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Cameron Her

April 26,2021

Professor Spurlock

Film and composition

Personal statement

Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced

others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time.

During my high school years I was in a club which had an event to better the environment like

sidewalks being uneven or not on ramps for Handicap people. Reporting these issues went

straight to the Merced County through their app "Merced county connect.'' There were about 6

groups that had up to 5 people in each group, I was one of the group leaders. My group started to

work in downtown Merced when I had an idea. I wanted for my group to be more efficient so I

suggested that 2 people go on the opposite side of the road to the other side and the other there

will stay on the other side walk because there's two side walks to a street. So we decided to split

up on each street so we can complete "The SideWalk Project." Our group had just about 5 streets

to do that were roughly 6-7 blocks, so suggesting to my group that we could split up on the same

street really helped not me but my group get through all 6 streets more efficiently and faster. In

the end I have gained and learned life taking lessons about leading and being a leader to those

around me. Being a leader doesn't necessarily mean leading people towards their goals, being a

leader means guiding and helping people towards their goals, on the other hand I have also

experienced that leadership can bring people together to work as one and grow stronger as one.
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This has helped me lead people to come out with their suggestions, there is no such thing as a

bad idea.

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?

One of my Significant challenges is being a senior in high school for the year 2020-2021. In my

years in high school I would've never thought it would be so difficult to choose what college to

go to and major to major in. In 2020 being a senior in my opinion is hard due to the fact that

there is a pandemic meaning school is online. With school being online I really had to be on top

of my work, adjusting to all the different times that the district put out. One week before the

quarter was over I was really stressed with my grades as I had a B in my math class . I discipline

myself to study harder for my math class, so I can start and finish my CSU and UC application.

As I kept studying for my math class I got an email regarding CSU and UC applications being

weeks from The deadline which meant I had a whole lot more stress on me. At one point I got

emotional with all the stress and did not know how to start the CSU and UC applications when

they were weeks away from the deadline. With all these challenges I decided to contact the avid

teacher Mr. Petty for some help even though I was not in his class. Mr. Petty gladly helped me

and put me on the right track to building my future. This challenge has a dramatic effect on my

academic achievement due to the fact that I am not getting the in person learning that I got for

my lower 9th-11th grade and I also may not qualify for CSF. At the end of the day I learned that

things happen in life and always be ready when life takes a turn. Also you may not get what you

wanted in life but always work hard no matter what is happening.

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

To make my community a better place I Joined a club at school to volunteer for community

service hours. Which we help serve guests at dinners, put on a Halloween trunk or treat yearly,

and also cook for the homeless every month. The guesses that we serve are guesses that pay a

little fee so we can fundraise and get better funding to help serve more guesses years to come.

We sell tickets for food just for 5 for a full course meal of rigatoni. When Halloween comes

around we host a trunk or treat at our local boys and girls club so worried family's don't have to

worry about going door to door worrying their kids are getting weird candy or even drugs, so we

do our best to make the community feel safe at the trunk or treat event. Every first Thursday of

each month we go out to the homeless shelter to make meals for the homeless to give them the

nutrition they need. Although there is a pandemic this year we are still going our best to give

meals out to the homeless every first Thursday of the month After all those experience I realized

that it is important to help and give back to the community and not expect anything back because

if you do think like that you are just wanting to do that specific thing to earn something although

that is how it works with jobs, volunteering and helping the community I don't expect anything

as long as I get to help the community.

Beyond what has already been shared in your portfolio, what do you believe makes you stand

out?

Beyond what has been shared in my application I believe what makes me stand out is my journey

throughout elementary, middle school, and high school. Throughout my elementary years I was

not the best student, I had missing assignments and got in trouble. The main reason I was having

such a hard time and getting in trouble was because I was hanging out with the wrong crowd.
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when middle school came around I matured but wasn't disciplined enough to turn in my work on

time, by the time high school camel by I moved went to a different high school so I had to make

new friends but I had a bad habit of not doing my assignments on time or doing them last minute

then it hit me during my sophomore year that I need to get my act together if I want to go to

college to get a degree. When it hit me I tried to get my work in on time most of them were in on

time but there were a couple that were missing for a few weeks. Now that I am a senior and

applying to CSU and UC I have matured to make better choices not taking school for granted.

Despite that I transferred to a different high school I was sad but relieved because I got to make

new friends that would not be such a bad influence on me academically and affect my life in the

long run. A few things that I learned over this journey is if you hang around the wrong people

they have a dramatic effect on your life and for me it was academically.