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Let's make some difference. Personal statement essay.


Bennyoooo 8 / 19 8  
Dec 26, 2016   #1
This my essay for common application. I will appreciate if someone can give some advice.

Let's make some difference



At 12:00 a.m., I was almost dead. My legs were senseless. Sweat streamed down but I couldn't wipe it. The sun roasted my neck and arm as if I was a steak in the furnace. This was the boring, tough life during the military training. We had to get up at 5 o'clock in the morning, stand still for 2 hours, and run for 5 thousands meters, shouting loud and clear slogans. We repeated the simple and boring "At ease" and "Attention" thousands of times. We acted like robots, which did everything in unity, walked in the same pace, and shouted the same words.

"Let's make some difference. I just can't stand the boring days here." I said to my 7 roommates, "Let's add some fun to the atmosphere. We can make up a chorus named 404 (our room number), to sing during the interval."

"But that will be awkward, Benny, and the instructor may not allow us to do so." was a typical response to my proposal.

"Why not just have a try?"

The fourth day of the training was the beginning of a new era. At the interval after one-hour standing at attention, we stood in front of the group of people without asking the instructor. Admittedly, it was a little awkward, but funny at the same time. It may be the most interesting moment for the first four days. I started, "Hello everyone, we are 404." It was a little embarrassing. "And we are going to sing a song for all of you at the interval." At that moment, to my surprise, our training instructors encouraged the students to applaud, and then we started to sing.

"I say remember this moment..." we started with Taylor Swift. When we were getting more and more confident in singing, our voice was like gentle breeze relaxing everyone. After our perfect harmony for the last line "One day, we will be remembered", they applauded even louder. They shouted, "One more! Four O Four! One more! Four O four! " they shouted freely, with endless laughter. Therefore, we sang another one, Hey Jude, and all my classmates beat beats by clapping hands to accompany with our song. We put smiles on their grim faces.

After the success of the first show, every interval became the show time of 404. Many other students also joined in the "interval show", and some of them even danced, rapped and played the guitar. We started to make jokes, to laugh more and to feel less tired every day. What' more, 404 became famous across the campus. Some instructors from other classes even invited us to sing for their students. We were like super stars on a world tour, reminding everyone that the military training was boring didn't mean that we had to be as well.

I believe that no matter where we are or what we are doing, our lives can always be filled with happiness and humor. Life shouldn't be a suffering training, but a melodic song mixed with gentle breeze. With that belief, I can't imagine that the old people lead inanimate lives, so I gathered some of them together to form an art group. We held a talent show in our community, which I believe makes them feel so young. With that belief, I try to explore the artistic beauty of codes when I attend computer programming classes; I propose to have a basketball game among my classmates every weekend; I share a piece of poem every day with my classmates even on the day before we had final exam. I know that people all have many goals to accomplish, big dreams to pursue and great effort to make, so do I, but if we can pay attention to the details of life, if we can finish everything even better, and if we can create a happier atmosphere, then, why not?
Holt  Educational Consultant - / 14,767 4770  
Dec 26, 2016   #2
Jiang, what is the common app essay prompt that you are trying to deliver such an entertaining and creative response to? Could you please add the prompt and word count requirement in your next thread so that I can have a better idea as to what you are trying to do with your writing? I can't really direct a proper review towards you until I know the specifics for your work. I am not really sure why your narrative about military training is so long while the response to something highly specific in the prompt has been reduced to only a single paragraph at the end. It might be better to divide the content of the concluding statement into 2. From the way I read it, you have a portion that can work as a proper introduction, before the actual story, and a last part that can be further developed into a prompt response. I'll wait for the complete instructions before I tell you how you can do that. I want to be sure that it will apply properly to the prompt. Thanks.
OP Bennyoooo 8 / 19 8  
Dec 26, 2016   #3
@Holt
Oh, I'm sorry I'm not clear enough.

There is no specific prompt, u know. It's just essay on common application that will be delivered to every college I apply to, and the maximum is 650. I think it should be just called a personal statement. I think my purpose is just to "describe an experience to reflect what kind of person I am"
sweetsenior 4 / 7 2  
Dec 26, 2016   #4
Hi, I think overall this is an effective story to use. And there are common app prompts that you should use. It's not just a "college essay". you could probably fit that into one of them, though. Go check them out on your common app's writing tab. Here are some suggestions:

We acted like robots, whichwho did everything in unity

I would put the sentence "My legs were senseless" (or maybe numb instead of senseless) before "At 2 am..." sentence. It is a more effective hook.

When we were gettingas we got more and more confident in singing,

Therefore, we sang another one, Hey Jude, and all my classmates thumped out to accompanywithour song

reminding everyone that the military training was boring didn't mean that we had to be as well. ---> I would suggest not calling military training boring. It might be offensive to some people.

Life shouldn't be a suffering training --> "suffering" isn't the right adjective here. Maybe "dreadful"?

With that belief, I can'tcouldn't imagine

You used "with that belief" twice in the last paragraph. Maybe merge those two sentences together?

Maybe try to distribute the loads of examples condensed in the last paragraph throughout the essay. It will be more easy to read and appreciate every example for the admissions office. Also, don't feel obligated to list all of your accomplishments. The purpose of college essays is not that. Maybe you could tie to a more general statement.
mbyram 2 / 2  
Dec 26, 2016   #5
There are a few grammatical errors, but I think the message you are sending to colleges is great. Try to add even more things that help connect you to the reader. Like in the first paragraph when you made metaphors, used vivid description.
Holt  Educational Consultant - / 14,767 4770  
Dec 26, 2016   #6
Jiang, each university that you apply to will have a specific set of prompt requirements that you are expected to respond to in a clear and original manner. The worst thing you can do is try to pre-empt the prompt requirements by writing a personal statement that is "one size fits all". You may find that you will not be able to use this particular essay that you wrote because it doesn't have a clear purpose that can relate to the essays that the universities will ask for. Save this essay for an optional, supplemental essay that has an open topic. Do not use it for a personal statement. Maybe you can use bits and pieces of it once you know what kind of prompts you are responding to. It is a good basis, but not a good essay to submit to universities due to specific essay discussion requirements. Do not pre-empt the prompts just to save on time. Always deliver a new essay whenever possible for the reasons I have previously provided.
OP Bennyoooo 8 / 19 8  
Dec 29, 2016   #7
@mbyram
Thank you for making advice. Would you please point out some of the grammar errors because I can't tell them by myself.


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