Maurice Antwaun Boothe GMSP Class of Gates Millennium Scholars Application Essay

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1 Prompt 1: Discuss the subjects in which you excel or have excelled. To what factors do you attribute your success? I feel that there is not a particular subject in which I excel at. I believe this to be true because I do very well at all subjects. Everything that I put my mind to and attempt I make sure is done to the very best of my ability. If something is worth doing, then I believe it s worth doing right. This didn t just happen on accident however. There are several factors that allow me the opportunity to excel in all subjects as I already do. I first have to attribute my learning success to the great teaching staff at my high school. If it had not been for them, it would have been much more difficult for me to do so well. The teachers are fantastic when it comes to teaching concepts. They are very knowledgeable and well- educated on their subjects. They are also very helpful. Every teacher has a desire for us, the students, to succeed. If there is something specific that is causing me trouble, I can find them and work through it with them until all confusion is cleared up. They also understand that we are busy students, and don t hold it against us if we miss a considerable amount of class, or are unable to turn in a homework assignment on time. The teachers are also friendly and would be willing to help with most anything, even if it had little- to- nothing to do with their class. Another reason why I do so well is my ambition to learn. If it were up to me, I would learn every possible thing on every possible topic in the universe. I know however, that this is an unrealistic goal. Though unrealistic, I still want to get as close to it as I can. In English classes, I read extra stories and have private discussions with the teacher on things that we ve read in class. It interests me how people can have different interpretations on the same text. In Math classes, I don t just learn a certain concept, I master it. Until I understand it completely and could teach it to others, I can t continue. In my task of educating myself, I want to leave nothing behind. In History classes, I make sure to understand every battle, war, and leader. I then research each side of it to figure out why each group thought and believed in certain things. In Science classes, I strive for perfection. I double- check measurements, supplies, and instructions. When doing labs, I make sure that my reports are conclusive and nothing is forgotten. I want to learn everything that I can in my four years at this high school. The underlying value that keeps me going the most is my desire to succeed. I have many plans for my life, and the better I prepare now, the better off I ll be further on down the road. Following high school, I intend on going to the highly- accredited University of Wisconsin Madison, a very difficult school to get into. I wish to do many things while there, such as being a member of the UW Badger Marching Band as well as being accepted into the School of Music for Music Education. UW Madison has very high expectations for Page 1 of 14

2 their students, and if I don t enter well- prepared, things are going to be very difficult. I intend to graduate from UW Madison after four years and go immediately into the work force. I d like to teach music to high school students for the rest of my life. In order to be able to do all of these things, I need a good basis going into it so that I m ready for it. Keeping this in mind is what keeps me going (striving instead of going) to do the best that I possibly can. Being able to excel in all my classes the way that I have has been no easy task. I have been very fortunate to have such excellent teachers that want me to (succeed )do in well in life. My ambition to learn has better prepared me for college and the rest of my life ahead of me. And my desire to succeed is what enforces all of my morals and values so that I could be one day happy, healthy, and doing something that I love for the rest of my life. I owe it to all of these factors to have made me the person I am, and the person I will become. Page 2 of 14

3 Prompt 2: Discuss the subjects in which you had difficulty. What factors do you believe contributed to your difficulties? How have you dealt with them so they will not cause problems for you again? In what areas have you experienced the greatest improvement? What problem areas remain? I have been fortunate to have excelled in most everything in my life. However, there are certain subjects that have not come as easy. There are two subjects where I would go as far as saying that I ve struggled in. They would have to be my college- level Music Theory class and History as a subject (omit as a subject). With these classes, I take the same attitude that has done so well for me in all my other classes, but there are specific reasons why these (History and Music Theory instead of these ) cause me the most problems. First there are my History classes. The teaching and subject matter are not a problem (omit the rest of the sentence) for me in these classes. What causes me problems is the memorization. As I read through a certain section, I feel that I understand it. I just have some slight issues with remembering all the information. In English classes, we discuss the topics over and over again, using repetition to help me remember it. In Math classes, we have homework assignments, quizzes, and tests to enforce the concepts. For my History classes, it is necessary for me to study the same material over and over again in order to remember it. Trying to remember who did what where and why and who was upset about why they did it is rather hard for me to follow. (check punctuation in previous sentence.) My Music Theory class then causes me trouble for two reasons. Primarily, it is because this is an actual college level class. Three times a week, I have to drive 20 miles to a local college and take this class. Because the material is so advanced, it is the most difficult class that I m currently taking. In addition to being a difficult class, it causes me to be overloaded on my classes. I miss AP Calculus every time I have to leave to attend this class. Looking at my transcript for the semester, I can see that I currently have 8.75 credits in a period when there are only eight credits available. Because I wanted to do well in my classes, I ve had to invent methods to fix and support these issues. For my History classes, I ve come up with new ways of studying. I meet with other friends in the same class and discuss the topics that we went over in class. I ve also become better at note- taking, which makes studying the information much easier. As for my Music Theory class, I ve had to lower the amount of extra- curricular activities of which I take part in order to allot enough time to study. After developing these new methods, I ve seen improvement in more than just the classes that I was struggling in. I ve learned that I can discuss any topics with any classmate for whichever class, making memorization easier. Dropping some extra- curricular activities gave me more time. This time was used to do better in my Music Theory class. From this, Page 3 of 14

4 I ve noticed that I ve had more time to study in my other classes as well. This lightens the load of homework and the amount of stress that I have from each class. This has fixed many of the problems, but one problem still remains. My Music Theory class is still college- level and very difficult. There is no way to lower the difficulty of the class, but this is not a large concern of mine. I ll be going to college soon and have several college- level classes. The more college classes I take, the more familiar with them I become. The more familiar I am with how college classes work with homework, quizzes, and testing, the easier it will be in the future. As you can see, there are still things that I struggle with. However, I ve found ways of making it work out the best I can. This is my education. This is one of the most important things to me, because it s something that I m going to carry with me for the rest of my life. Being able to improve the things that I have difficulties in is a must. Fortunate f Page 4 of 14

5 Prompt 3: Briefly describe a situation in which you felt that you or others were treated unfairly or were not given an opportunity you felt you deserved. Why do you think this happened? How did you respond? Did the situation improve as a result of your response? There are many instances when I have felt that others may have not been treated fairly. However, I will share an experience that I had when I was only thirteen years old. My family lives in a very small rural community. The population of Montfort is under four hundred people. I would estimate that over 98% of the population is white. My brother and I make up the minority. Being the only black people in a community has never really bothered us, because that is the way that it has always been. My white mother has tried to prepare us for situations by sharing her own experiences about things that she witnessed our father go through. Most of the time, I will listen to her stories and examples, while in the back of my mind, I think that those things wouldn t possibly happen to me. Until one summer evening, my friends and I had built a campfire in my back yard. I asked my mother to run me to the store to get some more soda. The store is only eight blocks from the house. My mother jumped in without grabbing her purse. We pulled out of our driveway and drove only one block up the street. A police officer put his lights on and pulled my mother over. My mother was not concerned at first since she oftentimes works with the local law enforcement through her position as a county social worker. However, she did not know this officer. He was a new county deputy. When he approached the car, my mother had asked politely for his reason for pulling her over. The officer explained that she had a head light out. My mother thanked him graciously for letting her know and reassured him that she would have it repaired the following day. The officer asked for her driver s license. My mother shared that she had left her purse at home and that she was only one block away from home. My mother knew that the officer saw her pull out of the driveway for he had followed her from our house. The officer then glanced over my mother and saw me sitting in the front seat. I have never been in a car that has been pulled over before. He asked me for my name. I told him. He then asked me for my identification. I was only thirteen years old. I was not even old enough for a learner s permit. I told him that I didn t have any. He then began to ask my mother more questions such as who I was, where we were going, etc. My mother kept her cool and answered his questions politely. I could hear the tension building in her voice. I know my mother and I knew that something was wrong. I didn t know exactly what at the time. After the officer s interrogation of my mother regarding having me as a passenger, he allowed us to go on our way. Page 5 of 14

6 When we returned home, my mother explained to me that this was an example of what happens when you don t look like everyone else. I had my hair grown out to a large afro and looked pretty dirty having been hanging outside by the fire. I also don t look anything like my mother. My mother told me how disappointed she was with the officer s questions and how it was wrong to question her the way that he had. I was just glad that she didn t get a ticket or had done something illegal without knowing it. My mother, being a strong advocate as she is, went to work that following Monday and spoke with the District Attorney and Sheriff, both people who she has known for years through work. She questioned as to whether the officer would have questioned her if I would have been white. She deduced that he probably wouldn t have. She then decided to contact the officer s superior. She shared with him the circumstances and the way that we had been treated. She also shared that racial profiling is not acceptable. To say the least, the officer apologized to my mother. Now that I am almost eighteen years old and have been driving for almost two years, I have been pulled over a handful of times. I have learned that those things can happen to me; however, responding in a cooperative manner and speaking respectfully during the uncomfortable confrontations with law enforcement has proven to be beneficial. I also know that taking the initiative and speaking to their superiors when I have been treated unfairly can perhaps bring about some change for the next time the officer pulls a young minority person over. Page 6 of 14

7 Prompt 4: Discuss your short- term and long- term goals. Are some of them related? Which are priorities? I have learned in life to have at least a general idea of what I want to do. Even if it s something that may change later on down the road, at least I have a direction. My goals change all the time, but at least I have something to always work and strive for. I have several current short and long term goals that I m currently working towards. I have three main short term goals that I intend on reaching within the next five years. The first of these three is to make it into the UW Badger Marching Band. I have seen them perform at football games and in concerts. It just looks like so much fun and something that I would want to be a part of. I know someone currently in the band, and he is going to teach me how to march in order to be better prepared for the auditions. My next short term goal is to do well in college. I m not quite sure yet what this is going to consist of (this all entails yet; but I ll be certain to make sure that I am working.)until I get there. This is just to make sure that I m working hard at my classes so I can be building (build)a good transcript and resume for when I m (I begin to look) looking for a job. My last short term goal is to have all the classes (required credits instead of classes/necessary) necessary to graduate in four years. With graduating in four years, I also wish to have my teacher certification in instrumental, vocal, and general music. Now, my long term goals are a little more elaborate. I of course want what every person wants. I want to live a long life, be healthy, find my true love, and find a secure and well- paying job. But I have more unique goals as well. One of those goals is (to) make a positive impact on this world. This can consist of most anything. If I could help a student to learn something that he or she will use later in life, that would be great. If I could help a friend to make a good decision that would help them be in a better position than they were before could also work. If I could make any single thing better for anyone else, then I would have accomplished this goal. If I could make it happen to more than one person, that would be even better. My other long term goal is to have at least one student decide to go into music that would not have. That is what happened to me. I basically fell into the world of music my freshman year in high school. Now, it has become such a huge part of my life that I could not even begin to imagine life without it. I want to have a student try it, and discover that they like it. Introduce one new person to the world that is right in front of them, that they never thought to look into. If I could do these two things, I would feel that I had more than accomplished my life- long goals. The only way that I can really prioritize these goals is by saying to have the short term goals accomplished in the next five years and have the others accomplished some time before the end of my life. I am in no hurry to get them done. They will happen when Page 7 of 14

8 they happen and cannot be forced. You can see that all these goals are somewhat related. They all have one subject behind them. That subject is music. These goals are guiding my life. Even if they are not all accomplished, they ve still helped me to pave my future and the direction that it is going. That s what goals are for. Page 8 of 14

9 Prompt 5: Discuss a leadership experience you have had in any area of your life: School, work, athletics, family, church, community, etc. How and why did you become a leader in this area? How did this experience influence your goals? One of the largest accomplishments I ve achieved is that of becoming Crew Leader at Taco John s. It has taught me many things that I will use later in my life especially in order to reach my life- long goals. It has become another characteristic that defines me and I am proud to say that I work there. I obviously did not just start out immediately working as a Crew Leader. I started working at Taco John s as a Crew Member in August. It was the first real job that I ve had. I worked there for a year when my manager decided to promote me. I ve been at Taco John s long enough to have experienced the ups and downs of the restaurant. I am very knowledgeable about the restaurant and have most every aspect of it mastered. Because of these things, she saw me as a perfect candidate. Now, I didn t have to take the Crew Leader position. It has many different responsibilities that are necessary to be taken when taking the position. I know several current employees that have been there longer than that have told me they would never be Crew Leader because they don t want to deal with all the extra things. I decided to take it though. I wanted the challenge. After being employed as a Crew Leader, I noticed an improvement in my performance. I no longer had other Crew Leaders telling me what I had to work on, and had to take it on myself to work on them. Being a Crew Leader has helped me develop skills that I will use for the rest of my life. I ve learned the importance of working quickly and accurately. Because it s a fast food restaurant, speed and accuracy are priority. I ve memorized the menu and exact portions that goes on everything as well. I ve also learned how to help customers; the correct and polite way of saying things, how to make customers happy, and how to deal with difficult customers. I ve learned skills with conflict resolution. I know how to deal with unhappy people and say the right things to get what they want and get them on their way. I ve also learned how to supervise a shift. I know the things that have to be said and done to make sure employees finish their tasks in a timely manner. Being a Crew Leader at Taco John s has taught me many skills that I can continue to use in the rest of my life. It has allowed me to prove myself as a leader to employees, customers, and my boss. I can put this down as one more thing that is better preparing me for the future. I don t know what the future holds, and because of this, I m willing to learn and do everything I can to make sure I m ready. Page 9 of 14

10 Prompt 6: Discuss your involvement in and contributions to a community near your home, school or elsewhere. Please select an experience different from the one you discussed in the previous question, even if this experience also involved leadership. What did you accomplish? How did this experience influence your goals? I ve had an interesting leadership position that many young men don t experience. This leadership position was not necessarily by choice, but I was very much okay with taking it. This position is that of being a father figure in our household. At about the age of five, my father left me, my three year old brother, and my young mother. She was a single mother raising two young children. She was also attending Winona State University to be a social worker. It was at this time that I had to start. I had to look out for my younger brother when my mother was away at work and school. She put that responsibility on me. After graduating college, she met another man. They fell in love, were married, and had another child. At this time, I was ten and my brother eight. A couple years later, my stepfather and mother divorced. My mom was now a single parent of three children. I now had to look after both my younger brothers while my mother tried to work and support us. I made sure they had their homework done, food in their stomach, and put to sleep at a decent time. They looked to me whenever they needed something and our mother was not around. I was their father figure as we all grew up. This experience has influenced my morals, values, and goals. It taught me the importance of education. Even though my mother was not able to take care of us all the time, she still went to college so that she could one day graduate and support us. It taught me to be caring. I ve been caring for my younger brothers for as long as I can remember, and it has now become who I am as a person. It has taught me countless responsibilities and how to take care of these responsibilities in the future. I understand how important it is to keep track of my separate responsibilities. Most importantly it has taught me how I don t want things to be in the future. I know that when I fall in love and decide to have children, that I m going to take my responsibilities as a parent. I ll be a good father and help my kids through everything that they need. I would never put another child through the same kind of thing that I had to live for 13 years of my life. I do not blame anyone for these. I look at them as learning experiences. These experiences have taught me a lot and have influenced who I am and who I will be for the rest of my life. These experiences have determined who I am as a person, and I would not want who I am to change in the least. I am now and will be a better person because of this. Page 10 of 14

11 Prompt 7: Other than through classes in school, in what areas (non- academic or academic) have you acquired knowledge or skills? How? I am very observant and am constantly learning things. To list all these things I have learned outside of school would be a ridiculously long list. To shorten the list to a reasonable amount, I am going to discuss the things I have learned specifically in my search for musical excellence. Having a 45- minute band rehearsal and a choir rehearsal alternating every day is not nearly enough to learn everything that I desire. Because of the lack of opportunity for music at my high school, I ve had to find other means to calm my craving for music education. Firstly, one of the in- school extra- curriculars that I take part in is the swing choir. This is an auditioned music group that I made it into. We perform at concerts and attend Solo/Ensemble. There have been many extra things that I ve learned from being in the swing choir. I have learned extreme breath control. It may seem easy for some to be able to sing, but it is very difficult to be able to both sing and dance. To show off as much energy as we do and sound good is no easy task. I have expanded on my creativity, because our director looks to us for ideas of new dance moves when trying to choreograph each song. I attend an optional summer music camp at University of Wisconsin Platteville. It s a week- long program where you take classes, receive lessons, and do performances. This has helped by introducing me to more challenging music. Working at this more difficult music allows me to become a better all- around musician. It has also helped me work at other things such as timpani and keyboard percussion which I am not as familiar with. I also am a member of the Mineral Point City Band. We are a volunteer performing organization that meets once a week and does about six concerts a year. I ve learned a lot from being a part of this. A city band is open to anyone that wishes to join. This means that you can have anyone from a novice to incredibly advanced playing in the band with you. It also means that you are able to work with people of any age. I am lucky because one of the percussionists is incredibly experienced. She has been doing this for her entire life and knows it very well. I am able to ask her questions about anything in percussion and she can help me out. She helps my technique as well as my overall musicianship. I have been asked twice to take part in the Lion s International Parade and have accepted both times. This is a band made up of local schools. We rehearse once a week going over music and marching. We are introduced to different kinds of music. The last time we did this, we actually had a song sent from Germany that we had play. It was even written in a different language. The biggest thing that it has probably helped me out with would have to be my marching. I have not had much instruction when it comes to marching Page 11 of 14

12 and this makes up for it. We would march around Cuba City for about 2 hours in order to practice. Because of this, I ve improved in marching a considerable amount. I have even gone as far as looking past my high school and into other institutions for my education. I have been enrolled in Music Theory 1 & 2 at the University of Wisconsin Platteville. This gives me a look into the background of music. It explains why music works the way it does, how some things sound good and others do not, and how to apply it to music in the real world. It has basically just connected everything together. It has allowed me to make sense of it all. In addition to all these things that I have been a part of, I learn through other media as well. I have countless books and music. I search the internet for other things that I do not understand. I will even go as far as speaking with other musicians and discussing with them what they think about certain things. I talk to them about technique, musicality, and even what their interpretation of how something should be played. There are so many sources of information out there that I can always learn more from it. This is one example. When there is a certain topic that I want to learn about, I immerse myself in it. I take extra classes, join group, and attend other organizations to learn as much as I can. This world is so full of information for the taking. It is just a matter of going out there and getting it. And when I want to learn something, I do it. Page 12 of 14

13 Prompt 8: Is there anything else you would like to tell us about that may help us evaluate your nomination (i.e., personal characteristics, obstacles you have overcome)? I like to think of myself as an incredibly unique individual, and you can ask anyone that knows me personally and they would agree. I m intelligent, have an interesting cultural background, have an awesome personality, and am a good people person. These are the traits that describe me and in order to fully understand who I am as a person, it is necessary to know them. First, there is my intellect. I am currently ranked near the very top of my class. I have been on my school s Distinguished Honors for the past seven semesters, soon to be eight. I am also sitting at a near perfect G.P.A. with a I have always taken care to apply myself in all my classes to the best of my ability, even when times got tough with being so involved in extra- curricular and other outside- of- school activities. I have been fortunate that things have come very easily to me throughout my high school career which has enabled me to understand difficult concepts quickly and apply them correctly. I am incredibly anxious and excited to have the opportunity of having my academic abilities challenged. Then there are my cultural aspects. Even though I was born in the suburbs of Chicago, I was raised with Midwestern, small- town values: hard work ethic, loyalty to friends, dedication to community, and commitment to family. I am the eldest of three, raised solely by my single mother. Being the first born to a teenage mother, the chances of me getting to where I am now were uncertain. However, our family received government assistance, which allowed my mother the opportunity to pursue a college career, a Bachelor s Degree in Social Work. This enabled her to not only provide us with the necessities, but instilled in myself the importance of furthering my education and being a productive member of society. I have some very good personal traits that make me different than everyone else. I was raised with high values and good morals. I ve always known that I was going to college. I am very passionate about my beliefs. When I take a side with something, I do so very strongly. However, I am not judgmental. I am very open- minded to the opinions and ideas of others in order to make the best possible situation at the given time. I am very optimistic and energetic. I love doing stuff to make things better for everyone else. I m overall a very happy guy, and wish the same on others. Lastly, I am incredibly sociable. You can ask any one that has ever known me, watched me perform, or worked with me, and they ll tell you the same. I have awesome people skills and can get along with most anybody, whether I know them or not. I like to think that I have a large number of friends. When meeting new people, I look at them as a Page 13 of 14

14 friend from the start. I keep it this way until they decide something different. I truly value my relationships with my friends, family, co- workers, and other people that I ve been acquainted with. I bring it on myself to help others in any way possible. Whether it is a simple question or a complicated situation, I want to do whatever I can. If you put me in a great school with similar students that share similar morals and values, I know that I would be able to make a difference. I am a very intelligent individual that has been applying myself for the past four years. I come from a culturally diverse family. I m incredibly personable and have a good head on my shoulders. I m also a wonderful people- person that gets along incredibly well with others. All these great qualities can be found in me, and I believe this makes me the perfect candidate to be a Gates Millennium Scholar. Page 14 of 14