Undergraduate / A moment of epiphany- Essay of my choice [4]

I try to run my tongue over my lips one more time only to realize my mouth's run dry. My palms are wet. I feel a droplet of sweat trickle down my spine. I could here my heat beat in my ears. Yes, I'm nervous and this can't be happening to me.

After completing my high school I visited my sister who had given birth to her 2nd child and come Saturday morning we were off to church together. At their church a children's story is usually told before the main service. This ensures even the children are accommodated. Upon arrival, we were informed that the children's storyteller was ill and would not attend. As the assistant storyteller, my sister would have to fill in for her. However, after spending most of the whole night awake putting her baby to sleep she wasn't prepared to do this. As her only hope, she turned to me to help save the day.

"It's ten minutes till story time. What story will I tell?"
Tick tock tick tock. The hands of time faithfully move on.

Having been involved in student magazine in high school had written many short stories. I was fortunate to recall one. You can never second guess what life will throw at you next but it pays to always be prepared.

"It's time for the children's story," the church elder announced. I stood up and walked to the front to face a mosaic of unfamiliar faces.

"Hello my friends, today I will tell you a story about a little boy named Dan." The story began.

I remember how a bunch of innocent-looking faces looked enraptured at me. Little children are usually the victims of the get-it-over-and-done-with attitude but I believe the attention they pay deserves much more serious treatment. I recall so vividly how their eyes lit up. Their expressionless faces turned to radiant smiles that warmed my heart as I exclaimed hope in my story. At the beginning my heart had pounded as if it would beat out of my chest but now it assumed a much slower pace and I felt more at ease. I was to learn later that most of the children were orphans who were attending because it was a visiting day. The story came to an end and I sighed, "That wasn't so difficult after all."

As I walked out of church that day my mind was still on the children's story. To think devoting a couple of minutes telling a story had put a smile on these children faces was incomprehensible. This experience made me appreciate the many disadvantaged people who need someone to notice and appreciate them. Such an experience I consider priceless. And so goes the common saying: The best things in life are free. Just as I faced what I thought was a challenging and impromptu task, I am now ready to face unknown challenges in my future.

Undergraduate / Why Colby, an earth-friendly college [6]

Please help, im not a native english speaker and this is my 1st time writing a Why essay. Any form of help will be greatly appreciated.

Colby College's men's soccer team has, for the 8th year in a row, won the NSCAA Team Academic Award. This reflects Colby's athletics philosophy which, according to athletics director Marcella Zalot, recognizes sports as part of the academic experience. This spirit correlates to a personal philosophy that I hold that sporting commitments should not compromise academic excellence. I am, therefore, drawn to Colby's impressive success in and out of the classroom. A soccer player myself, I hope to play on the team and uphold this winning streak under Coach Mark Serdjenian.

Colby's commitment to sustainable practice has earned it the EPA Green Power Conference Champion for using green power. In this light, I see studying at Colby as an opportunity to participate in making the world a better place to live.

All in all, the Colby experience strikes me as a fulfilment of my highest expectations of higher education: an earth-friendly college that excels both on and off the field.

Undergraduate / My application essay on Babysitting. [4]

Please assist me with editing, removing what is redundant and rewriting some sentences to make them more interesting and intriguing.

Babysitting
While working on my college applications I've simultaneously taken up babysitting a 7 month old baby, Thando. Babysitting has changed my view of what is prescribed a woman's job. I now see it as an educational adventure outside the trite monotony of the classroom setting.

My daily duties command the knowledge of academic subjects such as Accounting. I've also gotten more acquainted with other subjects I didn't pursue at 'A' level . When given money for the day I work out a budget that will suffice the baby's requirements. This helps me keep track of every dollar spent so that I can account for the money at the end of the day. Mathematics comes into play at the baby clinic. I assist the nurse with weighing the child and double-checking the accuracy of the scale reading. We then plot a graph on the baby card, interpreting it to determine whether it reflects healthy growth.

Having to complete my tasks by certain times has timetabled my day. Knowing that breakfast's at 8am and story time at 2pm compels me to work more efficiently within its confines. This has made my job better organized and coordinated.

As I've been minding Thando I've gotten to learn that the soft gap in a baby's skull right above the forehead is the fontanelle. I regularly check here for sunkeness: assign of either dehydration or infection. (Something I doubt I would have ever known.) Once I tried feeding Thando a couple of new foods that triggered an allergic reaction. Even though the red rash is gone I now have to recall everything I feed him in case of another reaction. Who thought babysitting could improve memory !

There have been times when I have sought after praise from my friends and whenever I don't get it, I'm left depressed. However, a bay is content when dry, fed and has enough sleep even though these basic requirements are at the lowest step of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. This has challenged me to try uncomplicated my lifestyle as I seek a more fulfilling life. Moreover, babysitting has equipped me with essential life skills.

The shrill cry of Thando causes me great discomfort. I'll take him for a stroll as I sing him a lullaby or nursery rhyme. I seek to be creative and think out of the norm. At times I'll go to the extreme of pulling funny faces, something I would never usually do. Putting a baby to sleep may seem dreary but to me it has taught perseverance and patience. I clearly outline my goal- to pacify him- then I summon all my energy till I achieve this. Because I have to I now hold these two dear as fundamental virtues

Now that he's asleep I rock him gently in my arms. I realize how much he fully depends on me to make it through the day. This has strengthened my spirituality. I now appreciate how much I depend on god for my daily needs in as much as Thando depends on me. Again I get another revelation. If I am to admit that I depend on the next fellow and he on me, just as community upon community and nation upon nation, then this world could be a better place. Heavily industrialized nations would make efforts to cut their emissions knowing that they may be driving climate change that may be threatening the lives of the Bangladeshi and the Maldivian halfway around the globe through increased flooding.

Suffice it to say, babysitting has given my life new meaning. I now look after Thando as if he were my own, giving him more of my time, energy and attention without ever feeling like I've given him enough. Even though I had taken a gap year, baby minding has been a quasi-classroom experience to me. I feel this experience has been a home-based orientation for my life at college.