Undergraduate / "Gaming Revelation" - personal talent, quality UC 2 Prompt [3]

Essay 2: Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?

Any comments, feedback, revisions are welcome! Please and thank you! :)

"Gaming Revelation"

The only sounds I could hear were loud bursts of gunfire that rung from ear to ear. My pink, shaky fingers reached for the mouse to pull off the last few clicks that turned into devastating shots. Fearlessly carrying my camouflaged metal rifle, I hopped onto a bridge. Seconds shot by like bullets, and I found myself staring helplessly at the enemy that jumped out from behind me. I was wide open, defenseless, as I witnessed loud bursts of thunder tear through my body. And everything faded away...

Every day at school in my junior year, my mind would wander off into the virtual realm that I resided in. Though the sensation feels great at the moment, I began to regret this later on. Escaping into this virtual world made me forget my troubles, worries.

Every day when I rushed home from school, the first thing I would do is turn on my computer and play a game or two of Call of Duty with my friends. My work began to pile higher and higher on my desk, to a point where my computer screen was slowly being buried by past due homework assignments. One day in my Calculus class, I was called on to answer a question. Shocked, I stuttered a few words and the whole class burst into laughter. Embarrassed beyond belief, I sat through the rest of class not being able to lift up my head. From that moment forward, I forced myself to put more effort in school and spend less and less time in games.

Just weeks before the end of second semester, I was able to rescue my hideous Calculus grade and still have the extra time to join my school's varsity swim team. On days when I would usually rush home to play Call of Duty, I instead practiced stroke after stroke in my school's swimming pool trying to perfect my butterfly. Not only that, but I managed to redirect two of my gaming friends into a healthier life style as well. As weeks passed by, I was able to convince two of my friends to minimize the time they spent on gaming and maximize their efforts in school. Every Monday and Wednesday after school, I would tutor them in math at our school's homework center and help them catch up. This not only benefited them, but it also benefited me and gave me a clearer understanding of the material.

As I continue to learn and grow, I want to be able to pass down this revelation and help even more people to overcome their bad habits. As I enroll in college I, as well as my peers, will be facing even tougher temptations. I hope in the midst of those temptations, I would not only remember my accomplishment in high school but be able to influence those that are struggling around me as well.

Undergraduate / Dreams overcome nightmares after emigrating from China. [4]

Also can you guys give me input on my UC 1 too? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all :)

Essay 1:Describe the world you come from - for example, your family, community or school - and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.

People have dreams and nightmares, but it is their dreams that conquer their nightmares.

Ever since I immigrated to the US from China, my parents had been feeding me ideas of becoming a medicinal chemist like my father. They started to shape my life as early as second grade. So it was limited time for television, more homework after school homework, and extra hours of memorizing multiplication tables in the summer. And as if I haven't been giving enough already, they went out of their way to think that playing piano would help improve my chances, so now not only did I have to sacrifice summer, but I had to give up my Sundays for piano lessons as well. Fueled by my parent's ambitions, I worked hard to the top of my classes.

However, this isn't what I wanted. I understood that my parents wanted me to try my hardest and achieve as much as I possibly could, but this wasn't the dream that I had for myself. This was a nightmare to me, because I couldn't pursue what I was truly interested in.

As I entered high school, my interest in becoming a chemist began to fade. I took a variety of courses that exposed me to many opportunities and there came a point in my life when I asked myself: "What I really wanted to be?"

One day on my way out of my school's tutoring center, I walked past a classroom playing a movie called "Stonehenge Decoded." I thought this movie would be just another bland informational film about ancient rocks, but nonetheless, I watched silently from a tiny door opening. As the movie progressed, it talked about the meaning behind Stonehenge and cultures of the Windmill Hill people who built the gargantuan monoliths.

As the movie went more in depth about their ancient culture, I wondered to myself if the cultures of the Windmill Hill people might have influenced that of modern society. The thought of studying ancient cultures and how they might have acted as a base of American culture fascinated me. At that pivotal point, I realized that I would like to pursue something in the field of anthropology. However, the problem still remained: how to confront my parents with this newly developed interest?

I couldn't bring myself to imagine what would happen to me when I told my parents that their efforts in preparing me to become a future chemist went down the drain. This to me was a nightmare, but it was something that I couldn't avoid.

One day after dinner, I decided to have this talk with my parents. The air was tense as I stuttered to them my newly developed interest in broken Chinese. Silence overtook, and I stood there for the longest two minutes of my life waiting for the consequences and repeating to myself "I'm doomed, I'm doomed." Seeing my parents looking perplexed at my proposal, I thought to myself "What did I get myself into?

I prepared myself to receive a disparaging lecture on how I've wasted my parent's efforts and destroyed their ambitions, but instead I was greeted by warm, welcoming smiles. I was confused. I didn't understand until they told me that they had read documentaries about ancient Chinese culture and were eager to learn more. I froze in disbelief. No words could express my joy that moment when I found out that the major I wanted to pursue did not thwart my parents' future expectations of me. This made me wonder what human behavior was like a few thousand years ago when children would like to do something unexpected from their parents.

My parents understood my situation, and I realized the mindset that they had. They have disciplined me to be efficient and consistent in everything I do, expecting me to do the best I can. I guess dreams do overcome after all.