Briefly describe a time that your efforts have fallen short, a goal was not accomplished, or an aspiration was not achieved.( 500 characters)

When I was a child, I despised reading. Mostly because I was spectacularly bad at it. Being dislexic meant that I had just as much talent reading upside down as I did right side up, i.e. No talent at all. My Adhd only compounded the problem. Reading though a big paragraph of text is like trying to hold onto a wet bar of soap. No matter how hard you try, the bar will slip. I felt like Sisyphus, my ADHD, my bolder, my dyslexia, my hills. So I slammed the book, threw out the vocab test, and gave up.

What steps did you take to recover from this defeat? What resources did you use? How and why are you different today? (2000 characters)

I would have never guessed that after all those hours practicing, all those nights at learning centers, I would finally overcome my dyslexia, not by reading, but by listening. When I was little, I was given a disk player and alongside it, exactly one book, James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. I listened to that book, on average, about a million times. I would play it day after day, until the players' silver paint was chipped, and each disk was scratched. It was the first time I had ever experienced words like that outside of bedtime stories, and I loved it. Eventually all my disks cracked and my disk player was lost. I never forgot that experience, and neither did my family. When, in middle school, my father came by a free audiobooks app, he encouraged me to try it out. I watched the chapters of load, and clicked play. From that moment on, I never stopped listening. Book after book, chapter after chapter, I devoured every audiobook I could. My reading still struggled, my spelling was still abysmal, but I finally, finally got what I always wanted. To read what my peers could read, to find the worlds that they loved and make it my own. Some people run when they're upset, others play sports, still others listen to music. I listen to audiobooks. They’ve been my constant companion and a source of hope in the darkest of times.  Slowly, my vocabulary improved, my reading comprehension improved. My self confidence and love of learning improved. I was, and still am, utterly addicted. After consuming a library worth of books, I got to a point where listening wasn’t enough. Not every story is in audio format. I started small, struggling through online short stories and ebooks. I found a system, if I came across words I didn't understand, I would copy and paste it into Google, and use the speak and defining function. Through the next few years, I was able to connect the words I heard to the words on the page. I now read everyday. I have taken to writing, using the words I taught myself, and the stories I love, to inspire my own works. Through hard work, I have become a student who loves, not only James and the Giant Peach, but to read.

Describe a topic, idea, or experience that you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. What have you done to learn more or engage further in the topic, idea or experience? What resources do you use to learn more? (2000 characters)

In sophomore year of highschool, my friend founded a creative writing club. Up to that point, I had read hundreds of books, but I had never tried writing creatively. It just didn’t seem like an engaging use of my time. I decided to support her, and attend the meetings regardless. We did little writing that year, and met only two or three times, before the world, along with our little club, was plunged into a global pandemic. A year later, I was lounging on my couch at home, half listening to a zoom call, when my iPad dinged, and an email notification dropped down from the top of my page. It was from the creative writing club; a simple exercise. I thought, what the heck, I have nothing better to do, and decided to give it a look. To my horror, when I opened the doc, it was blank! Not a SINGLE person had participated. I knew I couldn’t let all my friends' effort go to waste, so I went to work. My writing was abecedarian, but it was nice to have something other than my twitter feed to distract me from my thoughts, and I relished the opportunity to be creative. A week later, when the next prompt arrived, I opened the email with enthusiasm. Only one other person had responded, with an answer no longer than a sentence. I made a resolution then and there. No matter the prompt, or how time consuming the activity, I would do what I could to keep the club alive. The next email came a month later, urging each club member to add to the sentence, “In a kingdom where everything was not how it seemed…”. Two other people had made a small addition to the story, but the doc was still woefully empty. I had a job to do, so I set to work. I planned on writing a small section, enough to make a contribution, and lead others by example. But, by the time I was done, I had written not one paragraph, but two pages! I haven’t stopped writing since. There is so much beauty and power in the written word. You can create whole worlds, lose yourself in vast universes, without leaving your couch. I quickly became obsessed with refining my humble abilities. Through YouTube, I watched every Brigham Young University course on creative writing, taught by the genius and talented Brandon Sanderson. I consumed video after video on plot, outlining, characters, publishing, worldbuilding and narrative structure from authors like Stephen King, Margaret Atwood, and Neil Gaiman. I have read books on writing, a favorite being the outlining guide: Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, by Jessica Brody. After months of practice, research and learning, I spoke with my friend about taking a leadership position in the creative writing club. I am now club president, and am so excited for all the lessons, and activities I have planned for this school year. 

Have you become aware of significant needs in your family, school, and/or community? Please explain how you have worked toward meeting those needs.(2000 characters)

Last February, I felt the overwhelming desire to do something, anything, to help the people struggling in my community. I've always loved service and found great peace and joy in helping others, but took a break after completing 40 hour of service for the Personal Progress/Honor Bee program. The restrictions in Los Angeles made holding any large scale or group event difficult. I contacted food banks and churches, organizations and nonprofits, but there was very little I could do. After endless emails and phone calls, I gave up and decided to turn my attention to helping the people in my life instead. It was around this time that my sister's sickness got worse. My twin sister's name is Rae, and she was born with spina bifida, a rare birth defect in which a spinal cord fails to develop or close properly during development. She has severe nerve damage on her legs and lower back and can barely walk with the help of crutches. Thankfully, her defect was low enough on the spine to avoid causing brain damage, but she has suffered through 12 surgeries, a dozen infections and countless hospitalizations. She is my best friend and greatest inspiration, and that’s why it was so scary when we couldn’t figure out why she was in so much pain. She was used to illness, but this had lasted for months, and it was only getting worse. I was so scared something horrible had happened, and I would lose her forever. So, instead of helping food banks, or cleaning beaches, I spent the next few months trying to make her happy. I would play games, and watch movies, and she would grit her teeth in pain, but sometimes, I could make her laugh, and that’s all that mattered. Eventually the doctors did find out what was wrong, and she was treated, but I can’t remember feeling more scared or more hopeless than I did during those 5 months. I am so glad to have had the opportunity to be there for my best friend, my constant companion, my hero. My twin.