College Admissions Essay: My Grandfather's Life

My great-grandmother was the matriarch of my family. When I was in seventh grade, around thirteen years old, she passed away due to breast cancer. This misfortune created an extremely difficult time for me because, not only was I adjusting to the environment of junior high, but many other issues were occurring in my life; this was the third death that I was having to deal with. Unfortunately, one of the previous deaths (that I was still trying to hurdle through and come to terms with), had occurred almost exactly a year before the passing of my great-grandmother. The second death that I had gone through occurred only one or two months before my great-grandma has passed. All of this turmoil created numerous internal conflicts for me, but also taught me a key lesson to keep note of, for the rest of my life.

Losing a grandparent at the age of 11 and younger was hard enough but losing one at the age of thirty-five hurt just as much. My grandmother is still living, I wasn't as close to them as I was to my other grandparents but there was still a relationship that was built throughout my lifetime. I had the chance to visit my grandfather while he was in the hospital. Regretfully when I went to see him he was too ill to have a conversation with, but my grandmother reassured me that it was ok because he knew I was there. My grandfather was cremated, this was the first time I attended a funeral where I saw a box of ashes holding someone who I loved. His funeral consisted our close family members and my grandfather's remains were placed in a mausoleum. His death affected all of us in one way or another, this was the first time I saw my dad cry. It makes me sad that he is no longer with us but glad he is no longer

I have lost my grandpa and have not gotten over the idea of it. When I was in the sixth grade, my grandfather was very sick; he could barely walk. While my grandmother and some other family members went uptown for some household things, food, and medication, I was told to take care of him. Yet, I wanted to play with my friends outside. He told me to go ahead and play, but for some reason I just got mad and slammed the door and left. Around nighttime, I seen an ambulance pull up to my grandparents’ house.

As I got older, my father’s strict educational parenting became a thing of the past. My father started using drugs and became less of a father and more of a person just there to occupy space in a room. He didn’t care about what my grades were like or what I did in school. My grades did start to slip and I went from straight A’s to barely passing classes. It wasn’t until I went to take out the trash one day and found an opened letter from a college recruiter at a college I really wanted to attend in the

Watching my grandmother lay in the hospital and dieing was one of the most painful feelings I have ever felt in my life. I felt many different emotions when she passed away. I felt sad, angry, shocked, and many more, but all those feelings made me stronger as person mentally. I knew that one day everyone would die and no one could control that. Her death affected me in both a positive and negative way. My dad regrets many things that he did to his mom, so I know now that one day my parents will die and I should respect them and let them know I love them every day. The death of my grandma also made a negative effect on my life. Ever since she passed away my family been breaking

“Be strong, banish fear and doubt, and remember the lord is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9 New International Version). Next month on September 28th, will be my 30th birthday, another milestone will be met. As I look forward to celebrate this milestone, I have also taken the time to reflect on who I am today. Throughout the years, I have experienced many obstacles that have influenced me into becoming the person I am currently. Moving to Columbia, South Carolina had great, if not the greatest, influence on me.

Aesop's fables often relate to all individuals. I recently found myself to be the old man in "The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey." In this fable, a man and his son are walking a donkey, and, long story short, everybody they pass says something different as to how they should go about their journey with the donkey (the boy should ride it, the man should ride it, they should carry it). The man is susceptible to each crowd, and in the end, they are carrying the donkey, it's legs tied together to a pole, which is then cast upon a shoulder of the man and a shoulder of the boy. While crowds come and laugh at how they are carrying the donkey, the donkey gets upset and knocks itself loose, only to fall into a river, leaving the man without a donkey at all. The old

Children, at a very young age, are taught to contemplate about their own future. What do we aspire to be when we grow up? What sport do we want to play? What college will we attend after high school graduation? It is not until we reach the adolescent phase or maybe even adulthood that we stop to think about what difference we can make in other people lives and what impact will we have on the future of others. At least that is how it happened for me. My parents, specifically my father, pressured me about what my grades were like in school, what career path I would choose, what type of significant other would I attract and many other things except the most important part of humanity: what difference will I make in the world?

The predicament I am in right now is a blessing, considering the trials I have dealt with in the past. Growing up in inner-city Jacksonville propelled me into the man I am becoming today. Some of the circumstances that many inner-city adolescent youth deal with growing up, such as single-parent households, and inadequate financial stability; automatically dubbed me as a product of my environment. Paving a way for my family is what motivated me the most, and like many teenagers, I felt the task could be strictly achieved by athletics. I had a strong aspiration of playing professional sports, and had varying degrees of success in basketball, and football. Honestly, I was never considered the greatest by my peers, but it was hard to debate my work ethic. Seeing my mother work rigorously day in and day out inspired me. She encouraged me and imparted her knowledge on life’s challenges towards me.

I was always different from the other kids in my class. I was reserved and quiet. Most would tell me that I always look like I was in deep thought. Well that's because I was. I always thought that I thought deeper and viewed the world differently than other people my age. I had a great interest in people, in fact they fascinated me. I greatly enjoyed meeting new people and listening to their life or things they like. So I guess one could say my interest in Anthropology dates back to grade school. History was always my best subject, I would always sit at the front of the class "bright eyed and bushy tailed". But I especially loved when they talked about different civilizations of people and the thing they did. When it was time to decide where I wanted to go to college and

We had just moved in March 2007 into my new house that my grandpa had built for us. I was so happy because I wanted to be closer to my grandma and grandpa. My grandpa was finishing up our house and his hip started hurting so he and my grandma went to the doctor. My mom was really stressed out because she didn't want anything bad to happen to him. One morning in April of 2007, my grandma and grandpa got a call from the bone specialist and they said that he had bone cancer and his hip was destroyed from it. Within the next few days they were planning hip replacement surgery. He had the hip replacement surgery and had to walk with a walker. Then things got worse because the cancer had now spread to his lungs and was stage 4 cancer. Within the next few months he had a massive stroke. Four days later my mom finds out my dad had stage 4 colon cancer and will not make it very long. One day later my grandpa took his last breath while holding my grandma’s hand. My mom was very upset about my grandpa dying and my grandma was screaming for him to come back. They had to take my grandma into another room so the funeral home could come in and get the body. My dad was still doing good at this time but then things changed.

My grandfather was my biggest inspiration as a child. He was a successful criminal justice lawyer and unlike many of his colleagues he was never swayed by money or fame. I both feared him and admired him for all that he was. I vowed that when I “grew up” I would be just like him. So when it came time for me to start college applications and choose my intended program of study, you would think it was only natural for me to make the decision to study criminal justice and law. However, it was extremely hard for me to come to this decision. All my life I had spent my time feeling obligated to go into the medical field. It wasn’t until I truly connected with who I was and accepted myself for who I was, that I was able to make the decision to take

When I first found out that I was writing a tribute to you, I was elated. You truly are a unique and wonderful individual. As someone once said: "Time goes by so fast, people go in and out of your life. You must never miss the opportunity to tell these people how much they mean to you." Now, where should I begin?

Earlier in life I thought that their was one choice I had to make a decision with, where will my future would be heading after high school. When I was around ten years old I was sitting with my parents and I asked them " When should I start thinking about my future and what should I do?", I always thought your parents had to choose what you had to do in life but it turned out to be the decision you had to make. My Dad said " If you have been wondering about what you want to be when you grow up, you should be start looking into it now!" He said "Your cousin is the same age as you and she knows what she wants to be she told me " I want to study at the University of Baylor and become a Nurse and she said that if I don't become a Nurse I will

Grief and loss has been huge part of my life. Although my youngest uncle was killed in Iran-Iraq war; before I was born, he was always part of our lives because of my mom. My first experience of actual loss was my grandpa’s death. I was six-year-old. We were on vacation in another state in Iran, while he had a heart attack, and died immediately. It was such a shock for everybody. My mom got informed by her uncle that day, but it took us 12 hours drive to get back to our hometown. I still remember my mom cried, and moaned the entire time. My dad’s parents died before I was born, so my mom’s dad was the only grandpa that I knew. It was really hard for me to not have him in my life, though I couldn’t talk about it with my mom. In my culture, we