Undergraduate / "I value my family more than ever" - USC essay "What Matters to Me and Why" [7]

Thanks in advance for your help!

Please write an essay, approximately 500-700 words (typically one page) in length on one of the following topics. Check the box for your topic.

- USC's speaker series What Matters to Me and Why asks faculty and staff to reflect on their values, beliefs, and motivations. Presenters talk about choices they have made, difficulties encountered and commitments solidified. Write an essay about an event or experience that helped you learn what is important to you and why it is important.

I came downstairs on a snowy February morning to see my dad and mom standing by the stove cooking breakfast and reminiscing. I had dreaded this day, and prayed for its delay. I savored each month leading up to this, and now it was finally time to say goodbye. I didn't know how long it would be until I saw him next, but I was sure that the next year would drain me completely. As my family ate my dad's infamous pancakes, we all avoided the imminent future and tried to forget why we were all gathered on this cold Sunday morning. Finally my dad broke the ice with a terrible joke, and I suddenly realized how deeply I would miss my goofy dad while he was in Afghanistan. Never before in my young life had I dealt with such an absence, and I would surely have to fight through this departure.

To understand this moment, one must understand my relationship with my father. Its often tumultuous and difficult, but nevertheless loving and a true friendship. My dad and I have always been the closest in the family, but also we have had the most ups and downs. I think that's what defines our relationship, because we can always look past the imperfections and see the love that lies beneath everything else.

And now Afghanistan was calling, and surely my dad would be taken away. I wanted to focus on the unfairness of it all, but I knew that there was a much deeper meaning behind all of this mess. As we cleared the breakfast dishes away, I realized that all the waiting was over and it was time to leave for the airport. Those moments leading up to his departure are some of the most surreal experiences of my life thus far. I couldn't stop the car from inching closer and closer to the airport, and I couldn't stop the clock from ticking closer to the departure time. Finally I had to let go and accept the future, whatever it may hold.

In the days since my dad's deployment it's tough to not get hung up on his absence. My junior and senior years of high school have been the hardest challenge I've ever faced. Not just academically, but emotionally. Every day I worry about the night before in Kabul, and what may have happened. While I watch the news I pray that my dad isn't the American hit by the roadside bomb on his way to work, or the Foreign Service Worker taken hostage. It's a daily battle, but I would not be the person I am without having to come to terms with this disruption in my life.

I have learned more and more about my self and what I hold to be important. I value my family more than ever. It sounds cliché to say that my family comes first, but truly they have become what is most near and dear to my heart. We keep each other grounded in things that will always be there (like family), and they remind me that life is much more than the daily drama of high school. I wont say that I haven't chosen a night out with my friends as opposed to "Family Bonding", but they still are the backbone of who I am. In a way, I am thankful that I was given this opportunity to have this new perspective at such a young age. I know that being with the ones you love will always be the most important thing to me. And nothing, because of what I've learned from the deployment of my dad, can change that belief.

Undergraduate / My World in Kentucky, UC essay prompt #1 [2]

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.

I'm not sure if I focus too much on my family, or if I should focus more on my career path? After all it does ask about our world? any help would be greatly appreciated!

In each person's life there are so many influences that can shape the way we act. The great battle has always been nature vs. nurture, and what really makes a person. In my life nurture has always been the predominant force. I've always lived by the philosophy that it's not where you're from but where you're going. It has always seemed to me that we are each in charge of our own destiny and we can each move past the circumstances we were born into. However I was lucky, and my family has always provided support in whatever I dreamed possible. All throughout my life my family has raised me in a way to see the big picture in life, and to dream beyond my own small town.

To understand where I'm going, I think it's important to first describe where I'm from. Both of my parents come from families that moved around frequently, and sometimes this took them abroad to other countries. As adults they lived in Europe and moved to different areas of America. Because they wanted my sister and I to have a stable childhood they settled into Kentucky. But that didn't stop them from teaching my sister and I to think about what other opportunities that are available to us and not be limited by what the rest of society thinks we can do. My mother and my father have both instilled in us the value of travel, and that we must experience other cultures to understand that not everyone is the same, and its better that way. Through our travels I have seen the amazing vastness of the world, and there is much more than the view outside of my bedroom window.

In my town in Kentucky most people are staying within the state, because it's home to them. The world around me is comfortable and I love where I'm from. But that doesn't mean I want to stay here forever, because my aspirations reach much further than that. Like, to a university in far off, "exotic" California. But I have always known that I would leave my home state and move on to a different environment. Some of my friends call me restless, but I prefer curious. I can't wait to see the world and I wont settle for anything less that my wildest dreams.

I believe that even though we all come from unique genetic make-ups, we still decide our own destiny. Life is what we make it, and because of the world I grew up in, I'm able to leave where I'm from in order to find where I'm meant to be. I truly believe that place is in California. Professionally I hope to someday work for Invisible Children and eventually become a teacher abroad. The world is much bigger than myself and I know that I am meant to help out in any way I can. Through studying at your university I can achieve the knowledge to reach my wildest dreams, and truly see the world.