Undergraduate / Christian private school - Requesting Critique for UC Prompt 1 [2]

Prompt reiteration (most of you probably remember this by heart now, haha): 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 still vividly recall mornings that began with singing hymns and lunch breaks when it was imperative that we first said grace. Aside from usual subjects like English and math, I studied the Bible. But while the other students were attending church on Sunday, I was going to the Buddhist temple school on Saturday.

Before my parents transferred me to the public school system, for my first three years of education I attended a Christian private school. Conversations were awkward whenever someone noticed my necklace, which depicted an image of the Buddha. No, I did not pray before going to bed, nor did I say grace with my family during meals. Most of the time, this short and succinct reply to queries quickly ended the discussion. One time, however, a girl refused to let the topic die, demanded that I convert, else I not go to heaven, and asked God to "forgive me for my sins".

Having been introduced to prejudice, I realized that there were probably others in the world with such an opinion and was consequently motivated to avoid becoming such a person. Concluding that such a characteristic was often rooted in misinformation and ignorance, I vowed to keep an open mind. Thus, I have come to avoid forming opinions based solely on what I am told by others and prefer relying on my own hands-on experiences and observations. I have grown fond of experimentation and trying new things. These experiences have often yielded valuable skills in addition to expanding my perspective on life.

For instance, rather than dismiss a culinary arts regional occupations program as something for people who did not expect to get into college, as others at my school did, I was one of three to sign up. My participation in the course has taught me that it is nothing of the sort. They have given me skills that I could apply to real life, not all of them necessarily pertaining specifically to cooking; I have, for instance, honed problem solving skills in learning to improvise when a recipe takes a turn for the worse.

The discomforting feelings of alienation that I faced as a child attending a Christian private in spite of Buddhist faith opened my eyes to the prejudice which weaves itself into the world. As a result, I continue to aim towards becoming a member of society whose bias-if any-was based on personal experience rather than preconceived notions as influenced by others. The new things I try as I strive towards creating my own opinions on them have even surprised me with their own lessons to be learned.

Notes:I feel like I need a lot of help with my transitions (most notably is probably from the third last paragaph to the second last one). I was trying to explain the culinary class was an example of how I liked to try things out, which stemmed from the motivation to expand my horizons, which was inspired(?) by my time at the private school.

Undergraduate / Studied Biblie, a toddler - Choosing between two topics [3]

Prompt is: 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.

As the thread title says, I'm having trouble deciding between two topics to write about. The first one is about how I was affected attending a Christian school despite being Buddhist, while the other it about how the freedom of choice I was given by my parents allowed me to develop in my own way. I've written openings for each:

#1) I still vividly recall mornings that began with singing hymns and lunch breaks when it was imperative that we first said grace. Aside from usual subjects like English and math, I studied the Bible. But while the other students were attending church on Sunday, I was going to the Buddhist temple school on Saturday.

Before my parents chose to transfer me to the public school system, for my first three years of education I attended a Christian private school. Conversations grew awkward whenever someone noticed the necklace I wore, which depicted an image of the Buddha. No, I did not pray before going to bed, nor did I say grace with my family during meals. Most of the time, short and succinct replies to queries quickly ended.

#2) As a toddler, my parents were my entire world. Never was there a decision to make that I did not first ask them for advice on. When I grew older, however, a foreign concept was suddenly thrust upon me: self-sufficiency. Rather than rely on them, I now had to make my own decisions and conclusions in regards to how my life would be like. Needless to say, having such freedom was initially unsettling for a child of seven so used to dependence. However, I have come to realize that such an autonomous upbringing has taught me numerous skills I would never have developed otherwise.

Any constructive input would be gratefully received!