Admission State Essay

Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.

My life is simple and comfortable, but it was not always like this. When my family first immigrated in the United States, a lot of challenges hit us. One was living in a small crowded apartment with eight other people, and having to see a mother cry each night because she was homesick and people around her treated her like trash. My family was not only facing emotional problems, but also financial problems too. Since we were new in the United States, in my parents pockets were mostly only Philippine Pesos, barely any US dollars. My dad worked as the apartment’s handy man and mom was not unemployed. I always thought that United States of America was a place to start a new life and try to make all my dreams come true. Turns out, making those dreams come true was harder than i thought. It took all my parents sweat and blood that brought the the family were we are now. I owe my parents everything i have and my dream to become a nurse.

I learned from my parents that giving up is not the answer. Every since our first two years, i persevered in school, because the best way i could repay them is through my grades. I also realized that i was very good at memorising body parts and i was very curious when it comes to a dissection. Even though the dissection was little disgusting, it was still cool to see body parts of mammals similar to human organs. I remember the heart lab, my anatomy physiology teacher ordered about six sheep’s heart, one for each table. When i first saw the heart, it was huge and was the size of my fist. i was amazed on how it looked like and the feeling of it. Some parts of the heart was tender and hard, but some parts of it was soft and squishy. But most of all it was very slippery, I could not hold the heart unless it was going to slip out of my hands. I was more fascinated one the function of the heart. For the heart to pump blood all around out body , just for the human body to live each day is amazing to me.

My parents encouraged me to persevere in school, believing that the medical field is the best career to pick because of the amount of payment. Ever since i started sophomore year and took anatomy physiology, my parents saw great changes in my science class. They kept on saying, “You should become a nurse,” or “Go to the medical field because of your high grades in anatomy.” Both my mother and father constantly remind me each day that i have do my best in school. Even though i get annoyed of by it, but it is worth it because they are the ones that encouraged me to make my choice of career. My family has pushed and gave me the perseverance in my choice of career. This why i want to become a nurse.


Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?

Part of my personal quality is my accomplishments. One of my accomplishments that i did was facing one of my biggest fear, roller coasters. It was the end of the eight grade when the entire eight grade class went to Great America as our last field trip. There one of my friends wanted to ride a roller coaster called The Demon or something like that. She dragged with her in line and waited for about thirty minutes until it was out turn to seat in the seat. So i fasten my belt, i told my friend to put my glass with out stuff (they don’t allow eye glasses in the roller coaster). while i was sitting there waiting for her to come back, my hand was cold as ice and i was near to having a heart attack. Then it started out slow, down a dark tunnel and up we go to highest point of the tracks. Then down we go going as fast as a cheetah, two loops and two spirals, while we in the ride i was screaming to the tops of my lungs. It was the most amazing feeling i ever felt. It felt exhilarated and i wanted to ride it one more time. This was the time when i faced my fear of roller coasters.

It made me realized that With a little encouragement, i can over come anything. This connects to school too. I remember my first year Alameda Science and Technology Institute (ASTI), i was in a lot of pressure. Teachers expected a lot from the students. Like, they expected that we should read and write in a college level and that we know everything. It was a worst nightmare for a student. I also here them say “ why on your middle school grade you guys had A’s or B’s, but what happened” . You what happened, pressure and a lot of stress. It made me miss my middle school days, where i got high grades. By the end of the fall semester of two thousand nine (2009) i wanted to quit and go to another school where it would be easier to get high grades. I prefer to pack my books and forget about ASTI. Then i though to myself, “why quit now?” It was then i realized that i just have to suck it up and continue my life in ASTI, Even though it is full of stress and pressure, i realized that i can do anything. High school was like a roller coaster to me. There was a lot of ups, downs, twist, and turns, but sophomore year was not that bad. even though there was more work it was worth it because by fall of two thousand eleven i will be a junior. it is basically taking little steps a time. Writing this being a sophomore, i finally realized that i could accomplish anything. If i only put my heart and soul to it, and i will accomplish the goals i have.

Dislike Amy Chua's Article "Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior" (Reponse Post)

In Amy Chua’s Article titled Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior and she also written the book Tiger Mom. She explains in her article how a Chinese mother controls her child and how a Western mom or parents different from each other. There was a part in the article that explains about that children should repay their parents.

“Second, Chinese parents believe that their kids owe them everything. The reason for this is a little unclear, but it's probably a combination of Confucian filial piety and the fact that the parents have sacrificed and done so much for their children. (And it's true that Chinese mothers get in the trenches, putting in long grueling hours personally tutoring, training, interrogating and spying on their kids.) Anyway, the understanding is that Chinese children must spend their lives repaying their parents by obeying them and making them proud.”

I personally do not believe in her idea that children should repay their parents, even if they are rude, strict, and horrible parents. I think that it is the childrens' decision to whether repay their parents. If the parents were guiding their children , helpful, and supportive then they have the chance for the kids to help them. But if the parents are rude, strict, mean, and intimidating - like Amy Chua - . Then there are less chance that the kids would repay their parent. For example, if my parents were like Amy Chua to me or my lilt brother, within the future i would not repay my parents i would just leave them in a nursing home. Even they gave me a shelter and food to eat, I would not care because my parents would off made my childhood memories a living hell. In conclusion, it all depend on how the parents treat their children and how the children reacts to their parents action towards them.

reponse: things i hate in the week.

This response post was inspired by Vy’s response post to to Kaila’s blog post about things i hate this week:

This week has been probably the worst week ever. Coming back from break and the teachers expect me to be ready for school and get to learning. i say NO! Just coming back from break, ny brain is still on it’s mode that i am still on winter break. My whole body was piratically falling asleep in every class on the first day we came back. My brain was not used to waking up early in the morning and getting ready for school. Likr Vy said in her post, “UGH.I hate waking up in the morning..., [i] never feel good, and I am not in the mood for anything. Waking up early is not the business, it takes so much energy and encouragement to get myself up in the morning. I just never want to wake up, it takes so much work.” And i agree with her, during the first two days was hard because i had to wake early to get ready for school and still have time to eat breakfast. But during winter break i just woke up in the afternoon or around ten or eleven am and just eat branch - a mixture of lunch and breakfast-. This week i am still getting use to the whole “school work only” again because three weeks of winter break is pretty long and i did not has much focus on the work they sent us home. So it was useless because after finals week i completely forgot everything i learned. especially on math and anatomy.

This week what i hated was that the teacher told has we had four packets that we did over the break, but i heard from the teacher before break was three. Turned out the fourth packet was the reviewer for the final, but i never did it because she said it was optional. So now during the weekend i need to finish the last packet and just waste my weekend time on math. Yup. My weekends are over and including the lab and project we have to do for History and Anatomy that is due Tuesday.

There are more stuff that i hated this week, but this was mostly what i had i mind.

deja vu or a reminder?

After reading Kristein Chin’s blog post titled “Forget”, i wanted to make a response to it. At the last paragraph she wrote was interesting. It said,

“I was never interested in my past before, but something recently sparked my brain into having these dreams. Now, I really want to know who I am. These dreams were derived from seeing just one thing recently, but I didn't recognize what. I passed by too many things from day to day and I didn't have the time or energy to recall these things.”

I can relate to this quote because sometimes i see, hear, and smell things that sometimes give me a memory of my past or sometimes deja vu.

There was one times that i was just walking back from school and i saw this balloons tied into a pole and it just reminded me when i was little, living in the Philippines and in each of my birthday i would have a big bash party that all my friends and family was there. And there would be always be games, laughter, and entertainment. And those balloons was just there tired in a knot at the pole and reminded me an event that occurred years before. Or when it is a deja vu. Sometimes when i stare into space and i just hear my surrounding it feels like a deja vu. - A deja vu is an experience of thinking that a situation had occurred before, in other words that event that is occurring feels like it happened before.- For me when i have deja vu, its weird and it scary because you do not know it the event really happen again. So having deja vus and being reminded of the past is good and bad things. It is good because it would be nice to reminded of the past once in a while. It could be bad because probably people want to forget about something that happened tragically in the past and deja vu feels weird. Having deja vus and being reminded of the past is vice versa, according to the person.

Reponse: Precious Moments

I just read a blog post written by Vincent Liu about precious moments. And i agree with him, there is nothing better than spending time with family or friends at any time in a day and remembering each thing that has happened. He said,

“...a precious moment? It is a moment in our life that we can truly feel happy and warm inside of our heart. It can be more than one moment of your life that you feel is truly important and that you can never forget about it for the rest of your life...Those moments are the time when I feel truly happy and just laugh freely without having to worry about anything at all. Precious moments are also times that you always want to experience again. It is a time in your life that makes you feel like life is truly worth living.”

His state is very much true, because when ever i have the time to spend time with my friends or family it seems that time just stops and each thing we to together is a memory to be remembered for a long time.

I remember the trips that my family and i took when i was little until now. Each of the trips we went to was a chance for us to bond and have fun at the moment we there. And in those time my family and i was traveling, we had new adventures each day. In those time we may have the ups and down, but still it was a memory to be remembered. For example, the trip we took in the Philippines. During times it was horrible, but fun, and in those times my family tired to go to places that was fun or the place we never went to. In the places went was a memory to remember because not every time we could go back to the Philippines, and it was nice to have remember events that is important to my life. Precious moments are events that occur in someone’s life that is important or made a significant attachment to their heart.

Daily Rouitne

I just have to respond to Carly’s response post to Ruby’s blog post about daily routine. Ever since i started attending ASTI (Alameda Science Technology Institute) my daily routine in going to school and stay there for about eight hours and go home and start doing homework. In Ruby’s blog post said,

“My weekly ritual consists of: waking up, going to school, coming home to do homework, and sleeping... Saturday and Sunday, never too much thrill out of those days either."

I can relate to her idea of daily ritual because i do almost the same thing each eek. My daily habits is similar to a robot doing the same thing each day of its life. I find my life in ASTI very boring doing the same routine, it is like nothing exciting happening to my sophomore life except getting the work done before it strikes midnight.

My daily routine is to get up at five thirty in the morning and take a shower for about ten to fifth teen minutes and get ready for school and when i have about an hour left before heading down stairs to eat breakfast i ten to review or read the book “1984” by George Orwell. And when it is finally seven o'clock i go down to the kitchen and eat breakfast and bring my small bowl of food to the living room to turn the television to watch the news for the weather and also the news that are happening in the Bay Area. Then when my alarm for school rang it means i need to go and head for school, but school is not difference. I go to all my four periods before lunch and after lunch head to my last two classes. And finally walk back home when it hits three o’clock, and when i got home i have about thirty minutes to rest then start on my no ending homework. Yup, this is my daily routine for Mondays to Fridays.

Looking at my daily routine, it seems that my life so far is boring. I also notice i take so much time doing school work, i do not even have time for my family or friends. Its true what on of the staff in ASTI said, “we got to sacrifice a lot of things for attending ASTI”. I just hate it when i got so much work to do, while my family or friends are having the time of their life with each other. That makes me feel like an outcast because i was not there in the moment it happened also that with all the work i have to do for school i barely have an eight hour sleep. Now i have dark circles around my eye. Sometimes i wonder if i made the right choice attending ASTI.

Christmas Time.

I found this response post at Tiffany’s blog post that she responded to Karisssa blog. It is about her wanting it to be Christmas already, trust me she is not the only one. I just wished it was already the month of December and me turning sixteen and let the Christmas feeling and season be falling already.

“It's also nice when you turn on the radio and they have holiday music playing, and even though you've heard these songs a million times from the years before, you don't seem to get sick of them. Christmas day is a highly anticipated event and I am always counting down the days of December until the 25th comes. I'm not going to lie, I do look fo[r]ward to the acquisition of what was put under the Christmas tree the night before, but I also really look fo[r]ward to getting to spend this day with my family.”

When i saw this quote at Karisssa’s blog i immediately remembered the days i had with my family during the Christmas times. I remembered the times i go shopping for everyone i knew: my friends and my family. I remember always staying up until midnight and opening presents with family and seeing their surprised faces and just enjoying the time we have for one another.

I just love the month of December because then it a about three weeks without going to school, and just a break from the ASTI school work and pressure. With the final finished and going straight to break is a nice thing because then all the brain cells that has been burned out during the first semester of school can be rebuild and have full load brain, but the down side of having no work during the break is losing the things i have learned from the first semester. This does not mean i want homework during the break, but a small very thin packet, it is just a way for to review the things. -Still i hate having a lot of work during vacation.-December is fun a month and yet be educational.

The month December is always fun for me because its a time for to gather around, me celebrating my birthday, and create a New Years Resolution. It is a month were everyone can party and change their lifestyle.

Winter response.

        Referring back to Wendy Li's Blog Post about winter, she mostly describe the good things about winter. But there is also the bad side of it too. For example, the weather is always either very cold that it looks like its about to snow or there will be a storm and i would be soaking wet by the time i get home. This weather happens at the month December, January, and sometimes February. I just do not like having that weather kind of weather because it ends up with people having coughing, sneezing, and fever. The sickness happens because the people go inside and outside the building where inside the building it is nice and warm and outside it is freezing cold.
          The other things is bad side of winter is that we have winter break. I love the winter break because everyone is out of school and we could just hang with our friends and family any time at any day. But the sad part is that we have homework, and i' m guessing this year that we have to read during our winter break and probably write journals about the book. Sometimes homework ruin all the fun at the wrong time. Since its winter break and everyone is going on with family trips or just hanging around with close friends it can just ruin the fun by saying to the family and friends "i have homework to do." Its better with no homework because then people can enjoy with minute they have with their family and friends.
            The other part i hate about winter is my birthday being on winter season. I just do not like having my birthday doing the winter season. Is that the fact my birthday is five days before Christmas which means i only have one gift. Half the gift is for my birthday and the other half is for Christmas. I'm not complaining, but sometimes i just feel sad on birthday because it sometimes rains on my birthday. I would like to have one birthday that is sunny and bright, but that would not happen because it is on winter. 
              As i observe winter does not only have a good side, but also a bad side of it.

Reposnse: Jealousy.

I was just reading Shiyun’s blog post about Jealousy. And when she asked the question, “Have you ever felt jealous at one point?” I reflected in my life, and I too experience jealousy. I remember being jealous of my little brother because he has the brains like my mom. when ever he gets good grades in school, I feel like a failure because he has all A’s and I have all B’s or C’s. I was always been jealous of my little brother. But in the end I got over it because I know I do try best in school and I’m proud of the grade i have because I do deserve it.

Also when she wrote down, 

“   When we are jealous, we do some things that we would not normally do. I think that we should be more calm when this happens. We do not always have to have what others have. If we do, then doesn't it just make us all the same. I think we should just feel happy for what they have." 

I have to agree with her because it is true, we should be happy on what we have because we deserve it. Learning from my experience, I too do feel that my brother is better than me, but the thing is we are two different people with two different minds. So when I realize that i gave up with that issue and just move on.

Coming back to the quote, she sees that consequence of having jealousy, when she said we do some things that we would not normally do. She say is saying that when we do feel jealous we sometimes think about thinks we would do to that person or what we would so to our selves. The point is feeling the jealousy is can lead into major consequences.

The meaning of jealousy is to go against another's success. and whenever we see that people has better life or has all the things you want; it makes you feel that you are a failure because you can not get all those things or have a good life for your-self. Overall Jealousy is every where and we cannot do anything about it.

Reponse: Mistreating your Girlfriend

“For all the guys that have a girlfriend, you should always treat her right. If you have a girlfriend, be with her only if you care about her, trust her and love her. Mistreating your girlfriend is a very stupid thing to do. Only because you you’re the guy in the relationship doesn’t give you the right to boss her around. That is so unfair. Advice for the girl, leave the damn guy! You shouldn’t be taking the crap that he throws at you. If any young girl is going through all that but still love him she should open your eyes, understand what you’ve got your self in and forget about him. “

When i read Fremin’s first paragraph about Mistreating your Girlfriend, i just have to agree with him. Because why would girls put up with guys that treat them like crap, girls deserve better boyfriends. If the guys is being rude to the girl, then the girl really has to break-up with him. No matter what the guy’s status in school or wherever, the girl has the right for dumping the boy. And guys say that they’re “men”, if guys are men why are they rude to some girls, should they be a gentleman to be man?  

When he implied “Another thing that guys do when they are in a relationship is that they try to pressure their girlfriend to have sex,” at his second paragraph i just have to disagree with him, because not all guys pressure their girlfriends to be having sex but sometimes their girlfriends pressure them to be having it. I do agree with his idea, but sometimes it is not the guys fault.  But mostly i hear guys hurting their girlfriends to get what they want.
    Finally, when he said,

“On the other hand, girls have many more consequences to face if something goes wrong. They can get STDs so as the guy and get pregnant. And a girl’s reputation is much more at stake if she has sex and people find out about it. rumors will be spread and she will be called a hoe, or a slut. She will not only get sex but also might be dumped,. If she gets pregnant, she might abort the baby which is wrong to do.”

I do agree with his statement because there are more girls getting STDs and getting pregnant when they first time having sex. Girls have more consequence than guys because there are girls that get called “Slut”, “hoe”, and etc when they get dumped by the guy just after having sex. It just horrible seeing or hearing about girls doing things that can harm their life by just regretting on having sex.

In conclusion, girls suffer more if guys force them to be having sex, being beaten on, and just being rude. Because girls can go through trams, deep depression, and committing suicide.
   

Response: RIch and the Poor.

I just read a blog post by Shiyun about the rich and the poor. On her introductory paragraph, there was a sentence that captured my eyes. And it said, “Although rich people may have lots of money, poor people seem to have a much better life.” when I read this part of her introductory paragraph, I just have to disagree with her. Its because not all people that struggle with money have a better life than the wealthier. Many families and people are struggle because of their money problem and many of them ends in disaster. For example, in families or marriages, when they struggle in money the parents or couple ends up in a divorce because of the constant arguing about their finical problems, and about single people when they are laid off work they go to normal to depressed. My point is that not all people that are poor do not have a better life than the rich.
    Also when I encounter the sentence, I had some question in my head.  For instance, where did she get this idea, where are her facts that states that poor people are more happy than the rich?

In addition, I also found another sentence that does not really make sense to me. She said, “...while rich people don't have trustful friends, they are mean, and not independent.” It is another stereotype. First of all, there are many different types of rich people; like the business type- i think this is what she is describing-, born wealthy, and much more.  Yes maybe there are wealthy people that are snobby or rude when it comes to money or status in life, but are  rich people that can be nice, caring people. The citizens just have to get to know them and be sure that they are good people.

I see another stereotype, Shiyun wrote, 

“Although rich people may look very nice as if they will give you anything you might need. I noticed that they are very selfish. They don't seem to share their things. Rich people are quite mean to people that are not as rich as them. They don't care much about others feelings because they know their the best and they deserve anything they want.”

Like I said earlier, it is just another stereotype. How could she possibly know that these are true? Does she stalk rich people and where can she get solid evidence?

Lastly, I do understand her point, but mostly I see are opinion and not solid facts that can be supported with evidence. I just hope on her next writing she writes, she would use solid facts and not her opinion.

Repose Post: " Swagga-Style"

I just read a blog post about “Swagga-Style” and i think it is a bit disorganize. First,she started of with questions about who started style or what is style, and then she showed a time line from 1910 to 2010. From this, her post sounded awkward, she said at her first paragraph;

“ ‘If all your friends where wearing this, so would you’[.]Alot of people say its the celebrity's that are the ones to choose the style and change it up as much as they want but reall, it's not the celebrities its the youth them selves, Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj Totally Dress crazy and all out there, but every kidd around the street can't mimick there style to the fullest.”

When she wrote this, i got more confused. Because from the beginning she showed a time line and questions, so i thought she will be writing about how style changed , but instead she talked about how it influence people around us. Her transition was not as good and she did not explain a lot of details on “inter racial fashions”, so it had a major gap of explanations. Second, her blog post was to short and she did not even cite the time line. She could of done more explaining rather than asking questions. Lastly, i saw mostly saw about White Americans and African American sense of style, what happened to the other ethnic groups? But there was a part that was promising.

    The phrase was: “I think fashion is an expression of who you are,...” it made me think that fashion became a cultural piece. I taught about this because fashion has its on style, and in other countries they have different ways they dress. That sentence impact me because every one has their own unique style and no one can take it away.

    I think that is what the witter is trying to portray, even tough her context does not connect with one idea. I almost understand the meaning of her blog post. Her post was mainly about fashion and how it changes over time, but she was drifting to a different topic about ethnicity style and that made it more confusing. Aleah just needed to focus on one topic, cite facts, correct grammar problems, and read out load before posting it. 

Bullies bully.

I found this quote at Shiyun's blog. 

I think people bully others because they want others to think that they are powerful and strong. They want to let others know that they are weak and they are not able to hurt them. I think people also bully others because they feel bad about themselves, so they hurt others instead to make themselves feel better. Bullies don't want to look weak and in the inside they feel that they are below everyone, ..."

This quote of Shiyun can relate to the ASTI Constitution. In one of the rules it says that we have to treat everyone equally, so it means that we should not bully one another. Shiyun’s quote is relatable to the constitution by not bullying one another. By explaining her quote, people bully one another because they do not want to show their true feelings, so they demonstrate it in terrible actions. Bullies also bully not just because of how they are feeling, but also to make other people feel awful about them-selves. This happens mostly to people that are innocent because they are an easy to target. For example, if you are student that does well in school and suddenly an another student makes fun about something that you did not do, soon enough, the entire class well mock and laugh at you. Bullies do this because they want a special type of attention from their fellow peers. It is the easiest way for them to express of how they are feeling and to think that they are superior of all their classmates. This reconnects to our ASTI Constitution, of how we need to treat everyone fairly and think before you speak or act. By bullying a student or a person can make a big impact on a person’s personality. Like, when a student bully another kid, all the other student knows that the child has no manner and know that they have to be careful around the bully. That we need to think and before we act and that we need to speak up for yourself and others. This explains that we need to help the others that are being bullied and that we need to show we are confident enough to tell our leaders about bullies that are happening. We need to speak for ourselves and for others, that we could stop bullying in our areas. This is an ASTI Constitution: speak up for yourself and others, think before you speak or act, and accept others for who they are