College Admissions Essay: The Day I Loved My Life

A long time ago, in about 2004, I was born to two drug and alcohol addicts. We lived in Plano, Texas, in a disgusting apartment. We had cat and dog feces everywhere, and overall it wasn’t the best environment to raise a child in. But when I was about four and a half, my mother put me up for adoption without telling me. I ended up being adopted by my aunt and uncle, but although being four and a half, I will always remember that day vividly, because that was the first day I had experienced real love.

In 1992, a woman gave birth to my sister and I. Due to unknown reasons, at some point during the first year, she left her twins at the doorsteps of a local police station. My sister and I were eventually placed in an orphanage in Addis Ababa, where we would then go on to be adopted and brought to the US. We grew up in a loving home with loving parents, and all of our needs met. Our childhood was ideal in many ways and I grew feeling up very blessed. Our adopted mother loved us so deeply, and our father was always a provider, stable, loving father.

“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.

Throughout life, most people are bullied for what they do, their size, or even what they look like. For me it was all three; I was always bullied for how big of a kid I was, was always bullied for really being by myself a lot of the times. I used to sit at home and be inside my room and wait for dinner, come out and eat, and go back to my room. There were times when I went outside and played, but then the neighbors would always yell and complain. As elementary school ended, I started getting bigger, and the bullying kept getting worse and worse.

Growing up has been an adventure for me, being raised in a family that cares and loves each other I have been taught the importance that one can create for another. From vacations around the world to community services around the city my family and I have experienced it together. I have been raised by a Mexican mother where the cultural values are different from the traditional American lifestyle, in where she lets me stay on a longer leash unlike the helicopter parents that my friends had growing up. This made me to stay on top of things without being asked to, or looking after my own grades and missing assignments. When it came to manners, that was a completely different story. Both my parents heavily reinforced the need of being polite,

On a calm and ordinary day in the summer of 1996 I ventured down a path that would radically and irrevocably alter the course of my destiny. I took this path blindly with my head held high, joy in my heart and tears in my eyes. In an ever evolving and dynamic world, change is inevitable and unstoppable. Life is constantly propelling us to make decisions which in turn can mold our hearts, thoughts and our actions. Most changes are simple and have little influence over the ultimate direction of a person’s life. Then, there are changes that can turn your life upside-down and send you on a new course entirely. This was one of those moments. This moment was so profound, so life altering, so gratifying, but most of all miraculous. The day that changed my life forever was

Music has grown to become prominent and a powerful part of my life. Consequently, it’s influence for good I believe; any sound can be music! Picture stringing together moments like flowers braided in strands, encompassing the circle of your life. Music not only is a most trusted friend and confidant; it brings an important majestic illustrious joy in my days as I live and move through life. Personally it encourages, builds, moves, motivates, invites the spirit, enlightens, and strengthens. Music with all its wonder invites a passion drawing on the sounds of all the creations of God. However, music also makes us feel like doing something fantastically important, even when we might be lying on the cozy delicate ultra-soft

As you drive into the city everything becomes darker. The blue skies and sunshine disappear. Anything that brings even the hope of joy doesn’t come anywhere near the filthy city. Thick black fog fills every crack and crevice. In the city everything is manmade, the trees, the roses, and even the house pets. I live in this fog filled city. My parents have told me stories about before the fog. Stories about the snow. How every snowflake was different. How each snowflake was imperfect. Everything and everyone is perfect nowadays. Each building is the same height, each child as perfect as can be. Everyone is in constant competition with each other to reach a higher standard of perfection. Because of this nothing is left untouched by humans. Not

A quote from my first mentor, "Make each day your masterpiece." A thought that ran that blew through my mind yesterday as I was perusing an article from the Harvard News about the top books listed by professors. He inspired me through tragedy to pick myself up and begin a new chapter in my life. You see, prior to being a high school student in charge of the foreign language club, I was homeschooled. Throughout middle school I was tutored in general studies. It happened when I was constantly getting picked on in school, the bullying got so bad that I stopped going to school and my school hired a tutor for me to learn. I love learning, I was actually known to be the go to kid for questions in mathematics. But I was deprived a well education from

In 2002, I was born in China. I was abandoned by my birth parents in the Hunan Province, in Yiyang City; they left me in front of a community center. I lived in an orphanage there for first fifteen months of my life. In 2003, I was adopted by my mother, who was single at the time. My mother lived in New York City in a townhouse on East 73rd Street. During my initial two and a half years in New York, I often begged my mother for a father. My dream for a father came true. At age four, my mother got married, and we moved into my new father’s apartment, across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

A usual morning started with my mom saying, “My little sun, get up! It’s time to do great things!” When I finally opened my eyes, I saw that beautiful face in the lights of the sun. A lady, who always entranced me with her beautiful smile and clear green eyes, was unusually nervous. I stood up from my bed, and the next thing I noticed was beautiful black uniform on my chair. Having an idea to what that uniform would lead, I decided to pretend there was nothing to worry about. My mom said she was going to make a breakfast for me, so she went out of my room. It seemed to be a usual morning, but everything was unusual. A few minutes later I decided that my breakfast must be 100% ready. Walking down stairs of our huge house, I saw my parents quietly

We all have times or moments in our lives where we learn something. We learn our life lessons through trial and tribulation, and through happy times alike. I have had several moments like this, when you learn something through an experience of yours. Some of these moments were happy moments, others were sad. These incidences are sort of like tests, and an opportunity to learn from our mistakes, or to learn from others’ mistakes along the way. One time in my life when I learned one of these lessons was when I was in second grade. I had just moved to Oklahoma from Texas, but I was not nervous about going to a new school. I had always had no trouble making friends wherever I went. I did not expect to be met with challenges that no second grader should ever have to encounter; racism and being told that my friends could not play with me because I was a girl.

I’ve said them waking up from a great night’s sleep, when I had plans I was really looking forward to. I’ve also said them when I slept terribly and was anxious about something, or had a task coming up I flat didn’t want to do.

The clicking of my mother's' new heels to the steam coming off of my fathers' new coat jacket after being steamed had me thinking that something was going on for them tonight. But also pondering about why I wasn't getting dressed up as fancy as them. I wondered if they were hiding something from me again. The last time that happened, I ended up having a new living being in my house and it turns out that they keep telling me that it is my new brother... or whatever that means. Although tonight, the last time I saw him was when his babysitter picked him up. All I thought at that moment is that I was the happiest girl alive and that I could spend the entire night with my parents alone, but it turned out that it wasn't the case at all. In the end, it turned out that I was left with my older cousin, Kelly, in a gigantic house along with being locked-in.

Mr. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “The most difficult paths often lead to the most beautiful destinations”. (Emerson, 2007, p.213) The happiest, most memorable day of my life was also the hardest day of my life. That day started with a regular doctor’s appointment, then the Labor and Delivery Ward, and finishing with a happy and healthy baby boy. A regular day, a regular appointment nothing out of the ordinary; but some how, out of what had become a weekly routine, an unimaginable nightmare happened. Then a hospital, the Labor and Delivery Ward, becomes a prison that I couldn’t escape. Finally, through it all a happy and healthy baby gets to go home. From the beginning to the end, this is a memory that I love but can send a shiver down my spine, a reminder that no matter how hard a person can try, no one has complete control.