Stanford supplemental essay: what matters to you and why?(250 words)
I love witness a double play. I get up from my seat to celebrate a stolen base. I even revel in the smell of hot dogs around the stadium. But what I most love is watching baseball with my grandfather. I was 5 years old when he took me to my first game. Since that day, the sport became an obsession and I watched every Dodgers game with him. Baseball allowed me to make a strong connection with my grandfather. I loved our long conversations and his stories about when he was a professional player.
Unfortunately, my grandfather developed Alzheimer his last year. He also lost the mobility of his body and became a reserved person. I started to take care of him and watched baseball with him even knowing he wouldn't pay attention. I just wanted him to recover his passion that made him feel alive. Until one day, he surprised me celebrating a Grandal's Home Run against Chicago Cubs. My grandfather died a week later but at least he smiled again and watched the rest of the series with the same passion I remembered.
Though he'd love me to follow his steps and become a professional player, he told me to embrace my passion for mathematics. "A talent always comes with a responsibility", that's what he always said. I want to be like my grandfather and use my interest for mathematics to change other people lives, just like my grandfather used his baseball passion to change mine.
My grandfather's baseball passion shaped me
I love witness a double play. I get up from my seat to celebrate a stolen base. I even revel in the smell of hot dogs around the stadium. But what I most love is watching baseball with my grandfather. I was 5 years old when he took me to my first game. Since that day, the sport became an obsession and I watched every Dodgers game with him. Baseball allowed me to make a strong connection with my grandfather. I loved our long conversations and his stories about when he was a professional player.
Unfortunately, my grandfather developed Alzheimer his last year. He also lost the mobility of his body and became a reserved person. I started to take care of him and watched baseball with him even knowing he wouldn't pay attention. I just wanted him to recover his passion that made him feel alive. Until one day, he surprised me celebrating a Grandal's Home Run against Chicago Cubs. My grandfather died a week later but at least he smiled again and watched the rest of the series with the same passion I remembered.
Though he'd love me to follow his steps and become a professional player, he told me to embrace my passion for mathematics. "A talent always comes with a responsibility", that's what he always said. I want to be like my grandfather and use my interest for mathematics to change other people lives, just like my grandfather used his baseball passion to change mine.