Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Serving and Learning Together

For Summer Scholars we had to take part of a service learning project. This allowed the summer scholars to educate fifth to eighth graders in the area of their personal dream career. I enjoyed my time teaching my student, Pedro, about being a computer technician. Not only did he learn, receive, and benefit out of this program, but I did as well. Through teaching him I saw that I am a role model, and it made me realize that people do look up to me. Also, I need to learn to take action for my future, and I learned that it is never too early to start planning.
The first project that we had to complete was the Dream Careers Collage. Our student Pedro aspired to be a computer technician. As high school students, I felt that it was our job to teach these kids about their dream career and encourage them to pursue in their career choice. The collage was not too big of a challenge. All we had to do was look through magazines and cut out anything in the area of computer technology. I enjoyed this because I am very artistic, and I believe that Pedro had fun too. I held myself back and let him do the cutting, gluing, and writing on the poster for the collage. The finished product turned out amazing, and I was happy that I told him what to do then let him do the work; I could tell he felt proud and accomplished with the final project.
Next, in order to explore his dream career, we had to equip Pedro with the knowledge that will be beneficial to his future. First, however, my partners and I needed to obtain the correct knowledge in order to teach him about how to become and computer technician and what they do. It was difficult for me to try and teach Pedro in an area that I have little experience in. In order to be a good teacher I had to do lots of research, so I could educate him with further information that would help him learn and grow in this area. My partner Shane put together a power point, so we could teach Pedro all about being a computer technician. Shane printed the slide show out and brought it to Bryan Middle School. There we presented the slides to Pedro. He seemed very interested and eager to learn more.
After we shared our knowledge about computer technicians, it was time for Pedro to write an essay. When he wrote his essay he related back to the power point. The power point was very helpful with spelling, facts, specific names, and opportunities. We had Pedro hand write his essay. We wanted him to put his thought and insight on what we had just taught him. He did very well, but I had a hard time keeping my mouth shut. I wanted to put words into his paper, but I stopped myself because it was his essay and he should write it. When he finished writing his essay all we had to do was take it home and type it.
The last activity that we had to complete with our student was his action plan. Pedro has many goals and dreams for his life, some reasonable and some not so much. However, it is not my job to crush his dreams, so what I had to do was help him plan out his life so he could complete these goals. This is where the action plan worksheets came in handy. After he had filled them out, we then helped him analyze. Consequently, we crossed out the unneeded or unimportant points not pertaining to his ultimate goal. Then we ordered them from what he thought was most important to the least, in others words personal interests. He had fun with this activity and seemed like he was committed to follow through with his action plan.
I am glad that I got to take part in this service learning activity. Through the service learning program, it made me realize that it is never too early to start thinking and planning for my future career goals. I also had a fun experience helping Pedro and teaching him how to become a computer technician.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Personal Statement 4

I believe that I deserve to receive a full-ride scholarship to the college or university of my choice. I have not yet made my final decision as to where I am going to attend college. However, I have narrowed my choices down to in-state schools; Nebraska Wesleyan, University of Nebraska at Omaha, and University of Nebraska at Lincoln. A full-ride scholarship is such a blessing that every student desires to receive one. Unfortunately, not everyone will receive a full-ride scholarship or understands its true value. I understand it's true value, and I qualify to be awarded a full-ride scholarship in many ways. The donors will make a lasting and profitable investment in me.
I think that I deserve to have a full-ride scholarship based on my school performance. All throughout Elementary School, Junior High, and High School, I have worked my hardest and best to succeed in my classes. I have turned in my homework on time, I have spent hours completing my homework by staying up late or waking up early. When I am in the process of finishing my assignments, I always put a 100% effort into my task. I work hard in school to earn good grades, to maintain my place in the Honor Society, and the top 10% of my class. Not only do I work hard in school, but also I balance my life with work, clubs, and volunteer service. I have maintained my job at Arby’s for two years, and I enjoy the work environment. In school I am involved in a number of different clubs; LEO club which helps the community in various ways, DECA which is business based, National Honor Society, and Student Council. Outside of school I spend time with my church youth group, I volunteer at the Open Door Mission, and the Nebraska Humane Society. I am involved with all these activities not because I have to, but because I want to. I find all of them fun, and I feel good about myself after knowing that I had helped out the people in my community.
If I were presented a full-ride scholarship, and was accepted, the donors would make an investment in me. They would not regret allowing me money to go to college. I would take it and appreciate the gift, because I know how much it is worth. I have an older sister who is going to college this year, which is emptying my dad’s pockets. I also have two younger brothers who are ten and two years old. My dad makes a good paycheck, however, he has many expenses, and my college tuition is one of the biggest coming up. I would like to receive a full-ride to help my dad out with the expenses. If I were granted the scholarship, I would keep my GPA above a 3.0 and meet all of their requirements in order to maintain the full-ride scholarship. Also, I would volunteer my time to talk to future college students about how wonderful this scholarship program is. I would encourage them to apply by being a great example and talking about my benefits I have received through the scholarship.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Personal Statement

My dad, Ed Yong, has a major impact on my life. He is the person who has the biggest influence in my life because he taught me how to successfully live by making wise decisions. I have grown up with him, but I have not always realized or appreciated him when it came to telling me what was best. However, I am grateful for him being there for me no matter what and showing me the right path to follow.
When I was little he was my role model. I admired him and looked up to him in everything he did; teaching me to ride a bike, working, cooking, helping me with homework and much more. Sadly, as the years passed, and as I grew up and saw more of the world and what it had to offer, I went through a stage where I thought he wasn’t as great as before. I realized that he wasn’t the most intelligent person on the planet. Through high school my math classes became more challenging and I saw that he did not remember how to do all the problems. I began to think less and less of him. However, soon I realized he is still my hero and knows a lot more about life than I do. I need to listen to my wise old man and not underestimate him.
He always has given me the best advice for decision making. He is supportive of me and all that I do. However, when I applied and was hired at Arby’s, to my surprise, he was not all that thrilled. I shortly found out his view on high school student jobs. He doesn’t want to see me focus all my time on a minimum wage job. He then explained to me that I will earn little spending money now, but if I stay focused in school I will have a job that will earn ten times the amount.
He reminds me every day that education is key, work hard in school and play later. When I go out with friends, he wants me to be safe. First, he likes to know that I am with trustworthy people that I can rely on; real friends not fake friends. Growing up under his views I know right from wrong, so I know who is a good influence and who isn’t. I have learned that I can have fun doing pretty much whatever, as long as I am with people I care about and who care about me. One concern my dad has is if I am out too late. He reminds me, “work now play later.” I see his point in him wanting my grades not to slip and for me not to fall behind. It is hard though when I do want to go out but I know I shouldn’t. From my dad I have learned not to procrastinate and to get my work done first, so then I can go out and not have to worry about cramming since I already have completed my assignments.
I am proud to have a father who cares so much about me. Even though he does not always say I love you every night to me, he shows me through his actions and I know that he does love me very much. My goal is to be more like him because I feel being successful is the key to a happy future. He is the wisest man that I know who is responsible, reliable, and respectful and I hope to be like him one day.

Monday, June 14, 2010

My First Week as a College Student

I survived my first week as a college student. It was definitely easier than I had anticipated. The class I chose to enroll in was Speech. This class is a sophomore level class, and I was nervous that it was going to be too challenging and out of my ability to perform well in. However, the professor, Mrs. Tolller, is very enthusiastic who seems to enjoy her job. This makes her approachable and makes me feel more comfortable to ask her questions on assignments or quizzes. She also has a great sense of humor and jokes around. I am lucky to have an easy professor who likes to have fun, but still enforces the importance of getting our work done.
Everyday, or every other day, we have a quiz over a chapter in our speech book, “In Mixed Company”. The quiz consists of ten questions, multiple choice and true or false. First, we take the quiz by ourselves and hand them in. Then we take the same quiz in our small group, which consists of four to five people. She then collects them and grades them and us students get to keep which ever score is the highest. The point in doing group quizzes shows the importance of teamwork. It also goes along with the material we are learning in class.
For me, the most challenging part of this class is finding the time to read the chapters. Each chapter is 30-40 pages long, and gets boring after a bit. I try to focus, but I get to distracted. I do read every chapter, but I am very thankful for our study group that meets Tuesdays and Thursdays. Having the study group refreshes my mind, and helps me review and remember right before the quiz. I feel that reviewing the information is helpful and helps me to obtain a higher grade on my quizzes. Through this experience I learned that I can handle college and that it is not as hard as I think. I can sit back and breathe so I can focus on finding the right college for me without being stressed or worried on what to expect. I feel that this is a great opportunity and I am glad that I get to participate in summer scholars. It has positively impacted my life by giving me confidence, and it has relieved much of the stress that I was feeling.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Residence Life

Through this program, Summer Scholars, I got the opportunity to experience living on a college campus. I had no idea what to expect because I have never really done anything like this. The very first day I was nervous about whom my roommates were going to be; if they were fun, loud, annoying, friendly, messing, or clean. I got to my room and no one was there, so I decided to just unpack and set up my room. When the other girls arrived they were all friendly, yet kept to themselves by not invading in on my room. One big concern that I had was how the shower situation was going to work. Luckily, my three roommates were all pretty cool about it. No one was the girl who was so selfish or self centered, by having to be the first one to take a shower, no matter what. We all respected one another and rotated on who was to go first.
Summers Scholars allowed me to expand my social network to many people from different schools. A lot of the students there were new people that all seemed nice that I wished to get to know better. I became very open, friendly, and outgoing toward the other summer scholars. Through different activities, such as the Camp Carol Joy Holling courses, I grew closer with different people in the program by building relationships through teamwork and trust. Everyone seemed to be pretty cool and funny; we were all looking to have a good time. I formed some lasting friendships by going to class, playing games, and eating together.
However, living on Scott Residence Hall was not just a vacation for me. It included early mornings, and school, which means homework. I participated in all of the fun activities that the RTAs planned for us, but during my free time I had to choose which was more important; having fun and becoming closer with my new friends or studying and completing my homework for class the next day. I ended up going to my room and studying for class first. Consequently, if I completed all of my homework before I went out to have fun, I could stay out as long as I wanted and not worry about falling asleep or running out of time to finish my homework. During my stay at the Scott Residence Hall, I met many people that I may have never known, if it wasn’t for this program. I am glad that I had this opportunity to experience living on a college campus; it helped me have a better understanding for college and helped me grow as a person too.