Undergraduate / "I was influenced" + "Why applying" - Rhodes College Supplemental [7]

Hey guys,
I like posted this thread twice, because I made a mistake and posted it in ESSAY writing feedback.. So, I am sorry if I seem repetitive..

CAN YOU HELP ME CORRECTING My Supplemental for Rhodes?
They look more like "answers" than "essays", but still I need your help for any grammatical mistake.

MANY THANKS!!!

How were you influenced to apply to Rhodes?

It took some time for my father to realize I was doing it for real; to accept the fact that I was really going to move out to study in the United States. I couldn't tell from his face how much he must have been worrying while he was sitting at the kitchen table in front of his grown-up kid, who was explaining her plans to him for the first time. I didn't want him to be uneasy about my future, but I couldn't help it. After all, he was the father of one of the 13% of European students who were going to pursue their education in the United States.

However, he did not want to play the role of the bad man once again. In fact, my mother was offered a great job abroad when she was younger, and, in spite of her eagerness to accept it, my father discouraged her to do so, because he was afraid my mother's absence could have ruined our family.

I could see in his eyes that he was remorseful of what had happened in the past, and I understood how much he was trying to overcome his fear of losing me.

Even though he would have preferred me to stay in Italy and study in a close-to-home university, like the majority of Italian students do, I know he does believe in me, and he encouraged me to do the same. In the end, he didn't just have accepted what I decided on, but he now also helps me with filling in my application forms, believing that Rhodes College is the right place for me.

Why are you applying to Rhodes?
It is exciting to look for the "perfect college", to find out which school would be best for your next four years of life. However, when it comes to narrowing down your college list, this "appealing search" turns into a daunting process. You have to arrange the pros and cons of your first-choice colleges, to think about what is good and what you don't like.

Weighing the pros and cons of my two final universities, I realized I had been flawless in my search: I had gotten the colleges' requirements, I had taken a college trip to visit the schools, and I had been emailing with the admissions officers to show my interest. However, I was still missing some information about one of the two schools, so I went to look for it on the internet.

That was when I came across a Rhodes student's review. It was by chance, but I couldn't ignore it. It said: "the teachers are great, they would help you achieve whatever you set your mind to." Rhodes teachers believe in you and help you live up to your full potential. I realized that, considering it is hard to studying in a foreign country, it would be easier for me to be helped by approachable teachers, the kind I would only be able to find find in such a close-knit college. I looked back at my list, and found it hard to feel that same certainty in the other schools on my paper. Suddenly, my pros and cons seemed unimportant to me.

However, I knew it was way too risky to rely solely on a student's comment to make a school your new first-choice college. That is why I started surfing the net in search of information about Rhodes College. I discovered it to be not only the close-knit school I was looking for, but also a top-tier, high-ranked school, which would be perfect for my pre-medical studies. Also, it was a plus point for the school to be located in Memphis, which plays an important role in medicine. Yes, it may be true that I have never visited Rhodes College, but no other school was able to bring me the same satisfaction.

Undergraduate / BU admission Supplemental Essay 2010. [7]

Hi there!
I am Alice, from Italy. I really need your help, since I am not a native speaker.
Hope you'll help out. THANKS in advance. :)
This is what I got. Please, just be honest and tell me what I have to change.

Essay #1: In an essay of no more than 500 words, please select three words that describe you best and tell us how you will use these qualities/characteristics to contribute fully to University community.

My parents have always described me as ambitious. In contrast, most of my Facebook friends have tagged me as curious. Personally, I believe the word that best describes me is this: open-minded.

For a long time, I never really considered ambition to be a desirable quality. But then I realized it takes courage to be ambitious. Ambition involves a lot of risk: the higher you aim, the lower you might fall. However, trying hard to make the most of life is definitely worth the risk. If you never seize the day, you will be forever grappling with the question of "what if...?"

My level of ambition is evident in my eagerness to pursue my education in Pre-Medical Studies in the Usa. Even though I've been told I am supposed to work harder than the others, because I am Italian, I will never give up. Ambition has given me the determination to achieve anything I set my mind to.

I have always found it interesting that people's eyes differ not only in the way they look like but also in the way they look at the world. If it were up to me, my eyes would always be open. I can't help but be curious about the world around me. For instance, I am always one of the few students who listen when teachers get sidetracked and start talking about something not directly related to the lesson --about TG news, current events. Most students are happy to get a break from taking notes and just space out for a while. I used to get angry whenever I saw students doing this. Regardless of whether or not the topic is academic, how can people not be interested in what's going on around them?

Finally, I believe that my most dominant quality is my open-mindedness. I have not only embraced other cultures, but I have also learned to love them. For instance, when I was in Boston last summer, it was amazing to meet so many people from all over the world. These memories are still fresh. I remember how quickly time passed when talking to my Korean friends about the political situation in their country. And I will never forget how my friend from Japan first taught me how to eat with chopsticks. These are the types of experiences that you can only have if you are open-minded. Indeed, I've always been against racism, and I could not agree more with the old quote from Mother Theresa: "if you judge people, you have no time to love them."

I am definitely satisfied with how I have turned out so far. I am also sure my qualities have prepared me well for college. I can think of no better place for my curious nature than university. What is more, my ambition will propel me toward high academic achievement. Finally, given the diverse community at Boston University, there is obviously no room for narrow-mindedness.