Undergraduate / "The biggest fear is fear itself." - application essay [12]

please point out if there are any grammatical errors or any points which should be added/omitted. is the essay good??????

"The biggest fear is fear itself."

I do not know where I heard these words or when.

But they were engraved in my mind through out the warm up. I had to fight the fear.

This was the first time I made it so far in a tennis tournament. Just one step to the finals and two to the under-14 city title. For me it was a double battle, one on the court and another in my mind.

My opponent was one of the top players in the city and seeded number one in the tournament. I had played against her twice before and lost both times. But that had only made me more determined to train harder and improve my game.

So here I was, better than the last time, more trained, more experienced. I knew I could win this time. Yet, in a corner of my mind there was a fear - a fear that I was still not good enough, a fear of losing. And this fear kept pulling me back from doing my best.

During the first hour, as desperately as I tried I could not clinch even a single game. It was the same thing over and over again. The game would be tied at deuce and then the fear would rear its ugly head. I would get so conscious about winning that I would always hold back and try to keep it safe. This would only result in another game lost.

The score was 4-0. During the break, I decided that it was now or never. Defeating the fear had become more important than the game itself. The next game started. Again, a deuce. Again, the fear. I pushed it away and just concentrated on the ball. This time, there was no holding back. And I got the game!

There was no time to celebrate though. 4-1. I needed 5 more games for the set and the match. The fear was still trying to push me down. But I pushed back. 4-4. The score got tied. 4-5. One game lead. Deuce. Match point.

The fear returned. But this time, it was not so huge. I just ignored it. The result? Game. Set. Match. I won the final match and the title too.

Now, the fear materializes time and again. It is always waiting to pounce whenever I have a hard task at hand or I am trying something new. But I just look past it. And then slowly, it just shrivels up and disappears, just like in the tennis match that day.

Undergraduate / UC essays - My NSS Story + A GAME TO REMEMBER [3]

Here are two essays I have written for the UCs. Do they sound good enough for college? Feedback appreciated...

My NSS Story

"It would be a pure waste of time", I protested.

My mother wanted me to join the school NSS (National Service Scheme) team. I, on the other hand, was totally against the idea. Joining the team would eat up portions of time allotted to studies and friends. National Service Scheme is an Indian youth service program. It aims at arousing social consciousness of the youth with an overall objective of personality development through community service.

However, the next week saw me heading to the hall where the NSS team members met after school. We were briefed on the activities the team would be focusing on for the rest of the year. And then we got down to work.

The following weeks were a total mess. There was too much to do and too little time. Then I hit a solution. I learnt how to plan and manage time. For me, each moment was of essence. Instead of spending time between classes chatting with friends, I spent time on my assignments. The school library became my refuge. A timetable for home kept me on track. Eventually, everything fell into place.

As time moved on, the resentment I had in the beginning for joining the NSS evaporated. I found new friends on the team, a whole new family. Our work was not easy but in the end, it paid off. The gratitude and joy on the faces of people we helped induced us to work harder. We helped in organizing events at school such as the annual function and UN Day. We even conducted a cycle rally for awareness on environment. We managed to collect enough money to buy a television for an old age home.

Once, we organized a ten day camp on hygiene and medicine in a village. We went to Kaimbwala village, one of the villages on the periphery of the city of Chandigarh, so that we could spread awareness about cleanliness, health and medicines. This trip proved to be a revelation for me. Seeing the circumstances of the people of the village shook me up. I was acquainted with a world that was an antithetical image of the world I came from.

Despite their circumstances, the village people were making the best of things on the meager amount of money they earned. Seeing these people's condition made me appreciate the fact that the kind of freedom of life I have is not something enjoyed by the masses in India.

Working on the NSS team makes me feel a deep sense of serenity and satisfaction. It has taught me the values of prioritizing, time management, leadership and team spirit. Most importantly, it has taught me the value of selfless service.

Since junior high, I have wanted to become an engineer. NSS redefined my goal.
I want to become an engineer whose services would make a difference to the earth and its people.

A GAME TO REMEMBER

'Bxg7'

And the rook that was the key to my victory was wiped off the board. This move brought me out of my trance and I noticed all the people around my table. The other matches had finished quite some time back. All the chairs in the hall except the ones at the first table, where I sat, were unoccupied. The crowd around my table was slowly dispersing now. It seemed the winner of the tournament had already been decided. I was still trying to digest the loss of my rook.

Chess was my passion in high school. After two months of training at school, I could not wait to play in tournaments. My very first match was with the city champion, an innocuous looking nine year old boy. I lost the match but that did not dampen my spirits.

After the first taste of a chess tourney, I was there at every local tournament. Steadily, I improved and it was not long before I started winning tournaments and was ranked first in the city. Logic in chess had become crystal clear to me. It did not matter anymore if the opponent was a sixty year old player or a little child (some turned out to be geniuses in disguise).

And then it happened. Either people were getting better or I was losing my 'golden touch'. Anyway, my city rank started slipping. There were tournaments in which I did not even make it to the top three. I was frustrated and baffled but determined to win the next tournament.

The next tournament came soon enough - the under-14 city championship given the name 'Anand ki Khoj' (The search for the Next Vishvanathan Anand). I played well and managed to win the first _ rounds. Then came the _ and final round.

And here I was gaping at the white bishop, which now stood where my black rook was a minute ago. The game had been even for the first one and a half hours. Then I had managed to take down three of my opponent's pawns. I had been in control and all set to win. Until this move.

The match was over. There was no way my rook and bishop could stand up to a pair of rooks and a bishop. Moreover, my opponent's king was securely placed behind an army of pawns. I was almost on the verge of forfeiting when the memories of the previous tournaments flooded my head. I could not just give up now! This thought kept me glued to my chair. Hushed whispers of amusement passed between the few people who still surrounded the table. Cutting them out, I concentrated on the game again.

And there it was. A slight chance for me to win. If the opponent fell for it, the game was a sure win. I made my move and my opponent took the bait. In two more moves, the game was mine.

Looking up, I saw the look of astonishment on peoples' faces. It was just a city level tournament but it taught me a lot more than just how to play chess.

The lessons chess has taught me have been invaluable. For me, most of life can be represented on a chess board. In both chess and life, once you move, you can not take it back. If you celebrate too soon, the victory may be ripped from your hands. You have to develop patience, foresight and flexibility to be successful. There will be ups and downs but if you love the game, you will still enjoy it. And foremost of all, as in this particular game, sometimes it seems everything is lost and you just want to give up. All you need is to look again, look further and there will be a way to win.