College Admissions Essay: Thank You For Being Who You Are

I’m awesome. It’s true. Everyone who meets me will agree, and by the end of this essay, you will too. I am from the small town of Mexico, Missouri where I haved lived my whole life. I was born on January 4, 2000. I am the millennium baby because I was the first baby born in 2000 in the the town of Mexico and I got to ride home in a limo. I went to elementary school at Hawthorne and then to the Middle School and now I am a Junior at The Mexico High School. I play basketball, football, and baseball. This summer I worked at the City Pool as a lifeguard. Last summer I worked at Pearl Motor Company for my dad. That job was definitely a lot harder than being a lifeguard, but I enjoyed both jobs. One of my favorite hobbies is hunting. I love to Turkey hunt and also deer hunt. I’ve killed three turkeys and one deer. One of my other hobbies is snow skiing. I usually get to go to Colorado every year with my church and I've been three times with my family. This is just a little bit of who I am.

A person’s personality is like clay; it can be shaped and reshaped based on who and what they allow to shape it. In youthhood, a person tends to develops a basis for who they will be, so it is important that we are especially cautious during this time and only let the best people and things shape us. Moreover, I learned the values of charity, compassion, helpfulness, honesty, hard work, dedication, patience, loyalty, and fairness from the people that shaped me.

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.

I am a INFP and I have some great things about me. I am very creative and I also seek value and harmony in relationships. I am very energetic and hardworking. I get very dedicated when I work. I am open minded and flexible with things and people. I have a sensitive soul and I am spiritual. I am a natural artist, I think I am a natural artist in lots of thing like drawing. I am a good team player and I love to work with people that need help. I am very egalitarian.

There are infinite hobbies and pastimes that could ignite a flaming passion in their soul. Fortunately for myself, that flame early on, though I did not realize until years later. From an early age I was involved in dance, choir, and theatre. Though performing did not start out as a passion, dancing and singing became an outlet to express myself. The arts is a fairly difficult field to get into; talent is a large factor in success, but sometimes connections can be an even larger factor. My passion for performing, especially theatre, kicked off during my freshman year of high school. Unfortunately, the department was political and unbeknownst to me, those politics would become the root of stress and disappointment for the next four years.

Ever since I was little I have aspired to be something great in life, a chef, a pro. soccer player, and an artist. I still hold on to those dreams in hopes they will come true. All of these dreams shape who I am today. I play soccer for “Charlotte Soccer Academy” and previously for the “Waddell Soccer Team”. Both have kept me being a team player and a stronger leader. I go to visual arts camp over the summer and try to use creativity at any moment possible. I love making cupcakes and baking which also allow me to be creative. I have finally realized that all of these dreams originated from my family. I pursued soccer, like my parents did throughout their lives. I continue drawing, like my mother and father did until it became their life and jobs. I am still love making cakes and cupcakes every weekend, just like how i've seen my grandmother make them. Life has a very strange and mind-boggling way of turning out. I know that sounds cheesy, but it is really true.

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.

“If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.” A quote by Fred Devito, describes my core strength, my identity. An absolute necessity to never be satisfied, to always persevere. My obsession with perfectionism has blessed me with many opportunities; Such as, performing in front of five thousand people, exploring western Europe, and making music along with the best student musicians from the state of Indiana. It has given me the drive to obtain an impressive GPA and class rank to ensure myself a bright future.

One success that makes me who I am is learning to sing. I love music, and I especially love to sing. The feeling I get when I sing is unlike any other. I feel more connected to the world. Sometimes I feel as though I’ve always been able to sing. This, however, is not the case. My mom is really into singing, she likes to make up songs as she goes about what she’s doing. When I was little, I loved to hear her sing, and would request certain songs. Mom tried to teach me how to sing myself, but I just couldn’t seem to get it. One day, as we were walking in a Walmart parking lot, Mom sang the scales from The Sound of Music, and I managed to sing it too. I was off pitch, but after that, Mom was able to teach me how to sing. Learning how to sing was a really big success for me. Being in chorus and singing are integral parts of who I am today, and through singing I’ve learned important lessons, such as following directions, when to open my mouth (and when to keep it shut), and most importantly, how to empathize

I am from Bucaramanga, Colombia. A beautiful city in my country, its nickname is La Ciudad Bonita which means the beautiful city. I came to the US in my early teenage years. The language was not a big problem because I went to a bilingual school in my country that had a strong focus in English. I had teachers from different countries, so that part was great.

I have always been fascinated with the human condition. As far as I can remember, a lot of my most interesting trains of thoughts and conversations with others have revolved around dissecting the human condition and discussing the anxieties and insecurities that bring us great guilt but at the same time propel many of our actions and schemes for self-actualization. To me, this is the most defining trait of my identity. Even though it is not a trait I always choose or am able to express openly, I consider this interest, and the values that it spawns, to be more important to my identity than anything about me that external forces can easily perceive, such as my appearance or familial ties.

It was halfway through my sophomore year when my mom and two older sisters sprints down the stairs and storms out the house. Confused and worried, continuing to curl my hair. My mom walks back in towards me with a gruesome look in her eyes. With so many ideas already running through my head, I was notified that my grandmother was killed by my uncle. I cannot even describe my sense of emotion at the time. Confusion, hatred, and hopelessness all merged into one. And all I could think about was just giving up on everything. That is until my pastor said these words that I will always remember; “You're going to get through this, just have faith.” I took in those words and began to put his words into action

C.S Lewis once said “We are what we believe we are” This means we can not let people tell us what we can and can not be. You can do anything in life as long as you stride try hard to achieve it. For example you want to be a soccer player and your friends say that you aren’t athletic enough or smart, if you put the time into it though you could accomplish what you want to achieve. Also never give up hope for what you believe is right. All my life I wish I would have known this quote but I did not and I let people or bullies change how I acted to others, for example they changed me into them only after school ended I realized how I acted and knew I needed to change. Another thing is that they changed how I made decisions like how I dressed

Nelson Mandela once said, “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.” Moments in our life shape who we become; our character, our thinking, who we are and who we want to be. How we live our life is so much more than going through the motions, it is about how we change other’s lives and how other’s change our life. I have been fortunate enough to grow up with astonishing people who have changed who I am and I have also had so many opportunities that have shaped who I am today.

Thank you for the times you ask me, " What do we need to take of this?" The partnership I have hoped for is expressed in little comments like that.