What has prepared you to study in the United States?

Our experiences are sets of small details that prepare us for the greater
demands of life.
There are times when we fail to see an events significance, until
we are demanded of something which that incident gave us. I can say this much
about the exchange program. I did not realize it then, but my curiosity for different
societies, my basic education curriculum, and the activities I involved myself in
during my previous years of study were all preparations for this scholarship.
All my life, I have been most curious and interested in how every society has
a unique system of its own. It always fascinates me how the culture of the human
race branches out to so many variations throughout history. When I was in high
school, I started to seek to understand what makes one society different and unique
to another. I read books featuring different countries tradition and culture; and the
more I read through the years, the more I thirsted to know all about them. Because
of this interest to learn more of different cultures, I dreamed of having something
more than mere theoretical knowledge. I want to experience it. Thus, knowing that
the United States can be considered as the melting pot of various cultures, I believe
that my sheer fascination in knowing more of other societies conditions my mind to
be prepared to study abroad.
Aside from having curiosity about different cultures, I can say that the
curriculum for my basic education also did a lot to prepare me in being an exchange
student to United States. My being home-schooled for nine years may have caused
several drawbacksmy finding it difficult to maintain audiences attention when I
speak, my not being a natural in sensing other peoples unexpressed feelings, and
my fair degree of intolerance to noise when I study. Nonetheless, my homeschooling
still proved to be quite helpful. Because my materials (LIFEPAC Gold) and curriculum
were all U.S.-based, I believe I am quite familiar and comfortable with the
educational system in the United States. I am familiar with Americas history,
culture and practices; and this, I believe, is an edge for me when I get to really
study in the U.S. as an exchange student. Also, my basic education greatly aided
the honing of crucial academic skills in me such as comprehensive reading, creative
and academic writing, and analysis. I know that these skills are needed for me to
cope with the academic demands of universities here and, more importantly,
abroad.
Lastly, my involvement to various activities in and outside school greatly
helped in making me prepared for being an exchange student. My extra-curricular
activities became an avenue for me to develop essential skills in dealing with other
people. My being a president of the Student Government became an avenue to
develop my leadership and problem solving skills. Moreover, my years in Scouting
gave me exposure to various cultures, both local and international. As a senior crew
leader during the national and regional jamborees, I got to mingle with other scouts
coming from different places across the country. As a United Nations volunteer
during the Peace Camp, I was able to interact with delegates from abroad and have
an exchange of ideas with them. These encounters with different cultures, though

short, helped me to gain a better grasp on the diversity and uniqueness of human
societies.
Given these factors, I can depict myself as a student who has a fair room for
improvement, yet one who can cope with the demands of a foreign educational
system. They seem to be little things, insignificant details in a story. I believe,
however, that these things prepared me well for this student exchange program I
might yet be involved in.