Ramos 1

Esteban Ramos

April 20, 2021

CSU English

Personal Statement

1. Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or

worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.

When I was in my freshman year I had no idea how high school was going to have this

expectation for students to do everything by themselves and if I show that I don’t care then the

teacher would not waste their time on me. I thought I could just put things on hold and just do

them later, but soon that on hold pile began to grow so I was stuck with all of these past

assignments. So I had to really learn to use my time wisely if not then I would be stuck in the

same place for all of my high school years. Eventually I learned that my house life can affect me

in my school life, so I fell short on my classes when there were issues going on at home, for

example my parents’ divorce. When my parents finally decided to divorce it had a huge impact

on my life, especially when it came to my social life and mental health.

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

demonstrated that talent over time?

I think my greatest skill would be to see things to the end no matter what. When it came to

making projects and having a deadline, even if my group didn’t care or simply didn’t try, I would

always make sure that we could reach our goal. So even when I was by myself it was important
 Ramos 1

to me that I didn’t become someone that would always be seen as the loser or the person that you

can’t rely on. I can’t make sure that other people will get their act together. I can only make

myself accountable to my own actions. When I was with my dad I learned a lot of things, mostly

bad, but I always knew that whatever you do it will always come back tenfold. So after my

parents’ divorce I kept these bad habits for a long time, it wasn’t until my mom had talked to me

and was up front on how I was ruining my own life. I took my mother and older brother’s

example to make a name for myself so I can finally have a sense of pride and I won’t be such a

loser like the ones you see on the street.

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

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

Like most people I prefer not to take leadership, however when the moment came I stepped up to

get the job done. Whenever I would take the role of leader I’d make sure that everyone got their

share of work and the spotlight. I would see that people would get nervous or start to lag behind,

I would go to them and ask if anything was wrong. I tried my best to help them as well as give

them motivation so it just won’t seem their hard work would be trivial or without recognition.

Once there was an issue between two people that was outside of school, it was distracting them

from the project we were all working on. As a solution I had them turn off their phones, placed

them away from each other, and assigned them different tasks so they couldn’t distract

themselves or others from that point on; we finished the project with flying colors.
 Ramos 1

4. 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.

I express my creative side whenever I have to write. When I have to write whether it be an essay

or something to just clear my head I always try to make a story so I can always have some

initiative to keep going and when I get to the end I can be satisfied with the result. I always try to

make the story a little personal so that whoever is reading can have some sort of connection with

me or can relate to something I wrote. I’ve always been fascinated with the tragedy genre of

writing, it’s just something realistic to me, you build something with all your will power only to

see it fall or get disappointed with the end. The climax, the adrenaline, or the spared strength was

all for nothing and you have to start all over again and then the loathing begins and the main

character ends worse than how he/she started. You have a sense of sympathy for them and try to

figure out how it came to such an end, only to realize that there was a lot of obvious

foreshadowing that you didn’t notice unless you re-read. The satisfaction of knowing that you're

now the only one that tries hard in everything and seeing someone be better than you without

really trying or just never being satisfied.