AlwaysL8
Dec 30, 2016
Undergraduate / RICE ESSAY: Diversity & How Life is Like a Pond [4]
Rice's application is due on New Year's Day! What a wonderful coincidence! I would greatly appreciate brutal feedback!
I really worry that my essay might be too obscure and thus not incomprehensible. :`(
Thank you so much!
The quality of Rice's academic life and the Residential College System are heavily influenced by the unique life experiences and cultural traditions each student brings. What personal perspective would you contribute to life at Rice? (500 word limit)
A Chinese proverb says that life is but a pond. My life, however, would be two connected ponds (like a dumbbell), divided in many different ways: "American-origin" versus "Chinese-upbringing," "traditional conservative values" against "newly-acquired liberal beliefs," or "love for roller coasters" against "acute acrophobia." But if I were to throw a pebble into one pond, the resulting ripples will expand until it glides through the other half entirely-I strive for that pebble of variability.
Before I thrived in variability, merely accommodating it was a gruesome process. Growing up in China was like living on another planet, where voiceless students travel through the fog of a developing nation in unisex school uniforms. Even though my appearances blended in with my surroundings, I deviated from the norm: I was the American that spoke a different tongue and read books in another language. Gradually, however, as I began to observe and comprehend the minute differences between individuals-her braces, forbidden from eating pork due to her belief, kept his hair long in accordance to generational traditions-I began to feel like I belonged, for I was similar to the different. But I began to realize that everyone was different.
At that moment, the ripples caused by my moving back to China pacified.
Moving back to America and directly enrolling into high school was overwhelming, as if a mountain was thrown into my lake and water leaked out of my being. Before my return to the U.S., I had never eaten avocado, worn makeup, heard politics publicly debated, seen a Latin American, or knew of the existence of gays and lesbians. But after the initial shock, I immediately clicked to this world where differences are open-mindedly accepted and celebrated. After sudden shifts between cultures, I began to realize that nothing is unusual-all people have to do is embrace it. At Rice, I would be an advocate of equality for all identities and values, for I believe that unconventionals themselves should also accept others' originalities.
Apart from embracing divergence, I found a continent of pebbles.
Open debates required in American schools are the battlefields of conflicting opinions and the birthplaces of life-changing insights; topics can range from an article about vegetarianism to the presidential election. Every intellectual thought I hear creates a ripple in my head that accumulates to become a wave of transformation, and every thoughtful opinion I contribute to the discussion may similarly inspire another. When all minds with the power to think come together, ponds merge, forming a sea of wisdom to learn from the past and construct the future. At Rice, I would strive to become the pebble-thrower, the one who is unafraid to speak to keep others' minds churning.
I benefited from both worlds, understanding each's culture, value, tradition, and language, all of which I would gladly share with whoever is willing to listen. But in the end, I would assume that my two ponds blended since the very beginning, making me who I am now-a petite sea of my own.
Rice's application is due on New Year's Day! What a wonderful coincidence! I would greatly appreciate brutal feedback!
I really worry that my essay might be too obscure and thus not incomprehensible. :`(
Thank you so much!
The quality of Rice's academic life and the Residential College System are heavily influenced by the unique life experiences and cultural traditions each student brings. What personal perspective would you contribute to life at Rice? (500 word limit)
A Chinese proverb says that life is but a pond. My life, however, would be two connected ponds (like a dumbbell), divided in many different ways: "American-origin" versus "Chinese-upbringing," "traditional conservative values" against "newly-acquired liberal beliefs," or "love for roller coasters" against "acute acrophobia." But if I were to throw a pebble into one pond, the resulting ripples will expand until it glides through the other half entirely-I strive for that pebble of variability.
Before I thrived in variability, merely accommodating it was a gruesome process. Growing up in China was like living on another planet, where voiceless students travel through the fog of a developing nation in unisex school uniforms. Even though my appearances blended in with my surroundings, I deviated from the norm: I was the American that spoke a different tongue and read books in another language. Gradually, however, as I began to observe and comprehend the minute differences between individuals-her braces, forbidden from eating pork due to her belief, kept his hair long in accordance to generational traditions-I began to feel like I belonged, for I was similar to the different. But I began to realize that everyone was different.
At that moment, the ripples caused by my moving back to China pacified.
Moving back to America and directly enrolling into high school was overwhelming, as if a mountain was thrown into my lake and water leaked out of my being. Before my return to the U.S., I had never eaten avocado, worn makeup, heard politics publicly debated, seen a Latin American, or knew of the existence of gays and lesbians. But after the initial shock, I immediately clicked to this world where differences are open-mindedly accepted and celebrated. After sudden shifts between cultures, I began to realize that nothing is unusual-all people have to do is embrace it. At Rice, I would be an advocate of equality for all identities and values, for I believe that unconventionals themselves should also accept others' originalities.
Apart from embracing divergence, I found a continent of pebbles.
Open debates required in American schools are the battlefields of conflicting opinions and the birthplaces of life-changing insights; topics can range from an article about vegetarianism to the presidential election. Every intellectual thought I hear creates a ripple in my head that accumulates to become a wave of transformation, and every thoughtful opinion I contribute to the discussion may similarly inspire another. When all minds with the power to think come together, ponds merge, forming a sea of wisdom to learn from the past and construct the future. At Rice, I would strive to become the pebble-thrower, the one who is unafraid to speak to keep others' minds churning.
I benefited from both worlds, understanding each's culture, value, tradition, and language, all of which I would gladly share with whoever is willing to listen. But in the end, I would assume that my two ponds blended since the very beginning, making me who I am now-a petite sea of my own.