SENIOR QUESTIONNAIRE

NAME:__Clay Carrington DATE:____5/16/17____________

To assist the recommender in representing you as accurately as possible in the letter, please
read and respond to the statements and questions below. The care and thought you give in
addressing these prompts may reiterate what the recommender already knows about you or may
help them discover something previously unobserved. In any event, take nothing for granted.

1. Explain the qualities that you feel you possess which might easily go unnoticed by
others.
- Some qualities that I possess that might go unnoticed by others are my creative abilities.
For example, many people might not know that I can play three instruments, can sing, am
a photographer, and am a decent artist. They may be unnoticed due to my lack of interest
in talking about my artistic or instrumental abilities. I tend to talk more of recent events
or just listen and crack jokes rather than talk about myself or things that I have been
working or planning to work on. I also tend to belittle myself and my abilities, despite
other people telling me that I am good. As to why I do this, I dont really know why, but
that it may be a subconscious self defense that I use to help protect myself from rejection
or failure.
2. Complete the following statement as clearly and directly as you can: I am
especially proud of the following achievement.
- I am especially proud of my achievement in getting an honorable mention in the
scholastic art competition this past year. I list this as one of the many things I am proud
of, due to the fact that I started drawing and participating in creative classes only last
year. The growth in my artistic ability that I have seen in the past year shocks even me,
and I am excited to see how I continue to grow in my abilities. I am also quite proud of
my achievement in my photography skills this past year. I started photography back in
the summer before my Junior year, and by the next fall I had already had near 200
follows on instagram, with a majority of them having 50k+ followers, and had started a
collaboration with a German watch company named Extri.
3. Mention any factors that have come up during your high school career which you
feel have put you at a disadvantage.
 - There are a couple of factors that have occurred during my high school career that have
put me at a disadvantage. One disadvantage, is that I have a rough time transitioning to
new environments. This made it difficult for me to transition into high school, and thus
made it difficult for me to keep up with the work given to me my freshman year. As well
as with my difficulty to transition in a new environment, I decided to take AP Human
Geography and Japanese 3, which made freshman year even more difficult for me.
Looking back now, I think that taking normal classes would have allowed me to have a
higher GPA, however, I think AP classes have helped me learn how to work more
efficiently and effectively. Another factor that had put me at a disadvantage was getting a
concussion in my sophomore year, which still currently affects me. Even as of now, I still
have struggles remembering things from my past, and my memory of dates and facts isnt
as good as it was beforehand. With the concussion, It put me at a disadvantage in my AP
class and my Japanese class, and made it difficult to even learn in some of my normal
classes. In addition, I also have problems with my eyes, and when I read the words
sometimes will disappear or fly off the page, making it difficult for me to read fast and
accurately.
4. Do you feel you present grades are a fair representation of your academic ability? If
not, discuss.
- I dont feel that my present grades are a fair representation of my academic ability. Not
saying that I am deserving or a 4.0 or higher, but that due to taking AP classes, as well as
four years of Japanese, and struggling to transition into high school along with a
concussion my sophomore year, there has been many factors that have made out for a
more unfair representation of my academic ability. As well with these factors, many of
what our grade is, is due to testing. One thing I struggle with in testing, is that I second
guess myself a lot, and tend to have the right answer to begin with, but then change it
after. It also has only gotten worse due to the concussion, since I have a more hazy
memory of what Ive learned. Pertaining to my SAT and ACT scores, my reading scores
were lower than I believe they could have been. Due to my difficulty in reading fast, I
tend to have to read slow to be able to understand it all, this making it harder for me to
both read and understand the passage and then evaluate and answer the questions within
the time period given.
5. What goals have you set for yourself and what are you presently doing to achieve
them?
- Some goals that I have set for myself as of currently, are to get above a 3.5 GPA before I
graduate, learn piano, become more fluent in Japanese, and grow in my artistic abilities.
Currently, I have been learning and practicing piano for the past two months trying to
achieve my goal. As for my GPA, I am taking some AP classes my senior year to help
increase my grade. I will study harder as well to try and do better grade wise and earn
better grades. To achieve my goal of being more fluent in Japanese, I will study Japanese
more often and practice verbally as often as I can.
6. What activities have you pursued and to what extend? Mention any offices you have
held and awards won. Tell what you gained from this experience.
- Some activities I have pursued were powerlifting, photography, and other sports and
instrumental activities. Some awards I received while doing powerlifting was 5th place in
the state in my weight division for lifting, as well as becoming part of the 1000 pound
club in my sophomore year. Which is the sum number of your three main lifts: bench,
squat, and deadlift. At the end of my sophomore year I had increased my lifts enough to
not only join the 1000 pound club but also got to the 1300 pound club. Sadly, however, I
was injured in football prior my sophomore year, which had resulted in some nerve
damage that still is in effect even now. Ending my sophomore year, I had gotten my
bench up to 350 lbs, a deadlift of 550 lbs, and a squat of 430 lbs. I never did get my name
on the 1300 pound club plaque though, because I achieved those goals outside of school
and powerlifting season. As for photography, I started in the summer before my Junior
year, and by the fall I had already started taking photos for a German watch company
named Extri. I have also received some other deals, and have continued to grow in my
skills. From my experiences in the past year of photography, Ive learned quite a lot
about the fundamentals of photoshop, as well as how emotions can be captured in
moments. It has been a very eye opening experience.
7. In what community activities have you participated?
- Some community activities that I have participated, and still do participate in is the
Special Olympics, Pride and Shine, road clean ups, and singing at a nursing home. I
really love volunteering, and going to these places to help clean, or just help in general. It
 not only makes me feel like Im able to help out, but also makes me happy to see how
others appreciate it. Of these activities, I have especially loved going to the Special
Olympics. Not just because its awesome to see people race and bench 400 pound, but
also because they genuinely appreciate your help, and it just puts a smile across your face
to know that. Its also cool, because most of the same people go to the Special Olympics
every year, so you get to watch how they grow and improve in their skills.
8. Explain your personal contribution to the high school community.
- Some personal contributions I make to the high school community are my charisma and
my faith. I am typically a very happy and outgoing kind of person. I also love to make
jokes and find the good in situations. I also am an apostolic pentecostal christian. So I try
to bring faith to my school as well.
9. What are your hobbies?
- My hobbies consist of a variety of activities. Some things I find myself doing as hobbies
are photography, drawing, exploring, playing instruments, singing, and reading. I also
sometimes find myself writing. Looking at my hobbies, you can see that I tend to lean
more towards the creative side of the spectrum. I love these things, because each of them
allow for me to find adventure within them.
10. Describe any independent study or special programs/projects in which you have
engaged (science, drama, music serious extra work in a subject.)
- One independent program I participate in could be photography. I like to take photos
during my free time. It is a calming activity and I like to find emotions in the shots I take.
I also play instruments outside of school, including piano, guitar, bass, and drums.
11. Describe any work experience you have had paid or unpaid. Describe your
responsibilities, dates of employment, average hours per week, etc.
- Due to people from my church, I have work experience in a variety of things. Some jobs I
have experience in are landscaping, lawn care, putting in tiles, doing drywall, moving and
repositioning furniture, interior decorating and design, and photography. Most of the
lawn care and house jobs were jobs I was just payed by in cash. However, I did
landscaping for a couple of months full time. Some things we would do was trim hedges,
put in mulch and dirt, re-seed grass, cut down trees, and ultimately manage a persons
 yard. As for photography, I also work along with a German watch company, who ship me
watches and I take pictures of them.
12. Describe your summer experiences and what you gained from them:
a. After freshman year:
- My freshman summer was not too bad besides a little stress from football and AP classes.
I enjoyed it, and dont really think I gained much besides better time management skills.
b. After sophomore year:
- My sophomore summer was pretty stressful due to AP classes, however, it was not that
bad.
c. After junior year:
- My Junior summer, however, has taught me how to manage time a lot. Doing AP classes,
football, and work, it has been very stressful.

13. Who are two Athens teachers to whom your counselor might go for further reference?
- Two Athens teachers to whom my counselors may go for further reference would be
Mrs. Hooper and Mrs. Mori. I had Mrs. Hooper for the first time my Junior year for AP
English, and although she is tough, she is very kind and reasonable. She was by far one of
my favorite English teachers at Athens High School. Mori Sensei, however, has both
known me as a student and a close family friend for most of my life. Ive known her and
her family for my whole life, but she also had me for four years in Japanese class as a
student. She was also one of my top favorite teachers at Athens.
14. Where will you apply/have you applied to college?
- As for colleges that I plan to apply to, I already have that together and figured out. For
my dream college, I plan to apply to College for Creative Studies. It is an art college that
I would love to go to and further my skills at. The other colleges I plan to apply to are
Oakland University and Indiana Bible College.
15. What is your intended major?
- The intended major I have in plan is photography and design. I have really learned to
love art in the past couple years, and I believe I want to go into a field of art.
16. How did you become interested in this major?
- I became interested in this major the summer after my sophomore year. I started
photography, and then began taking art classes my Junior year. All furthering my love for
the subject.
17. What are your intended career plans?
 - As for career plans, I was thinking of becoming a Photojournalist or graphic designer. Of
course, however, career plans can and may change in the future as I develope more in a
multitude of skills. Like how two years ago, I could never have seen myself going into a
field of art.

18. Rate yourself on the following assessment:

Superior Good Average Poor Unable to

Course Selection X

Academic X
Preparation

Academic X
Motivation

Creativity X
Reaction to
Setbacks

Leadership X

Sense of Humor X

Emotional X
Maturity

SelfDiscipline X

SelfConfidence X

Character X
 Extracurricular X
Involvement

Overall Assessment X

19. List activities (grades 912) from Athens and other organizations. Include parttime
employment.

Activity 9th grade 10th grade 11th grade 12th grade

Football X X X

Powerlifting X X

Landscaping X X

Piano X X

Bass X X

Japanese X X

Photography X X

Art X X X

Leadership Class X X

20. List awards (grades 912) from Athens and other organizations.

Activity 9th grade 10th grade 11th grade 12th grade

Athletic awards X X X X
Scholastics Honorable Mention X

Troy Art Show X

Leadership Class Graduation X X

Honors X X X X

Powerlifting State Medal X