Please tell us about the particular life experiences, talents, commitments and/or interests you will bring to our campus that will enrich our community.
Nearly 10 years ago I made a decision that changed my life; I started playing guitar. My father drove me to our local music shop and we picked out an old, beaten up strat. I was ecstatic. When the lessons began, I quickly grew frustrated and more often than I’d like to admit, I wanted to quit. My teacher, Dave, pulled me aside and said “you won’t get far in life if you quit whenever the going gets tough”. His words stuck with me. Dave wasn’t just a guitar teacher, he was my mentor.
Years later, I struggled through Honors Algebra 1. To me, factoring a quadratic equation was just as difficult as rocket science. I was ready to give up, but I remembered what Dave told me. I made up my own system; whenever I felt overwhelmed with a homework assignment, I would pick up my guitar, play a few riffs, then get back to work. The guitar calmed me down and kept me focused, it helped me solve my problems.
In high school, after a long love-hate relationship with math, I decided to take physics. I fell in love immediately. The teacher, Mr. Savage, was friendly, very knowledgeable, and most of all, failure was not in his vocabulary. To him, grades didn’t matter. He wanted us to put forth our best effort, to see us understand the subjects, and to enjoy learning. Mr. Savage believed in Carol Dweck’s ‘Growth Mindset’ and recited her ideas quite often. If we didn’t do well on a test, he sat down with us one on one, determined what we were struggling with, and worked with us to overcome that obstacle. Much like Dave, Mr. Savage changed my life. On top of encouraging my curiosity and will to learn, he sparked my passion for engineering. Thanks to Mr. Savage, I plan on applying to UW Milwaukee’s College of Engineering & Applied Science. I anticipate great challenges, but I will persevere, play guitar, and learn along the way.