<p>I am currently a freshman at UC Irvine and am absolutely hating it. There is no diversity, it's very click-ish, and I have no real motivation to do well because I am surrounded by negativity as well as a lack of academic stimulation. I also hate being just a number in a huge lecture hall where the professor doesn't even know my name!</p>
<p>I definitely want to transfer out and am looking at Brown, (impossible but hey, one can dream!) NYU, and Georgetown in particular.</p>
<p>I got 2 As and a B at Irvine but had to withdraw from one of my classes when my father was diagnosed with stage 1 colon cancer because my TA was not understanding of the situation and the class was too overwhelming at that time. </p>
<p>I am concerned about how that W will look on my transcript. I plan on getting no lower than a 3.8 next quarter. I came in to UCI Undecided/Undeclared bu am deciding between Linguistics/Neuroscience.</p>
<p>My high school stats are pretty good aside from really low standardized test scores. (26 ACT) I had a 3.8 unweighted GPA and 4.1 weighted GPA but did really badly in AP Calc senior year. I have decided to retake Pre-Calculus next quarter in order to do well in Calc spring squarter. </p>
<p>I was very active in the music program and did every ensemble in high school as well as a "professional" ensemble (Drum & Bugle Corps) for 2 summers. I worked part time the last two years of HS and my senior year, I even worked 3 jobs. I was President of the Organic & Natural Foods Club, and a very active member of the Interact Club. I planned and ran a huge fundraiser my senior year for this club: Threads for Red; a fashion show to raise money for AIDS Patients in Sub-Saharan Africa. We ended up sending $2100 to the Global Fund for AIDS Relief. </p>
<p>I am a first generation college student with a very intense and traumatizing childhood. I lived in a one room, cockroach infested apartment in a slum in Oaxaca, Mexico for the first two years of my life with a mother who constantly cheated on my father (they were unmarried though) and partied every night. My father basically saved my life as well as my brother's by bringing us to the United States where he had married the woman whom I call my mother. Unfortunately, my biological mother was not pleased and called the police and we were forced to go back to Mexico where a custody trial was eventually held. My biological mother had brainwashed my brother to testify against my family and we lost the case. Having achieved the revenge she wanted, my biological mother then promptly decided she did not want children and abandoned us, handing over custody to my mom and dad. This experience still haunts me today and has taught me the value of life and education since my mother is a teacher and my father didn't even get to attend college. </p>
<p>now that the sob story is over, I'll mention some things I'm involved in at Irvine.</p>
<p>I joined Model United Nations which has been a blast and forced me to face my fear of public speaking.
I am working at one of the jobs I had in high school. I translate documents from English to Spanish and vice versa for an international software company, Maxon. I also interview architects, graphic designers, etc. and write articles featured in magazines and online in Spanish and English regarding the work of these people.<br>
I was a volunteer for the TOMS Sole Ambassador Program, a program which spreads the word about TOMS, shoes for tomorrow. TOMS donates a pair of shoes to a child in need every time you purchase a pair of shoes. In November, 50,000 pairs of shoes were given to children in South Africa during the "shoe drop."</p>
<p>I am traveling to South America this summer to volunteer in a hospital, probably in the AIDS ward. I will also be in Peru volunteering at an orphanage. </p>
<p>I am running the fashion show for AIDS funds again this year and will continue to find other ways of volunteering/working.</p>
<p>I am really concerned about finding the "ideal fit." I chose Irvine mostly because of the financial situation (scholarship) and because I knew it would make my parents happy. However, through this, I have been unhappy and I learned you should never take money over happiness. </p>
<p>If anyone reads this, I appreciate it.
Any help would be great too!</p>