Maria Isabel Galarza

September 4, 2017
Block 7

Dear teacher,

My name is Mara Isabel Galarza Ive been a student at Colegio Menor San
Fransisco de Quito since kindergarten. My birthday is the twenty seventh of September of
2000 and I was born in Quito, Ecuador. We are four people in my family: my mom, my
dad my brother who is fourteen years old and I. My mother and I are very close together
and I see her as my best friend. My extended families are really close and spend a lot of
time together. From the time when I was a little kid my favorite subject has been Art but I
had other interests during primary school. When I got to fourth grade I needed to choose
an instrument and I choose cello. Cello was my passion I played it all day and I enjoyed it
a lot but when I turned thirteen our electives changed and we needed to pick between Art
or Music. It was the most difficult decision I have ever made but at the end I took art. That
decision changed my life. Cristina Jijon has been my Art teacher until last year and she has
been guiding me, teaching me how to cope with problems and telling me that everything
is possible. I see my Art teacher as a mentor and thanks to her help I am now clear of which
career I am going to pursue.

Sports are my weaknesses. When I was little I never was very good at sports
because I was too tall for my age and lacked coordination. Before entering upper school, I
liked basketball due to the fact that I was very tall. No one was as tall as me and I felt good
at it because I could score points. Later on, I was part of the Menor volleyball team with
my friends, I really liked it motivated me and it was really fun. Nevertheless, I had too
much homework, quizzes, tests and I was tired all the time with all the practices. Then
when my volleyball teacher quit and nothing was the same. I did not like the new teacher
so I decided to concentrate my energy on other things.

Something I really like about myself is that I am a person that never quits. I was
diagnosed with attention problems when I was six years old but I always try to do my best
even though sometimes school can be very challenging. This difficulty I have has made
anxious when I take tests. I get really nervous and no matter how much I study and know
everything when I have tests I tend to score really low. But this problem has not stop me
to do incredible things, for example this summer I went to USC Summer School in
California. This experience was not only great academically because it helped to know that
I want to study Architecture but also because California became my favorite place in the
world. I meet many new people from different parts of the world and had so many new
experiences. It was great!
This year Im working towards to my goals that is to focus on my studies, to
continue trying to control my anxiety, to learn more and have good grades in my tests.

Best regards,
Maria Isabel Galarza