Hey everyone, I'm new to this site.Thank you to anyone who will take time in reading my response and this site has been a great help to me. I redacted some names cause I don't they would like to be revealed. The prompt is asking what I did but I have also included why and how these experience have affected me. As such, I'm not too confident about my response as should I be more descriptive and concentrate on the what or my current response
Prompt: What have you been doing upon graduating from high school? [2000 characters]
Having been a student my whole life, I wanted to take a hiatus from studying to spend some time with my family, travel and embrace new experiences to learn more about myself. As I was situated in Singapore for virtually the entirety of my life, I started my gap year by returning to my hometown, Indonesia to spend time with my family and understand my Indonesian culture. This also gave me opportunities to volunteer at --- Indonesia. Such an experience has not only allowed me to rediscover my homeland but also my identity as an Indonesian. It also significantly improved my ability to speak Bahasa Indonesia, which allowed me to interact with the locals.
Afterwards, I took some time to backpack in Australia and experienced new thrills such as skydiving, diving and surfing. I was also able to visit America with my family for the first time. Enamoured by the diversity of campuses, students and courses available, it further augmented my desire to pursue an undergraduate study in America. Travelling has also helped me to grow, be more outspoken and more responsible as an individual. By immersing myself in various cultures and meeting a diversity of people, I gained a global perspective and discovered many new passions such as Japanese as a fourth language.
Aspiring to be a future computer scientist, I have since then interned at ---, a mobile commerce start-up. I started out as a non-technical employee and as I gradually improved my ability to code through courses on Codeacademy and Pluralsight, I was able to partake in several rudimentary coding assignments. I am grateful for this as it has given me first-hand experiences what it feels like to be a computer scientist. It not only allowed me to develop my technical skills but also hone my business, marketing and management skills. This gap year has really transformed my life beyond belief. Instead of burying myself in textbooks learning about our contemporary world, I am finally able to live in it.
Prompt: What have you been doing upon graduating from high school? [2000 characters]
Having been a student my whole life, I wanted to take a hiatus from studying to spend some time with my family, travel and embrace new experiences to learn more about myself. As I was situated in Singapore for virtually the entirety of my life, I started my gap year by returning to my hometown, Indonesia to spend time with my family and understand my Indonesian culture. This also gave me opportunities to volunteer at --- Indonesia. Such an experience has not only allowed me to rediscover my homeland but also my identity as an Indonesian. It also significantly improved my ability to speak Bahasa Indonesia, which allowed me to interact with the locals.
Afterwards, I took some time to backpack in Australia and experienced new thrills such as skydiving, diving and surfing. I was also able to visit America with my family for the first time. Enamoured by the diversity of campuses, students and courses available, it further augmented my desire to pursue an undergraduate study in America. Travelling has also helped me to grow, be more outspoken and more responsible as an individual. By immersing myself in various cultures and meeting a diversity of people, I gained a global perspective and discovered many new passions such as Japanese as a fourth language.
Aspiring to be a future computer scientist, I have since then interned at ---, a mobile commerce start-up. I started out as a non-technical employee and as I gradually improved my ability to code through courses on Codeacademy and Pluralsight, I was able to partake in several rudimentary coding assignments. I am grateful for this as it has given me first-hand experiences what it feels like to be a computer scientist. It not only allowed me to develop my technical skills but also hone my business, marketing and management skills. This gap year has really transformed my life beyond belief. Instead of burying myself in textbooks learning about our contemporary world, I am finally able to live in it.
