Dbellamy
Jan 2, 2011
Undergraduate / "The making of who I am" - Howard Transfer essay [2]
In 500 words, tells us about what makes you, you. What are your strengths, weaknesses, and your motivation? What separates you from any other applicant? How do you think Howard University will increase your strengths and diminish your weaknesses?
"The making of who I am"
In different times in my life, the question "Who am I?" always had a different answer. I was not raised with, what some feel is a burden, constantly being reminded I am black. To me I was a regular kid and nothing bad would ever happen to me. As I got older I was told, "You are not black. You are Creole, Native American, and French" by my mother and grandmother. For some reason my family felt that it was extremely important to stress that fact to others but to me it still did not matter.
It was not until I was in third grade I experienced any type of hardship. My mom and I were homeless and literally living out of her car. Now, it also was not until this point that I knew people other than blacks could be homeless. As Naïve as it sounds, I created the stereotype that only black people could become homeless. So I always questioned, Why us? Was it because we secretly were just black? Did I do something wrong?
Those questions never faded until we finally got on our two feet. By this time it was the end of fourth grade and I had to change schools because we no longer lived in the same neighborhood. The neighborhood we ended up moving to was filled to the brim with other welfare families, drugs, gangs, and violence. It typified the average impoverished Chicago neighborhood. The new school I began attending was filled with kids that kind of looked like me but spoke completely different. I was teased and bullied about having long hair and being light skinned. I was chastised for being smart and wanting to learn. The only time I felt accepted was if I acted like them and did what they wanted me to. I never changed the fact that I loved to learn and loved to stay involved with clubs and church. I did however change my desire to positively stand out in a crowd.
Each of these experiences has helped me build and understand who I am. I do not try to fit into any classifications but I remain certain that I am a strong, intelligent, and motivated woman. I find myself wondering how I learned to stay focused and independent. Then I remember times when other kids did not want to learn attempted to distract me and be ignorant to what is going on in class and I simply did not allow it. I kept pushing to the top of my class and in eighth grade became Salutatorian. I used the fact that I come from a multicultural background to help me understand conflicts and aspects of people that are different. It is because of this I chose to study Political Science. My experience with being homeless is used as fuel for my never ending fight for success in all things. And because I of this I know Howard University will increase these strengths and decrease the amount of weaknesses I have.
this is the finished essay I need some editing and proofreading done as well as feedback
In 500 words, tells us about what makes you, you. What are your strengths, weaknesses, and your motivation? What separates you from any other applicant? How do you think Howard University will increase your strengths and diminish your weaknesses?
"The making of who I am"
In different times in my life, the question "Who am I?" always had a different answer. I was not raised with, what some feel is a burden, constantly being reminded I am black. To me I was a regular kid and nothing bad would ever happen to me. As I got older I was told, "You are not black. You are Creole, Native American, and French" by my mother and grandmother. For some reason my family felt that it was extremely important to stress that fact to others but to me it still did not matter.
It was not until I was in third grade I experienced any type of hardship. My mom and I were homeless and literally living out of her car. Now, it also was not until this point that I knew people other than blacks could be homeless. As Naïve as it sounds, I created the stereotype that only black people could become homeless. So I always questioned, Why us? Was it because we secretly were just black? Did I do something wrong?
Those questions never faded until we finally got on our two feet. By this time it was the end of fourth grade and I had to change schools because we no longer lived in the same neighborhood. The neighborhood we ended up moving to was filled to the brim with other welfare families, drugs, gangs, and violence. It typified the average impoverished Chicago neighborhood. The new school I began attending was filled with kids that kind of looked like me but spoke completely different. I was teased and bullied about having long hair and being light skinned. I was chastised for being smart and wanting to learn. The only time I felt accepted was if I acted like them and did what they wanted me to. I never changed the fact that I loved to learn and loved to stay involved with clubs and church. I did however change my desire to positively stand out in a crowd.
Each of these experiences has helped me build and understand who I am. I do not try to fit into any classifications but I remain certain that I am a strong, intelligent, and motivated woman. I find myself wondering how I learned to stay focused and independent. Then I remember times when other kids did not want to learn attempted to distract me and be ignorant to what is going on in class and I simply did not allow it. I kept pushing to the top of my class and in eighth grade became Salutatorian. I used the fact that I come from a multicultural background to help me understand conflicts and aspects of people that are different. It is because of this I chose to study Political Science. My experience with being homeless is used as fuel for my never ending fight for success in all things. And because I of this I know Howard University will increase these strengths and decrease the amount of weaknesses I have.
this is the finished essay I need some editing and proofreading done as well as feedback