School

Ever since I was a young kid I have always been interested with aircraft. I was so curious of how airplane's fly. I remember taking my toys apart to see how it works. As a kid I wanted to go to the airport to watch the airplanes land and fly and pondered how this happens. Other kids wanted to go to the amusement places. As I grew older I became more and more interested in aircraft and the technology behind it. I always involved myself with aviation early on. I read books and magazines on aviation, took museum tours, built model airplanes. When I was younger my father would take me to aircraft repair facilities where I would watch in great fascination. In my teens, went up to the military bases and befriended many soldiers involved with aircraft and asked them numerous questions. I got to meet many aeronautics engineers and borrowed their old textbooks and read them till the wee hours of the morning. As technology improved with information superhighway, I logged on the web. Stayed up for hours and hours searching through web pages and web pages of information about aircraft and technology.

I started my elementary school in the Philippines, then we moved to U.S. and continued my high school education and graduated. Enrolled at the CCSF to

pursue my college education and now I am in the 2nd year in CCSF taking aeronautics. My goal now is to obtain my AS degree from the City College of San Francisco (CCSF) so I can transfer to a University and get a Bachelors degree and to continue for my Masters degree in Aeronautics Engineering. I

will strive hard to reach the peak level of my career which is a Professor and hopefully to be an aeronautic professor so can help and share my

knowledge and experience to the new students who wish to be an aeronautics engineer someday. I completed 62 units from CCSF so far. Currently, I'm

taking 21 units. With my hard work in doing my homework and submitted on time; studied hard and gained higher grades on my tests; and did extra

credits, I was able to earned a GPA 4.0 last semester `and I was included on the current dean's list in aeronautics. I received an achievement award for this presented in the Chancellor's Award Ceremony last December 1998 in CCSF. I have also been accepted to the CCSF honors program and was invited to be a member of the Omega Chapter of Alpha Gamma Sigma, the California Community College Honor Society. After these achievements, I became more motivated in my studies and it helped me strive hard to aim for a perfect grades hoping to get on the scholarship program.

When we first move to the U.S. my family as a whole encountered so many problems. All the sacrifices we encountered and until now we are still

struggling to live a better life. Being my mother as the only breadwinner in

the family, we suffered so much financially. At one time when my mother lost

her job, I had to quit school and find a job so I can help my family. At

early age, I experienced relocating to San Francisco worked two to three jobs

getting paid at a minimum wage which at that time it was not enough for us to

live. We couldn't even afford to rent an apartment. We ended up living in a

car, or with relatives and moved around few times just to get a free room and

board. Quitting school was the last thing on my mind, but I had no other

choice. I thought this was the end of my education. After doing foul and

dead-end jobs I told myself; "This is not what I want to do all my life. This

was not my Future." I would never give up until I am somebody someday. I

still believe that good things happen to those who sacrifice or wait

patiently. I became a very strong person and practical. I was too young then

for that kind of work but it helped me to have goals in life. It opened my

eyes that this would not be the kind of life I want to have. I became

motivated to pursue my studies. I promised myself that I will continue my

education soon as we get stable, so I can improve our lifestyle and can

provide a better life for my mother, my sister and for myself and my own

family in the future. I also promised myself that I would never let this

happen to my family again.

Then luckily my mother found a better job than before. Financial still not

good, it is a struggle to support my sister and me. Being a single parent and

a widower, it's