Undergraduate / HAPPY TO BE HERE. Common app essay; topic of my choice [5]

Here's my essay on the topic of my choice for the common app. Could you please revise my essay and point out any grammatical mistakes or any other sort of issue on this essay? Did this essay reflect what kind of a person I am? (As the AO look for it.) I appreciate any critique or advice. Help me :) thankyou

The joy of life comes from our encounters with new opportunities and experiences. With great opportunities comes great accomplishments but then again, there are times when you have to pay it off with sacrifices and compromises. At the end of the day you achieve your peace of mind learning, growing and becoming a better person. The only thing you need is an attitude to take initiative to make a radical change in lifestyle and change the way you look at things.

My dad had been in America for his Ph.D degree for more than seven years. He used to take short trips here at home but go back again for longer time. This sure did make living apart an uncomfortable task but he had to do what he had to do in order to support himself and his family(that would be us here) and the same time complete his studies. After the entire struggle, he had the chance to take us with him to America. He worked really hard to give us an opportunity to gain an exposure of the education system, language and lifestyle of America. The deliberate decision to migrate took me by surprise but the uncertainty to let go of the opportunity was very low. At the most, he wanted this experience for us to become an asset in our life.

With hopes of new life in a new country, I was in America, the land of opportunities where people dream of coming. I was scared and terrified as I was oblivious of American system, the culture and the language. English isn't my first language and it was difficult to speak than to read or write. The school was different and there were people from different parts of the world. The people I met and their ways all seemed strange to me. Both the environment and the lifestyle were completely opposite of what I was used to. I wondered how and why people in America obey traffic lights even when the roads are empty; and why vehicles abide by the traffic rules even when the police are not around as I was used to almost no state presence or strict law enforcement in my daily life back home. I wasn't longer able to see the familiar signs and faces of my home. I was devastated because life didn't seem easier.

I had to think, and I thought the reasons I came more than thousand miles away from home. I was here to learn, to experience, to challenge myself, to become a better person and not live a life of ignorance. It came to my senses that indomitable will and determination was the key to challenge the adversity. I worked harder in school, I made more friends, I adjusted myself with the diversity and I tried harder everyday in taking each chances of this opportunity to achieve, become a better person and to feel stronger to endure the hardships. I quickly grew to love my new home, school, friends and family. Reading books, involving myself with diverse activities, getting to know new people helped me in discovering the fact that I grew with a meaningful perspective of life. Once I became accustomed to such a life I saw its full meaning and its incredible beauty. I acknowledged the importance of opportunities and the circumstances but its challenges too. I came to realize the true measure of a person is not how he behaves in moments of comfort and convenience but how he stands at times of controversy and challenges.

Understanding American culture was a process of adjusting myself to a new country and culture which was dramatically different from my own. Life is life anywhere in the world but life in America gave me an opportunity to grow with a strong sense of responsibility, independence, and work and educational ethics as a result of the privileged education. Difficulties and challenges are bound to arise when great opportunities like such are given but my spirit grew strong by such conflicts. Life became meaningful as I overcame the challenges and experienced endlessly changing horizons. Now that I was back home as a different person, I felt different and a better person than before. I am glad I didn't let go of the opportunity because it made me who I am today. I am happy now because I was happy then there.

Undergraduate / The walk. Common app essay - I had a nightmare [9]

I have written this essay for my common app. Please read my essay and leave any comments, suggestions on how to improve it.
( I'm not sure if this essay will work out in reflecting my personality as the AO want). Please help me.

I had a nightmare. I was walking a long distance trying to reach a kind of bright light. People were glaring at me. I had faded bits of worn out pants. Every time I thought I reached the destination, I was hallucinating. I was tired and worn out but I was never able to reach the bright light. I was never there. I woke up. It was 6 AM. It was my physics exam that day. There is almost negligible probability of nightmares coming into reality. But somehow that particular Wednesday was almost a nightmare to me. I had to walk almost fifteen miles being about one and a half hour accounting my speed in walking, to school. It was dreadful. I thanked the bunch of people out on the streets, calling bandhs (nation-wide shut-downs) for giving me an excuse to burn calories and also the CIE for kindly not postponing the exam. Sorry, but I was being sarcastic.

I did walk all the way from my home to my school but there was still an hour or so left for the exams (at least I reached my destination unlike in the nightmare.). Porcia comes up to me says she had a tag saying "parikshya"(Having exams) stuck on the front of her dad's bike and it had paid off as an excuse to let her escape from the protesters. I wasn't really shunned but I was glad she was on time. All the other friends came walking to school and complained about being tired, the bandh and the CIE. Eventually we had to give our exams because we could not avoid it because we were bound to the international rules of CIE. It was noon and I had to walk back home but this time I thought I would take the rikshaw. How bad could karma get at me? He demanded for an amount I couldn't possibly afford. So I walked. Just for the record, I walked two more days to school.

The "walking phase" as I want to call it, was a time that made me frustrated, scared, angry but at the same time happy, calm and excited. I was frustrated because of the situation, the bandh, the violence, becoming unable to choose. I was scared because, the future was at stake, the future of our country, the future of the upcoming generation just because of the people who had no other way to resolve but to take on the streets. I was angry because commoners like me were suffering, especially students. Likewise, I was happy and calm because I got to realize the ethical justification of people's actions. Most of all excited because I took the risk of having faith and hope of all the issues and problems that are so apparent us before and now to be fixed.

As I walked back home the next day, I realized we are inherently selfish creatures and we often tend to complain about just everything. I may have complained about the 56 hr/week load shedding (power cut off), the ever increasing living costs, and shortage of gas, bandhs and so on. Even if I am pre-occupied with day to day survival, I won't be able to avoid the issues of my society or my country because in real I am suffering from those issues. Eventually, like all the citizens of my country, I took everything normally and learn to bear and cope with the situation. But the bottom line is, it's not just about coping difficult situations but about learning to handle them. In fact, what my friend Porcia did that day could be an example of handling situations. Patience and perseverance are the qualities that can redeem the issues. I learnt to realize that complaining is just a habit, habit that is easy to make and break.

Many people say that our future is at stake, from the corrupt politics, bandhs and violence. But a bunch of people as I call them had come to the streets with an ethical justification not just with a reason that we could not justify. I learnt how our actions always have justifications (exceptions to impulsive actions). When actions have justifications of ethical or moral, justice or injustice, they will create faith and hope without judgment. Future is still here to come, it's about how we operate within the time being to help it succeed or fail.

After all that I have been through in those three days, I believed in optimism. Even though I have electricity at home for 14 hours a day, even though there are bandhs, violence, hatred, even though lot of people are racially stereotype, somewhere in those negativities, I don't think my country is unlivable and politically that unstable. Never giving up spirit and finding the rights in the wrongs are qualities that are today in me. I have grown up in developing qualities that has defined the Nepali in me. People just need to change the way they look at things so that they can become a morally functional human being. Nevertheless I realized the importance of what it means for me being a Nepali. I am proud and the pride will always be there.