I have high aspirations upon receiving a diploma and I feel that your school is an excellent select to reach my fullest potential. It is more to me than simply experiencing the college life as I will be the first person in my family to attend any type of college and I hope to make my supporting family proud. I come from a Spanish speaking family thus I have learned to speak English and Spanish fluently. I am honored to possess these abilities because it allows me to maneuver with ease among the various communities and also break the language barriers acting as an interpreter. Due to various factors my parents and family member were not able to finish their education to compensate for the lack of education my family proceeded through life with hard work. This hard work has been a value instilled to us through the generations. With this I have surpassed obstacles that many of my peers doubted I would ever overcome. Graduating college is another goal I will accomplish to prove many wrong.
Througout my academic career, I have learned as much about myself as I have learned in school, whether it be from high school, to community college, and my journey that lead me to Arizona State University. I can honestly say as my parents did, that I wish I would’ve tried harder in high school. I scraped by taking the easiest classes possible and choosing to take the easy way out. Looking at my transcript makes me cringe, because I know that I am capable of so much more. I wish that I would’ve taken the honor classes and tried so that I would’ve been able to apply to a college other than a community college. My time at Mohave Community College was a significant improvement from my experience in high school. Not only did I graduate with near honors (3.49), I had made the Dean’s list and Honors List for three out of my four semesters, the first time this had happened since middle school. I had never felt more motivated and focused in my life. I was taking 16 credits and prospering and had a balance of work, school, and a social life. I had never felt more proud of my self in my life. As I sit here and write this paper, I question my time here at ASU as I try to plan the nex chapter of my life. I wonder where I am supposed to go and what I am supposed to do.School for the first time had become a priority, however, it began to consume my life. I would spend hours and hours on end doing homework and studying, and although there seems to be nothing wrong with this, I wouldn’t go
Embedded in my psyche as a child was the fact that college was my only option after high school. This parental sentiment was synonymous with a phrase as simple as “tie your shoes.” For me, high school graduation would be a standard occurrence, but my college graduation would be celebrated. The college I would attend required thoughtful consideration because it will be my rite of passage. When I dreamt of my intended college, I knew it would be set in a beautiful city, bustling with energy, and full of consciously creative people. I didn’t know if my university campus would be urban or suburban, but I knew it would spark excitement, fulfill my need to connect with a global community, and offer several opportunities to propel me to the top of
We can all recall that time between graduating high school and beginning our freshman year of college. For many people, myself included, going to college meant a chance to finally escape that small town that we called home. The summer began to come to a close, and we could hardly contain our excitement to finally start our new adventure. College began, classes and homework took over our lives, and we made new friends and experienced many memories with them. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, right? While most of my newfound classmates opted to go back to their home towns for the summer, I've decided to stay in my cozy college town, much to my parents disdain. It is wonderful, yet bittersweet to not have to go back to that boring
Working your way through college can be a daunting journey to say the least. There have been a myriad of challenges to overcome, both foreseen and unexpected. A year and half ago I decided to follow my dream of moving to California and obtaining a degree in engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. The decision to follow my passion for science invoked both fear and excitement within myself. I didn’t have the support of many friends and family, as I am originally from the East Coast, many of them seen my moving to California as an unrealistic and unnecessary goal. Despite my own self-doubts and the discouragement of my family I made the decision to relocate to California. That decision manifested the most significant chapter in my life to date. In an extremely short period of time I had to find an apartment, in the Bay Area, one of the most competitive and costly rental markets in the country as well as enroll in school, apply for aid and secure stable
My entire life is plight, yet I always make the best of situations. I am an optimist, but I do consider myself a realist as well. At the end of my sophomore year, leading into my junior year of high school, I rested in more than 8 habitations. Stability was elusive, but I craved it like a frightened infant seeking security in his mother. Living as a vagrant student, my only choice was to move schools each time the area that I stayed at changed. Additionally, I attended three different high schools, each from three different districts; rules, people, and teaching methods were variant, of course. Fortunately, there have been positive outcomes from this, such as adaptation and open-mindedness. After going through a rough 20 months with my family,
The way I imagine it, no matter what age or stage you’re at in life, looking toward your future is a daunting task; which is how I currently feel. Sitting in the bedroom of my parent’s house, thinking about the future that lies ahead of me, I’m simply taken back. The days of the calendar come and go, a semester of school ends while another begins; life transpires before you like a Broadway play. But sometimes we have the opportunity to step back, and take a look at our own life and where we stand within it. This moment came to me recently while sitting in class, my professor, speaking of our future, told us to “wrap your soul around it.”
Probably the most important turning point in my life happened in 1992. At this time, I was eight years old and living in Williamsport Pennsylvania. My dad had a well-paying job at Anchor Darling Valve Company, I was attending a parochial school and I thought life was just great. At the time we lived in a large four-story house with a separate three-story garage and an acre of forest for a backyard. I had a ten-speed bicycle and I would often go bicycling with my friends at the nearby cemetery. No-one ever objected to this, in fact people would often have picnics at the top of this hill at the cemetery. I guess the only things I ever complained about were the constant music
“When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you will be successful.” These are the words of Eric Thomas, my inspiration, and that of many others. The starting of high school directly coincides with a change in my life; nonetheless, of which both come to be what I call my greatest milestone. From this milestone, I have led a better, more impressive path than I would have if I these words and the many more that continue to inspire me had fallen on the deaf ears of my past self. One of the most important parts of this milestone is the why I started seeking an adjustment; from this why I realized what was holding me hostage to the dreams I endlessly longed for and why they would to me always remain fantasies of a what if lifestyle. There have been many instances in which this refining of my life has benefited me; however, none compare to how far hitting this milestone has assisted me in my school life.
On March 31st, this year, I received my acceptance letter from Berklee College of Music, one of the world’s best contemporary music schools. I was passionate about music since the age of nine, and this passion drove me towards pursuing a career in music. Despite of my family’s urge for me to take the American standardized tests, so that I could apply to universities all across the United States, I remained true to my conviction of applying only to a music school. Thus, my options were few in number. But a (insert metaphor here) of relief struck me when I received my acceptance letter from Berklee. However, looking at the price tag of attending Berklee, I began facing conflict within myself and with my family about attending. Finally, after a lot of thought, I decided not to attend the renowned music school in Boston. My decision to not attend Berklee was a huge set back, but had many advantages and opened doors to many more opportunities.
The University of Colorado Boulder was where I started my collegiate journey a little less than three years ago. Although I have enjoyed the time I have spent in Colorado, the realization that it wasn't a conducive environment for me had set in from the instant I walked into my first class. Our generation has been deemed the "entitled" generation, the generation that can't work for what they want to accomplish, the ones that can't coach themselves out of a bad situation. Having these pains and stereotypes stuck in my mind has deterred me from pursuing other courses of action. Deluding myself into thinking that I held "the grass is greener" mentality. I fought through what I knew was the wrong place for me to be, just to try to make it work.
Climbing on a boulder after a day of hiking I say, “Man, I wish I had a camera.” My counselor, Katia immediately responds, “Abby, just live in the moment, take it all in.” I had a rare moment of extreme clarity; I felt the truth of those words. I am part of the first group of of students born in the new millenia. , I have always had instant communication. From texting to FaceTiming, it was hard to get away l. Pocketing your phone, you wonder who is trying to talk to you, what did someone just post on Facebook, what meme did your best friend just send you? There is always something going on, which is understandable, but, sometimes, you need a break. The sleep-away YMCA camp I was sent to for the first time when I was ten, allowed me to take a break, and escape from “real life.” (Also let’s not use the words ‘real life,’
As a first-generation American I knew that I was given opportunities not many others could so easily receive. I was surrounded by so much diversity and entertainment from around the world, Japan just so happened to be the one to capture my heart and interested first. From that crucial point of when my life began to unravel, it had become a goal of mine to study the language and go to the country, I just wasn’t sure how I would be able to achieve such a thing without having the proper tools readily available to me. Japanese entertainment, food and brochures had become my main source of education but I knew that it would not be enough.
Since I was little, it’s always been a dream of mine to go to college. I never knew where I wanted to go though. In February of 2015, I was accepted to the University of Tennessee, into the Interior Design program. I had everything picked out from my roommates to dorm stuff to classes and everything else in between ready for school, but only that was keeping me from moving in was the day we all dread, move-in day.Within that day, I would realize I was going to be on my own in a whole new place without a family member to go to with problems. I was going to have to be completely independent.
Recently starting college at Virginia Commonwealth University, I’ve found myself adjusting to this city life a little off putting. I’m not accustomed to the college life I believed to have had all figured out, but once again I’m back at this blank slate I keep finding myself encountering. Maybe its Richmond, maybe it's VCU, or the restricting dormitory rules, rules I’m not use to, maybe it's the part where I’m away from my family 24/7 or the simple fact that I just don't like change. I don't know the exact causation of why my advancements to give VCU a chance are failing but I sure can guess some of the correlations that I’ve given some thought since I’ve been a student at this establishment. I believed this change to be different. I chose VCU and VCU chose me. So why the doubt? I know myself, don't I? I know what I want in life so what makes