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With an English-Chinese dictionary in my hand, I furiously slammed the computer mouse with my other hand. I growled loudly as I tried to research about a new insurance company and its coverage. Frustration inundated my mind and anxiety clenched my fists. Stunned with this impulsive challenge of learning to be the "decision maker" for the family, I mentally screamed into my mind.
Growing up in Hong Kong, I was blessed with a frivolous life. My family never struggled with any financial, relationship or health problems. I had been sheltered from those problems through my childhood. Being the youngest in the family had significantly affected me. Sure, at times, I always had that last extra piece of pie for being the youngest child. I was the one who rarely got blamed on. What more could I possibly had? However, little did they know, my family was pampering my development into adulthood.
My mom, my sister, Shirley, and I immigrated to the Washington state in the summer of 2004. Due to my dad's demanding career, he chose to stay in Hong Kong throughout our immigration. Like many non-native speakers, my mom had always been terrified with communicating in English. My dad's inaccessibility and career made it difficult for him to help my family with organizing any documents quickly.
My mom did not want to trouble my dad with her interminable questions about the American governing system. Hence, she tried to rely on Shirley and me to be the decision makers of the family. Shirley and I not only had to wear "the pants" of my family in the States, but also to elucidate and translate to our mom about our decisions from English to Chinese. After Shirley and I had built a mediocre sense of communicating in English, we worked together to help my mom with translating her appointments and her process for documents such as letters from insurance companies, the health care system and utility bills. Although I advanced out from the ESL programs in 6th grade, I still had much to learn about the language and importantly, the functions of the banking, government, health and utility system. While I couldn't imagine how these responsibilities could be more problematic, Shirley moved out for college when I was fourteen years old.
I was left alone with juggling among academic work, social life and responsibilities. I wanted to disappear to avoid adapting to these new types of responsibilities. I did not understand why everything in my life seemed laborious and unsuccessful. I felt dreadful, discouraged and restless. With the outrageous impression that my family was purposely making my life difficult, I unconsciously began to complain and argue against my parents about everything. I distanced myself from my parents in attempt to escape my responsibilities. My grades plummeted when I felt confident with my management with life.
As I moved towards the end of my junior year, I finally understood how immature and ungrateful I had been toward my family. My parents brought me to the States for me to have a better educational experience. Why had I been so disrespectful and inconsiderate towards them? Throwing tantrums and pulling out my hair were indubitably not the most effective solutions. Rather than trying to hide from reality, I learned to embrace the situation with my head held high. I learned through this experience to accept and to act prudently with reality. Since nothing in this world could always be in my favor, I could only try with my best to solve real world problems. These accountabilities tested my patience and endurance for years, but that was simply a part of learning to be a mature responsible adult.
In retrospect, despite of the tears and argument I had undergone, I am very glad that I had this difficult yet rewarding experience to motivate my development into adulthood and its responsibilities in high school. I know that, without this experience, I would not be able to adjust to the independent college career at the University of Washington successfully.
Hi sylviayso ,
I really like the main ideas you present in this essay. I think both the immigration challenges you faced and your self appraisal of earlier immaturity provides good insight into your value as a university student.
One bit of advice that might help add more impact to your essay would be to add some more details about how these experiences and lessons shaped your current readiness for college. I think the most important sentences of the essay are at the end: "I am very glad that I had this difficult yet rewarding experience to motivate my development into adulthood and its responsibilities in high school. I know that, without this experience, I would not be able to adjust to the independent college career at the University of Washington successfully." But, it would be interesting to hear more about this. What about the difficulty motivated you to change and prepare for responsibility? How has this readied you to be independent and successful at the university? The more specific you can be about the lessons you learned, the better you will sound as a student. Lots of applicants will say that they are mature and independent, but only a few will be able to explain why they are.
Hope that helps.
