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During the four-year journey that high school has taken me on, I have learned a countless number of crucial lessons. By listening to my over the course of high school, I have gained endless amounts of knowledge about trigonometry and the history of the United States, but ultimately I have learned valuable life lessons that will be a reminder as I approach different situations and overcome challenges. I took advantage of my educational opportunities to prepare myself for college by learning all that I could learn, and creating a work ethic that I will adhere to for the rest of my life. I challenged myself throughout the four year adventure at Monte Vista by taking classes that are a year ahead, starting in eighth grade and continuing through my senior year. I took an honors Spanish class my junior year, which proved to be my most difficult class. In addition to difficult courses taken during school, I took a college course, Psychology and Child Development at a local community college. I excelled as a student and grew as a person in this psychology class. It gave me a better understanding of college curriculum and gave me a much better feel for a college campus environment.

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In high school, I truly found myself as a unique individual who works hard and is always up for a challenge. Life is all about challenges, and the most important part of a challenge is how one handles it. I have faced many struggles throughout my life and in the last few years I learned how to deal with them. My biggest fear in life is failure, which coincided with my struggle of balancing a life filled with school, tennis, work experience, and social events. Before high school, my fear negatively affected my life; however, now it serves as motivation to succeed. For example, in a situation where I could get an "F" on a final in my chemistry class and still have an "A" in the class, I could not allow myself to put in less than 100% effort. Ultimately, the battles that have presented themselves in my life have made me a stronger person. I am aware of the demanding schedule that a college of the UC system may provide; however, I will rise to the challenge and work harder than I ever have in my life because I believe the UC system will provide the best educational environment that I can receive.

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As a freshman, I could not have been a more timid girl. I had little confidence and was extremely self-conscious. Tennis tryouts my freshman year were a week before school commenced, and I had never been so nervous for anything. It seemed as if there were a thousand girls trying out, competing for the same spot on the team that I was. After the first day of tryouts, my confidence rose a tiny bit after demolishing five different freshman and sophomores. My coach for four years now, Patty Gross, was impressed by my talent, and from then on had me play with the senior girls on the varsity team. I have always known to treat everyone, especially those older than me, with nothing but respect, and would not have dared to offend any of the upperclassmen on the team. The first senior girl I was matched up against, Ashley, was very intimidating and overconfident, and realized she should not have been when she barely beat me that day. My second