who am i

[Kevin Bong]

First and foremost and I am a student. Although technically I am a full time student at UCLA, I consider myself a student both inside and outside of the classroom. I love finding things that I take pleasure in learning about, whether it is cars, stereos, skateboards, skis, bridges, economics, bicycles, or excising. Feeling passionate about something and learning for the sake of learning is essential to me because it makes life more interesting. In high school, my goal in life was simple, I either got into UCLA or I did not. I worked hard in high school because I wanted to, not because my parents expected it or for any other reason. I put in the effort because my parents had made sacrifices to give me a good education. I am very thankful for the opportunities I have had in my life. I would be very disappointed with myself if I felt like I didn’t make the most of the opportunities presented to me at any milestone in my life.My brother, Steven, has greatly influenced me and has helped inspire me to do what I do today. My brother is three and a half years older than me and to put it simply, he is much more intelligent than I am. I remember building my first computer with him years ago. I had so many questions about how to use it and every time I asked him, he would give me a few words of advice and encourage me to figure it our on my own through my own trial and error. At the time this was frustrating, but now I am thankful because it inspired me to love learning things on my own through my own failures and success. For example, I bought an antique stereo system a few weeks ago, it needed a few repairs, so I did a little research, took the stereo apart, played around with it and eventually had it sounding excellent. I feel that the way one deals with his or her failures is often more important that being initially successful.