Undergraduate / Being a Korean immigrant - ApplyTexas Essay Topic A [3]

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Topic A: Describe a setting in which you have collaborated or interacted with people whose experiences and/or beliefs differ from yours. Address your initial feelings, and how those feelings were or were not changed by this experience.

"I'll never get able to fit into the American culture". This thought dominated my mind when I was in middle school. Being a Korean immigrant, who moved to America at the age of 14, was something that I feared most of my time. Getting away from my cultures, friends, and families were heart-breaking, but another problem that I faced was to fit into a new culture that I never experienced before. American culture wasn't familiar with me, especially in language, communication, and lifestyle. When I lived in Korea, I was mainly surrounded by other Koreans who shared many similarities with me. Foreigner was something exotic and fairly new, so whenever I met people who came from different countries, I was afraid to talk and face them, like Xenophobia. After I moved to America, everyone was a foreigner, but the truth was, I was the actual foreigner to them. I was discouraged.

I had absolutely no idea what was going on during my first day of American middle school. Why do I have to do the Pledge of Allegiance every morning while I had to do only once a week in Korea? Why do I have to go to another classroom while I just had to stay on my own classroom and wait for the teacher to come? Everything surrounding me was completely different than what I experienced before. Thankfully, I met a Korean American who was very generous to teach me about American culture, like the way people talk and express their emotions. I gradually met other friends to talk with, and I felt like I was slowly assimilating the culture. One day, when I was walking down the hallway to go to my science class, I accidently hit someone's shoulder. I remember that the guy looked down on me with disgust and said "chink." Stupidly, I didn't know what "chink" met at the first time, so my immediate reply was "sorry" and rushed to my classroom. When I found out what that word meant from my friend, which was a word intended to discriminate Asian people with their slanted eyes, I was infuriated. I got furious about how he called me, but the immense embarrassment I received from not defending myself in that situation was the worst part. It almost became a trauma. Since then, I started worrying about how people watch me due to my ethnicity or race and became very sensitive when people talk about me. The mental barrier between me and other people gradually rose, making me fear even more to have conversations and accept American culture. When I heard my brother finished his military service and my grandmother's health condition became fatal in Korea, I wanted to go back desperately. Even though it was out of my circle of influence, I felt a deep hatred of myself because I couldn't physically stay with someone I love but spending my time worrying about the school and the culture.

Few months later, I met a friend named Daniel who came from Mexico. His nature was jolly, amicable, and outgoing, so I was able to approach him easily. We had a lot of similarities, such as different cultural backgrounds, love of soccer, and not fluent in speaking English. We became very close to each other quickly and shared many experiences we had before. He was probably the only one that I can talk everything I concern, unlike other people. One day, while we were playing soccer at an empty field, I asked him why he was always in a happy mood even when people judge him based on stereotypes and make a joke about him. Indeed, he was a happy guy who loved to have a conversation with different people. His response was so simple that I didn't understand when I first heard it - "I don't care what other people think and say about me, I just love to talk." For few days, I wondered continuously because his remark repeatedly appeared in my mind, so I began recalling his actions and behaviors. As I continue to recall, I found something that I missed him every time. Most of the time Daniel loved to talk with a generous manner to different people even if they don't fully understand what he was saying. I thought this was worthless because my experience of being discriminated occupied my heart, or I was simply afraid of being stereotyped and discriminated, making me talk lesser and lesser with people. Due to these negative perspectives, I was blinded of his action that actually makes a change. Somehow, when I finally saw it in a different perspective, like how people react to him, I was shocked. He was actually making more friends, people started to follow him, he blended into American culture quickly, and ultimately, he was making his own culture that people love.

I realized that being Korean or Mexican doesn't matter; embracing who I am and becoming a positive minded will let me make my own culture which gives me the insight to understand others, allowing me to join the American culture and also letting people join my own culture too. Yes, I was the one who didn't try to change myself because of the shackle in my mind called trauma. Thanks to Daniel, I was able to shed my old trauma, turning myself into an open-minded person with positivity. Now I am making more friends and learning American culture faster than ever. The best part is, I love myself having my own unique culture, and I am more than welcome to let people know mine.

Undergraduate / Awkward relationship with my uncle - ApplyTexas Essay Topic B [4]

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Topic B: Describe a circumstance, obstacle or conflict in your life, and the skills and resources you used to resolve it. Did it change you? If so, how?

My first job after turning sixteen was a grocery stocker at the local store called "O-mart" (simply known as oriental food market). O-mart ran a successful business by aiming a niche market of selling exotic and unique Asian products that no one sells in the near area. The store was always congested with people coming from various places, trying to purchase Asian food such as homemade kimchi. Working here wasn't a pleasant or entertaining experience at the beginning. Handling a considerable amount of items in one day with three stockers including myself was a great pain, and dealing with some tricky customers seldom put me into a challenge. However, besides all these obstacles, the biggest one I had to overcome was an awkward relationship between me and my uncle.

My uncle was a general manager who ordered and carried frozen items. Because his position required him to work inside of warehouse for most of the time, I didn't have much opportunity to meet my uncle since stockers weren't permitted to enter. Moreover, his indifferent and sometimes irresponsible nature often created an undesirable conflict with other employees. These factors had put me into a tougher time to approach him that I even started to feel a weird sense of discomfort whenever I encountered him occasionally. As I spent more time hanging out with other employees who were amicable and good-natured, the relationship between me and my uncle rapidly turned awkward as if we don't know or related to each other.

One day, while reading Stephen Covey's "7 habits", one of the most popular books for a successful business and a leadership modeling, I found an inspirational phrase that says "love is a verb." Covey defined true love as a value that is actualized by an action, not by a feeling. After a moment of thinking, it actually reminded me of a situation that I was facing with my uncle. Somehow, we began to separate from each other further because of some mixed "feelings" that we possessed in our mind. Indeed, taking no actions had gradually left us with some uncomfortable feelings, which aggravated even more. So, in order to redevelop a healthy bond between us and prevent any potential trouble, I started to switch my feeling into a positive action to like him.

My daily routine after reading "7 habits" had slightly changed. When the work began at 9:00 every morning, I simply said "good morning" with a jolly tone to my uncle which I've never done before. Whenever I encountered him, giving a smile was one of the biggest changes, since my emotion of him almost perished. Furthermore, if there was something that he needed an additional effort, I volunteered myself by getting permission even though it wasn't my duty as a grocery stocker. Of course, a change didn't happen immediately. At first, he simply ignored my greeting without a single glance for several days, creating a frustration and a doubt that my action isn't effective at all. However, by imagining a better outlook in near future, I kept my mind stubborn and continued taking a positive action. Eventually, I discovered a change in his feeling. Just like other typical days, while helping on my uncle's task, he suddenly replied "thank you for your help" in a tiny voice. People may think that it's not a significant change, but the person with an indifferent nature who never greeted or answered me back throughout my career expressed an appreciation was a huge progress in my perspective. It was my first huge step that opened his locked heart and provided me a hope to build a better relationship I wished.

Still, our relationship hasn't fully recovered yet, but now we can smile at each other and say hello casually due to my effort. Stephen Covey's phrase gave me a valuable lesson that action can change everything, including our own feelings. It may not noticeable at the beginning, but passionate and continuous action will later lead to a great change. It also turned me into a more positive minded person who can trust and believe in oneself. I believe that the lesson I've learned will help me greatly throughout the college, where the importance of an action is one of the most important factors in both academic and social life.

Undergraduate / How my activities can allow me to become a great enginner - applytexas topic c [2]

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Topic C: Considering your lifetime goals, discuss how your current and future academic and extracurricular activities might help you achieve your goals.

Dreaming my future as an engineer who can able to change the world into better places, I've always tried to do my best in order to achieve this goal. Process to become an engineer may put me into a challenge, but I believe that preparing to face those obstacles by taking rigorous classes and involving myself in various extracurricular activities such as leadership academy can make me to overcome them, which will allow me to succeed in college and become a successful engineer.

In an academic side, I have mostly taken Pre-AP and AP classes, received a solid GPA, and maintained a high class rank throughout the high school to show myself that I can able to manage the college courses well. Taking challenging classes, such as AP Psychology, AP language, and AP physics always made me to spend more time to study for a deeper understanding, but I had a good chance to experience and prepare for the level of difficulties in college courses. Furthermore, maintaining a high GPA and my class rank in such a rigorous class gave me a confidence to prove that I'm a diligent and a hard-working student who can also succeed in college.

My love in physics and calculus allowed me to differentiate from other students. Whenever I found a new question, such as in mechanic portions of physics, my mind got fascinated and intrigued to seek a solution. The best way to unravel this curiosity was to visit my physics and calculus teacher, and this habit became a huge advantage to know my teacher personally, giving me an additional advice from them. I believe that my strong interest in these subjects will set a solid base to learn about engineering in a better and a quicker way, leading me to become a great engineer.

Leadership Academy is a prestigious organization in my school district that provides students an excellent communication and leadership skills. While I was involved in this organization, I've learn a valuable lesson, especially by providing me an opportunity to utilize leadership skills to solve a problem, that becoming a successful engineer is not all about having a vast knowledge, but it's about balancing both knowledge and leadership. Also, by conducting more community services through this organization, I was able to turn myself into a better individual who cares about people, like how aggie spirit values families and communities.

If I can become a part of the aggie family, I would be very grateful and put my perseverance to excel in college, such as studying hard and also get involved in many clubs or activities. Of course, it is going to be very challenging unlike high school, but the past activities I had built a strong belief that nothing can be overcame with my dedication and confidence. These past and future activities will become a huge stepping stone for me to achieve my dream as an engineer.