SPORTS/ PROGRAMS; UMD/ Parts that up to the sum of me

'The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.' - Aristotle
The intellectual, social and cultural differences embraced by the University of Maryland are integral to the fabric of our community. The strength of the University is realized through the contributions of every member of our campus. We understand each individual is a result of his/her personal background and experiences. Describe the parts that add up to the sum of you.

I participate in many kinds of sports. I have been on soccer and basketball teams. During practices and games, we must communicate well with one another. As the center for both basketball and soccer, I have an even greater role in communicating with the other team members. //I also swim and play tennis everyday and coach tennis

In my spare time, I enjoy working on programs. These programs usually span from a week to sometimes months. One of the longer programs I made was a variation on chess where the set up was the same just the movement of the pieces were unconventional. For this program I had to make 40 separate programs that worked together to make the end result. Not only do I like to program, I also took three years of programming during high school to better my foundation in programming before pursuing computer science as a major in college. To be able to study in UMD would be a great honor because UMD has such a great Computer Science department.

//I am asian so I don't know what is really special about me culturally that UMD wouldn't have heard already several times

5. Write your own question and respond to it. Please be sure to tell us why you think this essay represents you well. (Your question will not be included in the essay word count.)

How have you dealt with an unfortunate event and grown from it?

To get to my house from my bus stop, I have to walk down a steep slope. After school last year, I was walking home from school and lost my footing and fell down the slope; due to the weight of my backpack, I continued to roll down the hill. This accident caused me a fractured elbow and shoulder plus several really bad gashes on my arms and legs. Because of my injuries, I could not tryout for my school tennis team. Not only was it painful it was also very inconvenient, I had to go see lots of different doctors and it was also very difficult to do daily activities like eating, writing, showering and putting on clothes. I even had to miss several weeks of school. Although it might seem like a tragedy, I felt like all in all it was a great event that I do not look back on as something painful but something wonderful and life changing. I made up all the work I missed from school; nothing lossed. I recovered all wounds; nothing damaged. I did not dwell over the accidents that I could not control. I got over it. "Accidents happen" as my mom always says. I just got to persevere and progress through life as if nothing really happened because nothing has. Even though i could not play for my high school team, I still want to play tennis for UMD. Even lost a few days of teaching, I still made it up. I learned to not dwell on the problems, but to resolve it instead.

Hi I like your essay but you could make it more personal by including details on how you got over your misfotune and may be by providing details on how you made up for the lost classes. All the best as you apply to UMD