Chavoya 1

Who would you meet if you could meet anyone who ever lived? Why?
If I could meet anyone who ever lived, I would meet my father at my age. I wish for this not because i'm
curious about the way he looked physically, but because of what it would represent to see him at my age. Seeing my
father at my age would be much more than just comparing physical attributes or traits, it's seeing a generation of
progress. My father and I both grew up in completely different ways, in completely different areas, with completely
different opportunities and life experiences. Although we are very similar (as the saying goes like father, like son),
we have ended up in completely different places at this age.
To start off, my father was born into a completely different time period, outside of the United States. He
was born in 1958, in a partially urban part of Mexico. At the time of his birth he had 6 older siblings, he would later
go on to have another 6 younger siblings. My father was sent to school early by my grandmother, but his education
was cut short because his father (my grandfather) preferred him to do some sort of work instead, leading him to
attend only a few years of elementary school. Soon after this my father found himself raising pigs, in a farm that my
grandparents had back home, and occasionally going with my grandfather to his work to aid him. My grandfather
was a hardworking man, and I would assume so since he had many children, but the myriad of hours spent working
was ultimately what led to his premature death when my father was only 11 years of age. My grandfather died far
too early in my father's life to make any strong connection, especially since he spent his days off working, while my
dad spent his days wrestling with pigs. Being one of oldest man in his family, my father began working to help
support my grandmother and his siblings. Up to the age of 17, he found himself raising those pigs he wrestled with
as a kid, breeding them, and selling their meat once they were old enough. He often complained how he grew to
become emotionally attached to his pigs but there was nothing he could do. This and a plethora of labor jobs that my
father worked is what kept him and his family from falling into ruin.
Fast forward a generation later, here I am writing a personal statement. At the age of 6 I was introduced
into the magnet program, which was somewhat of a shock to my parents since I was in bilingual classes all my life
up to this point. At the age of 11 I had acquired many medals for my proficient and advanced scores in math and
science for the California Standards Test, received multiple student of the month awards, and multiple student of the
year awards. This is when my love for science exploded and I began learning everything I could possibly
comprehend with my 11 year old brain, sometimes scaring myself. I will never forget the moment I discovered that
there are such things like black holes in our universe, I lived in constant fear of having the earth being one day eaten
by this astronomic phenomena. In middle school my academic excellence continued with even more awards,
graduating again with honors, and even familiarizing myself with some computer software like microsoft excel and
word, all before the age of 14. During high school, things became more interesting. The increased quantity and
quality in the required work was prominent. As I moved on through my first year, I became involved in a program
called SISTEMMA. This program was something that I thought would enhance my academic experience and it very
much did, exposing me to filmmaking, as well as many interesting forms of science and technology. I continued on
with this program for a year until I became associated with another program called EHA, a more engineering based
program, and a garden club at my school. Starting with this garden club, I worked with a team that was very down to
earth, and in huge support to create a garden (P.S. we dont have a garden at my school, or any plant life
whatsoever). We began making our dreams reality and won a number of consecutive competitions and grants to
finally have this dream come alive. Our garden will be completely built by the 2018-2019 school year, after my team
and I have all left high school and moved onto greater things. Symbolically, the saying legacy is planting seeds in a
garden you will never get to see became literal to our situation. In the engineering program, I began learning many
computer coding languages such as HTML, Python, and Java. During this program I even worked with two other
students to produce a glove meant to aid stroke victims regain control of their damaged limbs, which won us first
place in the school science fair, and a spot on the county science fair. As I move onto my second year in the
program, I am required to apply to labs at USC that are centered around the engineering field, in what will be my
first internship. At the ripe age of 17, I have: written and published a book, mastered the guitar, have conducted a
major study on nuclear energy, coded computer programs in various languages, acquired skills with photo editing
programs, became skilled in SolidWorks, worked with a team to have a garden built at our school, been in the
SISTEMMA program, joined the EHA program, applied to internships, taken multiple college level classes, and
have learned things my father struggles to fathom.
There is no doubt in my mind my father was more than capable of achieving the same goals as i, he too is
intelligent and a hard worker. While he thrived in tasks that were physically demanding and labor intensive, I
thrived in more intellectual tasks. Of course there are other forces outside of my fathers control that took him down
his path. I have been fortunate enough to have his ample support. Seeing the struggles my father has gone through,
as well as turning around and seeing where weve come from, keeps me motivated and ravenous for success.