Undergraduate / "no single student at Stanford is perfect either" - Stanford's Diversity [4]

Tell us what makes Stanford a good place for you.

The cigarette plummets to the ground. Its smoldering ember slowly dims to a black nothingness. It is no longer capable of controlling my adolescent life. I made a decision that day. By quitting smoking I did not simply kick a toxic addiction. Smoking reminded me of a terrible decision I had made among bad company; people that I no longer associate with. Therefore, by quitting, I symbolically let the memories of a bad past leave me - a transition to a new beginning.

As I had made a decision that day, for a less than obvious reason, today I decide to apply to Stanford University for a less obvious reason. Most institutions boast diversity, but they simply admit different ethnicities to appear diverse on graphs that depict their student body in numbers. To me, diversity is so much more profound than ethnicity. A student body that is ethnically diverse eclectically draws from novel experiences, making it enchanting, but a student body that is various in intellectual curiosities is perhaps even more crucial. The Stanford student body is one of the few I know of that successfully merges both forms of diversity. It comprises of technical wizards, writing gurus, business titans, and everything in between. Stanford's students enter one-sided and leave well-rounded due to immersion in a community of one-sided individuals.

Ultimately, I believe people constantly make decisions that significantly alter their future. In fact, revealing that I had at one point smoked while under the legal age was a risky decision itself. Why did I make it? I felt it necessary to make it clear that I was not perfect, nor do I claim to presently be perfect. I hope that, if I am accepted and I do attend, no single student at Stanford is perfect either. That is the essence of diversity.

I already submitted my application, but I was just wondering what you guys thought of the essay. Feel free to point out grammatical flaws, etc. Just wondering if you liked it. :-)