Please answer each of the following questions in 250 words or less.
Note: Applicants are expected to provide unique, personally written responses. Submissions must be original and reflect your own thoughts and perspectives. We may not accept responses generated by AI or other automated means.
What motivated you to pursue the CA position, and how do your unique strengths, values, and ideas equip you to make a meaningful impact in this role?
On April 11 of last year, I wrote a note in my journal titled āMy new found purposeā. In that note, I talked about a realization that Iāve been having around that time. I started realizing that I find joy in deeply connecting with people, whether itās through providing value by building software products or sharing my unique knowledge with the world by creating YouTube videos, or even just having conversations with people. I see the world in each person. I see no point in living if itās not for the people. This philosophy seeps into every area of my life. One area includes my deep desire to create a positive impact on my community. Everywhere I go, I strive to leave crumbles of wisdom behind me so people can learn from my mistakes and live better lives. This is one big thing that is motivating me to become a CA. It allows me to fulfill my desire to be a leader and supporter of those who need it. An example of what I enjoy doing is best seen in my YouTube videos like https://youtu.be/C0YsCYqh0aY where I share the biggest lessons I learned in my first year of University.
Please share with us 3 skills, tools, or strategies of a successful leader. How do you model these things in your life? How might this support you in taking on a role as a CA?
Charisma, curiosity, discipline. Iāll talk about charisma, which is extremely important if you wanna be a successful leader. I exercised and significantly improved my charisma by taking improv courses and performing weekly improv shows for over a year. I used to be scared to be a leader back in highschool because I couldnāt stand up for myself and be confident in my abilities, but after traveling to a new country for university, I was able to slowly but surely transform myself into someone who is confident in their abilities while still being humble about it. Thanks to that newfound confidence in myself, I am now able to lead with empathy. Since I know how it feels to be scared to speak up about something (because that used to be me), I try my best to support them and help them speak their thoughts out. Just this past semester, I took CPSC575 where I led a team of 7 people. I believe I did a great job leading my team(we all got As). One thing that I decided to do was create an anonymous chat. I wanted to create that to help my team members who might be too shy to confront me, to be able to anonymously provide me feedback, which is something I continuously told them to do. I love being a leader and I know, given my future life plans right now, I will be doing it quite often, so Iām always looking to improve my leadership skills.
Tell us about a community you have felt deeply connected to and why. What lessons will you take from that community and how will you use them to build a community among fellow staff members and residents next year?
Improv. Improv and its community has taught me SO MANY THINGS. Learning improv is learning how to be a better human, friend, leader, supporter, follower, and everything in between. I made a YouTube video explaining its benefits regarding public speaking: https://youtu.be/R6OnGTV2vRs . I still remember the first time I performed on stage, everyone supported and cheered for me(despite not really performing that well lol). That community helped me view strangers in a different light: It made me notice that despite not knowing each other, we are still able to bond and connect over so many things(connected to what I shared in the first question). Even made a YouTube video on it(https://youtu.be/pIV7OeY_eg4 ). Living with that mindset has transformed the way I live my day-to-day life. Thanks to that mindset shift, I became naturally more interested in everyone around me. This led me to make several YouTube videos where I interview strangers like https://youtu.be/mLRZsYBegQw The way this can be applied to the CA position is that Iām very approachable as a result of the way I communicate with authenticity. I strive to leverage that to create and grow meaningful relationships with other CAs so we could collaborate together more effectively (to plan events, bounce off event ideas, and make our rounds more fun). The same applies for my residents. I want them to view me as a role model and someone who they can go to for support or if problems arise with their floor/roommates
Managing multiple priorities can be challenging. Can you share how youāve successfully balanced school and other commitments so far? What changes or additional strategies would you need to implement next year to ensure success in Residence Life wheile maintaining your academic and personal responsibilities?
One of the main things that I believe university teaches us or at least trains us on, is the ability to manage a lot of responsibilities and also prioritize these different responsibilities in a way that maximizes our abilities to make the most of our university experience. Iām a big believer of the importance of growing your soft skills and becoming a CA will help me do just that. I also envision myself becoming a coach to people once I become old and wise. In previous years, Iāve worked part-time jobs that were over an hour away from campus and still maintained my physical health by playing sports every other day. All of this while having a GPA of 3.7+. I also consider myself extremely adaptable to any circumstance. As long as I have set the right priorities, I will be able to adapt to every situation with no problem(but a lot of sacrifice, which is typical in University because thereās just way too many things you can do)