My name is Grace Di Leo and I am a junior currently pursuing a major in Political Science. In my free time during the long days of my Junior semester, I spent hours watching class lectures and practicing how to create and code websites from scratch. I am incredibly grateful to be a student at the University of Rochester, where I have the opportunity to take a variety of classes and learn a diverse set of skills.
My family is my main support system and their brave stories revolving around immigrating to the United States inspire me to continue their legacy of challenging myself every day to reach the best opportunities. While in highschool I would witness my parents spend long hours working to simply put food on the dinner table and ensure that my future was better than theirs. The various sacrifices my family has made over the past few decades truly encourage me to strive for the best and always accept a challenge that comes my way. Although most may feel an overwhelming sense of intimidation when approached by a challenge, I become filled with excitement. I enjoy having to think outside the box and in abstract ways. When my mother asked me to help her redo her resume, I instantly was drawn to templates that were fun, artistic, and creative.. Once I was done formatting her resume, I felt so proud and accomplished to present to my mom what I had made. The creativity didn’t stop there, I made sure to help her write any application with colorful and thoughtful language to emphasize her strong personality over a paper.
Since March of 2020, quarantine has posed a massive challenge for people across the globe. It forced people to change every aspect of their lives in a mere blink of an eye. I was immediately sent home from school, isolated, and scared like many other of my fellow students and friends as classes shifted online. Although the pandemic made me realize some things are completely out of my control, I discovered that I can always improve myself. While under lockdown, I took the time to reflect deeply on what I wanted out of life, myself, and the goals I would need to set to excel. Once summer came along, I had already created a list of goals I wanted to achieve. Some were big such as learning a new computer program and some were small like avoiding too much screen time, but keeping a variety of goals made me feel that it was possible to improve myself even when the world around me seemed paralyzed. Many of my friends that I stayed connected with over the duration of the lockdown also struggled to continue to find motivation during such trying times. However, we created a system where we checked-in with one another weekly and held each other accountable for our actions or accomplishments.
I realized perfection doesn’t exist, but instead that I could improve myself in different facets. In terms of academics, I focused on my love of computer programming and political science. I didn't just learn a new coding language (Python), but I also learned more about myself and my many values. I became more aware about how The Constitution places a role in US businesses and business trajectories Living though such a historic time, it was hard not to see such parallels between my current studies and the relationship between current events, politics, and the media. I also wanted to improve my reading comprehension skills during quarantine. I wanted to challenge my understanding of the complex American law, persuading me to work during quarantine and try understanding the Federalist Papers. I knew this would be a hard task, but a few pages each day to try and understand the difficult nature of text. Now, I am so grateful to have done that because today, as I write this, I am in a US Supreme Court class that focuses on the text of the Constitution as well as Court cases. Those cases are of difficult language as well, and I’m finally starting to pick up on it.
I overall held high standards for me and my friends, recognizing our true worth comes from how we approach obstacles. In addition to increasing my skill set and growing a bigger support system with my friends, social media. Lastly, to cope with the mental and physical struggles that the pandemic imposed on many people, I coped by developing a love for jogging outside. Each day I took a walk or ran outside to clear my head. I worked to become a stronger runner and simply clear my head each day from the stress of the pandemic. I Would constantly try to push myself to run further and faster. Every time I saw a road sign approach, I would say to myself, “Just run to that red stop sign and you can stop and walk it out”. And then, I would keep running down old neighborhood roads and tell myself, “Wait, actually that next yellow sign and then you can stop”. It was an infinite circle to keep pushing myself because, and I did it for me.
I gained many skills during my time working a retail job at Club Monaco. Initially, it was overwhelming. I had to adapt quickly with no prior knowledge on retail or customer services at all.od I had to learn all of the products in the store, represent the brand accordingly, fold clothing a specific way, greet customers appropriately, and manage all the items on and off the sales floor. It was different to anything I had been used to from my past jobs. I had trouble managing everything at once. I had to put items back on the sale floor and iron them. I could not grasp what was the most efficient way, so I became overwhelmed. Although it was a new experience, I am But I am so grateful to have even gotten a job during theis lengthy COVID-19 pandemic. It took some time for me to realize, I have to do things one step at a time. I took on too much and realized it is okay to ask for help. One foot in front of the other. If all the clothes were not ironed properly, how could I put them away?
In the 7th grade I went through my first practice court trial. It was an intense experience that took place over two weeks and involved preparation and dressing the part .. I chose a tiny brown skirt that my grandmother had gifted me and a pair of leggings to wear underneath to keep me warm during the cold season. I was taking a role in the famous Salem Witch Trials. I was dramatically accused of being a witch during the trials while my other classmates were assigned either to act as a witch or a lawyer.
Ever since I was little, I had always dreamed of being a lawyer. So when I first learned about our project for class, I instantly requested to be a lawyer. However my teacher had actually already decided what our roles would be, and assigned me as a witch instead. Quickly I thought of all the reasons she may have chosen this role for me: Did she think I wouldn’t be a good lawyer? Was I not smart enough to ask questions like a lawyer? I ultimately got to dress up as a witch and wear a fun costume in front of my classmates, but I couldn’t wear business casual clothing like the lawyer position I desperately wanted. Although I was jealous of my friends who got to be a lawyer, I still had a memorable experience being put in a different position and having to defend my case. To this day I always think about the speech I gave to the jury I wasn't a witch when I clearly was. It was almost better than being the lawyer, I had to put in more effort to prove the evidence in front of me. I was ultimately pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the challenge of having to defend a case from a different perspective. Oh and fyi, as a witch I wasn’t convicted or hung so I guess I can make just as great a lawyer as a witch.
Thank you for reading a little bit more about me. My past does not define my future, but it has taught me lessons to live by in the present.
Please contact me for any questions. Email me at grace.dileo31@gmail.com. My telephone number is 9145061840.
