Undergraduate / UBC Personal Profile: essay about racial discrimination, language barrier and disparity [2]

What is important to you? And why?

(250 words) Thank you!
Growing up in Hong Kong, I noticed that most people greeted my friends and me with a smile but my mother with mockery, and I often heard my mother coming home from work weeping that "it is not fair!" It was not until I was seven than I realised the problem: my mother looks different and speaks a different language. I began to acknowledge the magnitude of racial discrimination and became determined to remedy the disparity. The simple truth is that no matter how overtime hours people like my mother take, they will never be treated the same and never be thought as a part of Hong Kong. I started to recognise that if I looked more like my mother, I would never have been greeted with a smile and given the same opportunities as other people. This is why I dedicated to eradicating the language barrier and racial discrimination. As a school reporter, I actively reported news regarding minorities in Hong Kong, hoping that my voice could shine a light on minorities. I also was a peer; specifically, tutoring minorities' Cantonese and written Chinese so that the language barrier can be minimised, and locals in Hong Kong can understand that minorities are not so different. To further tackle the existing disparities around the world, I aim to work in business with companies that have visions similar to mine.

Undergraduate / UBC Personal Profile: Describe an unfamiliar situation & what you have learned dealing with it? [2]

Explain how you responded to a problem and/or an unfamiliar situation. What did you do, what was the outcome, and what did you learn from the experience? (200 words)

Thank you!

not being supportive enough

One of the hardest hurdles I have ever overcome is the guilt I felt for not being supportive enough in my father's last days. The numbers were optimistic after his bypass surgery, and I spent hours and hours finishing my artwork and studying for finals, thinking that it would be a better homecoming gift - but he never did come home. After his passing, I spent a year blaming myself, believing that I was alone, and there were even times that I contemplated committing suicide. However, my best friend reminded me that I was dwelling too much on the past. Her words slowly pulled me from darkness, and I realised I had neglected the help of my extended family. That year also taught me to move on, forgive myself and cherish the present since I may lose everything the next second. This incident has notably propelled me to fix my dysfunctional relationship with my mother. I realised that my mother would not always be present, and whatever she did have become the past. This is my opportunity to forgive my mother and amend the regrets I had with my father. Most importantly, I shall not repeat the mistakes I made.