Undergraduate /
"Acceptance" UC Prompt 1: Describe the world you come from [5]
Describe the world you come from - for example, your family, community or school - and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.
As the bell rings to signal the start of class, the students quiet down and the teacher steps forward. It is the first day of high school and the teacher begins to take attendance. As the teacher calls out names of my classman, I brace myself and wait for my turn. Then, my teacher calls out, "Yung", and I grimace. Although I have lived in California practically my whole life, I still am not use to my English teachers saying my Chinese name. For one, my name should be spelled "Yong" for the reader to pronounce it correctly, and they always forget the "Fen" that is part of my first name.
At the tender age of five, I moved to America with my mother, father, and two younger sisters. For most of my childhood youth, I have always asked myself, "Why am I Chinese? Why do I have to endure two hours of Chinese school each week when my friends don't?"
As a child, my mother took me to her friend's house practically every week. When my mom's friend was pregnant, everyone was delighted. However, once the baby was born, they realized that the baby could not dispose of his waste at all. As a newborn baby, he had to get surgery and his waste would go into a plastic bag from his stomach. Fortunately, he was able to dispose his waste regularly when he grew up. Like any other boy, he loves trains and idolizes Thomas from "Thomas and Friends". However, he was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease when he was around four years old. Kawasaki disease, also known as lymph node syndrome, is very rare and often affects children under the age of five. Looking at pictures of him laughing with his parents in the hospital, I wondered, "How can this child smile and laugh when such a thing has happened to him?" After his recovery, I continued to go to his house and played with him and his trains. Nothing about him changed; he was still the bright and intelligent kid that I watched grow up.
Through this little boy, I learned to accept reality. Despite all the pain he went through, he came out with a beautiful smile, as if what he went through was only a small matter. Compared to his troubles, my childhood struggles were minuscule. I now accept my culture and though my acceptance, I tried harder to learn Chinese and Chinese culture. In addition, I gained new interest in the medical field. After watching the boy struggle so much at a young age, my dream is to bring comfort to people, either as a doctor or a nurse.
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Thanks for reading! Please help, as my grammar and structure are my weak points. Any suggestions are welcome! :D