School: Capital City Public Charter School

Grade: 12th

Interests/Activities:

When I’m not in school, I normally like to relax by myself when I have the time to. Listening to music normally helps me relax. I enjoy all different kinds of music. Some of the artists I listen to are Zayn, Shannon Saunders, Sik-K, Cardi B, Chase Atlantic, and Ozuna. I also enjoy reading. Some of my favorite books are Black City by Elizabeth Richards and La Hija de la Fortuna by Isabel Allende. Something else I like to do alone, or with others is watch Netflix/Hulu series, as well as anime. Two of my favorite anime are “Blue Exorcist” and “Naruto: Shippuden.” My favorite Netflix shows are “Terrace House” and “Black Mirror.”

Academic/Career Interests:

I am currently interested in majoring in International Studies/Relations. I’m interested in this major due to my curiosity about different countries/cultures and how different countries interact with one another. I am also interested in becoming a lawyer later on in the future.

Personal Statement:

When I was younger, I watched Japanese shows like Doraemon and Dragon Ball Z, when I was in Dominican Republic, although I didn’t know they were Japanese at the time. The first time I really started watching anime was in 7th grade, when I was on Netflix and discovered Black Butler. A good amount of the friends I had then really liked anime, so I got into it after that. Once high school began, I didn’t have much time to watch anime. However, last year I found a Japanese show called “Terrace House” on Netflix and became obsessed. During the school year, I met up with an old friend and she talked to me about CIEE, and how she traveled to Shanghai, China and studied Chinese there for a month. After speaking to her, I decided to apply to it and told some friends about it too. My friend, Kimberly, and I applied and got into the program. During June-July 2018, I was in Nanjing, China with the CIEE High School Summer Abroad Program. After studying Chinese in China, I kind of wanted to learn Japanese as well, so I downloaded an app. When I found out that I had an opportunity to learn Japanese, I was interested since I like Japanese shows and would like to learn about more languages and culture. I think it’ll be exciting and better to learn Japanese in a classroom setting.