Volunteering Personal Statement

I have dedicated myself over the past few years to helping out my community as much as possible, while maintaining high G.P.A. I did so, in the hopes that during March of my senior year, I would be getting acceptance letters from my choice schools. Volunteering in an effort to increase my chances turned into volunteering for fun, enjoying the feedback that came with helping my town. My most favorable memories of volunteering comes from working with the California Living Museum. Majority of the time, I helped with the maintenance of the park, and enjoyed seeing the visitors enjoy what C.A.L.M. offered to the community. In one unforgettable event, my group helped rebuild the river they have. There were little bugs crawling around, big ones at

that, and I had fun showing them to the younger children that walked by. To me, it added to their day. I also volunteered at the local Boy’s and Girl’s Club, during a festival they hosted. My club took over a booth where we gave out free snow cones to the children. In my opinion, the children had the opportunity to have a day where they got to have fun when they most likely would not have been able to in their free time.
The schools that I had my eye on, all had something in common: they have amazing marine biology programs. Since I was in the third grade, I have had wanted to become a marine biologist after visiting an aquarium. I immersed myself in the field as much as I could. I read novels about the ocean and the animals that lived within it. I also searched for information about the animals; I even wrote my first research paper on a marine animal. During the summer, I encouraged my family to go to the beach for vacations, so I could familiarize myself with my future work place. I went to Monterey Bay Aquarium and fell in love with the jobs I learned about, as well as the opportunities the Aquarium offered. I discovered the projects they lead, and my new goal became working in one of them. I saw the duties the aquarium’s vet did and saw myself in his shoes. I continue this goal, by going to a school that is world renowned for oceanography.
I have motivation that originated from my parents’ struggles.

. Both came from Mexico as children and worked during their high school years in the fields. Immediately after high school, they were forced to get jobs, rather than going to college, because of financial reasons.
However, my parents eventually went attended college. My mother earned her Masters, and my father obtained his teaching credential. The road to earning their degrees was not easy, my father was laid off from his long term job when I was 2 years old. This created a financial hardship for my family at the time; yet, they persevered.
Throughout my childhood, they encourage me to be diligent in my school work, because they did not want me to struggle the way they did when they were kids. They made sure I knew college was going to be an option for me, “we’ll figure out the bill later”, they said. My brother and I were supported emotionally and mentally by them, and I soon developed solid study skills in order to achieve my academic goals.
Earning the best possible marks in my school subjects has been important since I knew of my parent’s struggle during their childhood. I could not take my good fortune for granted. In mind, I had no excuse or reason not to perform well. I’ve learned to discipline myself in order to make going to college my number one

goal.