College Admissions Essay: The Struggle That Changed My Life

Currently, as a recent graduate from the University of West Georgia I am working close with autistic adult’s where I help and monitor their behavior. Working for a company called Gentility I’ve found myself so in love with what I do. Helping another individual learn and make every day decisions no matter the circumstances really made me realize the value of opportunity and seizing that moment while in it. After graduating I had a lot of time on my hands, and job searching has not been the easiest task. And in my opinion, it’s definitely a job within itself and I’ve really had to grasp the definition of patience. Overall although college landed me some of the most difficult times in my life, it also held the most prized and best times of my

“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.

Every day, every one, in the world goes through a challenge, big or small. They affect and impact us significantly. They change the way we think, love, act, and approach or do things. Challenges either frighten or motivate us, but they are what make us the person we are today.

In the novel life lessons:two experts on death and dying teach us the mysteries of life and living. The novel talks about many lessons such as

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.

Rumi once said, "There is a voice that doesn't use words. Listen. " Determination is securing a goal with energy and maintaining focus. It keeps us centralizd on a purpose. Determination is the tool we use to hinder defeat.

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.

“Volunteers are the only human beings on the face of the earth who reflect this nation's compassion, unselfish caring, patience, and just plain loving one another.”

I was 10 years old when my father started drinking. Over the course of the next 3 years, I watched the man whom I grew up with and loved turn into a completely different person. A man once so warm, a man who always made people laugh, had changed before my eyes into a cold man, a man who now made people scared, and a man who I did not love. My mother eventually forced my father to leave and take his drinking with him when I was 13, and it was then that I had to become the man of the house. This transition was difficult, initially, as I didn’t fully understand the responsibilities that were being given to me.

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.

“Why are you so shy?” people always asked me. ”Shy”. It’s a word that followed me for as long as I can remember. In elementary school, all the kids would play sports during recess, but I’d stand by the side and look at them. At most of my parent-teacher conferences, teachers would use words like shy and quiet. But I was totally sick of it. ”I have to make some changes,” I said to myself.

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

What matters most to me is my 13 year old brother. I value him because while unexpected, his arrival brought my parents closer, unified our family unit, and inspired me to reevaluate my purpose in life. While I was 14 years old when my brother was born, our age gap highlighted the importance for me to not just lead my life as an example of good morals and character, but to also lead it with high ambitions and a track record of accomplishments. My brother, is our family's motivation to live fuller, dream bigger, and achieve greater success.