Undergraduate /
common app short answer help ("bare room lined with mirrors") [19]
Seeing as so many people commented on how they thought that my short answer should be made into my personal essay, I made a draft based on the paragraph. I think I need to elaborate more on how my new school acutally is, but other than that how do you think it is so far?
While most teenagers spend their Friday nights at the mall, I am confined to a sweaty, bare room lined with mirrors. I am not disheartened, though, for I am working to achieve my dream: to be a world champion in Irish dance.
Since my first class at the age of six, Irish dance has been my obsession. The spinning, kicks, leaps and trebles grasped my soul with an everlasting clench. After my first competition when I was nine years old, however, my infatuation with Irish dance was fully revealed. Lured in by the intricate movements and lavish costumes donned by the elite in this métier, I developed an insatiable thirst to win that would drive me through my adolescence.
My solution to win initially translated into having the perfect dress hair and shoes more than perfecting the actual dance itself. I lazily assumed that attending dance class several times a week was a sufficient amount of practice. Furthermore, selecting silks and tiaras was much more appealing than sore muscles. However, soon my slacking caught up with me and my scores showed a steady decline with each competition. Eventually, I learned that a judge would rather an excellent dancer in a potato sack, than a mediocre dancer in a glamorous dress.
Upon admitting that practice was the key component in accomplishing my goal, I began to face what I had been indolently putting off and laced up my shoes. Discovering a hidden discipline within myself, I began to practice incessantly for the first time. That summer to follow, I recall practicing a jump or rhythm in my basement for hours until it was flawless. Come September, my hard work had paid off with the judges' marks as proof.
Continuing this intense practice regimen throughout the competition season, I moved up the ranks fairly smoothly. However, in eighth grade I reached a stalemate, incapable of winning the two remaining first places needed to proceed to championship level. Although I originally blamed myself, I came to understand that this rut was not due to my lack of practice, but because my school simply wasn't a proper fit. I realized that to accomplish my ultimate goal, meant transferring from my beloved dance school to a significantly larger, more competitively driven school. While searching for a new school, I found an article ranking the top Irish dance schools in the country. Subsequent to extensive research on those schools within a plausible distance, I decided upon the school that was ranked first on the chart that was located in New York, two hours from my Connecticut home.
When I changed dance schools in the fall of 2005, I became a small fish in a very big pool that was saturated with world champions. Naturally intimidated at first, I came to embrace and appreciate the presence of these spectacular dancers for they were a constant reminder of my goal and the effort needed to achieve it. My greatest influence, however, came from my new teacher; with his persistent, tough-love attitude, he possessed the dedication to ensure that every minuscule glitch was perfected, even if it took all night. Though often toilsome, this atmosphere that promoted champions who never forgot why they started Irish dance, rejuvenated my passion.
In three years, I have gone from a struggling competitor, to partaking in both regional and national competitions, and nearing a qualification for the world championships. Most importantly, however, I have no regrets for I have learned many life lessons. With and inspirational teacher, I have learned the values of hard work and practice and intensifies my love for dance is each day.
Here's the original that I used as a foundation also:
While most teenagers spend their Friday nights at the mall, I am confined to a sweaty, bare room lined with mirrors. Although I am not disheartened as I am working to achieve my dream: to be a world champion in Irish dance. Since my first class at the age of six, Irish dance has been my obsession. I developed a thirst to win after my first competition when I was nine. In time, accomplishing my ultimate goal meant transferring to a dance school in New York, which was a two-hour drive from my Connecticut home. Since changing schools in 2005, I have gone from a struggling competitor, to partaking in both regional and national competitions, and nearing a qualification for the world championships. However, most importantly, this experience has taught me the values of hard work and practice with an inspirational teacher who intensifies my love for dance each day.
