College Admissions Essay: The Force That Changed My Life

Life normally doesn’t go the way you plan when you’re young. When I was little, I figured that when I was at the age of graduation I would be totally prepared to go off my own. As I sit and think about the topic of how my life is going, several thoughts pour into my mind. First, I think of how lucky I am. The past two years could’ve changed my life because of bad health. Through weeks and months of hospitals stays and hours spent in the doctor’s office and in the emergency room, I’ve come out lucky and I have almost returned to good health. Second, I think of those friends who I thought would be there for my whole life that are no longer a part of my life. I also look to the people who I never thought would be there by my side and realize

I was able to apply this mindset to my education, as well. Attending an accelerated math camp had always been a dream for me. Therefore, when I was in possession of the test, I pondered over it for days, thinking of better solutions to achieve the answer. There were definitely days when I felt like it was too difficult, for there were questions I simply did not even know how to begin to answer. However, I pushed through and I submitted the Test. Soon after, I was awarded the American Math Scholarship for the camp of my dreams.

“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.

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.

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.

From the very first moment I sat on the piano bench and touched the black-and-white keys, I instantly felt in my heart that my future would be irretrievably bonded to this magical instrument.

Martin Luther King once said “If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, whatever you do, never stop moving”. When I first read this quote I wasn't able to comprehend it's meaning, after all I was in the third grade. One thing was clear, my admiration for his courage and tenacity to stand tall in the face of fear. That admiration transcended into my own life when I faced the departure of my father, the reality of the poverty my family lived in and my dark history with concussions.

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.

“Neha! Neha! Look at the Olympic gold medal I won! I used my pancake serve, just like you said!” exclaimed a faintly familiar voice behind me. I quickly turned around to be greeted by an ecstatic, bouncing girl radiating joy and excitement, proud of defeating the other teams in her bracket. It took me a few seconds, but it was Mimi, my special athlete unified doubles partner from the Special Olympics of Georgia of previous year. I couldn’t believe Mimi had remembered me and even recollected what I told her. That one butterfly-effect moment sparked a new trajectory in my life.

Throughout my childhood I grew up with encouraging parents who constantly reminded me that I could grow up to be anything I wanted as long as I tried hard enough. They told me that I could do something tremendous such as colonizing mars, which as a kid seemed like something I could do. Progressing from elementary school to middle school was when I realized the world was vast; becuase of the substantial competition, I found myself facing the truth, there are limits on growing up to be anything. Tying back to the idea that if you try hard wnough you can become anything you want- I find that to be true- but only for those who are capible to rise up and conquer the raid which we refer to as life. For me, I was not able to do such a viorous task. However, most people are not able to do so as well. If they could, you would see a race where everyone has a 5.0 Grade point average. My goal was no longer to be something out of

It was a dark and cold fall evening; the gym was packed and everyone was looking at me. It was my first taekwondo tournament. The pressure was on. I then realized that I’ve practiced for this day for months and I know that I could do it right, so I started to relax. This was the first time I had an immense amount of pressure on me and I realized that this made me who I am today this one night changed my life forever. These months that I trained for was tiresome it required a lot of confidence and self discipline and the constant pushing of the master and instructors to become something better.

Nelson Mandela once said, “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.” Moments in our life shape who we become; our character, our thinking, who we are and who we want to be. How we live our life is so much more than going through the motions, it is about how we change other’s lives and how other’s change our life. I have been fortunate enough to grow up with astonishing people who have changed who I am and I have also had so many opportunities that have shaped who I am today.

Everyone has something that has helped them go through life with a sense of purpose and happiness. Some people have a safe haven, some people have a special person, and some people have a special pastime. However, the luckiest of people have all three, and I consider myself truly blessed to be one of those people. My religion has been a longstanding outlier in my life, because it has proved to always fulfill my life with serenity and happiness. Growing up, I was not always the star child in any given place. I acted out in school, I was stubborn to my parents at home, and I did things I knew were not okay in life. However, after a transformation of myself through my faith in religion, I can confidently say that I now have so much to give to Rutgers University. Although I was not always this way, I now hold self confidence, determination, a hard work ethic, and plenty of honor in my school life.