Undergraduate / 'Meeting my new teachers' - Common App Topic of choice [3]

On the first day of school, walking into meet my new teachers, I am sure of only one thing: I'm going to have to face the dreaded "personal information sheet." I look around my class to see everyone confidently breezing through their handout seeming so sure of their responses. I complete the first portion with ease, filling out my extra curricular activities and grades in prerequisite courses, and stop only as I reach my least favorite request, "In one word, define yourself." I have been answering this question since kindergarten and it only seems to become more brain wracking with each passing year. Before middle school I had always been so sure of myself. Sure of who I was, and whom I wanted to be. I gave a whole new meaning to the phrase 13 going on 30. I had decided I was becoming a pediatrician before I could spell it, and had every aspect of my future planned out while other kids were still banking on becoming a movie star or the president. I didn't doubt these plans for a second until quite recently actually, in eighth grade, when everything seemed to change.

Significant moments in our life define us, and strung together they constitute our character. It only takes a split second for your world to be completely flipped upside down, and when this happens it tells us a lot about ourselves. However, to add to my confusion, these moments have seemed to do just the opposite for me. With each new realization about myself I seem to be drifting farther from the person I had always planned on being.

I think the most life changing experiences include death, having your heart broken, and receiving a second chance. I can pinpoint one of all three moments that have impacted me in the past four years, beginning with the suicide of my childhood friend Brandon. Although I hadn't grown up with the most ideal childhood, I had always been able to smile through hard times. This changed with Brandon's passing. It brought to surface all the weaknesses I had been subconsciously hiding for way too long. Brandon made me realize that I wasn't as invincible as I had always believed, and this began the dissipation of my character as I knew it. The second moment that impacted me that year was the first time my heart was broken. Freshman year my father was sentenced to eight years in prison for a crime that he still insists he didn't commit. I had always been a very independent person, but my dad was the one person I felt confident enough to go to when I just couldn't handle them myself. I was angry with him for leaving me, and disappointed with myself for the way I handled it. For the second time my feelings were completely contradicting everything I had ever believed in. The last and maybe most significant moment to influence my character was the moment my mother opened her eyes out of her coma. After a summer filled with discouraging news from her doctors, my mother chances weren't looking good. I spent most of my summer believing it was going to be my last with my mother, and her recovery was nothing short of a miracle. The second chance my mother received that day showed me the incredible worth of a moment. It made me realize that things can change in a matter of seconds, and there is no way to plan for such circumstances.

These moments may have made me realize that I wasn't the invincible, independent, organized, fazed by nothing girl I always thought; however, they also made me realize that I am something much more valuable. I'm indefinable. I can't be described in one word, or even this entire paper. In fact, the best things in life are the hardest to define. Words like love and happiness have definitions, but they are nothing compared to the feeling of experiencing them. I like to think of myself in a similar way. I could use a million adjectives to describe myself and they still wouldn't give you a clue of who I am or how I feel, and that is fine because I'm not a definition. I'm not my GPA or my act score, but I'm a student with an unusual past and an extraordinary future.

Undergraduate / Common App Essay (Fight or Flight) Topic of choice [4]

It is rather comforting to know that my very existence is not dependent on whether or not a saber toothed tiger, or some other life threatening danger, should be lurking around the corner as I approach my bus stop. What is incredibly discomforting, on the other hand, is the fact that beyond my bus stop lies something possibly even more frightening, high school. Although our stressors have undergone an immense transformation since the times of survival being an everyday uncertainty, one thing that has stood the test of time is our human response to these seemingly incomparable situations. When we feel vulnerable, whether physically, mentally, or emotionally, our body chooses before our mind has even assessed the situation whether we will stay and fight whatever is causing this stress or flee the situation all together.

The idea of "fight or flight" was originally meant to be taken literally. However, as time has progressed and humans are being presented with less and less situations of actual physical danger, it must be applied a bit more metaphorically. It is probable that we feel regularly threatened either mentally or emotionally by either an outside source, or more dangerously, ourselves. Yes, it is possible to flee a hungry animal, but as our stressors become more internal it becomes almost impossible to take advantage of our second option, flight. We now must depend on our one and only choice, to stay and fight or otherwise succumb to the power of whatever monster society has presented us with. I believe that the way one will react to these monsters can be very accurately predicted by the time someone is of my age, a senior in high school. These first 18 years of life are crucial to determining what type of person we will be. Whether we chose to destroy the sources of our pain, or let them destroy us, these decisions are crucial to the type of person we will be for the rest of our lives.

Each and every struggle, however seemingly difficult at the time, has been a unique blessing in disguise. At a young age, I was taken into the state's custody because of my mother's drug addiction. Placed in a foster home, I learned a lot not only about taking care of myself, but taking care of others. After a few months, and several new homes, I was permanently placed with my great grandmother who has given me everything she can, however sometimes needing me more than I needed her. When my little brother, Austin, was seven he was also taken into state custody after her and my father had both gone to jail, and he was hospitalized for post traumatic stress. Four years later, I am confident that Austin will be a fighter just as I know I have become. People have been taking pity on me since I was a little girl, but it is them I feel sorry for. I am confident that whatever life presents me with, or however uphill the battle, I will chose to fight. It is said that the greatest strength is the power to keep fighting when everyone would understand if you gave up, and that is the strength that my childhood has blessed me with.

Undergraduate / 'The Strength My Mother Gave Me' - Common App (Topic of Choice) [3]

I glance around at everyone confidently breezing through the handout, so sure of their responses. I complete the first portion with ease, filling out my extra curricular activities and grades in prerequisite courses. "Question 3: Is there anything I should know about you?" My brain is overwhelmed with thousands of things that I do not even attempt to fit on the tiny pair of lines allotted for my answer. I routinely strike out the portion labeled "Mother's Information," and squeeze "grandmother" in the margin.

I finish early, and estimate a few minutes of quality daydreaming ahead of me. I open a book as to appear to be reading, and allow my mind to drift far beyond the boundaries of my cold and painfully quiet classroom. Time rewinds and I'm transported to a familiar setting. I am perched on the back of my couch, and my cheek is numbed by the coldness of the window as I wait for my mother. The day is fleeting and I am told it is time to go to sleep. I am embarrassed for thinking it would be different this time, but my gut tells me "just a few more minutes." I wake up to my worst enemy: the flashing red light on the voicemail. That was her signature.

My escape is short lived. The last of my classmates have turned in their papers. I make an effort to join my class in the reading of Beowulf, but I cannot stay focused. My mind is consumed by the flashback. How had it been so easy for the rest of the family to give up on her, and why wouldn't my heart let me?

My mother's addiction had ripped my family to shreds. I hated her disease, but I could not hate her. My love for her was more powerful than any drug. I promised myself that I would fight for her despite my family's disapproval. I was not going to let our relationship fall victim to her addiction along with so much else.

The past eighteen years have been a roller coaster ride, but I have no intention of getting off. This summer, after one of my mother's worst relapses, her chances of survival were deemed doubtful. I spent my summer believing it would be my last with my mother, and her recovery was nothing short of a miracle. God gave her a second chance the way I had countless times. On the six month anniversary of her sobriety, she credited me with giving her the power to get sober in her Alcoholics Anonymous lead. She asked me how I stood behind her all those years and finally, I realized why. I will always have faith in the people I love, and I will always have faith in myself. I am more powerful than my circumstances, and I will not let them define me.

I used to think my inability to let go of my mother was my biggest weaknesses, but I have learned it is quite the opposite. It is said that the greatest strength is the power to keep fighting when everyone would understand if you gave up. This is the strength my mother has given me.