Undergraduate / 'Korea volunteering work' - UC accomplishment meaningful to me. [4]

Hello everyone!

I have written my essay for the University of California.

Please give me any critiques!

Doing volunteer work has always been a crucial part of my life. Initially, I would simply follow my parents, who would always teach me the importance of sharing, to volunteer sites. In other words, I had been a passive volunteer worker. Also, I did not comprehend my parents because to me, doing something that has no apparent payback seemed worthless. I had not been aware of the fact that volunteer work should be active and come from heart. However, as years passed by, I greatly began to greatly appreciate the very joy of 'giving'.

I would look for volunteer works in my town and form teams of students to help out those in need. It was about then when I came to realize my true potential as a giver.

In the winter of 2007, there was a huge oil spill at the town of Tae-An in Korea which devastated the ecosystem and people who greatly depend on it. Everyday on television, news channels were bombarding me with horrific images of black ocean and dying marine organisms. Local people who were heavily dependent on fishing seemed destitute. I desperately wanted to offer a helping hand. I started researching ways to help and eventually headed to Tae-An with some of my friends.

After five hours of bus ride, I arrived at the site of the oil spill. Unfortunately, the situation was worse than what I had heard or seen. The ocean and nearby islands were covered with oil. Yet, what relieved me was that there were hundreds and thousands of other volunteer workers like me. They were all willing to give and happy to be able to share what they had. Some were cooking food to be offered to other volunteer workers while others were cleaning the rocks with pieces of cloth. After changing into clothes that I did not care getting dirty, I started cleaning the rocks. It was a long and arduous toil, but I was happy to serve for the community. Workers would sing together to lessen the fatigue. Also, we would dance together to boost our morale. Furthermore, we would encourage each other how gifted we were for being able to volunteer. Finally, after the work was done, I was thanked by local citizens which made me proud of myself.

Being an active volunteer proved that I could in fact be a productive and influential person in my community. It has also shaped me into an individual who possesses the ability to share with others and appreciate what is given to me. Being able to Offer a helping hand to those who may be less privileged than I am acts as an incentive for me to strive more industriously and spread the joy of sharing.

Undergraduate / UC undergraduate prompt #1 where do I come from? [3]

Hello guys!

I have written my essay for UC and i need critiques!

Thank you!

Since my early childhood, an unavoidable aspect of my life was frequent moving not only around Korea but also around the world. Moving to different places has offered me the opportunity to meet various types of people and cultures that I had not been exposed to. Such experiences provided me with precious memories and at the same time, they have also challenged me with obstacles that I had difficult time coping with. This cycle of moving to different places and getting adjusted has shaped me and granted me some of the characteristics that would well describe me as a person: openness to cultural differences, adaptability, and independence.

One of the major effects that moving around places had on me was witnessing different cultures. When I first moved to India, I was somewhat astonished with the fact that most Indians do not consume beef. This just did not make any sense to me at first since I was a fervent lover of beef. I would meditate upon the reason behind such cultural differences. It was because the Hindu religion, which is the major religion in the country of India, worships cows as gods. Such habit of pondering upon various cultural gaps allowed me to become a person who is open-minded. Furthermore, I came to truly appreciate the differences and how different people comprehend each other's varying attributes.

Another impact that resulted from frequent moving was the development of great adaptability. From first grade year to my high school senior year, I have attended six different schools moving four times. As a result, I had to adapt myself to completely new circumstances every time I moved. I would often discover myself sitting in a new classroom with new people. With such frequent moves, I had to develop a special skill of fitting myself into new environments. My quality of being extraordinarily flexible granted me to these days, the ability to cope with different situations with little or no predicaments.

Adjusting to new environments has not only rendered me into a flexible and open individual, but it has also made me be independent. Most of the times, with almost no one to offer me a helping hand, I was solely by myself in different situations. Since English was not my mother tongue, I had a very challenging time when I was first picking it up. When I was enrolled in American International School-Chennai in India, due to the fact that I had no person around me who was fluent in both Korean and English, I had to teach myself English. At first, it seemed like an insurmountable hardship. Yet, as days passed, I soon became friends with the language. This experience has made me aware I could actually accomplish something on my own if I had a clear goal in my mind.

Frequent moving has offered me with some of the most challenging hardships and also some of the most beautiful times of my life. However, the greatest gifts that I received from moving were my quality of openness to differences, adaptability and independence. With these invaluable attributes, I greatly look forward in going beyond my limitations and challenge myself with higher level thinking.

Undergraduate / 'cornerstones of a nation - business' - u of m-why choose to major in business? [2]

Since I was young, I have always felt an intimate attachment toward the field of business. The very fact that almost every aspect of lives is based upon sound businesses has rendered me to appreciate the field of business and explore it. Business is pivotal in our world because it deals with to managing people, capitals, and finances. But what has mesmerized me the most is that business has the ability to change the world.

As our generation progresses toward future, economy becomes more globalized, making businesses more active players on the world stage. They are not only becoming institutions going after profits but also groups that make our community healthier. They make generous donations to build schools and hospitals. In other words, businesses are acting as leaders in stabilizing the lives of those who are financially unstable.

When I first approached the field of business, I had the wrong idea that businesses exist only to make money. Now I am different. I am very well aware that sound businesses are the cornerstones of a nation since many of them play parts in helping alter those economies and people in bad shape into healthy ones. As I become more educated and trained in the field of business, I wish to be a part of the system of upbringing social prosperity. Furthermore, by focusing my studies on business, I yearn to spread my knowledge of business across the world and even go beyond by founding my own business school.

Please help me improve my essay!:)