Undergraduate / 'My sister and I were born in Morocco' - Letter of special circumstances for college [11]

MY SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES

My twin sister and I were born in Morocco. When we were three years old, our father left us to come to the United States for a better future. Shortly thereafter, he severed all connection with us, took on another wife, and abandoned us for a different life. We had no relationship with him growing up and were raised by our mother. Despite the distance, my mother tried hard to build a relationship between us and our father. Since she contributed substantially to his move, he decided to allow us to attend high school in the United States. Two years ago, we moved here to pursue our dream of a better education and life. We were 15. We were not sure what to expect, especially since we were moving in with a stranger.

Not long after we arrived, we started experiencing problems with our father. He had no warmth or compassion for us. After a year, he decided to abandon us. We still lived with him due to legal constraints, but he relinquished all parental duties: he stopped buying food for us and told us we needed to fend for ourselves. He removed us from his health insurance and made it clear we needed to move out when we turned 18. We were unemployed and also attending school full-time. Since we couldn't afford our own groceries, the free meals at school became our main source of food. At night we often went hungry. Out of spite, my father withdrew our computer access at home. Doing my Advanced Placement class homework became nearly impossible. My father cut us out of his life and mind. He did not care if we were hungry. He did not care how we performed at school.

Stranded, desperate, and unable to take care of ourselves, my sister and I both applied for jobs. She now works at DSW Shoe Warehouse and I work minimum wage at Papa John's Pizza in St. Louis Park. I work 25 to 30 hours a week in order to survive while also attending school full-time.

In addition to child neglect, my father engages in child abuse: he is often verbally and emotionally abusive towards us. Along with his frequent threats of abandonment, he refused my sister a key to the apartment and there were several times he kept her locked out. She would then leave and stay with friends. When I tried to defend my sister from him, he physically attacked me. We come from a culture where it is the duty of the male to protect women. My sister has no one in her life but me, her twin brother, and I feel entirely responsible for her safety. Our situation was noticed by some of our close friends at school and their parents. They reported our father twice to the Hennepin County Child Services as a perpetrator of child neglect and abuse. These cases were forwarded to the St. Louis Park Police Department. Thus far, nothing has been done to improve our living situation.

Despite this environment and my extreme work hours, I maintain a strong GPA at school. I also try to involve myself in extracurricular activities: I am a member of the Boy's Varsity Tennis Team and have been recognized for my leadership skills by being selected the team captain for the next season. The biggest weakness in my educational background is the ACT, which I took in October 2011. I didn't have the time or the means to prepare adequately for it. The English and Reading sections are my weakest areas, which is not surprising since English is my third language after Arabic and French. It pleased me that I did well in the Math and Science sections since I intend to major in Engineering at college I am currently studying hard to retake the ACT on Dec 10, 2011.

There have been times when I have felt so completely helpless and downhearted these past two years. My goal of succeeding in this country started to look unachievable. I could leave the U.S. and return to Morocco, but my prospects of a good life and career there would be very limited.

The only way out of this life of despair is college. You hold my life, my future, in your hands. I appeal to you to give me a chance and throw me a lifeline. I appeal to you to consider my special circumstances as you evaluate my candidacy for the University of Minnesota.

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Scholarship / (involvment and contributions to your community) BILL GATES MILLENIUM SCHOLARSHIP [4]

Prompt:
Discuss your involvement in and contributions to a community near your home, school, or elsewhere.

According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), my country of birth, Morocco, ranks in the bottom 10% for literacy amongst all nations in the world. The problem is particularly acute amongst women, due to ingrained cultural practices and prejudices. My mother who is a teacher and also very much an independent thinker, wanted to provide me with the opportunity at a very young age to make a meaningful impact to the lives of the illiterate in our country. On alternate weekends she drove us to the country and I helped teach women and girls how to read and write Arabic. All we had was a small classroom and a chalk board where the women sat on the ground and attended class often at great personal risk to themselves. So intense was their desire to learn. Education was the only way out of their very difficult circumstances in life. Their courage, despite possible harm from their husbands and family, impacted me deeply. I too realized at that early age that education was my way out of my own circumstances in life; thus my drive to attend high school and college here in the US.

Undergraduate / 'Education is optimum tool to achieve my goals' - PURDUE [2]

I was born and raised in Morocco, a under developed country due to a lack of education, a failed government, and deeply entrenched corruption. Morocco also suffers from high rates of illiteracy, disease, population growth and an unstable governments. Given my background I am very grateful for the opportunities that became reachable with my move.

Currently, My number one priority is to attend college. This is primarily the reason my sister and I emigrated to the United States some three years ago. The United States is considered scientifically and technologically the most advanced country in the world. These qualities and values are a result of an outstanding academic environment and spirit of excellence, which are implanted in the educational system, thus making it the best in the world. I am most interested in exploring the field of engineering: electrical or mechanical. It's a field that fascinates me deeply and I can see myself being endlessly stimulated in a rewarding career in engineering. I see myself being able to contribute substantially to the field. I see myself being able to achieve positions of leadership in it.

Ultimately I want to give back. I am ready to work tirelessly to achieve great success in my career. Which will allow me to give back to the world: to education, to Africa, to help the sick and the less fortunate. The people who are able to make the difference in alleviating world issues are those that give of their time, their money, their resources and their ingenuity. I witnessed these issues first-hand growing up in Africa.

Education is optimum tool to achieve my goals. I have always had a thirst for knowledge; And a good college education is what will give me that knowledge. The University of Purdue has been known to produce some of the most influential alumni in the technology field. Such as Neil Armstrong who's accomplishments not only advanced the field of aerospace science and technology, it also moved the world. Becoming a student in such a renown and prestigious college would be a golden opportunity.