Jason Bauguess

Advisory

Personal Insight Questions

Prompt: Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem
solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you
express your creative side.

Essay: For as long as I can remember, I have wanted my career to revolve around creativity. In
elementary school, my career choice kept fluctuating from wanting to be a chef, a painter, a
drawer, and a singer. Never was I particularly good at any of those things, but I thought they
were interesting ways to express myself. As I transitioned into middle school, I started to make
Youtube gaming videos. They weren’t really anything special; I just liked the idea of putting
things out into the world that I had created. While in middle school, I also started social media
graphic designing and got pretty good at it. I would make headers for people on Twitter and
Youtube, free of charge. I still design on occasion for friends or if it is necessary for a school
project. Entering high school, I still carried on the hobbies I had started in middle school. During
my first half of high school I was introduced to photography. I had gained a passion for it after
taking a photo class my freshman year and I have stuck to it ever since. I was so passionate about
photography, I was able to become president of our school’s photography club in my junior year.
Throughout my junior year I drifted away from gaming youtube videos. I ended with 450
subscribers when I stopped - I was proud. Although I stopped making gaming videos, I moved
on to making short films, skits, and videos documenting adventures with my friends. My friends
and I gave ourselves a name: “The Coldboys.” This group helped me finally realize the career
path I want to go down: film. The videos we created would always light this spark inside of me
to just keep pursuing more and more.
Prompt: Describe the most significant challenge you've faced and the steps you have taken
to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?

Essay: The biggest challenge I have had to face was the passing of my mother. This took a major
toll on my psyche. Even as a fourth grader, I felt lost, confused and alone. My family was there
to support my siblings and I through this time, but no matter how many people surrounded me, I
still felt alone. This feeling still lingers on me. Experiencing this at such a young age has taught
me a lot. I learned how to be independent. Most, if not all, of my achievements have been
accomplished through the help with no one but myself. Another thing I have gained from this
traumatic experience was that I instantly matured. In elementary school my priorities shifted
completely in order to make my mom proud. This maturity also contributed to making smart
decisions throughout high school, allowing me not to fall down a path with drugs and alcohol. I
haven’t completely overcome the passing, however it does motivate me. Every decision I make I
ask myself, “Would my mom be happy that I am doing this?” This question that I ask myself on
the daily stops me from making bad decisions and continuously steers my onto the right path
towards success.​ ​I have to make my mother proud. I try my hardest in school in order to get good
grades, that she would be happy to see. One of the major reasons I am going to college is to
make her happy. I know she would want me to chase my dreams and become successful, so
that’s my life goal.

Prompt: What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?

Essay:My junior year of high school is when I started gaining a passion for helping out the
community. I started the year off by joining key club. I participated in various service events for
the club. Events such as LA Aids Walk, Alzheimer’s Walk in Hermosa Beach, and Carson’s Red
Ribbon week are some of my favorite events I have participated in. Being exposed to such a
dedicated organization helped my dedication to helping people grow. After only getting a little
taste of what giving back to the community was like through key club, I decided to join my
school’s Go Green Club. Every Wednesday after school and every Saturday, I volunteer to help
clean my school’s garden with fellow members of the club. Through this club we also highly
advocate for our students to get involved with recycling. I got the opportunity to teach other
students what can and cannot be recycled with hands on activities during lunch time. One of the
essential programs I have been a part of this year is the peer counseling program at my school.
Through peer counseling I am responsible for a caseload of students. I counsel seniors and
juniors in regards to their plans after high school, advise them of high school graduation
requirements and give information about going and applying to college or vocational school. I
make it my duty to try and help as many students as I can and lead them into the right path
towards their ideal future. Having this one on one experience and talking to all these students
makes me so happy. At this point in the program I have heard back from all of my seniors within
my caseloads, and all of them are pursuing college. Getting to say that I was the one able to help
them make this big step in their life gives me fulfillment I have never really felt before. These
clubs and programs have helped me realize the importance of caring for others and our
environment. As I have been participating in these activities, I see the betterment of my
community and school. Getting to see that I can make a difference in my community by only
giving up a few hours of my time contributes to my overall happiness.

Prompt: Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively
influenced others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time.

Essay: Throughout these last two years of high school I have been running my school’s
photography club. I have helped my fellow students find a passion for photography and those
students were really interested in turning it into a career. Through the fun activities that allow
club members to participate and learn the functions of a DSLR camera, I was able to spark a lot
of the students interests. These activities allowed the skills of the students to develop, while
having a good time with friends. As president I have also reached out to other club officers to see
if we can collaborate for a joint project. Making these connections not only allowed for the
club’s growth, but also allowed for the other clubs to work on different tasks while we were in
charge of taking their needed photos.
Having the leading role of a club, or any position for that matter, is rough. It is very important to
have help and not take things on solo. Having other staff for the club by my side was very
helpful. When my ideas didn’t follow through, the help from other staff members helped
immensely. Those ideas were easily loved by our club members and became normal practices.
Taking on this leadership position of the club not only immensely helped me grow as a person,
but also helped the many members of the club and the fellow club staff. It helped grow my own
personality and made me far more outgoing than I ever was. It also allowed me to learn from
members of the club. I learned their techniques and tricks which helped improve my own work.
Seeing the club members grow themselves was also really inspiring to me. The progression each
student made through involvement with the club was so amazing and made me really proud.