Undergraduate / Common app essay - my family moved to Bangladesh, factors, challenges [2]

We are interested in learning more about you and the context in which you have grown up, formed your aspirations and accomplished your academic successes. Please describe the factors and challenges that have most shaped your personal life and aspirations. How have these factors caused you to grow? (800 words)

"Life is a grindstone. Whether it grinds us down or polishes us up is up to us." - Thomas L. Holdcroft
I actually have never thought about my life until recently. As I pondered, I realized that life has taught me to expect the unexpected, to appreciate others, to respect my elders, to love my parents, to obey my mentors and most importantly, to be happy with what I have.

I actually have never thought about my life until recently. As I pondered, I realized that life has taught me to expect the unexpected, to appreciate others, to respect my elders, to love my parents, to obey my mentors and most importantly, to be happy with what I have.

I still remember vividly when the time my family moved to Bangladesh. I did not know that we would be living permanently in the country until a month later. I got admitted into the prestigious Oxford International School. Bengali was one of the subjects taught in the school despite the fact that the school was English speaking. I was able to speak in Bengali, but the hard part was that I had to learn to read and write in Bengali within one month! In addition, I had to adapt to the British Curriculum of studies. However, in the end, not only I was able to adapt the new changes in my life, I was also able to become a top student in my class.

We are interested in learning more about you and the context in which you have grown up, formed your aspirations and accomplished your academic successes. Please describe the factors and challenges that have most shaped your personal life and aspirations. How have these factors caused you to grow? (800 words)

"Life is a grindstone. Whether it grinds us down or polishes us up is up to us." - Thomas L. Holdcroft

I actually have never thought about my life until recently. As I pondered, I realized that life has taught me to expect the unexpected, to appreciate others, to respect my elders, to love my parents, to obey my mentors and most importantly, to be happy with what I have.

I still remember vividly when the time my family moved to Bangladesh. I did not know that we would be living permanently in the country until a month later. I got admitted into the prestigious Oxford International School. Bengali was one of the subjects taught in the school despite the fact that the school was English speaking. I was able to speak in Bengali, but the hard part was that I had to learn to read and write in Bengali within one month! In addition, I had to adapt to the British Curriculum of studies. However, in the end, not only I was able to adapt the new changes in my life, I was also able to become a top student in my class.

We are interested in learning more about you and the context in which you have grown up, formed your aspirations and accomplished your academic successes. Please describe the factors and challenges that have most shaped your personal life and aspirations. How have these factors caused you to grow? (800 words)

"Life is a grindstone. Whether it grinds us down or polishes us up is up to us." - Thomas L. Holdcroft

I actually have never thought about my life until recently. As I pondered, I realized that life has taught me to expect the unexpected, to appreciate others, to respect my elders, to love my parents, to obey my mentors and most importantly, to be happy with what I have.

I still remember vividly when the time my family moved to Bangladesh. I did not know that we would be living permanently in the country until a month later. I got admitted into the prestigious Oxford International School. Bengali was one of the subjects taught in the school despite the fact that the school was English speaking. I was able to speak in Bengali, but the hard part was that I had to learn to read and write in Bengali within one month! In addition, I had to adapt to the British Curriculum of studies. However, in the end, not only I was able to adapt the new changes in my life, I was also able to become a top student in my class.

[Please let me know if any corrections are necessary or if I can add anything else to make the essay better]

Undergraduate / learning my ABC's: What you would bring to diversity [4]

A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your background, please describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community, or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you. (500 words)

I was still learning my ABC's when my mother and I got the opportunity to go to New York City to live with my dad. Moving from Bangladesh to the USA was a time of difficulties for me: I not only had to learn a new language, but I had to study with people of different races as well. I was uncomfortable with this at first because the school I used to study in Bangladesh did not have such variation among its students. As time passed by, I eventually got settled in quite comfortably into the mixture of students and teachers in PS 114 Bronx, New York. I became quite popular among my peers and gained their respect as a human being.

I soon found myself on a turntable: my family was shifting back to Bangladesh. I had to adapt to a completely different environment, once again, at the age of 10. But this time, from a majorly developed country to a majorly underdeveloped country. Pollution, overpopulation and poor drainage conditions that lead to floods whenever there is a few hours of torrential downpour are only a few of the drastic changes I had to face.

I enrolled into Oxford International School and in the first few days of class-5, my classmates looked at me with curiosity spelt all over their faces. Some even assumed that I could not speak in Bengali! I replied to each of their question with a smile: the easiest route to friendship. They were very intrigued about the lifestyle I had in USA. I on the other hand, was intrigued by their actions and conversations. I found the differences between the students in USA and those of Bangladesh to be quite significant. My classmates here portrayed themselves differently: most of them were very conservative and timid while only a few were very carefree.

High school in Oxford International School was a different experience as well. I started to have classmates who came from countries such as Africa, India and Indonesia. I even learned to speak some Hindi from a friend. I am not surprised that I was able to interact with a foreign student more comfortably than most of my class mates because as far as I could interpret, Americans are more open to new relationships, but Bangladeshi's like to stay reserved.

It was the transition from one country to another that gave me the chance to develop and appreciate the diversity around me. Diversity allowed me to experience a spectrum of characteristics possessed by different people across the globe and to know about their unique perspectives. I am proud to experience and have seeds of two vastly different cultures planted within me.

[Please let me know of any corrections needed or if I can add something to make the essay better].

Undergraduate / 'Playing video games' - Evaluate a significant experience, achievement+impact [3]

Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you. (500 word limit)

The hubbub was deafening. Adrenaline was rushing through my veins. My throat dried up as I sensed the excitement of the quarter finals in the atmosphere. I glimpsed at my opponent; beads of perspiration tripped down his forehead. I smirked: I was winning!

Playing video games has been my hobby for as long as I can remember. I have given it cardinal priority in my free time, but it never occurred to me that I could accomplish such an astounding feat and learn so much from it at the same time.

Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you. (500 word limit)

The hubbub was deafening. Adrenaline was rushing through my veins. My throat dried up as I sensed the excitement of the quarter finals in the atmosphere. I glimpsed at my opponent; beads of perspiration tripped down his forehead. I smirked: I was winning!

Playing video games has been my hobby for as long as I can remember. I have given it cardinal priority in my free time, but it never occurred to me that I could accomplish such an astounding feat and learn so much from it at the same time.

Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you. (500 word limit)

The hubbub was deafening. Adrenaline was rushing through my veins. My throat dried up as I sensed the excitement of the quarter finals in the atmosphere. I glimpsed at my opponent; beads of perspiration tripped down his forehead. I smirked: I was winning!

Playing video games has been my hobby for as long as I can remember. I have given it cardinal priority in my free time, but it never occurred to me that I could accomplish such an astounding feat and learn so much from it at the same time.

[Please let me know of any corrections needed or if I can add anything else to make it better].