Undergraduate / "playing tennis" - UIUC essay! [3]

University of Illinois Urbana Champaign Essay 2

In an essay of 300 words or less, choose one extracurricular activity, work experience, or community service project from the list you provided on the application and explain why you initially chose it, why you continued with it, and how you benefited from it.

Of all the activities that I have picked up or participated in over the years, playing tennis has been one of the most entertaining and enriching ones.

I started learning how to play tennis at the age of 11 so that I could enjoy the game with my parents and their friends. Tennis was a weekly affair for them and I wanted to be a part of it. I also chose tennis as it was a good form of exercise that conditioned me physically and prepared me for other physical activities that I subsequently participated in.

After playing for about 2 years recreationally, I got quite good at the game and was selected to represent both Victoria School and Meridian Junior College in the Singapore National Inter-School Tournaments for a total of 6 years. In the midst of these 6 years, I also participated in individual open competitions to gain experience by playing with older and more experienced players.

There are various reasons that I chose to continue with playing tennis for the past decade. One of which is playing tennis has enabled me to meet many different people from tennis clubs, teams, trainings etc. Tennis has allowed me to meet some of my closest friends on the court.

Another reason I continued is that through tennis I have learnt many important lessons that I can take out of the court with me. For example, playing in a team has taught me the importance of working in a team as well as sportsmanship. Playing in a tournaments has also nurtured mental "toughness" in my mind as well as the "never give up" attitude which I believe would be useful in every challenge that I face in the future.

Tennis is definitely a lifetime sport for me and I will definitely keep playing until my legs give way!

Undergraduate / Michigan Engineering Essay (the field of aerospace engineering) [2]

Please describe your interests and aspirations in engineering. What experiences have influenced you?

In an essay of 300 words or less, please discuss your academic interests and/or professional goals.

My academic interests lie in the field of aerospace engineering. This interest came about as a result of various experiences I had in my childhood and teenage years.

My interest in Engineering started way back as a young boy where I enjoyed playing with model and construction kits. As I grew older, I progressed to more advanced "Toys" that involved the use of tools, motors and sensors. This sparked my curiosity and made me an inquisitive person. Naturally, this made me a good problem solver, which led to my heightened ability in both mathematics and

science, especially physics.

In my teenage years, I attended my first air show in Singapore, the Asian Aerospace Show. It was an eye opener for me looking at different types of planes ranging from military fighters to commercial airliners. After that, the dream of working with aircraft started to form in my mind.

After graduating from junior college, I was enlisted in the SAF (Singapore Armed Forces) to serve my compulsory national service. Upon completion of BMT (Basic Military Training), by a stroke of luck, I was posted to the RSAF (Republic of Singapore Air Force) to serve as a technical specialist. Before I was a qualified specialist, I had to undergo courses on fixed wing aircraft and electro-mechanical engineering. Now I deal with aircraft maintenance as well as other ground support equipment on an everyday basis.

These experiences I had as in my childhood, teenage years and military service have fuelled my passion in working with aircraft.

Since the UMich engineering department is well known for producing many successful aerospace engineers, I believe that this would be a very suitable place for me to pursue my ambition of becoming an aerospace engineer. The undergraduate aerospace engineering program offered in UMich would be able equip me the necessary skills and knowledge to excel in this field of engineering and subsequently contribute to the future of aircraft development and the aviation industry as a whole.

Undergraduate / 'the harsh reality of my injury' - Michigan Setback Essay [3]

[A] Describe a setback that you have faced. How did you resolve it? How did the outcome affect you? If something similar happened in the future, how would you react?

Close knitted family with Christian values, sound financial background and a wholesome social life; I lead an ordinary life. While the setback I had faced may seem trivial to others, it had nevertheless the greatest impact on me. I learnt more about myself and thus, matured much more emotionally.

At the age of ten, my father bought me my first tennis racket as an introduction to the sport, getting me hooked on to physical activities.

Thereafter, I started with tennis lessons, joined the school team and trained on my own spare time. After winning several tournaments, my confidence and determination to excel grew. Playing tennis not only improved my physical fitness but also conditioned my mind. Mentally, it has sharpened my reflexes and inculcated decisiveness as split second decisions are critical to the game. Furthermore, being in the school team also nurtured the importance of sportsmanship in me.

However, while training for a tournament three years back, a searing pain ripped through my left calf. Subsequent diagnosis revealed stress fractures on my left shin which required months to heal.

The specialist advised against aggravating the injury and I was devastated by his diagnosis. It meant not being able to participate in the single activity I was most passionate about during that period of my life.

. Such fractures are rare and I berated myself with self-tormenting questions like "why me?" and "why now?" My guilty conscience was a huge burden, since I would be letting my fellow team-mates down, leaving them to face that year's tournament without me. The frustration only escalated.

Initial efforts to ignore the problem merely compounded as I was confined to inactivity and had plenty of time to reflect. This resulted in self-pity, inconsolable grief and distress.

As time passed, with the indispensable support of friends and teammates, I gradually began to accept the harsh reality of my injury and began to focus on the mental preparation required for the next tournament. Given the less than ideal circumstances, I took a step back and focused on 'improving' the non-physical aspects of my game. Approaching my temporary handicap from this new perspective, I worked on the psychological areas and on-court strategies that consequently raised the standard of my game.

A blessing in disguise, the 'setback' gave me time away from the court to appreciate the significance of patience in the game of tennis. This was the one life experience that first taught me as a person to be patient and take extra steps back for a clearer view of the situation. Blindly surging forward works only to a certain extent, and if overdone, would simply mean falling into the typecast of the 'rat race' that all of us try to avoid.

This rough patch not only taught me to be patient, it also taught me to take a step back
at times and avoid rushing into things. I began to recognize that it is not the setbacks that matter in life; it is the way we choose to react to them that do. The recovery and healing process has to start soon after the self-pity-wallowing period, and this would pave the way for stronger characters, heavily laced with perseverance and courage to face future obstacles in life's journey.

Thanks for the comments!