My College Admissions Essay: A Rough Path

Has your body ever left your mind so far behind a thick, veil of the spider web you’ve woven, to escape the dreams that have become realities, when in fact, it is merely a dream and not actual fact…

Former baseball player Tommy Lasorda once said, “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.” The journey of our life is full of winding paths and concrete obstacles whose sole goal is to slow us down, and to attempt to block us from reaching our ultimate goal in life, whatever that may be. These barriers are there for several different reasons, whether it be mental or physical. Sometimes these obstacles are motivated by fear, other times they exist simply because we have to make a decision, and that decision can be life changing. But through our determination, and through our perseverance, we can achieve what these barriers told us was impossible, and can pursue the path in our life that leads us to our ultimate self. Throughout my life, I have had thousands of barriers stand in my path. And the only way I was able to defeat them was through conquering my fears, and breaking my limits in order to achieve excellence.

My mom had finally reached college after many years of education. She was very excited to go to college and leave home. She soon found out that college was not going to be easy for her. When she was a freshman she had huge financial struggles. After getting student loans she paid for her books and tuition but could not pay for other things. She had to learn how to deal with humiliation after asking some friends if she could stay with them. Next, she had to take on many part-time jobs to get through college. Learning to multitask was another big part during this time. She had to make time for her studying, homework, and projects while still having to work after class. Lastly, after lots of determination, she made it through college. Even though she had to keep up with work and schoolwork, she finished with good grades and got her college degree. My mom now has a very successful job, and now that she can get through tough things with determination. Overall, my mom struggled but was able to pull herself together and finish

In the early years of life, most children do not spend their free time looking in the mirror and wracking their brain for an answer to the question, “What are you?” I suppose that particular experience is quite unique to my childhood. For as long as I can remember my race has been something that comes into question or speculation in some way or another. To this day, I struggle with my identity due to being a mixed race individual.

Regretfully, when I entered high school I did not realize how hard I had to work to get what I wanted. I went to my classes, did my work, but never really pushed myself to my full abilities. I thought that as long as I graduated with decent grades I

I thought was fully prepared for college when I walked across the stage on June 1st, 2015, but I was completely wrong. College is a whole new lifestyle that you eventually learn to adapt to everyday. The advice you hear from parents everyday is something you take with you as you navigate throughout campus. Some of the previous advice my mother gave to me is the advice I should of listened to. Now that I am older and on my own, it’s up to me to figure out how everything works.

What you see is not always what it is. We learn to perceive what we're looking at, and we get used to how things are supposed to be. I was always fascinated by the illusion pictures that at first glance is strikingly simple to guess what it is, if you give more attention to detail you see another picture in it. What inspired me the most and made me a curious person was how missing one detail can change the whole outlook of the picture – just as missing one aspect from patient’s evaluation can lead to a wrong diagnosis. This taught me the importance of thoroughness in doing anything in my life. My meticulous nature has been an incredible driving force behind who I am

The pure pleasure that comes from frivolously smashing small pots with a wooden spoon was every child’s dream. But for me I wondered, How does the sound work? When I was young, the garage door seemed like magic and I was always wondering; How does that work? That question filled me with curiosity, and to this day I want to know how everything works. I remember my dad giving me the book: The Way Things work And I was astounded because it was full of colorful, fun illustrations that explained everything from simple machines to aeronautical masterpieces. I spent hours upon hours (a long time for a kid) just looking upon the pages filled with mechanical drawings amazed like I had found Da Vinci's notebook. But even today many, many years later with most of

There was a warm breeze that Friday in September when I packed my two large bags, kissed my family and friends good-bye, and left my home. Thus the greatest adventure of my life was begun. On my first day of studying in France, I woke up early and took a quasi-shower, which consisted of sprinkling myself with water for hours until all the soap finally drained out of my hair. My dressing procedures were followed by a silent breakfast that consisted of some bitter-tasting, dark liquid and a hard, bread-like substance. The bread I ate dry, for fear of the dark scary-looking pot of jam. I packed my books and headed off for class.

Some parents might encourage you. While others will just watch you struggle in silence. A major obstacle that I have faced is the lack of motivation coming from my family and peers, who don’t want me to further my education. My parents do not expect me to further my education, considering none of my family members have furthered their education beyond a high school diploma. Aside from these obstacles I have improved myself academically by staying away from bad influences.

I was very quick to realize motivation is a necessity to make it through my high school and college career. I believe that I am one of the lucky ones that received many sources of motivation. At first, my intentions were very simplistic. It was a simple thought—graduate. I was a good student, but coming to this school teaches that you need to be more than “good” to make it. Coming from a household where I was neglected I felt a sense to prove myself. I was self-motivated to prove myself to my family and those around me; that I am so much more than what they thought of me. I never believed I would end up at the point of graduating with an associate’s degree at the age of nineteen. I remember applying for Early College and not caring about

For most of my young academic career, failure had never been a real problem. I had never really struggled in any particular subject and I was able to succeed with little effort on my part. This all changed my sophomore year of high school. This was the first year I would be allowed to take all of the Advanced Placement and Honor classes that I wanted. Forgetting how rigorous the institution I attended actually was, I loaded my schedule. I honestly thought I would be able to breeze through the year with little struggle. Sadly, I was hopelessly disillusioned. My usual thirty minutes of homework a night turned into hours of tedious studying and preparation for the next day. My usual free time had vanished, and I was up long nights writing essays and studying for tests and quizzes. Even though I was nowhere near used to the workload, I persevered thinking my hard work would pay off when I received my “A”. However, I was wrong again, my hard work only went far enough to earn me a “C+” in my first AP course. I was devastated.

A significant challenge I'm currently facing is stress. Everyday I have to juggle high school, college, and also my personal life. I try to focus tremendously on school, but it negatively affects my personal life. Starting college has taught me a lot about time management. Now in order to lessen the amount of stress I have, I like to schedule my time. When I do this, I make sure to leave time for me to relax or spend time with my

What were the reasons behind not performing well in your previous academic opportunities and what has changed in your life for you to be successful in the requested program?  (Minimum 200 words)

The perplexing question that I had been dreading was soon knocking on my door, waiting for an answer. Choosing a major was a forgein concept - I had been so accustomed to participating in number of interests throughout my life that I didn’t know how I would choose one path. As I applied for college, I was under the impression that I would have to go from high school, a place where you have endless exploration opportunities, to college, somewhere very directed on one path. It wasn't until the beginning of senior year that I realized it is okay to be unsure, and that college is the best opportunity for exploration and unsureness. My interests are very diverse, and this is why it feels so difficult to choose one path at times.