contributed to a different club, honor society, school publication, or sports team, has made me the unique high school senior that I am today. Every endeavor has shined light on a certain distinctive characteristic which I possess. My characteristics are compassion, diligence, discipline, teamwork, leadership and a willingness to learn.

The most prominent characteristic I demonstrate is that of compassion. In seventh grade I became a member of National Charity League. This philanthropic mother-daughter organization seemed overwhelming at first. But as I became more mature, I appreciated the time I was spending with those who needed assistance. Seeing senior citizens who could not make their own meals or young children with life threatening illnesses, made me realize that anything I could do to help others was tremendously important. I further demonstrated my love for children when I traveled to Vienna, Austria on a Spring Break 2007 mission trip with my school. There I worked with refugee children who simply needed to be shown agape love. I formed a special bond with a young girl named Julia who I am particularly eager to revisit when I return to Vienna this spring. Charity work is a crucial part of my life that I have thoroughly enjoyed.

The rigorous academics of my private high school have been difficult. I have exhibited diligence and discipline to achieve my personal standards for my grades. My diligence was tested when I was taking physics my junior year. Physics was the most challenging class that I have ever taken, causing me to almost drop it. Although I did make my first and only C the first semester, I studied particularly hard to get an A in the class the next semester. I also demonstrated diligence when I swam on my school’s varsity swim team during freshman year. The countless hours of practice for just a short time of racing made me appreciate the values of hard work and perseverance. My sophomore year I decided to play lacrosse on my school’s inaugural lacrosse team. I went into the season knowing nothing about lacrosse, but I was willing to learn a new sport. I even scored one goal my sophomore year! These enjoyable and grueling experiences have shown me the importance of diligence and discipline.

The lessons of teamwork I gathered from swimming and lacrosse translated into my new interest on the Olympian yearbook staff. My junior year I started working on the elementary school section of the yearbook. The entire staff had to work together to meet deadlines for the publishing company. If one section could not finish its pages, I would step in and assist by creating pages. This year the significance of teamwork is even more apparent. I am the Assistant Editor on the Olympian staff and Entertainment Editor on my school’s newspaper, The Spartan Spear-it. I personally talk with each member of the yearbook staff to see if he or she is on track to finish the assigned pages by deadline. I also encourage everyone to give an opinion regarding design and layout. As Assistant Editor and Entertainment Editor I must know how to use In Design CS3, a new computer program at my school. Although the new program was difficult to grasp I now use it fluently, as I want the yearbook and the newspaper to exceed the school’s expectations. Without fostering teamwork and a willingness to learn neither of these publications would be exemplary.

These experiences reveal unique qualities I posses. By placing myself in challenging situations I have observed my compassion, diligence, discipline, teamwork, leadership and willingness to learn evolve. I am looking forward to accepting challenges at Southern Methodist University, confident that I will continue to enhance my individuality and be an asset to the university.