<p>Dear Cardinal and all those who are kind-hearted to help me out at college confidential</p>
<p>I am a paranoid and weird sophomore who is dying to get into Berkeley as a poly sci major. When I posted my stats last time, a lot of people said that I had a high chance given my gpa, extracurricular activities and major preps. However, I"m sure that everyone who is crazy about Cal's poy sci department is just as competitive as me in terms of GPA, ecs and major prep classes. So my personal statements, then, is really important. It will either make me stand out from a pool of sleep-deprived 4.0 students or break me if my essays are boring and cliche. So here are my personal statements! I will greatly appreciate it if you all tell me what you all think, honestly, and how I can improve it! I suggest you guys focus more on the content rather than nifty stuff like spelling or grammar since I've just wrote this last night!</p>
<p>Please feel free to post your pcs too! I would b emore than happy to read them!</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Question #1b
What is your intended major? Discuss how your interest in the fi eld
developed and describe any experience you have had in the fi eld such
as volunteer work, internships, and employment, participation in student
organizations and activities and what you have gained from your
involvement.</p>
<p>I intend to study political science, because politics has significantly changed my life. I was born and raised in Burma, a country ruled by a corrupt military dictatorship that mismanaged the economy, oppressed pro-democracy movements through force and violence and deprived its citizens of the basic freedom and human rights. Poverty, lack of educational opportunities and intellectual freedom and economic deterioration in Burma added obstacles towards pursuing my education and my dreams. My parents had always wanted me to be in an environment where I could learn and live up to my potential, and above all, where I would have intellectual freedomthe right to critically think and express my ideas without the fear of being arrested, jailed and tortured by the government. After the rest of my family was reunited with my father in America when he was granted political asylum, there has been a huge improvement in my life, since there is a plethora of opportunities and freedom under a democratic government that I came to appreciate the basic freedom and rights that other people have often taken for granted. I began to see the importance of politics in everyday life because while power can protect life, it can also bring sufferings if it is concentrated in the iron fist of one hand and misused. Throughout high school and college when I was doing my research projects and writing stories for the campus newspaper and youth magazines, I interviewed Burmese refugees and political dissidents who had experienced the military juntas genocidal atrocities against ethnic groups and political persecution. Last year when I became a college mentor for PeaceJam, an international, educational organization that connects the youth with Nobel Peace Laureates, Ive learned about the political situations and human rights issues in the countries of the Nobel Peace Laureates. The cruel side of politics are apparent the stories of the Burmese refugees that I have interviewed and the Sudanese refugees that I have met during PeaceJam conferences. With my studies in political science, I would like to further examine the effects that politics has on ordinary people and their lives.</p>
<p>Question #2
Tell us about a talent, experience, contribution or personal quality you
will bring to the University of California.
Focus: Potential to Contribute</p>
<p>By volunteering to tutor immigrants in English at the library, helping to start a PeaceJam chapter at a local high school, interning at the local newspaper, and tackling on the challenge of learning French when I am already fluent in Burmese and English, I have learned that the human mind is a unique, biological phenomenon, not a mechanical information processor, since everyone has various experiences and backgrounds that influence their thoughts and actions. By working people, I have learned to value the diversity of ideas and people. Being curious about my surroundings and other cultures, taking initiative to explore my intellectual interests and giving back to my community are my strongest traits. Even though I wasnt a speech and debate super-star back in high school, I co-founded a speech and debate academy for a local home school institute and designed most of curriculum. Even though it was chaotic at first to work with the young teenagers, it was also rewarding for me to see them grow intellectually and gain confidence through speeches, debates and critical thinking. During a recent PeaceJam conference in Denver where I met ten Nobel Peace Laureates, including the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu, I also got together with other Burmese students to put together a presentation in order to raise awareness on Burma. I was also granted a private interview with Nobel Peace Laureate Rigoberta Menchu Tum on the previous conference for the campus and local newspapers. Being a victim of violence herself, Menchu Tum encouraged me to use my experiences with violence back in homeland to prevent other victims. Inspired by her statements, I decided to volunteer to teach a life-skill course at juvenile hall, discussing the meaning of peace and violence and current issues with the incarcerated youth. Thus, my experiences with the incarcerated youth and outside researches on violence at the local, national and international levels have turned into my major research project and a future presentation for my peace and non-violence studies class.
Question #3
Is there anything you would like us to know about you or your academic
record that you have not had the opportunity to describe elsewhere in this
application?</p>
<p>Everyone and everything--from a simple atom to our complex human bodies---have a story and I find it rewarding to document, tell their stories and learn from them. With my intellectual curiosity, a post-secondary education would open new doors of opportunities and knowledge to further my career, to grow into a better person and most importantly, to honor the vision that my family has for me and their efforts to put me in an environment where I live up to my fullest potentials.Throughout writing stories for journalism in high school and college, I have learned that each story isn't an isolated fragment but a key to a person's complex and unique life experiences. Stories that we have to tell are the important and continuous jigsaw puzzle pieces to knowing who we are and finding a purpose to live by. The stories of my father and my grandfather and their struggles to give me an education are my story because they have shaped my life-long love for learning. In the early 1900s, my grandfather came to Burma from China for a better life and did all kinds of odd jobs to feed his eleven kids and send them to school. My father also came to America for the same vision, working at a gas station for 16 hours a day with minimum wage when he first came to this country. Education is very important to me, because growing up, I have learned to work hard for my dreams, to have a vision and to expect something better out of life from listening to and witnessing the life experiences of my grandfather and father. Thus, these are the values that shape my love for learning. What havelways kept me going are the thoughts of the struggles of my grandfather and my father to give me a better life with more opportunities and the vision that they have for me as a successful woman. Thus, always going beyond my current abilities has given a great deal of confidence to succeed and a sense of progress in life.</p>