Throughout all of my years in high school, I have showed academic excellence in the subjects of science and mathematics. Although, I've never received recognition from my school, such as a student of the month reward (for my excellence in science and mathematics), my report cards in the past and present reflect my intellectual abilities and expertise in each discipline. I owe much of my success as a student in science and mathematics to the Rice and MIT graduate Sal Khan, the founder of khanacademy.org, which is also known as "The One World School House." My intellectual curiosity in science and mathematics has been greatly enriched by watching the videos on Khan Academy and, furthermore, my inclination to understand the physical universe.
It was not until my junior year in high school, however, when my academic excellence in science and mathematics became apparent to me and my teachers. During this year I joined the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics club and put my abilities in science and mathematics to the challenge. Participating in FIRST Robotics enabled me to see how scientific theory could be applied to the real world and this encouraged me to delve into my studies of science and mathematics. My grades in chemistry and algebra two also reflected my excellence in science and mathematics as I achieved A's in both subjects. Even though chemistry and algebra two weren't the most rigorous science and math courses I could have taken my junior year, they were the classes in which I excelled, and more importantly, helped me identify my academic interests.
As a senior, I am now enrolled in more challenging courses that can meet my intellectual rigor; such classes include AP Calculus and AP Physics to mention a couple. My leap from Algebra II Honors to AP Calculus has not been that big of a difference because I dedicated a great amount of my time over the summer studying trigonometry, pre-calculus, and watching the calculus videos on Khanacademy.org. While I learned most of the indispensable concepts in pre-calculus and trigonometry from the books I read at the local library, the video's on Khan Academy helped me attain a better understanding of some of the more intricate and difficult concepts in math, such as the law of sine's or the law of cosines. My inclination to understand the universe by using equations, along with the detailed videos on Khan Academy helped me learn trigonometry and pre-calculus over the summer. My time and efforts over the summer paid off which is why I am sitting in AP Calculus instead of pre-calculus and trigonometry.
The time and effort I have put into studying science and mathematics has been a significant benefactor in my success as a student and an individual. From indulging into these two passions of mine I have learned to excel and go beyond the limits that a typical student taking an AP Calculus or AP Chemistry course would confine themselves to. I do not limit myself to the coursework assigned by the teacher; rather I tackle AP practice problems offered on the collegeboard.org website and also watch videos on Khanacademy.org when my schedule permits me. These study habits that I have developed have ultimately helped me excel in science, mathematics, and my other courses as well.
More critical to my success in science and mathematics, however, is my keen interest in the unified theory of the universe also known as String Theory. I learned about String Theory, the theory of the universe, while reading a documentary about the German born physicist, Albert Einstein who introduced the theory in the early nineteen twenties. At the moment, my skills and acumen in the subject of mathematics may not be sufficient to comprehend the advanced calculus that String Theory requires, but it is this fact that motivates me to learn and excel in my math course as well as my science courses. In addition, my excellence in math and science has been heavily influenced by reading the works of theoretical physicists such as Michio Kaku and Brian Greene both of whom are leading string theorists.
Furthermore, I am attracted to the study of science and mathematics because they come together to form a coherent framework that enables us to describe the happenings of the universe via equations and formulae. Without these subjects, engineers would not be able to effectively perform their jobs and our modern society wouldn't be so modern. In fact the word airplane or particle accelerator probably wouldn't exist in our everyday language because we would not know of such things. In other words, the advancement of technology and our way of living relies heavily upon the subjects of science and mathematics. Ultimately my desire to make the world a better place by using engineering applications is what inspires me to excel in academics.
It was not until my junior year in high school, however, when my academic excellence in science and mathematics became apparent to me and my teachers. During this year I joined the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics club and put my abilities in science and mathematics to the challenge. Participating in FIRST Robotics enabled me to see how scientific theory could be applied to the real world and this encouraged me to delve into my studies of science and mathematics. My grades in chemistry and algebra two also reflected my excellence in science and mathematics as I achieved A's in both subjects. Even though chemistry and algebra two weren't the most rigorous science and math courses I could have taken my junior year, they were the classes in which I excelled, and more importantly, helped me identify my academic interests.
As a senior, I am now enrolled in more challenging courses that can meet my intellectual rigor; such classes include AP Calculus and AP Physics to mention a couple. My leap from Algebra II Honors to AP Calculus has not been that big of a difference because I dedicated a great amount of my time over the summer studying trigonometry, pre-calculus, and watching the calculus videos on Khanacademy.org. While I learned most of the indispensable concepts in pre-calculus and trigonometry from the books I read at the local library, the video's on Khan Academy helped me attain a better understanding of some of the more intricate and difficult concepts in math, such as the law of sine's or the law of cosines. My inclination to understand the universe by using equations, along with the detailed videos on Khan Academy helped me learn trigonometry and pre-calculus over the summer. My time and efforts over the summer paid off which is why I am sitting in AP Calculus instead of pre-calculus and trigonometry.
The time and effort I have put into studying science and mathematics has been a significant benefactor in my success as a student and an individual. From indulging into these two passions of mine I have learned to excel and go beyond the limits that a typical student taking an AP Calculus or AP Chemistry course would confine themselves to. I do not limit myself to the coursework assigned by the teacher; rather I tackle AP practice problems offered on the collegeboard.org website and also watch videos on Khanacademy.org when my schedule permits me. These study habits that I have developed have ultimately helped me excel in science, mathematics, and my other courses as well.
More critical to my success in science and mathematics, however, is my keen interest in the unified theory of the universe also known as String Theory. I learned about String Theory, the theory of the universe, while reading a documentary about the German born physicist, Albert Einstein who introduced the theory in the early nineteen twenties. At the moment, my skills and acumen in the subject of mathematics may not be sufficient to comprehend the advanced calculus that String Theory requires, but it is this fact that motivates me to learn and excel in my math course as well as my science courses. In addition, my excellence in math and science has been heavily influenced by reading the works of theoretical physicists such as Michio Kaku and Brian Greene both of whom are leading string theorists.
Furthermore, I am attracted to the study of science and mathematics because they come together to form a coherent framework that enables us to describe the happenings of the universe via equations and formulae. Without these subjects, engineers would not be able to effectively perform their jobs and our modern society wouldn't be so modern. In fact the word airplane or particle accelerator probably wouldn't exist in our everyday language because we would not know of such things. In other words, the advancement of technology and our way of living relies heavily upon the subjects of science and mathematics. Ultimately my desire to make the world a better place by using engineering applications is what inspires me to excel in academics.
