Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how

your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations. *

I come from a working family. Both of my parents for as long as I have lived
have worked.

When my mom or dad came home, my sister and I would be ecstatic. We

would run to the door to see them. This scene would replay every day until we
moved. Now I realize that I don’t ever want to have my kids not see their parents
when they got home from school. That is a stron

One sphere of the world in which I have come from is located on Santa
Catalina Island. There a part of me rests forever. In that place I met some people
that I will never forget. These friends have shaped me into who I am today.

When I was about 10 years old my parents sent me off to sleepaway camp for
the first time. It was incredible, and it was not fun for me at first. I had never spent
more than a few days away from home before that week at Catalina. I had an
amazing time. Normally I would have shied away from any social contact, but my
counselor changed that. For once there was an adult who would listen to me. This
adult had an impact on me. While at this camp I could truly be myself. I didn’t
have to by afraid of social contact when I was there because there was a counselor
with me there.

This is why I want to be a counselor at this camp. This one person showed
me that there was a place in this world where you didn’t have to be judged on your
outward appearance. A counselor changed the way I looked at people myself, and
my expectations. This change in thought influences me every day. Because of this
influence it is my wish to become a camp counselor, or have something to do with
children, even if I spring for a different degree. It is so important to me that every
child have an experience like this one. One in which our increasingly photoshopped
world that will be listened to.

Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to
you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud, and how does it relate to the person
you are? *

The thing that makes me most proud of myself is the fact that I have
overcome being shy. I am proud of this because instead of fretting so much every
time I have to do public speaking, or talk to a group of people, I make the most of it
rather than avoid the opportunity like the plague. Before though, shyness was the
thing that held me back most. It got me bad grades on presentations in which I had
to speak, and it made me a very introverted person. It was no easy task to get rid of
the overwhelming xenophobia I experienced.

It was extremely difficult for me to make friends because of how timid I was
as a result of my schooling. I went to private school for my entire childhood, and
grew up with the same thirty-or-so kids throughout those years. When I started
high school, it was a huge change. In one summer I had gone from 300 children in
my entire school, Kindergarten through Eighth grade, to a public school with 1500
young adults. This was a challenge for me. I had never seen or met anyone at my
new school, while all the other kids still had their old groups from junior high. In
short, It was nearly impossible for me, a shy 14 year old, to make friends.

It’s not that I was anti-social, it’s that I used to be so nervous. Whenever I
tried to talk to someone, I thought they were judging me constantly. I would think
about what I was going to say so much that I ended up being afraid to speak my
mind.

“Would I sound weird if I said that?”

“Do I look normal?”

“Stop fidgeting.”

“Why are you so nervous?” I would ask myself before any social encounter.

It was quite a struggle to force myself to be social. I had resolved that I

wasn’t happy being shy. So I gave myself a goal: to get an A on my 9th grade
English presentation. It involved preparing and performing a short skit in class.
This small project terrified me to say the least. I had never gotten a good grade on
any oral report before. Whenever I had to do one, I would get it over with as quickly
as possible, hence my projects showed little depth into the book or project I was
presenting. So I planned and ensured that I would not do this again. For the first
time I forced myself to achieve that “A” and I prepared for a whole week to
guarantee it. The day loomed ahead. As it got closer and closer, I started to stress,
but still I rehearsed. Eventually judgment day had come, for me at least.