Undergraduate / Islamophobia is an important social issue. UT transfer topic E. [3]

Hello, I was wanting advice on my UT transfer essay. I'm not very confident in it and know I need to change it somehow, but I don't know where. Thank you!

Prompt: Choose an issue of importance to you-it could be personal, school-related, local, political or international in scope-and write an essay in which you explain the significance of that issue to yourself, your family, your community or your generation

September 11th, 2001, the day the towers fell, the day that New York finally slept. Every American remembers this day, as if it has been burnt into their minds: where they were, what they were doing, and even what they were wearing. Most remember it for the loss of life, as the first terrorist attack on American soil. I, however, remember it as the day I started being held responsible for the actions of a few.

My friends, family, and I have been affected by Islamophobia for the past 15 years. Islamophobia is the prejudice against Islam as a political force and it has only been getting worse. Growing up, my mom would tell me not to pray around other people, or that I shouldn't be wearing my religious attire outside. I wondered why that was the case, but she would always say, I would understand when I am older. I watched for years, as I was "randomly selected" at the airport, teddy bears stripped searched, and Nintendo games patted down and I continued to wonder, why is it that my brother and I can't sit down for lunch without getting gaping stares? Why is it that I was told "I'm sorry for your loss" when Osama Bin Laden was killed? Why is it that my peaceful religion was transformed into something I was to feel shameful for?

Islamophobia is a significant issue in America today because of the sheer amount of people affected by it. Hate crimes happen left and right, and for every terrorist attack, hate crimes towards Muslims increase tenfold. Women in hijabs are harassed, mosques are burned down by arsonists, and innocent people are being shot because of what they look like and believe in. This is an even bigger problem because it is exactly what organizations like ISIS want. Persons battered by hate crimes are more likely to be targeted and recruited by terrorist organizations around the world. Terrorist organizations' main source of recruitment are young Muslims that have been bullied or treated unequally which is the vast majority of American Muslims today. The media rarely covers these things, so they are not in the public eye. Instead, the media features figureheads shouting to ban all Muslims from the United States, or that a Muslim could never be president. It is because of comments like these that children in Syria are unable to immigrate to the United States and are forced to join the groups they so despise. Due to Islamophobia in the media, the population persecutes the persecuted.

Social inequality can be solved through awareness, and Islamophobia is no different. Social justice movements have been emerging recently, demanding that certain groups be treated as equals to their dominant counterparts. Educating the public about what Islamophobia is, and how it affects not only the Muslim community, but the world, is the key to stopping it. Similar to the movements that have been surfacing recently, such as "Black Lives Matter" and the Feminism movement, the Muslim community could greatly benefit from a movement that challenges the inequality it faces.

Undergraduate / Lucky to have stumbled upon the thing that fuels my passion. UT Transfer Essay Statement of Purpose [2]

My name is Zeeshan and I am hoping to transfer into UT-Austin next semester! For reference, I noticed other examples or response to this prompt have been a narrative or similar to an elevator pitch. I went a different route and told a story - please let me know if this might hurt my application and I can re-write something else. Thank you!

Unlike most whom find their passion taking different classes in high school or switching majors their first year of college, my passion was found in my childhood room. Growing up, my family wasn't very wealthy. I was the youngest child, so I slept in a bed placed in the study room. Most people choose engineering because it's what their parents always wanted them to do, or because it pays very well. Personally, I would have never pursued engineering if it weren't for the old computer in the corner of my old room.

My story starts at age 10, browsing the Disney website, not knowing that my life would forever be changed by a hardware failure. The computer stuttered as if it were coughing, until it finally shut down for what I thought was going to be the final time. My parents didn't have money to buy a new one, but I couldn't bear to see it be thrown away. I researched endlessly about topics that I didn't have the slightest clue about, and considered every possibility, until I finally found the source of the issue. The screen slowly flickered to life, and as it did, my fate was sealed.

After disassembling and successfully repairing the computer, the whole world of technology was opened up to me. I began opening up everything that I had the screwdriver for, and admittedly broke a lot of items in the process. The knowledge I gained, however, was a small price to pay. This led me to open a freelance service where I built and upgraded computers, modified gaming consoles to turn them into media centers, and replaced cracked screens on phones. At the age of fourteen, I discovered soldering. I felt like the 10 year old fixing the computer all over again, exploring an unknown world and not knowing where to start. I began to learn about concepts such as voltage, resistance, and integrated circuits. After practicing extensively and burning myself profusely, I mastered the art of soldering and the patience it took to work on circuit boards. It was no longer about modifying or repairing a device that someone else had made; I now had the tools to create beyond my wildest imagination.

Having always had a small gaming hobby, my mind was drawn to creating a portable gaming system like a Gameboy, only bigger and better. Theoretically, if one were to take a home gaming console, strip away all the connectors and controllers, leaving only the motherboard, the system would still run, provided it had a suitable power source. This would be my greatest challenge yet and my weapon of choice would be the Nintendo GameCube - a five-layer motherboard. I slowly sanded each layer of the motherboard, scanning them in the process, trying to see how much smaller the motherboard could be made. I used a multi-meter to find replacement pinouts for transistors and capacitors, as the original outputs would be cut off in the motherboard trimming process. Finally, I had to find a way to overcome the system's power regulator. The regulator was inefficient and quite large, unsuitable for what I had planned. After spending days looking for replacements, I decided I would be better off building my own. Wires soldered and regulators connected, the system stuttered to life, like the computer did those many years ago. My challenge, and my greatest achievement was finally complete.

I consider myself extremely lucky to have stumbled upon the thing that fuels my passion. I have learned so much about electrical engineering because of my years of tinkering and creating. My experiences have confirmed that having the privilege of attending the University of Texas and obtaining an electrical engineering degree is all I want. As I look back over my life, an incredible surge of pride passes over me as I remember how a simple computer and an old GameCube changed my life forever.