Here are two of my (very, very rough draft) Personal Insight Questions for the UC applications. I am hoping to get into UC Davis or UC Irvine, and my SAT score isn’t great, so any advice is greatly appreciated! (fyi, they have to be under 350 words each.)
- 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?
Towards the end of my middle school experience, everything in my life had seemed to go wrong simultaneously. Due to hardships at home, I walked to and from school every day, where not only was I bullied, but I was once almost kidnapped. This was a harsh lesson to learn as a 12-year-old: just because you are okay one day, does not mean that you will be okay the next. One day you’re getting chocolate milkshakes with your father, the next day he’s announced his intent to move 2,607 miles away. One day you’re walking home peacefully, the next day, two men pull up in a gold van, make eye contact with your fear-frozen body, and begin to open the door. Thus, the beginning of high school was rough. I had been pulled from an environment of turmoil and thrust into a highly competitive high school. I barely had had time to process the recent changes in my life before I was barraged with projects and volunteer work and finals. But why would I care about something as arbitrary as grades when my life had quickly morphed from being okay to being not okay? While this way of thinking does reflect in my first-semester freshman grades, I quickly changed my views. Was it really worth ruining my future because I wanted to brood over one year of my life? It was during this time that I discovered a poem by the great Robert Frost: “The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.” This quickly became my mantra; sure, giving up on my grades was an appealing option. But I had to promise to myself not to; giving up would only perpetuate a life of misfortune. I have since raised my GPA from 2.8 to 4.3 and realized the importance of education: without it, I can not carry out my dreams of joining the Peace Corps and going to law school. The woods no longer look lovely, the promises are far more appealing.
- Describe your favorite academic subject and explain how it has influenced you.
My sophomore year I signed up for my first AP class: AP World History. I was timid at first- this was the hardest AP class offered to sophomores and I had heard horror stories from the upperclassmen. I was determined nonetheless. This mundane decision, frankly, shaped my highschool experience.
I quickly became fascinated with many aspects of history- the ups and downs of humankind, legends of those persevering in the face of adversity, and most importantly, the roots of our modern civilizations. Understanding the beginning of modern international relations was beyond captivating to me. I spent countless hours that year learning about why some civilizations rose while others fell, why some countries prospered while others struggled. This is why, when the AP United States Government and Politics teacher knocked on my classroom’s door and handed out fliers for Model United Nations, I signed up immediately.
Though Model UN is the perfect forum in which to discover the intricacies of international relations, I also became heavily interested in politics. The AP Government teacher is always willing to discuss the upcoming presidential election, thus I was quickly engrossed with the election process. Politics is simply decades of history in action. The American Bill of Rights would not exist if it weren’t for the English Bill of Rights, which would not exist if it weren’t for the Magna Carta. Some of the most popular topics within presidential debates originate from a document written in France centuries ago. History utterly amazes me.
History is the trunk; politics are the leaves. If I had never taken that AP World History class I would have never walked down the path leading me towards a political science degree and law school shortly thereafter. Since deciding this I have been invited to the Stanford Intensive Law & Trial program, though I can not attend due to financial reasons. Despite this disheartening setback, I am determined to achieve these goals.