Undergraduate / My parents are my motivation to be a hard-working, determined, and versatile student [4]

Prompt#2: Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud, and how does it relate to the person you are?

I grew up as an extremely shy person with very low self-confidence. I had trouble speaking to large crowds and interacting with unfamiliar people. All my life I have lived in a densely populated Chinese neighborhood in Oakland, California. I was raised with Chinese traditions and my parents expected me to earn good marks at school.

My parents applied me to both an American school and a Chinese school. I attended both schools and found it hard sometimes to balance the schoolwork that came with it. My American school was located in the center of Chinatown and was populated with mostly children from Chinese backgrounds. I always felt isolated attending this school because everyone had similar customs and interests. I did not grow up exposed to a very diverse environment. My Chinese school was only concerned with academic achievement. The teachers practiced strict discipline and expected nothing but the best. During school, I was too shy to raise my hand during class to respond to the teacher's questions. I began liking my American school even more because the teachers would make us present in front of the class. I was sometimes reluctant to present, but other times I found it fun and it really helped shed my fear of speaking to large crowds.

When it was time for me to advance to high school, my parents wanted me to transfer to a school in another city. They felt that this school would present me with better opportunities and a better education. I had to leave all my friends behind and move on to this strange and unfamiliar school. I immediately noticed that the people here were different and came from a diverse background. Everyone was unique and practiced a variety of customs that were strange to me and I was exposed to an entirely new environment. I made friends with some of these people and they have been a huge my part of my life ever since. They have helped me overcome my shyness by making me attend key club and attending their weekly meetings. We found delight in servicing our community; the gratifying feeling of helping people was our reward. A simple "thank you" was enough to make my day and my self-confidence grew knowing I made the community better even by just a little.

I admit I am still a little shy making friends and talking to large crowds, but I feel that I have improved with the help of my friends. I feel that my life is like a sidewalk and the people I perceive on this sidewalk make up a little part of me. My friends are walking with me on this sidewalk hand-in-hand helping me cross the unfamiliar intersection.

Need some last minute revisions before I turn it in...