Undergraduate / "to become a Physical Therapist" - admissions to university of IL- professional goals [4]

Heres a rough draft of the first essay just to get something written down. im looking for any ideas or suggestions to improve my essays. thanks! Here it is:

ESSAY #1: In an essay of 300 words or less, please discuss your academic interests and/or professional goals.

One of my professional goals is to become a Physical Therapist, specializing in sports medicine, with the goal of someday becoming an athletic trainer for a professional sports team. Ever since I was a little girl, I have always been interested and affiliated with sports. Growing up I participated in traveling soccer, softball, dance, and running. I have excelled in running especially and it's the primary reason that I chose this specialty

As a high school athlete I have focused mainly on running and gymnastics. Throughout my high school career, I have been a three sport varsity athlete for all four years. Additionally I have been captain of these teams for my Junior and Senior years. My foremost goal for myself was to qualify for Illinois State meet in Track for my junior and senior year, and I have accomplished that goal thus far.

During my junior year of track, I sustained an injury requiring physical therapy. In this time I was exposed to Physical Therapy I set a goal for myself to qualify for the State meet in track, and after recovering from this injury two months later I accomplished this goal by qualifying in the 800 meter run. It made me realize that physical therapy was one of the most important steps that I took in order to achieve my goal of becoming a state qualifier. Through this experience I realized that I wanted to pursue a career in sports medicine so that I could help young athletes, like myself, overcome their injuries, and be a part of their success

Undergraduate / "Being a twin" University of Madison App [4]

This is my first essay for Madison, and its my dream school, so if you have an suggestions or advice i would appericate it. Thanks! Here's the prompt:

The University values an educational environment that provides all members of the campus community with opportunities to grow and develop intellectually, personally, culturally and socially. In order to give us a more complete picture of you as an individual, please tell us about the particular life experiences, perspectives, talents, commitments and/or interests you will bring to our campus. In other words, how will your presence enrich our community?

Growing up I've always had one person there for me, someone that knows me from the inside out. A person that knows my strengths as well as my weaknesses, and has been there for me through tragedies and helped me dodge obstacles. I've had a person that has been a devoted friend to me for eighteen years; someone to laugh, cry, play, and blow my birthday candles out with. This person is my twin brother.

Being a twin is something that I take great pride in, and something that sets me apart from other people. It has presented me with a variety of opportunities and taught me valuable lessons. My brother has been an enormous aspect of my life since the day we were born, and will continue to be in the future. He is an important part of my life, much like I am a part of his and we have shaped and molded each other to be the people that we are today.

Although being a twin has positive aspects, there are certain downfalls too. Ever since I can remember Parker has been the one that has excelled academically while I have always fell a little short, and I have excelled athletically .While he was getting straight A's effortlessly in every subject, I was diligently working to earn A's and B's. As we entered junior high the pattern seemed to become more apparent that I could never surpass the level of academic achievement that he was accustomed to. After realizing this, I began to search for talents that made me stand out as well. After trial and error I realized that I was able to excel more in the athletic field and slowly started to focus on that by joining the school's cross country, volleyball, and soccer teams. As we entered high school I was still accustomed to the fact that I would be the twin that was not quite at the same level of academic achievement. It always seemed that Parker stood out while I was hidden in the dark, and people around me noticed as well. I took this as a challenge to prove to others that I wasn't just one of many stars in the sky, but that I could be my own person and stand out as well. As a result, during my freshman year I got involved in class council running for a position in office, varsity cross country, gymnastics, and varsity track. After proving to myself that I could be a leader, I started to prove it to others as well. My teachers took into account that I was involved and that I took value in my studies, as did my coaches. Furthermore, this led me to amplify my leadership qualities throughout my high school career as I continued to be an officer of class council for four years, a captain of all three of my sports for both my Junior and Senior years, and being chosen to be a part of the Principals leadership Committee. As a University of Wisconsin Madison student I will bring my leadership qualities to the campus by getting involved in the cross country and track program, where I will further use my leadership skills to help build the team, as well as getting involved in clubs, and using past experience by getting involved in student government. I'm eagerly anticipating attending Madison so that I can further develop and build on my leadership qualities in hopes that I can use these attributes to help me succeed in the future.

Undergraduate / "sports medicine and physical therapy" - Academic goals- Madison App [2]

second essay for Madison. its due tomorrow so i need someone to look over it and make sure its okay to submit.

Tell us about your academic goals, circumstances that may have had an impact on your academic performance, and, in general, anything else you would like us to know in making an admission decision

While attending the University of Wisconsin -Madison I am undecided as to what I would like to major in, but have a good idea that I would be interested in majoring in sports medicine and physical therapy. I know if I choose to major in this field I will have to be motivated to study hard, and focus on keeping my grades up, which is something that I am very capable of doing. One of the main goals that I have focused on throughout my high school career is to be in the top twenty-five percent of my class, and receive a GPA of 3.4 or higher before I graduate. In order to complete this goal during my freshman and sophomore years I pushed myself to excel academically by taking accelerated classes in English and Social Science, and further continued the trend by taking an English AP class my junior year. These classes have helped me to prepare for college classes in the future, and have challenged me to work hard in order to accomplish my foremost goal. While academic goals have been an important part of my high school career, getting involved in extracurricular activities is important to me as well.

Freshman year I decided to get involved in clubs and sports to create a well rounded overall high school experience. I got involved in cross country, gymnastics, and track, where I met a lot of new people and made friends fairly quickly. This led me to join class council, varsity club, and executive council, which got me involved with other leaders and peers around the school. Being a part of these clubs has kept me busy throughout my four years of high school, and may have reflected the grades I received. At times it was stressful to try and keep up with school and the other activities I had going on, but being involved in these clubs has taught me to prioritize and balance my responsibilities. The experience I have had in high school is one that I can use to inspire me to focus on my future academic and athletic goals that I set in college.