College Admissions Essay: The Decision That Changed My Life

Throughout our lives, we make choices and decisions that change our lives and others in positive and/or negative ways. It is these decisions that determine how we will be remembered, our legacy. When I graduate high school, I want to be remembered by the qualities that define me as a person and the good I’ve done for others. Throughout the years, I’ve been often been described by my family and friends as bold, confident, outgoing, and hardworking. Not only are these characteristics important to me, but they are important to my family, as they want to leave a legacy in the name of our family. The qualities I have exhibited are the same qualities past family members have shown and are remembered for. Through always putting out my best effort when it comes to work and school, I have shown my dedication and discipline. Through doing what I can to help others, I have displayed my commitment to world peace, the betterment of the world as a whole, and the yearning to make a difference in someone’s life other than my

Of all of the people I have encountered in my life so far, my father is the one to leave the greatest impact. I remember my dad would always ask me “ do you want to be the boss or be bossed? ” These word are what drives me to work hard and try my best in everything that I do. Maybe it was the fact that I have seen him grow so much over the years that his words and actions have affected me so much today. Through these words and actions I have been able to think of what i want to do and where I want to be in life after I graduate high school.

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.

“You know Kwesi, I only came to this country with forty bucks in my pocket and the clothes on my back and look where I am today.” -- words from my father I thought to myself the first time I saw a rifle plummet down to my head.

In my life, just as everyone else’s, we win and lose some battles, but every once and awhile, we lose a big battle. When I was a sophomore I had tried out for the volleyball team and unfortunately I did not make it. While this was a big loss for me, I soon learned that I would come across a huge achievement.

It was halfway through my sophomore year when my mom and two older sisters sprints down the stairs and storms out the house. Confused and worried, continuing to curl my hair. My mom walks back in towards me with a gruesome look in her eyes. With so many ideas already running through my head, I was notified that my grandmother was killed by my uncle. I cannot even describe my sense of emotion at the time. Confusion, hatred, and hopelessness all merged into one. And all I could think about was just giving up on everything. That is until my pastor said these words that I will always remember; “You're going to get through this, just have faith.” I took in those words and began to put his words into action

I grew up with very little confidence hardly looked people in the eye and never really spoke to anyone. My parents signed me up for endless sport teams in hopes that I’d gain confidence. I soon came across the sport Rowing. Out of all the races I’ve rowed, one especially changed my perspective on life. I realized that rowing is a place where I can be myself and no one will care, where I can scream at the top of my lungs and not get in trouble, or where I can wear mismatched outfits and no one will judge

I grew up in one of the wealthiest families in Minnesota and I was constantly reminded by the many family get togethers that were held at one of my uncle’s houses. You see, in my family the term wealth does not have the same definition as that of the one in the dictionary. Instead of riches and an abundance of money, I was born into a massive and united family that has supported each other throughout each others lives’. In truth, my family has been through extremely tough times financially, especially so in this last year with the loss of our main source of income, my mother’s job. With a roofing, seasonal working father and a year full of rain, there wasn’t much money to be spared for anything other than the essentials and even then those

What define me today are the rich experiences I have gathered over the years. Having been brought up in a

When life gives you the opportunity to be successful, you take it. So, out of every let down or every time you ever ask yourself, “was it worth it?”…, you say “definitely”, persevere, and continue seeking greatness. When I got that opportunity, I hit the ground running. I was hungry to become successful, hungry to graduate from college, hungry to even hear my dad say, “I’m proud of you”. Maybe I could have taken a different route but hey, growing up in a small town like Mullins SC with a high unemployment rate, don’t get you too far. I couldn’t find myself falling into that statistic. Working temp jobs, wondering how I would pay for college…, it was rough, definitely some humble beginnings. This by no means is a message for sympathy.

I have loved sports my whole life, even at a very young age. I would watch it with my dad, and he would take me to sports games. I loved to play basketball in the backyard when I was little. I have always loved cheering for my favorite sports team. I love watching the Minnesota Vikings and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Two years ago my dad surprised me with Vikings tickets. I was so happy to get to go to a game. Sports has always been a big part of my life. Two years ago, I got a new view of sports when I started umpiring.

Throughout my life I have battled against mayor struggles. Struggles which to some may seem like it was nothing and to others it may look like it`s a horrible situation. My entire childhood I lived in my home country of Puerto Rico, and honestly had never thought about the outside world. As time passed, the more crime progressed to levels that could never be seen in America. Crime had become unbearable and unescapable, so much that stepping on someone’s shoe on accident would lead to that person shooting you or threatening to do so. I as a child could see what was happening, and I could see how my countries problems had affected me greatly. Shootings right behind my house almost every day, 9-year-old`s bringing guns and pocket knives to school, people breaking in to my school to kill students selling drugs. The biggest problem that affected me was that my father, being a kind-hearted man, risked his life to save two students who were

A thick cloud of smoke fills the air, the crackle of the debri engulfed inside of the glowing orange flame, with heat radiating off an unstoppable fire. “The most powerful weapon on Earth is the human soul on fire” (Foch). Every fire has to start somewhere, either you build it yourself, or someone else drops the match that will ignite and develop the fire. Many people in my life have dropped the match to start the fire for me, such as encouraging me on the path to become an Eagle Scout. However, I have also gathered my own sticks and materials to grow my fire by successfully overcoming adversity in my life.

This forced me analyze my life thus far, to recognize my fears and what I hold dear. It’s only been sixteen (one month till seventeen) years in this carcass, but I already feel like an entire life has flown by. It was like a prerequisite of actually watching my life flash before my eyes. This project was nice to sit back and look at what a social mess I am (one of my most favorite pastimes). But also, only being sixteen, I don’t hold what many would believe to be true values, dreams, fears, and identity. Nevertheless, this is what I have so far.

Each of us has a different story, where we come from, who we are, who we want to be or what change we want to create in this world. Every person has a story to tell, some of them are good, others inspiring, and others hard to explain. Today I am going to share an experience that change my life completely not in a bad way, but made me grow as a person and keep going no matter how hard the things in life can get. We have to move on and find new beginnings, new ways to appreciate the things you already have but you cannot see.