Undergraduate / limits and boundaries are mentally abstract -- UMich [3]

Describe the unique qualities that attract you to the specific undergraduate College or School (including preferred admission and dual degree programs) to which you are applying at the University of Michigan. How would that curriculum support your interests? (500 words maximum)

I believe limits and boundaries, although physically existent, are mentally abstract. Most people have heard the saying "If you put your mind to it, anything is possible." In fact, the quote is so popular; it has become one of the most inspirational quotes in the world, pushing people to break abiding boundaries. Some people may refute this quote saying "anything? Why don't you put your mind into flying and maybe you can fly. Haha." However, being pragmatic, I define this quote to its literal meaning, and have learned that the only thing stopping me and my dreams is me.

To my parents, migrating to the United States and having their child attend any American University would have trumped the high school education to which they were limited. However, raised in a city bordering Juarez, Mexico, a foreign slum whose lack of social order, neglect for the impoverished, and astounding crime rates continue to climb, my desire to attend the University of Michigan encompasses a much broader focus than filial matters. Freshman year in high school, I promised myself to learn and implement as many things in the world as I could. Turning ignorance and finite understanding into infinite audacity to take life by the horns and expand the horizons of my mind to what the world has installed, I discovered life was much more than academics. I put my time and interest into music, arts, sports, language, culture, politics, basically everything to get myself out into the world, not for a purpose but for the refusal to be contained by my own conscious.

The Residential College (LSA) at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor provides for me a prestigious learning environment where I am not limited to one pre-professional course. Rather, I have the blessed opportunity to study in arts, music, and language, while integrating myself into enriching the community of Michigan. I also recognize the abounding educational opportunities at the University of Michigan. From research projects at top tier facilities, to having access to renowned professors, I understand that the educational possibilities are endless and the ability to learn is infinitely proportionate to my aspirations. To be placed in an environment that balances academics, with liberal arts, and community service, is a prospect that few schools can provide.

Dedicated in my pursuit of knowledge and understanding, the University of Michigan is more than a place I would like to call home for the next four years. It is a place where I envision myself adopting new ideas, abandoning old perceptions, and reciprocating the abounding opportunities the University of Michigan has to offer. My story is one of struggle, realization, and victory. Resolute on attending, I know that the University of Michigan can help me bring about a lasting change in our society. With a limitless mind and heart of hope, I will endure. I will impact. I have a story to tell, and the University of Michigan lies within its pages.

Umich is my top choice so please critic this essay harshly. Any suggestions will be considered and pointing out grammatical errors is much obliged. Thanks.

Undergraduate / "a Korean-American in a Hispanic community" - a community in which you belong [5]

Everyone belongs to many different communities and/or groups defined by shared geography, religion, ethnicity, income, cuisine, interest, race, ideology, or intellectual heritage. Choose one of the communities to which you belong, and describe that community and your place within it.

The essay is supposed to be around 250 words and this is 277. I have a hard time wording things so if you have a better way of wording something please let me know.

Life as a Korean-American in a Hispanic community is far from complacent. Growing up in the predominantly Hispanic city of El Paso, it has been difficult for me to integrate myself in a specific social group. In school, most of my friends are either Hispanic or Caucasian. I have fraternized with Hispanics and Caucasians most my life, and being cultured in this community I, have begun to see myself slowly acting like them. I abhorred my roots as a Korean and I neglected other Asians for I feared my American friends would isolate me from their groups. "Fiestas" and "quinceneras" playing momentous roles in their lives, I often found myself attending such events. I was usually the only Asian, and walking through the doors into the parties, I would receive inimical stares. The students would transmit cryptic messages on how I did not belong, and I, the conspicuous foreigner, would pretend it did not faze me. Cultivated in an austere environment at home, life at school refuted the teachings implemented, as a child, from my parents. This led me to live up to double standards, beguiling my parents and friends. Trying to meet up to two different culture standards is hard. But as I grew older, my parents became more accepting to the western culture and my friends more accepting to my Korean heritage. To say that growing up in a community where my culture clashed with my life was hard is an understatement. But through this I have come to understand and incorporate the quote "Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You" - Dr. Seuss