[Student Profile]
GPA: 3.7
SAT/ACT: 1540
Academic focus/Extracurricular activities:
[Prompt & Essay]
Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or contributed to group efforts over time.
My earliest memories consist of crowded daycares and cranky nannies shoving cold turkey sandwiches at my brother and me while my parents worked. Rather than dominate the little spare time they had, I set a goal for myself: do whatever I can so mommy will have time to tuck me in at night. Albeit a selfish aspiration, from age five my means of accomplishing it was clear: taking care of my twin brother.
It became second nature, an instinct I never questioned even when I saw the independence my friends enjoyed as they attended playdates without a constant tagalong. I heard my parents discuss his autism, but to me he was an extension of myself. My twin was the one I fried Teriyaki Chicken for after school instead of going to the park with my friends and the figure trailing me at my first tennis practices, unable to properly hold his racquet and losing to me and everyone else.
Though I often felt restricted by my brother's needs, over time I learned to appreciate his quirks. Guiding my brother evolved from a responsibility to a blessing as we developed a bond only twins can share. While others saw me teaching him how to tie shoes, memorize vocabulary, and comprehend novels, I knew he was teaching me patience, understanding, and a broader definition of normal. He has now developed his own interests and has reaffirmed my belief that leadership begins with recognizing that everyone is different.
Now, rather than envying the independence my friend's enjoy I relish the times I get to spend with my twin, driving him to classes or helping him prepare for tests. While we both play for our school's league-winning tennis teams, my days of beating him are long over. Through caring for my twin and getting to know him beyond his autism, I have learned to empathize with others' struggles and understand their persona beyond them. I no longer aim for my mother to tuck me into bed every night, but what she has given me is so much greater than that: a best friend.
Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.
Despite my thick jeans, the blazing sun scorched my skin. The smell of smoke stung my nose through my dirty face shield as I once again made the trek from my car to the darkened door. Tip-toeing over to the 16C freezer, I carefully removed our 60mm Petri dishes and approached the dissecting microscope, only to be met with the same sight haunting my nightmares for months: dead worms.
When I was invited to research cost-effective alternatives to Alzheimer's disease treatments using strains of C.Elegans, a microscopic worm, I was ecstatic. However, each day was a leap into the unknown as my team faced failure after failure; by June, most of my peers had given up. We tried contacting our mentors but they were already overwhelmed, and our advisor was MIA. However, despite the downward spiral of our research its potential implications for Alzheimer's patients kept me going. My twin's autism made mental health research personal. It was too early to give up.
PubMed quickly became my most visited site, (with JOVE a close second) as I sought answers through literally hundreds of publications and 3:00 AM team discussions. Creating new procedures and adapting to constantly changing logistics became second nature. My phone constantly buzzed with Slack notifications as I collaborated on questions with and learned from my teammates.
I learned that research is constant adaptation. It's creating plans then finding your worms dead, only to change the experiment and find the new strain deceased as well. It's the joy of leaving the 100-degree lab at 10:00PM grinning after submitting a paper for publication, and getting the email that your paper was accepted. But for me, the research was also a chance to make an impact in the fight for mental health research. I realize the difficulties of research, but I also fell in love with the opportunities it poses. Research resonates with me as my way of contributing to society, and the unparalleled research facilities of the University of California system will allow me to delve further into this complex world.
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?
In Kindergarten, I was elected class representative. In first grade, I was the lead in the class play. However, by fourth grade I had developed a stutter, and talking became an arduous task of which I grew wary. By fifth grade, my friends left me, claiming I was "too slow to talk to". I felt powerless, imprisoned by my own mouth and its clumsiness. As my stutter worsened, my teacher recommended that I attend professional speech therapy.
Though it seemed like the perfect solution, the sessions were expensive and hours away. Googling "how to talk better", one theme rang clear: speech exercises, something I could do independently of my parents and money. Beginning with A to Z Mysteries, I read aloud and recorded myself nightly, then listened to the recordings and listed difficult words for review. Throughout the day I spouted twisters about woodchucks and Sally selling seashells as I moved between classes. A few strange stares, and years, later my stutter had improved enough that I received a perfect score on my Honors English final speech.
Treating my stutter built a dedicated work ethic and gave me a newfound confidence in my speaking that permeated into my academic life, and I was one of only two Sophomores selected to lead my school's Science Team. As a captain, I drew upon the patience and empathy working through my stutter taught me and actively reached out to my team's quieter members. When I became Vice President, I used my captain experiences to create a mentor-mentee program in our 60-member team that allowed those who felt shy or uncertain to ask questions and receive personalized guidance as they navigated through our club and prepared for the Science Olympiad. The dread of speaking I experienced with my stutter reminded me that my teammates' silence didn't mean they had nothing to say. Maybe they felt imprisoned by their mouths. But now, rather than my words imprisoning me, speaking is a constant reminder to push past my boundaries and carve my own path to the same destination, and help others do the same.
Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you stand out as a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California?
My obsession with bubble tea is a running joke throughout my grade. In the Bay Area, my addiction is (both fortunately and unfortunately) supported by dense concentrations of Boba shops. However, unlike my classmates, my first bubble tea experience wasn't until 8th grade. When I moved to the Bay Area I felt out of place, the new kid in Honors Math who certainly didn't speak Mandarin and was a stranger to Bollywood. I sensed an invisible cultural boundary separating me from my friends . But when Itea opened near my school, everything changed.
Following my friends into the overcrowded store, I expected to feel excluded from their culture and experiences. Instead, when sipping my Taro Milk Tea I was overtaken by comfort. Though it was my first time drinking a beverage that they had grown up enjoying, the boundary I expected to be glaringly apparent instead dissipated. The simple tea was something I related to rather than shied away from, and my automatic enjoyment highlighted similarities with my new friends that I was unaware of. Boba bridged cultures.
I became the boba concierge, the go-to for drink recommendations. Constantly sending my friends articles regarding new flavors and stores, I am also often found at boba shops. When I became Vice President of the Neuroscience Club, I created Kahoots for every presentation and announced that winners would receive free boba, thus tripling our club's attendance. Similarly, when I designed an app for people with Alzheimer's Disease and my team faced the challenge of boring visuals and backgrounds that made it unappealing, I implemented various boba graphics that spiced it up.
Bubble tea is more than a drink. My love of the commercialized beverage taught me that I wasn't actually separated by an invisible cultural boundary; rather, I was hiding behind it. I now embrace cultural differences rather than fearing them. At the behind it. I now embrace cultural differences rather than fearing them. At the University of California system I will delve into the unparalleled diversity of the student body, approaching new faces as an opportunity to make friends, no matter how many boba trips it takes.
My uncle, my closest family, passed away from COVID-19 on March 26th, 2020. When we heard the news, my mother broke down completely and my father immediately flew out to New Jersey, a COVID hotspot, to help my aunt with funeral arrangements. I spent the next two days cooking, cleaning, fending off well-wishers, and consoling my grieving mom before she too had to fly out. For the next 14 days, while my parents were away, I became the sole caretaker of my brother and myself. After my parents returned home, we became my aunt's emotional support while also ensuring that all tasks my uncle had handled for them, such as taxes and finances, were taken care of.
When school became virtual and my uncle passed away, my parents' workload increased. My brother had a difficult time coping with online schooling, so I devoted more time than ever to help him with academics, while also picking up more household responsibilities such as grocery shopping and cooking daily meals. That April, in preparation for the upcoming school year, I was offered the President position for Science Team, an organization dear to my heart. Unfortunately, due to my increased family responsibilities, I felt I would be unable to devote the time as president that the team deserves, and unexpectedly had to leave after my term as Vice President ended. Although I miss Science Team, I am happy to be able to lessen my parent's workload. After all, without family I would be nothing.
My twin brother is incredibly kind and intelligent. However, his Asperger's Syndrome makes learning and understanding new things harder for him than it is for most. Thus, I help him with various tasks including teaching him grammar, helping him comprehend books by constantly summarizing and explaining them for him and quizzing him, preparing him for tests in various subjects, teaching him to write DBQs and LEQs for history classes, driving him to and from school and extracurriculars, and cooking for him every day after school. Because my parents also work long hours, I often do the grocery shopping for the family and cook dinner about half the time. Before COVID, helping and teaching my brother and doing other household chores typically took around 30 hours, but now it is closer to 40 hours.
I have played tennis since I was about eight years old and it remains one of my favorite hobbies. During tennis seasons (early August to the end of November) I spend about 25 hours a week playing tennis with my team and independently practicing. From December to May I typically spend about 6 hours a week practicing and playing in tournaments. In the summer months (June-July) I average 25 hours a week on the courts, practicing tennis, playing in tournaments, helping host tournaments, and also coaching young players. This trend has remained consistent since 9th grade, except for our season being postponed to the Spring this year due to the COVID-19 consistent since 9th grade, except for our season being postponed to the Spring this year due to the lockdown.