Undergraduate / "Choosing classes, the request", two different essays, not sure which one to use [4]

Im not really done, but i just want to know which one people think would be the better topic. Any help is appreciated though. Thanks!

Choosing classes for the following year was always something I looked forward to. However this year was different, to me it was more of a sobering experience rather than something pleasuring. I realized that this was my last year in high school and that soon, dreaded college applications would be coming around the corner. With this in mind, I was faced with two options. To take easy classes which I knew I could manage to pass or to take challenging classes which I would probably struggle in. Well, after some heavy consideration, I decided to take the challenging classes; pre-calculus/trigonometry and honors physics.

I knew that my senior year was not going to be an easy one. Everyone told me how difficult these classes were, and yet I decided to remain in the classes. I thought about the challenging courses I took in my previous year and how I always managed to get by. However with one quarter into the year, I'm starting to doubt my decisions. I feel a lot more confident in pre-calculus than I do in honors physics, in which I feel completely lost. Throughout my school life, I would say that this is the most challenging course I have ever taken.

Nonetheless, I have decided to stay in the class. Because I am still taking the course, I am unsure whether I will pass or not. I am proud to say that despite what my peers said, I did what I wanted and followed my instincts. I am also proud that I am not dropping the class. I know that I am capable of doing whatever I set my mind to.

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The requests kept growing; from 3 to 6, 6 to 12, 12 to 21. My two friends and I had three days to make 21 capes for our friends. When I saw the number, I knew we were in over our heads. It took us almost two hours just to finish one cape. I had no idea how we could possibly make 21 in three days. Miraculously, we did it. Everyday after our homecoming activities, we would get straight to work and attempt to finish the task that seemed impossible

We assigned each other tasks so that there wasn't a moment in which one of us had free hands. We needed to cut, lock the ends, sew, iron-on names, and make stencils for all 21 capes. Over the course of two days, we created an efficient system on how to produce each cape. Even though we created this system, there was still a little less than half the capes to make in only one day. With limited supplies, such as glue guns and sewing machines, only two of us were able to take the capes home. I remember staying up until two a.m. on the third night finishing my last cape.

Thinking back to this week, I am proud that I didn't just give up when I saw the amount of capes we had to make. I am even more proud at the fact that we actually finished in three days. I realized that there are many other occurrences in which I don't give up.

Once again thanks.

Undergraduate / My father, mother - UC Prompt #1 do you guys think its too much about the story? [5]

Well i thought i was done with it, but i reread it and realized its kinda too much like about the story and not really that much of me i also think its a bit repetitive towards the end. Any help/suggestion is appreciated!

Prompt #1

Describe the world you come from - for example, your family, community or school - and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.

I never really appreciated my father. It was only on rare occasions that he and I would actually see eye to eye. However when I was fourteen, one night, one conversation, one sentence, had changed my perspective on not only him, but the way I viewed my life. It was 11 P.M. and my father was sitting in the kitchen. While observing him, I noticed the normal bags under his eyes seemed darker and deeper than usual. The bills were strewn across the table and I could hear him muttering "money, money, and more money." I could tell he didn't want to be bothered so I returned to my room. Yet one question remained in my head, one I had no logical answer to.

After some contemplation, I went back to the kitchen to ask him. "Dad, why don't you ever ask mom for child support for me and Jeff [my brother]?" Out of all of the years since their divorce, never once did he ask her for a penny. I didn't understand why if he could just get "free" money from my mother, why didn't he? Here he was working on average 10 hours a day, picking up extra shifts whenever possible, and even fixing up cars on the weekends to make extra money; when money that should be his, was his, if he asked for it. He looked up and answered to me in English with his heavy Asian accent, "If I ever asked her for anything, then it would mean I wasn't capable of raising you two on my own."

Since that night, the way I view my life has completely changed. There was a whole new level of respect and appreciation for my father in that one sentence. With this new level of respect and appreciation came the realization of many other aspects in my life in which I had overlooked. My dad could have taken the easy route like my mother did any time he wished to do so, but he never did. And for that reason, my father is one of my biggest motivators to do well in life. When considering all of the scarifies and choices my father has made in order to provide his family with a privileged life, I know that it is my obligation to repay him for everything he has done for me.

It is my dream that one day, I will be able to give back more to my father than what he has given me. In order to do so, I believe that I must fulfill the wish he has for his children; for us all to be successful. To me, and partly my father, being successful is defined as being happy with life and being financially stable. I believe the road to success will be achieved by graduating from one of the Universities of California with good grades and honors. Then soon after, I hope to find a job which I enjoy doing. I know that any occupation that enables me to use my own resources and abilities to help others, particularly children, will make me happy. More specifically, I prefer to do something in the medical field which I believe will enable me to make the most use out of my skills. It would be an advantage if this occupation allowed me to be financially stable because I hope for a future in which I can support both my family, as well as my father and stepmother.

Even though this is what I plan for my future I am uncertain about what the future has in store for me. Yet, I know that one day I will achieve my dream of repaying my dad. I am going to make sure that he has gotten everything he earned for never abandoning me. Although my father has given me a lot in life, I will admit, that my mother did not walk away leaving me with absolutely nothing. She also gives me motivation to fulfill my dreams of being successful, because one day, when she looks back on the day she left me, my brother, and my father, I know that she is going to regret it.