mthao007
Jan 18, 2018
Undergraduate / My Alcoholic Father - College admissions Essay [2]
This is a college admissions essay. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance! The prompt is: "Consider something that goes unnoticed and write about why it's important to you."
People in today's society grow up differently based on the countless number of difficult circumstances and problems they encounter in their life. In addition to the difficult circumstances in life, the people around one's surroundings can also heavily impact their behaviors and perception of the real world, including parents. Parents, without a doubt, can be a great influence on their children based on the actions they take and decisions they make. Similar to many people, my life has been significantly impacted by the decisions of my parent.
Carefully thinking back, I have realized that something about me has been going largely unnoticed-which is the fact that I grew up with an alcoholic father. Not only has this truth about my life been going unnoticed, it has also been securely hidden from others, not by someone else but myself. By hiding this truth, I have unintentionally built myself a mask that concealed one of the ugliest aspects of my life. Keeping this hidden was perhaps out of the fear that if people knew the truth, their perception of me would change. Additionally, the thought that people may begin to perceive me as someone who has a bad influence on others based solely on the fact that my father was an alcoholic terrified me. This mask of deception was the only tool I could use to escape other people's judgments.
Thinking back over and over again, I have realized how much my view on life has been impacted by the acts of my alcoholic father. Growing up with an alcoholic father has undoubtedly been a journey filled with many struggles, ranging from being constantly neglected to having encountered a countless number of financial hardships. Rather than choosing to provide for the family, my father allowed the alcohol to manipulate him and take advantage of him. Furthermore, because of his excessive drinking, I slowly began to lose hope in the idea that he could return to what he used to be. Although these struggles may just seem to be negative experiences at first, they do eventually become something valuable if one chooses to see them in a different way. In a sense, I secretly feel grateful to these experiences as they have matured me and helped me to think of my future differently. Through these experiences, I have gained a very valuable insight into how different my future could be if I prevent myself from making bad decisions.
Many believe that a child's behavior is a direct reflection of their parents'. When children become aware of the bad decisions their parents make, they are often faced with two choices. They either follow in their parents' footsteps and imitate what they observed from their parents or choose to take the parents' bad decision as a lesson to learn from and ensure that they never fall in the same path. Refusing to become a reflection of my parent, I have decided to achieve something greater than what my father was. Instead of choosing to follow him, I have learned to use his bad decision to my own advantage. Rather than an ugly truth, it has become a motivating factor that constantly reminds me of success and drives me towards it. Using his mistakes as a lesson, I have ever since become aware of the fact that only I have the power to change my life.
This is a college admissions essay. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance! The prompt is: "Consider something that goes unnoticed and write about why it's important to you."
an issue of great importance for me
People in today's society grow up differently based on the countless number of difficult circumstances and problems they encounter in their life. In addition to the difficult circumstances in life, the people around one's surroundings can also heavily impact their behaviors and perception of the real world, including parents. Parents, without a doubt, can be a great influence on their children based on the actions they take and decisions they make. Similar to many people, my life has been significantly impacted by the decisions of my parent.
Carefully thinking back, I have realized that something about me has been going largely unnoticed-which is the fact that I grew up with an alcoholic father. Not only has this truth about my life been going unnoticed, it has also been securely hidden from others, not by someone else but myself. By hiding this truth, I have unintentionally built myself a mask that concealed one of the ugliest aspects of my life. Keeping this hidden was perhaps out of the fear that if people knew the truth, their perception of me would change. Additionally, the thought that people may begin to perceive me as someone who has a bad influence on others based solely on the fact that my father was an alcoholic terrified me. This mask of deception was the only tool I could use to escape other people's judgments.
Thinking back over and over again, I have realized how much my view on life has been impacted by the acts of my alcoholic father. Growing up with an alcoholic father has undoubtedly been a journey filled with many struggles, ranging from being constantly neglected to having encountered a countless number of financial hardships. Rather than choosing to provide for the family, my father allowed the alcohol to manipulate him and take advantage of him. Furthermore, because of his excessive drinking, I slowly began to lose hope in the idea that he could return to what he used to be. Although these struggles may just seem to be negative experiences at first, they do eventually become something valuable if one chooses to see them in a different way. In a sense, I secretly feel grateful to these experiences as they have matured me and helped me to think of my future differently. Through these experiences, I have gained a very valuable insight into how different my future could be if I prevent myself from making bad decisions.
Many believe that a child's behavior is a direct reflection of their parents'. When children become aware of the bad decisions their parents make, they are often faced with two choices. They either follow in their parents' footsteps and imitate what they observed from their parents or choose to take the parents' bad decision as a lesson to learn from and ensure that they never fall in the same path. Refusing to become a reflection of my parent, I have decided to achieve something greater than what my father was. Instead of choosing to follow him, I have learned to use his bad decision to my own advantage. Rather than an ugly truth, it has become a motivating factor that constantly reminds me of success and drives me towards it. Using his mistakes as a lesson, I have ever since become aware of the fact that only I have the power to change my life.
