College Admissions Essay: What Makes Me Who I Am

I was born in Cleveland, Ohio on August 9th, 1999. My mom says that I tried to make my entrance into the world earlier than expected and she wasn’t going to allow it. But I arrived on August 9th, head full of hair. When I was younger I was the best child out of all my sisters, they would scream, shout, and cry whenever they were out. It did not matter where we went I would never act up. Basketball games, grocery shopping, and long car rides. I always slept through the night, basically I was an angel. She said my favorite snap was graham crackers, especially the cinnamon. I always ate good, she would sit 4 of them on the table and I would destroy them and ask for more in about 5 minutes.

One of my most cherished thoughts is that all goals are in grasp if you can work hard enought and long enought you can achieve them. I also believe with dedication any person can reach what they dreamed about.

What makes me unique? This is a question that many people may ask themselves over the years. Upon pondering upon it, I realized that a lot of us our the same, especially in a school setting. We wake up, eat breakfast, go to all of our classes and go home. Even extra curricular have an abundant amount of people attending. So what makes us unique? Looking around and thinking about students, nothing obvious stands out. So I started looking at commonalities. Most people love gossip, so rumors are always a hot topic in a highschool. Upon thinking about rumors, it really shows how much people are judged by these stigmas made by other people. What makes me different from other people is my ability to never believe rumors.

A great man once said, “In order to succeed, we must first believe we can”, this great man is Gandhi. I’m not sure how many times I’ve heard I can’t finish school, I can’t go after my dream, I can’t be who I believe I need to be because people like me don’t succeed. Maybe you personally believe that, maybe someone close to you has said that to you, or maybe it’s just the statistics in the environment you’re in. No one but you knows your situation, but it’s also your choice how you want to change that. Want some examples on who prospered? How about Liz Murray, Oprah Winfrey, and Marshall Mathers III? These three people grew up in situations where they should’ve thought, “maybe I won’t be getting out of here, and maybe I can’t go to college, or become famous.” I will be talking about these three people and how they achieved their goal. How they overcame the odds that were thrown at them, and show you that you too can succeed.

What makes me unique is my diverse background, attention to detail, and enthusiasm to learn. My mother and father had me when they were sixteen years old. Both parents ended up dropping out of high school, and my father was a well-known gang member from Norwalk, California. My grandparents decided to raise me, so I would have a decent childhood. I grew up in the City of Pomona, California. While growing up, I was exposed to various artistic expressions, different music genres, and various cultures. After high school, I ended up enlisting in the United States Marine Corps. I served on active duty for seven years and four months and received an Honorable Discharge. While on active duty, I traveled to exotic countries such as Okinawa, Mainland Japan, South Korea, Australia, Kuwait, and Iraq. After my military service, I traveled to the Philippines. I can honestly say that I enjoy experiencing, and learning, from different cultures. This experience has allowed me to better understand and engage various people within my community, my work, and at school. Another characteristic that makes me unique is my attention to detail.

What if I were to ask you how do you identify yourself? Not the way society or the world identifies you. What makes you, the person you are? Would you instantly have an answer or would you need time to think about it? I asked myself this same question and the first thing that came to mind was what society would define “me” as. A New Yorker, a heterosexual Hispanic Spanish speaking female, and person with pigmented skin. That does not define who I am as a person some of those are clear characteristics anyone can see. So then what makes me who I am? How about the person I am on the inside, personality, the way I think and my actions towards others? My family, the era I grew up in and my experiences in life make me who I am.

It all started during my freshman year of high school, the most regretful year of my life. As a young fourteen-year-old girl, I always had a hard time following the rules, I had no idea the kind of year I would have ahead of me. Getting good grades was never my top priority when it came to high school. It was having fun. At that time of my life, having fun meant skipping class, making friends who influenced me in a bad way, and sneaking out at unbelievable hours. What I snuck out to do was forbidden in my religion, I honestly don’t know what I was thinking or why I ever thought it was okay. The first time I was at my friend’s house at a pretty late hour; my mother forgot to pick me up so I called a friend, he was someone I knew who would

In my life I have two “dream jobs” I know that sounds pretty weird. I have a realistic dream job and a more out there job in mind. I use this “backup plan” so I won't be disappointed and feel like I failed myself. I would realistically like to be a lawyer but my true dream is becoming an actor.

The person I am not yet exists somewhere in the future, waiting for me to mature in wisdom and knowledge, and is motivating me to keep progressing in who I am now to my desired level of success. In order for me to understand who I want to become, I must know who I am now. I am a person who is caring, knowledgeable, and hopeful. These characteristics of my persona help me better grasp who I want to become in the near future. The type of person I aspire to be is somebody who is wise, successful, and happy. I hope to reach these three things by advancing my education and opening my horizons to new things and a brand new environment. I aspire to reach these progressions and gain my strength in my profession and the people around me.

The attributes that I distinctly possess and make me a well-rounded student is my desire and willingness to learn and the ability to keep challenging myself. I believe these attributes help contribute to my success in the classroom, student body, and the Air Force Academy as a whole because I enjoy being challenged whether it is physically or mentally. I believe lifelong learning is an important part of my life, no matter what challenges life brings me.

Usually I am sarcastic and blunt in nature, I usually don't hold my tongue back with people because people do deserve the truth and not the sugar coated version of it. Being who I am make it seem like I'm this mean person when I really am not. Sometimes I am not this talkative person because there is a time to talk and a time to just be quiet and listen so I know what is asked of me. Now combining sarcastic, blunt, and not so talkative can make seem like I'm standoffish at times and I know that I can be at times. Those closest to me know that I am the one to tell it like it and know that I'm a listener rather be the one that talks. Even with this perception of me when I participate in clubs and school activities usually people see that this is who and that at times I do have my moments. What this shows about me is that for the most part I am the type of person that rather stay to myself at times and that if you want the truth I'll give it to you, I am a simple person.

There are over seven billion people that live on earth, over six hundred different languages, and about eighty

What am I passionate about? I am passionate about being true to myself and not letting external forces influence who I am, what I like, and my potential. My choices in extra-curricular activities and sports are not typical compared to most students at my high school, especially the girls. I have learned to not allow others’ expectations discourage me from the passions I want to pursue.

Who am I? That’s hard to say since there is no clear definition of what makes a person. I could be my occupations: a student, dancer, and swimmer. Maybe I’m my emotions like happy, sad, and angry. I could be where I live, or what my goals are and how I plan to reach them. Most likely, I’m a compilation of all of these because people are complex and are not two dimensionally made. Where I am, how I act, and what I do make me who I am and I would not be Veronica without living in this house in Portland, Texas and having aspirations that seem to be more impossible than seizing the moon. I am Veronica, but I can also be whatever I need to be depending on where I live, what I do, and how I change my goals.

I have been given the task to reflect on what makes me, me. As I sit back and truly reflect and appreciate the path that I have walked and the trials and tribulations which make up that path.