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.

Scene:
I have lived my whole life looking up, not only because of my short stature, but also
because of my interest in things that I could not explain, and I was constantly looking for
answers. I spent my years as a toddler lying on my back on the balcony in our Daly City
home, watching the planes roar by overhead every eight minutes or so. The planes were
so close that I could have waved at the pilots, but back then, I did not know who a pilot
was, or what an airplane was. An airplane to me, at the time, was just a big, metal,
magic-operated beast. In fact, I was so ignorant on the topic of airplanes that, when I
took my first ride in one to Mexico, I asked When are we going to take off? after we had
already landed. Despite my limited knowledge of airplanes, I still managed to figure out
that they were somehow important to society.
Having an interest for airplanes is not unique in my family. Before he immigrated to
America, my grandfather was a Major in the Soviet army where, for thirty years, he
engineered radios and antennas on helicopters and bombers. My father followed in his
footsteps by becoming an electrical engineer on Soviet jets as a Lieutenant. The stories
he told me of how the huge planes would rocket into the sky with a mighty roar brought
back vivid memories of myself admiring the airplanes when I was a baby. His
enthusiasm for aircraft rubbed off on me because those stories proved to be so
influential in shaping my passion for engineering.
High school provided me with great opportunities to pursue my newfound fascination by
letting me explore what really interested me the most: physics and engineering. My
engineering class provided me with knowledge on mechanics. By the end of my
sophomore year, I already had a fundamental knowledge of physics, and the next year I
took AP Physics to learn about the theories more in depth. There I learned about
Keplers Laws of Planetary Motion, gravity on other planets, and even how stars worked.
I was also lucky enough to visit NASA Ames where I was introduced to some of their
aircraft and their giant wind tunnel. My interest in outer space increased tenfold when my
parents gifted me a reflecting telescope, the same type that Sir Isaac Newton used, and,
soon enough, I found myself looking up again. I began admiring Mars white ice caps
contrasting with its rusty, red facade and Jupiters bacon-like stripes swirling in a state of
chaos. I knew, although being completely entranced by the beauty that I observed, that I
did not want to spend my whole life just looking up and admiring the scenery, I wanted to
do something about it.
With the knowledge that I have gained through stories and experiences, I believe that
dedicating myself to all things space and aircrafts will allow me to do what I dream about
the most. With engineering running in my blood, I hope to continue my familys legacy.
With the knowledge of aerospace, I dream to engineer rockets and planes that go farther
than they do know for the sake of exploration and finding answers to problems we dont
know the answers to yet.

Essay #2. Experience

Furiously typing away, I jog alongside my teammates as they heft our latest robot, Lola, to the
school gym for our next match. While I type the code, my friend reattaches the wheel, while
another replaces the recently burned-out motor. As we load the robot into the arena, I update
the code, hoping it will not result in another smoking, three-wheeled robot puttering in circles
while the opposing robots score plastic blocks on scales. On the floor, we were so focused on
fixing Lola that we hardly noticed the other three teams taking their positions. With the
spectators looking on from the stands, and the judges lifting their pencils, the match began with
a horn blast. The robots scattered across the field, and I steered Lola calmly while my
screaming teammates surrounded me.
During my sophomore year, six of my friends asked me to join their student-run robotics team.
Unlike most teams, including our schools, our little team was completely self-sufficient, save for
the funds from parents: we designed and coded our own robots, organized our own meetings,
and acquired all of our resources, which makes our team stand out among the rest.
In my first year I was tasked with building the railroad track that would enable precise movement
of the scoring arm and virtually eliminate human error. Additionally, I maintained an engineering
notebook detailing our teams process, which would be judged during competitions for one of
the many awards they give out. While my previous engineering experience topped out at Legos,
I wasted no time diving into the different metals, plastics, and tools to complete my job. The next
year my responsibilities expanded to include programming the robot in C. Again I found myself
tasked with something I had no prior experience with, so I spent my summer on YouTube and
within weeks coded a functional robot that proceeded to win multiple competitions including
several awards, most important of which being the highest honor award, the Inspire Award.
I am now the lead programmer on my team, and my experiences on the robotics team have
taught me to become a quick thinker, undaunted in the face of challenge, working independently
to solve complex problems. Lola taught me resilience, teamwork, and self-guidance. I also apply
the knowledge I gained from robotics to other areas such as tutoring computer science students
over the summer, and my engineering class while working on projects.
Robotics cannot be done perfectly each time; sometimes we encounter failure just like the code
that caused one of Lolas motors to burn out. When needed, I can apply my quick-thinking to
find the problem and fix it. In that competition, I had only two minutes to fix my code before the
next match, and I did. Lola was the dominating robot that day and I am proud that I was able to
assist my team.