College Admissions Essay: How Chinook Changed My Life

We Native American’s live a horrid and terrifying life full of mistreatment, brutality and often complete genocide if we do not comply with the demands of the European’s. The foreigners not only changed our lives for the worse, but also brought along with them violence, disease and death. They changed my way of life, our way of governing, and if we don’t comply to their way we might as well have asked for a death sentence. People called us “Savages” and “Violent”, but what choice were we left with when they invade our homes ultimately destroying our way of life. Being put in the position of watching women and children slaughtered before my very eyes everyday is something I have to experience for the rest of my life. We Native Americans were pushed to the edge of extinction by the total genocide induced by the European People.

To explain the Native American identity is necessary to take into consideration several arguments. A group’s identity is never a universal consensus, since every individual’s experience would define the meaning of what is to be member of a certain group. Despite these differences in experiencing and living within a given culture; the commonality is that members of the group are recognized are part of It by members of the group they claim to belong. Native American’s self-definition is a continuum because “[…] knowledge is conditioned knowledge, constructed within our conceptual systems, and thus knowledge is a communal achievement and is relative to time and place. One need not retreat to a complete

Growing up, I never had the warm pleasures of bedtime stories; instead, I would hear about the unimaginable impoverishment my parents faced in their childhood. The immediate reality of poverty obscured their investment in their brighter futures; both were forced both to sell lottery tickets on the streets or trade vegetables for portions of meat: just to help sustain their families. Looking back at those nights, I can only be grateful. As one of the first in my family to attend college, I am piloting a new future, one where I hope to lift not only my family out of their struggles but also the community that has always supported me and global communities today.

I am a girl with two heads. At home, I wear my Chinese head, in school I wear my English head. Being an Asian, or Chinese, as it is commonly referred to, my culture plays a key role in the development of who I am and what I do, my personal identity. An identity is the distinguishing character or personality of an individual. Parents are often one of the key factors of this culturally developed personal identity.

From my father, who has dedicated his life to developing community through ministry, to my mother, who despite being raised as a transnational migrant worker, pursued public education and now advocates for individuals with physical and intellectual disabilities, a strong sense of community has always been a part of my value set. I believe that my life experiences serving disadvantaged and often systemically oppressed minority communities have led to my desire to pursue the profession of law. My time spent interning at a law firm only reaffirmed my belief that the practice of law is right for

The pain and the suffering, the oppression, and the exclusion all describe the history of Asia America. When they arrived to the United States, they become labeled as Asians. These Asians come from Japan, China, Korea, Laos, Thailand, and many other diverse countries in the Eastern hemisphere. These people wanted to escape from their impoverished lives as the West continued to infiltrate their motherland. They saw America as the promise land filled with opportunity to succeed in life. Yet due to the discrimination placed from society and continual unfair

Throughout human history people have searched for individual identity whether it is by expanding west, or by living off the land, and there are countless other examples of how the place we live has shaped us and vice versa. However, a critical question that must be examined is whether we, as humans, shape the landscape to fit societal norms or is it the other way around; Is it the case that through the values that it imposes on us? With this question in mind, place has an important role in shaping the stories that are written, and as a result, to a moderate degree does place shape not only human character but characters in stories as well.

Native Americans maintained a relatively stable life until colonists arrived and held superiority over the Native Americans through weaponry and susceptibility to disease. Around 90% of Native Americans lost their lives to the diseases brought over by the colonists (The Story Of Smallpox – and other Deadly Eurasian Germs). Manifest destiny followed the Louisiana purchase; A time when Americans migrated west and Native Americans moved into harsh landscapes killing thousands more. From the harsh and unfair treatment towards the Native Americans came the American-Indian Wars. The purpose? To achieve self-actualization against the harsh and unfair treatment of the Native Americans. Additionally, Native Americans needed to re-establish a specific

My first memory that I have of Hotchkiss was the day that I was enrolled in kindergarden. It was the first time that I had seen the town since we had moved here from Texas. To a kid who had never seen anything other than endless acres of shrubs and mesquite trees, the towering mountains and greenery blew me away. For months I would spend all of my time after school exploring where I lived and biking around town with my friends. As the years have gone by this tiny town has still kept that certain magic that enthralled me as a kid, if only in a more reminiscent way rather than just pure wonder. However, the most important part of Hotchkiss to me is the effect that it had on who I am. From the day that I became a part of this lovely town, I have learned three major values that have played a key role in the decisions I’ve made. These values were hard work, community, and pride.

As a child, I made lists of all the careers I thought I was interested in pursuing. The occupations ranged from astronomer to landscaper, and everything in between. My current future goal never crossed my mind, until the day my family toured the Wisconsin State Capitol. We stepped into the Supreme Court room, and I was immediately engaged in the fantasy of imagining myself in the place of a Supreme Court Justice. Because of this experience, I became determined to achieve high grades and an esteemed reputation within my school and community. That fantasy has since then turned into a realistic goal I will stop at nothing to obtain. My passion and motivation to climb to the top of the judicial branch will guide me in giving every task my maximum

The book Native Son by Richard Wright is about the inner and external struggles of Bigger Thomas in a hostile and limited living environment. Bigger Thomas is a black man that lives in a de facto segregated neighborhood in Chicago. His entire family of four lives in one rat infested and over priced room. It is challenging to imagine a route to success. Perhaps this setting could inspire thoughts of the American Dream -- commonly defined as the ability of a person from any circumstance to go on to live and prosper through their choices. Therefore, self determination will be the first exploration of the essay. Next there will be a discussion on how Bigger Thomas changes throughout the book and ultimately fits into this ideal.

From the time I could take my first step to my big 18, my family's financial status hasn’t been all that great. Stemming from that we did what we always had to and that was to survive off the bare minimum. Coming off a household of barely above a combined net worth of thirty-thousand dollars we didn’t have all the fancies of life like others. Coming off of Cedar Street just North of the poverty stricken Fulton Projects, I knew I could’ve had it off worse than what I did. That neighborhood changes people, and by that, I will never be as credulous of the system surrounding me.

Watching my parents work from dawn till sundown draws my attention on earning money. In the material life, money maintains our daily life. Likewise, economy plays an essential role in every aspect of our society. I see it as the bridge to communicate among nations. As time passes by I realize economics and accounting is the significant factor that can influence future decisions.

Since the inception of this country, the concept of the “American Dream” has been driven forward by men and women who believe that they can be as successful as they desire if they only roll up their sleeves, take charge of their lives, and work hard to accomplish their goals. Indeed, it was this idea that brought many foreigners to settle in this country in the first place. These types of men and women jump at any opportunity to better their lives, such as when hundreds of thousands flocked out to California in 1849 to become wealthy through the search and acquisition of gold. The underlying situation at play in The Overnighters is no different from the search for the New World or the California Gold Rush. The communities that form around such fountains of opportunity often strain the surrounding areas, however, and the Overnighter community of vagabonds and strangers that formed in the town of Williston, North Dakota was no different, ultimately becoming a source of conflict that forced the metaphorical moral hands of nearly everyone they surrounded.

A story can trigger an idea that leads to impactful revolutions. Farmers in a small town in the northern part of Oklahoma faced an incredible famine due to incorrect regulations put in place by the local council, until former Oklahoma resident, who once grew up in the fields of this once flourishing town, made his return bearing impactful stories. His return, with a master’s degree in agricultural economics, helped educate the farmers on different methods successful farms and farmers employed. His story and education catalyzed the village to convince the council to reform the regulations, creating a new status quo, which is exactly what author and civics teacher Eric Liu believes, as stated in his article “How to Get Power.” The three story model of self, us, and now is described by Liu as the steps to connect society and reach this change. Liu’s description of Marshall Ganz’s model is depicted in bell hooks’s “Keeping Close to Home: Class and Education,” as hooks explains her story of self with her departure from home, connects it to the larger community impact through the story of us she identified while at Stanford and Yale, and ends by integrating how education can be used to change the story of now and bridge the gap of understanding between different groups of people to help them possess more civic power.