AIN’T NO PARTY LIKE A CALCULUS PARTY! by Angel

AIN’T NO PARTY LIKE A CALCULUS PARTY! by Angel - June 2021 Scholarship Essay

Nervous.

I entered my Algebra 1 summer class as an incoming freshman. I was afraid I wasn’t ready; not ready for the next step. I had no set path, no passion, no commitment. I really wasn’t ready.

Mr. Rodriguez greeted me. He noticed something in me that day. He knew that I was different; I had something in me that I didn’t know yet. He knew it from the moment he saw me. He taught summer school Algebra 1 for this exact reason. He knew there was a torch in me that needed to be lit.

Taking his class allowed me to settle into this high school experience peacefully. I enjoyed every second of the class-- I felt safe. When I got to know more about him, I understood. I never knew the purpose of college, but I knew now. He showed me that someone from a similar background could make it into something they loved. He immigrated from Mexico to the US; my parents immigrated from Mexico to the US. He found what he loved and he pursued it. He put all his effort into mathematics so that he could teach the next generation. That is when I found a spark in me; I knew I wanted to major in something passionate to me.

From that moment on, I challenged myself to be my very best and achieve the highest level math class possible. I have graduated top of my class, ranked 2 of 445 classmates, having gone from Algebra 1 to Calculus BC with Mr. Rodriguez who guided me along the way. Because of Mr. Rodriguez’s unique passion for math, I found my passion: computers, coding, and hardware.

The torch he lit in me has allowed me to be accepted into my dream university, University of California Irvine with honors as a Computer Engineer major. The mentorship and his diction is something I’ll always remember. And as he says, “AIN’T NO PARTY LIKE A CALCULUS PARTY, UH HUH, UHH HUHH!”