Undergraduate / Learning is not about the "A" - Stanford Supplement Essays [5]

This is the first essay. I will be posting the other two by tomorrow hopefully!

Stanford students possess an intellectual vitality. Reflect on an idea or experience that has been important to your intellectual development.

It is strange how an idea can completely change the way one approaches challenges. The nature of a few simple words creating a tangible change in the way one lives is, to me, absolutely incredible.

There was a time in my mathematics career during which I had trouble understanding many of the new concepts introduced to me. As a person who was typically solid at math, I had never experienced much trial in the subject as a whole. Eventually, after continued struggles in the class, my teacher sat me down and basically told me that I was approaching all my problems wrong. He then gave me a piece of advice, saying to me, "Trey, there are two types of learners: Those who chase grades and those who seek understanding. You need to strive to be the latter."

I wrestled with this simple bite of knowledge for some time. What was the difference between chasing grades and seeking understanding? If I sought grades first would it not yield the same results as would first seeking understanding?

The answer to my questions came through a Chinese proverb that I saw everyday on the wall across the room in Spanish class (my Spanish teacher and the Chinese language teacher shared a classroom). The proverb stated that "giving your son a skill is better than giving him one thousand pieces of gold". As any teenager would, I had shrugged off this Chinese proverb, deeming it some pointless piece of nonsense that some Chinese monk-man wrote down hundreds of years ago. However, this proverb, along with the purview provided by my teacher's little morsel of wisdom, served as a revelation as to how I should approach learning.

Learning is not about the "A". Eventually, there will be a point in my life in which I no longer have any grades. I will solely be left with the understanding and knowledge I received in my education whereas the grade chasers will be left with nothing but useless papers with an "A" written at the top.

Thank you!

Undergraduate / My family's struggle against PKD - Common App Essay! [3]

Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.

As a whole, my extended family has struggled with many unfortunate circumstances: money troubles, divorce and even substance abuse. However, no circumstance has been more unfortunate than that of my family's struggle with PKD. Polycystic kidney disease is a disease that causes one's kidneys to slowly fail as a result of cysts that grow on the kidney. My grandmother watched her mother die of PKD, and my mother watched her mother die of PKD as well. About 27 years ago in 1984, the doctors diagnosed my mom with this disease. However, only a few years ago did her kidneys suddenly began to diminish to fatal lows, and a kidney transplant slowly approached. Never had I thought about death or how privileged I was before my mom became ill.

At the time, my family and I lived in London. My mom left for months at a time to receive chemo treatments to treat her kidney. She returned home about every seven weeks, but these returns were exceedingly tough on our family. I remember the times that she came home with distinct clarity. Everyday became a battle for her and she was unable to perform simple actions everyone takes for granted. It pained me to see her this way. After her week of return to London, she flew back to Texas for more treatments. During my mom's relentlessly long absences, I collapsed in on myself. I did not want to do anything. The fear and anxiety of the chance of losing my mom cloaked me in a world of loneliness. I put up impenetrable walls to suppress the sadness I held inside. It was almost as if my life just took a pause. I kept looking back, contemplating the better days when my mom was healthy, and we lived as a family in bliss. Weeks went by, then months, and I slowly began to realize that I couldn't dwell in the past. I could not change the past, but I could change the present.

My mom is a self-less person, always giving, never expecting anything in return. She constantly encouraged me to live a life of charity, to be the better, merciful person in everything I do. Her love drove out my fear, building my confidence, building who I was and who I am today. I am inordinately close to my mom. During her months away, I came to recognize the worth of these principles of love, kindness, forgiveness, and sincerity. Whether I was at school or at home, with others or alone, my mom taught me to live by these attributes. They now serve as the foundation for everything I undertake in life.

The experience of losing my mother for such a substantial part of my life caused me to reflect on my life. Though miles apart from me, my mom taught me something that I still live by even today. Through her experiences, I learned to never take anything for granted. I learned to cherish everyday because tomorrow is never guaranteed. I began to realize the value all the wonderful people who surround me every day and that they wouldn't be able to look after me forever, no matter how much I wanted them to do so. All the things I love and hold dear in this world can be taken away within the blink of an eye.

Fortunately, my mom received a kidney with a successful transplant in November of last year. Though it caused much hardship, ultimately my mom's struggle with PKD was a blessing for me as it allowed me to truly develop into a man of character. The disease revealed to me the fragility of life and I now live my life with endless gratitude for every day that I spend on this Earth with the people whom I love and who love me.