Undergraduate / Shopping with my mother and Intellectual Vitality [7]

Stanford students possess an intellectual vitality. Reflect on an idea or experience that has been important to your intellectual development. (250 word limit.)
I have difficulty writing, and even more so with a limit. I really appreciate any feedback! The following is my response:

It brings me great discomfort being with my mother at the cash register. I cross my fingers in hope that the cashier does not forget to include her twenty-percent off coupon or the store's guaranteed discount. Many times, however, I find myself with a florid facial expression, standing in front of a cute cashier and an angry Hispanic mother complaining to my side. If the total reflects a cardigan sweater at its original price, I'm in for an eternal moment of embarrassment. "Please, Mom, please! Can you not right now?" I beg her, saying nothing but clenching my teeth and widening my eyes. I follow up with a quick apology and a translation of my mother's Spanish diction and tone. I either explain to my mother why her coupon did not work, or she gets her way. If only she learned English, she would understand that the cashiers were not trying to rip her off, and that the store's twenty-percent discount only applies to select styles. Additionally, I would not look like a fool, blushing in front of cute cashiers.

My mother is a successful woman, because she has granted me the opportunities to seek a higher level education. However, her inability to speak English has hindered her own opportunities. Like my mother, many other immigrants' possibilities of success are limited because of language barriers and miscommunication. I firmly believe learning English - not only basic colloquialism, but more sophisticated usage of it - will greatly expand and further anyone's accomplishments!

Undergraduate / I could watch my SpongeBob! - Central to Identity [7]

Common App Essay: Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. (250-650 words)

Implementing my greatest efforts and demonstrating the best of my abilities at all times - something I thank my parents for teaching me how to do - drives all of my success. I recall the moment watching my favorite cartoon, SpongeBob SquarePants, and my mother asked me to clean my room. I was six or seven, and I could not skip a single second of the show. During commercial break, I rushed to my room, placed the covers over my wrinkled sheets, shoved my mismatching shoes under my bed, threw way large pieces of trash, and dashed back to the living room. To my chagrin, my mother, being a complete neat freak, decided to make a scrupulous inspection of my supposed cleaning. She suddenly tossed the bed covers on the floor, hurled the mattresses against the wall, looked under my dresser to discover Jolly Rancher wrappers I had forgotten, and yelled my name loud enough that the neighbors could hear. "Ivan!" I swallowed my fear, and with a single holler from her, I appeared in my room with the horror of being spanked until the end of the show. Surprisingly, she did not look mad at that moment, but she did keep a serious look. That minute, I knew I could not escape my hours' worth of cleaning - or so it seemed.

After turning 13, my father occasionally took me and my older brother to work, giving us the task of disposing left over cement siding. In addition, he would ask my brother and I to bring him stacks, so he could cut without interruption. One day, my father noticed we were being lazy, carrying the siding improperly, and at times dragging it. In response to our lack of effort, he came towards us and gave a quick demonstration of picking up the siding; one hand under one side and the other hand on the other, bringing it up and setting it on the shoulder, making the arm perpendicular with the siding. Afterwards, my father told us in Spanish, "Do it right, or don't do it at all" and continued with his work.

Both my mother and father do not have a formal education; my mother only attended school until she was 13, and my father lacks even the most fundamental schooling. Although my parents have never been able to revise or check my school work, their efforts in raising me and my brothers have affected everything I strive to accomplish, including academics. My parents have taught me to pay special attention to everything, even the slightest details in my work. I am fond of high standards, and driven by the necessity to "do it right," I utilize my time and uncut effort to meet my standards. I dislike taking the easy way out, especially when the easy way is the wrong way. Hard work becomes rewarding, and I thank my parents for teaching me that rewards only come when I give my greatest efforts. If I "did it right" and took my time, I could watch my SpongeBob!

Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Undergraduate / My personal discovery of historical misconceptions and hidden history [4]

This is an essay I have approached before, having great difficulty grasping the prompt. Here's the prompt:
Stanford students possess an intellectual vitality. Reflect on an idea or experience that has been important to your intellectual development. (250 word limit.)

It came to my disappointment to learn that Columbus did not really discover America, or that Thomas Edison was not the first to invent the light bulb. Even more disturbing was learning about the post-Civil War and the reconstruction of the South. The life of the average African American actually became worse after emancipation, and though there was more to learn in my AP US History class, I finally refused to drink the Kool-Aid.

While learning about the antebellum South, I read Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin to learn about the treatment of slaves. The interaction between slaves and their owners, as it seemed, was primarily negative and brutal but ultimately subjective to the author's views and intentions. However, when I encountered the book, A Peculiar Institution, by Kenneth Stampp, I was immediately astounded by the "other side" of history. Slavery had many negative consequences, but as I previously learned, interactions among slaves and their owners were, many times, mutually beneficial. Not a single history teacher before that year, or a segment from the History Channel, or previous text I had encountered taught me this.

My disappointment derived from the absence of question and being fed information without checking its validity. My experiences in my history class induced me to surpass common misconceptions, draw upon the bias that exists within secondary information, and view the world with a sense of objectivity. In everything I learn, I have a natural impulse to learn further and to uncover information that is not merely given.

All advise is appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Undergraduate / Education - but most importantly the ability to attain one; What matters & why-Stanford [5]

Here's my response:

Education - but most importantly the ability to attain one - remains among the things that truly matter to me. During my stay with family in Delicias, Chihuahua, I decided to work in a field picking jalapeno peppers. To my dismay, I only lasted five hours under the sun and only summed a measly 70 pesos. However, a conversation with a Oaxacan mother about my age and a baby wrapped around her back brought a multitude of realizations. Being exceptionally naïve and ignorant, I asked her why she didn't go to school. Without offense or hesitation, she replied, in Spanish, "Because I'm poor." Just like her baby, she was born into the field. And just like its mother, the baby will grow into it.

There is a theory of conspiracy behind bureaucratic governments and their effort to keep power and control under their entities. By underfunding education, as the theory states, they are able to keep political dominion under their control. While this consists of mere speculation, the theory is not without reason. Surely, someone with a rudimentary education cannot amount to important, political decision.

The conversation over a bush of jalapenos made me realize that obtaining an education is a great privilege. Without an education, I will not be able to escape the burden of minimum-wage labor but continue its cycle. Without an education, I will not be able to offer my own children a greater standard of living. Without an education, I will not amount to important changes in society.