College Admissions Essay: A Place In My Life

Going through adversity is one of the toughest things anyone can do. But, feeling like you are going through it alone is a completely different animal. I’m sitting in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Chicago, and studying advertising at one of the top institutions in the country, DePaul University. Yet, despite all the effort, and years of hard work it took me to get to this moment, all I can think about is one cliché line I heard in a song awhile back, “home is where the heart is.” Years from now I know that I will be able to look back at this moment and say that I got through this tough time, and I became a better version of myself. But for now, all I can do is stay patient and keep lacing up my walking shoes.

There have been labels placed upon me throughout my life. Some have stayed with me while others have dropped off. Without these labels ruling how people see me I feel like I would be more free to do things than I am now.

Being raised by Caucasian grandparents on the southside of Lincoln in the state of Nebraska isn't the normal living situations for most children. As well as, being a young African-American woman growing up and raised in an isolated community has altered my views on race and different opportunities received as a black individual compared to a white individual. I realized while residing in a primarily white neighborhood on the Southside of Lincoln, white and are opinionated on their personal views and aren’t necessarily accepting with change or promoting differences. (*my personal views about race)

I am a first-generation, Chicano and will soon finish my last semester before I transfer to a four year university in the upcoming fall. Coming from a first-generation household, I have had to overcome many obstacles to be in the position that I am now in. Community college has been a valuable resource that has allowed me to pursue an amazing education at a low price which has eased the burden of high tuition on my parents. Sometimes it is the cost of education that impedes those that seek it and scholarships are one avenue in which they become easier to travel down the path to success. Coming out of Gilroy High School years ago, I was unsure of what I wanted to major in and devote myself to but I had the amazing opportunity of enrolling in University of California, Merced.

Initially after high school I decided to move across the country in order to find myself, my passions, and my career goals. I attended WW-P South in Princeton Junction where many of my friends chose TCNJ. I always loved TCNJ but I knew I wasn't academically ready to be part of the community just yet. I started at a private university in California which turned out to be an amazing experience but also a lesson learned that it was not for me. Everything was new and overwhelming and it was the first time being completely on my own. After completing my freshmen year, I moved to a community college to do better academically and work a little on the side. My passion for pursing a degree boosted during my second community college that I attended.

In the drug-infested streets of North Highlands, adversity ran the gamut. In a place where individuals were treated more like statistics than human beings, it was very difficult to feel any hope or purpose. As I grew up, I found purpose in the hopes of escaping from the adversity. However, I found my true purpose, as well as hope, back where I started.

Having been a member of Brooklyn Technical High School's student body, I have been given the opportunity to be part of one of the most, if not the most diverse school in the United States. Although this is true, members of my ethnicity are grossly underrepresented in my school. While this may be unfortunate, over my school years I have learned to take this "disadvantage" and use it to my own advantage. Being the only African-American in some of my classes presented me with two options: Sulk over the fact that I was "alone" in terms of ethnicity, or allow the various cultures of other ethnicities influence me, while at the same time doing the same service to the students in my classes. I chose the latter, and I believe that it was the best possible decision for me to make, because without it, I would still be absolved in my own culture, ignorant of those around me. It goes further than this, however. The

It’s a weird feeling being compared to your seven-year-old sister. It’s an even weirder feeling when you’re being compared because she can run five times as long as you can.

When it comes to the separation of parents, most children are left confused with an underlying pain of what they've known to happen. Struggling to get out of bed each morning, knowing my home would never be the same feels like falling to the center of earth with no one to hold me up and stop me from losing hope. I, desperately, wished for my parents to hold me up, to tell me the situation will get better, but they were barely keeping themselves together. I realized my mistake then, trying to depend on another human being when I should have turned to God. So I retreated to God's word, knowing my family needed consoling from only Him.

I have always been fascinated with the human condition. As far as I can remember, a lot of my most interesting trains of thoughts and conversations with others have revolved around dissecting the human condition and discussing the anxieties and insecurities that bring us great guilt but at the same time propel many of our actions and schemes for self-actualization. To me, this is the most defining trait of my identity. Even though it is not a trait I always choose or am able to express openly, I consider this interest, and the values that it spawns, to be more important to my identity than anything about me that external forces can easily perceive, such as my appearance or familial ties.

Being a woman of color means I am inevitably silenced by the superior white male, yet being an activist eliminates my voice by the majority in all forms. My first year of college has been interesting, to say the very least. I’ve grown accustomed to the distinct differences and surprising similarities between myself and the hundreds, maybe thousands, of other students on campus, which I wasn’t familiar with among the fifty-two people in my high school graduating class.

For the past fifteen years, I have been fortunate enough to have a place that has allowed me to pursue unrestrained expression, embrace my individuality, and gave me a place where I feel I belong. The art of dance has formed me into the person I am today in ways otherwise impossible, pushing me to strive to become a well-rounded, resilient, and disciplined individual; traits which I credit for my determination to change the world around me, for my desire to be an active citizen in my community, and for my commitment to positively influence the younger generation. My dance family, my sisters, have taught me the true meaning of hard-work, dedication, and determination through their sincerity and unconditional love for their movement

So where should I start? Alabama is where I’ve spent my life. This location is where I stand physically, however, I want to express where I stand in life. I am a young woman, growing older by the day. I have that I’m happy with- thanks to my grandmother. I am determined. To have completed high school with be another completion task towards the completion of my educational career: nurse anesthetics. Being an ambitious seventeen-year-old senior at Leeds High School, I can’t wait to see what balls life throw at me. I am African American, but I’m different. I blame myself for more than I should, and expect much of myself. Animals are considered to be a nuisance to me. The botheration of animals all shapes, and sizes fright me. I believe in dreams and goals. I like the satisfaction I get from the bible after a long and tiresome day. I believe that all humans control their destiny. I am super satisfied

Challenges occur in everyone’s life, but how one deals with said challenges is what determines how well that life is lived. My goal, since I was a child, was to go to college for Biomedical Engineering. The reason was that both my parents were heavily involved in the medical field and while I was in school engineering majors always piqued my interest, so my mission was to combine the two. However, as I got older my parents became more financially unstable, so working became a priority for me to support them. I had already been working when I became sixteen years old, but I never had to worry about picking up more hours until I had to help my family pay off bills.

Since the day I understood what college was and how I could grow up to be anything I wanted to be, my parents encouraged me to go to college and be somebody. Weather it meant me going to a 4-year college or simply, a community college, they pursued me to do it. I always had to work really hard to get what I wanted or to get where I am today. It was definitely was not easy, but it turned out to be worth it.