xchriswangx
Nov 22, 2011
Undergraduate / 'The language barrier is the biggest challenge of my life' - UT Essay [4]
TOPIC:
There may be personal information that you want considered as part of your admissions application. Write an essay describing that information. You might include exceptional hardships, challenges, or opportunities that have shaped or impacted your abilities or academic credentials, personal responsibilities, exceptional achievements or talents, educational goals, or ways in which you might contribute to an institution committed to creating a diverse learning environment.
MY ESSAY:
As generic as it may sound, the language barrier is easily the biggest
challenge and hurdle of my life. Growing up in a family with parents that only
spoke Chinese could be viewed very similarly to a double-edged sword. It forced
me to learn Chinese as my first language, thus giving me a method to
communicate with my family. But on that same token, it made the transition from
Chinese, at home, to English, at school, tremendously harder. Up until fifth
grade, I had great difficulties with English because all I knew was Chinese but
eventually the transition between Chinese and English became easier. I started
to be able to comprehend the English language. Overcoming this wall reaped a
great gift as well, the ability to speak two of the most spoken and useful
languages around this world. Then the summer before my eight grade, my family
and I moved to El Paso. El Paso is a city that is very Hispanic in its culture
and well as language. Everywhere you went, you always heard somebody speaking
Spanish. This soon became the second language hurdle I had to face. But with
time, comes knowledge like the old saying goes and I was able to slowly
comprehend Spanish little by little, then slowly able to speak it. Now, in my
senior year of high school, I can fluently read, write, and speak Spanish.
Although these challenges were not easy to overcome, I did overcome them
through perseverance, dedication, and hard work. Now I have three of the most
useful languages in the world under my belt: Chinese, English, and Spanish.
Although I did not ask for any of this, I took advantage of the opportunities
presented toward me and now reap the benefits of growing up in a mono-language
family, while going to school with English speakers, then moving to a strongly
Hispanic city.
Learning a language was not the only reward I obtained when overcoming these
language hurdles, I also adopted values and morals that were embedded in the
roots of these three languages. With both my parents being directly from China,
they were strongly influenced by the Chinese culture which makes up a majority
of my norms and view on life. Growing up in a strongly Chinese family
emphasized hard work and success in an academic career was key to a successful
future. Along with respecting elders and living life without cheating or
taking shortcuts. My childhood was filled with the generic and stereotypical
Asian life that most imagine. I went to school like any other student, I took
piano classes as well as violin classes, and if I was not doing either of
those, I was studying something completely oblivious that I thought I would
never need to use or know in life, which most of the time proved to be true. If
I ever came home from school with a 95, I would have been lectured, "Why didn't
you get a 100, Jenny's son got a 100 on that test!?" Then I would be constantly
reminded by my parents that they moved to America in hopes of giving my
brothers and I a better future and how I should take advantage of what America
has to offer. I now know that was considered "constructive criticism" even
though I never once considered it constructive. Looking back at my childhood,
it was centered around academic achievements and the importance of school.
Then I moved to El Paso, a strongly Hispanic city that brought me out of my
shell and taught me that having fun was possible while having a strong focus on
my academic career. Over here in El Paso, I discovered what "fun" and "people"
actually meant. I instantly noticed that the focus on school and the academic
life was less focused on over here and students here had something unique to
each of them, their own sense of personality and character. Not everybody here
were academic robots that only thought about school. I also learned what the
word "friend" finally meant. It meant a person who is always there for you and
willing to help you through the lows and highs of your life. I have made
incredible lifelong friends here. I learned that it is possible to balance both
fun and academics. Overcoming these language hurdles as well as adopting the
best of both these cultures make a big part of my character.
Christopher Wang :) Thanks alot
TOPIC:
There may be personal information that you want considered as part of your admissions application. Write an essay describing that information. You might include exceptional hardships, challenges, or opportunities that have shaped or impacted your abilities or academic credentials, personal responsibilities, exceptional achievements or talents, educational goals, or ways in which you might contribute to an institution committed to creating a diverse learning environment.
MY ESSAY:
As generic as it may sound, the language barrier is easily the biggest
challenge and hurdle of my life. Growing up in a family with parents that only
spoke Chinese could be viewed very similarly to a double-edged sword. It forced
me to learn Chinese as my first language, thus giving me a method to
communicate with my family. But on that same token, it made the transition from
Chinese, at home, to English, at school, tremendously harder. Up until fifth
grade, I had great difficulties with English because all I knew was Chinese but
eventually the transition between Chinese and English became easier. I started
to be able to comprehend the English language. Overcoming this wall reaped a
great gift as well, the ability to speak two of the most spoken and useful
languages around this world. Then the summer before my eight grade, my family
and I moved to El Paso. El Paso is a city that is very Hispanic in its culture
and well as language. Everywhere you went, you always heard somebody speaking
Spanish. This soon became the second language hurdle I had to face. But with
time, comes knowledge like the old saying goes and I was able to slowly
comprehend Spanish little by little, then slowly able to speak it. Now, in my
senior year of high school, I can fluently read, write, and speak Spanish.
Although these challenges were not easy to overcome, I did overcome them
through perseverance, dedication, and hard work. Now I have three of the most
useful languages in the world under my belt: Chinese, English, and Spanish.
Although I did not ask for any of this, I took advantage of the opportunities
presented toward me and now reap the benefits of growing up in a mono-language
family, while going to school with English speakers, then moving to a strongly
Hispanic city.
Learning a language was not the only reward I obtained when overcoming these
language hurdles, I also adopted values and morals that were embedded in the
roots of these three languages. With both my parents being directly from China,
they were strongly influenced by the Chinese culture which makes up a majority
of my norms and view on life. Growing up in a strongly Chinese family
emphasized hard work and success in an academic career was key to a successful
future. Along with respecting elders and living life without cheating or
taking shortcuts. My childhood was filled with the generic and stereotypical
Asian life that most imagine. I went to school like any other student, I took
piano classes as well as violin classes, and if I was not doing either of
those, I was studying something completely oblivious that I thought I would
never need to use or know in life, which most of the time proved to be true. If
I ever came home from school with a 95, I would have been lectured, "Why didn't
you get a 100, Jenny's son got a 100 on that test!?" Then I would be constantly
reminded by my parents that they moved to America in hopes of giving my
brothers and I a better future and how I should take advantage of what America
has to offer. I now know that was considered "constructive criticism" even
though I never once considered it constructive. Looking back at my childhood,
it was centered around academic achievements and the importance of school.
Then I moved to El Paso, a strongly Hispanic city that brought me out of my
shell and taught me that having fun was possible while having a strong focus on
my academic career. Over here in El Paso, I discovered what "fun" and "people"
actually meant. I instantly noticed that the focus on school and the academic
life was less focused on over here and students here had something unique to
each of them, their own sense of personality and character. Not everybody here
were academic robots that only thought about school. I also learned what the
word "friend" finally meant. It meant a person who is always there for you and
willing to help you through the lows and highs of your life. I have made
incredible lifelong friends here. I learned that it is possible to balance both
fun and academics. Overcoming these language hurdles as well as adopting the
best of both these cultures make a big part of my character.
Christopher Wang :) Thanks alot
