Undergraduate / THE ART OF EXPLORING - COMMON APP PROMPT #1 [3]

Hi! I would like to have recommendations in my common app essay, I'm ending my regular decision essays but the most important one is the Common App prompt!!

The Art of Exploring

I have always found it hard to describe my passion in words.

It all started when I came to the Velasquez and Zamora family as the most awaited baby. Both sides made it their mission to mold me into a multifaceted person.

Velasquez's taught me the serious stuff -religion, science, politics- and also introduced me to alternative culture, like Tim Burton's cinematography or the history of indie rock. Zamora's instead showed me how to experience life to the fullest and learn from it. A myth says my Nonno has nine lives (like cats) because of his wild adventures, one including him being captured by MRTA terrorists for approximately three days. I also grew up hearing about my parents' different upbringings: my mom spent her childhood in the Peruvian jungle and my dad lived six years in Palo Alto while the hippie revolutionary movement started.

Because I was their firstborn, my parents did a lot of research and decided the best way to raise me was to expose me to various activities and encourage me to learn beyond kindergarten hours. From analyzing objects in my microscope to making a restaurant menu for fun, I could never settle on one activity or even choosing my favorite color. As a matter of fact, my athletic phase included trying out at least ten sports! My father once thought I was gonna be a professional swimmer, cyclist and even a ping pong player. I also went overboard with virtual piano and guitar lessons. It helped that my parents never got upset when I wanted to switch activities. They seemed to enjoy -and secretly hate!- waking me up at 5 am to take me to a 5K race or an art exposition because they knew how much I loved being in my state of exploration.

Reality kicked in when at school, kids started to hang out exclusively with those who shared their same interests, aesthetics and skills and became influenced by peer pressure. Though I never felt the need to encapsulate myself to a certain group, personality or style to fit it, I still found it hard to belong to various different groups when everyone was chasing popularity. It was especially hard to stay true to myself and my interests, knowing not many people in my class shared them. But when the popularity fever went down, my classmates were more open to meeting people outside their circles, and I had more flexibility to be part of different groups. Spending time with people who had different backgrounds, opinions and perspectives also played a big role in my becoming well rounded!

As I started seeing my friends settle down and leave their exploration stages behind, I felt lost in the pursuit of my passion. I realized that for many, the trial phase ended when they stopped feeling excited about doing a certain activity or hobby, but I never experienced this feeling. Even if I was bad at an activity, I didn't want to move on from it because I enjoyed getting to know my strengths and weaknesses. For example, when my P.E teacher talked me into giving up marathons because my running time wasn't the best, I refused to follow suit because my goal wasn't to arrive first at the line, but to surpass myself in every race.

For the longest time, I believed passions equated to excellence and proficiency and I let people's expectations lessen my desire to involve myself in activities for fun. Luckily, my parents set the groundwork for me to consider a passion anything I felt a connection to and made me lose track of time. I have also come to appreciate how there wouldn't be an Angelina without my everlasting curiosity for the unknown.

I don't need to describe my passion in words. I prefer to just keep exploring!