It was a bright sunny Wednesday afternoon and I was walking towards my car. I got out of class early and was heading home to get myself ready to spend time with my bright and intelligent students. Sometimes when I get out of class my body feels overwhelmed and tired. Perhaps it feels this way because of all the things that are going on in my life like family, friendship, relationship, community service, and homework assignments. I feel like I am very busy that I often do not have time for myself. However when I arrived to El Jardin that quickly changes. The students that I work with on Wednesday fill my life with positive attitude and energy that I often forget about the worries and stress that I encounter during the day. I really love my Wednesday shift more than my Tuesday shift because I have a stronger connection and attachment towards the two girls that I work with. On Wednesday’s, I work with two bright and intelligent 6th grade girls named Arisa and Janet. Both of them have special qualities and a sweet kind heart.…
Throughout my years of high school I have always strived for the best grades that I could attain, and they didn’t come easy. There were plenty of distractions that had driven me off course. Whether it was long hours at practice, volunteering for my community, or having a part-time job, I couldn’t let these activities hinder my grades. This purpose had sprung in me, to not only strive in my extracurricular activities, but also my schoolwork. Balancing both school and additional activities wasn’t a simple task. This led me to many sleepless nights, in which I had to tutor myself on certain topics I was struggling on. This ranged from my hardest subject, to studying extra hours on my hardest class, and even simple topics that I needed extra work…
School is place where I have met different people with different ways of culture and living. I have found it interesting meeting new people that don’t share the same beliefs as me because I get to know more about where they came from and what their beliefs are.…
Today, I interviewed my calculus teacher, Muiny Somaya. I interviewed her because I was interested in knowing what her interests were and how she viewed her experiences in school. It was interesting to get perspectives on particular topics, such as what was her most difficult class she had taken in school. To my surprise, she didn’t respond multivariable calculus or organic chemistry assuming she had taken it. Instead, she responded literature! She told me the hardest part about topics like literature is that the answers aren’t straightforward. Many people can have different perspectives on works of literature, therefore leading to different responses. She prefers short stories and poems that are easy to read without confusing jargon that takes…
In fourth grade, I was given a homework assignment of the worst nature my nine-year-old brain could envision: an essay. My entire class erupted with sighs and groans as my teacher explained the assignment: interview someone you know and write a biography. I was stumped; I didn't think anyone in my family was interesting. I didn’t have an uncle that was a firefighter or cousin that was an astronaut. I had absolutely no idea who to write about. At dinner that night, my parents suggested I interview my grandfather. With no alternatives in mind, I unenthusiastically accepted their suggestion. The following Friday night, my parents drove me to my grandparents’ house with a pencil and a notebook, and I sat down with my grandfather as he told me the story of how he came to America.…
One thing that I think that sets me apart from other candidates applying to the University of California is that I put my heart and soul on every assignment, projects and exam. I work hard and put time on the assignment, projects and exam. I also give my full effort. Whenever I give my heart and soul on the assignment or projects, I am able to learn more than I should learn. I was able to discover new facts that I did not know. For example, in my Pre Calculus class, we did a project about global warming. I have to research about global warming and predict total population, average temperature, carbon dioxide emission in the next 50 and 100 years from now. I took my time and read articles about global warming. While looking at the statistic, I was asking myself what is cause of increasing population, temperature, and carbon dioxide emission. I realize those three factors are causing global warming. I made sure that I did the math correctly. I also made sure that I explained the definition, cause, and effect of the global warming. I gave my heart and soul by giving my best effort and making sure my data and information…
Sorry for not getting in touch with you, I haven't had time to check in with you because I am taking summer classes in San Francisco and doing part-time help desk position at the same time. I did great on my first year of college and looking forward to the upper division classes in the upcoming sophomore year. I think the first year of college went well for me because of my wonderful experience at…
In general, I would describe my ability in math as average. I did well in elementary, but middle school was when I started having difficulties. When I took math I, I mostly got B’s and C’s on my tests, because I had a hard time understanding the material, or asking the teacher if I needed help with a certain concept. Overall, I think my average grade for math would be a B, but I would like to improve this year and get an A for a final grade. My parents definitely contributed to my overall success. If I didn’t have their support, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I disliked learning trigonometry and graphing functions. I took math II online, so I wasn’t able to really use a worksheet and graph any problems for myself. I liked the substitution…
I never came kindly to the subject of Math. Math was always about constant rote memorization, full of extensive redundant notes that always found their way stuffed into the folds of my notebook never to be seen again. I held onto this impression the entire duration of ninth grade. However, upon a simple happenstance of acquiring the right math teacher with a different approach to math, I became increasingly aware of my previous errors in thinking. Everything was not as unyielding and tedious as I thought it was. Experiencing a teacher with a powerful new perspective altered my rigid frame of thinking, allowing me to excel in math.…
It was my first day of practice for high school swimming. There I was- a scrawny freshman, idolizing these upperclassmen who towered above me. Being the only freshman in my class, my coach had me train alongside these giants. I remember the countless morning practices, which always involved grueling endurance sets, where my teammates lapped me constantly while I struggled to make the intervals; feeling disappointed in myself, but determined to continue working hard in order to catch up to my teammates. However, even those grueling workouts could not compare to Christmas break that year. A whole week of practices that were near impossible for my teammates, and absolute torture for me. I will never forget one set from that week. It was a set of 32x150s with a descending interval every four. By the last eight, I was no longer making the interval and struggling to keep up with my teammates, who ended up lapping me, as usual. But I still put every ounce of effort I had into that set, and swam every lap long after everyone else had finished. I challenged myself with a fierce determination to…
Walking into my honors English class my eleventh grade year, I felt as if it would be a breeze. Thinking back to the previous year to when I constantly maintained an “A+” and without hesitation I knew that any test, quiz, or writing prompt I was destined for an “A.” It was until now sobbing in a big puddle of salty water I knew for a fact I was doomed. Although I had never really thought into what karma was and what it really meant. It was my eleventh grade year in high school it had finally caught up to me.…
During my current four years of high school, I have come to a conclusion that life is hard and the decisions you make are very important. This is my last year of high school and I’m the first one to graduate from my family. My grandmother tends to tell me that I don’t need college just a simple 7 month course of medical assistant or dentist assistant and not waste any more money. I’m lost, I wish people could help me out and tried to guide me in the direction of the right decision but is my life and choices. There has been times that my grandmother has told me that I am not going to be somebody in the future.…
Everyone wants good grades throughout their years in school, mainly in high school. I am more of a math and science person, other subjects like history and government. Topics like politics, the constitution, the United States Government, political parties and anything else having to do with Government class I had no interest in when I signed up for classes. I know this is something that I should be keeping up to date on because of the upcoming election and everything that changes with the government. The spring of my sophomore year I was looking for different classes to take, I saw AP Government. I thought I could do well in that class, I was motivated to learn something new and excel at something I was not very interested in. The first day of junior year came quickly. Then the first AP government test came even quicker. I studied the night before for hours thinking positive thoughts and finding funny ways to remember different answers. Going into the test I thought I was ready, but when I saw the test I froze. Thinking different thoughts like “When did we learn this?” or “Why did I take this class?”. I pushed all the negative thoughts to the side and completed the test to the best of my ability. The day we got our test back I looked down and about cried. I had never done that bad on a test.…
The proudest moment in my high school career is when I signed myself to take my first AP class. I was really nervous about going to the meeting to sign myself up to get the summer assignment because I felt that I was not ready for the work load, and I would not be able to pass the class. My excuse for not going to the meeting was that I was helping in the cafeteria and I was going to be really late, but when I told my two best friends Jenny and Virginia that I wasn't going to take it anymore. They got so frustrated and annoyed with me because they said I was stupid if I didn’t take AP calculus because that was my favorite subject and I needed a challenge in that class. They also made me remember when I would tell them that Math Analysis was…
When my parents first expressed to me that I needed to take advanced courses starting freshman year, I was skeptical. I desired an easy, laid-back experience in high school; however, my parents declared otherwise. I began freshman year with three honors classes, and the parental expectation to make at least ninety-five percent in all of my classes. At the time, I thought this to be too extreme, but little did I know that colleges look back on all grades…