Prompt #1

There was to be another basketball game at a different school this time, without the 2 star
players of the team. The previous game without them, I -as the next most experienced player-
failed to lead the team, and we lost by 20 points. This time around, I felt an even bigger need to
take the reigns so I can lead my team into victory. This time around, I wouldn’t let my fear of
taking charge destroy the chances of winning; it wasn’t just about me now, it was about the team.
First half of the game, both teams were neck and neck, but no one had a definitive lead
yet. I was determined to not make mistakes so I kept passing to other players so they can dribble
down the court instead of me. By half time, my coaches realized I was still in my comfort zone,
and I wasn’t doing my best to lead the team; I wasn’t passing well enough and shooting as much
as I could’ve. It was at this moment that I left all my doubts behind me. “You miss 100% of the
shots you don’t take,” kept flashing in my mind, and I decided that it was time to start shooting
and giving better passes.
Second-half rolled around, and it’s my team’s ball. The plan was for my teammate to take
the ball out to immediately pass to me so I can make the three-pointer, and I did. I made the shot
and got an additional foul call. In the next play, I dribbled the ball down, and passed to my
teammate who I knew could shoot excellent threes, and she made it! That gave us a 6-point lead,
which we maintained; for defense, we prevented them from scoring, and we won!
This experience taught me to work under pressure, take over significant roles, and most
importantly, have faith in myself and in my teammates. After this game, I felt more secure about
my abilities on and off the court; I knew that by having confidence in myself, I’m able to
successfully achieve anything.

Prompt #2
 Growing up, drawing has been one of my outlets; whenever I was stressed or upset, I
would draw in a little book to calm myself. This action helped clear my mind so I can see both
sides of the picture in a certain situation. Since I enjoyed this activity so much, I thought I could
improve my skills and perhaps make a career out of it; that’s when I decided to move to a high-
school focusing on the visual arts.
In my art class in highschool, my peers and I were given the task to create an art-piece
using spray-paint; the catch was that the art should have meaning: it must demonstrate the
importance of anti-bullying. This excited me as I never thought to create art with meaning; I only
knew art to be about copying objects on paper. That’s when I knew I wanted this art-piece to be
the best I’ve ever produced.
At first I was stuck. Ideas were racing in my mind, but they didn’t seem to quite fit what I
pictured the piece to be. I thought of how people my age cut themselves because of bullying and
depression, when I thought of a knife! But a knife wasn’t enough, and I had to visualize what I
wanted the knife to portray.
That’s when it came to me, blood! I wanted the blood to be on the edge of the knife, with
droplets of blood spilling from the ragged side of the blade. With each thick, fat droplet, there
would be insults people casually drop towards others. By doing this, I would capture the dark
essence of hatred people have and turn it into the symbol of hurt, sacrifice, and pain.
Through this experience, I demonstrated my creative side by expressing what I felt about
bullying and how it affects youth. I learned that art with real value are the ones with deeper
meanings and connections with others. This was the moment I felt inspired me to create art that
means something to someone, and not just copy paste objects/fruits I observed.

Prompt #5
 Freshman year of high-school, my dad came back from the Philippines after suffering
from a major stroke. He wasn’t capable of driving, remembering directions, reading, or any
draining activity, so I had to become the “co-head” of the household at 14-years old. Managing
the household meant taking care of my younger brother, my sick and elderly dad, and my old
aunt.
Since my dad had a heart condition -cardiomyopathy- and a stroke, responsibility fell on
me to arrange his intricately timed medicine, buy and prepare food (we didn’t cook at home), pay
bills and taxes, and cash checks; I also had additional household chores like cleaning and
washing.
When high-school began, I planned to join the volleyball and basketball team. However,
because I was busy with my dad and family, I couldn’t commit to volleyball. I was devastated,
but I told myself that I was going to play basketball for sure, even if it meant practicing 5 days a
week at 6:00AM and having 2 games a week ending at 6:00PM on top of a college class twice a
week.
Juggling my duties at home with schoolwork, sports, clubs, college classes and
community service was challenging for me, especially since I was just starting out high-school. I
thought I could handle the challenge, but I felt my schoolwork getting sloppy, and I ended up
sleeping in class a couple times because of my lack of sleep. Realizing this, I organized my
schedule so I knew what my priorities were, but also had time for myself.
I knew in my heart that I wanted to succeed for my dad, so he can see me graduate and
obtain a stable job. Telling myself that I had to work hard now to achieve what I wanted later, I
studied longer, worked harder in practice, and did what I had to do at home. I overcame this
obstacle by thinking of the future, and it paid off. Because of my good grades, college classes,
and extracurriculars, I was seen as an academically competitive student.

Prompt #7
 With the natural disasters occurring in Florida, Texas, Puerto Rico, and other countries,
blood was a necessity that numerous amounts of people, who were injured and hurt, needed and
were not able to obtain considering donated blood was running low. Realizing the importance of
helping out my community, I decided to take action by recruiting students for my school’s Red
Cross Blood Drive.
Four weeks in advance, I informed myself of the schedule for the other academies in my
school so that I can recruit students when it was their advisory or homeroom period. This way, it
would be easier to stay organized. Anyhow, I noticed that when other academies have advisory, I
was in my core classes such as AP English Lit and Honors Statistics , which I found troubling.
However, I put my selfish thoughts aside, as I knew that my community and people’s lives were
more important than just a class.
I went to the other academies on days I thought I could manage losing educational time.
By going to these academies, I raised awareness on the issue of blood running low because of the
recent disasters. Additionally, I encouraged these students to donate, and put themselves in the
shoes of those suffering from the disasters. Additionally, knowing that most people were always
on social media, I posted about the Red Cross Blood Drive event on my social networking sites
to inform my peers about it. By raising awareness through social media and going to academies,
I convinced more than 50 students to sign up in the blood drive, help out in their community, and
most importantly, to save lives.
This event opened my eyes into seeing the things I can do for my community here in Los
Angeles, through the United States, and across the globe. It made me happy knowing that
somehow, my actions helped someone. It taught me that no matter how small of an impact, an
impact is still an impact.