juicy
Dec 31, 2014
Undergraduate / Unbalanced - I always take a closer consideration to things now. Common app prompt 1 [7]
Vangiespen: thanks for your help so far this is my final draft, hope its good enough
As a child, growing up I had very little friends and only family members to surround me. I guess that was because I was always an overweight child who had a tendency to be bullied by the mean kids at school. I used to think that my life could not get any worse. That is until I met Beth, a schoolmate who suffered from vitiligo, a form of skin depigmentation illness. When I first met her in the lunchroom after she had spilled her drink down my back, I remember been surprised at her friendliness and confidence for someone so "flawed" I didn't expect this. I easily felt comfortable with her, as I felt we weren't both 'perfect'. But I couldn't have been more wrong. Over time knowing her I saw her in a different light, seeing far beyond her physical defects because she was kind to me and carried a vibrant, happy, and confident personality about her that I wished I could emulate. That was when I realized that beauty and a kind heart are more than skin deep and physical manifestations. My outlook has expanded beyond just my relationship with people but also to situations in reality and I find myself taking deeper consideration into judgments I make.
Over these three years since our friendship, I have come to see many things out of the light in which they are shown. In a nut shell I have learnt to not judge a book by its cover. Back then I considered people just as they appeared. As an African I always find it annoying when Africa is referred to as a country or when all Africans were seen as poor and hungry but I found myself guilty of the same offense - giving things a single story; Muslims as terrorist, Mexicans as stubborn immigrants and so on and not really giving inept consideration.
As an oversized kid, at school, I would stand out from my classmates because of my size. Offhanded comments passed around about the flabbiness of my body would pierce me like bullets. I dreaded going to the doctor in fear of stepping on the scale and seeing those number rise and getting a stern lecturing about how I need to stay healthy and exercise or doing something 'fun' like shopping. Failed diets and unsuccessful results from exercise left me hopeless. I have never been seen in shorts or, god forbid, a bathing suit. Years of shame about my weight pushed my self-esteem into the ground, I was shy and had no friends.
For a long time looking into the mirror for my reflection was as bad as a visit to the dentist. Summer before sophomore year at high school, genes kicked in and I shed off the weight and stretched to a surprising 6ft1 height. Although I had lost weight I still felt like a giant, I towered upon everybody in my class and I was really skinny which started the rumors of me being anorexic.
I have never really being able to find a balance in life, but now knowing what I know, I know that anyone who doesn't take the time to really get to know me but just judges me based on my gangly structure is at a loss because everyone as a uniqueness to them which can never be found elsewhere.
Vangiespen
Vangiespen: thanks for your help so far this is my final draft, hope its good enough
As a child, growing up I had very little friends and only family members to surround me. I guess that was because I was always an overweight child who had a tendency to be bullied by the mean kids at school. I used to think that my life could not get any worse. That is until I met Beth, a schoolmate who suffered from vitiligo, a form of skin depigmentation illness. When I first met her in the lunchroom after she had spilled her drink down my back, I remember been surprised at her friendliness and confidence for someone so "flawed" I didn't expect this. I easily felt comfortable with her, as I felt we weren't both 'perfect'. But I couldn't have been more wrong. Over time knowing her I saw her in a different light, seeing far beyond her physical defects because she was kind to me and carried a vibrant, happy, and confident personality about her that I wished I could emulate. That was when I realized that beauty and a kind heart are more than skin deep and physical manifestations. My outlook has expanded beyond just my relationship with people but also to situations in reality and I find myself taking deeper consideration into judgments I make.
Over these three years since our friendship, I have come to see many things out of the light in which they are shown. In a nut shell I have learnt to not judge a book by its cover. Back then I considered people just as they appeared. As an African I always find it annoying when Africa is referred to as a country or when all Africans were seen as poor and hungry but I found myself guilty of the same offense - giving things a single story; Muslims as terrorist, Mexicans as stubborn immigrants and so on and not really giving inept consideration.
As an oversized kid, at school, I would stand out from my classmates because of my size. Offhanded comments passed around about the flabbiness of my body would pierce me like bullets. I dreaded going to the doctor in fear of stepping on the scale and seeing those number rise and getting a stern lecturing about how I need to stay healthy and exercise or doing something 'fun' like shopping. Failed diets and unsuccessful results from exercise left me hopeless. I have never been seen in shorts or, god forbid, a bathing suit. Years of shame about my weight pushed my self-esteem into the ground, I was shy and had no friends.
For a long time looking into the mirror for my reflection was as bad as a visit to the dentist. Summer before sophomore year at high school, genes kicked in and I shed off the weight and stretched to a surprising 6ft1 height. Although I had lost weight I still felt like a giant, I towered upon everybody in my class and I was really skinny which started the rumors of me being anorexic.
I have never really being able to find a balance in life, but now knowing what I know, I know that anyone who doesn't take the time to really get to know me but just judges me based on my gangly structure is at a loss because everyone as a uniqueness to them which can never be found elsewhere.
