Essay responses

I haven't actually submitted these to WSU yet. I'm going to wait until after christmas to give me more time to look these short responses over and to have my family look them over. So if you see anything, please feel free to comment.

Leadership/group contributions:

• When I was fourteen I was involved with the Vacation Bible School at my church. For three hours a day for five days I was in charge of ten five and six year olds. For the last two summers I have been involved with a Christian day camp for kids in which I was in charge of up to twenty children as well as two other teen workers. This past Christmas season I organized a group of teens to carol at a retirement home. I have also been in charge of an after school club at a local elementary school.

Knowledge or creativity in a field:

• I have played the violin for over eleven years and enjoy playing a variety of styles including classical, old time country-western, swing, and celtic. For the last year and a half I gained an interest in drawing and have taken a class at my community college in drawing. I have drawn a number of scenes such as portraits, still lifes, landscapes, buildings and Japanese Manga. I also enjoy photography and have had the privilege of photographing landscapes and wildlife in places such as Yellowstone, Glacier, and Crater Lake national parks as well as along several backpacking trips through the cascades.

Dealing with adversity:

• In 2001, my father left his electronic engineering job to purchase a woodworking business which, for years, struggled financially. I worked for my dad so that he wouldn’t need employees. Two years ago, dad sold the business to start an electronic engineering company. Unfortunately he recently realized the project he had worked on for two years was not coming together and he is now looking for work. To help financially, I work with children during the summer to pay for my personal expenses. Through this challenge my family has bonded together and I have learned to be a hard worker.

Community service:

• I am a member of the Washington Old Time Fiddlers Association—a group of musicians who go to different nursing homes and play old-time music for the residents. This past Christmas I organized a group of young people to bring cookies and carol for the residents of a local retirement home. During the past two summers I have helped with a day camp that provides very low cost child care service to various communities including smaller outlying communities throughout Whatcom County. This school year I have been in charge of a free after school program in a local elementary school.

Handling systemic challenges:

• I have the privilege of coming from a multi-racial family. Ten years ago our family adopted a little boy from Guatemala named Cristian. Growing up, some of my best friends were our neighbor’s grandkids from Nigeria. Some of my best friends that I’ve met in community college have been from Taiwan and Thailand. Even though I know lots of people from other nationalities, I have been blessed to not have witnessed discrimination personally. However I have attended a diversity panel at my school to hear about discrimination that others have witnessed. I look forward to Washington State University’s international atmosphere.

Goals/task commitment:

• One of my biggest goals has been to become a better public speaker. I appreciate my homeschooled upbringing. Unfortunately it lacked the opportunity to give speeches. To overcome this challenge, I have spent two summers teaching stories to groups of up to sixty children. I have also spoken several times in front of my church of over one-hundred-and-fifty people. I have already taken a class on public communication in running start and plan on taking another one this spring. When I was eleven our family bought a home business in which I sometimes worked up to thirty hour work weeks.