Growing up in an immigrant Russian Jewish family resembles a chess tournament. All pieces have their precise position, movements and strategies; all my family members work together to achieve an ultimate goal of making it in this wonderful county. This puts enormous pressure on me since I am the oldest child, holding the burden to please my parents and be a role model to my siblings. I have woken up at 3 in the morning to study chess to achieve my goal to win the US Nationals; I stayed up all night cramming formulas for AIME and USAMO. I sat at my computer for two weeks straight perfecting my Connect Four program. That’s when I realized, I was not doing this to please anyone, I genuinely wanted to succeed and be the best I could.
The rigorous schedule of school and volunteer work was leaving me no time to connect with my friends and meet new people, so I founded a local Heritage Club. We welcome anybody who is interested to join in, it helps us to better understand current political, cultural events and each other.
In a word, my world is nerdy, but I am proud of it and hope it will expand during my college years
I am most proud of my persistence and my dedication. Dad started teaching me chess when I was only two years old. It took an enormous effort to stay focused, but I learned to be persistent and spent long hours mastering my moves. We still laugh at my toddler photos where I am tasting chess pieces. I enjoy the challenge of learning new skills and I can now spend hours getting ready for math and programming competitions going over difficult parts numerous times. I can practice violin and guitar even when I am frustrated by the results. Patience and dedication also come in handy when I am tutoring students in math or explaining to senior citizens how to use a computer or electronic gadgets. Persistence makes it possible to help my siblings with their homework without major disappointments.
I am very dedicated to making my town a safe place, so for four years I took part in Junior Police Academy and then Prosecutor’s Summer Internship. I was also training with State Troopers. It was a true physical challenge that made me stronger and much more fit.
When I am writing computer code, I can patiently stay focused for hours. My latest achievement is a computerized Connect Four game that has a better strategy than most existing applications
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