Zatt
Oct 26, 2008
Undergraduate / The problem of balancing family priorities and education -Admissions Essay [NEW]
Hey just want to see what you think. Thank you very much!
I am running down an endless hallway and yet I have no idea why. I look around and see tests, garbage, and dishes flying around as if being sucked into a black hole. At last there is a small light near the end but as I reach for it, it continues to move further and further away. I leap forward trying to catch the light and I suddenly find myself falling deep into an endless pit. As I am falling, I feel the breeze blowing through my hair and the sensation of a carefree world. I embrace my fall and accept this as a gift. Thoughts of tests, schoolwork, family problems, and my job rush through my mind. But suddenly those thoughts elude me and I smile.
They say your dreams are a gateway into the inner-workings of your mind, but I say it is quite different. Your dreams are instead an alternate realm of freedom and escape. Within your dreams, you live a life devoid of stress and work. It is an opportunity to grasp a surreal world far from reality. Now don't mistake this for avoiding the troublesome problems of the real world. I address the many problems in my life head on. Nor should you see my dreams as just a mere way of escaping reality. But for you to understand why each night I look forward to sleeping, you must first understand the experiences in my life that set my dream world in motion.
Throughout my career in high school, I have always had the problem of balancing family priorities and education. Although I would love to say that education is always the first thing to do on my list of life goals, it simply isn't. The truth of the matter is that family is always first. It is something that I am learning to cope with but also learning to respect. When my father asked me to help out in his restaurant, every ounce of willpower in my body wanted to completely reject this request. For I knew that if I were to work there, I wouldn't be receiving pay nor would the work be easy. But while my body was telling me no, deep down inside I knew he needed my help. At that time my father's restaurant was going through turmoil and paying for additional employees would be difficult. So I respected my father's wishes and began working after school.
Over the course of the next few weeks, I found myself having difficulty with balancing all the work in my life. With the many clubs, school work, and the restaurant, I found myself easily agitated and tired. So tired that when I got home and decided to lie down for a second, I passed out and instead awoken anew. I would tell you exactly what happened in that dream but to be honest, I can't really recall it. However what I do remember is that feeling when I had awoken. The sudden realization and consciousness of it all hit me. At that moment I realized that my problems and work were similar to that dream in every way. While a dream is a realm of bliss, and reality holds our problems; both are similar in that they are just momentary events in my life. Like a short-lived trend or the passing of a summer breeze, my dreams and problems are just that; fleeting moments in my life.
As Henry David Thoreau says, "Dreams are the touchstones of our character." I see dreams as a reminder that the problems in life are ephemeral. So when the burdens of life weigh me down, I peacefully close my eyes; knowing that when I open them I will be able to once again embrace the harsh realities of life.
Hey just want to see what you think. Thank you very much!
I am running down an endless hallway and yet I have no idea why. I look around and see tests, garbage, and dishes flying around as if being sucked into a black hole. At last there is a small light near the end but as I reach for it, it continues to move further and further away. I leap forward trying to catch the light and I suddenly find myself falling deep into an endless pit. As I am falling, I feel the breeze blowing through my hair and the sensation of a carefree world. I embrace my fall and accept this as a gift. Thoughts of tests, schoolwork, family problems, and my job rush through my mind. But suddenly those thoughts elude me and I smile.
They say your dreams are a gateway into the inner-workings of your mind, but I say it is quite different. Your dreams are instead an alternate realm of freedom and escape. Within your dreams, you live a life devoid of stress and work. It is an opportunity to grasp a surreal world far from reality. Now don't mistake this for avoiding the troublesome problems of the real world. I address the many problems in my life head on. Nor should you see my dreams as just a mere way of escaping reality. But for you to understand why each night I look forward to sleeping, you must first understand the experiences in my life that set my dream world in motion.
Throughout my career in high school, I have always had the problem of balancing family priorities and education. Although I would love to say that education is always the first thing to do on my list of life goals, it simply isn't. The truth of the matter is that family is always first. It is something that I am learning to cope with but also learning to respect. When my father asked me to help out in his restaurant, every ounce of willpower in my body wanted to completely reject this request. For I knew that if I were to work there, I wouldn't be receiving pay nor would the work be easy. But while my body was telling me no, deep down inside I knew he needed my help. At that time my father's restaurant was going through turmoil and paying for additional employees would be difficult. So I respected my father's wishes and began working after school.
Over the course of the next few weeks, I found myself having difficulty with balancing all the work in my life. With the many clubs, school work, and the restaurant, I found myself easily agitated and tired. So tired that when I got home and decided to lie down for a second, I passed out and instead awoken anew. I would tell you exactly what happened in that dream but to be honest, I can't really recall it. However what I do remember is that feeling when I had awoken. The sudden realization and consciousness of it all hit me. At that moment I realized that my problems and work were similar to that dream in every way. While a dream is a realm of bliss, and reality holds our problems; both are similar in that they are just momentary events in my life. Like a short-lived trend or the passing of a summer breeze, my dreams and problems are just that; fleeting moments in my life.
As Henry David Thoreau says, "Dreams are the touchstones of our character." I see dreams as a reminder that the problems in life are ephemeral. So when the burdens of life weigh me down, I peacefully close my eyes; knowing that when I open them I will be able to once again embrace the harsh realities of life.