Undergraduate / Expectations of a traditional Vietnamese student [4]

The prompt is:
Discuss how your family's experience or cultural history enriched you or presented you with opportunities or challenges in pursuing your educational goals.

And this is my essay:

Entering high school for the first time was definitely one of the most anticipating moments in my life, from meeting new people and fitting in, to being successful overall in school. Being a first generation college student, my most important goals are to graduate from high school with honors and make my family proud by attending one of the best universities in the US, the University of Washington.

Born and raised into a traditional Vietnamese family, education and college has always been exceptionally important for us. Since both of my parents and my two older sisters did not go to college, my family has high expectations for me. Both of my parents and my older sister dropped out of high school. The only person in my family so far that has graduated from high school is my oldest sister. However, her graduating deemed to be quite pointless; she has no plan after graduating from high school. The last thing my family wants is for myself to end up similar to the rest of my family. My family desires me to achieve great things such as going to college. Going to college is one of my biggest goals not just for me, but for my family; my success is a reflection of their efforts and support and it makes them happy.

Throughout sixth and seventh grade, education hasn't always been nearly the most important aspect for me. My oldest sister graduated in 2008: the year that I finished seventh grade. Once she noted that she had no post-high school plan, my parents could never have been more disappointed. I started to take my education more seriously starting eighth grade by trying harder academically, making them pleased again. Once eighth grade began, I tried harder to bring my middle school cumulative up to show my parents that I have potential to become an intelligent student and to make my parents very proud parents one day. I ended up on the honor roll for all of eighth grade year and finished middle school with a 3.90 grade point average. My parents were delighted, however they expected better. I could tell by the tone of their voices when they were praising me on my middle school achievement that they were somewhat disappointed that I didn't finish middle school with a "perfect" GPA. I decided to ignore it and try even harder in high school to make my parents fully satisfied of the studious child they have always hoped for.

Once high school started, I strived to be the best student my family could ever be proud of. By doing so, I took a full course load, like honors and International Baccalaureate (IB) level Spanish, English, and science. I continued to take these classes throughout most of high school. Though this was quite rewarding, I faced many hardships and challenges along the way. For example, the stress of course rigor junior year; the courses I took were starting to overwhelm me. I overcame this by my parent's decision on me joining college prep programs such as College Success Foundation and Educational Talent Search and taking a semester of less challenging courses to take the stress off my shoulders, and then plan to finish off senior year strong by taking difficult courses like International Baccalaureate classes again. My family was proud of my choices regarding my courses taken and how I faired in them. Seeing them with the joyous looks on their faces made me feel really proud of myself as well.

Coming to realization that making my family proud gives me the ambition to do my best and put my best foot forward, I will always continue to try my best academically, because nothing makes me happier than to see them happy and gratified of their college bound son. I truly love my family and all their support to help me achieve my educational goals.

Evaluate and/or revise for me please?

Undergraduate / "Born in America to Vietnamese parents"; UW - Cultural Diversity [2]

Describe an experience of cultural difference, positive or negative, you have had or observed. What did you learn from it?

"Being born in America to Vietnamese parents gave me the opportunity to visit my native country: Vietnam. However due to financial difficulties, I was only able to visit about three times: back in 2000, 2004, and 2006. During these visits, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend events such as weddings and funerals. Besides obvious differences in the weather in Vietnam, there are many other differences in the culture of Vietnam as well.

When one hears the words "wedding" or "marriage" in America, they would think about white gowns, tuxedos, exchanging rings, and the words "I do". In Vietnam, wedding are more complex. In America, wedding dates are planned to happen on a specific date, usually one that has significant meaning to the prospective bride and groom. In Vietnam, however, the date is determined by a Buddhist monk, or spiritual leader due to the spiritual nature of weddings. Wedding dresses for the brides usually consist of the Western white wedding gown and a traditional Vietnamese gown known as "ao dai". During wedding processions, unwedded guests would carry an even number of round gift boxes, typically with a red cloth covering it. These boxes would contain various foods such as cake, fruit, roasted pig, and an abundance of jewelry. Even numbers as well as the color red represent good luck to the family. Also in traditional Vietnamese weddings, the newly wedded bride and grooms would pray to their ancestors. This is not standard in America. Although weddings are a big event with many differences between American and Vietnamese weddings, there are several other cultural differences in Vietnam as well.

On my trips to Vietnam, I have also observed smaller cultural differences. I have observed that while in America people are pretty much expected to wear shoes everywhere they go, people in Vietnam prefer to walk barefoot. There are some exceptions to this in Vietnam, such as when the students are going to school. Unlike most public schools in America, Vietnamese students have uniforms; for men, the uniform varies. For women, they occasionally wear traditional gowns known as "ao dai". Unlike weddings, these gowns are typically always white. Another exception is when Vietnamese people travel. The most common vehicle in America is the car. However due to the limited space in homes, motorcycles are the most common vehicle in Vietnam. Also, holidays are very important in both Vietnam and America. Christmas and New Years are the most important holidays in America whereas Lunar New Year, known as "Tet", is the most important in Vietnam. Birthdays, while less emphasized in Vietnam, is very important in America.

During my visits in Vietnam, I learned many things, but most of all, I learned how it is possible to adjust to a complete change in culture. While everything from the traditions, to the holidays, to the weddings is extremely disparate. Adjusting to such a difference is hard, but not impossible. With time, patience, and acceptance from others, adjusting to a new culture is probable."

Help? Thank you!