Undergraduate / Public speaking/ California; Moment of success/ Neighborhood [3]

Prompt: Describe a moment when you felt successful, overwhelmed, or challenged, and how you handled it

Being introverted in nature, I principally shied away from social activities and public gatherings, especially those which necessitated me to stand out in a crowd. Thus, I spent most of my conscious life keeping to myself, and making few (but great) friends.

Unfortunately the universe has a fun habit of conspiring against the desires of most people. In my case, I was selected to have a major speaking part in an annual school play. The previous year I was a background character with nothing more to my name than one sentence, and a short one at that. Even with the small burden, I was extremely nervous and worried. So naturally my teacher decided to give me one of the more major parts.

When she first announced it, I was fairly worried, and very daunting. To my more extroverted peers it was a revered position. After all, I was introduced to the stage via a portable, golden throne carried by four of my classmates. During rehearsals I it wasn't the most intimidating thing, other than the fear of toppling over and being crushed to oblivion by a spray-painted piece of wood. Just afore the actual performance, seeing all the people there, it was really quite frightful.

The day of the performance, I was more nervous than I could ever remember in my life. One of my best friends, similarly introverted like me, was called to the stage a few scenes from me. Much to my amazement (and his as he later disclosed) he was perfect. When he came back, behind the scene he told me that he was as shocked as I was, and helped embolden me for my scene. He helped me overcome my mental struggle. After all, if he could conquer his fear, why can't I?

And when my scene came I, while not as good as he, did better than I did at the rehearsals. In my eyes, it was a monumental success. The moral of this story? Steel yourself and whatever the challenge, small or large, it'll be all right.

(2nd essay) Prompt: Tell us about your neighborhood, and how it has shaped you

For the most of my cognizant life, I've lived in a diverse neighborhood in California. While I don't live there now, memories of it are heavily imprinted in my mind. I think back to how amiable everyone was, how close we were. I think about the police officer that lived next to me, and how every Halloween his son would dress as a jail broken convict, or the weather forecaster across the street who wrote for the local newspaper. All these people and experiences add up to whom I am, and ultimately, who I am going to be.

The school I went to had a broad spectrum of ideological, racial, and class diversity. It was an amazing environment for me to know that the girl sitting next to me immigrated form Pakistan and that the boy to the right of me spoke Spanish with as much fluency as he did English. I would like to think that I grew up fairly open minded due to this.

One of the most traumatic moment in my childhood, was when my mom fainted due to an anxiety attack, about a week after we moved in. At the time, my mother and I were home alone. She was on the phone, hung up, and then she collapsed. In a state of panic, I called 911, and medics arrived almost immediately. My neighbor offered me to stay in their house until my dad arrived, and I accepted.

At the time, I never thought much of it, perhaps due to my age or emotional instability. But when I reflected on it afterwards, it was an amazing act of kindness. We only moved in for a week, and they had activities that day that they canceled because of me. Much of my philosophies on people in general were shaped by them. I believe that everyone, from every quarter of the world, every upbringing, in any situation, wants most of all, to help. To further mankind, to add more to society than to detract.