JHU Supplement essay 2: "Freedom Writers"

Tell us something about yourself or your interests that we wouldn't learn by looking at the rest of your application materials. (While you should still pay attention to sentence structure and grammar, your response is meant as a way for us to get to know you, rather than a formal essay.)

Movies are my guilty pleasure; I could watch them all day without getting bored. I watch films from various generations, nations, and genres---except horror. I think films are portals to different worlds, and they are also mirrors of the society, the people surrounding me, and me. I often have my reflection time while watching movies.

Freedom Writers is one my favorite movies of all time; it is about the lives of High School Students from Long Beach, California in 1994. Although I barely cry in Romantic Films,

I cried an ocean for this one. Some of my tears were caused by the students' loneliness and pain which pierced my heart, while most of my tears were caused by guilt. Yes, I was feeling remorseful for how ungrateful I had been of my life. It made me see how superficial my problems were, and how I absolutely have no right to complain: Biology overload is definitely nothing compared to trying to struggle to survive every day.

In the movie, the students faced so many adversities: every day was a constant struggle for survival, one step into the street and a gun is pointed on their head. Every single tinge of hope seemed to have shattered, nevertheless, they still dreamed; they persevered. It lifted my spirits, and it inspired me to stop being so cynical of life.

Although movies only last from one to two hours, their impact to my life last for a lifetime.

Hi, please tell me if it's too cheeky or if I chose the topic correctly...

Thank you :)

I really like it, it paints a good picture of you outside of the academic portfolio.

Your second paragraph seems a bit forced at times, try reading it aloud to yourself to see if you can get it to flow a bit better?

Good luck!.

Okay, I tried changing the awkward bits. Here's my third version:

Movies are my guilty pleasure; I could watch them all day without getting bored. I watch films from various generations, nations, and genres---except horror. I think films are portals to different worlds, and they are also mirrors of the society, the people surrounding me, and me. I often have my reflection time while watching movies.

Freedom Writers is one my favorite movies of all time; it is about the lives of High School Students from Long Beach, California in 1994. In the movie, the students had to face so many adversities- every day for them was a constant struggle for survival; the streets served as their battlefields, and the gang had their allegiance. Although I barely cry in romantic films, I cried an ocean for this one. Some of my tears were caused by the students' loneliness and pain which pierced my heart, but most of my tears were caused by guilt. Yes, I was feeling remorseful for how ungrateful for my life I had been. It made me see how superficial my problems were, and how I absolutely had no right to complain: Biology overload is nothing compared to trying to fight for life every day. Furthermore, when every tinge of hope that they could ever have had shattered, they still dreamed; they still persevered. It lifted my spirits so much that it inspired me to stop being cynical in life.

Although movies only last from one to two hours, their impact to my life last for a lifetime.

Frankly, in a little over 200 words, you've managed to captive the essence of your character, and values. I felt engaged throughout the response, and I think that you've done a fantastic job.

Good luck with all your applications!