Undergraduate / UCF essays (family history, why UCF) - Chinese culture [3]

2. How has your family history, culture or environment influenced who you are?
Even though we may not realize it, our families influence us significantly. Your family's history, culture, and environment help mold the person you are today.

The value of education has always been important to our family. As a child of immigrants from China, I will be the first person in my family to ever go to college. My parents have worked really hard as a cook at a Japanese restaurant and a seamstress at a interior design shop to provide a good life for my sister and I. My parents never had the opportunity to attend college, so they always stress how important education so I can take advantage of the opportunities I have to become successful. But also, in order to be sucessful, you must work hard to reap the benefits; I am currently taking AP courses and college preparatory courses to challenge and motivate myself to become better.

In small gap between birth and death, your attitude plays a significant role in how people will judge your character. Being raised in a society where young adults are allowed to disrespect people older than themselves, my parents made sure that me and my sister would respect and be polite to our elders and as well as our peers. When someone would criticize me negatively even though I did not do anything to hurt them, I would not argue back, but I would become the bigger person and smile back and compliment them instead. Everyone has a right to their own opinion even if you do or do not agree with them; you must be considerate to their opinions and feelings towards a situation whether or not you agree with them.

I also learned to never take the blessings from my family and God for granted. My parents may have never been able to enjoy themselves in order to take care of me and my sister, but they knew that it was a beneficial choice that they had to make by leaving China to the United States where they would start a family. I am so grateful for everything my parents have done for me. I hope that I will be blessed with the opportunity to continue my journey to success at University of Central Florida studying elementary education.

3. Why did you apply to UCF?
During the summer, my friend & I made an "Orlando Day" for us to go shopping, see a movie, and have dinner. We were to meet at UCF and little did I know that she planned for the both of us to take a campus tour just for me even though she attended school there. Everytime her and I would talk on the phone, I would hear nothing but wonderful things about UCF; from life-changing football games to seeing Panic at the Disco in concert. I never knew that there was so much to do in one campus! Also with the help of UCF's spectacular gym, I hope to continue my New Year's Resolution to not only to not gain the dreaded "Freshman 15," but to lose weight as well. Growing up in a small town and attending school where its student population of Asians is about one percent, I am very interested about joining the Asian Student Association to not only interact with more Asian peers, but to learn more about the Asian culture. My family is the most important part of my life, and UCF is only about an hour and a half away from home, it will be convenient for me to visit my family or vice versa. The shuttle system will make the commute easier from the dorms to class easier, medical care is available whenever an illness occurs, and the dorms are so spacious it feels like being at home. UCF's College of Education is known to create more educators than any school in the state and is always updating its technology to help students learn beyond their potential and become the best they can be.

So the actual tour and the campus tour from her perspective lasted about 3 hours; it was all it took to make me fall in love with the campus and make UCF my number one choice.

UCF will be my home away from home. UCF stands for opportunity and I know that UCF would be an opportunity I could not pass up.

Undergraduate / From China - with College Education - Jacksonville University essay revise. [4]

There was no essay required in the applicaton, however I think it would be helpful to say something. Please revise. And thank you.

Personal Statement (optional)
Is there anything else you'd like to tell us about yourself that would be helpful as we review your application? If so, let us know. Please limit your response to 250 words or less.

As a child of immigrants from China, I will be part of the first generation in my family to go to college, as well as the first person in my family to ever go to college. My parents have worked really hard as a cook at a Japanese restaurant and a seamstress at a interior design shop to provide a good life for my sister and I. Although money was never an issue, I knew that it was my duty to undertake a rigorous educational experience and earn exceptional grades and to never take the blessings from my family and Gof for granted. I believe that I have begun my journey to success by taking AP courses and college preparatory courses and being active in band, National Honor Society, Interact club, community service and other various clubs within the school in which some of them holding officer positions. I also have a part-time job as a camp counselor and a waitress which requires you to be outgoing, enthusiastic, patient, and helpful. I hope that I will be blessed with the opportunity to continue my journey to success at the Jacksonville University studying Elementary Education.

Undergraduate / The Summer of 2001 changed my life completely. UF essay [2]

Describe a meaningful event, experience or accomplishment in your life and how it will affect your college experience or your contribution to the UF campus community. You may want to reflect on your family, your school or community activities, or your involvement in areas outside of school.

The Summer of 2001 changed my life completely. With money that was saved up for years, my parents decided that it was time to revisit the family, so my family and I traveled to Guangzhou, China. It was the first time I had ever met my family from the other side of the world! It was rather exciting how I was on foreign land, yet I had family who lived there. People drove their cars, used taxis & bus transportation, rode their bicycles and of course, walked. Clothing was pretty similiar; they even had brands like Converse & Lacoste. They of course were fans of their own celebrities (that I had never heard of until then). My palate for the food of local restaurants was not appealing to me but McDonald's sure was! Even though I was a bit rusty with my Chinese, I understood most of the conversations people were in, but it still made me feel like an outsider. When I met my family and their friends, I felt awkward and felt I didn't belong. Even at the age of 10 years old, I was well-liked in the United States; I had knowledge about fashion and pop culture, but there was one thing missing that I needed to know about... my family.

So during the two months we were there, I made it my mission to get to know everyone and to see extrovert that I was. I took the initiative to get out of my comfort zone and decided to participate in fun activities such as grass skiing, swimming, playing tennis, and riding paddle boats and I ended up having so much fun doing it, no matter how awful I was. I even started suggesting places we could go to like zoos, water parks, museums, and eating at the local restaurants (which I ended up loving the food). I eventually understood Chinese better and the language barrier began to disappear and I was no longer assumed as an introvert.

And during my stay, I got to know about my family and their life. My aunts, uncles, and cousins told me what they did during the day, what they liked to do for fun, what was the thing they missed about my mother and father. My grandfather had a deep conver how my mother met my father. He told me that my mother did not want to leave China, but she knew that it was a wonderful opportunity to move to the United States and start a family who would have many opportunities. It made me upset how I never realized how much my parents sacrificed for my sister and I, and how their hard work goes unnoticed. I mean, I knew that they did not have high-paying jobs as a cook at a Japanese retaurant and a seamstress at an interior design shop, but money was never an issue when it came to supplies and clothes that my sister and I needed. And that night, I was watching MASH on TV and one of the characters said, "I don't care how poor a man is; if he has family, he's rich." With this realization, I decided that I would work hard enough that I would be able to fulfill my parents' hope for me to receive a rigorous educational experience and earn exceptional grades AND to never take the blessings from my family & God for granted.

Today, I believe that I have begun my journey to success by taking AP & college prepatory courses and being an extrovert by being active in band, National Honor Society, Interact Club and other various clubs within the school. I also have a part-time job as a camp counselor and a waitress which requires you to be outgoing, enthusiastic and helpful. I also try to help my parents in every possible way by doing chores, cooking dinner, translating things from English to Chinese, and taking care of my sister while my parents are at work. I hope that I will be blessed with the opportunity to continue my journey to success at the University of Florida studying Education, hopefully teaching Chinese as a foreign language. From a Spanish proverb, "An ounce of blood is worth more than a pound of friendship," I know that at UF, I will be part of something worth than friendships, I will be a part of a family known as the Gator Nation.