Undergraduate / 'the guiding philosophy' - FSU application essay [8]

For almost one hundred years, the Latin words, "Vires, Artes, Mores" have been the guiding philosophy behind Florida State University. Vires signifies strength of all kinds - moral, physical, and intellectual; Artes alludes to the beauty of intellectual pursuits as exemplified in skill, craft, or art; and Mores refers to character, custom, or tradition. Describe how one or more of the values embodied in these concepts are reflected in your life.

This is the 1st paragraph of my essay

"Vires? Artes? Mores?' what does that mean?" people might wonder what it means when they first step into Florida State University unless they knew Latin. The three words play a huge role at FSU because it has known as the guiding philosophy behind Florida State University. But the three words are not going to be important to us if we do not know the meaning of it. 'Vires' means strength of all kinds, 'Artes' indicates the beauty of intellectual pursuits as exemplified in skill, craft, or art, and 'Mores' refers to character, custom, or tradition.

Undergraduate / "The day when I get my report cards" - UCF Admission essay [2]

Being a student that always used to get yelled by the parents and the teachers was not a wonderful experience in fact it was the most annoying and disturbing experience that someone could have. The day I mostly got beaten and yelled was when I get my report cards. And they always compare me with other students who learned really well, and it was embarrassing. It only continued until middle school, I was sick of getting yelled all the time and especially having to listen to the same lecture everyday. I knew I had to move on and study well, and I also knew that it wasn't going to be an easy step. But the hardest thing was not being able to study when someone forces me to, so I had to find a time that I didn't get yelled. And I wanted to prove to my parents and teachers that I can accomplish what I want, so I studied really hard and my grades eventually went up. When my grades went from D's to C's my parents asks me why can't I get A's and B's, so I worked harder and now when I got A's and B's they tell me, "I don't won't to see any B's in your report card". I believe that all the obstacles I face haven't stopped but it never dragged me down in fact it encouraged to reach my goal and accomplish better things.

Having been raised in Sri Lanka and had been attending school over there till 9th grade had given me lots of experience on reaching goals and the huge competitions to get into colleges which were not easy because of the limited number of colleges. In Sri Lanka if we do not pass the test called O/L in 11th grade which is similar to the ACT, we get expelled from school. And if we pass it and make it to 12th grade there is one last test called A/L and that is the one which will determine the chance of attending college. And when I came to the United States I was appalled to see how easy it was compared to Sri Lanka, and how everyone can attend college. I figured out that being in a hard situation and then moving to an easy situation has many positive results. And that's what mostly helped me to get better in school than any other time in my life.

**please edit :)