lfdz
Apr 2, 2011
Undergraduate / "it's only a matter of will to overcome our obstacles" - admissions, college apps [12]
This is one of many essays--the longest--that ive written for my college apps. Please read and share your opinion about it. Thanks!
In life we are presented with innumerable obstacles. An example of this is fear. Being afraid to face an impediment is very common in many situations, especially difficult encounters. Essentially, the world is divided into two groups of people: those who have the will to face the challenges that will be presented during the course of their lives, and those who are too afraid to confront them. The ability to face these barriers, other people, or sometimes even ourselves is developed with experiences where an individual must find a way to deal with a dilemma that won't let the individual accomplish a task or a mission in life.
The capacity of overcoming these barriers is measured with the abilities that I have developed in my life. When I first got to SJNMA, last January, my English was not as good as it is right now. There was an obvious lack of communication and understanding between the teachers and I. Therefore, I could not express myself very well. Sometimes they couldn't understand what I was trying to say. That was the first barrier I had to deal with. I live in an environment where everyone speaks English. It wasn't easy at the beginning, other students laughed at me when the teacher asked me to read a text from a book or when I tried to explain something. But I didn't care, because failure is not an option for me. I knew what my goal was and nothing would interfere with what I wanted. Months passed and I got better and better. I decided to take a course of English during summer which helped me improve my ability in reading and writing. Now that I am in English 4, I feel comfortable reading books that are more difficult to read as well as writing papers about them.
At the beginning of this school year I was invited to join Cadre, a military training program designed to provide and give structure to the leaders of the Corps of Cadets. One of the most difficult challenges was the obstacle course. We were assigned to do it with the intention of testing our problem-solving abilities.
I was one of the first members of the group to finish the task, but one of the team members was stuck on an obstacle. As a unit we had to help each other. I managed to encourage him, but he denied that he had the skill or ability to get through the obstacle. He could not see what I could. I was looking at an individual with all the necessary tools to overcome the obstacle but he was blinded by his fear. I had to come up with something that would ignite motivation in him. The first thing that came up to my mind was: "Cadet, this is an example of an obstacle that you are going to have to face within the course of your life. Believe that you are strong enough to conquer your fear and overcome this obstacle." Instantly, I could see the motivation in his eyes. He was no longer afraid of the wall, and did not doubt his abilities anymore.
Obstacles exist and we all have the capacity to overcome them; it's only a matter of will.
This is one of many essays--the longest--that ive written for my college apps. Please read and share your opinion about it. Thanks!
In life we are presented with innumerable obstacles. An example of this is fear. Being afraid to face an impediment is very common in many situations, especially difficult encounters. Essentially, the world is divided into two groups of people: those who have the will to face the challenges that will be presented during the course of their lives, and those who are too afraid to confront them. The ability to face these barriers, other people, or sometimes even ourselves is developed with experiences where an individual must find a way to deal with a dilemma that won't let the individual accomplish a task or a mission in life.
The capacity of overcoming these barriers is measured with the abilities that I have developed in my life. When I first got to SJNMA, last January, my English was not as good as it is right now. There was an obvious lack of communication and understanding between the teachers and I. Therefore, I could not express myself very well. Sometimes they couldn't understand what I was trying to say. That was the first barrier I had to deal with. I live in an environment where everyone speaks English. It wasn't easy at the beginning, other students laughed at me when the teacher asked me to read a text from a book or when I tried to explain something. But I didn't care, because failure is not an option for me. I knew what my goal was and nothing would interfere with what I wanted. Months passed and I got better and better. I decided to take a course of English during summer which helped me improve my ability in reading and writing. Now that I am in English 4, I feel comfortable reading books that are more difficult to read as well as writing papers about them.
At the beginning of this school year I was invited to join Cadre, a military training program designed to provide and give structure to the leaders of the Corps of Cadets. One of the most difficult challenges was the obstacle course. We were assigned to do it with the intention of testing our problem-solving abilities.
I was one of the first members of the group to finish the task, but one of the team members was stuck on an obstacle. As a unit we had to help each other. I managed to encourage him, but he denied that he had the skill or ability to get through the obstacle. He could not see what I could. I was looking at an individual with all the necessary tools to overcome the obstacle but he was blinded by his fear. I had to come up with something that would ignite motivation in him. The first thing that came up to my mind was: "Cadet, this is an example of an obstacle that you are going to have to face within the course of your life. Believe that you are strong enough to conquer your fear and overcome this obstacle." Instantly, I could see the motivation in his eyes. He was no longer afraid of the wall, and did not doubt his abilities anymore.
Obstacles exist and we all have the capacity to overcome them; it's only a matter of will.