Shanttel Porras

CUNY BA Barbara Price Fellowship Personal Statement

5/10/2019

Dear CUNY BA Fellowship Committee

Highschool was a challenging time for me as it’s for most teens, but further affecting my performance then, was when my mom ultimately had to have a heart operation, leaving our family shaken. This placed on me an elder sibling, sudden responsibility that as a teenager I struggled to bear while awakening a deeper appreciation for my mom. Following this disappointing 3rd year, as I felt underestimated and held back academically with not enough time to get my grades up to a competitive level. So, after that year I pushed myself to take an advancing credit in Trigonometry (sacrificing summer voluntarily, like I did for SEEK). This furthered my future goals, advancing my math level if I was to become a science major, towards college level. During all this, I learned to persist, even as counselors were skeptical of any comeback, with my lifelong desire to study science maintaining a 92% subject average. This helped me persist academically, leading up to me getting into City College through SEEK. Later during my 4th year I took initiative in taking as much College Now classes as possible determined to push on. I took four back to back, and earned 12, the maximum credit allowed. I even took three SAT II in one day, because of a fee waiver available that few used, to strengthen my application. I took the Spanish, Biology M, and Literature SAT II and even costly prep courses, I scored better than most without prep. I had to prep myself for my SAT and ACT on my own (also through test waivers), with free study materials, because I couldn’t afford the high cram pricing for paid test prep offered.

I plan to do my 1^st concentration in genetics since my favorite subject was always Biology where I enjoyed high school science lab activities the most. I was best out of all subjects in science not because of being more talented or smarter than others but because I was driven by active interest in these subjects which will help in, and persist through, college and beyond. I’m not afraid to explore other professional routes and paths too, because there’s many applications and types to jobs to offer in just one field alone, for which I’m glad CUNY BA exists. With my proposed areas of concentration Genetics and art and programming as the second I have a lot of classes to balance which is why I need this summer and aid for it, to advance academically. What I could gain otherwise through working that summer, would be made up for in aid, helping both my family and me. The field for genetics, as for all Biology, is only going to grow. With a degree like this I hope to work in gene therapy, while also having an art career. I also want to broaden my field by developing technology skills through programming as it’s applicable to Bioinformatics. I would combine this interdisciplinary study with my passion for art which I had been limited to as a minor previously. As when I applied to the SEEK program, which has resources that provide a basis for my current academic progress, I feel I would be a good candidate for the Barbara Price fellowship as it offers financial aid for a summer course I could otherwise not do. Any aid I get from Seek and this fellowship fundamentally support me in completing my degree as the first in my family to graduate from a four-year college. This lets me pursue a profession and ultimately provide socioeconomic mobility for me and my family as a first generation American, not only serving myself. Then I could afford more than a crowded apartment for my family; for which my father the sole full-time provider after mom’s surgery, pulls over night shifts for, letting me set an example for my siblings. I thank you for reading my story and hope I will be considered for a chance to be enriched by this fellowship.

Shanttel Porras

Prof. Ryder

10/30/2019

ENGL 21003

             My self-reflection for this class has been chaotic to say the least but there are many things I have taken from this course and any applied after.

            My favorite writing part of the class was definitely the free-write and while some were lost in the documenting process there were many that I enjoyed editing and looking back at. A personal favorite piece of mine was the satire, how-to exercise that built upon a reading of  ‘How to Write About Africa’ by Binyavanga Wainaina, and the free write prompt about regrets which is pretty ironic in retrospect as I’m writing this. My favorite part of the class was the different speakers, that was pretty awesome to have as part of a class experience. I’ve haven’t had a class to this date with that many speakers so kudos for the organization to get speakers in, definitely made for a unique class discussion. Speaking of class discussions while it did take a while for people to jump in, when people did start to discuss it was nice to hear how people built off each other’s ideas and interpretations of readings. Others’ perspectives helped me see a different side of the readings and revisit my opinions. This is a main factor of why I was active in class dicussions because it was interesting to see how others impressions were different from mine in the same literature.

            A writing piece that I received feedback from and helped me improve was the Scholarship grant application piece two if which I did one for the assignment and one for extra credit. While I had to write within a limit so I had tried to condense sentences and paragraphs, the feedback showed that I had to revisit certain areas where I failed to make myself clear and the sentence became too long. So I had revisited the piece and edited for clarity so that it reads better and while the piece could be further edited to flow better I learned from this piece how to edit and write an application piece so a reader can follow it more fluidly.

            These are positive reflections I have taken from this class and I thank you for having me in the class.

Health is peace of mind

Health is harmony within yourself

Health is willpower in your impulses

Health is balance in your lifestyle

Health is compromise between yourself and others

Health is coordination in your routine and body

Health is acceptance of yourself

Health is the desire to let yourself grow

When you write a fantasy novel make sure to include 2-D relatable characters

Make sure to make them a personified stereotype of every minority so you are inclusive

And make sure not to include minorities that haven’t been claimed as underrepresented yet

When you write a YA fantasy book make sure to conveniently introduce new characters to deus ex machima the answer to the novel’s problem to overhaul plot holes

When you write a YA novel make sure to make your main couple conveniently destined to be with each other instead of having them evolve their relationship over the course of the book as dynamic characters should

When writing a YA novel include various plot twists and new plot threads that’s are never fully resolved and conveniently rush to the finale

When writing a YA novel make sure to progressively add more and more characters that’s are never written enough to introduce to the plot or grow with the story

Also make sure to only bring them up when you need a deus ex machima to resolve your finale.

When writing a YA novel make sure to use the ‘its magic’ explanation instead of the ‘its science’  handwave explanation  in real life

When writing a YA novel when you need to resolve the plot make sure to randomly introduce new powers to your main character that help resolve the plot, because it’s convenient obviously.

Lastly when writing a YA novel, keep in mind you can just make things up anyways because it fantasy even through its still could be written as good literature with good plot dynamic and progression

Lastly after lastly however, remember that any YA writer definitely never ever used the how to methods above.

Shanttel Porras

America Needs You Fellowship

4/15/2019

Dear Fellowship Committee

 When I entered high school without much prior preparation and lack of guidance, I was immediately overwhelmed by the change and new expectations. It started out easy enough, but ultimately with lack of mentorship in a big school I started falling through the cracks. Further affecting my unpromising performance then, was when my mom congenital heart defect ultimately called for an emergency heart operation and left our family shaken. As an elder sibling I faced sudden responsibility during an emotional time. Taking all these responsibilities with my younger siblings and coordinating the household and much more chores had awakened an appreciation of all my Mom still does for us. While feeling underestimated and held back academically during this time faced with remedial classes which I took responsibly with newfound maturity, I managed to take extra time in my third year to take an advancing credit in Trigonometry (sacrificing summer voluntarily, like in the SEEK summer program). This let me to get an advanced regents diploma, which was not expected of me, but did so anyway. This was in line with my future goals as I needed to advance my math level if I was to become a science major to move forward in college level beyond. Even through my 4 year high school experience was strife with pitfalls and small blessings, I learned that even though I thought the worst had happened to me, feeling inadequate, and even other school advisers gave discouraging advice with my noncompetitive performance, my lifelong desire to study science kept my average up with a 92% science subject average that helped much to get to City College through SEEK. In addition to that during my senior year I took initiative in taking as much College Now classes as possible, I took four back to back, and earn the maximum credit allowed. As a bonus yet, I took three SAT II in one day, because of a fee waiver few used, too strengthen my chances. I took the Spanish, Biology M, and Language and Literature SAT II and while I didn’t score perfect due to lack of proper prep, I scored well enough. I had to prep myself for my test on my own, with free study materials, because I couldn’t afford the high cram pricing for paid test prep.

For my major, I plan to concentrate on the life sciences, leaning toward genetics as my favorite subject was always Biology. I was always most engaged in my high school science lab activities and even offered help to peers that were facing the threat of remedials. I was always eager to help my friends understand the lesson when they struggled in science classes as I always believed to help others improve is to also help yourself improve too. I was best out of all subjects in science not because I’m a genius or more talented than others but because I was driven by active interest in these subjects which I know will through my next three years in college and beyond. I’m not afraid to explore other professional routes and paths too, because I know there are many applications and types to jobs to offer in just one field alone. The opportunity field for genetics; as cancer research, disorder therapy, or conservation, as for all Biology expands every day. I also want to broaden my field by developing technology skill sets through web advertising as an analyst of traffic data, as it’s applicable to Bioinformatics.

My biggest struggle of a school subject to master, especially as of now in City College is definitely math, because I felt I was not prepared right for college level math or had teachers that worked to get students engaged in learning the subjects. We had mostly learned for a test then let it go, and that doesn’t add up in college. I am willing to overcome this obstacle as science major especially to be able to learn and major in Biology and its quantitative side.

As when I applied to the SEEK program which resources provide a basis, I feel I would be a good candidate for the America Needs You fellowship as it will fundamentally support me be the first in my family to  graduate a four-year college, help to pursue a profession, and ultimately provide socioeconomic mobility for me and my family as a first generation American. These types of opportunities given through ANY fellowship would allow me to lift up my family and inspire my community, not only serving myself, which shows how these programs help social mobility, especially for immigrant families like mine. I could eventually help my siblings, including my autistic brother reach out to different out-state programs without having to worry about paying for my expenses too.  Then finally, so that my father the sole source of stable income doesn’t have to work so many overnight shifts damaging his health for the sake of us. This fellowship for me can provide the chance to pursue a dream career or maybe even two, a Major in Biology; Behavioral Genetics and experiencing internships as a Web Advertising analyst or Medical Bioinformatics, is of course another opportunity that will propel me forward. I thank you for reading my story and hope I will be considered for a chance to be enriched by the ANY fellowship.

Shanttel Porras

Prof. Ryder

February 21, 2019

ENGL 21003

If Prompt: when you get to the end of your life, what you will regret not doing?

            Regret is a strong feeling that manifests most strongly at the end. I think every person alive will always regret they couldn’t do more. Our human limit is that there is only so much time we can be alive and only so many hours in a day. Therefore we can’t extend ourselves in all our capacity. This inability to do everything makes us decide between things we need and want and what’s probable.

When I get to end of my life I will regret not having taken care of myself better to have lived longer first of all. Sometimes we put off health of ourselves or don’t bring attention to it, and I have seen how it affects others close to me personally. Our bodies are not expendable and can only stretch so far. Its only when it begins to break down that’s you miss it.

Second will be to not have spent more time with my passed away loved ones. You never fully feel the finality of death unless it strikes to some you see daily in your life and sometimes families are spread out and unfortunately get distanced  over time. When one is on their own deathbed you can really sympathize with those who have passed.

I will likely have regret many actions I will do out of young immaturity. Only in retrospect can we judge ourselves sometimes, but we can never expect our younger selves to predict the future. Definitely in this, is spending more time with family and trying to reconcile instead of just letting conflict pass and not understand each other. Regret is a powerful emotion and we should try to live to our fullest, but even as we are at our end we should always be content with how far we have come from where we started.

Shanttel Porras

Prof. Ryder

March 14, 2019

ENGL 21003

Free Write Prompt: Write about a time you felt like an outsider or witnessed one?

      One way I could say I’ve witnessed someone as an outsider would be my brother and how he lives with a barrier in communicating with others.

      My brother has always lived with the difficulties of autism and it’s many challenges. While he is fortunate enough to be verbal and high functioning he was not always that way and it has been a long road to get there especially for my mom. Even within our own family it’s hard to understand his reasoning and relate to him even now which I know must be frustrating for him. But my family, especially my mom have always shown him unconditional support with whatever triumphs and problems he has faced which sometimes he fails to give her full credit for.

      Autism can have many impacts even in high functioning people especially socially. I remember how in many occasions my brother would be asking my mom why some children wouldn’t play with him or if people would avoid him or pretend to listen to him, and I would always be internally angry when I was younger that he could be treated like that. When I was younger I always tried to stick up for him and help him avoid people who wouldn’t respect him  or treat him well.

My mom had a big role in helping him over come certain stigmatized traits to help him adjust to blend in with society. When was younger had certain behavioral tics where he would react in overwhelmed emotion with hand-flapping jumping, and sudden smiling and losing present focus that would start seeming out of place as he grew older. He even had more negative tics where he would bite his hand when he was younger and had a sensitivity to loud sounds that would overwhelm him. One by one my mom painstakingly helped my brother overcome his overreactions to tics and while his fear of dogs never fully went away he can cope with how he reacts and continues to improve. She did these with the best intentions so he could try live a life just like any other non-autistic child but I’m glad to say he still keeps his internal character and personality that matures however slowly as he grows. Every person’s growth is a work in progress and I’m proud of how far my brother has come and how far my mom got him.