College Admissions Essay: Big Decisions, Big Change

Rewind fifteen years back, is when I blessed my parents with myself. To be more exact it was the sixteenth of September, also known as the Independence day of Mexico. I remember very keenly that my dad would always be so proud of that, he would even purposefully say my birthday is the Independence day of Mexico, instead of my actual birthdate. I guess considering he is an indigenous Mexican, it’s pretty normal for him to be proud of his ethnic background. I was born into an already large family; I had my mother who is Colombian and dad who is Mexican, my two older sisters, and my one older brother, and my younger sister that came two years subsequently to me. As a young kid the personality traits I acquired were that I was always very shy; I was an introvert all around, as well as a perfectionist (not anymore obviously), I liked making new friends, I liked being helpful , I liked being organized, and strongly believed that every good deed would be rewarded in the future.

Everyone has to make choices in their life. Some are everyday choices, like what to eat or drink. Others are more critical, like choosing a job. Important decisions take time to comprehend. Like with me, the decision to go to college was the most critical choice in my life and for my future, and I will never regret it. Going to college is important because it helps me find a job, it expands my knowledge, and it is a wonderful experience.

Breathing heavily, a million things run through my mind. I’m dying. I can’t feel my feet. My lungs aren’t taking in oxygen fast enough. However, the finish line and the satisfaction of knowing that I had gotten myself through three miles loom ahead. Clenching my fists, I force myself through the indoor track at JCC. The excitement and pride that I feel when I finally achieve my goal is indescribable.

Growing up I was spoon fed ideas. I was taught a countless number of things were right, while the ugly things were wrong. My childhood is a conservative blur of standing in a corner with my nose on a wall and watching VHS tapes of Green Acres. Every memory I have pre high school is filled with Irish Catholic white people never willing to admit gay people exist. Before high school I never realized how sheltered my life was until I was drowning in this new, beautiful, multicolored world. Looking back, I was unwilling to embrace this change, but I was focused into it and because of this I am greatly pleased I did. The only reason why I am sharing this personal scenario is because my experience in this class has been similar; what I thought was normal and right became challenged and was torn open to new concepts and ideas, leaving me more educated and glad that it happened.

Probably the most important turning point in my life happened in 1992.  At this time, I was eight years old and living in Williamsport Pennsylvania.  My dad had a well-paying job at Anchor Darling Valve Company, I was attending a parochial school and I thought life was just great.  At the time we lived in a large four-story house with a separate three-story garage and an acre of forest for a backyard.  I had a ten-speed bicycle and I would often go bicycling with my friends at the nearby cemetery.  No-one ever objected to this, in fact people would often have picnics at the top of this hill at the cemetery.  I guess the only things I ever complained about were the constant music

A Question Changed Everything It’s a remarkable story, the journey from my high school days to where I am now. Just a year previously, I never thought I’d be here today. This was far from a stress-free road for me, but it became exceptionally rewarding. How can a few simple questions change everything?

As a child I was completely unaware of how the world worked. Everyday life, for me, was all about playing, having fun and going on adventures. I was naive to the real world full of imperfections and work, unknowingly keeping my mind shielded from the pain and allowing myself to think that everything was perfect.

Steve Jobs once said, “Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma -- which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” Life is about changing yourself over and over again until you're happy, then changing yourself again because you're no longer happy -- and that's okay. Often, once you make a choice in life, people will put you in a box, shutting you out from all light, resulting in a misshapen, brittle, and weak mind and heart. The greatest nourishment for them is change, and once someone takes away the ability for the mind and heart to transform, they take away your life. When I was 14, naïve and insensitive, I learned the value of change. My life did change, slowly morphing me into

“Why are you so shy?” people always asked me. ”Shy”. It’s a word that followed me for as long as I can remember. In elementary school, all the kids would play sports during recess, but I’d stand by the side and look at them. At most of my parent-teacher conferences, teachers would use words like shy and quiet. But I was totally sick of it. ”I have to make some changes,” I said to myself.

We must not let our past define us, but it is my past that has paved a way for my future. I owe everything I am and have achieved to my mother who has endured interminable years of hard work to provide for her children. It is poverty, hard work, discrimination, education and the desire for a better life that has driven me to my goals.

Our school isn’t what it used to be…I’ve seen how our school is changing. You know how when we’re in kindergarten, everyone is BFF’s. You get to your class and immediately people start talking to you like they're your lifelong friend. You actually wanted to be in school, you were excited to have somebody else to play with all the time! You didn’t care who it was, it didn’t really matter what you did. Didn’t matter that they looked like, if their hair was combed or not. Or even if they lived by the gulf course, or in the trailer park. Do you remember those days? I do, I have pictures from my birthday parties, and some of you are in them!

Every day, every one, in the world goes through a challenge, big or small. They affect and impact us significantly. They change the way we think, love, act, and approach or do things. Challenges either frighten or motivate us, but they are what make us the person we are today.

The human mind intrigued me since an early age. I was the child that would always ask why and how and I was never satisfied with the answer. I always stated my input and needed to solve any problems that were in front of me. My parents always thought I was a chatter-box that stuck my nose in everyone’s business, but I thought I was doing everyone a favor. As I got older, I was the friend everyone would go to about their problems. I enjoyed listening to their situations, just as much as I wanted to give my advice. Being the person that knew everything that was going on, and being able to have a say in what people did gave me satisfaction. When I took my personality test for my volleyball team my freshman year of college, it was not a shock that

The scenery was beautiful and the people who I meet were extremely kind and nice. I was one of the only new kids at my school, there people never left and rarely came. Even though I only lived there for a little over a month it felt like it could one day be my home. After finally settling in and starting seventh grade at the Jr. High it’s time for our family to move once

Most people always went through an event that has a great impact on their lives, changing the very manner in which they view life and perceive it. My story might not outstanding to other people, but for me, it was a spectacular changed. For years in my life, I would never forget the first time I had my first flight. My family and I immigrated to a new country that I never thought of. Because of that flight, my life had changed from one culture to a different culture in just 24 hours on the airplane