Oh Em Gee...
Well
As those of you, who read my other post know...I was nominated for the
Michael Don Schneberger Award... and had to write a nifty essay about why I'm cool, and stuffs.
:)
With a wide variety of classes to take, Damien High School is one of the more competitive high schools in the area, and for a good reason. This campus affords its students opportunities to partake in a highly competitive atmosphere where one class means the difference between a 4.5 GPA and a 4.1 GPA. Some perceive this well, for it offers experience for the real world of business competition in a Socio-Capitalistic society. However, with these sorts of rules, high school has turned into much of a game of sorts. It almost arouses a sense of who can have the most AP level courses, or who has the highest level math class, or who has the ‘better’ teacher? I refuse to view high school so politically and would rather take classes which are most readily available to me and most applicable to my situation in order to take best advantage of my education. Of course, though, this is not to say that I do not want to challenge myself. I will be the first to confess that mathematics-based sciences are my biggest weaknesses; however as a sophomore, I took AP Chemistry, and am now taking AP Physics because I feel that taking the classes that give me the most problems will, in the end, help me become a more well-rounded academian. Accordingly, I have preserved my top 7% status in our Junior class as per my cumulative 9-12 GPA, top 5%, however, with my weighted Semester grades.
I pride myself in that I participate in diverse extra curricular activities that are a little off the beaten path. Academically, I am a 3-year member of Damien’s Policy Debate team. I am also the acting President of Amnesty International at Damien, and will be the full fledged President my Senior year. I participate in our chapter of CSF (California Scholarship Federation)/NHS (National Honor Society)-stemming from my Junior High participation in CJSF (California Junior Scholarship Federation). In the realm of athletics, I am an active member of our Bowling Club, and even qualified for the Tournament of Champions this year. More artistically, I have also joined Damien’s ComedySportz team, with about a semester’s worth of practice and introduction. I also have community service experience with the Tijuana Mission Club where I have participated in Food Drives, and have gone on a Run to Tijuana as well. Apart from Damien’s extra curricular activities, I participate in the Youth-Sanctioned parts of Bank of America’s sponsored charities and organizations such as WalkAmerica’s March of Dimes, American Heart Association’s Heart Walk, and the Junior Achievement Association. These all serve as part of my perpetual community service mission and have a two-pronged effect in that they serve as enrichment programs as well as a Service of Hope for those that benefit from these programs.
In terms of my 3 year tenure as a debater, I have been competing successfully since my freshman year in the Policy arena, and participated non-competitively in non-affiliated Parliamentary Debate during my personal time. As a freshman I received the Speech 9 award and was nominated as a sophomore for the Adv. Debate 10 award. At tournaments, I have shown personal excellence with placing ‘speaker’ awards and a few team awards. I represented Damien at the State Debate Championship as a sophomore and placed, with my partner, in the top 16 teams in the state. I feel that my contribution to the team is my powerful oratorical power, not just the ability to expel debate jargon at 6 words per second. I fervently feel, however, that Policy Debate is taking a turn for the worst, with the scores of debate “experts” out there who will cite evidence that speed-reading and jargon only serve to increase education. This tied with convoluted “kritiks” and incomprehensible value debate water-down this vocal and intellectual skill. Since my introduction to debate I’ve clearly contended that policy debate should be more of a speech contest, following Aristotle’s model of establish subject and audience - where persuasion reigns supreme. I’ve maintained my views throughout my years at Damien and have demonstrated it in competition where judges were treated to a new way of evaluating policy (CX) debate. My coaches and debate teacher all categorize me as the “slower, more value oriented” debater, not so much interested in the technical aspects of debate such as “dropped number 7 sub letter in the number 4 perm debate whether or not Agamben’s K can be worked within to destroy the outside,” or whether or not the affirmative can spike out of the advantages that links them in the first place. This is what I feel my greatest contribution to debate is: a dissenting view on the lore and practice of policy debate. I find it more enriching holistically as opposed to breaking down the minor technical pieces of debate.
In keeping with my view that High School is not just a competition, I feel that I’ve established a broad network of friends. Everyday, I sit in my AP Spanish class and look at the same little poster that says the same thing “Dime con quién andas, y te diré quién eres.” I chuckle at this translation of the popular saying, “Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you who you are.” Now while this may seem realistic, if we really broke things down, I'd be an aquatically athletic and artistic debate nerd who can act quite well and has a knack for skating and listens to hardcore rock music. I know it is a social taboo to stereotype groups but it only serves to prove my point. Obviously that was not the most truthful statement, but I do pride myself in being a well-liked and open-minded person. If the saying had any moral and societal backing, any psychiatrist would diagnose me with some multiple-personality mental disorder. This is all to make the point that I can name names from all the little “cliques”-the Polo players, the drama geeks - so proudly named -, the card players, the academics, the ‘jocks’, the ‘metal heads’, the debaters, and pretty much any group you can think of. I have always been friends of every individual as opposed to a groupie of one social clique. When it comes to faculty, I’ve always tried to establish a personal rapport. I’m proud to say that in the past three years I’ve made and kept some friendships within the faculty. Even teachers who I’ve never had, demand and receive the respect allotted to them and when they get to know me, I not only am respectful in turn, but I develop friendships with them as well. I feel that this is a fundamental function of high school because the people we spend the four most critical years of your life with will come to be important as we make the choices which advance us to the next step in our lives, and the bonds we make in high school often follow us through college and beyond.
The question on the “dedication to my faith” portion can be traced to disputes and quarrels many centuries ago; it can be traced to the Reformation and the Spanish Inquisition and is therefore up against some questionable semantics. If one defines ‘dedication to my faith’ as being the perfect Catholic School boy who goes to Church every Sunday, not to mention serves as an altar boy, and all the subjective criteria-I clearly fail. However, I’ll take the bold step in defining what “dedication to my faith” really is: it is a mental belief and contention. It is knowing what is wrong with this world, why people do the things they do, the innate understanding that we were all put here for a reason - be it unexplainable or not - and that there is some existential motive behind our existence and that we are responsible for ourselves and those who we affect. I am a dedicated Catholic and love my faith holistically. This is where the role of semantics takes a huge leap. Many people misclassify “devotion” as ardent Church-going and complete self-sacrifice to their religion. Dedication to faith is an expression of love and a mental release. I can’t force the panel to view things in the same light as I do, that’s the beauty of existentialism - the power of individuality and the power of expression. Yes, I do go to Church occasionally, mostly about once a month, I participate in all the Church Holidays, in the truer meaning of the word, and I offer a simple prayer to God each night, as I have done so for the past 12 years. This is what true dedication to one’s faith really is - the individual effort to establish an intimate relationship with whatever God is there for that person; everyone has a God, we each just don’t know what He looks like yet.
Walking into the halls of Damien as an 8th grader going on freshman, I felt a great opportunity arise when I was told about the 100 hour project. I realized that all the years of service I rendered through organizations like WalkAmerica - March of Dimes and American Heart Association could help me reach out to more people than I had with my casual participation, a new way of looking at it opened up and I took advantage of it. The winter of my freshman year marked the beginning of an everlasting community service project I continued, a service project of hope - not just of limited physical appeasement. Presently, I have had 65 hours of this project completed, 12 separate hours for Damien’s TJ Club, plus 9 hours of helping out at my junior high. I plan to continue with my perpetual community service project through my senior year and work on little projects throughout my summer.
I’ll frankly acknowledge that I’ve never truly grappled the true meaning of what citizenship actually entailed. I had asked around and received vastly varying answers: “it’s a general good character” says one friend while another, “it’s how you step up in your own group and make a difference” and yet another, “it’s just, I don’t know, knowing what to do and creating a microcosm for what should really happen in the real world.” I was intrigued and thus twisted it to fit my situation-it has to do with my involvement in my school community and local community. I have those grade school and middle school awards that congratulate young children on stupendous showings of “citizenship”, but this is more elaborate and expresses my motives for doing what I do at school and why I participate in the things I do. The reason I feel so strongly attached to groups like Amnesty International and Pax Christi is because I feel that I voice the voiceless and hear for the deaf. There are so many countries in the world that endure daily atrocities, yet the screams of anguish and pain are forever muffled. I’ve taken strong and fervent strides to do my personal best to be the one they can look to. On a more local and less dramatic level, I endeavor to establish that utopia for how things really should be, in my opinion at least. I offer to pick up others’ trash during lunch, I hear people out when they have a problem, I sidestep verbal arguments, and I typically re-affirm the positive-rather than dwell on the negative human aspects.
Loyalty to a school has a million and one ways to be measured - attending games, following the rules, representing it outside of the school, etc. Since freshman year I’ve actively participated in the football game’s festivities, frequenting other events as well, and showing my school spirit. As far as not breaking rules, an examination of my record would show that I have never been called into the dean’s office, let alone been given a detention for any reason. Representing Damien is a very important factor as well. Being a Debater I am constantly under careful scrupulous watch. “What did those Damien kids do?” “Where’s he from? Damien? Wow.” I feel very loyal to my school when people ask where I’m from and whether or not it’s a good school, the usual inquisition. When people in my groups ask where I go to school, they feel a sense of pride emitted from me when I say that I go to Damien High School, especially when I talk to old alums, such as Arnie Gonzalez, the supervisor of my community service projects and Branch Manager at Bank of America - Ontario Plaza.
Having gone to private school my entire life, the obvious financial strain is eminent in the sacrifices my parents make. This scholarship would be a welcome change, it would allow my parents to invest more in my sister who is starting at Pomona Catholic this August. It’s obvious that the candidates this year are all very qualified, however, I will not boast of ultimate Academic Prestige, or a flawless Athletic Record, because I garner neither to warrant such claims. What I do offer, though, is a moral fiber that has lost supremacy in the way we think today, a moral fiber that transcends all barriers. I’m thankful for my nomination and for your time.
Heh...
BUT
Since I was absent the day they decided the interview times...
I got the 3:00 PM Interview on May 10, 2006 at...
2436 NORTH. Euclid Ave...Upland, CA
oh em eff gee
that's
WAY
up there.
i'm gonna need an eary out to get changed and get there EARLY
:O
need to leave a good impression...
:)
other than that, got my sat score today...don't ask :) only david'll know
BUTTT
i got
a
freakin
TWELVE on my essay :)
:O
better than EVERYONE i've asked..slash...seen grades online...
haha well i'm sure there are plenty of twelves but
save for the ungodly score--i need something to be happy about :)
when it's available online i'll show y'all :D
*beam*
weeee
-Luis.
As those of you, who read my other post know...I was nominated for the
Michael Don Schneberger Award... and had to write a nifty essay about why I'm cool, and stuffs.
:)
With a wide variety of classes to take, Damien High School is one of the more competitive high schools in the area, and for a good reason. This campus affords its students opportunities to partake in a highly competitive atmosphere where one class means the difference between a 4.5 GPA and a 4.1 GPA. Some perceive this well, for it offers experience for the real world of business competition in a Socio-Capitalistic society. However, with these sorts of rules, high school has turned into much of a game of sorts. It almost arouses a sense of who can have the most AP level courses, or who has the highest level math class, or who has the ‘better’ teacher? I refuse to view high school so politically and would rather take classes which are most readily available to me and most applicable to my situation in order to take best advantage of my education. Of course, though, this is not to say that I do not want to challenge myself. I will be the first to confess that mathematics-based sciences are my biggest weaknesses; however as a sophomore, I took AP Chemistry, and am now taking AP Physics because I feel that taking the classes that give me the most problems will, in the end, help me become a more well-rounded academian. Accordingly, I have preserved my top 7% status in our Junior class as per my cumulative 9-12 GPA, top 5%, however, with my weighted Semester grades.
I pride myself in that I participate in diverse extra curricular activities that are a little off the beaten path. Academically, I am a 3-year member of Damien’s Policy Debate team. I am also the acting President of Amnesty International at Damien, and will be the full fledged President my Senior year. I participate in our chapter of CSF (California Scholarship Federation)/NHS (National Honor Society)-stemming from my Junior High participation in CJSF (California Junior Scholarship Federation). In the realm of athletics, I am an active member of our Bowling Club, and even qualified for the Tournament of Champions this year. More artistically, I have also joined Damien’s ComedySportz team, with about a semester’s worth of practice and introduction. I also have community service experience with the Tijuana Mission Club where I have participated in Food Drives, and have gone on a Run to Tijuana as well. Apart from Damien’s extra curricular activities, I participate in the Youth-Sanctioned parts of Bank of America’s sponsored charities and organizations such as WalkAmerica’s March of Dimes, American Heart Association’s Heart Walk, and the Junior Achievement Association. These all serve as part of my perpetual community service mission and have a two-pronged effect in that they serve as enrichment programs as well as a Service of Hope for those that benefit from these programs.
In terms of my 3 year tenure as a debater, I have been competing successfully since my freshman year in the Policy arena, and participated non-competitively in non-affiliated Parliamentary Debate during my personal time. As a freshman I received the Speech 9 award and was nominated as a sophomore for the Adv. Debate 10 award. At tournaments, I have shown personal excellence with placing ‘speaker’ awards and a few team awards. I represented Damien at the State Debate Championship as a sophomore and placed, with my partner, in the top 16 teams in the state. I feel that my contribution to the team is my powerful oratorical power, not just the ability to expel debate jargon at 6 words per second. I fervently feel, however, that Policy Debate is taking a turn for the worst, with the scores of debate “experts” out there who will cite evidence that speed-reading and jargon only serve to increase education. This tied with convoluted “kritiks” and incomprehensible value debate water-down this vocal and intellectual skill. Since my introduction to debate I’ve clearly contended that policy debate should be more of a speech contest, following Aristotle’s model of establish subject and audience - where persuasion reigns supreme. I’ve maintained my views throughout my years at Damien and have demonstrated it in competition where judges were treated to a new way of evaluating policy (CX) debate. My coaches and debate teacher all categorize me as the “slower, more value oriented” debater, not so much interested in the technical aspects of debate such as “dropped number 7 sub letter in the number 4 perm debate whether or not Agamben’s K can be worked within to destroy the outside,” or whether or not the affirmative can spike out of the advantages that links them in the first place. This is what I feel my greatest contribution to debate is: a dissenting view on the lore and practice of policy debate. I find it more enriching holistically as opposed to breaking down the minor technical pieces of debate.
In keeping with my view that High School is not just a competition, I feel that I’ve established a broad network of friends. Everyday, I sit in my AP Spanish class and look at the same little poster that says the same thing “Dime con quién andas, y te diré quién eres.” I chuckle at this translation of the popular saying, “Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you who you are.” Now while this may seem realistic, if we really broke things down, I'd be an aquatically athletic and artistic debate nerd who can act quite well and has a knack for skating and listens to hardcore rock music. I know it is a social taboo to stereotype groups but it only serves to prove my point. Obviously that was not the most truthful statement, but I do pride myself in being a well-liked and open-minded person. If the saying had any moral and societal backing, any psychiatrist would diagnose me with some multiple-personality mental disorder. This is all to make the point that I can name names from all the little “cliques”-the Polo players, the drama geeks - so proudly named -, the card players, the academics, the ‘jocks’, the ‘metal heads’, the debaters, and pretty much any group you can think of. I have always been friends of every individual as opposed to a groupie of one social clique. When it comes to faculty, I’ve always tried to establish a personal rapport. I’m proud to say that in the past three years I’ve made and kept some friendships within the faculty. Even teachers who I’ve never had, demand and receive the respect allotted to them and when they get to know me, I not only am respectful in turn, but I develop friendships with them as well. I feel that this is a fundamental function of high school because the people we spend the four most critical years of your life with will come to be important as we make the choices which advance us to the next step in our lives, and the bonds we make in high school often follow us through college and beyond.
The question on the “dedication to my faith” portion can be traced to disputes and quarrels many centuries ago; it can be traced to the Reformation and the Spanish Inquisition and is therefore up against some questionable semantics. If one defines ‘dedication to my faith’ as being the perfect Catholic School boy who goes to Church every Sunday, not to mention serves as an altar boy, and all the subjective criteria-I clearly fail. However, I’ll take the bold step in defining what “dedication to my faith” really is: it is a mental belief and contention. It is knowing what is wrong with this world, why people do the things they do, the innate understanding that we were all put here for a reason - be it unexplainable or not - and that there is some existential motive behind our existence and that we are responsible for ourselves and those who we affect. I am a dedicated Catholic and love my faith holistically. This is where the role of semantics takes a huge leap. Many people misclassify “devotion” as ardent Church-going and complete self-sacrifice to their religion. Dedication to faith is an expression of love and a mental release. I can’t force the panel to view things in the same light as I do, that’s the beauty of existentialism - the power of individuality and the power of expression. Yes, I do go to Church occasionally, mostly about once a month, I participate in all the Church Holidays, in the truer meaning of the word, and I offer a simple prayer to God each night, as I have done so for the past 12 years. This is what true dedication to one’s faith really is - the individual effort to establish an intimate relationship with whatever God is there for that person; everyone has a God, we each just don’t know what He looks like yet.
Walking into the halls of Damien as an 8th grader going on freshman, I felt a great opportunity arise when I was told about the 100 hour project. I realized that all the years of service I rendered through organizations like WalkAmerica - March of Dimes and American Heart Association could help me reach out to more people than I had with my casual participation, a new way of looking at it opened up and I took advantage of it. The winter of my freshman year marked the beginning of an everlasting community service project I continued, a service project of hope - not just of limited physical appeasement. Presently, I have had 65 hours of this project completed, 12 separate hours for Damien’s TJ Club, plus 9 hours of helping out at my junior high. I plan to continue with my perpetual community service project through my senior year and work on little projects throughout my summer.
I’ll frankly acknowledge that I’ve never truly grappled the true meaning of what citizenship actually entailed. I had asked around and received vastly varying answers: “it’s a general good character” says one friend while another, “it’s how you step up in your own group and make a difference” and yet another, “it’s just, I don’t know, knowing what to do and creating a microcosm for what should really happen in the real world.” I was intrigued and thus twisted it to fit my situation-it has to do with my involvement in my school community and local community. I have those grade school and middle school awards that congratulate young children on stupendous showings of “citizenship”, but this is more elaborate and expresses my motives for doing what I do at school and why I participate in the things I do. The reason I feel so strongly attached to groups like Amnesty International and Pax Christi is because I feel that I voice the voiceless and hear for the deaf. There are so many countries in the world that endure daily atrocities, yet the screams of anguish and pain are forever muffled. I’ve taken strong and fervent strides to do my personal best to be the one they can look to. On a more local and less dramatic level, I endeavor to establish that utopia for how things really should be, in my opinion at least. I offer to pick up others’ trash during lunch, I hear people out when they have a problem, I sidestep verbal arguments, and I typically re-affirm the positive-rather than dwell on the negative human aspects.
Loyalty to a school has a million and one ways to be measured - attending games, following the rules, representing it outside of the school, etc. Since freshman year I’ve actively participated in the football game’s festivities, frequenting other events as well, and showing my school spirit. As far as not breaking rules, an examination of my record would show that I have never been called into the dean’s office, let alone been given a detention for any reason. Representing Damien is a very important factor as well. Being a Debater I am constantly under careful scrupulous watch. “What did those Damien kids do?” “Where’s he from? Damien? Wow.” I feel very loyal to my school when people ask where I’m from and whether or not it’s a good school, the usual inquisition. When people in my groups ask where I go to school, they feel a sense of pride emitted from me when I say that I go to Damien High School, especially when I talk to old alums, such as Arnie Gonzalez, the supervisor of my community service projects and Branch Manager at Bank of America - Ontario Plaza.
Having gone to private school my entire life, the obvious financial strain is eminent in the sacrifices my parents make. This scholarship would be a welcome change, it would allow my parents to invest more in my sister who is starting at Pomona Catholic this August. It’s obvious that the candidates this year are all very qualified, however, I will not boast of ultimate Academic Prestige, or a flawless Athletic Record, because I garner neither to warrant such claims. What I do offer, though, is a moral fiber that has lost supremacy in the way we think today, a moral fiber that transcends all barriers. I’m thankful for my nomination and for your time.
Heh...
BUT
Since I was absent the day they decided the interview times...
I got the 3:00 PM Interview on May 10, 2006 at...
2436 NORTH. Euclid Ave...Upland, CA
oh em eff gee
that's
WAY
up there.
i'm gonna need an eary out to get changed and get there EARLY
:O
need to leave a good impression...
:)
other than that, got my sat score today...don't ask :) only david'll know
BUTTT
i got
a
freakin
TWELVE on my essay :)
:O
better than EVERYONE i've asked..slash...seen grades online...
haha well i'm sure there are plenty of twelves but
save for the ungodly score--i need something to be happy about :)
when it's available online i'll show y'all :D
*beam*
weeee
-Luis.