About me
When I was five years old, my ultimate goal was to be exactly like my sister. Although my five-year-old self would be happy that I looked so much like her, we are polar opposites in almost every way. Additionally, when I was five, I didn't think much about whether I wanted to be a mathematician or a firefighter. What I did know is that my future was planned out before me. My dad worked at a University where I would have gone if my dad hadn’t gotten a job offer in the United States. When I moved here from my native country, Ecuador, my life changed. I was able to let my ambitions soar. Suddenly, my choice of college wasn't restricted to just one, my high school didn't give me an average education, and I was able to explore endless opportunities. My five-year-old self would have been in disbelief if told she would move to the United States and
|
studying at the University of Maryland, but my current self is excited and eager to see where this journey will take me. I was admitted to the Robert H. Smith School of Business, but I am not sure what I want to major in. What I do know is that the Smith School offers a lot of opportunities to help you figure out the right path. Among many advisors, peer mentors, clubs, employers visiting, they offer a variety of classes that expand your possibilities and choices.
When I think back on my experiences to date, I am proud of my achievements as well as my ability to examine my actions critically. I also realize that my mistakes, and how I have learned from them and corrected them, have made me who I am today. One of hardest things about doing something wrong is admitting it was wrong to yourself and learning from it. The way the human brain works is that we try to align our convictions with our actions because we experience cognitive dissonance and stress if we don't. Whenever I used to be confronted with something wrong that I had done, I would quickly come up with an excuse in order to convince the other person and myself it was right. Not anymore. I have grown up, and growing up comes with the responsibility to examine one’s own actions and motives. I've learned that it is okay to make mistakes. What really matters is how we grow from them. I want to become a better person, student, daughter, and sister and I can only achieve this by trying my hardest to do the right thing for myself and those around me.
Carl Rogers believed that humans strive to make their real selves congruent with their ideal selves. I don't want my real self to converge with my ideal self, because that would mean that my ambitions weren't big enough. Nor do I want my real self to diverge from my ideal self too much, although I know that at times it will. What I want is for those two images to constantly evolve, to remain open to new experiences and new ways of looking at the world, and ultimately to be someone creative and of whom my five-year-old self can be even prouder.
Somewhere along my experience in college I found that my “idea self” had lost herself. I have had a great experience at transitioning into college and have created great relationships with people in the business school that have helped me, but I still couldn’t picture someone that I was striving to be by the end of my sophomore year.
Not knowing what I want to be when I grew up seemed to be something that many people my age can relate, but I realized that many had at least somewhat of an idea where they wanted to work or in what type of environment.
I went on the West Coast Innovation program hoping that I could learn about the culture and if it would be a place where I could see myself going for externships or internships next summer. It wasn’t my first time visiting California, but I never visited businesses before and my expectations were based on what I had heard- that it was completely different than the fast pace of the East Coast.
In the Bay Area, I was really excited to see how steep the streets were and how on earth people parallel park! I expected people to be a lot more laid back in the way that they dressed for work and unique outside of it. Additionally, I definitely did not expect it to be how cold it actually was.. Did not pack appropriate clothes.
The only time I had seen Seattle and made my assumptions based on it was during an episode in the Bachelor on abc network where they went to Seattle for a date. I expected there to be a lot of coffee shops since they are big on producing coffee and a lot of seafood restaurants. I also was really excited to see the Space Needle.
As for Portland, I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I knew it wasn’t a big city so my guess would have been for it to resemble a small town in Maine that I went for Thanksgiving once called Portland too. Ironic.
When I think back on my experiences to date, I am proud of my achievements as well as my ability to examine my actions critically. I also realize that my mistakes, and how I have learned from them and corrected them, have made me who I am today. One of hardest things about doing something wrong is admitting it was wrong to yourself and learning from it. The way the human brain works is that we try to align our convictions with our actions because we experience cognitive dissonance and stress if we don't. Whenever I used to be confronted with something wrong that I had done, I would quickly come up with an excuse in order to convince the other person and myself it was right. Not anymore. I have grown up, and growing up comes with the responsibility to examine one’s own actions and motives. I've learned that it is okay to make mistakes. What really matters is how we grow from them. I want to become a better person, student, daughter, and sister and I can only achieve this by trying my hardest to do the right thing for myself and those around me.
Carl Rogers believed that humans strive to make their real selves congruent with their ideal selves. I don't want my real self to converge with my ideal self, because that would mean that my ambitions weren't big enough. Nor do I want my real self to diverge from my ideal self too much, although I know that at times it will. What I want is for those two images to constantly evolve, to remain open to new experiences and new ways of looking at the world, and ultimately to be someone creative and of whom my five-year-old self can be even prouder.
Somewhere along my experience in college I found that my “idea self” had lost herself. I have had a great experience at transitioning into college and have created great relationships with people in the business school that have helped me, but I still couldn’t picture someone that I was striving to be by the end of my sophomore year.
Not knowing what I want to be when I grew up seemed to be something that many people my age can relate, but I realized that many had at least somewhat of an idea where they wanted to work or in what type of environment.
I went on the West Coast Innovation program hoping that I could learn about the culture and if it would be a place where I could see myself going for externships or internships next summer. It wasn’t my first time visiting California, but I never visited businesses before and my expectations were based on what I had heard- that it was completely different than the fast pace of the East Coast.
In the Bay Area, I was really excited to see how steep the streets were and how on earth people parallel park! I expected people to be a lot more laid back in the way that they dressed for work and unique outside of it. Additionally, I definitely did not expect it to be how cold it actually was.. Did not pack appropriate clothes.
The only time I had seen Seattle and made my assumptions based on it was during an episode in the Bachelor on abc network where they went to Seattle for a date. I expected there to be a lot of coffee shops since they are big on producing coffee and a lot of seafood restaurants. I also was really excited to see the Space Needle.
As for Portland, I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I knew it wasn’t a big city so my guess would have been for it to resemble a small town in Maine that I went for Thanksgiving once called Portland too. Ironic.