Response must be between 500 and 2000 characters including spaces.

Essay #1:
Some students have an identity, experience, interest, or talent that is so central
to the story of who they are that their Honors Program application would be
incomplete without describing it. Please describe what is central to the story of
you.

Being in charge of my high school robotics has been one of the most valuable and
core experiences of my life so far, that has influenced the person I am today. This
experience allowed me to discover and develop my passion for leadership. Before
robotics, my leadership experiences were limited to organizing group projects, leading
sports teams--earning me the nickname “Sergeant” on the soccer field, and even
directing numerous childhood living-room plays. But this opportunity, to lead and direct
a team of my peers, was new and enthralling. I was delegating jobs, getting everyone
involved and steadily crossing tasks off my checklist. I was in my element.

Freshman year I was offered the role of mechanical lead on the team, followed by
co-team lead in my sophomore year and overall team lead in my junior year. As a
leader of this thirty-five to fifty member team, I ran weekly in-person meetings,
organized community outreach events and managed the progress of our nine
sub-teams. Even when COVID-19 hit, and most teams shut down, I encouraged my
team to keep meeting (virtually, of course). Instead of disbanding, I held weekly Zoom
meetings for months, ensuring we continued making progress on our projects and
maintaining a community during which we manufactured PPE for healthcare workers
and other community members with 3D printers we had borrowed from school.

Finding ways to creatively motivate numerous teens to take ownership and follow
through on their respective projects is challenging but it drastically improved my
communication skills. I also expanded my organizational skills by developing a Gantt
chart which we use to keep the team on task, on time and moving toward our overall
goals. Moving forward, I know I will always draw on the passion of my younger
play-directing self and the confidence I found in the robotics lab.
Essay #2:

3.) You have a ticket in your hand. What's it for? Where will it take you? How will the
Honors Program help you on your journey?

I have a ticket to a sustainable and healthy world, free of the impacts of climate change
and I am eager to put in the work to get there. Over the last few years, I have
developed a strong passion for environmental issues. I have hungrily explored
solutions to plastic pollution and climate change issues by visiting recycling facilities,
researching microplastics, and listening to podcasts, lectures and documentaries. I
even convinced my family to wash out and store our plastic waste for one full year. At
the end, it was unbelievable to see how much plastic we had amassed; unfortunately,
so was the number of mice the experiment attracted. Despite my failed attempt to
explore environmental solutions, I am undeterred. Fueled by my passion, curiosity and
genuine concern for our local community and planet, I am determined to continue my
journey to helping to create a sustainable world.

Cal Poly’s honors program will better prepare me to achieve my end goal of becoming
an effective leader in my field. Climate change and pollution are complex and
interconnected issues that demand not only STEM skills, but holistic knowledge and
the local and global impacts on our economy, health, communities, politics, and more.
Therefore, finding solutions will require cooperation between experts from many
different areas. The Honors program will prepare me to be a leader as well as a team
player by working alongside other students and faculty from various fields who are
equally engaged and eager to learn and make a change.

The Honors Program will not only prepare me academically for achieving my goals but
also expose me to unique perspectives (via. Study abroad and research projects). This
community will give me experience in the interdisciplinary cooperation that will be
required to solve the complex and interconnected issues that are my final destination
on my environmental journey; solutions to climate change and global pollution.

to implement effective, timely and inclusive solutions to conquer climate change.

https://content-calpoly-edu.s3.amazonaws.com/honors/1/documents/UHP%20Curricul
m%20Sheet%20-%20Update%20March%202019.pdf

But learn to cooperate

Give me the tools and skills I need to become a leader in this field.
I completely understand
Honors will prepare

Local and World View

I know personally as a learner I thrive when I am surrounded by other passionate,

motivated students in their respective fields.
While working towards my ambitious goals of tackling the climate crisis I will take
advantage of the resources available. With its collaborative, rather than competitive
culture, the honors program will help prepare me for a life-long path of creative and
interdisciplinary cooperation that the climate crisis calls for. I can’t wait to join forces
with students, staff and faculty who share my passion for environmentalism and will
guide me along my path.

I already have my ticket with my passion for knowledge on this topic, and my road map
to my end goal of I am going to reach my goal of becoming an environmental engineer,
Cal Poly honors program will really I already have my passion and my road map, now I
just need company, and

intellectually curious and eager to engage in EVERY learning opportunity; focused on

academics; excited to learn more about sustainability, global perspectives, equity, and
justice; committed to serving others, including peers in the Honors community;
planning to satisfy most of their General Education requirements through coursework
at Cal Poly; ready to challenge themselves, accept occasional discomfort, take risks,
and fail every once and a while. If this sounds appealing to you, then please consider
submitting an application. Please contact the Honors program for additional
information.

What I am learning in school about these issues is so relevant and captivating that it
follows me out the door of my AP Environmental Science classroom every day. I
believe this will be one of the most pressing issues of my age and

If I have learned anything so far, it is that Climate change and pollution are complex
and interconnected issues that demand not only STEM skills, but also holistic
knowledge related to the causes and effects of these issues on our economy, health,
communities, agriculture, diet, politics, and more. No singular person can solve ALL of
these issues-- finding a solution will require cooperation between experts from different
areas.

That’s why

I look forward to collaborating with other students from all different disciplines and
backgrounds
Watching the documentary, A Plastic Ocean, was the catalyst of my
environmental obsession. I have since hungrily explored plastic pollution and
climate change issues by visiting recycling facilities, researching
microplastics for science fair, and listening to podcasts and lectures. I even
convinced my family to wash out and store our plastic waste for one full year.
At the end, I sorted it all by the type of plastic and surveyed our footprint. It
was unbelievable how much plastic we had amassed; unfortunately, so was
the number of mice the experiment attracted.

While my local attempt to explore solutions did not have the outcome I had
hoped for, I am undeterred and excited to bring my passion and curiosity to
Cal Poly to figure out ways that everyday Americans, like my family, can
make a positive impact on the environment. Cal Poly will prepare me to
tackle this challenge by training me to become an environmental engineer
through hands-on, experiential learning that Cal Poly is known for.

However, science alone can’t solve this problem, it requires a holistic

approach. Climate change and pollution are complex and interconnected
issues that demand not only STEM skills, but also knowledge related to the
causes and effects of these issues on our economy, health, communities,
agriculture, diet, politics, and more. No one person can solve ALL of these
issues-- finding a solution will require cooperation between experts from
different areas.

Cal Poly’s honors community will support my enthusiasm for learning which
will help me tackle my ambitious goals of fighting climate change. With its
collaborative, rather than competitive culture, the honors program will help
prepare me for a life-long path of creative cooperation in order to solve this
climate crisis.

My AP Environmental Science class is my favorite subject to date and the culmination

of many of my past and current interests and future goals. Watching the documentary,
A Plastic Ocean, was the real catalyst of my environmental obsession. Ever since, I
have hungrily explored plastic pollution and climate change issues by visiting recycling
facilities, researching microplastics for science fair, and listening to podcasts and
lectures. I even convinced my family to wash out and store our plastic waste for one full
year. At the end, I sorted it all by the type of plastic and surveyed our footprint. It was
unbelievable how much plastic we had amassed; unfortunately, so was the number of
mice the experiment attracted.

While my amateur attempt to explore environmental solutions did not have the
outcome I had hoped for, I am undeterred and excited to bring my passion and
curiosity with me to college. I plan to major in environmental engineering to continue
my hunt for creative solutions to this problem, including ways that everyday Americans,
like my family, can make a positive impact on the environment.

My Environmental Science teacher always says "if it were just about the science it
would be easy". I agree; we already have the technology to solve many of the scientific
aspects of this issue., But climate change and pollution are complex and affect not only
our environment, but our economy, health, communities, agriculture, diet, politics, and
more. I look forward to collaborating with other UC students from all different disciplines
and backgrounds to come up with effective, timely and inclusive solutions.

What I am learning in school about these issues is so relevant and captivating that it
follows me out the door of my AP Environmental Science class every day. This will be
one of the most pressing issues of my age and I am eager to continue and expand my
search for solutions in the classroom and beyond. I look forward to collaborating with
other UC students from all different disciplines and backgrounds to come up with
effective, timely and inclusive solutions.

research projects and internships.

Start a precious plastics!
Choose and respond to one and only one of the prompts below.

1.) Describe a setting in which you have collaborated or interacted with people whose
experiences and/or beliefs differ from yours. Describe how you believe the differences
affected your ability to collaborate.

-or-
Select which prompt you are responding to:
Response must be between 500 and 2000 characters including spaces.