Undergraduate / "You are born to be a roommate of a weirdo" - Stanford Roommate [6]

As faith has it, you are born to be my roommate. Oh quite the internal whining! We are going to be fine: I get along to virtually everyone. At first, you may find yourself sharing a room with a "freak" and question faith why do this to you, but later you'll find yourself sharing a room with your best friend. I may seem extremely friendly and crazy at first. For example, I might introduce myself with "Hi, my name is Mey Taing. Would you be my friend?" but don't be alarmed by that. I'm just being my eccentric self and am too excited to meet you. As you get to know me more, I promise, my weirdness does not go away, but you'll get used to it.

As you may suspect, my favorite shows are Southpark, Family Guy, and The Simpsons. I am usually on my bed with a bag of extra-buttered popcorn, watching one of these shows after I study or when I am stressed. You are welcomed to join, just remember not to speak while we watch. That being said, I'll bring up my other pet peeve. Please shut the door all the way when you enter or exit the room. If the lock is not clicked, I don't feel secured. I have a tendency to stare at the door and wait for a boggler to enter so that I can smack him with my physics textbook. So please, close it.

About the boggler, if you hear a noise in the kitchen, don't think it's that boggler. I am a night owl. Most likely it's me enjoying my breakfast at 3 a.m and getting ready to start the night with some exciting homework.

I think I talk too much now. If I annoy you in anyway, let it be my talking or my abnormal habits, don't be afraid to tell me. I will try my very best to work something out.

And remember, you can always throw your problems at me, and I'll try to solve them with you. The least I want is an upset roommate.

Yours truly,
An Eccentric Roommate

Please check for any grammar error? and any other input is greatly appreciated it!

Undergraduate / "why I want to be an environmental engineer" (your world, family, community) [7]

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.

She hated me. In the realm of reason of a ten-year-old girl, I thought my mom hated me. I wished that I was born into another family in another country.

Even though young, I discovered that life is unfair. It was unfair that I was born in the poverty-stricken Cambodia. It was unfair that I was born into a financially better-off family, but still lived an ordinary life.

My family's way of life greatly mystified me. I never understood why my family tried to minimize spending when we had more than enough money and why I had the same things as my poorer classmate. I should have more and better things than they. After all, the point of having more money than everyone else is having better things then they do, right?

My clothing consisted of no more than ten outfits, some of which were hand-me-downs from my cousin. My toys consisted of a cheap Barbie doll, a set of plastic cooking materials, and a jump rope made of rubber-bands braided together. That was it. That was my childhood.

Additionally what pushed me to think that my mom hated me was that she made donation to the local foster shelter, but she did not give me any allowance. She bought shoes for the foster children, but she refused to buy me an extra pair of boots.

Finally my family moved to the United States when I was twelve years old. I thought it would be a dream-come-true. This is a rich country: everything is abundant. This is where I belonged, but soon enough I found this is not my home.

My new classmates were very different from the old ones. They threw half-eaten food away, while the old ones would finish it no matter what. They threw quarters at each other for fun, while the old ones would be joyous to find one. They dropped their backpacks on the floor, while the old ones would be very careful with them. I was disgusted of my new classmates' wasteful behaviors.

By this time I began to understand what my mom did. She has taught me well. Her lesson has provided me with magical eyes which enable me to see the value and beauty of the objects I acquire, though of little monetary value and physical beauty they might be. I am thankful because if she had not done what she did, I would have fall under the spell of abundance. It would have turned me into a greedy, wasteful, materialistic monster, just like it had done to my new classmates.

Even though everything I have is precious to me, Earth is the most valuable of them all. It belongs to me, and it belongs to everyone, but only a few has the magical eyes. It is up to us to enlighten them the harm they have done to this hidden treasure. It is my responsibility and by being an environmental engineer will give me the perfect tool to tinker a solution with.

Please help me! i know there are a lot of grammar errors b/c i am never a grammar nazi, but more important than that is the context. Do u think this is a good essay? is it boring? please feel free to critique harshly. oh, and i think i really need help on the ending, it's too weak and out of place. thanks. :)

Undergraduate / "moved from Cambodia to the United States" - UC Prompt [3]

UC #2
Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?

I like my older brother. Even though we are at the opposite end of the spectrum, he being Gamma Ray and I being Radio wave, he never ceases to see my brightness.

Since first grade, when I received my first F's, my family labeled me "The Dumb One". They thought I was mentally challenged, and so they took me to the doctor to have my brain X-rayed. I could not blame them for that. One would expect me to be smart when I have a brother who skipped two grades and never experienced what a B felt like. I myself even believed that I was mentally challenged.

When it seemed like the whole world accepted that I was dumb, my brother was the only one who persisted that I was not. He would argue that I was just discouraged because we were being compared and because everyone kept insisting that I not "normal". However, his encouragement did not inspire me: at that young age, I could not care less about education. From first to fifth grade, I had set my own Guinness Record of getting all F's five years in a row. I was quite proud of my "achievement" for everyone who knew me associated the name Mey Taing with stupidity: I founded a new connotation for the word.

When my family moved from Cambodia to the United States in sixth grade, I was ready for a fresh set of F's: there was no way for me to keep up with my classmates when I did not even speak English and still believed that I was mentally disabled. However, my brother encouraged me to give education a try, promising me that if I failed, I could just give up anytime. That seemed to be a fair deal. Upon his urging, I began visiting the local library across the street from our apartment everyday. I read a lot, sometimes up to fifteen books a week. Every time I turned the pages, there were colorful pictures waiting for me. My classmates laughed at me, while they were on their fifty-page chapter books I was still on picture books, but I didn't care. I thought those picture books were more interesting than the boring pages full of difficult words.

My learning experience was like climbing up stairs; each year, I improved a step. By tenth grade, I was out of the ELD Program, and my pride fulfilled me for a while, but I craved for more. I began taking honors classes. As honors classes failed to satisfy my thirst for knowledge, Advance Placement classes replaced them. Still, APs were not enough; my thirst reemerged, so I added Academic Decathlon, to my schedule.

From F's to A's and ELD to Academic Decathlon was a long walk, but I am not tired. Looking back from where I stand today, I can never be more proud of myself, but I must confess that I could never have done all these alone. All my achievements must be credited to my brother. He unlocked the door for me and led the path. Now that he is attending one of the most prestigious universities, I would like to continue following him there. I believe that all the hardships that I have conquered and all the achievements that I have accomplished have prepared me well. I am ready to meet new challenges and enjoy new knowledge that universities can offer me.

Thank you for your comments
Oh and one more thing, can u anyone help me with the sentence "From F's to A's and ELD to Academic Decathlon was a long walk, but I am not tired." ? It kind of sound awkward, doesn't it ?