Elizabeth Rodriguez

Arrieta

AVID, 1

3 October 2017

UC Applications

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?

Theres no experience more peculiar than having lived in two different countries. My

beliefs are made up of two very different cultures with entirely distinct sets of values. Mexico

taught me the importance of being generous and welcoming, but America taught me to be more

competitive and driven. During the time I grew up in Mexico, my family taught me about the

importance of caring for others and helping them. Every time my family got together it felt like

the entire world was alive and dancing; there was nothing like it. Having lived in Mexico shaped

me, I experienced so much there, witnessing the cruelty and kindness of the world. It made me

more passionate about issues such as poverty, animal rights, sexism, and discrimination; this

paved the way for the person I am now. When I moved to America, I felt the change in the

atmosphere; things were much more formal, and the culture seemed to have more variety. It was

here that I learned to enjoy my childhood more but also became even more interested in social

issues and became more exposed to the wonders of the world. I took it upon myself to show

others the wonders of growing more aware of other cultures & educated my peers whenever they

shared a misconception about them. Im an open-minded and passionate person, this is the reason

as to why I want to pursue a career in, either, art history or politics, so Im able to study the

different sets of values around the world and how theyve changed throughout history. I love
exploring different cultures and noticing the differences between their values to mine, as well as

learning to incorporate them into my own. It would be an honor to have the chance to attend the

University of California and further develop my knowledge of the world as well as to share what

Ive learned with those around me willing to listen.

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?

(Jr Year)

Ever since I can remember, Ive been haunted by my anxiety. I had always been

able to manage it until the beginning of my junior year, due to my grandfathers death. I couldnt

bring myself to focus on school and fell into a deep state of depression and anxiety. I tried to do

well in my classes but was limited by my mental state; despite such, I still pushed myself to do

what I could. I refused to admit there was something wrong and that faced my problems on my

own so as not to burden others. My grades towards the end of my first semester didnt show my

potential; they reflected my state of mind. Ive always been very compulsive about getting

straight As; ever since I was in kindergarten, my life revolved around numbers and letters, so I

was distraught with my-then- current grades. Towards the beginning of my second semester, I

accepted I had a problem and asked my parents if I could see a therapist. The process of getting

better was slower than what I wouldve wanted, I still wasnt doing great in school and didnt

feel as if my mental state was any better, but my therapist said otherwise. During one of my

sessions, I remembered that Ive had relied on my grandfather to motivate me to do well

whenever my anxiety got the best of me, so when I lost him, I no longer had that sense of
reassurance and felt alone. Realizing this, I began to reevaluate my values and priorities when it

came to school; I started focusing more on the importance of learning as opposed to only

numbers. Despite my poor academic performance in my junior year, I learned that its vital to

face my problems and reach out to people. I now take every academic or non-academic challenge

I meet one step at a time to overcome it. Now that I've learned from my mistakes Im highly

motivated, looking to the future, to demonstrate my real potential to make my grandfather, and

myself, proud.

Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or

worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced. (Spanish)

The act of learning a new language is a skill thats quite underrated. I moved to the

United States, from Mexico, at the beginning of fourth grade knowing very little English; as a

result, I had to be pulled out of class every day to go to an English learners class. My favourite

time of the day was when I left to my English learners class; I got a sense of relief and saw it as

an opportunity to catch up with my classmates. Although I had a lot of trouble trying to learn the

material taught in my academic class, I felt the opposite when I was in my English learners class.

I came to realize that I was learning what I already knew in a new language, something no other

classmate of mine could do. It was challenging and frustrating knowing that I could do better

academically if I only knew English but I, instead, focused on practicing my English rather than

giving up. I studied a lot and watched a ridiculous amount of television and movies to become

accustomed to the speed and accents native English speakers . I took advantage of the fact that

the school I attended- here in the US- had a library, unlike the ones which I went to in Mexico. I
made it my mission to read as many books as I could once I started to understand the language

better. I began by reading small books in English and gradually moved on to more advanced

ones. My vocabulary began to expand over the course of time, as well as my understanding of

the language. Only a year after having started learning English, I won an essay contest for the

Sixth Grade Camp Outdoors Education Program. Winning this award was a significant milestone

for me because I no longer felt as if I had to catch up with my classmates. Learning a new

language is hard, sometimes I still have problems with pronunciation and understanding

colloquial terms, but its a barrier worth challenging.

Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem
solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how
you express your creative side.

I am a perfectionist when it comes to projects and visuals. Ever since I was assigned my

first project, I have made it my priority to make my presentations visually engaging, as well as

informative, so my classmates wont be bored by it. My creativity allows me to express my

personality, skill, and knowledge through the use of different mediums. I tend to analyze my

teachers and classmates to see what type of style, and scheme, would work best for them. For

example, I would use a more formal theme in my presentation in my AP Government class than

in my AP Literature. In my AP Art History class, my teacher assigned a project to design a roller

coaster based on a Disney movie. My group decided to make blueprints and some promotional

product for the attraction; I chose to it take it upon myself to draw a poster. Ive always liked

being able to express myself and my ideas artistically, so I created an original poster for the

movie Inside Out. When my group pitched the attraction to the class my teacher commented
on our creativity and appreciated the effort put into our presentation; both of the mediums we

chose to present our project helped express the vision we had for the attraction we designed.

While creating the poster, I decided to color it in vivid colors and focused on making it appealing

to people my age or older as opposed to taking a more cartoonish approach. Being able to create

a variety of presentations by adapting my style according to the class Im in perfectly expresses

my creative endeavors being applied efficiently to my academic courses.