Loran Scholarship Short Essay Questions
I'm not the strongest writer at the essay format, nevermind short essays,so I would appreciate any and all comments and suggestions. As well, if you could please write down any thoughts or questions you had while reading it, please write them as well. I realize that to me, this seems overly basic, but to people that may not have heard of many of these organizations or are not familiar with me personally, this may seem confusing. Please be brutally honest as false compliments will not get me anywere fast :] Thank you.
Describe what you consider to be your most significant volunteer contribution to date in terms of its value to your school or larger community. Why was it important to you and to others?
This year I started volunteering for Between Friends, which helps people with disabilities connect and find a sense of belonging in their community through recreational programs. The company strives to eradicate social stigmatism about mental disabilities and to integrate them more into society, as well as help people understand that people with disabilities want to be treated just the same as everyone else. I came into this program thinking I could teach the participants all kinds of life lessons, and fun activities that I learned through counseling and attending 4H camps. I was completely blown away after my first volunteer session, because after reflecting on the night, I realized they taught me more than I could ever try to teach them. I learned how to appreciate everything life has given me, the value of friendship, and to always have a smile on my face. My little cousin, Maddy, has autism, so I grew up knowing someone with a disability. Many people do not have this opportunity and thus do not know how exactly to act or what to say. This program allows me to help people interact with people that have disabilities, while at the same time help people with disabilities interact with everyone. At the same time, I learn and teach valuable lessons to all those I meet through this program.
Describe a time you challenged yourself by taking on a task/project you felt was beyond your scope and capability at the time. Why did you do it? What happened?
Lights, camera, action! I have always loved acting; there is something about dressing up as someone else and performing in front of a crowd for their entertainment that I’ve always cherished. Through 4H, I learned valuable public speaking skills that helped me through auditions to make it into three plays and counting at my high school. However, there is more to a play than simply the actors. There needs to be a set in order to make the audience immerse themselves, and fully believe in the play. I volunteered to design and paint sets with absolutely no art, design, or painting experience. However, I have a very strong will, and always welcome a challenge. I had to innovate, as I needed to account for fast set changes, multi-functional pieces, and I needed it to be finished quickly. After drawing up over ten set designs and having them all rejected by the producer, I finally came up with a set that was functional and practical. I worked for about three hours after school every day sanding, drawing, painting, and assembling my pieces for about two months. Two weeks before the play started, I organized teams of kids from the drama production in order to help construct and do finishing touches on set pieces. I learned that I can do whatever I put my mind to, even if that requires a little assistance for skills I do not myself possess. Designing sets allowed me to express my creativity, and gave me a sense of accomplishment. I have painted every single set for our school plays after that, and try to make them all better than the last.
Describe an activity where you led a group of people towards a common goal. Using concrete examples, how did you engage others? What difficulties did you encounter? What were the outcomes?
-As a Senior Counselor at a 4H camp, I was responsible for advising all the younger counselors on any problems or questions they had, helping the staff members do their job, as well as looking after delegates myself. At 4H camp our goal is to help kids develop leadership and citizenship skills while having fun in a community-based environment. My personal goal for the camp was to make sure every kid was involved, and went home with a positive experience. I involved many shy kids by getting to know them better, and helping them network and pairing them up with a more outgoing individual. I also talked to the more extroverted kids and gave them a fulfilling task of making friends with more introverted people, so that they felt they were making a difference. While playing a game of Capture the Flag, one girl stepped on a wasp nest, and received over 70 bites all over her body. I stayed with her the whole night, administering icepacks, telling her every funny story I knew, and making terrible puns and knock knock jokes in foreign accents to keep her mind off her stinging body. After I ran out of stories, I played music and invited two girls that were homesick to come sit with us. After a whole night of telling stories while waiting for the swelling to go down and for crying to cease, I convinced all the girls to stay at the program. As a result of that long night, I knew those campers better than anyone else at camp, and still keep in contact with them. This experience taught me that I had the ability to stay calm and keep people laughing, which let these girls have a great experience of camp. It also taught me that it is important to try to make sure everyone has a great experience, even if takes more effort on your part, because those people will always appreciate that extra effort you put in.
Describe a time when you took the initiative to address an unmet need at school or in the community. What was the need and what steps did you take? What were the results of your actions?
After talking with my school districts Mental Health and Addition Counselor and having a discussion about what our school could benefit from, I realized that there was a need for Mental Health Awareness. Specifically, I wanted to target grade nines coming into the high school, as they are especially vulnerable and more likely to engage in dangerous behaviors at this point in their lives. Our school launched a new initiative called the “Week of Welcome” or WOW. After pitching the idea to my school principal and the School Council, we moved onto planning. Involved were members of all school groups, as well as teachers that are heavily involved in the school extracurricular. The result was a welcome assembly where I spoke to every grade about the benefits of getting involved in school activities, sports, making the right decisions, and how to succeed in high school. Every day we had a big event like a BBQ lunch and pancake breakfast where I served food to kids, got to know them better, and was a friendly face in the crowd. I also helped organize and set up spirit day, homecoming dance, motivational speaker, and an extracurricular resource fair. All these events helped get kids more involved in their high school and have a better high school experience, as well as helping the new grade nines feel more welcomed and accepted into high school. These events were all set up so that they hopefully won’t feel the need to act out, or engage in dangerous situations or activities, and know that there is always someone there to listen and help them out.
