Undergraduate / 'I am a perfectionist' - QuestBridge - A significant experience [7]

Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you. (500 word limit)

My essay is 694 words long and I am looking for ways to cut off words. Please help!
Also I will gladly accept changes/improvements/advices to my essay
Thank you!

I am a perfectionist. You could take a time machine, go very far back into my past, and you would see me striving for perfection. As early as three, when I first learned how to color, I'd throw out the artwork and start over if I had colored outside the lines, regardless of the amount of time and work already being put into the piece. Years later, when I was first exposed to video games, each time something went wrong my finger would point to the "Restart" button. This has become my reaction to everything. In the present I still strive for the perfect research paper for my AP Government class, the perfect diction for my English essays, and at this moment, trying to come up with the perfect topic to write about for my college question. However, the lesson I learned from a haunting yet unforgettable experience makes me think twice about my ideals; that striving to be perfect may not be the best option at times.

It was May 5th, 2012 when I first really challenged my ideals. I was in the middle of my AP Chemistry Exam. Chemistry is my best and favorite subject in school, so I expected a 5 on the exam. Since many people around me believed that I would inevitably ace the exam, I was determined to produce the perfect responses for all questions. So sticking to my ideals, I made it a priority to triple-check every answer immediately after writing it. The strategy radically hindered my test results, for I would leave many multiple choice questions guessed or unanswered. After the exam, I knew that in certain situations, like in testing, I need to compromise with my ideals to succeed. In July 1st I called ETS for my score, and my fears were confirmed. I was crestfallen to hear my atrocious score report. But let this experience be a life lesson for me to look back to so that I would not make the same mistake in the future.

What can I learn from this unforgettable experience? Sometimes in certain situations I need to compromise perfection to accomplish what is at minimum. Had I actually finished the test before going back and checking for errors, a 5 on the AP Exam would be certainly more attainable. A perfect answer sheet was not necessary to earn a 5.

But how can this experience affect my future? Undoubtedly I will be confronting similar yet more serious situations later on. What if I decide to take the GRE after 4 years of undergraduate study? Will I learn to compromise perfection, or will I once again go with my normal approach, obsessively checking and proofreading my answers, together wasting time and risking to not finishing the entire test? I may even face such conflicts during my college career. Many times my professors will ask me to produce a well-written paper, so my college career may get entangled in messy dilemmas.

I'm hoping I'll make a better decision the next time my ideals are challenged. If nothing else, this experience has made me more aware of the many sticky situations I may get myself into. What I learned about myself after the exam wasn't exactly flattering. Indeed, I'm still a perfectionist, but I exposed myself to situations in which my work does not need to be perfect. My bad decision has inspired me to look ahead and find ways to make my ideals and my love of chemistry work together. I'm interested in chemical engineering and I like to think that in the future I would utilize my skills to better the world and tackle noble causes such as climate change and sustainability. Even though perfectionism ironically has some flaws, I'm still determined to perfect my works, and hopefully this goal will never inhibit my work or education ever again. I, Quan Do, will do everything in my power to accomplish my mission to succeed in everything I put my effort into. I will give my best shot. I will endure. I will endeavor, and I will achieve.

Undergraduate / 'I see myself growing more mature as time goes by' QuestBridge Bio Essay [4]

We are interested in learning more about you and the context in which you have grown up, formed your aspirations and accomplished your academic successes. Please describe the factors and challenges that have most shaped your personal life and aspirations. How have these factors caused you to grow? (800 word limit)

I would like some advice to improve my essay, but my priority is to shorten down to 800 words. Its at 864. Please help

Looking back at the last 17 years, I see myself growing more mature as time goes by. I remember the day my mom cried as I headed toward my first day of first-grade like it was yesterday. From that point on I faced many tough challenges, but have always found myself the motivation to come through, and after each challenge, I sense myself growing more independent, as I am further prepared to face the real-world problems and tackle noble causes like global warming and sustainability.

I was born and raised in a family in which all the work was done by my overprotective parents. They tried their best to keep me out of danger and the precarious environment outside my house. As a result I was very safe around my parents, but on the other hand I had few friends in elementary schools. I had no idea of what the world around me was like. For this reason I strive to be independent from my parents at a very young age. I was very driven to show my family that I have the ability to take care of myself. So I taught myself to do various house works beginning from the third grade, such as cooking, washing dishes, doing laundry, shopping for groceries, etc. It took me an enormous effort to do those things. I was very young at the time, and so I tried quitting many, many times, but somehow still managed to continue. But the work did paid off, as I learned how to survive in a week completely independent from an adult by the sixth grade. As a result I was left more independent from my family. That was not the best prize however. I discovered myself as a person who can accomplish the impossible as long as I have faith in myself. This mentality carried me to the next big challenge: to adapt to the new rigors and environment of America. The challenge was intimidating, since I was just getting to know my middle school in Vietnam. Learning a new language was never an easy task; however, a tough challenge excites me. Only by overcoming Herculean tasks do great individuals rise. That has been the motto I have followed my whole life. Challenges did not scare me. And so I gave my best shot at learning English, and what really surprised me was when my father assured me that my English was better than my dad's, even though he has been speaking English his whole life, talking to people around the world, while I only spoke it for a few months. A few years later, I am my father's personal translator for when he has difficulty understanding what people say. To me, challenges may just take a long time, but are never impossible to conquer.

Still, there were even tougher challenges waiting for me, persistently trying to knock me down and defeat me. I remember when I had just joined my high school robotics team, and all former programmers and programming mentors left, retire, or graduated. No one in the team, including me, had programming experience. The team struggled to find new programmers. As the day of competition came close and the deadline for finishing the robot was just a few days away, disqualification seemed imminent. At the time I had no interest at programming, but for the good of the team I assumed responsibility. So a challenge came to me: learn how to program and implement my skills into robotics in less than 3 weeks. The challenge seemed impossible, The process was extremely time-consuming. Learning Labview in a few weeks was awfully difficult. Countless hours of my sleep time and leisure time were spent learning something I did not enjoy. But the costs were negligible compared to the results, as I successfully programmed the robot to move, pick up and shoot basketballs, and many other skills, and my team's worries about disqualification was completely gone. That experience taught me a lesson about myself. During those three weeks, there were many moments when I really doubted myself, thinking that I could not finish the task in a short time. But during those moments, I managed to say these words to myself: "Quan, you can conquer every task you bump into!" And so with that attitude, I managed to finish something I had no prior experience to. What was surprising for me was that after Robotics, I became more and more interested in the field of Computer Science, and I may decide to study it in college.

Looking back at my childhood and the challenges I have face and conquered, I realize that I have some qualities in common with the greatest leaders: Self-motivation and fearlessness in front of difficult challenges. I can achieve beyond others' expectations of me. In college I hope I will learn the necessary skills to be a world leader and help humanity tackle its problems such as warfare and sustainability. I have always been dreaming of riddling the world of problems, but first I will have to solve my problems that are waiting for me during my college career. I don't need to avoid them, because facing tough challenges is the only way that I can gain the skills to help others solve their problems.

Thanks