soi, I found everything hard.
The days flew. On the day,dad dropped me off and wished me luck. He was in the army and was deployed so ending up leaving that night. More pressure. I had to perform impeccably.
I walked onto the stage, legs trembling. Lights fell. I spoke, with a voice brimming with confidence I never knew I had. The words formed perfectly. Walking off, I felt different. It felt incredible. This taught me that no matter what the problem was, everything had a solution if I was willing to work for it.
Tell us about an experience, in school or out, that taught you something about yourself and/or the world around you.
A motley group of my classmates and I volunteered to teach underprivileged kids at a local school. We arrived everyday at 9 sharp to teach these kids subjects ranging from History to personal hygiene. By the end of week one, the eyes of every single kid longed for the our arrival. Even though they felt rancorous towards their teachers, they were nothing but magnanimous towards us.
Speaking with them, we learnt that these kids did not have access to basic amenities such as uniforms or food in some cases. The juxtaposition of their bleak situation with our lives rattled us to our roots so badly that what was supposed to be a two week project, ended up being three months long.
During this time, we arranged multiple clothing and book donating drives in the city for them. Basic medicines were donated by the local hospital for these kids. By the end, we were so emotionally attached to them that saying good bye released all our emotions, not something I expected at the beginning. I think it is safe to assume that the person who first took part in the project is different from the one who ended it. I
Be it inside or outside of the classroom, what have you done to challenge yourself intellectually? Describe an issue, topic or area of study that you have investigated or pursued.
A robotics team from the USA visited our school to showcase their robots. They offered a proposal for us to participate in a robotics competition against other teams. I was one of the members of the team representing our school. We had to design a robot, build it and program it, all in one month. A huge task was ahead of us.
There were multiple hitches along our journey. But the biggest problem was coding the robot to follow our commands. I was the only Computer Science student of the team so was tasked with programming it. The robot, which was made up of the Lego EV3 however needed some very different commands compared to the programming languages I learnt in class.
With the internet at my disposal, I got hold of e-books and tutorials online about programming robots and starting learning from them. As the deadline approached, a lot of work was still pending so all nighters became very common. Ultimately, we did design a robot albeit it was nothing great. But this ordeal or rather constructive experience made me realize that my true passion lies in the fields of computers and engineering.
Explain how you responded to a problem and/or an unfamiliar situation. What did you do, what was the outcome, and what did you learn from the experience?
My school was to perform a French play and the narrator fell sick. I was chosen as the replacement, someone who doesn't have any clue about French. I was tasked with memorizing and narrating the script, on a stage, my age old adversary. I associated public speaking with terror and this seemed no different. All this had to be done in two days.
I chalked out a plan. I recorded my voice and did it over and over. For two days I shut myself in my room and gave it everything. Even then, memorizing words you don't understand isn't easy. Whether it was se or soi, I found everything hard.
The days flew. On the day,dad dropped me off and wished me luck. He was in the army and was deployed so ending up leaving that night. More pressure. I had to perform impeccably.
I walked onto the stage, legs trembling. Lights fell. I spoke, with a voice brimming with confidence I never knew I had. The words formed perfectly. Walking off, I felt different. It felt incredible. This taught me that no matter what the problem was, everything had a solution if I was willing to work for it.
