Undergraduate / "We all have great inner power" - Lifetime Goals Essay; Apply Texas Topic C [5]

Topic: Considering your lifetime goals, discuss how your current, and future academic and extracurricular activities might help you achieve your goals.

Arnold Schwarzenegger once said, "We all have great inner power. The power is self-faith. There's really an attitude to winning. You have to see yourself winning before you win. And you have to be hungry. You have to want to conquer." Sometimes our vision is blurry from other people trying to control what we do, our own self doubts, and other issues. When you set goals, it clears your path, allowing you to see what you need to see. I've worked hard to set my goals and follow them, and I've decided that I want to help people. I'm not quite sure how I want to help people, but I have a strong belief in that I can do anything I want to do with the right education and perseverance.

Growing up, I was very blessed, my parents gave me everything, but I understood
that some people were not as privileged. So, I decided to start volunteering at my church to make food for the homeless people, and it gave me a good feeling inside. Every month, we would make sack lunches and take them to homeless shelters, and seeing the looks on the people's faces made me want to continue to give up my Saturdays to help them. I also decided to volunteer with vacation bible school, where we worked with children, teaching them about manners, linguistics, and God. This experience really brought a new light to me, showing me how children's brains functions, and what the best way to teach them is.

In International French Club, we study and learn about different cultures, broadening our perspectives in life. We work and learn with different people who come from different backgrounds, teaching us how to mold and work with others learning styles. In school, I worked with many peers who were not quite as intelligent as I am. I always find a way to teach them a concept, and I believe in never giving up. There is a positive feeling when you teach someone something, and that light goes off in their eyes when they understand. Cosmetology also put my to working and teaching different types of people. Every person has a different learning style, and it really showed me how to work around simple differences and achieve a common goal.

I've worked hard in all my classes so that I can help those struggling in the classes, to pass. When I help someone, not only does it help the person, but it also tests my knowledge of the subject. Helping people to me, is the most rewarding thing you can do in life because it not only helps the person, but it helps your inner self. This is why my goal in life is to help as many people as I can, in anyway that I can.

Undergraduate / Collaborating with different people [4]

My mother use to tell me that I will meet many different people in life and that I will have to learn to work with them. Most of my life I had always been around people who had similar ideas and beliefs as me, or so I thought. Growing up meant changing and finding who I was both spiritually and personally. It wasn't until junior high that my ideas started to dramatically change. That's when I figured out that the people I once thought I connected with in some ways, were on the other end of the spectrum. High school made my spectrum even wider, showing the conflicting beliefs, ideas, and circumstances that were once hidden by innocence and suppression.

In high school, I met many people who had conflicting life styles with mine. Cosmetology put me to work with people who were completely different from me. Being placed in a room for nine hours with different girls who you've never met puts a strain on who you are. I was changing who I was to fit in with these people. Everything was flipped on me because I had different morals and beliefs than most of the girls in the class.

Mostly everyone in my class enjoys parties, dancing, and just going out and having fun. Personally, I enjoy staying home, doing productive things, and just hanging out with friends. Initially, I felt very out of the crowd. While the girls in my class would talk about their traditional high school experiences, I could never relate. I was a fish out of water with them, and when they would ask me about my experiences, my answer was always, "I've never done that". I would awkwardly laugh and joke with them, feeling left out and inexperienced. I never felt superior to them, infact, I felt inferior to them. Staying true to myself was important, but it was hard because I knew that they were more experienced in what they were talking about.

After a while, I came to the understanding that they didn't care about what I have and haven't done, as long as I was true to myself and was polite. Their acceptance was all I wanted, but they had given it to me from the very beginning. My feelings were altered because no longer was I feeling inferior to them. It was just them telling me about their life. I knew they meant no harm by doing it, and it was nothing to feel bad about. The stories they told me were to amuse me, not make me feel bad about myself.

Being in cosmetology made me understand that differences in experiences are normal, and that I can't expect everyone to have done the same things as I have. Everyone does different things with their lives, and it shouldn't affect my feelings. Acceptance and love should be given to everyone, even if they are completely different from me.

Undergraduate / ApplyTexas Essay: Conflict in life [3]

Topic : Describe a circumstance, obstacle or conflict in your life, and the skills and resources you used to resolve it. Did it change you? If so, how?

"If you have good thoughts, they will shine out of your face like sunbeams, and you will always look lovely" A powerful quote by Roald Dahl. Life is different for everyone. Some people live a very easy life, some, a sheltered life, and some, a very hard life. Then there's the ones who live a mixture. People come and go and they will change your life in ways that you never would've thought. Sometimes all you want to do is crawl into your room and never come out. You can live half of your life in a deep malaise and never want help. Yet, you just want to be reached out to, you want someone to notice your pain. Maturing is taking those feelings and problems and not letting them control you.

For much of my life, I was in a deep depression. Whether if it was from being bullied or because of my own mental problems, I'm not too sure, but I believe it was because of both. I would lay in my bed for hours, doing absolutely nothing. It's scary to look back on, because I know that I just didn't care about anything, or anyone. It was a darkness that never seemed to go away. The darkness was darker than black, darker than the darkest thing ever. Emotional sadness doesn't describe how I felt, it was deeper. My whole body ached from just being sad. I felt as if my entire body would break if I were to even move. I was disconnected from everything I loved. I craved for attention, for someone to ask me what was wrong, but when someone did, I snapped. My family would be worried about me, but I would turn around and pay no mind to them. I didn't want to come to terms with what was wrong with me, but I knew exactly what it was.

At the end of freshman year, I decided to reach out. I met someone who understood how I felt, respected me, and was there for me. Also, I reached out to my family. My friend Haeley was going through the same things I was going through, and we supported each other's recovery. Our bond was immediate, we only knew each other for a few months, but it felt as if we had been best friends our entire lives. She taught me that there was more to life, and that I should embrace the love that was poured out onto me from family and friends. Being encouraged by her made me so much happier. The perpetual sadness that once haunted me was slowly disappearing, The cliche saying of "see the light at the end of the tunnel" suddenly became true for me. A light switch inside of me switched on and it seemed as if the darkness vanished.

Sometimes life seems to not play in my favor. As if everything is out to get me, but I can't nor will I let it get to me. Going through my darkness and finally seeing light has showed me that life will only throw at me what I can take, and I now know that I can take a lot. Being sad for so long and finally being happy is a revelation of how strong I am. There are days that all I want to do is crawl into bed and sleep. These days test me and my strength, but I am oblivious to these feelings. My favorite quote is from a song that I learned growing up in Sabbath school, "this little light, I'm going to let it shine". My light is going to shine bright throughout all my struggles. Nothing is going to get in my way of happiness.