As a teenager from Myanmar, my life has changed dramatically and unexpectedly since

2020. But the experiences were really valuable, allowing me to see the world from a variety
of angles and providing me with several opportunities. Although I enjoy meeting new people,
I spent the majority of my life at school and home. In industrialized countries, a school is a
place where a person can gain interpersonal skills, academic skills, and discover new
situations. However, in the most underdeveloped and poorest country in Southeast Asia,
the situation is completely the opposite. At school, all we have to do is memorize the text
from the textbook. We even had to memorize the mathematics problems to get the answers
because the schoolteacher couldn't explain them. There are no extra lessons or activities
because our education is only a piece of paper that may be used for getting a job. That is why
parents hire an extra teacher to ensure their children receive a great education. You must
pay to participate in extracurricular activities. As someone who enjoys drawing, I did not
have the opportunity to attend a drawing class because my parents had to pay for our great
education. I enjoy drawing and participated in numerous school events, receiving awards
from 2015 to 2019. Like drawing, I received several academic awards, including the Ye
School Outstanding Student Award 2019, the Myanmar Language Competency Contest
Third Prize 2019, the Math Competency Contest Third Prize 2017, and the Science Subject
Outstanding Award in 2016. This is a summary of my nine-year government education. These
experiences came to an end with the pandemic of Covid. In 2020, while schools were closed,
I worked as a sales representative for a local distribution company with the help of my father.
Actually, this isn't my first job. I had already worked as a server at my aunt's restaurant in the
Magway express station for the previous two summers. My chance and hope of returning to
school stopped with the military rule in 2021. I thought I couldn't go back to school because
of my involvement in the Civil Disobedient Movement and my fight for justice. I had no idea
what would happen in the future, but I was assured that I had made the right decisions.
However, this was only the beginning, and it all happened for a reason. In 2022, I enrolled in
a federal online school, followed by a learning center where I took the American GED exam.
These schools encouraged me to become the best version of myself. They shaped my
perspective on life. I used to believe that going to school, passing the matriculation exam,
earning a degree, and then getting job would be enough. However, the coup and the new
schools shaped my perspective on life by allowing me to notice things I had previously
overlooked. I realized that our education is of lower quality when compared to neighboring
nations, that our country has been under military rule since the 1960s and lost democracy
after only 5 years, and that our lives are not as considerable as oligarchies. Following coups,
things get worse. We, the citizens, have lost everything: our basic rights and needs, as well
as our life, due to the political, economic, and humanitarian crises. We do not even own our
life. As I became aware of these issues, I began to contribute to society because that is all I
could do as a 15-year-old teenager. Because at this revolutionary moment, only citizens
stand up for one another. Personally, I have ADHD, therefore I've helped with mental health
advocacy through workshops and a helpline. I am currently volunteering as a facilitator for
MYEO and a peer support specialist for Jue Jue's Safe Space organization. Yet another type
of advocacy is education. As I learned more about great education and lifelong learning, I
want to pass on what I've learned to future generations. I began working as a tutor in 2023.
My new schools gave me the chance involving in extracurricular activities: debating, dancing,
soccer playing and the charity. I self-studied English by myself since 2020 because I didn't
want to give my pressure on my parents my father was starting his own business after leaving
his previous job. I even self-studied another two foreign languages: Spanish and Chinese.
So, my most valuable thing, empathy, delivered me to contribute in language learning area.
Right now, I am volunteering as an English-Speaking Club facilitator in Hypen Organization,
an English tutor in Meaningful Teens Organization. I want to study Political Science in Berea
College, after that I would like to go to Law school. Through PS, I can have loads of important
debating questions that are ongoing in society to explore and learn in details. I can study the
theories of govern ment, policies, ideologies, processes, behaviors, legal systems, and
economics that can help me with getting into Law School. After Berea College, I would like
to work in public policy fields and in Embassies or departments that are related to my
country to bring opportunities and helps for my people. Social Studies from GED made me
to study about politics despite my experiences in coup. I learned about USA, land of liberty,
their systems, their laws, their government, their revolution, and their uniqueness. I saw the
massive differences between my country and USA. So, USA became my study destination. I
want to go back to my country after law school, because I want to get involve in the
movement of fighting for freedom. I want to fight for my people and my country. After
revolution, I want to help in building the new systems, new laws, new government, new
education for a new country. Berea is an open door for me where can get me to those dreams.
My classmates who chose to go back to the government schools are already in their
university. I respect their decisions, and I don't regret my decision, participating in CDM. I
will apply to Berea college again if I didn't get into it this year because this is the only place
that I can get the higher education as the first generation in my extended family. In the
meantime, I will still contribute in society, help in family business, improve my skills both in
interpersonal and academic because that's what I did in the past, doing right now and will
do in the future. And lastly, I will review my previous application that didn't get me into BC.