College Admissions Essay: The Journey That Changed My Life

My Life, I don't know what to do with it… it’s just a mess of this, and that, and the other. All of my life, Horrible, like I should just be tossed aside. I don’t have good grades, I’m not good at any sports. I’m not good at Anything…

As an African-American young woman from a small town in Albany, Georgia. 53% of African-American females actually graduated from high school and then there's the 28% of those same young women who actually proceeded to further their education at the collegiate level. Luckily, I didn't become that statistic but it wasn't easy, see my mother and father Shannon and Michael Wright always had big dreams for me. They call me their doctor, and "Miracle hands" because they know I'm going to become an Orthopedic Surgeon. However, along with life comes trails and tribulations especially when you have to become a young woman at a very early age. See my great-grandmother was in a very atrocious and traumatic car accident, causing paralysis from the cervical(neck) region up and the coxal(hips) region down. As a

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 the corner of my memory, there had lain a dilapidated, black sofa. The piece of furniture was my only loyal friend who had accompanied me throughout my numerous bouts of boredom. Although I had yearned to create a multitude of unbreakable friendships, fate was not on my side.

If there is anything I have learned from my personal experiences, that is that anyone can plant a seed, but not many take the initiative to water the plant for it to grow strong and tall. I am the product of divorced parents, both whom are Hispanic, have Mexican roots, and were brought at an early age to America to claim citizenship. Because of their divorce, I had to grow up faster than what I would have liked. I never once did receive child support from my biological father. In fact, it was my mother who worked to provide for all my needs. I was often left behind, not by choice but rather necessity. I went from babysitter to babysitter and some of them did not treat me well. In addition, they could not provide me with the motherly love that I so dearly wanted and sought. I did not comprehend the sacrifices that my mother was doing for me until I was about five years old.

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.

Perhaps the greatest hurdle I’ve come to face is accepting the fact that it’s okay to not always be...well, okay. Recognizing that asking for help didn't make me deficient, but rather displayed abundant courage, was the most monumental turning point of my life. Sometimes, in order to progress, you must stand still.

The human mind intrigued me since an early age. I was the child that would always ask why and how and I was never satisfied with the answer. I always stated my input and needed to solve any problems that were in front of me. My parents always thought I was a chatter-box that stuck my nose in everyone’s business, but I thought I was doing everyone a favor. As I got older, I was the friend everyone would go to about their problems. I enjoyed listening to their situations, just as much as I wanted to give my advice. Being the person that knew everything that was going on, and being able to have a say in what people did gave me satisfaction. When I took my personality test for my volleyball team my freshman year of college, it was not a shock that

Death swiftly swooped in, grabbing my aunt as she lay heavily sedated due to her medicine, which she had to reduce her abdominal pain; colon cancer is usually highly treatable and curable, but unfortunately the cancer had spread to other parts of her body. A year later, Death returned, this time taking my grandfather, three days after his surgery to drain blood around his brain from his stroke. Soon, the beginning of my adolescent years became filled with woes, and due to this I spent years in darkness. Unfortunately, keeping myself in the dark led to sorrowful thoughts. These thoughts manifested themselves in me, although there were times where the sweet, seductive dreams were tempting me to make it a reality; a stalemate war being fought

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.

I am the first born of two Hispanic immigrants with little or no formal education. I am surrounded by gunshots and the turbulent stream of violence prevalent in a troubled community, and to make matters worse, I am only seventeen years old. My path towards a four year university is littered with roadblocks and gaping potholes but lucky for me, upon my arrival to the U.S., my parents were able to enroll me in school nestled beside the sea due to its proximity to their work. I didn't take this into consideration throughout my childhood, but as time has passed, I realize how fortunate I am to be attending a school in such a community, one surrounded by wealth and opportunity.

My life has endured many changes at a personal level. As a young boy with a loving family and a solid formation, any person who knew me was aware of the type of respectful and mature boy i was. In contrast to the type of person i am, my academic maturity at that time proved otherwise. Throughout my life i have been known to be very open minded and respectful, but at the same time hard-headed. After many years of doing things with no specific purpose or goal, my father taught me my most important lesson that will never escape my thoughts. After a rough argument over my report card, he used the word mediocre to explain the type of person he thought I was becoming. At only 13 years of age I felt utter disappointment in myself and knew it was time for a change.

From the day I was born to the day I speak of, I had lived in the same square house painted with pastel hues. I had watched the same green- more yellowish- grass grow, the same dimmed streetlights separate me from any impermanent destination, and, of course, the same familiar faces aging as timely as mine.

“Don’t you dare run out there again,” my mom threatened. I scoffed, bouncing a marbled ball off my white walls to stay entertained - heaven forbid I play outside and hurt myself, or worse, dirty my pink dress. My mom was comfortable being confined to these walls cooking while my baby brother stacked blocks. When my dad pulled into the driveway after a long day at work, the perfect nuclear family was complete.