Undergraduate / UT ESSAYS - Leadership, Setback, Challenge [5]

Please revise the following essays for me.

1. Leadership Ability Short Essay
Leadership to me is all about communication. If you don't talk with people, you
will never know what they are expecting from you. Last year I was the
vice-president of a club, basically I was the co-founder of the club. Things
are usually harder at the beginning; we went through many obstacles just to
make the club exist. This year everything is in good order now. But there was a
group of people won't do anything even you ask them to. Later on, I talked to
them to see if there is any dissatisfaction about the club. They pointed out we
didn't do anything but fund-raising, and the shirt looks ugly. To be honest, I
was terribly indignant at their speech and also worried. I know if they still
think like this, they wouldn't want to cooperate with us because people who
criticize you won't help you. I asked them about their opinions of the
strategies to run a club. They said that we need an outstanding T-shirt with
customized names, and field trips once in a while. I asked them how to achieve
these goals without enough money. I asked her to design a shirt for the club
with the way they wanted, but the costs of the shirts have to be under our
budget. They agreed with pleasure, but two days later, they came up to me with
frustrations, now they understand how difficult to come up with an ideal shirt
with limited money amount and they are willing to help us. The way to lead
mavericks is to inform them the difficulties we've been through, so they
wouldn't think it's a laid-back job to be in charge.

Undergraduate / "to talk about an issue I concern" (Wallstreet) - UT TOPIC B [2]

This is an essay I wrote for UT, the topic is to talk about an issue I concern. Please proof read it for me. Can anyone tell me if I'm off topic, or how I can improve it ? please help me with structure, and grammar

Wall Street was a legendary place. It used to be a visionary paradise for every business professionals. But today, sweet dream turned into a nightmare. Nowadays if you see someone who is walking down the Wall Street with a huge box in his arms, apodictically he is probably an unfortunate former employee just received his dismissal. According to the reports, since the economic crisis broke out in September, more than 20% of employees had lost their jobs on Wall Street. I believe the data will continue to expand. This disaster has affected the U.S. economy, now is expanding globally.

This year's college graduates were not born at a lucky time period. During periods of economic prosperity, college graduates could easily get two or three job offers even before they graduate from college. But the nation's economy is in its recession, this year's college graduates are facing a job market which is not very optimistic. So far, only 65% of last year's college graduates had found a job, for the remaining 35 percent, either they are still looking for opportunities, or they are planning to pursue an advanced degree.

Actually I was unconcerned about the explosion of the financial crisis, after all, I'm only an average person, granted that I'm affected it wouldn't make a huge difference. It can probably make me to go shopping once a month instead of twice a month, and to replace luxuries with inexpensive articles at most. But as I heard more and more about it, my crisis awareness had been aroused. Due to the economic downturn, for most companies, the number of employees is being whittled down in order to reduce costs, even if they are employees with master's degrees. College graduates are now suffering from the reduction of staff and the decreasing in job offers. After hearing these, I started considering about my future in a different way. Mainly I need to consider about what I'm really expecting for my future, what kind of college will suit me the most, what majors will help me to succeed later on, and the practicability of my majors. Although there isn't a big difference on living cost, my parent still can't afford the tuition for those private colleges, especially the scholarships amounts are reducing distinctly. In such a case, my standard for a good college is to have a fairly charged tuition. Second of all, the majors I would pick must be highly practical and pragmatic. Two years ago, I wanted to study economy and finance, but I found these two majors are quite abstract and idealistic compare with other majors. I noticed most people get laid off are those without professional skills, people who normally stay are always working for a vital department inside a company. Now when I'm considering about a major, I'm considering not only my interests, but also their technicalities, now I could narrow down my choices to a decision between Management Information System, accounting and Architectural Engineering.

In addition to college decisions, as an immigrant, the crisis leads to another question which is to decide whether or not to move back to my motherland, since I have heard many people I know are going back after their graduations. It is not a problem that's really bothering me, because I don't have to make a decision until I really I have to.

Even though most companies are not hiring new employees, unemployment rate is constantly going up, I wouldn't excessively worry about my future career, since I believe the University of Texas at Austin will train me well, I would be able to find a job that I like.

Undergraduate / "Without opponents, I might fall asleep" - ut essay TOPIC A [5]

Without opponents, I might fall asleep

We're living in a world of contradictions, eventually we will meet some significant people who could have impacts on our lives. Other than my parents, there is one group of people can also create a great impact on me - my critics and my opponents. Some people would give up their original purpose while facing antagonists, some would slacken their pace because of objections, and a portion of them could even sink into despair. But there are also individuals can withstand the pressures, and I'm one of them. The more enemies I meet, the more perseverance I develop.

When I was little, I was really clumsy and my taste in clothing was rather vulgar, but I'm still a good student. I was considered the most mediocre child among all my cousins. I was not favored by one of my aunties, to be honest she was quite pretty but kind of snobbery. She prefers kids that are sociable and good-looking; obviously I'm not lovable to her. Another reason she hates me is because her daughter attended the same school I went to, and I'm always a top student in my class, her daughter had a hard time with even passing the classes. She would get aggressive every time when she finds out that I'm doing better than her daughter at school. Long story short, my Auntie doesn't like me, and my only weakness she would use to attack me was my outward appearance. Although I knew I'm not good-looking at that time, I would still hope that she never point that out, until one day she finally did. She criticized me for having an argument with her daughter. She blamed all the faults on me even though it wasn't my fault at all. She told me that I was the most brainless kid she had ever seen, and she also satirized my physical appearance, that I didn't know how to dress-up, a girl like me cannot succeed. Her words harmed me profoundly. I've decided to prove to her that I can be perfect in all fields.

Ever since that, I started paying more attention to my appearance and learned to act with graceful manners. I started letting my hair grow and started wearing dresses. Although I felt like a fish out of water at the beginning of the refinement, but I would bestir myself by reminding myself of what auntie told me. Because I knew if I improve myself, the better I get, the harder it will be for other people to destroy me. Hard works paid off, although I'm still not gorgeous, but I'm polite, elegant and open-minded. It becomes clear to me that, though the finished product may be beautiful and elegant, the process is not. Once I told Auntie that I'm extremely grateful to her, if it wasn't her, I'm probably still that ignorant and clumsy girl. Even though her statements were mixed with prejudices, I can still use them as motivations. Auntie blew away my respects to her, but she created a miracle in my life. Without these haters, I would probably turn in to a typical girl who will cry and get sad if I hear something offensive. Now I'm more confident in myself than I used to be.

She didn't only change the way I look, but also my philosophy towards life and the society. I understood that I can't surround myself with praises and people who love me. Sometimes it's disappointed whenever I see people's dreams and passions have snuffed by haters. But think this way: will you care if an ant criticizes you? I had learned not to take those opponents' comments in a negative way. My critics made me realize that as a person is living in this world, then he has to prepare for criticizing. It's worse if no one attacks you, which means you are not important to them. These enemies of mine are influencing since they helped me to reveal my weakness, and I have learned how to use them and my mind to get anything I want. Something in this world can be inevitable, while facing obstacles, it's better to light a candle than complaining about the darkness.

In my opinion, a person is like a piece of metal, it cannot reveal its natural color unless someone breaks it. Without enemies, I will probably never find out how capable I can be. Yet, the haters will drag you out from your lotus land, which forces us to get better, in order to be more competitive. I have to express my gratefulness to all my haters, you taught me how to be strong, and you taught me how to face inexorability with a smile. "Thank you, haters!"