Personal Statement

My first experience volunteering was in my senior year of high school. I worked for about two months at a local hospital, as required for a student in the Medical Academy program. I turned out to love the experience. Years later, I learned about the Bonner program through a friend. My first placement was at First Step for Families, a homeless shelter in San Mateo. I was new to this work and learned how this specific homeless shelter works to help their clients and how difficult it is to find consistent support. Since sophomore year, I have been volunteering with Reading Partners at John Gill Elementary, which seeks to help students improve their reading and comprehension skills. Most of these students are immigrants, refugees and/or come from other low income families. It is amazing to see how students build self-confidence and improve over time. When I was in kindergarten, I had trouble speaking English, as my parents did not speak the language, and we commonly speak Spanish at home. I wish we had had a program like this when I was younger, which makes me glad to be working with Reading Partners now.