Undergraduate / 'Raising my family' - Temple University-10 years from now essay [3]

I finished my essay for Temple Admissions and I was looking for some help. Here is the prompt and my essay. Thanks in advance.

Temple Supplement
Imagine you have graduated from Temple University. You are preparing to attend your 10-year reunion, and the alumni office has asked you to write a one-page essay about your personal and professional accomplishments since graduation.

I finally got around to writing this essay. I've been living in my office ever since our merger a few weeks ago, coupled with my second baby expected to arrive in less than a month. There is so much to do in my hectic life, but nothing could keep me from expressing my appreciation to Temple University and the affect that attending Temple University has had on my life for the past ten years.

Wow, ten years. It's amazing, really. It seems like just yesterday that I was cheering along with the Hoot Squad, or holed up in the Village with the American Marketers Association to further my marketing major. Or, better yet, I will always remember storming the field after crushing Penn State at "The Linc" in 2016. GO OWLS! However, the influence of Temple has stuck with me with other, more tangible benefits as well.

One of the main reasons that I made my choice to come to Temple 14 years ago was the location. It was a tough economy back in 2010, but the abundance of great job opportunities in the urban sprawl of Philadelphia allowed me to think that I would get a great internship and turn it into a job without leaving Philly. It happened almost to script. I acquired an internship at an advertising agency through my studies at Temple University, and after graduating with great grades from my Marketing program they offered me a job. I was astonished by how easy it turned out to be to get a job in the field that I was interested in. Using the experience from this firm, I was able to get a job as the Marketing manager of a large corporate company in Philadelphia. I owe it all to the real life marketing skills and experience that I learned at Temple University and the great location of Philadelphia, which I've made my home for the last 14 years.

I not only took my job from my experience at Temple University, but I took my wife too, with whom I will be celebrating my 5th anniversary next month. We met in our junior years at Temple, and I managed to make her my wife. As we prepare for a family of four, it seems amazing that I have achieved so much over the last ten years. Raising my family in the shadow of Temple University, I know that I will accomplish so much more in the next ten.

Undergraduate / 'my first name is not Tom' - CommonApp Essay-Sawyer [2]

Here is my essay for the Common App, topic of your choice. I will be submitting it soon so any last minute help is appreciated.

Sawyer
No, my first name is not Tom. Thanks for asking. Yes, I do have a fear of flying ever since my plane crashed on the T.V. show Lost. This is the world of small-talk in which I have lived for as long as I can remember. These responses, and many other like them, have become automatic reactions, generated solely to ward off the numerous jokesters who hear my name and immediately make it the butt of jokes. Sometimes I am forced to play along in order to appease their attempts at bonding. Huckleberry Finn? He is my best friend. Of course, I think I think I was too rough on my fellow plane crash survivors, too! The Sawyer School? It is one of my top college choices behind Colby-Sawyer College, of course. I get it. I have an abnormal first name. Hah.

When I was younger, my name was the defining factor which made me unique. To me, it meant that I was different from the hordes of Michaels, Christophers and Matthews out there. Despite the jokes, it meant that I was unique and special. In reality, it meant woodcutter. The name of mystery and euphony that I had grown to love simply meant nothing more than lumberjack. However dismayed I was at first, this discovery turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I finally had a chance to identify myself with my lost Canadian heritage. Having been born and raised in a middle-class suburb in Connecticut, it was easy to forget that my father was raised with 11 siblings, struggling to get by with a single mother in rural Canada. The discovery of my name's meaning finally gave me something to connect to that unrecognized part of my heritage.

Now, the substitutes continue to peer at me from above their spectacles, trying to find a face to match the blight on their attendance sheet which so closely matches a top 20 list for male baby names of the year 1994. "Nickname?" they all inquire. I shake my head no every time, and I proudly state that my strange name means lumberjack, someone who works hard for what they have, just like my father did when he can from Canada to Connecticut by himself, at a time when he was even younger than I am now. It was extremely difficult to recognize my heritage when there was no part of my life to remind me of it. Since my discovery, I take great joy in thinking about my family's journey and hard work whenever my name is uttered.

So, I let the people laugh, with their names that mean "gift of god" or "hope", or "warrior". My unique and humble occupational name allows me to connect with the heritage that brought me to where I am today. I will not let my name down. I will opt instead to rise up to the plateau that my name sets for me. When you meet me, call me proud, call me strange, or call me any funny and creative play on my name that you want. I will never be anything but Sawyer.

Undergraduate / FIRST ROBOTICS EFFECTS-Common App Short Response [2]

Here is my short answer about the effect that FIRST Robotics has had on my academics. ANy help is appreciated

PROMPT-Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences in the space below (1000 character maximum).

The robot glides forward, effortless sucks up a ball, and shoots. Such simple actions drew me in to the most complex sport in the world; FIRST Robotics. I walked into our school's inaugural Robotics meeting in a state of occupational purgatory: I had absolutely no idea of what I wanted to be when I grew up. Four years later, after prolonged stints in virtually every career path that FIRST allowed me to explore, I have found my niche in the hectic, inventive, and fun world of FIRST. Not engineering; not computer programming; I chose marketing.

FIRST facilitated the discovery of my passion as much as it allowed me to evaluate my weaknesses. Through my years of bouncing around from different sub teams, FIRST was always a source of intellectual thinking and, as the organization puts it, hard fun. So, as I finally settle down with my robotics experience in PR, video, and fundraising, I still find myself anticipating each robotics meeting in order to help my team, and myself, excel in pursuits off of the playing field.

Undergraduate / Minutes Of Fame--UNC Supplement [3]

Thank you so much for helping out, I chose the

What's your latest discovery? What do you hope to learn next? Prompt. I went in a bit of a different direction, but it's going out tonight and I need your help! Here it is.

What's your latest discovery? What do you hope to learn next?

I got my fifteen seconds of fame at age 3, when Santa Claus dropped me on my head while an elf filmed, landing me a starring role in the popular show, America's Funniest Home Videos. Infantile head injuries may not be the best topic for a college applications essay, but as soon as my high pitched wailed permeated through nearly every household in America, I knew that I was destined to be a star. My sterling strange presence and bravado earned me a place in the hearts and minds of Americans everywhere. I'm only kidding, the audience laughed at my tears, and John Fugelsang switched to a video of Santa peeing his pants. The moment may have been piddling and insignificant, but the mentality of my "fame" stuck with me.

Ever since my "big break", my ambition for fame has followed me. I've mingled with celebrities (I gave Morgan Freeman a pen) and starred in a middle school production (as in, I literally played a star). I spent my three years of middle school behind a desk every morning, reading the news off of a teleprompter. Every time that I was recognized in the hallways, I was that much closer to fulfilling my dreams of being famous. Growing up under the shadow of ESPN and the fame of the SportsCenter anchors in nearby Bristol, Connecticut, I was on my way to becoming a household name. It was only recently, as I senior in high school, that I've made a sobering discovery; I neither had the talent or desire to be a celebrity.

The discovery which shattered my career plans revealed itself to me slowly. I found myself unwilling to speak in front of large groups. Until there is an American ping pong championship, my mediocre athletic ability will never be enough for even the most low-budget and programming starved sports network and I have an inherent tendency, which was told to me by others, to mumble so that no one could understand me. Taking a stand against my fate, I decided to give my dreams a final stand by running for Senior Class Treasurer. I campaigned charismatically, yet my best efforts fell short, seemingly an omen to the fact that I may never again have the opportunity to handle large amounts of money.

This failure put the definitive stamp on my thesis. I would never have the chops to be famous. I no longer had the ability to perform in front of even the most meager audiences. In addition, the feeling in my stomach told me that I did not even want to be purported into the public spotlight. The easy job reading a teleprompter which I had envied throughout my childhood had become a dreaded position to be in. This was precisely the reason that my discovery did not depress me. I no longer had the restrictive hold of sought after fame defining my career. I could venture into my own field, and make a name for myself through my work in business or other academia. I could be a household name, with my wife and kids in my own household. I can't wait to discovery what I'm going to be when I grow up, without the pressure of fame, or more likely, the pressure of my desire to become famous. The 15 seconds on AFV will be enough for me, as I discovered that "what could have been", is something that I couldn't do anyway.