Supplement Essay:
In addition to the essay you're asked to write as part of the Common Application, Amherst requires a second essay of no more than 300 words. We do not offer interviews as part of the application process at Amherst. However, your essays provide you with an opportunity to speak to us. Please keep this in mind when responding to one of the following quotations. It is not necessary to research, read, or refer to the text from which these quotations are taken; we are looking for original, personal responses to these short excerpts. Remember that your essay should be personal in nature and not simply an argumentative essay.
Topic chosen:
"Difficulty need not foreshadow despair or defeat. Rather achievement can be all the more satisfying because of obstacles surmounted."
Attributed to William Hastie, Amherst Class of 1925, first African-American to serve as a judge for the United States Court of Appeals
Essay:
"...Additionally, your daughter/ ward will be able to take the Cambridge Additional Mathematics course for..." The letter continued. At age fourteen, the idea of embarking on this rigorous course triggered an equation in my mind. Being a logical and rational thinker, I created the following: (Difficulty) 2 x (negative perceptions) + crash course = ?
I began my first class contemplating those variables. I was introduced to topics and problems which required deep thinking. All elementary ideas were completely replaced by complex formulae and principles. As perceived, the failure rate of students was very high. As if these factors were not stressful enough, we had to learn, in 16 months, what others learnt in 4 years! After about three months, a third of the class quit. I decided it only made sense to replace my question mark with the dark, daunting d-word - defeat.
In a short while, however, I was shaken up. Encouragement and self-confidence moved me to completely redraft my equation - the sole unchanged variable being difficulty: (Difficulty) 2 x (positive outlook) + hard work = ?
Had I not shifted my focus, from negative complexities, to the fact that I could do well (if I persevered positively) I probably would have failed; but I found that my new equation equaled success! Although I failed many unit tests, I was a part of the handful of girls who actually passed the exam. The satisfaction was incomparable.
As individuals we tend to accept the notion, given by the old equation, that difficulty automatically foreshadows defeat. However William Hastie offers us an alternative way of viewing a difficult task or situation. We should work hard to overcome the hurdles, because, having done so, we will reap much satisfaction - much more than if we had chosen not to tackle those obstacles.
Please review my essay! all grammatical and organizational as well as general comments are welcome! :)
In addition to the essay you're asked to write as part of the Common Application, Amherst requires a second essay of no more than 300 words. We do not offer interviews as part of the application process at Amherst. However, your essays provide you with an opportunity to speak to us. Please keep this in mind when responding to one of the following quotations. It is not necessary to research, read, or refer to the text from which these quotations are taken; we are looking for original, personal responses to these short excerpts. Remember that your essay should be personal in nature and not simply an argumentative essay.
Topic chosen:
"Difficulty need not foreshadow despair or defeat. Rather achievement can be all the more satisfying because of obstacles surmounted."
Attributed to William Hastie, Amherst Class of 1925, first African-American to serve as a judge for the United States Court of Appeals
Essay:
"...Additionally, your daughter/ ward will be able to take the Cambridge Additional Mathematics course for..." The letter continued. At age fourteen, the idea of embarking on this rigorous course triggered an equation in my mind. Being a logical and rational thinker, I created the following: (Difficulty) 2 x (negative perceptions) + crash course = ?
I began my first class contemplating those variables. I was introduced to topics and problems which required deep thinking. All elementary ideas were completely replaced by complex formulae and principles. As perceived, the failure rate of students was very high. As if these factors were not stressful enough, we had to learn, in 16 months, what others learnt in 4 years! After about three months, a third of the class quit. I decided it only made sense to replace my question mark with the dark, daunting d-word - defeat.
In a short while, however, I was shaken up. Encouragement and self-confidence moved me to completely redraft my equation - the sole unchanged variable being difficulty: (Difficulty) 2 x (positive outlook) + hard work = ?
Had I not shifted my focus, from negative complexities, to the fact that I could do well (if I persevered positively) I probably would have failed; but I found that my new equation equaled success! Although I failed many unit tests, I was a part of the handful of girls who actually passed the exam. The satisfaction was incomparable.
As individuals we tend to accept the notion, given by the old equation, that difficulty automatically foreshadows defeat. However William Hastie offers us an alternative way of viewing a difficult task or situation. We should work hard to overcome the hurdles, because, having done so, we will reap much satisfaction - much more than if we had chosen not to tackle those obstacles.
Please review my essay! all grammatical and organizational as well as general comments are welcome! :)
