College Admissions Essay: The Legacy Of My Life

I want to make my legacy last for multiple generations, as well as being a source of inspiration for my future

At the age of two, my grandfather had lost his long and arduous battle with lung cancer and passed away. Since he withdrew from transitory life when I was still quite young, I had little recollection of him. As a result, my grandmother gave me one of his prized possessions as a legacy to remember him, a medal he received for being the “Best Secretary” of Kiwanis Club. In a similar fashion, I plan to create a legacy of my own to leave to UCI; however, a legacy is not only about a person leaving her awards and achievements, but also what she has learned through her experience gaining them. My legacy to UCI will not be a shiny medal similar to the one bestowed to me by my grandfather, but rather, it will be what allowed him to receive that medal, his diligence and passion towards the organization.

I was born on September the 7th of 1994 in the San Francisco Bay area, not very far from Silicon Valley. The year I was born President Bill Clinton signed the North American Free Trade agreement with Mexico and Canada which helped to stimulate economic growth about twenty years ago. Living in California made my Dad the open-minded liberal that he is today, and because of his love for discussing politics I was raised listening to him have friendly debates with my very republican grandpa over every economic issue from climate change to healthcare. For about a year and a half after I was born my parents, older brother Daniel, golden retriever sandy, and I all lived in a classic colonial style home just south of Santa Clara Valley. My father was the breadwinner in our family working as an engineer for Portola Packaging. A job he was offered not long after graduation from a small private engineering school in upstate New York called Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. My mother also worked full time but as a loan underwriter. After being offered a great relocation package by Portola to the east coast my parents quickly decided to pack up our house and move to Pittsburg Pennsylvania. In addition to being closer to our extended families they also believed that raising a family in Pennsylvania was far

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.

Everyone has a legacy and it is that legacy that can change a person’s life whether it is minor or drastic. A legacy starts young and the way you are towards people and what kind of impact you leave in their lives is really important. Legacy isn’t just about leaving what you earned but also what you learned behind. What I hope to accomplish in my life is to be reliable, strong, independent, trustworthy, and good natured. During my life there will be some ups and downs especially while I will move on from school, a new career, moving on to new friends, and in some cases leave some behind. When I think about moving on with my life I hope that when those people think of me that they smile and they remember all the good times we had. I hope that they think of me as someone that left an impact on their life.

“Your deeds are your monuments” was said by Mr. Browne, a character in Wonder by R.J. Palacio. This quote means that your deeds and misdeeds are what people will remember you by when you are gone. My friends and classmates will remember me more from what I do and not what I say because my actions will speak louder than my words. Words are meaningless without action and we must do loving deeds towards others in order for others to remember us in a positive way. If we wish for the world to honor us, we must act lovingly and kindly towards everyone we encounter through our endeavors. The only way for our generation to get into the history books of the future is through the undertakings we do today, tomorrow, and in the future.

The city of New York is where I reside, mostly when I'm not flying around the world in my elegant, exclusive, exorbitant jet; I'd always mention with a wink. I'm living the dream. Waking up to the warmth of the sun as my alarm, the view of the alluring country from my apartment and Mr. Awares, my butler the man who dresses me... haha okay, I’m not that lazy. Where do I see myself 10 years from where I stand now? A question I could never answer until 10:03pm or was it 10:05pm? Well, who knows, I fell asleep.

My legacy hasn’t yet started but it is in the process of making a change. My legacy was tried by so many people who wanted to change the critical criticism that people make. This is called racism. I would like to change the world by making everyone care for one another, no matter if they’re, black or white etc. So many people have done this, and a good handful have made changes. But there is still hatred.

So here I sit at the "Doubletree Hotel" in Syracuse New York, as I go through

As far back as I can remember, I knew I loved laying under cars or trucks and getting dirty. Whether is was with my dad, my uncle or my grandpa, I loved working on cars or trucks. They would say to me, “Chris, I’m going to work on the car, want to help?” and I would get so excited! My early childhood was filled with watching and learning how things under the hood worked and how to fix them. I know that my family wants to leave an amazing legacy behind for me and my family. That’s why they show me all the things that they know. The meaning of a legacy is how someone would want to be remembered.The Legacy I want to leave behind is that I was funny and caring for my family.

"Many will travel to hear you speak". I saw this on a fortune cookie from Panda Express during a time when I was unsure on what I wanted to be and what my talents were. I always had a passion for public speaking, but this seemed out of reach — especially since most of my family members only favored medical related professions. However, I know that I have another path to follow.

4. Legacy: leaving the world with something that can remind people about you, something about you, what you did or what you are known for.

As I open my eyes to the beginning of a new day, all the memories and regrets hit me like a crashing wave. My shattered life, the reminding of my sin, and the unknown plans ahead make me realize of how unbalanced and the lack of control my life has.I've grown weary of lacking control and letting stress take me over. I've grown weary of living my life far from my God and making decisions without him. College is another art of my life I don't want to take for granted, but to look forward to.

I was motivated to come to college because of how I grew up watching my parents struggling. My parents immigrated from Mexico before I was born, the older I get the more I realize the immense sacrifices they have made for me. It’s very important to me that I give myself the future that they fought for me to have. Not only did I know their struggle was for me, I also knew that the only way to not struggle like they did was to continue my education and better myself. I grew up in a small american town in the southern states, as a person of color I realized I had to work much harder than others to succeed half as much as they do. I was motivated by how people underestimated me. I was motivated to come to college because of myself. I get to

In my imagination, my legacy isn’t great. My legacy is not written across textbooks and it’s not something people will forever cherish or hate. If I continue to live the way I have, I’ll be a normal person, and my legacy will only exist to those who I was close to. The best type of legacy may not be one that makes every know your name, but one that makes you