I am applying for UT honors and need to write a statement on this prompt:
Explain a belief you accepted at some point in your life but have rejected on the basis of a rational process. Perhaps the change was initiated by something you heard or some experience you have had; but for this essay you must go beyond reporting what you heard or describing what happened to you. You must display the process of reasoning that carried you to your new belief. In your essay, be careful to explain the belief itself, reasons you had for holding it, and, most important, the rational process that led you to reject it. (400-500 words)
so I wrote it and plz review!
From a conservative society of South Korea, I believed that homosexuals cannot exist and will not be accepted by anyone no matter what happens. A sensitive topic about gay people was absolutely forbidden to be even discussed in schools, and usually Korean people didn't even have the very idea in their minds. I remember when I was in the elementary school, a Korean celebrity, who was apparently gay, came out of the closet, and was criticized and attacked by the society, media, and his friends. No one supported him, or defended for him; he could not show up in public places for years only after the condemnation gradually died away. Back then, I never thought from his side of the story, until I came to America.
When I came here, I made many friends, from Caucasian to Indian. One way to meet various people from innumerable cultural background was to join Japanese club, and that is when I met my special friend, *****. He seemed like a normal guy, sociable, everyone's man. He had a great interest in Asian language and culture, so we got along well, talking about Korean dramas or Korean pop music. Everyone treated him the same, and I didn't see anything different in him, so we became good friends. Not until he graduated I heard he is gay. The first reaction was disbelief: ***** being gay was impossible. He didn't dress up freakishly or wear makeup, and he never showed anything that differentiated him from the other male students. He was normal, as least I thought he was.
Then I realized how unreasonable I was in judging gay people. They are ordinary humans as I am, and I was extremely prejudiced in that they pursue different lifestyles than we do. I thought I would be uncomfortable building friendship with a homosexual; however I never felt awkward with Taylor. He made me laugh with his accents when he talked in Korean, and I never thought he was gay. Considered myself as a rational thinker my whole life, I was surprised how emotionally I was judging gay people. Not that I firmly believed that love relationship is only between male and female, but I just thought, without any reason, it isn't right if the relationship builds up between people with same sex. Perhaps the Korean society influenced me greatly; because everyone thought being a homosexual was absurd, that's how I thought of it also. I was ashamed how rashly I labeled them abnormal. No one can just consider anyone abnormal because that person is a little different. It's like judging the disabled. They are not anomalous, but just special. Realizing all that, now I believe it is not wrong to be homosexuals, but they are just who they are; people should at least understand them even though people aren't able to accept them.
