Rough draft--Reflection on Goals, University of North Carolina at Wilmington

"Reflecting on your personal and educational goals, please write about how you believe UNCW will allow you to grow as a student and as a person."

There is a quote in John Irving's novel A Prayer for Owen Meany that reads, "...if you don't know where you're going, you don't belong where you are." For some reason, this quote has stuck with me; so much so, that I wrote it on my mirror so that I could read it every day, along with my various to-do lists. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. If you do not know where you want to go in life, you need to be somewhere else so that you can make that decision. There are two goals I intend to develop while at school; one, exploring possible careers, and two, developing my time management skills. I know where I hope to go, and that is to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

Last year I was sitting in Barnes and Noble with my Dad drinking some hot chocolate. I have always enjoyed books and book stores, and I imagine myself having a career in this industry. At UNCW I want to explore opportunities in writing, editing, promoting and other elements of book publishing.

While there are some days I feel highly productive, completing homework that is not due until the end of the week, there are still some days I find myself struggling for that extra bit of time to finish my tasks. By dealing with all of the challenges presented to me by UNCW, I will have to learn how to manage my time more efficiently in order to fulfill my responsibilities. This not only increases my capability as a student, but will be a lesson necessary for the rest of my life.

In high school, I have been limited due to my Cystic Fibrosis and scoliosis. While this has interfered with my ability to participate in many activities, it has enabled me to focus on my priorities. I got the corrective surgery for my scoliosis last summer, and have noticed a great deal of improvement. My sister also has Cystic Fibrosis and currently attends UNCW. If I am accepted, I intend to live with her, who has been a positive mentor for me.

When I think of where I want to spend the next four years of my life, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington provides the right blend of size, location and academic foundation to inspire my development. It will be the most beneficial and rewarding place to further my education and provide invaluable lessons that will last me a lifetime.

Hello,
I think you clearly stated your personal goals... but what about your educational goals?
Your opening is good, but I'm not sure that the college will be too happy if you are going there to just develop your time management skills.

You can instead explain in detail about this possible careers thing, and relate it to your intended major.
I think you should at least say something about what you are going to study in that particular school.
Hope this helped!

When you make your thread titles, please use words that will help people to search EssayForum in the future for topics like yours. That is what we mean when we ask for people to use "descriptive thread titles." :-)

When you are writing something tha is important to you, you can observe some of the rules we don't ordinarily observe in ordinary speaking. One rule of style is to avoid starting sentences with "There are" or "there is." Lik this:

There is A quote in John Irving's novel A Prayer for Owen Meany that reads,...
In this way, you can avoid taxing the reader's attention with a lot of unnecessary words.

There are t I intend to develop two goals while at school: exploring possible careers, and developing my time management skills.

But you have already developed these goals, so we write:
I intend to pursue two goals while at school: exploring possible careers, and developing my time management skills.

and I changed that semi-colon into a colon.

:-)