ellelopez
Sep 12, 2012
Undergraduate / Is greatness born or made? - COLLEGE ESSAY SIGNIFICANT EXPERIENCE [3]
Hi guys i really need as much opinions as possible so please help me out here?
Im an international student applying in colleges in USA!!
Honest opinions will not be taken into offense! :)
Thank you in advance!
Is Greatness Born or Made?
Back when I was a geeky, short, twelve-year-old kid, I used to play a certain game with my mom on the way to school. It was a fairly easy game to play and the rules were quite basic: My mom would simply give me any country or continent in the world and all I had to do was give as many great people as I can originating from the location that she chose. Happily, I would answer every country that she gave (considering I was still young, she gave me moderately easy countries). When she said the country, India, I would gleefully holler back 'Gandhi!' When she gave the continent Europe, I would exclaim with such excitement the three names, "Napoleon, Caesar and Shakespeare!" And when I didn't know the answer to a country - she would give me a name to remember. Every day, it would be the same routine that I looked forward to and just the thought of discovering a new name each day appealed to me.
One day, contrary to this, I began to wonder much more than the names of these great people. I began to ask myself what made all these outstanding men and women great? I brought myself to ask the question to my mom, "Mama, what makes a person great?" With these words, she stopped the car and looked into my eyes and said, "Honey, greatness is something we are born with so that we may achieve it." At twelve years old, this answer confused me. What did my mom mean? Which was it really: Are we born with greatness or do we make our own path to greatness? This question left me curious and in search for an answer. It turned my mind into a maze - a puzzle trying to put the pieces together.
One literature class, however, seemed to make the jigsaw pieces slowly fall into place. We had just finished discussing Act I of Shakespeare's The Twelfth Night and as I was quickly browsing through Act II, a line caught my attention. Malvolio quotes from a letter given by Maria, "Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them." It made me think that if all these men and women were great, indeed greatness was thrust upon them and it was their decisions that led them to truly achieve it. I finally came to understand what my Mom meant by what she said - I now see that every person is born to be great but whether they choose to be great is up to them. Because of this, I have understood myself better - my passions, my talents, my determination to reach my goals are what guide me to the path of greatness. Sure, I may not be a genius like Albert Einstein or a music prodigy like Mozart but my ambition to rise up to a challenge is what makes me different. Perhaps the question is not really whether greatness is born or made, it is whether anyone has the guts to do what it takes to be great. Some people are habitually lazy. Some people are afraid of trying new things and some people are afraid of failure. These are the types of habits and concerns that great people simply do not have. Their courage to excel far higher than everybody else is what makes them stand out. Bravery is not the absence of fear; it is being afraid and doing it anyway. Great people are a lot like that.
At 16 years old, my mom still brings me to school but it is different now because I have finally understood what it truly means to achieve greatness and I know that she senses it too with the hard work that I put into everything. As we drive to school today, she mentions only one word: "Philippines." I smile, knowing that there is a limitless realm of possibilities to achieve greatness and with that, I answer back only one name - my name - "Elle Lopez."
Hi guys i really need as much opinions as possible so please help me out here?
Im an international student applying in colleges in USA!!
Honest opinions will not be taken into offense! :)
Thank you in advance!
Is Greatness Born or Made?
Back when I was a geeky, short, twelve-year-old kid, I used to play a certain game with my mom on the way to school. It was a fairly easy game to play and the rules were quite basic: My mom would simply give me any country or continent in the world and all I had to do was give as many great people as I can originating from the location that she chose. Happily, I would answer every country that she gave (considering I was still young, she gave me moderately easy countries). When she said the country, India, I would gleefully holler back 'Gandhi!' When she gave the continent Europe, I would exclaim with such excitement the three names, "Napoleon, Caesar and Shakespeare!" And when I didn't know the answer to a country - she would give me a name to remember. Every day, it would be the same routine that I looked forward to and just the thought of discovering a new name each day appealed to me.
One day, contrary to this, I began to wonder much more than the names of these great people. I began to ask myself what made all these outstanding men and women great? I brought myself to ask the question to my mom, "Mama, what makes a person great?" With these words, she stopped the car and looked into my eyes and said, "Honey, greatness is something we are born with so that we may achieve it." At twelve years old, this answer confused me. What did my mom mean? Which was it really: Are we born with greatness or do we make our own path to greatness? This question left me curious and in search for an answer. It turned my mind into a maze - a puzzle trying to put the pieces together.
One literature class, however, seemed to make the jigsaw pieces slowly fall into place. We had just finished discussing Act I of Shakespeare's The Twelfth Night and as I was quickly browsing through Act II, a line caught my attention. Malvolio quotes from a letter given by Maria, "Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them." It made me think that if all these men and women were great, indeed greatness was thrust upon them and it was their decisions that led them to truly achieve it. I finally came to understand what my Mom meant by what she said - I now see that every person is born to be great but whether they choose to be great is up to them. Because of this, I have understood myself better - my passions, my talents, my determination to reach my goals are what guide me to the path of greatness. Sure, I may not be a genius like Albert Einstein or a music prodigy like Mozart but my ambition to rise up to a challenge is what makes me different. Perhaps the question is not really whether greatness is born or made, it is whether anyone has the guts to do what it takes to be great. Some people are habitually lazy. Some people are afraid of trying new things and some people are afraid of failure. These are the types of habits and concerns that great people simply do not have. Their courage to excel far higher than everybody else is what makes them stand out. Bravery is not the absence of fear; it is being afraid and doing it anyway. Great people are a lot like that.
At 16 years old, my mom still brings me to school but it is different now because I have finally understood what it truly means to achieve greatness and I know that she senses it too with the hard work that I put into everything. As we drive to school today, she mentions only one word: "Philippines." I smile, knowing that there is a limitless realm of possibilities to achieve greatness and with that, I answer back only one name - my name - "Elle Lopez."