Undergraduate / Common App - "Cliff Solving"; being an assistant teacher to a third grade class [6]

Here goes a second essay.

As I steadily descended from the mountain, I soon began to realize that what had originally started out as a recreational hiking adventure had turned into an epic struggle for survival. Such was the result of my group unknowingly veering away from the paved trail. The consequence was a journey that truly tested my strength and courage.

The date was August 16, 2008. My friends and I were hiking in the vicinity of the Catskill Mountains. The mountain we ascended was much steeper than I had earlier predicted. Our destination on the mountain was a pool area that was created naturally by an adjacent waterfall. Faulty navigation led us to the wrong destination: the top of the waterfall. Thus, we had to make our way down approximately 100 meters, and in efforts to get to the pool directly, we had departed from the safe trail.

The path that we had taken went along the mountainside where there was nothing but a rocky, downhill slope. It soon became apparent that we were at the flat edge of the mountain where one could fall and take quite a tumble. I was no longer hopping gaily from boulder to boulder. Instead I was crawling on all fours with extreme caution. The threatening steepness of the mountainside only factored into the danger. My frictionless sneakers did not help either.

Although I was experienced in working through tough situations, I was not having fun. As a matter of fact, I was absolutely terrified. I knew one slip could lead to my ultimate downfall, pun not intended. However, there was no turning back, nor giving up for that matter. There was only one way out: victory. To me, victory meant not only reaching the ever-so-desired pool, but also getting there intact and breathing.

My fear of heights made me very nervous, but I did not let that get the best of me. Instead, I treated the situation as I would a physics problem, one which contains a great deal of confusing and tricky scenarios with numbers left and right. Such a problem would make me nervous as well, at first. My first step to problem solving is always to grab a hold of myself and make sense of the situation. I am on a slope with a relatively low coefficient of friction and must achieve a negative displacement of 100 meters, but not too quickly. Next I determine how the problem must be solved. I must maintain equilibrium while moving at a steady downward velocity and prevent gravity from overcoming my force of friction. My final step is to execute the process consistently so as to prevent error.

That is the approach I had taken to safely make my way down. With nothing but scarce trees and rocks in my view, I grabbed hold of whatever I could find and followed my group. Eventually, I got the hang of it and decided to lead the crew. I did not realize, however, that this was not very wise. I had brought myself upon a platform sloped downward with a tree branch barely in my reach. When I looked down, it seemed as though I was staring into a bottomless pit. I lay back, trying not to slip, and was about to cry for help. With my last ounce of courage, I leaped and grasped the tree. As a held onto it with my left arm, I pulled one of my friends to safety with my right arm. For the remainder of the descent, we worked together, and with my mind focused and my body cooperating, I was able to make it to the bottom of the slope.

Victory was mine. Although I was able to relax in the pool, I had trouble sleeping for the next few weeks. Despite the trauma, I had a desire for adventure. Success in the face of fear makes me feel brave in the same way answering a physics problem makes me feel smart. Maybe I can pursue free-fall motion and try sky-diving.

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My first essay is here https://essayforum.com/undergraduate/common-app-childhood-like-playground-think-4852/

Undergraduate / Common App - "Childhood's just like a playground. Think about it." [3]

Here goes my essay for, well I just pieced this essay together, so don't expect much.

The indentations go to whack...

"Childhood's just like a playground. Think about it."
- Unknown

------ My two-year-old brother, Jedidiah, loves the playground and it, by some means, became my responsibility to take him to the park. But I'm grateful for that because our times at the park, has led to the life realization that life is comparable to a playground. In the park, my brother relied on me for just about everything and I became someone who, for the moment, took my father's place. Spending time with my brother, in the simplicity of the children's playground, gave me an opportunity to glimpse at life and my father in a different light.

------ I was no longer the "child" in the playground; instead I was the "adult," the all-seeing eye and responsible. And so I watched his progression: from the swings, where I had absolute power over him, to the jungle gym, where I was on the "side lines" watching him play. He tried the slide with me at the bottom but soon, he didn't need me to catch his fall. He needed my hands to sturdy him as he walked, but soon he pushed my hands away. As he grew more daring and independent, I felt like I was watching myself. Though I once needed the refuge of someone waiting to catch me, I can now catch my own fall. I once needed that hand to help me balance on the right path in life, but I am now daring without it. From the times when my father had full control, I have reached a point in life where I am trying to find my own place in the world.

------ For many the playground is like our introduction to the world; we learn and mature until we are ready to leave the "playground" and become adults. I see now that, even though life is unpredictable and complex it can also be simple like a children's playground. Life is learning and growing through the different stages. Watching over my brother , I felt emotions that I know my father must have experienced my whole life: the responsibility of keeping a child safe, the joys of watching him make smile, the worries that he'll trip while running, and the sadness that came with the newfound independence. At those times, I understood my father: the calm, understanding parent; the strong, responsible man; the role mode that I continue to learn from. I am finally growing up, ready to leave the playground of life and move on, I know I will be able to find myself.

I don't really pay attention to my grammar, as I type how I think, so correct any grammatical errors if you can please.

Undergraduate / 'I can contribute tons in college' - Lehigh University Supplement Questions [NEW]

As you researched and visited colleges and universities, why did you decide to apply to Lehigh? Please give specific reasons. What contributions will you make during your time at Lehigh?

From what I have researched about Lehigh, more specifically the Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, I see that there is a vast amount of knowledge that I can gain at your school (through professors, students, and the other available resources.) Although my primary focus on attending would be Civil Engineering, I would like to push my education to the fullest, maximizing my potential. I have a yearning for learning, I guess you can relate to it as hunger, and my mind salivates at the thought of being at such accessible resources. Going being my field of engineering, I would like to gain more knowledge, whether it is studies in nanotechnology, Computer Engineering, or Electrical Engineering. I feel that at your school I will be able to learn at my full potential and that is why I chose to apply to Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Lehigh University.

I can contribute tons in college, I should be able to contribute the tuition fees to the school and that's a lot of money (ha ha ha.) That was a very lame attempt at a joke. But as you can see, I have a laid back/comedic personality and that will be one contribution I can give to the campus. On the contrary, I can be an intelligible being to converse with inside the classroom, giving my personal insight and responses based on the subject at hand. In my own opinion, I see myself as someone who can understand almost anyone's point of view, a good characteristic for being a mediator (on tangent, I was actually a "certified" and trained peer mediator back in elementary school,) whether in a heated debate (or discussion) in class or a non-sensible debate among friends and colleagues.

What values do you believe are important in fostering a cohesive, successful, and supportive campus community? Please provide us with details from an experience that you had that has shaped these values.

What can help foster a cohesive, successful, and supportive campus community? I believe the two most important values are: communication and open-mindedness. Communication is necessary to get our ideas across to others in the community. Lack of communication will cause the entire entity of the "community" to become weak. An experience has led me to believe these are very important values. I led a community building time in my church's high school fellowship: the example I used to show how to build a strong bond was straw. By itself straw is very weak, but when many strands are combined into a bundle - even the strongest man cannot break it. The ideas we communicate to one another are like straw, when combined it becomes a foundation of a strong community. The second part in making a successful community is open-mindedness. This acts as the weaving of the ideas, when we are able to accept other ideas with an open mind we become able to understand more. Like the example with the straw, even if straw is bundled together it will not stay together after we let go. But, if we weave the many straw strands together we get a product that will last long after we let go.

Please comment. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Smart remarks are also welcome ;)

Jeremy