Undergraduate /
"Old Pride" - 500 words personnal statement. [9]
Hi, I want to apply to University of Pacific for their dental program... I did not know anything about this program until 2 days ago. The deadline is 15 November. I better be hurry... Please help me...!!
They ask for "a personal statement that let us know more about you than the scores you send us".
Limit 500 words.
Mine: Exactly 500.
Thank you very much in advance
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Old Pride------------------
"Anh, 30%. I am very, very disappointed in you!", my teacher announced by math score to the class. Every eye in the classroom turned to me. I could not believe my ears. I went up asking her if it was truly my name. It was. I panicky checked the answers, maybe my teacher made a mistake? No, he graded it right. Suddenly, I realized I just received the worse math grade I have ever known of.
Ten months before, at the beginning of my 8th grade, I was introduced to online video games. It was so attractive that I started sneaking out of school, skipping classes just to "level up." I would lie to my mom that I was doing homework to find an exotic weapon for my character in the game. As a result, my grades went down. When my teachers and parents recognized the cause, it was too late; I was addicted. I went from being a good student to a hopeless case.
I was trapped in an unending spiral. Whenever I felt disheartened by the real world, I found refuge in the game. My condition worsened. Yet, the worse I got, the deeper I had to hide myself in it. I was too frightened to deal with what I had become, so whenever they talked about my grade, I snapped back:"I study math only! I don't like the rest of the subjects, because they are pointless!" Math was my favorite subject. I could get a fairly good grade without studying for it. Protected with an excuse, I plunged back into the game...
Then the fateful day came, shoving me back mercilessly to the real world. The dreadful 30%! It was an accumulation of many skipping days and missing lessons. My final excuse was crushed; I became the worse math student in the class! I cried. My friends could not console me; I believe no one could that day.
Alone in my room that night, for the first time in a long time, I took all the courage and look back. I saw my old image, my old pride vanished. I could not describe myself anymore. What had I become? A worthless "nobody." Such recognition stung my conscience ruthlessly. I never wanted to be worthless! I worth something! Suddenly, I realized I would have to stand up and fix my mistakes. I realized, I wanted to be proud of myself again.
That summer, I made my objective: To regain what I had lost at any cost. The next school year, I asked one of my old math teachers to tutor me what I had missed during 8th grade and begged my best friend to help me with writing and French. I unplugged the computer, promising myself that for the whole year I would not even plug it back. Video game was out of my world. I studied days and nights.
One year gone by. Then, one morning, three weeks after the graduation exam, a letter came. "Results," it read. I opened it, heart pumping, and then made the biggest smile I have ever made; it was my score. It was high, and came with it an acceptance letter of one of the best high schools in my country! I felt happy, I felt pride, I felt relieved. I was out. My life was back. I had proved that I am still useful, both to myself and my society. I knew I was not those who lost their life to their own obsession, I knew I was someone special, someone "more", and...I was right.
Now, I am pursuing for something better for my future: a good education. I have no fear of challenges ahead, because I know, that inside, my old pride will always guide me.