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Transcript

 

SPEAKER A

Welcome to the Ivy League Prep Academy podcast, where we help you make a meaningful impact in your communities and get accepted to your dream university. Becoming the person that Ivy League schools recruit is more enjoyable and meaningful than you ever imagined. Come find out why.

Well, welcome back to the Ivy League Prep Academy podcast. I'm super excited to share a story and an experience today. I have with me Ata Alich, who has been we've been working together since last summer, and he has just done absolutely amazing things with his Impact project, and he's here to talk to us about it today atta welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER B

Thank you. Thank you for having me on the podcast. It's a great pleasure to be on here.

SPEAKER A

Yeah, I'm so glad you could join us now atta can you just tell us a little bit about yourself as we begin?

SPEAKER B

Sure. So I'm originally from Istanbul, Turkey, and I'm currently based in Singapore for around two years. I'm currently a senior at Stanford American International School.

SPEAKER A

So you're a senior in high school. You've worked really hard to prepare to go to university, and recently you have been focusing on something that I think is really exciting. Before we get to that, give us a sneak peek into the universities that you're applying to. Where are you applying? Are you nervous? Are you excited? Tell us just a little bit about that.

SPEAKER B

Yeah, of course. So I'm applying to ten different universities, all located in the US. I'll list some names from the universities I'm applying to. These are University of Pennsylvania, UC, Berkeley, university of Southern California, and University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

SPEAKER A

Man, pretty ambitious list there. Very excited. Are you nervous or are you excited? How are you feeling right now?

SPEAKER B

Well, the process is a lot of work. I've been working like I never have in my whole life the past few months. And I am excited about the results, but I'm also satisfied with the amount of work I did.

SPEAKER A

And yeah, you know what? I remember we had a conversation like, a year ago with your father and you, and we talked about how a lot of people in high school, they get their heart set on one university or five universities or a group of schools or whatever. And I don't know if you remember this conversation, but we talked about how that's really not the approach you want to take. What you want to do is become such an outstanding person today that any of your top universities would be lucky to have you. And as long as you focus on what you can do and who you are and what you bring to the table, then that's all you can do, and that's all you need to worry about. You can be proud of your effort. You can be proud of what you've done. And it sounds like that's kind of how you feel right now.

SPEAKER B

Yes, exactly.

SPEAKER A

It's so exciting. Wonderful. Well, tell us then what you've been working so hard on, because I know you've done amazing work to keep your grades up. Your college entrance essays are fantastic. You've worked hard and earned some outstanding letters of recommendation, I'm sure, and some of that is about your Impact project. Can you tell us about that?

SPEAKER B

Yeah, of course. So my Impact project is a mobile application for my school's Mun conference. I'll go into a bit more detail. So I'm currently a part of the executive board of the Stanford Mun Club, which is my school's Mun club. And I've been doing Mun since grade ten before even moving to Singapore. I have attended and directed many international Mun conferences and I realized that there was a lack of communication and easy access to information. A lot of conferences were kind of disorganized during the three days which most conferences span. So one day I was talking about this issue with my dad and he goes to a lot of international business conferences and he showed me an app on his phone which was used to, used as a hub of all information and communication during that conference. I was really impressed and I knew it at that point, this was exactly what we needed in Mun. So I presented the idea to the executive board. They were reluctant to change at first, they didn't see the benefit of this app. They thought it would be too much of a drastic change, a radical change. But after clearly listing all the issues this app would solve, they were impressed and I went on with the development.

SPEAKER A

Yeah, so exciting. And so you solve. What kinds of problems do you solve? Tell us a little bit about the issues that you discovered that you were able to solve.

SPEAKER B

So the number one issue is a lack of information. Most students who are attending to these conferences are coming to the campuses of the hosts for the first time, so they don't know their way around. And right, even though there are some small signage and some signs put up by the respective schools, municipal, I don't think that's enough. I have personally got lost and I had to ask some people and I always see delegates or students coming, arriving late to committees, which disrupts the session and causes more disorganization.

SPEAKER A

Right. And it's so frustrating for the individual right, who is lost and trying to figure out where they're going. Then they probably can't perform nearly as well because they're looking for the room they're supposed to be speaking in. I'm sure it's frustrating all the way around.

SPEAKER B

Exactly. So another problem this app would solve is communication and instant communication. So this app has a chat feature. It can also reroute it to an external chat application. And it also has notifications, which is very, very important because schedules can change, timings can change, or something important can happen. And notifications is a way of instantly communicating with all delegates, all students participating in the conference.

SPEAKER A

Yeah, absolutely. And let me tell the listeners, although it's hard to do this visually, the app is just stunning. It's absolutely gorgeous. So you open it up, everything just makes sense. Anything that you're looking for, from how do I find the bathroom, to where are options for food, to the schedule for each of the different conferences, and then a little place for notifications and everything else. It's not just really practical and really helpful. It's also beautiful. It's well designed, just absolutely fantastic. And so that leads me to and I'm saying that from experience, right? I've worked with the app and used it, and it's absolutely amazing. So, Ata, can you tell us what is your role in this app? Did you just dream it up and then ask someone else to make it for you? Or did you actually go through the process of programming the app?

SPEAKER B

Yeah, so I'll talk a little bit about the process of making this app. After getting the green flag from the executive board, I started my research on May May of 2020, and I researched mobile app development platforms and coding languages. For mobile app development, I found this one platform that enables drag and drop design, but also has customizable features that can be customized by HTML coding language. So to make the app, I used a combination of coding and templates.

SPEAKER A

All right, so you spent time researching it, and then you had to learn how to program it as well. Is that something that you've always been interested in?

SPEAKER B

I have always been interested in the user interface design and the general design and development of the app. More than the coding.

SPEAKER A

Okay, but you knew you had to learn the coding and do the coding in order to finish the app.

SPEAKER B

Yeah, exactly. Because this was more of a personal project, a more small scale project. I knew I had to do it myself, but if it was a big scale project such as working in a company, I wouldn't have assumed the coding role, more designing role.

SPEAKER A

Well, and it's not exactly a small thing, right? Hundreds of people come to these conferences, and to me, it's not a small thing at all. Personally, I'm aware because I've owned a company before, and I have worked with people who have created apps, and some of these apps are tens of thousands of dollars to create, to program. And so I think it's just astounding that you've taken this from the ground up, you've finished it, and it's a gorgeous and functioning application that works exactly the way it's meant to work. So kudos to you. Let's talk just a little bit about that. How did you decide to do this project? Right? There's 100 different things that anyone can do within their own sphere of influence. What made you feel like this is the one that's most personally meaningful to you?

SPEAKER B

Well, this past summer in the Ivy League Challenge, we learned to structure our strengths, interests, and values. So I really spent time on that, reflecting and talking with people friends, family, and counselors. And I realized that many of them describe me as an innovative and creative person with a strong leadership skills. And I realized that I always strive to make the environment I'm in better, and I have a strong passion in entrepreneurship. So being a part of the Mun community for a long time and attending many international Mun conferences, I realized this problem. And as I said before, talking with my father, coming up with a solution, I realized that this was a perfect fit for my values, strengths, and interests as an Impact Project. So I decided to go forward with it, and it turned out to be a really good choice and good venture.

SPEAKER A

Absolutely. It's exactly your sphere of influence. Right. You're part of the Mun community. It's something that's important to you, it's meaningful to you. You identified a problem, you knew that you have the skills and the ability to step up and solve the problem, and you decided to make your Impact. I just think it's absolutely brilliant.

SPEAKER B

Exactly. And I feel that helping a community I am a part of and improving Bolstering and improving them was a really touching and happy moment for me in general as well.

SPEAKER A

Yeah. So now that you have gone through the process of applying to university and experiencing that, how has the Impact Project helped you in this college application process?

SPEAKER B

Well, it has helped tremendously. I have mentioned it in multiple essays, and I can say that those essays were one of the strongest essays. And I have had University of Pennsylvania alumni interview the day before recording this podcast. And it went really well. And especially the part I mentioned of the app. And interviewer was also very impressed with the app. And I can say that this was one of the most helpful factors for my application process.

SPEAKER A

Oh, that's amazing. So that was just yesterday that you spoke with UPenn?

SPEAKER B

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER A

Oh, how exciting. And the app came up and you were able to talk about it. So now this is what's so fun. I hope that the listeners can understand this, right. It's not just you telling someone what your values are and what your interests are. It's you saying, Here, let me show you the evidence. And then once you understand the evidence, then if you need to, we can talk explicitly about what my values are, what my strengths are, what my interests are. But it's no longer me trying to convince you by speaking fluently or speaking beautifully. Instead, I've got evidence that this is what I care about. I've got evidence that I'm someone who makes a difference. I've got evidence that I'm interested and I'm talented in these areas because I made this difference in my sphere of influence. I impacted my community, all the difference in the world. Well, what else would you say you learned from the Ivy League Challenge or any part of this process that has been particularly helpful for you?

SPEAKER B

I can say that I have learned many, many important lessons in the Ivy League Challenge, not only academic lessons, but also ones that can be applied to general life as well. One that has been particularly useful in the process of university applications and the process of developing my impact project was the taking recovery breaks. So taking recovery breaks is basically taking a two to five minute break every 50 to 55 minutes of work. I found this especially useful during this last couple of months because it's a really hectic and overwhelming process with a lot of work to do. And as I said before, I haven't experienced anything like this before in my life, and it's really hard to overcome. And not only overcome, but also prosper. So I found this taking breaks very useful.
SPEAKER A

Yeah, absolutely. Just to kind of clarify to the listeners, what Ata is describing is we really get into some detail in strategy, right? How do you stay focused longer? Because when you need to perform at a high level, it's not enough just to have a strong desire or to feel motivated and be willing to do the hard work. At some point, you have to have the stamina, your body has to support you. And besides that, you have to understand enough physiology. You have to understand enough how your mind works, how your brain works, and how your body supports that so that you can act strategically. And in this case, what Ata is talking about is we focus. We learn how to focus intently for 50 minutes at a time. And you set your timer ahead of time. You know that in 50 minutes you will stop. And so for these 50 minutes, you do nothing but focused effort. And then when the alarm goes off, no matter how you're feeling, even if you feel like, oh, I'm on a roll, this is great, I don't want to stop, you stop. And that's what a lot of people that don't really know the physiology and don't understand high performance, they say, I'm on a roll. I better keep going before I lose this. I'm doing great. And unfortunately, what happens if you keep going and you do not allow your mind and your body to recover at an appropriate interval, about every 50 minutes is you exhaust your brain and you exhaust your body. And after 3 hours have gone by, or 4 hours have gone by, now you're exhausted and you cannot recover. And so the rest of the day is shot. On the other hand, after 50 minutes, you have focused for 50 minutes, you're on a roll, you're ready to go, but the alarm goes off. You put the pencil down, you stop typing, even if it's mid sentence, mid word. It doesn't matter. You stand up, you begin to stretch. You take ten deep breaths, go get a drink of water, stretch some more, and just self talk, right? You talk to yourself and say, hey, nice job. 50 really focused minutes. That was amazing. Here we go again. We're going to have another amazing 50 minutes. I'm going to be just as focused again. And you have two or three of these really high quality, powerful statements of self affirmation. And then you sit back down, or you set the alarm and sit back down and go back at it. And you feel like that has allowed you to get more done in these last few months, since you had no choice but to get more done.

SPEAKER B

Yeah. So I think this was one of the things that helped me most that we learned in the Ivy League Challenge. And as you mentioned before, what I really liked about the Ivy League Challenge is that it's not only focused on academics, like learning about the values, strengths, and interests, but it's also about learning how to keep focused for a longer period and how to take care of your body to support you mentally. And those factors were just very interesting for me, and they are still in my head, even though it has been a few months.

SPEAKER A

Yeah, it's been a while. All right, well, one last thing before we go. If you were to think maybe back on a 6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade student, someone who's younger, who looks up to you, right? Someone who also wants to apply to UPenn or Michigan or some of these UC Berkeley, some of these amazing universities, what advice would you give to someone of that age who's who's looking up at you?

SPEAKER B

Yeah, I think this is a great question, actually. I sometimes think about this since my brother is currently in 6th grade, and soon he will be in this exact age group. One advice I would give to a 6th, 7th, or 8th grader is to take initiative and take action immediately. There is no need to lose time, and it's better to start earlier. It's okay to make mistakes. It's okay to join. For example, join an extracurricular or a club that you don't like, but its experience is vital. So get in there, get join an extracurricular, join a club and start doing what you love and start to think of making an impact. Start of thinking, how can I make a difference? And joining a club is a perfect way to start.

SPEAKER A

So beautiful. Absolutely right. I mean, so much good advice there. So that requires that someone maybe who's more introverted, be brave. Right. They need to take a risk and join a club even though it feels uncomfortable. You're saying just do it. Even if it's uncomfortable, go for it.

SPEAKER B

Exactly. So I'll also give an example. I was a pretty laid back kid in middle school. I would say I wasn't studying too much. I wasn't involved in many clubs. But around 8th and 9th grade, my dad actually suggested that I joined the Mun Club. And I took his advice. I joined it. I was kind of reluctant at first, but it turned out so well. I couldn't have expected any better.

SPEAKER A

Yeah, it's amazing, right?

SPEAKER B

Yeah.

SPEAKER A

And you never know if you didn't take the risk, if you didn't just try it.
SPEAKER B

And also another example, which is also very similar to the Mun example. So my parents were Rotary Club members, which is a social service club, and my dad suggested that I join the Interact club, which is the version of Rotary for high school aged students. And I joined our neighborhood interact club in 10th grade, and I think that was also one of the best decisions I've made in my life, as I've got to experience so many special things because of that. Such as? Attending a Rotary summer youth exchange program in northern Germany in the summer of 2019, and also just three months after moving to Singapore, becoming the president of the Stanford Interact Club.

SPEAKER A

I love it. Yeah. Stepping outside of your comfort zone and look what happened. And you feel like that's been helpful for you. You'd like everyone to experience that joy and that excitement, the thrill of stepping outside of your comfort zone and discovering something that you love.

SPEAKER B

Yeah, exactly. So there is a really good motto I try to live by. Even though sometimes it's hard to do so, it's seek discomfort as I believe that a person grows tremendously when stepping out of their comfort zone.

SPEAKER A

I love it. I can't imagine a better way to finish. Thank you so much, Ata, for joining us today and sharing your wisdom with all of our listeners. You're inspiring. You've done amazing work. Thank you for your impact project. And even more, I'm just so excited about your future. When you go to university, you will be blown away by the resources that are available to you at these top universities. And because you're already the kind of person who takes advantage of resources and finds a way to make an impact, you are just going to fly. You're going to soar in that environment coming up. And I'm just really excited for you. So thank you so much for joining us today. And maybe we'll come back in a few months and hear the rest of the story. We'll find out how you're enjoying university and what you've learned and done from now until then.

SPEAKER B

Thank you. It was a pleasure.

SPEAKER A

All right. Take care. Ata.

SPEAKER B

Thank you.