Undergraduate / "Look Up" - Common App Personal Statement (significante experience) [5]

Okay, I'd like some feedback on this, especially on the conclusion and whether the essay really fits the prompt, because I can put it topic of choice if not.

Thank you for reading!

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

Seventh grade was indisputably the worst year of my life, mostly because of my attitude toward school. I loved learning, and I loved my teachers, but I never did my homework, despite understanding the material. Instead of working I would hide in books and video games, burying myself in fantasy worlds. My grades plummeted; I dropped out of honors classes. Guilt and shame made me dread school.

I told myself it was really absurd the amount of work I was expected to do, and I was rebelling, purposefully refusing to do what I called "pointless busywork". I lied to myself and hid in my dreams. Every night I would go to bed hoping, if not outright expecting, to wake up sick, or to a snow day, or on another planet-anything to keep me from going to school.

One day in May, we were playing tennis in gym. I was partners with Sam, the only girl who was quieter than me in class. I have never been good at any sport, but that day I only hit the ball once, maybe twice. I was frustrated with myself, and felt my eyes tearing up against my will. I looked down and blinked them off.

"You should look up more," Sam said.

"What?"

"Lift your chin up-no, a little less-Yeah, like that. You look better."

I looked at her and smiled for what felt like the first time in months.

"Thanks," I said.

To this day, that is the only thing I remember Sam saying to me. I have no idea if she even remembers; it was only an offhand comment after all. But it made me stop and think about my perspective. I spent all year looking down: looking down in a book, looking down at the ground, looking down at my homework.

Most of all, I had looked down at myself. I felt less than useless, like I would never accomplish anything. I wanted to be a heroine, like in my books, but I had alienated what few friends I had had, and I felt invisible. When Sam told me to look up, it meant she saw me. And when I looked up, I finally saw beyond me. I saw the rest of the world. I saw there were opportunities.

Yes, I had wasted the entire year, but it was just seventh grade, not my last chance of success. The next year I kept up with my homework and worked my way back into the honors classes I loved.

I still struggle with homework today, but if I miss a deadline, I first do what I can to make it up, then I look up, to see what I can do in the future instead. Sometimes my grades do not reflect what I know I can do, but I know I am more valuable than my grades. I know I can fall down as long as I never stop getting back up.

Undergraduate / UChicago Short Answer Questions "Why Chicago?" + "Favorite Music: Soundtracks" [2]

Okay, so these are my short answers for UChicago. Any feedback would be more than appreciated; I'm pretty nervous. ^-^' Mostly I want to know 1. Do my essays stand out (in a good way) and 2. Does my personality show through?

Question 1. How does the University of Chicago, as you know it now, satisfy your desire for a particular kind of learning, community, and future? Please address with some specificity your own wishes and how they relate to UChicago.

After my first good test score, I was hit with a deluge of pamphlets from colleges with various statistics next to pictures of the most photogenic students on campus. But one letter was different. The letter I received from University of Chicago had a picture of a hot dog on it, with the caption, "Item 57: make a Mandelbrot fractal out of hot dogs". There are three things I have always valued in life: being different, being intelligent, and being humorous. That letter fulfilled all three and inspired me to find out more about the University of Chicago. The more I found out, the more I fell in love.

By the time I visited the campus, I knew UChicago was my first choice. The interdisciplinary "Common Core" told me this was a school for those who valued learning in-depth in a variety of different fields, perfect for a girl who craves learning but has never even been able to pick a favorite class, let alone a future major. The city of Chicago told me I could enhance my education not only with unparalleled museums and cultural sites, but with new experiences and interactions with people of all types and classes. Finally, the Scav Hunt told me the community of UChicago was uniquely clever and quirky, and consisted of students serious about learning but still able to laugh.

I want to attend a unique university with first-rate academics, a community that shares my passion for knowledge, and an atmosphere distinct from anywhere I have ever lived. I want to attend the University of Chicago.

Question 2 (Optional): Share with us a few of your favorite books, poems, authors, films, plays, pieces of music, musicians, performers, paintings, artists, blogs, magazines, or newspapers. Feel free to touch on one, some, or all of the categories listed, or add a category of your own.

My favorite songs tend to be pieces of music few have heard of, though many have heard. When I watch a movie, game, TV show, or even commercial that moves me my very next step is to Google the soundtrack. The first song I discovered in this manner is "Itsumo Nando Demo", the ending song of the beautiful animated film Spirited Away. As soon as I heard it, I knew I needed to find it. This happened for a couple more songs, like "Baba Yetu" from the trailer for Civilization IV, and "Short Hair", an instrumental piece from Mulan. Finally, I realized that behind almost every cinematic moment that I loved, there was an amazing song.

My music taste is of course not only limited to soundtracks, it is just that by already having an emotional connection through a story, I already have an instant affection for it. Also, they are usually amazing pieces of music that just happen to be designed to intensify an emotion. I connect with it because of the situation I first heard it, but I appreciate each song on its own merits and listen to them independently. Some more favorites include "I Am the Doctor" from Doctor Who, "Overworld Theme" from The Legend of Zelda, "A Drop Filled With Memories" from Paprika, "Dead Hearts" from an episode of Chuck, "Space Lion" from Cowboy Bebop, "Accidentally in Love" from Shrek 2, and the theme from Chariots Of Fire.