This is my essay for Villanova. It's just a first draft and I could use all the help in the world. So please leave comments. Thanks =]
One of the principles of Villanova, as an Augustinian university founded on the teachings of St. Augustine, is that students and faculty learn from each other. As you imagine yourself as a member of the Villanova community, what is one lesson that you have learned in your life that you will want to share with others?
"Hiral! Come downstairs and talk to your uncle from India!" angrily called my mom as she help up the phone for me.
"Ugh, not again," I thought as I trudged down the steps and walked into the kitchen. "I never have anything to say!" I complained. "These people are old; I have nothing to talk to them about. Can you just tell them I'm not here? I asked my mom pleadingly. I didn't want to talk to my uncle, I barely knew him. He lived all the way in India. The extent of the conversation would be, "Hi, how are you?" But then I got that look from my mom and I knew that no matter how badly I wanted go back upstairs and return to whatever I was doing, talking to my uncle was something I couldn't avoid. So I did, and it lasted all of about ten minutes. And when I went back upstairs all I could think about was what else I could have been doing. But what I didn't know was that was the last time I would talk to my uncle.
A few after that call, my uncle died. A major heart attack while he was alone in his factory at work. Those few days after were the saddest days I had ever seen. I had seen my dad cry for the first time in my life. I had seen my mom in a state of shock where she wouldn't do anything but stay in her bed. I had seen my cousins crying for hours on end. But what stood out to me most was that everyone I encountered had something great to say about the man. He had made my dad laugh continuously for hours on end; something I knew was not easy. He had given my cousins advice on topics they couldn't even talk to their friends about. He had helped my mom adjust to living with my dad's family in India, while my dad was here in America studying. Every single person I knew had a fond memory with my uncle, even people who had never met him in person.
T
hat was when I realized that I had missed out on a chance to know a great man. Yeah, I had talked to him a couple of times but only at a superficial level. Never had I actually tried to get to know him. And I couldn't say the same about him. He had always tried to spark a conversation with me but I was always too busy thinking about what else I could be doing that the only answers he ever got were yes and no. I was too busy and too engrossed in my own self to get to know a great man.
So as I enter Villanova, I hope to help my peers understand the benefit of gaining friendships with the people around them, may they be old, young, or their own age. I hope to share the fact that great people surround us daily, we just have to take a little time out of our busy schedules and meet them because if we don't we might miss the possibility of meeting someone that could change our lives forever. Then when you look back on the past you will think of the man you could have known or the memories you could have shared, instead of the man you knew or the memories you shared.
One of the principles of Villanova, as an Augustinian university founded on the teachings of St. Augustine, is that students and faculty learn from each other. As you imagine yourself as a member of the Villanova community, what is one lesson that you have learned in your life that you will want to share with others?
"Hiral! Come downstairs and talk to your uncle from India!" angrily called my mom as she help up the phone for me.
"Ugh, not again," I thought as I trudged down the steps and walked into the kitchen. "I never have anything to say!" I complained. "These people are old; I have nothing to talk to them about. Can you just tell them I'm not here? I asked my mom pleadingly. I didn't want to talk to my uncle, I barely knew him. He lived all the way in India. The extent of the conversation would be, "Hi, how are you?" But then I got that look from my mom and I knew that no matter how badly I wanted go back upstairs and return to whatever I was doing, talking to my uncle was something I couldn't avoid. So I did, and it lasted all of about ten minutes. And when I went back upstairs all I could think about was what else I could have been doing. But what I didn't know was that was the last time I would talk to my uncle.
A few after that call, my uncle died. A major heart attack while he was alone in his factory at work. Those few days after were the saddest days I had ever seen. I had seen my dad cry for the first time in my life. I had seen my mom in a state of shock where she wouldn't do anything but stay in her bed. I had seen my cousins crying for hours on end. But what stood out to me most was that everyone I encountered had something great to say about the man. He had made my dad laugh continuously for hours on end; something I knew was not easy. He had given my cousins advice on topics they couldn't even talk to their friends about. He had helped my mom adjust to living with my dad's family in India, while my dad was here in America studying. Every single person I knew had a fond memory with my uncle, even people who had never met him in person.
T
hat was when I realized that I had missed out on a chance to know a great man. Yeah, I had talked to him a couple of times but only at a superficial level. Never had I actually tried to get to know him. And I couldn't say the same about him. He had always tried to spark a conversation with me but I was always too busy thinking about what else I could be doing that the only answers he ever got were yes and no. I was too busy and too engrossed in my own self to get to know a great man.
So as I enter Villanova, I hope to help my peers understand the benefit of gaining friendships with the people around them, may they be old, young, or their own age. I hope to share the fact that great people surround us daily, we just have to take a little time out of our busy schedules and meet them because if we don't we might miss the possibility of meeting someone that could change our lives forever. Then when you look back on the past you will think of the man you could have known or the memories you could have shared, instead of the man you knew or the memories you shared.
