Undergraduate / "A Medley of Experiences" - Quest Bridge Biographical Essay [3]

Prompt
We are interested in learning more about you and the context in which you have grown up, formed your aspirations and accomplished your academic successes. Please describe the factors and challenges that have most shaped your personal life and aspirations. How have these factors caused you to grow? (800 word limit) *

First Draft
*Forgive me for my many mistakes

From a young age, my character was derived from what I perceived. Generally, I would imitate the personalities of my friends and family in order to get along with other people. But because I was merely imitating those around me, there was not a genuine 'me.' I was just a carbon copy, experiencing life as someone else. This persisted until my family moved homes after my 3rd year in elementary school.

After moving to our new home, I tried to shape my own personality. But with eight years copying the personalities of others, I did not know where to start. Since I looked up to my Uncle Keith who had recently finished college, I decided to become the 'smart guy.' This did not last long as I did not have much of an interest for schooling during my early years. Next on my list was athletics. Recess served as the perfect time to try becoming the 'jock.' I tried various sports throughout the year, basketball, soccer, dodge ball, but nothing stuck. I employed hit-or-miss method for the reminder of my years in elementary school.

As the summer before middle school drew to a close, I came to the realization that none of the personalities stuck because no person can perfectly fit into one archetype. With this in mind, I mixed and matched the various archetypes I tried to fit into during the previous years. At first I truly thought that I had finally molded my own character. I began to excel in all my classes, receiving high marks, and even bested the majority of students in physical education. However, this illusion broke once I became aware that it was impossible to mix such distinct personalities together. Despite my success, I did not have a feeling of accomplishment that I hoped for. Twelve years had already passed by without being able to experience life as 'myself.' It was not until my first year in high school that I would truly begin to forge my own persona.

I viewed high school as an opportunity to start anew in my quest for 'myself.' Early in my freshman year, Coach Gilbert Diaz of the wrestling team convinced me to join wrestling as it would "build character and turn me into a man." I was skeptical at first; but with the failures I experienced in elementary and middle school, I was willing to try anything. Wrestling practice proved to be extremely difficult and exhausting. It consumed most of my time as practice stretched for three hours in the afterschool. Even fatigued, I tried my best to continue to succeed academically as it was one of the few things I still had pride in from middle school. On the other hand, physical education was child's play compared to wrestling. Not only was I overwhelmed by the intensity, but I had close to no talent for it. Quitting was the only thing on my mind, but Coach Diaz's first words to me rang in my mind each time I thought of giving up. Half-way through the season, I lost my initial attitude. "There's no way a scrawny kid like me could compete with these guys," was often the topic of my mind. I tried to hide my angst, but it eventually permeated through my act. Coach Diaz saw this in me and immediately began to meddle. No matter how much I failed or was beat down, he told me to never give up. Despite my perseverance, failure seemed to be a part of me. I had even begun to believe that wrestling had only taught me was how to be a loser. This eventually grew into hatred of mediocrity, even outside of the wrestling room. In truth, this hatred was the seed of my persona.

The remainder of the school year, I put my new perspective to use and excelled in nearly every aspect. My grades were at the top of my class, I was able to win a spot on the junior varsity wrestling team, and I had a new found confidence. I had not noticed the change until one of my teammates mentioned it. It was true; wrestling did build my character and perhaps even turned me into a man. Not many people around me noticed, but that was not a concern. What I was truly searching for was not acceptance from others, but from myself. This acceptance manifested in the form of dedication and resilience.

Now that I look back on my past, the years of searching for my persona seem like a trial. With the help of Mr. Gilbert Diaz, my trial developed my perseverance that eventually became the basis of my character. This perseverance transformed into unyielding dedication and resilience which spurs my ambitions.

Undergraduate / Questionbridge Essays #1 and #2: "Insignificance Breeds Success" & "Americanization" [2]

Describe an experience that you have had or a concept you have learned about that intellectually excites you. When answering this question, you may want to consider some of the following questions: Why does this topic excite you? How does it impact the way you or others experience the world? What questions do you continue to ponder about it? (500 word limit) *

Since the dawn of time, the night sky has captivated many. Something about the heavens causes the mind to wander.
As a child, I was afflicted with a curiosity of the universe. Since a young age, I have stared at the starry night sky wondering what exactly the bizarre lights in the sky were. I remember begging my dad to take me to the library so I could learn more about the celestial objects that mesmerized me. In these books, I discovered that there are stars that dwarfed Earth. At the time, I thought my elementary school campus was immense, but this was insane. My mind could not comprehend these objects. That moment spurred my quest to understand the universe.

Fast forward to the present and I am still scouring libraries and the internet to learn as much as I can. From humble beginnings with stars and planets to multiverses and membrane theory, my knowledge has expanded but so has my thirst for it.

Mankind barely understands the intricacies of its own planet, yet it strives to understand the final frontier, space. The size of the cosmos is incomprehensible. If our planet is visualized as a water droplet, the universe would be more massive than all the oceans on Earth. The mere thought of picturing the universe is mind-boggling.

The sheer size of the solar system alone makes it difficult to understand; after all, it takes several years to send spacecraft to other planets for observation. But the solar system is an insignificant speck compared to the Milky Way Galaxy, which in turn is only a speck of the universe. This only provides a tiny idea of how much there is left to explore. Whatever knowledge we have is derived from what we can observe, however only about 5% of the universe is visible to humans. The rest of the 95% is comprised of undetectable dark matter and energy. Of the percentage that is visible to us, we have not even explored a percent of that. That means around 99% of the universe is still unknown. Regardless of the odds, physicists and astronomers will continue to seek answers.

The vastness of the cosmos renders human existence to be insignificant. A human lifespan is nothing but a brief moment in comparison to the universe. It is this feebleness that gives me purpose in life. I realize that, ultimately, my life means has no meaning to the universe. But I find my significance in success, because I am acknowledged for my actions. It may not be much, but this sense of accomplishment pushes me to strive for no less than excellence.

The universe has an infinite amount of possibilities, but it is up to the individual to decide what to do with these possibilities within their lifetime. As the American novelist Don Williams Jr. asserted, "The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination."

Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you. (500 word limit) *

Historically, the Orient and the West have clashed physically and psychologically. Similarly, I have been torn between my Asian heritage and the American culture. In particular, the transition from my family's first home in Rosemead to our current home in Montclair was a conflicting experience.

Rosemead was a predominantly Asian community, probably the reason why my parents decided to live there. There was a sense of comfort in the city. Everyone looked like me and spoke a language I understood. This part of my childhood was relatively harmonious between my ethnic and moral backgrounds. In this environment, my parents were able to brainwash me with the classic Orient culture, which basically consisted of two rules, respect your elders and never cause trouble. It may be that the move was a strenuous experience because I had become accustomed to a life where I was just like everyone else.

Montclair was essentially the opposite of Rosemead. The majority of people at school were of Hispanic or African origin which seemed very odd to me at the time. I felt as though I was dropped off on an alien planet. I had never seen so many non-Asians in my life; everyone looked different and spoke a strange language. However, this was probably the best experience for me, but the worst for my parents. Because of my exposure to various cultures, I had begun to adopt various mannerisms and beliefs as my own.

It was quite obvious to my parents that their meticulous lessons were unwinding. I remember my mom asking the same question to me almost every day after I started changing, "Do you want to be a bad guy?" Out of love, my mom tried to make different synonymous with bad in order to preserve her teachings.

Torn between mine and my parents' desires, I was in a constant state of psychological conflict. I wanted to experience and perceive the world without my parents' bias, but they believed that any choice I make would turn awry. I felt as though I were a robot, living a life that had been planned out for me since birth. Despite good intentions, my parents' actions proved to be unfavorable for their goal. I wasn't intending to discard my ancestry, but neither was I willing to conform.

My exposure to different cultures continued, but there was a point where I realized that in order to further adopt the new culture; I would have to give up my heritage. I remained neutral as I was unwilling to do either. Ultimately, this was the most significant decision of my life as it allowed me to create my own persona.

Truly, the generation of Asian children in the United States must be recognized as Asian Americans. Unlike other minorities in America, we have no role models to look up to in Western culture. Since none exist for us, we must become the options for future generations. This mindset has caused me to aim for excellence and no less.