[Student Profile]
GPA: 4
SAT/ACT: 1230
Academic focus/Extracurricular activities: taekwondo, internship, python
[Prompt & Essay]
Tha ki ta, tha ka dhi mi. Counting the beats in my head while anticipating the start of the traditional music, I get into position with my hands and legs taut. Dance movements that I've practiced extensively make the bells on my feet harmonize seamlessly alongside the melody, while delicate hand gestures and facial expressions amplify the beauty of my elegant costume. Entering this other world, nothing exists except for me and the music. Humbly, I perform namaskaram, asking for permission to dance on the earth, before smiling in contemplation that I have just introduced the audience to the beauty bharatanatyam, a type of Indian classical dance I have been performing for over 13 years.
Unlike painting, I was originally uninterested and unwilling to put in much effort. I joined the dance classes to please my parents, who loved it but could not afford doing it themselves growing up. Initially, I did not enjoy being told how to do the steps or how to tell a story through dance; there seemed little room for artistic freedom. However, when I reached a certain level of masterv. bharatanatvam transitioned from a chore to a form of expression. No longer just a series of steps to execute, I depicted stories of Hindu gods and goddesses through my dance. Through perfected gestures and vivid facial expressions, or abinaya, I've transformed myself into Durga, a goddess representing female empowerment.
Outwardly, bharatanatyam allows me to express myself artistically and show the world around me my culture and dance. Inwardly, it creates a place in my mind where I can enter when I feel a need to truly be myself. Watching other multicultural groups perform ahead of my performance, I have enjoyed the privilege of learning to appreciate other cultures through their dance. Continuing bharatanatyam at the University of California, I hope to bond and perform with peers who share my love for dance and culture in bharatanatyam dance teams. Lastly, I hope to become a modern day messenger of ancient Indian stories, one Tha kita at a time.
What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?
Digging through my cluttered drawer, I pull a magazine that is glossy and filled with color. Marking each side of a page with measurements, I cut tens of long, triangular strips, making sure no paper is wasted. Carefully rolling each strip from wide to narrow end on a pin, I glue the ends together, creating a delicate, unique paper bead. Stringing multiple paper beads, I stare with awe at the elegant necklace that came alive from just a magazine, with its shining gloss and symmetrical look.
Since the start of my journey upcycling trash into art, I have sewn doll clothes made from my old clothing and created paintings on blank CDs. Originally, I started these crafts to pass time; my desire to make art overtook my will to shop for new things when I could make do with what I had at home. But, after I learned about climate change and the impact of human waste, my desire to upcycle increased. Joining the Green Team Club at my school, I've since worked to spread awareness of climate change and partake in bay cleanups in my area. At the University of California, I hope to create a community of upcycling enthusiasts, whether teaching my roommates how to upcycle or creating a club with like minded students.
Now, I constantly find myself looking at objects my family and friends designate as trash, thinking about how to repurpose them into something useful and beautiful. When upcycling, I search for the best aspects of material objects, focusing on the positives instead of the negatives. Beyond applying this philosophy to objects, I changed my outlook on life. I now search for the best in others, which has led me to be more empathetic and understanding. Instead of looking at challenges with a pessimistic and hopeless attitude, ask myself what I was able to learn and gain from this experience. I've come to understand that everything has a purpose and can be changed from something that is worn down or used to something breathtaking, no matter if it's an object, person, or situation.
Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.
In the middle of the cluttered science lab with its maze of expensive equipment stood a microscope. When I peered into its lens, everything around me faded away. I saw an interesting blob, the likes of which ten-year-old me had never seen before. Standing in my dad's cancer research lab, I realized that I was looking at a cancerous cell; its peculiar, ambiguous appearance made me infinitely more curious to learn more.
Fast forward seven years. I faced the ambiguity of experimentation in a different way. No longer in my dad's lab, but in my school's biotech lab program, I was tasked with extracting spoolable DNA from spinach without any procedures or guidance. Staring at a leaf of spinach in my hand, I felt like I was once again looking at the mysterious blob, feeling intimidated yet immensely curious at the endless possibilities within that single leaf. My lab partners and I scoured the internet, searching up different techniques for extracting DNA while designing our own procedures along the way. I experimented with different chemicals at various concentrations, with the goal of extracting the spinach leaf's DNA. Most chemicals proved unsuccessful, yet still brought me closer to my goal. I persevered through failed trials, but eventually I got DNA using concentrations of SDS and Lysis Buffer.
Participating in my school's biotechnology program has allowed me to further explore and develop my passion for scientific research through sophisticated instruments and hands on experience. I love the chase of figuring out the ambiguities of research and achieving that feeling of triumph that comes with figuring out a new way to do something. What remains undiscovered leads to an increasing sense of motivation, driving me to push forward because as a researcher, I could discover something groundbreaking in my field. Although my dad has dedicated his career to cancer research, he hasn't yet found a cure. Similar to him, I am holding on to a tiny spark of hope that together, we can revolutionize the world of science, whether that be through curing cancer or retrieving spoolable DNA from spinach.
What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?
"Vaanam?" (sky),"varnam?" (color), "vaana?" (celestial), "vaanavil?" (rainbow), "yes vaanavil!" Encouraging my students to guess the tamil word for "rainbow," I used clues to elicit their gleeful answers over Zoom. Moving Tamil classes online, when Covid-19 hit, I knew that I needed to design engaging educational games to incite learning and memorization over the course of two hour sessions. Helping younger kids keep in touch with their mother tongue provides me with deep satisfaction. However, even more sol appreciate helping them avoid communication mishaps, like that of my own.
Back before I began my instruction, I was pretty embarrassed by my lack of fluency in Tamil. Although in icebreakers, little me would always brag to my American friends that I could speak the oldest language in the world, Tamil, when I went to India and conversed with my relatives, the confident sentences I thought I spoke came out as complete gibberish. My relatives would give me blank stares as I would brokenly respond "naan arici sapp..sappit.. sappitten" (I ate rice) to their "what did you eat today" question. The embarrassment of not knowing my mother tongue led me to work hard to learn Tamil. After attending Peninsula Tamil School and 8 laborious years of memorizing translations, reciting verbal dictations, learning grammar, and doing those dreaded verb conjugation exercises, I finally became fluent in Tamil.
Just knowing Tamil prevented me from being embarrassed, but teaching Tamil granted me with much deeper satisfaction and made me feel even more connected. Even though I don't live in India, I can still fulfill the sense of duty I have to my mother tongue by continuing its multi-generation legacy. The fun and engaging games I played would allow these kids to
look back on learning Tamil in a fond way, and this feeling of making an impact motivates me to continue forward in my teaching. Now whenever I'm doing an icebreaker in the future, I can not only say that I'm fluent, but that I've also aided in sending forth kids who will fight to keep Tamil's legacy going, similar to me.