EOP QUESTIONS

1. List any volunteer, extracurricular activities, or work experience in which you are
or have been involved in the past two years.
➔ In the past two years, I have been an on/off Youth Librarian at the Pio Pico
Library. I started off in freshman year and continued up until I finished my
new junior year. I would only volunteer during the school year and stop
when summer time came around. At the library, I would put books away
and label new books.
➔ On June 13th-17th, 2016, I participated in the CTE BOOT CAMP at ELAC.
In the program, we learned about different types of careers related to
Child Development and at the end we had to make a project about the
career we were interested in.
➔ On July 2017, I got a job as a cashier at Mcdonald’s. Ever since I started
school I’ve been trying to manage my time between my job and my
education and now I only work on weekends

2. Why would you like to attend college? Discuss your career and personal goals.
Are there any particular circumstances, school experiences, or persons that
influenced your preparation or motivation to attend college (e.g., cultural/financial
background, family, teachers, schools you attended)? Please explain.
➔ I would like to attend college because I want to be the first one in my family to
actually make it through college and graduate. I also want to attend college
because my mom has told me a lot about how it was hard to study in the past
especially in a low income economy. Growing up, my mom didn’t have the
opportunities I have now. She didn’t get to finish high school or go to college.
She came to the United States when she was pregnant with me so I can have a
better life than she did. She is one of the main reasons why I'm attending college
so I can become successful and make her proud.

3. Briefly discuss your academic background. Did you utilize any additional support
at your high school, such as tutoring? Do your grades in high school and/or
college reflect your academic ability or potential.
➔ At school,I have always been the quiet,shy “nerd”. I have always strived to get
average grades. I have never really taking any tutoring classes in high school.
High school has been somewhat easy. Middle school was the time I mostly
struggled with my classes. In Middle School, I did take a tutoring class for
science. In eighth and ninth grade, I struggled with math. In tenth grade, I
decided that it was time to actually pay attention so I worked and I finally passed
 Algebra I. My grades in high school and college might not really affect my
academic ability unless my grades go down.
4. Briefly describe your family’s economic background. Include information about
your financial challenges.
➔ When I was a baby, My mom and I lived with seven other family members in a
one bedroom apartment. When I was five, my mom and I moved to an apartment
with my cousin and aunt. My mom had two jobs and I only got to see her for a
few hours each week. When I turned nine, My mom and I moved into a new
apartment with her boyfriend. Sadly, my mom left both of her jobs because she
injured her back. But now her boyfriend supports us and pays for all the bills and
I got a job as a cashier at Mcdonald’s.
5. Please tell us more about yourself. Is there any additional information you would
like EOP to consider in determining your admission to the program?
➔ There is really nothing interesting about me. I am an average girl. I am neither
rich or poor. I’m just a girl that is trying to get accepted to a University because
I’m trying study medicine or maybe mayor in Psychology because I want to help
people that really need it.

UC Personal Insight Questions

1. Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you positively

influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or contributed to group efforts.
Influencing others has always been a goal of mine. I show my leadership skills when I’m
working on my community service hours outside of school. I began my community
service hours when I was in 8th grade. My first volunteering activity was at UCLA
Community School as a Kindergarten Teacher’s Assistant. I would organize the
classroom and help the kindergarten students with their class work and their projects.
Whenever I came inside the classroom, they would get excited to see me. I knew I was
being a leader because I was like a guide for them. When it was time for recess, I would
stay inside alone and clean up and some of the kids would come inside and spend time
with me. It was crazy but I enjoyed working with them. I also volunteered at the Pio Pico
Library. I was known as a Teen Librarian and I helped around the library. It made me
feel like a leader when Adults would come to me for help and look at me as if I was an
adult. I would mostly work in the children’s section and help the children’s parents pick
the best educational books for their parents. One day, I got a gift for being a Leader. It
made me feel proud of myself. Another place I show my leadership skills at home.
When I was about fourteen, I had to take care of my one year old cousin and his ten
year old brother while my aunt was completing her duties. It was my responsibility to
feed them and make sure they were ready for the day. At first, I thought it was going to
be easy because I love playing with kids but then I realized kids like to wake up earlier
than expected and sometimes they have a little too much energy inside of them. I grew
up with my cousins so I always enjoyed drawing and playing with them. Everyday they
would tell me that they want to be just like me. Inspiring others makes me feel proud to
be known as a leader.

3. What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed
and demonstrated that talent over time?

One of my favorite skills that I am passionate about is writing. I started writing when I
was in kindergarten. I never really thought that much of writing. I just thought everyone
did it because it was a necessity for ourselves. When I began my teenage years, I
started realizing how helpful writing can be when you suffer from anxiety. I love using
my crazy imagination and expressing my emotions and thoughts through words.
Writing makes you feel free and relieved. In my free time, I write and publish stories on
the website, Wattpad. I get a lot of positive feedbacks from people around the globe that
like to read my stories. I’m mostly into writing fan fiction and creative writing but in
school we don’t really use that type of writing. In school, we use regular expository
writing in our classwork and essays. Over the last couple of years, my teachers have
told me that I have improved in my writing skills. I use to not know how to write proper
essays but when I started high school I learned about thesis, evidence, and other tools
that help me write college type essays. I feel very thankful for writing. Writing is very
important to me because whenever my anxiety hits I write down my feelings and it
makes me feel so relieved. It is also a great way to communicate with others. I use my
writing skills in my everyday life. I use it when I do classwork at school and when I do
homework at home. I also use it online when I'm writing essays or when I'm using my
social media. Writing helps me understand and remember things better. Whenever I
don't understand something, I research and write about it. When I need to remember
something, I have to write it on a calendar or on an agenda so I could remember it
easily. Writing is therapeutic and a piece of art. Writing brings knowledge. It gives
people the opportunity to organize their thoughts and escape to a different place.
The world would be boring without writing.

5. 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?
Math. The subject that some people actually enjoy doing and the subject that other

people dislike. Math is something I struggled with ever since I started Middle School. I

realized I was good at math until I started eighth grade. I was in a more advanced class
than most of my peers.I was with kids in the upper grade levels in my algebra one class.

Algebra One was easy but my teacher was really strict and I was surrounding by loud

people. At the end of the year, She failed all of the kids in my class and we all had to

retake it in ninth grade because there was no such thing as summer classes. In Ninth

Grade, My Algebra teacher really believed in Independent Learning so we had to do our

own thing. The only problem was that I needed more help than the one he was actually

giving us. In the second semester of ninth grade, I got a new math teacher. This math

teacher was somewhat more helpful but I was the one that made the wrong decision

and decided that I didn't want to pay attention in class. I decided to give up. I thought

that math was not necessary or important but I was wrong. I saw most of my classmates

pass and I began feeling foolish. I realized that if i kept failing it was going to affect me

sooner or later. I needed to change because I wanted to improve my grades and myself.

I wanted to make my parents proud. I didn't want to be known as the girl who couldn't

do math. In tenth grade, I began working hard, participating in class, and I finally passed

my Algebra One class after two years of failing. I was so proud of myself because I

worked hard to turn my grades back around. I spent restless nights studying and

studying so I could get a decent grade in that class. Now that I’m a senior, I’m glad I

decided to change and that I got in the right track to graduate.

8. 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?
Standing out has never been something I am good at. I have never liked being in the

spotlight. I don’t like being surrounded by drama and I don't like being surrounded by

negative people. I prefer being in the background and minding my own business. I am
the opposite of mostly all of the students at my school. In my school, my classmates see

me as an Introvert. I am shy, quiet and I like keeping things to myself. I prefer having a

small group of friends over popularity. I prefer studying over a school dance or reading a

book over socializing. I prefer being alone than being surrounded by people that don't

find school important. One might say I sound like a typical outcast that came out of a

teenage movie but I see myself as a strong girl that doesn't depend on people to do the

work for her. I am the type of girl that enjoys helping others and spreading positivity, and

works better by herself than with other people. I believe I stand out as a strong

candidate among the other students that are applying because I work hard when I am

motivated and I am not afraid of a challenge. I might not be perfect and I might not have

a 4.0 GPA but I try the hardest to be the person who I am today. I work as hard as other

students and all I want is to make my family and myself proud. I want to fulfill my mom

and I’s dream for me to become a successful women that could change the world. My

mom is the reason I am here right now. She migrated to the United States when she

was pregnant with me because she wanted me to have a better life than she ever had.

The University of California is a great way to show my skills and to show people that I

could do something big in this world. I

am looking forward to the new experiences and how I can become a better version of

myself.