What matters to you?
From the beginning of my life in America, I have worked hard to learn English. Initially, I could not even dream of being at the top of my class academically. I was in survival mode; climbing through the bottom part of the mountain, where it was very muddy and dark. Faintly seeing the top of the mountain, I was insecure about my future life in America. I always had to go the extra mile to follow up with the rest of the class by waking up early in the morning to review and preview work to prepare myself for class. The academic progress encouraged me and kept me from giving up. Every little evidence of improvement gave me hope and a reason to go on. From my days in ESL class all the way up to AP classes, I have kept the same mindset: to try my best regardless of the result. With that attitude, I have come a long way from being a helpless kid to becoming the top 10% of my graduating class of 2012. I feel that I have climbed up to the top of my mountain. However, I now see a much bigger and higher mountain waiting in front of me. As I look toward next year, I realize now that high school is only the beginning. So it matters to me that I do my very best in all things and persevere through the hardships and failures.
I'm really unsure about this essay as a whole with the mountain metaphor. What do you think about it?
From the beginning of my life in America, I have worked hard to learn English. Initially, I could not even dream of being at the top of my class academically. I was in survival mode; climbing through the bottom part of the mountain, where it was very muddy and dark. Faintly seeing the top of the mountain, I was insecure about my future life in America. I always had to go the extra mile to follow up with the rest of the class by waking up early in the morning to review and preview work to prepare myself for class. The academic progress encouraged me and kept me from giving up. Every little evidence of improvement gave me hope and a reason to go on. From my days in ESL class all the way up to AP classes, I have kept the same mindset: to try my best regardless of the result. With that attitude, I have come a long way from being a helpless kid to becoming the top 10% of my graduating class of 2012. I feel that I have climbed up to the top of my mountain. However, I now see a much bigger and higher mountain waiting in front of me. As I look toward next year, I realize now that high school is only the beginning. So it matters to me that I do my very best in all things and persevere through the hardships and failures.
I'm really unsure about this essay as a whole with the mountain metaphor. What do you think about it?