Undergraduate / "Do what makes you happy" - this is best piece of advice I have ever received [4]

This is a college admission essay. It is supposed to be a personal statement around 300 words, although this is 381 words. Any and all suggestions are welcome. I know I am not the best writer, I have great ideas in my head but it is hard for me to put them into words. This is my very first draft and I haven't been in school for three months so don't judge to harshly! :) Thank you all so much!

Every person is asked the same question at one point or another. Sometimes the question is asked to a child, sometimes a high schooler. But, for most people, it is something they are asked multiple times, more times than one would care to be asked. The question is inevitable. You can not run from it or avoid it because everybody has been asked the same thing. What do you want to do with your life, they say. Where do you see yourself ten years from now? What do you want to be when you grow up?

I have been asked that question more times than I can count. By teachers, relatives, my parents, my friends' parents, the list goes on and on. My mom constantly asks me that same question. But, after I answer her, she once told me something that I am sure everybody has been told. Do what makes you happy. It may sound cliche, but that is best piece of advice I have ever received. I'm sure everybody has heard that from somewhere, sometime in their life. However, it is something that has always stuck with me. My parents would say that if you do what makes you happy everyday, then you will never work a day in your life.

In high school the biggest lesson I learned was not to care about what people think of you. I used to spend all my energy trying to impress others and trying to make them like me. But, when I just let go, stopped caring what they all thought of me, and started doing what made me happy, that is when I found out what made me truly happy. When I finally took my mother's advice, I realized how much better life could be when I was doing whatever made me the happiest.

I am lucky to have found what I love to do so early in my life. I am also extremely thankful that I have parents that will support me no matter where I decide to go. It might have taken me awhile but I finally did listen to my mother and did what made me happy. I stopped caring what others thought of me and let go of all that negativity. And, I have never been happier.

Undergraduate / What is the best piece of advice you have ever received? Why is it important? [2]

This is my revised essay. Any criticism is welcomed! I just need this to be the perfect essay. Thanks!

Do not care what others think and do what makes you happy. There it is, the most outstanding piece of advice I have ever received. At one point or another, every single person is asked the same question. What do you want to be when you grow up? Where do you see yourself ten years down the road? The question comes in many forms, but the basis is the same. On the outside it is a quite simplistic question, however it goes much deeper than that. When some people answer that question, their answers are disregarded. They are ignored because their answer did not satisfy the other person. However, I have been lucky in the fact that my parents and everybody else in my life has supported me and encouraged me to go wherever I wanted to go in life. I have always been told to do what makes me happy.

Nevertheless, if it was the other way around and I did not have as much support as I do now, I can only imagine that I would still be determined to do what makes me happy. There comes a point where one has to tell themselves to stop caring what other people think. That is the most substantial lesson I have learned in high school. In the past, I only concentrated on how other people perceived me. I was so concerned with how everyone else thought of me that I was not doing what made me happy, I was doing what pleased them. In return, I was miserable. When my mom told me one day not to worry what others thought, it stuck with me. I started doing things my way and stopped caring about the others' scrutiny. I soon came to the realization that I was much happier.

Although there are instances when it is important to care what other people think of you, for example, a boss at work or a college admissions officer, for the most part it is important to do what makes you happy. It is as simple as that. It may be more easily said than done, but it is a crucial lesson to learn and an important principle to live by. Once I took my mother's advice and stopped focusing on what others thought of me, I was finally happy.