Another essay for a program that determines admission/a full scholarship to schools like the University of Chicago
Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you. (500 word limit)
The crack in the so-called window of my sixth grade math class always had the suspicious air of a bullet wound. The black-, no, greenboard bore a note instructing students to bring a novel to read-left over from another class. The lessons were usually easy and the plastic chairs were usually hard. The air felt cold and the chalky blue paint muffling the walls continued to peel. The teacher was kind enough not to mind my completion of homework for lesson 3.4-or whichever lesson we happened to be on-before or while he taught lesson 3.4. And the boy to my right seemed convinced that the best method of entertaining himself must be making me miserable; my physical appearance and nerdy grasp of mathematics were the chief areas of attack. Lachrymose and lacking self-esteem, I fell prey to quite a number of his taunts.
Many view learning as an unpleasant experience. I've always been odd enough to enjoy it and have found long division and Queen Elizabeth fascinating. Here I've mentioned topics one usually comes across in school. While I value what I have learned from my textbooks and my teachers I am also indebted to my peers, my surroundings, and even myself for what I have learned from them. In elementary school it was easy to recognize learning spelled out by a neat benchmark; but since then, I've realized that learning from experience can be just as, if not more so, important. For instance, the year I spent in sixth grade math was the source for one of my defining life lessons-no, not lesson 3.4, but personal value, or valuing the self.
I was fortunate enough to feel tortured by the boy to my right. At some point, wading through my tears grew too laborious and I determined that I must step back and reevaluate my situation. Although my thought process involved much more wobbling here and there, oscillating to and fro, and other sorts of motions resembling amateur performance art than that statement conveys, in sum, it is accurate.
Hair that is aberrantly puffy or curly is not a signification of an individual's inferiority and an aptitude for mathematics is actually a good thing. While this may seem obvious, in sixth grade, it was my revelation: self-worth should not be undermined by negative comments from malicious persons and reasonable pride in one's abilities is healthy. Since discovering this, I have continued to grow in my understanding of the importance of self-esteem and have developed a desire to help others with this as well. I plan to facilitate the realization of this wish by pursuing a degree in psychology and a career in psychiatry.
I'm always on the look-out for new learning opportunities, including those that are hard to find. After all, who would have expected that in a math class rife with stimuli and, of course, math, my most significant experience would come from the boy to my right?
Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you. (500 word limit)
The crack in the so-called window of my sixth grade math class always had the suspicious air of a bullet wound. The black-, no, greenboard bore a note instructing students to bring a novel to read-left over from another class. The lessons were usually easy and the plastic chairs were usually hard. The air felt cold and the chalky blue paint muffling the walls continued to peel. The teacher was kind enough not to mind my completion of homework for lesson 3.4-or whichever lesson we happened to be on-before or while he taught lesson 3.4. And the boy to my right seemed convinced that the best method of entertaining himself must be making me miserable; my physical appearance and nerdy grasp of mathematics were the chief areas of attack. Lachrymose and lacking self-esteem, I fell prey to quite a number of his taunts.
Many view learning as an unpleasant experience. I've always been odd enough to enjoy it and have found long division and Queen Elizabeth fascinating. Here I've mentioned topics one usually comes across in school. While I value what I have learned from my textbooks and my teachers I am also indebted to my peers, my surroundings, and even myself for what I have learned from them. In elementary school it was easy to recognize learning spelled out by a neat benchmark; but since then, I've realized that learning from experience can be just as, if not more so, important. For instance, the year I spent in sixth grade math was the source for one of my defining life lessons-no, not lesson 3.4, but personal value, or valuing the self.
I was fortunate enough to feel tortured by the boy to my right. At some point, wading through my tears grew too laborious and I determined that I must step back and reevaluate my situation. Although my thought process involved much more wobbling here and there, oscillating to and fro, and other sorts of motions resembling amateur performance art than that statement conveys, in sum, it is accurate.
Hair that is aberrantly puffy or curly is not a signification of an individual's inferiority and an aptitude for mathematics is actually a good thing. While this may seem obvious, in sixth grade, it was my revelation: self-worth should not be undermined by negative comments from malicious persons and reasonable pride in one's abilities is healthy. Since discovering this, I have continued to grow in my understanding of the importance of self-esteem and have developed a desire to help others with this as well. I plan to facilitate the realization of this wish by pursuing a degree in psychology and a career in psychiatry.
I'm always on the look-out for new learning opportunities, including those that are hard to find. After all, who would have expected that in a math class rife with stimuli and, of course, math, my most significant experience would come from the boy to my right?