Need help with UC personal statement (transfer) topic

Applying to College
1

<p>This is the prompt for the personal statement (essay) on the UC application for transfer students:</p>

<p>What is your intended major? Discuss how your interest in the subject developed and describe any experience you have had in the field — such as volunteer work, internships and employment, participation in student organizations and activities — and what you have gained from your involvement.</p>

<p>I am trying to get into UC Berkeley. I know what my intended major is - linguistics, particularly sociolinguistics and the study of dialect. I have been exposed to it in and outside of school and have studied it, but the only experience I have had with it that I can think of is a trip to New York City last summer and a trip to Canada in which I paid attention to people's dialects, and helping my best friend who is also my co-worker with her speech impediment. I have also done schoolwork relating to my major during high school in my IB classes as well. However, none of these experiences are volunteer work, internships, etc. as mentioned in the prompt. Could I still write about them even though they don't really fit into the categories mentioned in the prompt?</p>

2

<p>if you read the prompt again, you’ll see that what you mentioned falls within the purview of what they’ve asked. They say “discuss how …” which means you can talk about the exposure in and out of school. They say “such as” which means it is not limited to the listed categories. Helping your best friend is a powerful way of explaining how you became interested and what you’ve done with it; this is quasi-volunteer work.</p>