Abel

Greetings! My name is Abel. I am very grateful for having this opportunity, and I am thankful towards A Bridge for Kids, a dear friend, and the nice interviewer I talked to on the phone who gave me this opportunity. I am a 13-year-old 8th-grade scholar attending The Preuss School UC San Diego, and I am in the class of 2030. My favorite quote is "Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right." — Henry Ford, this is my favorite quote because it means that if I don’t believe in myself then I will never succeed but if I always believe in myself and care about myself it means that I will become successful; it is all about what you believe in, if you believe you won’t make it, then you won’t make it, but if you believe that you will make it, then you will make it, it’s as simple as that. Even though the path might be tough, I will still believe in myself, and I will never give up.

I live with my mom, dad, younger sister, and younger brother. My dad and my mom came here to San Diego to give me and my siblings a better life with college and hobbies, and other interests, and to pursue our dreams, even though they both came here before my siblings and I were born. My dad first started off doing small jobs just to get pocket money, and now he has a transportation business and he is a DJ for the Ethiopian community to help out, and my mom also started doing small jobs, and now she works at Jacobs Healthcare Center. Both my parents are from Ethiopia. My parents try their best to get us into the best school and try to get us into good colleges. I like to play soccer, squash, and basketball.

When I was just a very, very young child, I really liked running and kicking around, and that is when I developed my love for soccer. I have been playing soccer for about a decade now, ever since I was a little 3-year-old. I started on a team called Liverpool (not the actual Liverpool F.C.) but Liverpool got bought by a soccer team called Surf and they took all the players when I was about 7 years old, so then I started playing for East County Surf, then when I was twelve (last year) East County Surf and South Bay Surf got bought by Rebels, and that’s why now I play for Rebels.

For squash, I attend this program called Access Youth Academy (AYA). I started in 7th grade. I attend this program because they help me with my studies with tutors. For squash, Access has coaches we use, and I love to make friends there and make new memories. At Access, I do community service, which boosts my community service hours once a month. There are also parties Access holds 3 times a year, including Fall Party, Winter Party (my favorite because we do secret Santa), and End of the Year Party. For basketball, I like to play for fun during my free time.

I used to go to this after-school program for 5 years. It's called Kumon, and I started at 4-years-old. I realized about 3 years ago that I am really good with technology and can build things from scratch, and I have good ideas for creations. And I realized that I could go to university/college studying engineering and technology. That's why I went to Kumon. I would love to play soccer for Yale, Stanford, Harvard, Berkeley, or Duke, or study engineering there. My dream college is Yale University because I feel like I belong there, even though I am still an 8th grader. Some people think that securing your dream college is too early, but I love the campus, and I feel like I would make great friends there and along the way. I know the path to Yale will be hard and tough, but I believe I can achieve it because I can believe in myself. I would love to keep pursuing my academic excellence and my athletic dream while I am still here. One day, I would love to become a great soccer player and play professionally for Real Madrid F.C.

If I get sponsored, I would use the money for a computer for my schoolwork so I could do them here at home, or at school, or even on the way to school. I would also buy soccer equipment, including soccer cleats, soccer shin guards, soccer wrist tape, soccer jerseys, etc. And if I have extra money to use after the computer and soccer equipment, I would buy books on engineering and technology. And if I have extra money after that, I would use it for school supplies and any other extra things I need.

I am extremely grateful to A Bridge for Kids for giving me an opportunity of a lifetime, and if I get sponsored, I will definitely not take it for granted. When I get older, I would love to give back to A Bridge for Kids for what they have done for me with this amazing opportunity. I honestly do not know how many times I am going to say how thankful I am, but I will keep on saying it. I am so grateful for this opportunity with this sponsorship, and it may give me a great scholarship to Yale University, and one day I may become an engineer or a great and amazing soccer player playing with other professional soccer players just like me. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your precious day to read my personal statement.