tkuikel
Sep 29, 2015
Scholarship / Bamboo huts - QuestBridge (scholarship) Biographical Essay- Need An Insight [10]
@justivy03 thank you for the edits! But I think you are editing the old version of the essay! If you can, can you edit the revised essay that I have below!
I was born without any goals, responsibilities, or a future.
Or at least, that is what I used to think.
I was born in a refugee camp in Nepal, surrounded by bamboo huts and unsanitary lifestyle. We seldom received food rations, clothes, and bamboos to ease our lives. I felt like we were lost in oblivion, facing an uncertain, hopeless, unknown, and unappealing future. My parents, forced to leave their homeland of Bhutan due to ethnic cleansing, took refuge in unpleasant camps in Nepal with the help of the UNHCR and intended to live a new life and raise my brother and me in new and peaceful country. Being born in a situation like that, I felt like there was no goal and responsibility for me at all.
Then in 2009, a program called International Organization for Migration decided to resettle our family in the United States. I was delighted and relieved as I was heading toward the land of opportunity and great future. But then the last days in the refugee camp arrived and that frightened me. All of sudden, I realized that I was swarmed with responsibilities. All my relatives had something to teach me, as I was the oldest son, in order to prepare me to take care of my parents and my brother in this journey. My parents were not anymore the ones doing everything for the family, but it was me, who had to carefully bring us and settle down in the other side of the world. Living eleven years in a refugee camp, I was not at all familiar with the language and the culture of the nation toward which we were venturing. The last night in the refugee camp, I was frightened to take the responsibility but more excited to live in a country that promised me a successful future.
When I arrived at the United states, my excitement was quickly lost; the "promised land" turned out to be the land of struggle. At home, my parents worked day and night in an unknown environment which made it extremely tough to keep up with all the bills. I was dispirited one day when my dad said he wanted to go back to Nepal because there at least he could understand the language. In school, I felt the same as everyone surrounding me spoke English. I was like a goose in the middle of ducks. I attempted to socialize with others and get help but instead I got bullied. They laughed at the way I spoke and dressed; I was humiliated in every way. In this bitter environment, I suffered both psychologically, feeling lost and hopeless, and academically, getting Fs in almost all classes. Depressingly, the United States seemed worse than the hopeless refugee camp, where at least it felt like home.
Nonetheless, I comprehended the situation and realized that I couldn't let these problems discourage me in any way but instead I should use it to empower me to flourish. I was given an opportunity that my parents could not have ever imagined and I could not simply waste it by losing myself in pessimism. I was determined to overcome the language barrier by spending most of my time reading books and using computers in the library, where I was freed me from any worries. I embraced my culture and background without embarrassment and engaged myself in school activities. Thereafter everything seemed simple: I started to make new friends who understood my background and struggle; I got As in all of my classes by 8th grade; I got accepted to one of the best high school in the city; and at home, I could clearly explain to my parents the mail we received; I could finally take my parents to the hospital without the need of an interpreter; I could also teach my parents English to ease their lives in the new land.
I realized that life is like a rollercoaster, sometimes there is satisfaction and sometimes discontent. But if I have determination, commitment, and rigid goals, there will always be satisfaction. With the inspirations from fluctuating situations in my life, I am committed on excelling to three goals and responsibilities in the future: continue my education in college, make my parents proud, and help my community. Although I am still uncertain and unaware of the future, I know, based on the fact that if I was able to come to an unknown place, settle down and learn English, the future is anything that I want to it be.
@justivy03 thank you for the edits! But I think you are editing the old version of the essay! If you can, can you edit the revised essay that I have below!
I was born without any goals, responsibilities, or a future.
Or at least, that is what I used to think.
I was born in a refugee camp in Nepal, surrounded by bamboo huts and unsanitary lifestyle. We seldom received food rations, clothes, and bamboos to ease our lives. I felt like we were lost in oblivion, facing an uncertain, hopeless, unknown, and unappealing future. My parents, forced to leave their homeland of Bhutan due to ethnic cleansing, took refuge in unpleasant camps in Nepal with the help of the UNHCR and intended to live a new life and raise my brother and me in new and peaceful country. Being born in a situation like that, I felt like there was no goal and responsibility for me at all.
Then in 2009, a program called International Organization for Migration decided to resettle our family in the United States. I was delighted and relieved as I was heading toward the land of opportunity and great future. But then the last days in the refugee camp arrived and that frightened me. All of sudden, I realized that I was swarmed with responsibilities. All my relatives had something to teach me, as I was the oldest son, in order to prepare me to take care of my parents and my brother in this journey. My parents were not anymore the ones doing everything for the family, but it was me, who had to carefully bring us and settle down in the other side of the world. Living eleven years in a refugee camp, I was not at all familiar with the language and the culture of the nation toward which we were venturing. The last night in the refugee camp, I was frightened to take the responsibility but more excited to live in a country that promised me a successful future.
When I arrived at the United states, my excitement was quickly lost; the "promised land" turned out to be the land of struggle. At home, my parents worked day and night in an unknown environment which made it extremely tough to keep up with all the bills. I was dispirited one day when my dad said he wanted to go back to Nepal because there at least he could understand the language. In school, I felt the same as everyone surrounding me spoke English. I was like a goose in the middle of ducks. I attempted to socialize with others and get help but instead I got bullied. They laughed at the way I spoke and dressed; I was humiliated in every way. In this bitter environment, I suffered both psychologically, feeling lost and hopeless, and academically, getting Fs in almost all classes. Depressingly, the United States seemed worse than the hopeless refugee camp, where at least it felt like home.
Nonetheless, I comprehended the situation and realized that I couldn't let these problems discourage me in any way but instead I should use it to empower me to flourish. I was given an opportunity that my parents could not have ever imagined and I could not simply waste it by losing myself in pessimism. I was determined to overcome the language barrier by spending most of my time reading books and using computers in the library, where I was freed me from any worries. I embraced my culture and background without embarrassment and engaged myself in school activities. Thereafter everything seemed simple: I started to make new friends who understood my background and struggle; I got As in all of my classes by 8th grade; I got accepted to one of the best high school in the city; and at home, I could clearly explain to my parents the mail we received; I could finally take my parents to the hospital without the need of an interpreter; I could also teach my parents English to ease their lives in the new land.
I realized that life is like a rollercoaster, sometimes there is satisfaction and sometimes discontent. But if I have determination, commitment, and rigid goals, there will always be satisfaction. With the inspirations from fluctuating situations in my life, I am committed on excelling to three goals and responsibilities in the future: continue my education in college, make my parents proud, and help my community. Although I am still uncertain and unaware of the future, I know, based on the fact that if I was able to come to an unknown place, settle down and learn English, the future is anything that I want to it be.
