These are my personal statements for the University of California.
Pursuing the most challenging educational opportunities feeds my hunger for learning. Starting my freshman year, I enrolled in the most difficult classes, squeezing out every drop of learning each day; I ended up with straight A’s by the end of the year. Sophomore year—my first AP class, biology! Captivated by what I was learning, I took the class head on and explored interesting topics—such as why thymine is used instead of uracil in DNA. Also wanting to learn more about Islam and the Taliban I decided to write my World Civilizations research paper on the Taliban’s interpretation of Islam, instead of choosing a pre-ordained topic. I stormed on to Junior year—four AP classes. With my burning desire for mathematical knowledge, I decided to take B/C Calculus—willingly giving up three lunches a week second semester in preparation for the AP test. Also being interested in U.S. History, I researched for causes of and pictures from the dust bowl and the Great Depression—finding a collection of color photos, instantly making this era very real. I continue to take AP classes Senior year, fueled by my innate desire to learn. This desire to learn is as great as ever and I look forward to pursuing and developing my interests at the University of California.
In sixth grade, my English teacher started a website. He invited a few students to work on the website with him. Not having been invited but being curious, I ask a classmate if I could see the Teach Yourself HTML in 21 Days book that all the website-workers used. I flipped through it and thought it would be awesome if I could create my own webpage. A few weeks later, I got HTML 4 for Dummies and began creating a webpage, teaching myself from the book. I soon outgrew the book, having learned about the wonders of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). CSS is a computer language which can easily alter the appearance of websites; it allows for a separation of style from content and greatly decreases webpage loading times. I harnessed (and still do) the power of this language and am free to create innumerable designs for any number of pages.
In July 2001 I settled down with an account at Tripod.com called Normlife. One month later school started and throughout the school year I made time to update my website with content and to change its design now-and-then. Halfway through my Freshman year I learned about XHTML—like HTML, but with stricter syntax. I rejoiced at this discovery and realized I could now fully separate style from content. Though this separation would create little visible difference for the average viewer, it would create immense difference in the coding of my webpages.
Eventually, I moved to a different host. Keeping the Normlife name, I regularly uploaded hand-coded webpages, amounting to something of an online diary, called a blog, complete with an archive—which is of interest to look back upon.
Christmas time Junior year, my friends bought me a domain name—Normlife.com. Elated, I obtained an online hosting service and immediately install a forum.
This forum, open to all people, becomes an area of collaboration on school assignments, a study area for quizzes, and a place to plan study-groups (and other get-togethers) for AP tests in May. Two months later, I add Movable Type—a blog management system—and create a customized template for it to fit my website. Activity at Normlife dramatically increased because of these installations—I created a community. To further this community, I have recently started hosting blogs for people.
I will put these skills to good use at the University of California. The forum at Normlife will be used to increase communication between people, and to increase the dissemination of opinions and ideas. I can also help design webpages for clubs, professors, the University, and classmates.
I will encourage fellow students to use blogs to clarify their thoughts and to share information with the world. These blogs will be avaliable for anyone to read, and can therefore offer unique views into University life. Applicants, like myself, would be able to find these blogs, develop interests in certain majors, and figure out which campus would be the best fit; once at a campus, the applicants would already have had the chance to develop connections to other students around the campus. I would have found such blogs helpful in deciding the rankings for colleges at the San Diego campus, and would have found them more so had I not known anyone attending the campus. The incoming generation of students is thoroughly computer literate and, I believe, would find these blogs extremely useful.
This increased communication will create new friendships and grow community at the University. I have seen my website passion inspire others in my high school community and I am confident that this will also occur at the University of California.
While visiting friends in North Carolina two years ago, I went to a Latin Jazz concert starring Arturo Sandoval. Listening to him play his trumpet and watching him perform, I decided to pick-up the trumpet and play it for my school's band. First I joined marching band and realized I have an immense amount of fun performing music. I then tried out for jazz ensemble and made it! Jazz ensemble class required me to arrive at school an hour early everyday. Marching band gave way to concert band in the spring. I continue playing the trumpet in these music groups this year and have added concert choir to my musical endeavors. Music has become so important and enjoyable to me that not a day goes by when I am not marching, jamming, or singing with fellow musicians. In fact jazz has become an addiction; I cannot get enough of improv soloing and random jam sessions. Music has created balance and has instilled a sense of culture in my final two years of high school. I intend to pursue music in college, perhaps in the form of a formal school organization or in an informal jazz group.