Empowerly

Student profile

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

As a child, I loved watching sports, but struggled to play them.  I wasn’t great at baseball, basketball or soccer, and ended up watching games on the sidelines rather than playing them.  Then, in the 7th grade, I saw two people playing ping pong.  I was intrigued by the game’s pace and rhythm. The game has a fast pace, little down time, and requires finesse to hit the unreturnable shots. 

At first I wasn’t very good at ping pong.  I couldn’t keep up with my opponents, and the game was often over before I even knew what had happened. This didn’t stop me from continuing to play, however, and I was able to develop skills by playing as often as possible, with as many opponents as I could find.  

During my sophomore year, I discovered the school ping pong club. I was astounded by the skill level of the members and realized that I would have to practice a lot in order to compete.  I routinely played those who were better than me, and although I lost often, I was improving. My pace of play quickened, and I learned how to make more complicated shots and to predict the direction of my opponents’ shots. Toward the end of the year, I started defeating other members of the club and became an upper tier player.  

While in my junior and senior years of high school, I became the club’s vice president.  In this role, my job was to instruct new players and teach them how to play the sport.  Teaching also helped me improve upon my skills, as I was forced to relearn some of the fundamentals, such as side-to-side movement and foot position, that had gotten sloppy over time. Ping pong requires me to think quickly, be present in the moment, and focus my energy.  I have learned to persevere when I was not doing well and improve through practice and exposure. There is so much action in the game and variety in what you can do, it is fun to watch and even more fun to play.

Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced. 

“In a few months, you’ll forget that this place even existed” people kept telling me during the last few weeks of middle school. I thought it was a big deal, leaving friends I had grown up around and who knew me well, but no one else around me seemed to care.

The reality of high school hit me when it was time to pick up my schedule. I had classes I had never taken before like Physics and Spanish.  I missed middle school. I missed my old routine, and was intimidated by a more academically demanding environment. Teachers repeated that we would have to study harder, that we would have more homework, and that classes would go faster.

My anxiety started to dissipate when I got an A on the first major assignment in my hardest class, English. I had worked hard on the letter we were required to write to ourselves; I put in maximum effort and it paid off.  Soon after, I got back a test from math class in which I got another A. I had been well prepared and actually understood how to factor the various equations.  The jubilation that I felt after realizing that I could succeed academically by applying myself, changed my outlook. I began to have conversations with friends and classmates throughout that day. I learned that all my friends thought high school was daunting too, and these types of feelings were natural. I became comfortable with high school and my classes, and was able to make new friends.  Going through this difficult time taught me to look at my life in perspective and how to adapt to a new culture  I learned how to manage my study time and collaborate with others on assignments.  

In short, I didn’t forget that middle school existed.  However, I moved beyond middle school, transitioned to high school, and thrived in it. Overcoming my initial insecurity about meeting the academic challenges in high school helped me realize that I will be able to transition to the next level of my education and thrive in college, as well.  

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

I was not very interested in Computer Science until the summer of my sophomore year.  Solving math problems enthralled me, but I thought that coders just typed mindlessly into their screens. That summer, my dad bought me a book about programming in Java that completely changed my mind.

At first, I read the book half-heartedly, pretending to code whenever my father asked me about it.  During winter break of my junior year, however, I found a video tutorial about the basics of Java programing. I watched the programmer input a series of numbers and the computer added them and returned the value in a split second. The speed and accuracy hooked me. I decided to follow along with the tutorial, and I learned the basics of the language, such as the rules of syntax.

My interest in Computer Science increased this year when I took AP Computer Science.  I found the course fascinating, as we made interesting programs such as matrix multiplication.  I enjoyed and embraced the fast paced course.  Engaging in the thought process necessary to solve problems excites me; I even enjoy thinking about problems in terms of programming.

 With help from what I have learned in class, I have began working on programming a calculator, the subject of the book my father bought for me.  I am excited to write code for bigger projects such as automating the creation of a seating arrangement.

I research  the applications of programming and how to become a better programmer on the internet and follow along with video tutorials.  Studying Computer Science has made me a better problem solver, improved my skills at collaborating with others, and helped me change my thought processes and my approach to problems in life.  I used to rush into problems, but I’ve learned to solve them more methodically, step by step. I wish to continue studying Computer Science as a possible major or minor at UC.

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

When I visited my parent’s homeland of India as a young child, I was intrigued by the many people living in worn out tents on the streets.  The people wore ragged dirty clothing, looked emaciated, hungry, and tired.  Their lives seemed so unlike the comfort I enjoyed in affluent San Jose. How could there could be such a disparity between the privilege of my family and friends and the poverty I saw of people on the streets. 

I wanted to find a way to help others less fortunate than me, so when I learned about a development institution called Aim for Seva, I decided to give back to my community of family in India by volunteering.

The children at the school come from underprivileged backgrounds; they visit their parents, who work at remote farms, only a few times a year.  They have little exposure to the world beyond their immediate family and their school community, and my role is to instruct them about facets outside their community.

For example, I introduced my family driver, Aju, to the kids.  They had rarely met people from upper social classes; he talked to them about playing cricket, and asked them questions about their school.  They asked him questions too: “What do you do for your job? “ “Have you ever been to our school?”  “Do you enjoy spending time with us?” were some questions that Taruj and Ram had. That day, Aju joined the cricket game, and the kids experienced getting to know someone outside of their circle.

There is a strong sense of kinship among the children.  They taught me how a family truly works, that it is about bonds between people rather than just about blood and marriage.  I learned to appreciate my own life more. These children are satisfied and able to enjoy their lives despite not having parents, money, or access to technology.  The interest that the kids showed in Aju was an important stepping stone for their introduction into a world beyond the borders of their school.  Introducing these children to a different world is my contribution to my community.