Personal Profile

Name: ​Sofia Migala

1. The three qualities you like best about yourself are…
My creativity, my adventurousness, and my diligence.
2. The accomplishments you are most proud of are…
Being able to carry out a conversation in both French and Chinese (and also being able to write Chinese
characters), doing a lot of activism and social justice work, and being a good family member/friend.
3. The outside of school activity that has been most rewarding for you is....because....
Traveling! I love going everywhere and anywhere. Especially the rural areas where no one else would go. I love
learning about different cultures and people around the world. Last Summer, we travelled around rural Turkey
was very fun. Many times my father and I were in the middle of nowhere in Turkey with our rental car and
Google Maps telling us where to go. One time, even, we picked up a hitchhiker (though we knew it was unsafe,
but we knew he was trustable) and we took him to his house. Though he did not speak a word of English, he
insisted we come into his house and he and his mother and sister make us dinner and tea. This was one of the
most rewarding experiences of the trip.

4. What is your greatest area of weakness, and why?

My obsessiveness. If I am interested in something, I will complete that thing before anything else, no matter
what. Though it can be looked at as a positive trait, it gets to a point where I cannot do anything else besides
this one task, and most of the time it is a task I literally cannot do right away.

5. Are there any “extenuating circumstances” that I should include in the recommendation? For
example: difficult adjustment to high school; family structure change; illness or other personal
issues,first in your family to go to college, etc.
I DID NOT fit in with my conventional high school. I did not like anything about it. The school was a pretty
conservative school, and being very progressive I felt that I did not fit in with anybody. I would get ridiculed for
my activism and social justice attitudes and ideals. Furthermore, (although getting all A’s and B’s) I did not like
or excel in my classes because I did not like the way they were set up or run. This got to a point where I became
clinically depressed and realized it the first semester of my Junior year. I was, however, enrolled in a French
class at Grossmont college at this time, and found that I was feeling much more personal fulfillment with this
class. I was making better connections with my fellow students, who were a lot older than I was. Before this, I
knew what Grossmont Middle College was, however I never thought seriously about enrolling. This college
class, however, made me certain that I fit in much better in an environment with students eager to learn and
advance their education. I then thought seriously about joining GMC. After I shadowed, I learned that these
students were, indeed, eager to advance their education, and I instantly felt I fit in.

6. What have you done for your internships? Have these helped to lay the foundation for your studies in
the future? If so, how?
I have a few internships, in fact. Currently, I am an intern for the United Nations Association of San Diego as a
graphic designer and have had much of my work published. I am also an intern for its social media team and
attend many events and take picture with captions to post on the UNASD’s numerous social media accounts.
Also, I am an elementary school student Winter and Summer Camp Counselor at the San Diego Museum of
Natural History. This is a weekly camp in which I get to teach children about natural history (a topic I love) and
take them around the museum for a hands-on learning session. Furthermore, this summer I will be attending a
three-week long residential program myself (that Martinez told me could pass as an internship) at UCSD called
the “21st. Century China Future Leaders Program” where I get to live with many students from China and
everywhere around the United States and practice solving global issues. This goes in perfectly with what I want
to do when I grow up, working with people from all over the world regarding politics and making the world a
better place on a grand scale. I am very excited to do this. Lastly, I am currently activating my ACLU club for
Grossmont College. I am the founder and president. I have not got it officially up-and-running yet, however I
have everything in place and will be doing it shortly.

7. How about test scores and grades? What were your SAT/ACT scores, how many times have you taken
the test? How about your grades in high school and your college classes? How hard have you worked for
those grades?
I was, to be honest, disappointed with my SAT score of 1240. I have only taken it once, however, and will be
taking it again soon. Regarding classes and GPA, I have never gotten lower than a B in a class. I have gotten all
A’s this year in all classes, except for Chinese where I got a B. (It was really hard).
8. Briefly explain why a college education is important to you.
A college education is extremely important to me because I strive to continue learning and to advance my
education. After community college, I will be getting my Undergraduate degree, and then probably getting a
graduate degree. This is important to me because my family has done the same thing, and I want to follow. My
father received two Master’s degrees and a Doctorate, and my sister got her undergraduate degree from UCLA
and her Master’s from SDSU. They are both doing amazing things. Everytime I would go to one of their
graduations I would become more and more excited to do it myself.

9. What statement summarizes your personal philosophy of life?

“La vie est belle.” Because it is.
10. What are your career goals or areas of interest?
I am not positive about what I want to do exactly for a career. However, I am certain that I want to work with
people and do some kind of humanitarian aid and activism. I want to major in anthropology and perhaps do
field work for an organization such as Nat Geo. I might also, however, want to have a higher ranking career
with the United Nations. I like the politics of world dynamics. We’ll see.

11. If you work, where are you employed and how many hours per week do you work? What do you like
best and least about your job?
I do not work yet!
12. Use this remaining space to relate a specific event that affected you in some way (socially, physically,
emotionally, or spiritually). The event you choose and the effect it had on you should give me some
insight about you.
Of course, travelling to different countries always gives me different perspectives on things and I always come
back feeling like a different person. Another pivotal experience, such as the one in Turkey, happened in
Iztapalapa, Mexico City, Mexico. My father, cousin, and I were in Mexico City this past Spring Break, during
Easter, which is the day that the locals perform a grand “Passion Play.” This is the huge performance they put
on where they have actors who are portraying all of the people involved in the crucifiction of Christ. (Although
my family is not religious, we absolutely love to watch and learn about different religions). The man who is
playing Jesus Christ is whipped and walks miles up a hill, dragging his cross behind him on his shoulder. As he
reaches the top, they tie him (instead of nailing him) to the cross while thousands of people watch. I have never
seen anything like it. My father speaks spanish fluently, and before the crucifiction happened he was chatting
with a man, who, as we later found out, happened to be the head of security at this massive event. Because the
man liked us, he let us stand RIGHT under the cross!!! It was amazing! As we were walking up the hill, we
realized how many police officers were there. There were hundreds of them. Then, some altercation happened
in the middle of the street in front of us and basically a man began punching a police officer. Many more police
officers instantly ran in and ​started beating the man on the ground with batons. ​Many, many people soon
became involved. This incident escalated rapidly and beyond control, and we did not know where it was going
to stop. People then began running away, and then we began running. The incident then died down. At the end,
many people were so badly beaten they were rushed to the hospital. This was one of the craziest experiences
I’ve ever had in another country. If it had escalated any more, it would have turned into a riot or a stampede.
When things ended, we continued walking up to hill to have a good spot to watch Jesus be crucified. When we
got there, we turned around after reaching where we were going to be watching the play from the top of the hill
and saw tens of thousands of faces behind us. It was breathtaking because quite literally the whole city was
there. This event, all in all, affected me a lot because I love to see different cultures and how people express
their different beliefs. Even the incident with the men and the police affected me in that I was, to be honest, very
scared as it was happening. This trip reinforced my want to study and work with all different kinds of people as
a career.