College Admissions Essay: The Force That Changed My Life

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

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

Have you ever wished that you could wake up with not a worry in the world? I know I have but life hits hard doesn’t it? As a young child in elementary school or even not in school yet life is easy I would say. The kids don’t have too much on their plate, all they are worried about is nap time, snack time, recess time you know fun thing. Then suddenly you grow up! Remember all the fun times you had? Now it’s all about work time, class time, dinner time heck half the time we don’t even know what bed time is. Although it all may seem scary and hard there are ways to balance school, work and family.

In tenth grade, I embarked on the longest, most challenging, and most rewarding experience of my life. This experience requires hard, daily efforts in order to improve, and, most of the time, you’re not in the mood to do it. They challenge me mentally, push me physically, and exhaust me emotionally to perform the best I can. And the purpose of these long, exhausting sessions? To push myself to the limit for a little under 20 minutes. This is cross country.

Have you ever been so overwhelmed with life that you feel like you're on your own, and have no one to turn to? Or have you ever been caught in a situation where you knew you were doing wrong, however you still continued to do it anyways? Well I was caught up in both of these situations. I found myself contemplating where to go, and what to do.

It all started on a day that is very much blurry to me now. It was in junior high not the most fun years of school for anybody I assume. Who knew it would be the day I got arrested I was only in the ninth grade. I didn’t expect that could ever possibly happen to me especially in ninth grade. And who knew it would later have an impact and influence some of my life choices.

Over the course of a person’s life, there are events that play a vital role in shaping his or her characteristic. These events could be momentarily, or take many years to happen; regardless, it is what we gain from those moments that are important. All my life, I’ve learned how to be optimistic and adaptive to everything that I will encounter.

I have always believed that most of the time the cruelest people are the ones who have endured the most pain. I have also always believed there is no reason it has to be that way. There is so much to be said for a person who has received so much pain and hurt from the world, and yet gives back nothing but love and happiness. That is the person I aspire to be, and that I believe everyone else should aspire to be also.

I believe in searching for new perspectives. Time is incessant, and each day provides the opportunity for a fresh experience. I fear an unstoppable routine, knowing the world could offer me more than what is in my vicinity. With a constant restraint for viewing only what is in my reach, it is impossible to become the person I am destined to be.

I heard rumors of what life would provide which were spoken by the endless waves of the New Jersey coastlines after they forced me down, under the salty waters and it was my personal duty to rise up again before I was swept away- a lecture on getting up when life pushed its members down. It was a lesson that life itself is tough, and resilience is required for advancement and that example has always followed me in life. I had also dared to follow a trail with my older brother up the Appalachian mountains while in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The higher up we went, the thinner the trail that ran along a cliff’s edge and the more ice coated the rocks underneath us. My brother was a gritty boy who never showed any affection and often treated

A mentor of mine once shared with me this quote from Bradley Whitford that has always stuck by me: “Infuse your life with action. Don't wait for it to happen. Make it happen. Make your own future. Make your own hope. Make your own love. And whatever your beliefs, honor your Creator, not by passively waiting for grace to come down from upon High, but by doing what you can to make grace happen... yourself, right now, right down here on Earth.” I think about it often when I am working, doing homework, or just working on a home project. It is one of those things that doesn’t leave once it’s there. I try my best to fulfill that quote, even if I don’t always succeed. When I was doing research on universities, my mother told me that she had graduated

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.