USC's speaker series "What Matters to Me and Why" asks faculty and staff to reflect on their values, beliefs, and motivations. Presenters talk about choices they have made, difficulties encountered, and commitments solidified. Write an essay about an event or experience that helped you learn what is important to you and why it is important.
our fate is the combination of own choices
"I believe that we are solely responsible for our choices, and we have to accept the consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout our lifetime" (Elisabeth Kubler-Ross). In life we all make personal choices whether it's what we want to be, who we want to be, or who our friends will be. Every day is a constant struggle of how our lives are shaped by the choices we make. Looking back at my life, there were times when I made choices based on the situation of the moment, and not on the foundation of my personal life goals.
A particular experience that is I vivid to me is when I decided to become a member of a fraternity. A friend of mine, who was thinking of joining, asked me if it was something I would be interested in. I told him I did not like the idea of affiliating myself with a fraternity because it would interfere with my studies. However since he told me he did not want to be the only one, I told him I would think about it. He then handed me a flyer of upcoming events to attend to get more information. As soon as he gave me the flyer, I looked at all the events, and with excitement told him I would join.
During the process of becoming a member of a fraternity, I saw myself becoming a person that I did not want to be. I was out almost every night with my fellow newcomers of the fraternity trying to prove ourselves that we were loyal, dedicated, and had what it took to become part of the organization. However, I started to lose focus on my studies and saw my grades slowly go down. Even though I had realized this, I did not do anything about it. I decided to continue in becoming a member of the fraternity because I did not want to let my fellow newcomers down. Finally, after three long months, I was finally initiated and welcomed into the organization.
Even though I became a member of a fraternity, it was a decision I should have no made. I started to realize that the fraternity was not for me. Instead of joining an organization to help it grow, succeed, or do charitable work, I joined an organization that did little of that. I also noticed that as I was struggling to get my studies back on track, most of the people in my organization cared less about their education. All that mattered to them was getting by in their classes. They did not use education as a way to make their life easier. Instead of staying up all night studying or doing homework, they would go out and party.
After only a semester of joining a fraternity, I decided to take a leave of absence from them to focus on my education. I discovered that my education is important to me if I want to succeed in life. I have also found that the only way for me to come out victorious is to surround myself with people who actually take life and their education seriously. Since experiencing this, I am now trying to make better choices that give a positive effect on my personal life goals instead of making choices in the situation of the moment.
Need some feedback!!! Does it answer the prompt? If any suggestions or grammar erros please let me know.
Thanks!During the process of becoming a fraternity member , saw myselfI became unrecognizable to myself . Many nights, my fellow brothers and I went out to prove our loyalty and commitment to the fraternity.with my fellow newcomers of the fraternity trying to prove ourselves that we were loyal, dedicated, and had what it took to become part of the organization.Eventually , I started to lose focus on my studies and saw my grades began to drop. Although Ihad realized this, did not do anything about it.decided to continue in becoming a member of the I continued to stay committed to my fraternity because I did not want to let mydisappoint my fellow newcomers. down Finally, after three long months, I was finally initiated and welcomed into the organization.
Okay, I hope this helps. the advise I would give you is to be aware of your past and present tense and to eliminate unnecessary words. The corrections that I've made are past tense. Good Job.
I really like the wisdom in that last sentence of the first para... very good!
Even though I had made the decision to become a member of a fraternity, I knew that it was a decision I should have never made. I started to realize...
They did not use education as a way to make their lives easier. Instead of staying up all night studying or doing homework, they would go out and party.
After only a semester of joining involvement with the fraternity, I decided to take a leave of absence from them to focus on my education. I discovered that my education had to be important to me if I want to succeed in life. I have also found that...
Nice job! Now, at the end I think you should refer to those words by Kubler-Ross one more time to bring the essay full-circle.
:-)
