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counselor brag sheet for: aryaman arora deadline: may 1, 2019 the purpose of my counselor letter of recommendation is to provide a holistic summary of your academic and personal achievements, character, work ethic, and potential for personal and intellectual growth in college
please take some time to tell me more about yourself and what has shaped you into who you are
i will use your responses to write your letter, so be as detailed as possible
by including information on this brag sheet, you are granting permission for it to be used in your letter unless specifically stated otherwise
letters will be completed over the summer and in the order they are received
personal 1
list two adjectives to describe yourself
provide an example of how you demonstrate that trait
a
industrious 	i try to be as involved as possible in the activities i do, both at school and in my extracurriculars
i give my best effort and balance my time between everything i do
for example, at walls i am able to manage my ap course-load of 4 class as a junior, with orchestra, programming club, math club, and tennis
b
competitive 	i enjoy healthy competition that i can learn my weaknesses from and improve through
whether they are academic competitions like math olympiads or programming contests, or sports competitions like tennis, i like competitive environments that allow me to focus on my strengths and work on my weaknesses
2
are there any circumstances that had a significant impact/influence on you? (divorce, death, travel abroad, financial, health, etc
) how did this shape you into who you are? what life lessons did you learn? the most important change in my life was immigrating to the united states from india
since then, i also moved twice over the course of high school, first from savannah, georgia to wilkes-barre, pennsylvania, and then to washington, d
c
a new high school every year! i coped well with all of these moves, including adapting to a new unfamiliar culture and the different demands of the american education as well as adapting to a language that i do not speak natively
in my recent moves with the united states, i had to deal with losing lifelong friends as well as adjusting to different educational environments
through all of this change, i realized that the ability to adapt to one’s environment is an extremely important trait, and as long as i stay focused on my goals i can still succeed in a new place
3
describe your greatest success or something that you are proud of accomplishing
i am most proud of my performance in the united states of america computing olympiad (usaco) this year
usaco is a series of online programming competitions that are used to select the team that represents the united states at the international olympiad in informatics
my first participation was in december 2018 in the bronze division and by february 2019 i attained the platinum division, passing through the silver and gold divisions in that period
my performance in the final usaco competition of the season in march placed me in the 95th percentile among the high-school students in the united states who competed
this improvement has been paralleled by my representation of school without walls in contests that the programming club took part in
i won first place at the montgomery college high school programming competition and 17th place out of 127 high school teams around the country at the virginia tech high school programming competition
in both cases i competed solo even though these were team competitions
4
what is one of your strengths and one of your weaknesses? explain
strength-my strength is adaptability
academically, i did well at a small private school, a large semi-boarding school, and a small public magnet
in all three environments i participated in many extracurriculars and maintained a high academic standard as evidenced by my transcript
this strength is exemplified in my x-culture project …
adaptability with global cultures! weakness-i tend to delay my work to the last minute
however, i perform at my highest potential under pressure
for example, this is why i enjoy time-constrained programming competitions
having acknowledged this as a weakness, i am working on this with better time management skills
5
what personal information would you include to show your individuality/how you are unique? (first-generation college student, musician, bilingual, etc
) 	i am a fresh immigrant from india, so naturally i am bilingual
besides hindi and english, which i speak natively, i have learned punjabi, urdu, mandarin chinese, and studied the ancient language sanskrit to a high level
my interest in language, which i believe is unique, led me to contribute to the open-source project wiktionary (https://www
wiktionary
org/) which aims to catalogue “all words of all languages,” a massive undertaking since there are more than 7,000 languages and millions of words in each
in taking part in this project i interacted with people from around the world, including hobbyist high school students in india to linguistics professors in the united kingdom
i am now an administrator on this website, and i contribute to code that serves as the backend for all indian languages that are represented on the wiktionary project
to my knowledge, i am the only high school administrator
future interests 6
what are you passionate about or choose to learn on your own time? what have you done to demonstrate that passion (in or outside of school)?   	my main interest is programming
i learned most of what i know in computer science entirely outside of school and by my own initiative, first using the self-paced harvard online course introduction to computer science (cs50x) and then learning through my own projects, including a bot that plays connect four and a vocabulary-learning app, which i have made open-source on https://github
com/aryamanarora
i have also expressed this interest by taking part in competitive programming competitions, in which competitors are given problem scenarios which have multiple variables, which they must produce solutions for for every possible combination of variables
i took part in usaco as mentioned earlier, as well as competitions on the website codeforces, in which i have achieved the rank of candidate master at the 98th percentile (https://codeforces
com/profile/aryaman)
7
what career or major are you interested in studying in college? what do you hope to achieve in this career/major? how did your interest develop? 	computer science is going to be my primary major
my experience in competitive programming has inspired my interest in this subject; the kinds of problems that appear in competitive programming are the same as those in interviews for programming jobs in technology companies and similar to some of the problems that real-world programmers deal with
another reason i became interested in this is the rise of the field of machine learning and artificial intelligence
i feel studying computer science in college will not only be a good career choice but also a major that i will enjoy
school-related 8
if you have taken internship, where was your internship site and what were some of your responsibilities?  	my internship was done remotely at x-culture, an international business startup based at the university of north carolina, greensboro
for several months, i worked on a real-life business project for one of their corporate partners, ogg business simulations
i collaborated through online and social media platforms with a global virtual team comprised of members from argentina, mexico, romania, serbia, ecuador, and india, learned the challenges and best practices of international business consulting, and overcame challenges dealing with language, cultural differences, and nuances of online learning
my responsibilities dealt with researching a new market for our client and managing a global cross-cultural team that worked on this task
9
what is your senior project topic? 	my senior project will most likely be on natural language processing (nlp), a subfield of machine learning
if the science senior project class is offered i would definitely take that
i would like to make a translator for an underrepresented or endangered indian language (e
g
sanskrit) as my product, and research how machine translation is beneficial to communities that speak endangered languages
10
have you taken a college course through dual enrollment or gw exposure? describe what you learned in the course and what your final grade was
*for gwecp students, use this space to briefly describe your experience in the gwecp-aa program
i took linear algebra i (math 2184) during spring 2019
i learned about a field of math that is usually not covered in the high school curriculum - linear algebra - and which has many applications in engineering and computer science, especially in creating mathematical models which involve many variables or speeding up certain algorithms
i learned how to manipulate matrices, use matrices to solve systems of equations, perform basic matrix operations, and do vector algebra, as well as the applications of these ideas in engineering and physics
11
what community service activities have you completed that you want to highlight? 	i took part in the ymca youth and government program through the course of the year and learned about local issues by interacting with the district of columbia’s government
i discussed these issues with students of many backgrounds at weekly youth advisory board meetings
at legislative weekend i presented my own legislation that would expand enfranchisement to non-citizens and increase voter turnout by allocating funds to outreach
for this legislation, entitled “voter outreach and turnout expansion act”, i won the best bill award at the conference
outside of academics 12
list the clubs, sports, and extracurricular activities you participated in
next to the activity, describe how you contributed to that club (fundraisers, organized event, etc
) club/ extracurricular how did you contribute? did you have leadership roles? 1
programming club i met weekly with the programming club and worked on projects that could be used to improve our skills as well as result in useful products for the community
i also taught the club’s younger members basic programming and introduced them to competitive programming
we went to several competitions and hackathons and performed well
i was elected as club president for next year
2
mathematics club i founded the club and was co-president
the last time a mathematics club was active at walls was in 2006, so i decided that restarting it would make students more interested in math and increase involvement in that subject
i found competitions for us to attend and led practice sessions for new members to get acquainted with competitive math and how it differs from school math
as a sophomore in pennsylvania and a freshman in georgia, i also took part in math competitions and performed well
3
orchestra i played violin in orchestra throughout high school, performing in several concerts as well as a solo performance in 2018
4
tennis i am a doubles player in the school without walls tennis team
i played in several matches at our games as well as in the district tournament
5
robotics club i was a member of the programming team for our school’s entry in the first robotics competition
i helped develop computer vision code that used the robot’s cameras to perform the tasks that were required at the first competition
13
if you did not participate in any school clubs, how was your time spent outside of school? (e
g
working a job, taking care of siblings, leisure reading, etc
) 14
list and describe any awards or honors you have received
2019 montgomery college programming contest - 1st place i won this team-based contest as a solo competitor, using the java programming language to solve competitive programming problems
2019 ymca youth and government legislative weekend - best bill 2019 mid-atlantic/dc newton math competition - 4th place i earned 4th place in the individual event
this was the first contest that math club attended
it was hosted at george washington university, and we competed with many schools with strong math programs from the dmv area
2019 virginia tech high school programming contest	 - 17th place this competition was held online and 127 high school teams from around the country competed
we solved 9 of the 13 problems and beat out many good teams, including several teams from thomas jefferson high school for science and technology, richard montgomery high school, and montgomery blair high school
2018 pennsylvania newton math competition - 3rd place i took part in the math club at my school in pennsylvania in sophomore year as well, competing at various math competitions in the region
2018 king's college high school mathematics competition - 3rd place 2018 bucknell university john steiner gold math competition - 1st place 15
what experience outside of school has particularly been meaningful? why? (consider jobs, internship, religious activities, travel, music, art, hobbies
) taking part in programming and math competitions around the area has been a great way for me to gauge my skill level and to get introduced to different majors as i start my college applications
it has also made me broaden my horizons and realize that there is plenty of room for me to grow and learn much more in the fields that interest me
beyond college admissions, going to competitions as a team has made lifelong friendships for me and made memorable experiences
parent brag sheet (optional)  1
what are your student’s strengths and weaknesses? (academic and personal) strengths  adaptability: aryaman has been to three different high schools in three different states over the past three years - 9th grade in st
andrew’s school, savannah, ga; 10th grade in wyoming seminary, wilkes-barre, pa; and 11th grade in school without walls high school, washington, dc
he has excelled in all three schools academically as well as in extra-curriculars
additionally, he recently worked on x-culture project, sponsored by the university of north carolina at greensboro
in that project, he worked on a global cross-cultural team with 6 other members from romania, argentina, serbia, india, mexico, and ecuador
the team worked on a real life company from brazil and suggested global entry mode strategies for their products into new world markets (e
g
, portugal)
it was a test of his “adaptability” because he coordinated and communicated with his team members using social media platforms (e
g
, whatsapp, facebook, etc
); managed cross-cultural differences (every members of the team represented a different culture and it was important to understand these cultural differences); managed language differences (every member spoke and comprehend ‘english’ differently, and it was important to bring everyone together with their cultural and language differences with equal respect for everyone); and managed time zone differences across the globe (members came from different countries, and it was a big challenge arranging team meetings online through skype, hangouts, and whatsapp)
in addition to ‘adaptability’, this project tested aryaman’s team skills, his global cross-cultural knowledge, his cultural tolerance and sensitization, his time management skills, and his overall perseverance with people, cultures, and the entire project goals/objectives
the project humbled him along with added appreciation to world cultures! a quick update - aryaman will be participating in x-culture symposium in copenhagen, denmark during june 24 - 27, 2019
he will a part of global virtual team and will compete with other global virtual teams for a real life company
perseverance: aryaman has the ability to focus and complete multiple tasks simultaneously
he is hard working and consistent in his efforts to bring a logical end to whatever task he sets himself upon, no matter how challenging the task(s) may be
for example, he has been participating in programming competitions organized at different universities as well as online
all of these competitions are during weekends and at odd time (sometimes early morning at 5 am)
this has not deterred aryaman from participating and excelling in these competitions since he wants to follow his passion in programming
aryaman persevered strongly in the area of research as well
he conducted research titled quasi-passive lower and upper extremity robotic exoskeleton (qlue-rex) for strengthening human locomotion in the area of lower and upper limb exoskeletons for disabled users and aged seniors with the help of a professor from georgia institute of technology in atlanta - dr
john r
mcintyre
he suggested design recommendations for qlue-rex with an aim to improve mobility, assist walking, improve and enhance muscle strength, and help people with leg/arm disabilities
he has been engaged in this research since 2016
finally, his research paper has been accepted to be published in a book titled sustainable innovation: trends in marketing and management by palgrave macmillan, uk
the book will be published in august 2019
weaknesses tend to delay things till the last minute! however, aryaman manages to complete his tasks at hand on time
he work well under intense pressure
tend to trust people easily! this is something that comes with maturity
we’re sure once he finishes college and joins the corporate world, he’ll be ready for the challenge! 2
talk about your student’s overall growth throughout the course of high school (e
g
maturity, socially, resilience, etc
)
what is something that stands out about your student that he/she would not think to give him/herself credit for? over the past three years in high school, aryaman has matured academically, socially, and in his critical thinking ability
he has adapted quickly to his new environments over the past three years and had no problems in making new friends from different cultures in a very short span of time
his thirst for knowledge has only grown over the course of his high school years
he has gone above and beyond his course work in school and took the initiative to learn programming languages on his own
he has learnt to take up challenges to enhance his programming skills and participate in various programming competitions
aryaman has definitely enhanced his leadership skills in high school
his passion for math led him to take the initiative to revive the math club at school without walls and also recruit new members so that his school can participate in math competitions organized in the dc metro area
the six members of math club have so far participated in two competitions at george washington and online
he may not give himself much credit for this achievement but he definitely deserves it

3
list any special circumstance that may affect where your student may apply/attend college
aryaman is interested in computer science as his major
we realized some good universities (e
g
, university of north carolina at chapel hill) don’t have this major while in some other universities (e
g
, duke university), computer science is listed under liberal arts program
aryaman wishes to apply to only those universities where computer science is listed as a major in science and engineering colleges / departments and not under liberal arts curriculum
4
list any events or experiences you feel have significantly influenced your student
we strongly feel that our son, aryaman is ready for all challenges in life because of the various life moves that has happened
we moved to the states when aryaman finished kindergarten in india
we brought him to a different global-cultural environment (when he was very young - 5 years old) with new people, new surroundings, new challenges, and new opportunities
he adapted very well with his surroundings
in fact, he embraced his surrounding and grew with it … this challenge has been a source of his growth! acknowledging different cultures, getting sensitized to cultural differences at a young age, and taking it positively in his stride has helped aryaman become a true, global citizen! after this big move, we moved twice over the last 2 year period
every time, aryaman took his move positively, excelled at all academic environments, and learnt more about life