“What’s the point, I’m not an actual citizen and college is just a waste of money.” I remember saying to my mother as she asked about what college I planned to attend. From a young age I knew college was my destination. My mother emphasized how exciting it would be to go be the first in my family. However, as the reality of my citizenship status was brought to my eyes, that very dream shattered right before my eyes. This was around freshman year, prior to that I discovered my father was actually my stepfather and even then my family was broken. Despite all this, I remained a straight A National Honors Society who had traveled to Springfield as a part of my school’s STEM program. It was only until freshman year that I began to wilt. I struggled …show more content…
Soon enough I found myself again, I found that I could push myself and I luckily found OneGoal. I sought out support, connections, networks to achieve my dream to attend and graduate college. This year, junior year has tested me mentally, emotionally and academically. However, I used that to change myself to be someone stronger. As an assignment, I visited UChicago and it was then that I become determined to apply and attend this school - the school of my dreams. “It may be out of your reach.” My PD said, but I stayed set on this dream of mine. I stuck through hard classes, two after school activities and lots more. I refuse to not at least attempt to make it to the university that’s pushed me to push my limits and be the young woman I am today. I believe that UChicago can only help me persevere my dreams to help improve the communities in which I grew up in. I recognize I can be a leader with guidance from others and I can make a difference even if that difference is only in my local community. That is what I seek to become - a leader - one that can push people to look beyond their limitations and labels to achieve any dream they
“Coastal Carolina is too far away for you to come home when you have the chance.” Kaylee (my Girlfriend at the time) said to me in my first car as we talked about college choices. I told her about my acceptance to Coastal Carolina University I received from Mrs. Emmons (personal guidance counselor in high school) during a school day, early February. Kaylee’s words made me start a to question myself; “What other colleges can I choose?”. I came home and sat down with my parents in the living room with my Coastal Carolina acceptance letter in my hand and they were proud of me. I asked my parents the same question I asked myself earlier that day “What other colleges can I choose from?”. When
The election night of 2000 was a pivotal moment in my life. I stayed up all night on November 7th, 2000, not because I was enthralled with watching Florida flip-flop between Gore and Bush, but because I had an IV in my arm which made it impossible to be comfortable. Earlier that evening, I was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes, a disease affecting 1 of 800 people in America. This was an especially crucial time in my life, considering I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis—an autoimmune disease that attacks the GI track in 1 of 1400 Americans—the June before, and I had my Bar-Mitzvah in September. According to the Jewish religion, I had become an adult, and as such, I had decided to greet my new medical challenges with gusto, attempting to see the silver lining from the very beginning. I cannot say that I am glad I was nature’s statistical anomaly, but I am thankful for the opportunity to see from a young age how to turn a tough situation into a positive. After almost nine years, I come back to this pivotal night in my life because it marked a change that still plays a part in my life now, and will continue to shape me in the future.
Being a first generation low-income student has had a huge impact on my education. It has presented as an asset and a challenge at UCI. Both my parents are first generation Americans with my father being born in Mexico and my mother born in Honduras. My father only has a third grade education and my mother has a sixth grade education. My parents don’t know English so it limited the amount of job opportunities they received in the United States. These conditions had my family and I grow up very low-income. My parents could rarely help my sisters and I with school since they have little knowledge about the education system here in the United States. My parents had no knowledge about receiving a higher education, which made my process of going to and attending college very difficult. My first year at UCI was a tough transition. I had little to no guidance and came into college not knowing what to expect. Unfortunately, this reflected in my grades. My GPA resulted at a 1.2 and I was on Academic Disqualification after my first quarter at UCI. I
My main goal while attending Baylor would be to achieve the best education possible and improve myself as a person, as well as grow stronger in my faith. I am looking to become a Pre-Nursing student and I have heard that Baylor contains one of the best medical programs in this area, prompting it to be on the top of my list of potential colleges. One of the main reasons i was drawn to Baylor is it’s strong Baptist roots. I am a strong Christian and I strive to be the salt and light of the world, as Jesus called us to be. I see great potential for Baylor to help me grow in my faith while also preparing me for my future career.
I believe the knowledge we acquire in high schools and colleges is not an end to education, but rather a means to self-actualization and perfection. As a student, it is this belief that motivates my curiosity towards exploration and better understanding of my career path. To most children, the memory of being left in an alien environment at such a tender age may not be something to cherish. However, I distinctively cherish my first day in school because it offered me the opportunity to explore what I needed most. My good attitude towards education made it easier for me to adapt and engage with my teachers and fellow students. I count myself lucky to have started with a good early education. Our teachers made us draw pictures of objects we were familiar with, recited soothing poems and rhymes and made us believe that we were one family. As a young scholar, my attention and ability were drawn towards the physical environment and the things that made up the universe. For this case, science unravelled several mysteries while mathematics remained both a challenge and source of my joy. It was during these early
All of my life I have lived in a very small town of under 700 people. My school holds students from pre-school to twelfth grade all in the same building. My graduating class is thirty- eight students with most of us being in the same classes since pre-school. I love my small hometown, but I’m ready for some place bigger than 700 people. The University of Wisconsin La Crosse gives me this opportunity by getting to meet new people around campus. It’s also exciting to me that in every class there are new people, and I’m ready for a challenge of going to a larger school with thousands of students not just hundreds.
My parents worked hard in the United States to give us every opportunity to flourish and work toward achieving our dreams. Going to Washington University is a crucial step in reaching my goals. In 2011, when my dad became an Associate Professor at Washington University, was when I got my first glimpse of the university. I was eleven, and seeing the sprawling campus, the pristine labs, and meeting my dad's kind colleagues left a deep impression on my young mind. After that initial meeting between Washington University and I, I knew that it was the university for me. I know that I was only eleven, but I'd never been more sure of anything in my life. Because of this feeling, I worked hard through my middle school and high school years, constantly chasing that milestone of making it into Washington University, the ultimate springboard that would launch me to my goal of becoming a neuroscientist and the second person to earn a PhD in my family (after my dad). That's why I believe I'm qualified to have the honor of attending Washington University; my drive to make my parents proud and prove to them that their isolation wasn't for naught, that their sacrifice will be rewarded, outweighs anything else in my
My father once told me “if a man/woman has the mindset...he or she had five years ago...he or she has wasted five years of his life”. This quote inflames my passion to excel in my future endeavors even in the mist of my challenges. Throughout the duration of my undergraduate college career, I have undergone several experiences; some good, challenging and others of which were traumatic. Nonetheless, these experiences have played a major role in for who I am today. As once a shy, vulnerable and naïve girl, experiencing college, has given me the tools to blossom into a strong willed, ambitious and inquisitive young woman.
Option #1: Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful
I am often asked “What do you want to be when you’re older?” or “A Political Science degree? What do you suppose you will do with that?” And honestly, I cannot say for certain. But that’s ok, because these questions are not necessarily intended to be answered with absolute certainty. After all, no one really expects a 17 or 18 year old high school senior, whose only experiences are likely limited to what a K-12 education, a few extracurricular activities, and perhaps a part-time job can offer, to make an uninformed prediction about what he or she wants to do every day for the rest of his or her life. The way I see it, I still have eight semesters worth of college classes, perhaps a few internships or international experiences, hundreds of people to meet, and four more years of life to experience before I make my career decision. In that time, I may discover that my passions and interests are different than they are now, especially considering they have changed before.
I have always regarded myself with having the best work ethic of anyone I knew. When at high school, I thought as myself as the best all-around student, and person. Being highly regarded by both faculty and students was a great confidence boost when I began my college application process, but I soon realized how it was hard to but all of my accomplishments, into a very short essay. I was not, and still am not the best academically in my class, but to me, it doesn’t matter if my GPA isn’t a 4.0 or if I didn’t graduate valedictorian of my class. What I know is I possess skills that make me the best candidate for anything I want to pursue.
The main reason I want to become a teacher is so that I can have a positive impact on the upcoming generations. I realize that teachers and coaches have an amazing opportunity to push their students toward success and bright futures. I look back at my high school years and see how coaches pushed me to succeed off the playing field through making good grades, while some teachers giving me more opportunities like going to UIL contests. While I was in college, I felt a calling to become a man and grow in manhood, and with that call I also felt the call to push young men to grow in manhood as well. And from looking back on my experiences in school and watching the impact that those teachers and coaches had on me, but not just me but other students to be successful in everything they do
Soren Kierkegaard stated, “life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” My life in the past and present create my future. Never easy, human beings push through a difficult life. Life is only understood backwards because we are in the present and no longer in the past. Humans can’t live life thinking about what they did wrong or right in the past. If we focus on what it could be like in the future, we will have no problem facing challenges in the near future.
I first would like to express my gratitude for granting me the opportunity to receive a review for admission. My personal goals have evolved a little over that last year. An unfortunate shoulder injury changed my original plans for life after the Air Force and perusing a career as a police officer, truthfully this injury was a bit of a blessing in disguise. It made me, explore my interest and I have recently started to enjoy the world of business and the possibility of one day owning my own. The idea of being able to create a thriving organization that employs real hard working Americans is something that truly gets me excited. Also, having this degree will fulfill a personal goal of being the first in my family to obtain any sort of higher learning.
My journey as a student has always been focused on the path to college and success. Before I even set foot in kindergarten my mother, a college dropout, always told me that “honor roll wasn’t an option” and that I would be attending college in the future and achieving a degree. Most of the time I made these requirements. Most of the time I was awarded honor roll or had a newly edited list of colleges to attend, but sometimes life got in the way of my dreams of achieving success.