College Admissions Essay: How This Changed My Life

Even though my father never went to college, I have always wanted to go. I knew I wanted to be better and do more than my deadbeat dad did. My father always told me “you are a smart girl”, and to him anything below a C grade wise was utterly unacceptable, well for everyone besides my brother who could never manage more than a D. The amount of punishment he had to endure for that I didn’t want to imagine how much it hurt. I remember the pit in my stomach every time report cards were sent out even though I knew I did well, but the better grades I got the easier it became to keep them up. I thank my father for his strict parenting when it came to education because I know now if I didn’t have rules like that I don’t think I would be where I am now, and better off than him.

“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.

I believe the turning point of my life began with the separation of my parents. I had always imagined myself living in my native homeland of the Dominican Republic. Yet, my life would drastically change as a consequence of my parents divorce. A few weeks after my parent’s divorce, my mother and I arrived undocumented in Boston, Massachusetts. Thus, at the age of fourteen, I found myself in a new country with few family and friends. The following chapter of my life would require me to not only make sacrifices but also become more independent. The meaning and value for me becoming independent at a young age was twofold: (1) I was able to help my mother financially and (2) I learned the meaning of hard work and perseverance. I recognize that my tangible core values cannot be measured by test scores—though I have done well academically—but by my desire and perseverance to become a successful Latina.

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

People are always saying that it’s all about connections. Usually, this idea conjures up a mental picture of firm handshakes confidently protruding from starched business suits. But for me, the idea of making connections is more meaningful than that. Life is a series of intertwining ideas and people so intricate that thinking about it makes my head spin with potential. Really, we’re all just a series of unrelated things, connected in just the right way to create a unique person. The family members who raise us, the places that shelter us, the friends who shape us. It’s in our DNA, our roots, spiralling forward from the day we were born like a rollercoaster that only gets faster and more fun.

Once I was frightened; now I am courageous. As a young child, the illusion of death does not even seem to exist. The lingering thoughts in a child’s mind do not even ring with the thought of dying or even disease, especially if it is a close friend. Due to the common fear of death within society, he idea of death does not rise much in a child’s life. A child’s only concerns are who are their best friends, when the bell is going to ring for recess, and what delicious snacks they can trade during lunch.

I could tell you that I am awesome! I could tell you that I am unique and smart and that school is my entire life. But I am not going to go that route. What I will tell you is that it would mean a great deal to me, to receive this scholarship. I enjoy school so much, that I maxed out all of my financial aid; I’d say that there is some irony within that statement. To make a long, but interesting story short, I want to finish school and without more financial aid and a rich family to support me, I am out of luck. I believe that I can do so many things in my life with a bachelor’s degree! On top of that, it makes even more sense to get my bachelor’s degree before I attempt a master’s degree—I am dedicated, can you tell?

It all started on a day that is very much blurry to me now. It was in junior high not the most fun years of school for anybody I assume. Who knew it would be the day I got arrested I was only in the ninth grade. I didn’t expect that could ever possibly happen to me especially in ninth grade. And who knew it would later have an impact and influence some of my life choices.

“Neha! Neha! Look at the Olympic gold medal I won! I used my pancake serve, just like you said!” exclaimed a faintly familiar voice behind me. I quickly turned around to be greeted by an ecstatic, bouncing girl radiating joy and excitement, proud of defeating the other teams in her bracket. It took me a few seconds, but it was Mimi, my special athlete unified doubles partner from the Special Olympics of Georgia of previous year. I couldn’t believe Mimi had remembered me and even recollected what I told her. That one butterfly-effect moment sparked a new trajectory in my life.

Since before I can remember, I’ve been characterized by my sense of independence and will to see things through. At a young age, these particular traits coalesced into quite the stubborn personality- I was the child that found his “replacement” stuffed rabbit (in case the first one went missing) in the top of the closet, and the child who dragged his parents back to the park hours after leaving to reclaim said animals after they were misplaced. As I proceeded into adolescence, this tenacity manifested itself in ways that saw no end to my parent’s frustration. After I had my computer taken away because of a conflict with a sibling, my mother found me clicking away late at night on a ramshackle setup I had pieced together from a barely serviceable

It was a dark and cold fall evening; the gym was packed and everyone was looking at me. It was my first taekwondo tournament. The pressure was on. I then realized that I’ve practiced for this day for months and I know that I could do it right, so I started to relax. This was the first time I had an immense amount of pressure on me and I realized that this made me who I am today this one night changed my life forever. These months that I trained for was tiresome it required a lot of confidence and self discipline and the constant pushing of the master and instructors to become something better.

I had always thought landing a job that would earn me tons of cash was the key to having a fulfilled life. Lawyers, surgeons, and dentists are high-paying jobs I dreamed of having. With money, I would be able to get all things necessary that, I thought, would have me set with my future life. I was heavily focused on the wealth that would earn me an impressive home, a fantastic car and respect from others. Not only for myself, but I could give my parents an easy life by giving them, and others, what I made. When I was in middle school, I knew I wouldn’t be able to land in such jobs because I was so focused on other activities. Two of those activities were math and art. I went with what I thought was logical and studied math, thinking I would

Surprisingly, I did not plan to be an engineer; it was my Dad’s last wish before he passes away. However, I started to love engineering when I worked on my third college year project for the blind. When my team mate and I were done with the project, which was a tactile computer screen for the blind displaying the text in Braille codes, I felt that this was my aha moment. Since then, I volunteered in various projects for the blind and worked for about a year in a company that develops applications for them in Arabic. Unfortunately, the care for the Arab blind is so minor and the governments marginalize them. They live in terrible conditions, isolated from the society, and even in their education, they are restricted

Of all that I have witnessed, I have never seen the sun. These tunnels run dark and deep beneath the city, and although there are those like me whose paths rise above, mine does not. City planners decided the subway routes below the city long before I was built, Yet, perhaps the terms of my employment are not so undesirable. It would be worse to see what is beyond my reach, to know the sun I cannot feel and the city I cannot inhabit. Manhattan reveals itself torturously enough to me through its people, but my performance does not falter. I am made of tougher things than flesh and bone, for I am the carrier.

High school has been an experience to say the least. I’ve spent the last four years at Father Ryan attempting to find myself and my place in the world, much like puzzle piece. A puzzle has many pieces that contribute to an entire image when properly placed among each other. High school is similar to this idea because throughout the past four years I have constantly been trying to find my perfect fit and where I belong. When I was a Freshmen I molded my personality to fit anywhere just to have friends. Then when sophomore year began I realized how much of myself I was sacrificing to fit into the wrong place. Once junior year arrived I was getting closer to my perfect fit and now that it is senior year I’ve finally found my fit in the big puzzle called high school.