Undergraduate / Superhero Sidekick - Common App Essay #5 [4]

Number 5:
A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community, or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.

(Don't mind the title, I just came up with it now. I thought it was rather witty :P)
Truthfully, I am very ambivalent about this. I really don't know if I like it or not. I was planning on starting afresh, but I am still undecided. Comments? I know that there are a bunch of grammatical errors, but before that, does the idea make sense? Is it different? Thanks everybody. :)

I sat down in front of my computer, somewhat anxious to start. Time ticked as I continued to think. How can I make this essay interesting to its audience? The topic is diversity, which permits me to talk about any topic that makes me different from the person sitting across from me. I could talk about how I am a PK, or a pastor's kid, and how because of that, I had a copious amount of bad experiences rather than good. However, this isn't unique enough. The thing is, I look like a regular teenager. I act like a regular teenager. But there is one thing that makes me different. What makes me diverse doesn't exist physically. What makes me diverse is my type of personality.

A couple of years ago, there appeared to be a younger, more arrogant version of me. Harry Potter was on the television and my eyes were glued to the screen. I admired Harry's boldness and his firm leadership qualities. Something about that quality captivated me. Leaders stand out. Leaders are recognized. All that recognition perked my interest. I foolishly declared that I was going to be one just like them. The truth is, we, generally as people, all strive to become memorable individuals. We all crave to stand out from the crowd.

Now flash-forward to present day, English class. I am the diffident girl in the corner. I rarely speak unless required to. I think too much before I act. Based on the Myers-Briggs personality test, I am an INFP (Introverted, Intuition, Feeling, and Perceiving). Simply put, I am a dreamer. I imagine an idealistic world, where peace is found, and happiness, everywhere. I strive to make people happy and question the meaning of life. It may sound foolish, but I can create a plethora of ideas and create realistic scenes in my head, and I love it.

Is there anything wrong with thinking more than acting? Frequently, my mom would negatively remark at how much time I'd waste staring into space. If she could only open up my head and listen in, ranging from thoughts about gay-marriage rights to musical composition of scenes in my imagination. I took acceptance in the fact that I will never be the main character in my life. But it is my job to try and contribute with my ideas.

My audience is probably thinking, how does the topic of ideas pertain to the importance of diversity? I believe that the thinkers are just as vital as the more popular action-doers. Even though the natural born leaders obtain more fame, they would not have gotten far without the ideas created by the thinkers. Diversity does not have to be tangible. It does not have to be solely based on physical properties. With that in mind, I believe it separates those with memorable personalities and memorable ideas. Both have a lot to contribute, and both are dependent on one another. We need to rely on each other to strive forward in life.

Sure I may be known in high school as that one Asian girl who didn't speak much. I'm fine with that. My different personality with all its ups and downs will contribute to society-one aspect or another.

Thank you again! So grateful ^_^

Undergraduate / I Walk By Faith - Common App Choice [4]

Hi! :) This is the common app, "topic of choice essay" Actually I'm not exactly sure since at first it was under the diversity topic, however I just put it under choice just for safety :P

Also, I'm sorry but could I get feedback kind of quickly? I don't want to sound rude, but alas, I slacked off a bit and my deadline is this Wednesday X) Thank you so much for reading it! Hopefully it'll be interesting (crosses fingers) :)

What does "PK" stand for? A PK is known as a "pastor's kid": someone who grows up with a pastor for a parent. And yes, unfortunately, I am one of them. And the rocky road I call life isn't what I would define as peachy.

I am not exactly the image one would picture of a pastor's kid. The purpose of my life is not to please thy Lord nor is it to convert others to Christianity. If asked to recite a bible passage, it would take me a fair amount of time. Others laugh at the fact that someone like me has a pastor for a dad.

Maybe my lack of care is due to the fact that I have had a bad experience with religion throughout my life. I have never lived in one spot for more than 4 years because of the corruption of the church, or as my mom puts it, "God wants us to teach others the message of Him". Instead, friendships were lost, and heartaches were gained. While other teenage girls care about drama, I am concerned with the minute amount money my Dad earns. Thanks to the church, I have learnt that humans are greedy, egocentric beings.

But being a pastor's kid has taught me some valuable lessons as well. Like how our lives are governed by two important words: faith and doubt. Faith in believing we've aced that Calculus exam, doubt in believing the truth in the media, or like me, wavering in between the two; ambivalent in believing a God truly exists. I believe that our lives are enclosed in "bubbles" and anything outside of them will never have any sort of significance to us. It may be just a silly hypothesis of mine, but it is an example of the many beliefs I have created due to my ties to religion. Ultimately, I have become wiser because I am a PK.

So what? One may ask, "How will someone like you contribute to society?" And I can confidently reply that I have more than two cents to throw in. Diversity goes beyond race or ethnicity. We all live diverse, unique lives. Rather than pitying myself over my own nonmainstream life, I will embrace it, and use it to my advantage. Being a PK has led me to negative experiences and downbeat emotions. From that, I have learned that what I desire is happiness. With my other passion, my art, I wish to bring people closer. I want to create laughter; laughter that temporarily lifts the international tension put onto the world, and that can put smiles on peoples' faces. And with the weight off our shoulders for once, maybe once can we see the beauty of our different lives and appreciate it.

So I take back what I said in the beginning. I am thankful for being a PK. During hard times I sometimes wish I was born into a different family, and I admit the life I dream of living is nothing similar to the one I have now. But I have learned a lot, and I want to make a difference in the world. As cliché as it sounds, it is my goal. And some of my readers may doubt it, but unlike them, I have faith. After all, I am a PK.

---
I probably have many grammatical errors, oops ^_^;
Thank you again, for taking your time!

Undergraduate / "Power of Makeup" - Yale Supplement Essay! [2]

Hello everyone! :) I hope to get a bit of feedback before I turn this bad boy in! Thank you all in advance for taking time to read over it. Thanks, good luck and best of wishes to everyone and their applications! :) :)

You have already told us about yourself in the Common Application, with its list of activities, Short Answer, and Personal Essay. In this required second essay, tell us something that you would like us to know about you that we might not get from the rest of your application - or something that you would like a chance to say more about. Please limit your essay to fewer than 500 words. (pretty much anything)

I believe that makeup has incredible powers. Any kind of makeup products possesses the same ability, whether it being a luxury, high-end lipstick or a dollar eye shadow. Makeup is a form of physical art that can introduce a person to a whole new world.

When I get to step into the bathroom, nothing else matters at that point. I could have an endless list of things to do, from studying for a Physics test to practicing the violin, but the list vanishes as I close the door. The bathroom becomes a sort of oasis as all my worries are replaced by feelings of pleasure and relaxation. I begin producing art; I become an artist at work. Picking up the brush never felt so normal for me. The art of putting on makeup is similar to painting. The makeup becomes my paint and my face, the canvas. Colors are picked carefully, and precision is vital. Brushstrokes of hues are dispersed everywhere as my face slowly alters into a whole new person.

Perhaps the greatest reason I adore makeup is because of its ability to stimulate my imagination. By painting the colors onto my face, I transform into a fresh new persona. I can become anything I want to be and reality has nothing against me. After I paint a new face on, I let my creativity take over. I am a teenage girl in her bathroom with her eyes closed far away from reality. My mind produces a new world for me. In my head, I can be first female boxer, ready to fight her most important match covered with bruises and sores which are illustrated on my face through makeup. The beauty of makeup is that it arouses the left hemisphere of my brain which is something that strong academic schools do not focus much of their time towards.

In academic focused schools students are constantly improving their analytical and logical knowledge which are directed by the left hemisphere of the brain. However, the right side of the brain which contains characteristics such as imagination is rarely exercised. I find that even art focused classes rarely stimulate the right brain; at most, these classes slightly nudge at it. I strongly believe that people who only utilize one side of their brain are not fulfilling maximum their potential because they only know the better of one world rather than both worlds. By putting makeup products all over my face, I am easily creating a gateway from reality to fantasy. Makeup creates the stepping stones of my creativity.

So after I finally run out of imagination juice, I wash my face and unwillingly enter back into reality.

-----
Thank you again!! :)