Personal essay
As a kid I heard the metaphor "curiosity killed the cat" a lot of times. "Curious" was the mostly used adjective in reference to me and hearing of this expression made me feel sad and really awkward.
Since childhood I have been trying to understand how things worked around me. First objects that fascinated me were my toys. I loved getting them more than anything else. Buying a new toy for me became some sort of obsession. Some might wonder why a 3 year-old child needs so many toys, especially, that I have never really enjoyed playing with them and got bored really fast. What turned me on was the mechanics which made the toy cars move from one place to another, the magic behind the remote controller, which made it possible to navigate locomotives and make them run in circles on the rail road. I had questions. I used to walk around with screwdrivers and pliers dismantling my new shiny objects of experiment. For obvious reasons, my curiosity, or otherwise referred to as "being careless with things," was not always rewarded with delight. In fact it made my parents really mad and a couple of times they punished me the way I could still remember.
Being careless with things satisfied my curiosity for only some time. Then I resorted to a new form of expressing it. Every time I saw my parent having a rest I would come up and ask questions such as:"Why is the sky blue?" "How can birds fly?" I thought that answering these questions to my satisfaction was not obligation of every responsible parent. The problem with me was that my questions never stopped. I felt like, there was absolutely no point in "being" into conversation, if I would just stop asking. The restrain occurred in the form of simply ignoring me. It did happen, but also for a short period of time, until I faced the next challenge.
For my seventh birthday, my father made me a present. He gave me a World Book Encyclopedia. At first, I thought I would rather have received another toy for my "rabbit experiments." But in a day or two I realized the vice versa. My father's choice was the best. Now I was an "experiment" in the hands of Encyclopedia. Opening the book became crucial moment in my life. I plunged in it obtaining information about human beings and about the world surrounding us, and certainly, I did not stop at Encyclopedia.
Eventually, I found the definition of the word "curious"-- one who is "eager to know or learn something." And then I felt comfortable. I think this description fits me well and however curious, I learned to accept myself.
I wrote my personal essay and wanted to know your opinion about it. I think it's okay but I want to apply to selective liberal arts colleges and I'm not sure that essay is good enough
Sandro, when you write your personal essay, don't forget that you need to present an original essay about you in a personal sense. That means that you need to review the other essay prompts from the university that you are applying to and then make sure that you are not rehashing the same information your personal essay. This essay that you wrote sounds like you may have already discussed it in the "What influenced your career choice" or "Tell us how your interest in the field developed" themed common apps.
Your personal essay should portray a side of you that is not presented in the common essay apps. There are usually 6 common essay prompts for you to choose from or answer so writing the personal essay can be quite tricky. I suggest that you write about something related to you that is not covered in the common prompts. Don't even dream of using the same personal essay for all your applications. Usually the applications will vary in theme and you will find that your personal essay for one university may turn out to be a common app essay in another. Brace yourself for constant essay writing during your college application process. That is the only way to make sure that you will properly address the essay prompts.
Needless to say, I feel that a revision is in order for your essay because you are trying to guess what essay discussion will be of interest to the admissions officer you will e sending this application to. I advice you to double check the essay prompts from this university in order to make sure that you are not making a mistake with the chosen topic for your personal essay. With any luck, the school will have offered you a prompt to respond to in line with your personal statement.
In that case, write this personal essay without any reference to your chosen major. Any writing supplements relating to that should be able to address your interests in that field. In the case of a personal essay, you should be talking about yourself in terms of your personality and traits. These are your behaviors or points of view that should help you become a successful college student at your chosen university. Expand upon your curiosity if need be and how your constant questioning is what will help you become a successful person in the future. Dig deep into your personality profile and find a part of yourself that you can discuss in this essay. Curiosity works, it just needs to be developed further without leaning on your interest in mechanics to move it along.
