Writing Feedback / Write a short story about a meal at a Thai restaurant [3]

I'm a non-native English speaker, so I never feel confident on my essay. Please give some feedback :)...Thanks

It is not the norm for me to visit a large variety of restaurants or for me to write a restaurant review. However, after dining at Thai Lotus for the first time, I was invigorated to write one.

It was just a typical weekend. My family left for another vacation. There was no food, so I decided to attempt the food at a restaurant I had never ventured to before. As I opened the glass door, two greeters gave me a warm smile and led me to a table with only two chairs. They gave me the menu and waited for me to decide my order.

As a side note, I do not order food if the names are unfamiliar. However, Thai Lotus gives matching pictures with all of the selections. Therefore, even if I was unsure, I could observe the corresponding image and choose from there.

As all Thai food lovers know, most Thai restaurants have Thai tea. Seeing as it is one of my favorite drinks, I ordered it. Then I turned to Thai traditional food pages. I was not surprised when all the foods look unfamiliar to me. However, those pictures made me want to give it a try. After scanning the pictures, I picked the one which looked like noodles. Its name was Pad Thai. Then the waiter asked if I wanted my Pad Thai to be spicy or not spicy. They have a spicy range from 1 to 5, and I chose 2. Next, she asked me if I want to order anything else. I shook my head no, so she gave a smile and said "Thank you!"

While waiting for my order, I looked around and noticed there were not only Asian people in the restaurant, but all races. I got more impressed when I found out I was the only Asian customer at that time in the Asian restaurant.

After about only 10 minutes my Pad Thai and Thai tea were all ready. The waiter served it and said, "I hope you have a good meal," with a soft voice. I sipped my tea first. It was sweet but not too sweet. Then I started eating the Pad Thai. Wow! I typically do not like spicy food, but I loved it. It looked like noodles but when I tasted it, it was not noodles at all. The dish needed more peanuts, so I asked for some and I was graciously given more peanuts. It was delicious. After I finished I, ordered two more Pad Thai entrees to go to eat for the next day because my family would not be back in the next two days.

I do not remember exactly how much the check was, but I am sure it was below $20. I gave them $20 bill and they gave me some change back. So, my three orders of Pad Thais and one Thai tea cost below $20. It was super cheap.

It was my first time, but of course not my last time. I came back with my friends and family. My last birthday was celebrated at Thai Lotus too. Since that day, Thai Lotus has become a place where I go in whenever I am hungry.

Scholarship / Georgia Southern U; How Engineering degree helps me accomplish my academic goals [5]

Full question: In 250 words or less, describe how an engineering degree from Georgia Southern University will help you accomplish your academic and career goals?
This is just a short answer question. So, give me some feedback please.

I am very proud to be one of the incoming freshmen of Georgia Southern University. From what I was told, I know that the engineering department will apply for accreditation in the Summer of 2013, meaning that the program will be very competitive in the future. Moreover, the Georgia Southern Co-Op program has existed for 20 years, primarily for engineering students. It was recognized as a National Accredited Cooperative Education Program by ACCE in 2001. The Mechanical Engineering areas at GSU includes mechanical design and analysis, material science and manufacturing processing, thermal-fluid-energy sciences, computer aided engineering graphics and analysis, and electron-mechanical devices and controls with an emphasis in mechatronics. So, I would be very confident being in Georgia Southern. I will have the qualifications to enter graduate school, or directly enter careers in plenty of areas.

Research Papers / Essay expressing your desire to continue your eduation. [4]

Full prompt: Write an essay expressing your desire to continue your education at a four-year college. Indicate the career field in which you with to study. Describe experiences you have had which have influenced your decision regarding future career. Note- The selection committee is particularly interested in significant obstacles that were overcome in order to achieve the goal of graduation

[bDo you guys think my essay is a little bit too long? [/b]

Two years ago, as a new resident of the United States, I began my sophomore year of high school when my parents and I relocated from Vietnam. Despite the many math and science skills that I already possessed from my education in Vietnam, I had to conquer the obstacles of not knowing English or how the American education system works. I was quite unprepared. I could not communicate or express myself to other people around me. At that time, my parents were unemployed, and my transferred GPA was very low owing to the challenging school curriculum in Vietnam. I worried about my likelihood of graduating high school.

However, instead of giving up, I studied very diligently. I practiced English every day after school and I went to ESOL class twice a week at the church near my house. In school, I was shy. Nevertheless, I eventually realized that the more I made friends and the more I talked with them, the better English I had.

At the end of my sophomore year, for some reason, I was called up to take the graduation tests on all four subjects without any knowledge of Social Studies and Language Arts at all. Unfortunately, I failed Language Arts and Social Studies portions that time. Then, I tried to retake them in the summer before my junior year. Again, I failed. I also failed gateway tests on both science and social studies for the first time.

I was very frustrated. However, I knew I would never give up. At the beginning of my junior year, I made an appointment to talk to my counselor to ask for some help. And yes, I was very lucky to meet Mrs. Stanescu who had taught social studies before. She was very nice and always willing to help me as long as I like to learn. Another luck was that she and I had the same advisement period. So every day, I came to her room to learn social studies. One biggest challenge was that I had never had any knowledge of U.S. History, which is the most parts of the graduation test. And not really a surprise, I failed it again. It seemed to be the biggest challenge for a non-native English speaker like me. However, Mrs. Stanescu said, "In my life, I've never seen anyone who keeps trying to achieve his goal, but doesn't become successful. You will pass it one day as long as you keep coming to my room and practice; I'm willing to help a student like you." Her words have motivated me so much, ever since. At the end of the fall of my junior year, I passed all the gateway tests and graduation tests.

Nevertheless, life is much harder than what I think. I later realized that any student in Georgia, no matter whether you are an ESOL student or not, enrolled in an EOCT course would be required to take the EOCT upon completion of that course. If you do not pass the EOCT of a course, you will need to retake it in order to graduate. Most of my teachers and friends think that these tests are completely not fair. A student like me who has lived in the country for within 2 years has to take the same tests as native English speaker. Despite of my limited English skills, I have just tried and practiced; that is the only way I could have done. With all the hard works, I have made an A on the EOCT of economic class, and a B on the ECOT of freshman language arts class.

Education has always been an important aspect of my life. I decided to take advanced placement Statistics. However, that class was not what I thought it would be. It involved a lot of reading. Knowing that I could not change my schedule, I just had to try my best in the class. I used the dictionary to translate every word that I did not know, and spent at least one hour studying for AP Statistics everyday. Later, my hard work was rewarded. I was a straight-A student in my junior year, and earned a 5 on the AP exam. The AP Statistics class proved my determination, especially for an ESOL student like me. It encouraged me to take more AP classes the following year. With my love of math and science, I applied for AP Calculus, AP Chemistry, and AP Physics C in my senior year. Despite of my limited English skills, I have been able to maintain straight A's in all of my classes. My friends and teachers are very surprised by what I have achieved over the past two years: from a non-English speaker to a straight-A student with three AP classes. The more I learn, the more I realize that I cannot stop my education in high school. I must achieve higher education - at least a bachelor degree in Science of Mechanical Engineering.

To be honest, writing this essay is also a big challenge for me. My grammars and vocabulary are quite limited so that the essay is not very competitive compared to other students. However, I always want to try. That is the only way I can see what I have achieved and learned for the past two years. Thank you for this spectacular opportunity, and I hope to be able to prove my abilities to you in the near future!