Assignment: Personal Insight

Questions
Instructions
Complete the handout below based on your partner’s essay. When you are finished,
discuss the feedback you have given each other. Use your partner’s feedback to help you
revise your essay.

Choose four (4) Personal Insight Questions from the UC application and write a draft for
each of them. You can get the questions and brainstorming ideas here:
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/how-to-apply/files/uc-personal-questions-
guide-freshman.pdf . Follow the guidelines below.

● Answer the prompt specifically and accurately

● Explain the background of your story - write an interesting hook that will get the
reader’s
● attention
● Describe the challenge you faced and explain how and why it affected you
● Describe your solution – be specific and explain why you chose that solution
● Describe what happened after your solution – explain how things improved
● Describe what you learned about yourself and/or others – explained how this
experience changed you
● Check your grammar, spelling and vocabulary for obvious mistakes – you don’t need
perfect grammar, but your ideas have to be clear

Personal Insight Question __

Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively

influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or contributed to group efforts over time.
____: (copy and paste the question here)

Write your response here:

Last summer, I joined a short-movie making program in Seoul, South Korea for
two weeks. In the first week, I learned so much about film-making and post-
production techniques from professors from Korea Dongguk University. While
preparing our

preliminary work as a group of five, however, we encountered some serious

problems. Two members, afraid of the difficulty, gave up after their first
attempts. We also suffered from writers block, and the first week ended with
the team fighting. "Only several days in and it's already like this. How can we
possibly make a short movie?" I could hear the skeptics say.

But I decided to persist and make my "film-making dream" come true. First, I
reached out to other film-making groups and borrowed several actors from
them, provided that our shooting did not disturb their original progress. The
second step was discussing the script. I patiently listened to every crew
member's ideas before we sat at the table and drew our story-line altogether.
Considering the limit of filming locations, we agreed to a version that focuses
more on dialogue and actions than scenery. Moreover, one of the most
difficult parts of the actual shooting was the scene of our planned car
accident. I pictured the scene over and over in my mind, but when we tried to
put it in front of the camera, it didn't work as I expected. To achieve the scene,
I decided to do it on a computer. At night I read numerous articles on simple
Premiere and Final-cut software and tried to piece together shooting material
accordingly. Fortunately, with days of hard work, I finally succeeded!

In the end, we got our three-minute demo for our "premiere" at the end of our
summer camp, and I also earned the honor of "Best Editor". This experience
made me realize the importance of leadership to form a joint effort and
address problems together. I also learned to be creative and persevere to
troubleshoot problems. I look forward to having more opportunities to
enhance my leadership abilities in the future.

Personal Insight Question __

What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and
demonstrated that talent over time? ____: (copy and paste the question here)

Write your response here:

I always love talking since small age. As a student in a boarding high school,
before going to sleep, I am often honored to host our "nighttime forum" in the
dormitory. Our bedtime conversations cover a broad scope of topics, ranging
from academics to

athletics, from ancient times to current affairs. When I talk with others at
school, humorous, thoughtful, and appealing are adjectives that can best
describe my chatting style. Using the witty remarks and impromptu jokes, I
can always make everyone laugh out loud and enliven the atmosphere of the
room.

Being talkative helps me make a lot of friends even outside school. In winter
and summer holidays, I often participate in many extracurricular programs,
including film editing, cooking, basketball, and overseas exchange. I develop
many different hobbies and travel many different places all around the world.
Each time I meet someone new, I can always come up with a common topic to
start with, and get to know each other quickly. Through talking to people with
different backgrounds on different occasions, I also see a more colorful world.

Communication not only helps me gain friendship, it also becomes a powerful

tool for me to create opportunities for personal and even business
development. Influenced by my father who is a successful entrepreneur, since
small I have realized the importance of communication skills. I followed him to
join in many social activities where I learned to make a first impression and
make many new friends of different ages. Once my father was helping his
business partner to look for sponsors for F.C. Real Madrid in China, but he
didn't know much about sports. As an avid sports fan, I took the initiative to
help my father, and using my networking skills, brought the business partner
into contact with the president of Spanish Chamber of Commerce in China,
establishing a successful partnership and help our family business.

Communication empowers me for a brighter future. As I hone my

communication skills, I look to bring more insights to people around me, and
make more contribution to my family and community.

Personal Insight Question __

Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken
to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic
achievement?

____: (copy and paste the question here)

Write your response here:

I have always attempted to stand out just like my icon Lebron James, spending
most of my time on self-training, but playing as part of the team was another
thing. All the teammates were new students so we did not practice together
before. We also did not play so well in the past few games.

It was the semifinal game. Only 10 seconds were left, but we were still 2 points
behind. The best player in our team, Allen, dribbled away and still couldn't find
a right position to shoot the ball.. He missed a running shot, but I caught the
offensive rebound near the restricted zone. Three ticks left on the game clock.
Under the basket, I tried to make a lay-up but three offenders lunged to me
and blocked my shot. I could have kept trying but I realized this basketball
game is about more than just me. Instead of banking shot in front of the free-
throw line, I passed the ball to Allen again when he was in a wide-open
position. Allen tried to shoot another three-pointer. Everyone in the arena
held their breath and fixed their eyes on the ball. He did it! The score was
rewritten. Feeling the cheers from everyone on the court, I couldn't help but
think about the magic of teamwork and cooperation. This game taught me to
be humble, focused, and most important of all, to trust and work with my
teammates.
Later when I encountered other challenges, such as in ASDAN Business
Simulations Competitions and Videography Summer Camp, instead of
grabbing the ball for myself, I chose to cheer up my teammates when they
made a business mistake, and cooperate as part of the film crew while
shooting and editing scenes.

I still play basketball. The shoes thumping on the floor and the crowd cheering
for the whole team remind me of my new role: a good teammate in every
arena.

Personal Insight Question __

Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe
makes you stand out as a strong candidate for admissions to the University of
California?

____: (copy and paste the question here)

Write your response here:

"Save your complaints and just try a bite!" I ignored Joseph's struggling face,
and smiled. This was the fifth attempt at making my version of cherry
cheesecake. I looked hopefully at Joseph as he pushed the spoon to his mouth.
His tiny, hesitant bite evolved to gobbling. Finally, I got it!

Born and raised in a traditional Chinese family of 'foodies', I have been mildly-
to- literally obsessed about food since a small age. I explored cuisine from
around the world here in Shunde, a food-lovers mecca, and while traveling
abroad with family. Rarely am I without my notebook full of food to-do's,
recipes, and restaurant notes. Years of travelling and overseas summer camp
experience have given me opportunities to taste dishes from all regions of
China and internationally. To me, a meal isn't simply food, but a pilgrimage to
a place, a channel to understand people and their culture - even within my
own country, there are stark differences in techniques and food customs. Each
time I arrive at a new place, I take my notebook and find the appropriate
pages. I have spent two hours each way traveling to try a well-known
restaurant. Meat- bone tea in Malaysia, Laksa in Singapore, and cheesecake in
New York,all these delights have become memorable markers along my food
journey.

This map of my food adventures documents my culinary explorations and the

evolution of my passion for eating and now cooking, too. My family kitchen is
my laboratory at home. The stove and wok are my best tools. Every time I get
a new recipe, I can't wait to try it and experiment with it. There have been
some clear cooking failures, but I learned to persevere. Every dish is art. When
I turn some meat, vegetables, and seasoning into a dish that satisfies the
appetite of my guests, the sense of achievement is incomparable. At that
moment, I am champion of the world - or, my dining room anyway.

"Don't forget to invite me when you cook this again!" Joseph grinned as he
wiped his month with the back of his hand.