Maria

WORK, VOLUNTEER, & EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
As a freshman at Long Island City High School I was lucky enough to be a part of a program called Global Kids. Global Kids is a leadership program in which you are able to partake in events such as promoting talent shows, hosting fundraisers, contributing in park clean-ups, and attending enriching Career Days in which people of many professionsgive one on one talks to students interested in acquiring further knowledge on certain career paths. In addition, Global Kids members met up every Tuesday and Thursday to take part in discussions that dealt with various societal concerns such as air and noise pollution in urban areas much like New York City. Global Kids member also got the chance to become informed on various global issuesincluding the issue on the use of child soldiers in Uganda. I participated in this program 5-6 hours after school.
In December of freshman year, I volunteered in a fundraiser in which all the profits went towards buying the children at St. Judes a holiday present. During this month I worked with others to hand-make cards and ultimately sell these cards. I volunteered 20 hours in total afterschool.I got the opportunity to join the Francis Lewis swim team during the winter of sophomore year. While on the team I was able to train with junior varsity and improve my technique with many of the amiable girls on the team. I participated on the team 4-5 hours a week for a 2 month span.
I was part of the Francis Lewis track and field team during the months of January-June of sophomore year. I gaveup every weekday afternoon to practice and perfect my long distance running. Many of the girls were easy to work with and encouraging, and it is here where I acquired the skills for working in a team especially when trying to achieve a goal time during a relay race. For six months straight I participated in track events, meets, and practiced regularly for at least 13 hours a week.

Lastsummer, I volunteered at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens where I was told to assist nurses, and dealt with patient care in the Geriatric unit. In the process of tending to patient care I was able to provide patients with fresh water and ice, talk to the patients in need of company, provide patients with entertainment to make their stay more pleasurable, assist the patients with trays at mealtime and I wasalso in charge of distributing afternoon snacks. I was also exposed to working with various other volunteers to get a task accomplished which was extremely gratifying in the end. In total, I completed 137 hours of community service at Elmhurst Hospital. .
Last summer I also volunteered at the Regal Heights Rehabilitation Center where I helped out the staff in various ways. There were times I wasassigned to file paperwork and make outside calls for the administration office. Most of my time in Regal Heights was spent with the residents and my job as a volunteer was to help them out. I made conversation with many of the residents, and I also helped many of the art therapists with the art sessions they had for the residents in the Department of Therapeutic Recreation. In total I completed80 hours of community service at the Regal Heights Rehabilitation Center.
I am currently a member of an organization called the Youth Justice Board. The Youth Justice Board is an after-school program that brings together young people to study and propose solutions to the public safety challenges that most affect them. Board members serve as a credible voice for youth in the public debate aboutjuvenile justice policy in New York City, providing decision-makers with substantive input from this historically underrepresented group of stakeholders. The board is currently discussing improvements to New York City’s juvenile Alternative to Detention (ATD) programs, and helping young people involved with the juvenile justice system in Brownsville, Brooklyn. I currently participate on the...