Posts by Mona86

Mona86

Dec 20, 2009

Undergraduate / Common Application Short Answer (Seeds of Peace) [4]

Thank you very much for your comments, you helped me a lot :-)

First, a brief explanation for the summer 2001: I graduated from high school a few years ago and since then I was traveling and working. This is explained in other parts of my application, so I guess it will make some sense to admission officers. I was almost fifteen when I became member of Seeds of Peace, I believe old enough to understand what war and trust mean.

Second, I know this all looks kind of confusing but it is because I am limited with these 150 words. By the way, the essay is my answer to "In the space provided below, please elaborate on one of your activities (extracurricular, personal activities, or work experience)", so I hope this topic fits in there.

Mona86

Dec 20, 2009

Undergraduate / Common Application Short Answer (Seeds of Peace) [4]

Hi there!

I would appreciate your corrections and comments for my short essay (caution! English is not my first language). The essay is about my Seeds of Peace camp experience. It has to be less than 150 words so I am afraid it won't be possible to understand what I wanted to say. I am even not sure this is the right topic and approach, but here's what I have so far:

At Seeds of Peace Camp in summer 2001 eleven teenagers from Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia criss-crossed their arms as I climbed the ladder. I was supposed to fall backwards into arms of my "enemies". Although I was born in a mixed marriage of Bosnian Serb mum and Bosniak dad, memories of war didn't let me trust people, especially these people. Were they really my friends or they wanted to hurt me? I was shy and would hardly open up myself to others, so it was not surprising that we couldn't establish any closeness. Even petrified, I decided to take the risk. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and let myself fly. Next moment I was safe in their united arms and I realized that the scared little girl in me was gone. In that symbolic game I gained self-confidence and even more important I learned to trust people.

Thanks for reading!