Teresa Rodriguez

09/15/20
Per.2

1. Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you
have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom.

An academic subject that inspires me the most is Math. Math inspires me

because it can be helpful in many different ways, not just in school. I always
had love for math. It runs in my family. I sometimes tend to struggle with it but
I ask questions and I start understanding it which is something that I love
about it. Math also inspires me because I realize that there’s certain people
out there in the world who don’t know how to do math and they struggle with
it. This subject inspires me by wanting to teach people how to understand the
concept of math more because it is very useful in our life. I have learned to
further this interest inside the classroom by solving problems and learning
that you can also use math for chemistry. I’ve also been able to help out my
classmates and friends. I have used math outside of the classroom by going
to the store and checking to see if there's a discount on any clothing or food
items so I can apply it. Math can be used in real life to help people with their
work which is very useful. You can also use math to build things or measure
anything. Math doesn’t only have to do with solving problems it also has to do
with other things you may do at home such as cooking because you have to
measure how much of something you're going to use. There was also a time
in my life where I used math by tracking my calories and doing proportions on
how much to eat. Math is just overall an important subject that we use
everyday and people should realize it even if they don’t understand the
subject they still do it in real life.

2. What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you
developed and demonstrated that talent over time?

I would say that my greatest talent/skill would have to be Sports. I’m an

athletic person and I live for sports. In middle school I was involved in
basketball, soccer and softball. Sports really get me going, they're very fun
and It takes my mind off things when I'm stressed. There have been times
where I wouldn’t understand the sport but I still gave it a try. The fun thing
about sports is that you can stay in shape and have a great time. I have also
played football and volleyball outside of school. I play with my family and it
gets intense. I have developed this talent/skill over time because I was
recently in basketball. I tried out for basketball my sophomore year and it
was so much fun I learned many things. I learned that when you do sports in
high school there is more competition and the coaches push you to do your
best. It was a great experience for me because the rush of energy that would
go through my body. I have demonstrated this talent over time by still doing
basketball. I tried out my junior year but sadly I didn’t make it. I was a bit
bummed I felt like my life was over, but I still played basketball in my free time. I
would say if this same situation happened to someone else they shouldn't
feel sad but what they can do is keep playing and try to get better. They
should get that extra practice that they need to make them better.
Basketball and softball would have to be my favorite sports that I intend to
love more. At first when I did softball I told myself that it wouldn’t be fun next
thing you know I learned to love it. Sports are just part of my life if i’m not
doing them in school I do them outside of school. I want to show people that
they shouldn’t give up on sports. I noticed that people try a sport and then
they end up not liking any type of sports. I want to show people that they
can find a sport they love.

3. 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.

My creative side would have to be creative and adviseful. I always have good
ideas and give people good advice. I am very creative. I have lots of good ideas
at times. I try to express my feelings through drawing but I really don’t know
how to draw much and it sucks a bit but I still try to draw just because I don’t
know how to doesn’t mean I should stop. I can practice and that will make me
become better because there’s that saying “practice makes perfect.” I have
given so many people good advice well just my friends and family members.
They tell me the things that they're going through rather if it’s at work, home,
or even personal relationships. I let them know that everything will be okay
and I try to support them in any way I can. I also try to cheer them up
because that makes people feel better and gives them a good laugh. There
are also many people in the world that struggle with personal problems and I
do want to help people because ever since I was little all I’ve been wanting to
do is help those in need, I still want to help people and make them feel better
about themselves. I have had times when I was in elementary school and
middle school people would bully me and tell me things and yeah I would get
pretty upset because the words they said hurt me but I have learned to deal
with it. I tell myself whatever they say don’t phase you, you are a good
human being with a kind heart and overtime I just realized that no matter
what you do of course you're going to get judged but you shouldn’t let that
get to you. I think people pick on other people just because they have things
going on at home which makes them think that they can just do the same to
other people to bring them down but that’s not how it should be. Giving
people advice can be a great way of helping them as well you can talk them
out of doing something very horribly and I have talked people out of doing
something horribly with their lives. I tell them that it’s a blessing to be alive
because not many people get the chance so they should be blessed.

4. Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps
you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge
affected your academic achievement?

I have had a few challenges in my life. I have lost a lot of family members,
friends, I’ve been bullied, and having family problems. I’m still trying to cope
with losing certain family members because it just makes me so sad when I
think about them. This year has been a bit hard because I lost 2 family
members and I still cry till this day. It was on January 6 when I found out that
my uncle from Mexico had either been missing or dead and we prayed a lot
for him and I just couldn’t stop crying. A few months later I found out that my
other uncle that lives here in Merced had cancer. I went to visit him in the
hospital and he looked so ill and it sucked because I couldn’t do anything to
help him. A few weeks later they moved him to a home care and later on I
found out he passed away. I tried so hard not to cry but I just couldn’t hold it
in. I have dealt with so many family losses that it’s just crazy to me but I still
manage to be happy because I know they will want that for me. Another thing
I dealt with was losing friends. I have lost connection with some of them but
the friendship that really hurt me the most was losing a friend that I’ve been
with for 7 years. It really hurt me because this other girl came into the picture
and just took her away from me and then they just ended up not being
friends no more because she turned out to be fake. Till this day I still don’t talk
to her. I wish things would change but things happen. I’ve also dealt with
being bullied in elementary school and middle school. There would be kids that
would pick on me and call me names and I would get so sad. I wouldn’t tell
anyone though I always kept to myself but now I have realized that no
matter what you do people are always going to judge you so I have decided
to not really care for what people think but yeah it still gets to me at times but
I just brush it off later on. Another challenge that I have had are family
problems. It's more of my family from Mexico at times they ask for money
because they don’t have none or it’s either emergencies. There were a few
times where my uncle would get hurt and he needed to go to the hospital so
bad if not he would die but the thing was that my family from Mexico didn’t
have much money so we had to send some over and thank god that he’s still
alive. I have dealt with lots of challenges in my life which is crazy to me but I still
manage to get up and try to be happy. These challenges have affected my
academic achievement by trying to do the best for my family and succeed in
any way I can.