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"Did you dye it?" - Commonapp main essay


omgskl 1 / 4  
Dec 28, 2011   #1
My Brown Hair

My hair is brown, not dyed, not highlighted; I was born with it. My hair grows fast; ever since the age of 5, it's been growing along with my wonder and curiosity towards the world. Ok, it may seem like the topic of my hair is totally irrelevant, but, I have to explain, being a "typical Asian girl" as people identify me, having brown hair has brought me some tremendous frustrations in life.

Growing up in an Asian community, everyone around me had black hair. People would always be amazed by my hair color. "Did you dye it?" They would ask. "Is it due to genetic mutation?" My hair amazed them like the 8th wonder in the world. I hated having brown hair; I hated getting all the attention. I hated being different.

Just as I thought that my brown hair could finally fit in the "norm" when moving to North America, I found that the same queries continued to follow me: "Did you dye it?" "Why is your hair not the same as the rest of the Asians?" Everywhere I go there are people fascinated by my hair color and showed disbelief when I swore I never dyed it. "Typical Asian girls always have black hair." They say. "Asian" is what I was defined as.

I soon realized it's not the hair color but the presumption of Asian girl image that brought me these assumptions: "all Asians are supposed to have black hair; all Asians are naturally good at math; all Asians are bad drivers; all Asians eat rice every day; all Asian parents force their kids to study all night; all Asians..." These presumptions make a rigid box that I supposedly "belong"; many would first throw me in this box for a quick judgement before even digging for who I am. Within this invisible categorical boundary that limits me, unfortunately, an obvious aberration was my brown hair. People would show disbelief, not trusting their eyes because the constructed stereotypical category is destructed by my outrageous brown hair. My hair, acts out the rebel in me, flows outside of the rigid box and expunges the boundary and definition of who I am.

Who am I? I am Asian with small eyes, though I'm not a born math genius; in fact, I have to work extra hard to get that high A in math class. According to my driving coach, I am by far the most meticulous driver on the road. I don't eat rice every day and I love trying food from different culture. My parents force me to sleep while I climb out my bed and force myself to study. I do not bury myself in books, instead, I like to step out the doors and create my butterfly effect to change the world for the better. These are what I am truly; along with my differently-colored hair, these facts create a genetic map of who I am as an individual, different from the stereotypical presumption, trespass the categorical boundaries, transcend the limit of any definition.

This is actually my 3rd attempt to write the essay (changed the topic many times), and I ended up with this topic (prompt 6: the topic of your choice) I'm kinda afraid it's too lighthearted and too weird...

there are probably tons of grammar errors in the esssay, so can someone please help me edit? :)
any critique is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
OP omgskl 1 / 4  
Dec 28, 2011   #2
hey thank you SOOO much for reading over my essay!!

anything else I should change? where are the places that are not very strong?
I'm still not quite sure about the ending.
wafzy 2 / 4  
Dec 29, 2011   #3
omgskl

I like how the topic is very unique =]

however, the sentences need to flow better and the ending seems a bit rushed
insanesoul81994 10 / 30  
Dec 29, 2011   #4
Nice topic, but I think you should talk more about the impact that your hair color and living through stereotypes had on you.
bommy1994 3 / 8  
Dec 30, 2011   #5
These are what I am truly; along with my differently-colored hair, these facts create a genetic map of who I am as an individual, different from the stereotypical presumption, trespass the categorical boundaries, transcend the limit of any definition.

Im not the best at grammar so I won't tell you how to fix it...but I will say that this sentence seemed a bit awkward... ^^ you might want to look it over and make sure this is the sentence you wanted!

overall, I really liked it! your topic is very interesting and unique~ good luck revising it! :D


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