UC PERSONAL INSIGHT QUESTION

Please read and paraphrase and correct any grammatical errors

Each response is limited to a maximum of 350 words.

PIQ Question #1: Leadership

1. Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time. Things to consider: A leadership role can mean more than just a title. It can mean being a mentor to others, acting as the person in charge of a specific task, or taking the lead role in organizing an event or project. Think about what you accomplished and what you learned from the experience. What were your responsibilities?

Did you lead a team? How did your experience change your perspective on leading others? Did you help to resolve an important dispute at your school, church, in your community or an organization? And your leadership role doesn’t necessarily have to be limited to school activities. For example, do you help out or take care of your family? 

Answer: During my childhood, my grandma often took the time to babysit others. However, since my grandma had a lot to handle and couldn’t always babysit, she needed someone to help her. As a result, I would often have to help her from time to time. 

One day, my grandma had to babysit 2 kids. However, one of them would get upset and start an argument over wanting a toy the other had. At first, not knowing what to do in these situations, I would try to plead with the child to give the other the toy, but to no avail. 

However, I then remembered how my grandma would handle these situations. Through her example, my grandma taught me the value of handling a problem and swiftly coming up with solutions to a dire issue. As a result, instead of begging the other child to give up the toy, I would try to communicate with the child whining for the toy. 

He described to me how he wanted the cool action figure spiderman toy, and how it wasn’t fair that the other kid got all the cool stuff. As a result, I decided to come up with a compromise and give the kid one of my prized action figures at the time, and as someone who didn’t typically share, it was hard for me. 

The kid hesitantly agreed with my offer and ended up enjoying himself, ending the dispute between the 2. It was at this moment and through this experience, where I realized that leadership is not only about communication between others, but also being willing to sacrifice yourself for the sake of others. 

I would then go on to use this experience of leadership in my highschool career in subtle ways ranging from communicating with my partners in tennis up to coming up with solutions regarding social issues with the use of code, by creating systems/devices to help others whilst discussing the process of how to do so. I plan to continue to use this skill in college and my future career to create a better future.

PIQ #2 – Expressing Creativity

2. 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. Things to consider: What does creativity mean to you? Do you have a creative skill that is important to you? What have you been able to do with that skill? If you used creativity to solve a problem, what was your solution? What are the steps you took to solve the problem?

How does your creativity influence your decisions inside or outside the classroom? Does your creativity relate to your major or a future career?

Answer

Creativity can come in many forms of sizes. Although I lacked other forms of creativity such as artistic creativity, I realized that creativity was also coming up with alternate solutions in order to solve a problem and other things in life. 

Throughout my life, it was evident that I was using my creativity all the time in order to create solutions to problems in various ways, even some that may not be there or noticeable, one way I use my creativity is by fleshing out scenarios in my head in order to find ways to benefit others or myself who may have a certain predicament. An event where this was noticeable is where I was using my creativity was the Hackathon: Hack the Planet event. 

In this event, me and my coding club companions split into groups from various different schools and were tasked to create a solution via code towards world problems. In this event, me and my teammates came up with the idea to create a fitness app called “FitFinance”, where we would deal with the issue of the carbon emissions via cars by encouraging people to use eco-friendly ways of transportation by creating a reward system. I contributed by brainstorming design ideas for the app and thinking of solutions to make the app stand out from others such as how the reward system works and how to make it fair for everyone. While other similar apps only allow for ways to track walking, I proposed we come up with a way to create ways to track not only walking to obtain points, but also biking, skateboarding, etc. that encourage exercise and benefit the environment.

Through this and other experiences, I learned that I can express my creativity through problem solving. With problem solving skills, I can create or think of unique ways to make a change whether small or big to help others or groups.

PIQ #4

4. Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced. Things to consider: An educational opportunity can be anything that has added value to your educational experience and better prepared you for college. For example, participation in an honors or academic enrichment program, or enrollment in an academy that’s geared toward an occupation or a major, or taking advanced courses that interest you; just to name a few.

If you choose to write about educational barriers you’ve faced, how did you overcome or strive to overcome them? What personal characteristics or skills did you call on to overcome this challenge? How did overcoming this barrier help shape who you are today?

ANSWER:

Typically, people wouldn’t associate AP Chemistry as a place that is a place to have fun or a place where you can feel alive, and enjoy every bit and piece of. They usually believe it is a hardy, mathematical and boring class that’s too difficult to even be worth taking. However, for me, it changed me for the better as it not only made me a better person, but a better student as well. 

At first, I was worried about AP Chemistry due to all the rumors around not only the school, but the internet as well, as it was deemed as one of the hardest AP classes out of every AP curriculum. However, due to my teacher, I was able to enjoy my time there. He was very open and willing to help out the students, and was able to lighten the mood. He helped me navigate and improve my study habits and as he taught me, I realized the joys I had when learning AP Chemistry. 

Unlike some others, I enjoyed how other things intertwined with each other and all made logical sense. For this reason, AP Chemistry was like a haven for me. I enjoyed how catalysts can cause reactions to speed up and lower the energy required to break the intermolecular forces of a molecule and how that can be used to create and form new chemical formulas.

Just like how a catalyst lowers the energy required to break a chemical bond and allow for a new one, AP Chemistry broke my attitude of being reserved and made me a more open person. It was my catalyst. This was especially due to my partner. Not only did he share my love for chemistry, he also helped me and guided me through my school journey, by giving me advice and giving me a person that I can talk to and I was hopefully able to do the same for him. As a result, AP Chemistry changed me as a person and as a student as it bettered my work habits and personality.

PIQ #7 (Rough Draft): Influence in Community 

7. What have you done to make your school or your community a better place? Things to consider: Think of community as a term that can encompass a group, team or a place like your high school, hometown or home. You can define community as you see fit, just make sure you talk about your role in that community. Was there a problem that you wanted to fix in your community?

Why were you inspired to act? What did you learn from your effort? How did your actions benefit others, the wider community or both? Did you work alone or with others to initiate change in your community?

ANSWER:

As someone who has lived in the city of Pittsburg and Contra Costa County for a long time, I am proud of our strong community. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s perfect. Although, I usually I tended to not put myself out there, I noticed that there were things I can do and people I can help in my community. That’s why I have put effort, whether big or small, into making changes in our community. 

In my junior year, my classmates and I gathered up and collaborated in a team to make my school a better place by sending a letter to the new principal who was going to be admitted the following year. In this letter, we expressed our grievances about the school, and ways to improve it. As someone who has seen and experienced some of the issues of our school as a result of being there for nearly 3 years now, I jumped at the opportunity to make some change and influence. 

With our efforts, we were able to create a letter which could improve the state of our school and make it more fruitful for our students. In this letter, we spoke of ways to improve attendance, increase classroom participation, etc.. In this way, I managed to contribute, even just a little to our school and its issues. 

Through this experience, I learned that with collaborative effort, we can unite to make a difference in our school, even if it’s just something as simple as a letter. The little things you do in life can make a change, with the limiter being you, itself. So as I grow, I want to continue to take initiative, and make small changes each time in order to add to a bigger change, and continue to work with others in the future to do so, not only to help my school, but the broader community around me.

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