kimnvth
Feb 8, 2014
Undergraduate / My Bedroom - Common App Essay: A Meaningful Environment [4]
here is the newer version, please take a look and tell me what you think :)
Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you?
All the passengers on the bus stared. No one bothered to help me. No one. I had screwed up that I bumped hard into an old lady and she was swearing harshly despite all my apologies. I was so embarrassed that my mind went blank. "I need to go home. Right now!" The next thing I knew, I was lying on my bed, burying my face in the pillow and letting out all my frustration. I had finally made it to my room, the only place where I can let all of my guards down. Ever since I left Vietnam in 2012 to come to the United States, my room has always been the place where I can find safety and reflect on the lessons of my life whether when I face a challenge or experience a joy in this new country.
Everytime I look at my personal space, I don't see it as a room but more like a nest where I spend most of my free time. It was not until I moved to the U.S. that I could have my own room and be able to leave all of the world's rules at the door, revealing my true self - an easygoing, emotional artist - that people rarely see. It can be said that taking a glance at this room will enable you to have a rough idea of who I am. Let's start with my brown wooden wobbly chair, it never fails to be the perfect place for me to concentrate on my homework and my drawings. Next to my chair, the messy table full of notes, textbooks and draft papers, holds all of my important ideas and offers a convenient place to study. At the other corner of the room, the queen-sized bed with its dark blue blanket and my favorite books like "Harry Potter" and Kaori's "Twinkle Twinkle" offers me peace and paints my soul every night. There is nowhere else that has given me the feeling of perfect contentedness, calm and peace, like this precious room of mine.
My room may not be a person, but it is more than a friend - a silent partner who always shows empathy. I succeed, it shares the joy. I fail, it stays silent, giving me time to think and grow up. When I get A on my exams, the gray wall suddenly brightens, sunshine lights the whole room and the floor widens for me to perform my celebration dance. When I fail an interview, it dims stretching out its motherly arms, comforting me with ease and calm. This little "home" has raised me from a dependent child to a mature adult who has better control of her life. It loves me like a friend, embraces me like a mother, inspires me like a piece of art and claims a rightful place in my heart. My room is not just a place to stay; it is everything to me.
Many people cannot understand how an introvert like me can spend hours alone behind a closed door and still feel alive. But everyone, if they are lucky, finds their own place. To my father, it is his gray 2003 Camry that he drives endlessly throughout Ho Chi Minh City. Or my friend who lives on her surf board chasing the thrill of riding the perfect waves in Florida. When I stay in my room, I feel as if all of my energy is being recharged. Worry is no where to be found, inspiration begins to fill my mind and motivation starts to push me forward so that I can confidently and happily head to the future every day in this place, 8,000 miles from home. It has become a major part of me that I can hardly imagine the person I would become without.
Back to the day when I was cursed out and left to fend for myself as others watch on, I took a moment to escape before continuing to learn life's lesson. Picking up one of my father's old, edge-worn books, I started a new adventure in my own world while taking in the warm sunshine that streams through the little window. My bad days just fell into oblivion and I felt reborn once again, in this unique room I called mine.
here is the newer version, please take a look and tell me what you think :)
Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you?
All the passengers on the bus stared. No one bothered to help me. No one. I had screwed up that I bumped hard into an old lady and she was swearing harshly despite all my apologies. I was so embarrassed that my mind went blank. "I need to go home. Right now!" The next thing I knew, I was lying on my bed, burying my face in the pillow and letting out all my frustration. I had finally made it to my room, the only place where I can let all of my guards down. Ever since I left Vietnam in 2012 to come to the United States, my room has always been the place where I can find safety and reflect on the lessons of my life whether when I face a challenge or experience a joy in this new country.
Everytime I look at my personal space, I don't see it as a room but more like a nest where I spend most of my free time. It was not until I moved to the U.S. that I could have my own room and be able to leave all of the world's rules at the door, revealing my true self - an easygoing, emotional artist - that people rarely see. It can be said that taking a glance at this room will enable you to have a rough idea of who I am. Let's start with my brown wooden wobbly chair, it never fails to be the perfect place for me to concentrate on my homework and my drawings. Next to my chair, the messy table full of notes, textbooks and draft papers, holds all of my important ideas and offers a convenient place to study. At the other corner of the room, the queen-sized bed with its dark blue blanket and my favorite books like "Harry Potter" and Kaori's "Twinkle Twinkle" offers me peace and paints my soul every night. There is nowhere else that has given me the feeling of perfect contentedness, calm and peace, like this precious room of mine.
My room may not be a person, but it is more than a friend - a silent partner who always shows empathy. I succeed, it shares the joy. I fail, it stays silent, giving me time to think and grow up. When I get A on my exams, the gray wall suddenly brightens, sunshine lights the whole room and the floor widens for me to perform my celebration dance. When I fail an interview, it dims stretching out its motherly arms, comforting me with ease and calm. This little "home" has raised me from a dependent child to a mature adult who has better control of her life. It loves me like a friend, embraces me like a mother, inspires me like a piece of art and claims a rightful place in my heart. My room is not just a place to stay; it is everything to me.
Many people cannot understand how an introvert like me can spend hours alone behind a closed door and still feel alive. But everyone, if they are lucky, finds their own place. To my father, it is his gray 2003 Camry that he drives endlessly throughout Ho Chi Minh City. Or my friend who lives on her surf board chasing the thrill of riding the perfect waves in Florida. When I stay in my room, I feel as if all of my energy is being recharged. Worry is no where to be found, inspiration begins to fill my mind and motivation starts to push me forward so that I can confidently and happily head to the future every day in this place, 8,000 miles from home. It has become a major part of me that I can hardly imagine the person I would become without.
Back to the day when I was cursed out and left to fend for myself as others watch on, I took a moment to escape before continuing to learn life's lesson. Picking up one of my father's old, edge-worn books, I started a new adventure in my own world while taking in the warm sunshine that streams through the little window. My bad days just fell into oblivion and I felt reborn once again, in this unique room I called mine.
