this essay answers the promp "Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story."
the limit is 650 words (I am barely under it)
My stork got lost
I feel my mood brighten up when I see the blue and yellow flags through the bus window. As I walk inside, I wiggle my toes, in excitement. There is a display of chairs, draping one wall, and I feel at home.
However, I couldn't be farther away from home: I live in Mexico and came looking for the original IKEA all the way to Sweden.
I was born in the wrong country.
I am mesmerized as my teacher solves the equation, reorganizing numbers in mysterious ways. As I write down a new equation, I almost feel my neurons jumping in excitement: I found the "astuce", what my teacher calls the hidden step necessary to finding the solution. The bell rings, and I see my former history teacher walking out of the adjacent classroom. My neurons think the party is over.
In my sophomore year, I chose the science track. Unfortunately, this means I don't have history anymore. I fantasize of a Renaissance track, where one could study everything.
I was born in the wrong century.
" An arm was instantly around his neck. A savage noise in his ear. Sagra. How he missed her."
I feel my body pulsate as Froi is reunited with Quintana. I have waited for this scene all day, since they were separated at the end of the last book. Yet not even the adrenaline can keep me from noticing that the sky is black. It is at moments such as these that I wish I were a giraffe (they only need 2 hours of sleep per day).
I was born the wrong species.
I should have been born a Swedish "Renaissance giraffe". However, my stork got confused, and I ended up being born 5 centuries later, on the other side of the world, a human.
This might seem cause for despair, but I am grateful.
Living in one of the few countries that doesn't boast an IKEA, I was forced to design my room from scratch. However, since I live in Mexico, I had plenty of resources.
I always liked the IKEA exhibits, but not each object. So I decorated my dark green room with colorful objects, unlike the IKEA ones: I organized my collection of prints in a cloud, placed the Mexican-furniture from my childhood in the corners and filled my bookshelf with artisanal-Mexican toys. This is my favorite part, because it is placed in front of my bed, sending me cheer.
I think my room is better than an IKEA exhibit.
Because I grew up in the twenty-first century, I have some understanding of the atom, the brain, and genetics. I can also put mathematics to uses that were previously unthinkable. This is what I would like to do. For if knowledge is too vast nowadays for me to study every field, I can still be an expert in something and apply it to other fields. And even if I can't contribute to all fields with my expertise, I can easily take up my favorite subjects as hobbies.
So although I might not be a Renaissance "man", I can be a mathematician that helps neuroscientists and loves history.
I am human, so I can read, write and talk. I think it's compensates for having to sleep 6 hours a day.
I don't care that I couldn't fit the svelt IKEA lamp in my luggage, because I use IKEA as a source of ideas to deepen in my room. And I could only trust my own lamp to tolerate me as I flip the page, because I can't stop reading, and my book continues to give me energy. And I am glad I am not a giraffe, for I have 100 years to live and not 20. As I realize how lucky I am to live today and learn so much math, the neuron party resumes.
I feel my mood brightens up when I see the blue and yellow flags through the bus window. As I walk inside, I wiggle my toes, in excitement. There is a display of chairs, draping one wall, and I feel at home.
