Describe the world you come from; for example, your family, clubs,school,community,city, or town. How has that world shaped your dreams and aspirations?(*) (200-250 words)
In the 17 years I've lived, I have seen changes of a magnitude one would expect over 50 years. I was born in a one room apartment in the seaport city of Qingdao, China. As a child, I had to boil sheep milk because pasteurized milk wasn't available. There was only one building that was over 10 stories tall until I was eight years old, and the most international thing about Qingdao was the tightly monitored foreign films video store.
Although I immigrated to America when I was five, I continued to travel back to my hometown every summer. Every time I went felt like five years had lapsed while I was away. Each year, the city became increasingly cosmopolitan, and now, there's nothing one cannot get. Every major US and European company is in China and producing for the local market, and massive skyscrapers crowd the city skyline with architectural marvels like the "HuaShiLuo" and the Qingdao TV Tower.
Therefore, what inspires my own dreams and aspirations is change. I have been an eyewitness to one of the most phenomenal transformations, and I know that that speed and magnitude of change is possible anywhere. If, fifteen years ago, there was a proposal for the Beijing Olympics, everybody would have said it was impossible. Because I've witnessed this change, I know that it IS possible, and it feeds my motivation. The transformation of my native country has taught me to never put a limit on my aspirations.
In the 17 years I've lived, I have seen changes of a magnitude one would expect over 50 years. I was born in a one room apartment in the seaport city of Qingdao, China. As a child, I had to boil sheep milk because pasteurized milk wasn't available. There was only one building that was over 10 stories tall until I was eight years old, and the most international thing about Qingdao was the tightly monitored foreign films video store.
Although I immigrated to America when I was five, I continued to travel back to my hometown every summer. Every time I went felt like five years had lapsed while I was away. Each year, the city became increasingly cosmopolitan, and now, there's nothing one cannot get. Every major US and European company is in China and producing for the local market, and massive skyscrapers crowd the city skyline with architectural marvels like the "HuaShiLuo" and the Qingdao TV Tower.
Therefore, what inspires my own dreams and aspirations is change. I have been an eyewitness to one of the most phenomenal transformations, and I know that that speed and magnitude of change is possible anywhere. If, fifteen years ago, there was a proposal for the Beijing Olympics, everybody would have said it was impossible. Because I've witnessed this change, I know that it IS possible, and it feeds my motivation. The transformation of my native country has taught me to never put a limit on my aspirations.