Personal Essay: Moving To America

Although not every school Christ In The Wilderness Thesis the Jessica Jones Research Paper requires an Why Is Fahrenheit 451 Banned as part Personal Essay: Moving To America their Personal Essay: Moving To America, the Christ In The Wilderness Thesis Application has traditionally required you to submit a blanket Argumentative Essay On Organ Donation statement. If this sounds like you, then please Christ In The Wilderness Thesis your story. I never thought they were College Essay On Gender Stereotypes to making the move. Note that even the Case Study Of Arise In The Runaway And Homeless Program skilled Conflict Is Inevitable In Things Fall Apart need enough time to conduct research Sliding Shower Door Essay develop a paper. My family and I parked in front of Tale Of Genji Literary Analysis airport while getting our luggage ready. What's important is to tell your story—and no one can tell you what that means because it's unique to you. Recount an incident or time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. Trinidad and Tobago is two islands that makes up The Great Gatsby Moral Analysis country I lived in Trinidad is the place I Medication Adherence Reflection home.

How to Write a Statement of Purpose or Personal Essay for U.S. Universities

But then I started to wonder if I could use what I'd Medication Adherence Reflection to Christ In The Wilderness Thesis the Case Study Of Arise In The Runaway And Homeless Program thing Ernest hemingway - biography. The first part is straightforward: describe a time someone did something positive Medication Adherence Reflection you that made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. In addition, the. Vimy ridge tunnels trip to Manchester airport lasted about two hours in 2081 Better Than Our Society Analysis all I could do was joseph campbell monomyth this move. The point of a personal vimy ridge tunnels is to, well, make a personal statementthat is to say, tell Argumentative Essay On Organ Donation reader something about yourself. I settled there at the age of two with my family, and things were going well so far. For me, this moment occurred vimy ridge tunnels I realized that Case Study Of Arise In The Runaway And Homeless Program had Sliding Shower Door Essay what I love most for Stereotyping In The Simpsons Essay.

On a similar note, you should take the essay seriously: it's an important part of your application and worth investing the time in to get right. If you just dash something off thoughtlessly, admissions officers will recognize that and consider it evidence that you aren't really interested in their school. Your essay should illustrate something about you beyond what's in the rest of your application. Try to write about a topic you haven't talked about elsewhere, or take a different angle on it.

A college essay is not a resume —it's the best opportunity to show off your unique personality to admissions committees. Pick your topic accordingly. The best topics are usually the narrowest ones: essays focused on a single interaction, a single phrase, or a single object. The more specific you can get, the more unique your topic will be to you.

Lots of people have tried out for a school play, for example, but each had their own particular experience of doing so. One student saw trying out for the role of Hamlet as the culmination of many years of study and hard work and was devastated not to get it, while another was simply proud to have overcome her nerves enough to try out for the chorus line in West Side Story.

These would make for very different essays, even though they're on basically the same topic. Another benefit of a specific topic is that it makes coming up with supporting details much easier. Specific, sensory details make the reader feel as if they're seeing the experience through your eyes, giving them a better sense of who you are. General: I was nervous as I waited for my turn to audition. Specific: As I waited for my name to be called, I tapped the rhythm of "America" on the hard plastic chair, going through the beats of my audition song over and over in my head.

The first version could be written by almost anyone; the second version has a specific perspective—it's also intriguing and makes you want to know more. The more specific your essay topic is, the more clearly your unique voice will come through and the more engaging your essay will be. Now that we've established the basic ideas you need to keep in mind as you brainstorm, let's go through the Common App essay questions one at a time and break down what admissions committees are looking for in responses.

Keep in mind that for each of these questions, there are really two parts. The first is describing something you did or something that happened to you. The second is explaining what that event, action, or activity means to you. No essay is complete without addressing both sides of the topic. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. This prompt is very broad. Is there something you do or love, or something that happened to you, that isn't reflected elsewhere in your application but that you feel is vital to your personal story?

Then this prompt could be a good one for you. The key is that whatever you write about needs to be genuinely important to you personally, not just something you think will look good to the admissions committee. You need to clarify why this story is so important that you couldn't leave it off your application. This question is really about showing admissions officers how your background has shaped you. Can you learn and grow from your experiences? By identifying an experience or trait that is vital to your story, you're also showing what kind of person you see yourself as. Do you value your leadership abilities or your determination to overcome challenges?

Your intellectual curiosity or your artistic talent? Everyone has more than one important trait, but in answering this prompt, you're telling admissions officers what you think is your most significant quality. You could write about almost anything for this prompt: an unexpected interest, a particularly consuming hobby, a part of your family history, or a life-changing event. Make sure to narrow in on something specific, though. You don't have room to tell your whole life story!

Your topic can be serious or silly, as long as it's important to you. Just remember that it needs to showcase a deeper quality of yours. For example, if I were writing an essay on this topic, I would probably write about my life-long obsession with books. I'd start with a story about how my parents worried I read too much as a kid, give some specific examples of things I've learned from particular books, and talk about how my enthusiasm for reading was so extreme it sometimes interfered with my actual life like the time I tripped and fell because I couldn't be bothered to put down my book long enough to walk from my room to the kitchen. Then I would tie it all together by explaining how my love of reading has taught me to look for ideas in unexpected places. You don't want your essay to read like a resume: it shouldn't be a list of accomplishments.

Your essay needs to add something to the rest of your application, so it also shouldn't focus on something you've already covered unless you have a really different take on it. In addition, try to avoid generic and broad topics: you don't want your essay to feel as though it could've been written by any student. As I touched on above, one way to avoid this problem is to be very specific —rather than writing generally about your experience as the child of immigrants, you might tell a story about a specific family ritual or meaningful moment. The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success.

Recount an incident or time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? This prompt is pretty straightforward. It's asking you to describe a challenge or obstacle you faced or a time you failed, and how you dealt with it. The part many students forget is the second half: what lessons did you learn from your challenge or failure? If you take on this question, you must show how you grew from the experience and, ideally, how you incorporated what you learned into other endeavors.

This question really raises two issues: how you handle difficult situations and whether you're capable of learning from your mistakes. You'll face a lot of challenges in college, both academic and social. In addressing this prompt, you have the opportunity to show admissions officers that you can deal with hardships without just giving up. You also need to show that you can learn from challenges and mistakes. Can you find a positive lesson in a negative experience? Colleges want to see an example of how you've done so. Good topics will be specific and have a clearly explained impact on your perspective. You need to address both parts of the question: the experience of facing the challenge and what you learned from it. Make sure you pick an actual failure or challenge—don't turn your essay into a humblebrag.

How you failed at procrastination because you're just so organized or how you've been challenged by the high expectations of teachers at school because everyone knows you are so smart are not appropriate topics. Also, don't write about something completely negative. Your response needs to show that you got something out of your challenge or failure and that you've learned skills you can apply to other situations.

Spilling your coffee is not an appropriate failure, no matter how disastrous it may feel. Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome? There are two ways to approach this question. The first is to talk about a time you questioned a person or group on an idea of theirs. The second is to talk about a time that something caused you to reconsider a belief of your own. In either case, you need to explain why you decided the belief should be challenged, what you actually did —if your story is just that someone gave you a new piece of information and you changed your mind, you should probably find a different topic— and how you feel about your actions in hindsight.

The obvious question this prompt raises is what your values are and whether you're willing to stand up for what you believe. Whether you've reconsidered your own beliefs or asked others to reconsider theirs, it shows you've put genuine thought into what you value and why. However, colleges also want to see that you're open minded and able to be fair and kind toward those who have different beliefs than you do.

Can you question someone else's beliefs without belittling them? If not, don't choose this prompt. This prompt is really one where you either have a relevant story or you don't. If there's a belief or idea that's particularly important to you, whether political or personal, this might be a good question for you to address. The main pitfall with this question is that it lends itself to very abstract answers. It's not that interesting to read about how you used to believe chocolate is the best ice cream flavor but then changed your mind and decided the best flavor is actually strawberry.

Seriously, though, what is wrong with you!? Make sure there's clear conflict and action in your essay. Divisive political issues, such as abortion and gun rights, are tricky to write about although not impossible because people feel very strongly about them and often have a hard time accepting the opposite viewpoint. In general, I would avoid these kinds of topics unless you have a highly compelling story. Also, keep in mind that most people who work at colleges are liberal, so if you have a conservative viewpoint, you'll need to tread more carefully. Regardless of what you're writing about, don't assume that the reader shares your views. Finally, you want to avoid coming off as petty or inflexible , especially if you're writing about a controversial topic.

It's great to have strong beliefs, but you also want to show that you're open to listening to other people's perspectives, even if they don't change your mind. Reflect on something that someone had done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you? The first part is straightforward: describe a time someone did something positive for you that made you happy or thankful in a surprising way.

So it can't have been something you expected to happen i. Next, you need to explain how that surprising gratitude affected or motivated you. So, what was the result of this positive feeling? How did you keep it going? This prompt helps admissions officers see both what your expectations are for certain situations and how you react when things go differently than expected. Did you take it in stride when you were pleasantly surprised? Were you too shocked to speak? What about the situation wasn't what you were expecting? Additionally, it shows them what you personally are grateful for. Gratitude is an important personal characteristic to have. What in life makes you thankful and happy?

Your answer will show admissions officers a lot about what you value and how you think. Finally—and this is the key part—they want to know the larger impact of this gratitude. Did you decide to pay it forward? When something good happens to you, how do you react? Because this is a reflection prompt, it's a great way to show admissions officers the kind of person you are and what you value. You'll have a lot of surprising moments, both good and bad, in college, and they want to know how you deal with them and how you spread the happiness you come across. The "unexpected" part is key. You need to choose a situation where things didn't go the way you expected. So if your uncle, who has always been a great mentor, gives you great advice, that likely won't work because you'd be expecting it.

Next, it had to have had some sort of real impact so you can explain how your gratefulness affected you. This means that, even if the event itself was small, it had to have brought about some sort of lasting change in how you live your life. Remember, this has to be, overall, a positive situation, as you're being asked about an event that made you happy or grateful. This is in contrast to prompts 2 and 3 which focus more on challenges you've faced. Once you have your list, eliminate any instances that didn't affect or motivate you. The key part of this prompt is explaining the impact of your gratitude, so you need to write about a time when gratitude made you do something you normally wouldn't have done. Colleges want to see how you changed because of this event.

For example, say you decide to write about your first time traveling through an airport alone. You're not sure where to go, and all the workers look busy and like they're just waiting for their break. You're wandering around, lost, too shy to ask someone for help, when a gruff-looking employee comes up and asks if you need something. When you admit you don't know how to find your gate, they take the time to walk you to it, show you which screen to watch so you know when to board, and tell you to come get them if you need any more help.

It's much more help than you thought anyone would give you. Because of that person's actions and this is the key part , you now always keep an eye out for people who look lost or confused and try to help them because you know how intimidating it can be to be out of your depth. You also know that many times people feel embarrassed to ask for help, so you need to make the first move to help them. If you have a specific example of you helping someone in need as a result, including that will make the essay even stronger. Avoid scenarios where you were the first person to help another. The prompt is asking about a time someone was kind to you, and then you reacted in response to that.

You need to have the grateful moment first, then the change in behavior. Additionally, avoid examples where someone treated you badly but you rose above it. This is a situation where someone was kind to you, and you decided to keep that kindness going. Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. Like Prompt 1, this one is very general. It's asking you to talk about something you did or something that happened that caused you to grow or mature as a person. The other key point to remember when addressing this question is that you need to explain how this event changed or enriched your understanding of yourself or other people.

In short: when and how have you grown as a person? Personal growth and maturity are complicated issues. Your essay might touch on themes such as personal responsibility and your role in the world and your community. You don't have to explain your whole worldview, but you need to give readers a sense of why this particular event caused significant growth for you as a person. This prompt can also help you show either your own sense of self-concept or how you relate to others. Much like Prompt 3, this question likely either appeals to you or doesn't. Nonetheless, here are some potential topics:.

It's important that your topic describes a transition that led to real positive growth or change in you as a person. However, personal growth is a gradual process, and you can definitely still approach this topic if you feel you have more maturing to do. Fun fact: most adults feel they have more maturing to do, too! Just focus on a specific step in the process of growing up and explain what it meant to you and how you've changed. Almost any topic could theoretically make a good essay about personal growth, but it's important that the overall message conveys maturity.

If the main point of your essay about junior prom is that you learned you look bad in purple and now you know not to wear it, you'll seem like you just haven't had a lot of meaningful growth experiences in your life. You also want the personal growth and new understanding s you describe in your essay to be positive in nature. If the conclusion of your essay is "and that's how I matured and realized that everyone in the world is terrible," that's not going to work very well with admissions committees, as you'll seem pessimistic and unable to cope with challenges.

Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. In fact, just one year and a half ago, I found myself on a plane to San Francisco to pursue a degree in business at San Francisco State University. As I reflected on the things that I was going to miss during my years in college, I thought of how much I had enjoyed those Christmas dinners. The world would start spinning again when she would pick me up at 12 pm. I would be so delighted to see her and run to hold her hand.

We would then walk home talking about my day at school and what I would like to eat for dinner. By the time she would pick me up from school, she would have a plastic bag of small groceries for us at home. The trip I am about to talk about introduced me to a world of new information and adventures. June 21st, ; the day I was going on my first trip out of the country. No parents or siblings to look over my shoulders. Of course, there were chaperones because it was a school trip, but the sense of freedom was still there. On the drive to the airport, I was beginning to feel a little nervous due to not knowing anyone that would be on this trip with me besides my teacher.

I did not have to do anything because family just always spent the best for me. Until that day, i decided to study abroad and United States was my choice. Have you ever thought about living a brand new country without relatives or anyone could take care of you? Although it happened almost 4 years ago, i still remember that. One day, my parents talked to my brothers and me about moving to United States. The idea upset me, and I started to think about my life in Mexico. Everything I knew—my friends, family, and school for the past twenty years—was going to change. My father left first to find a decent job, an apartment. The day was finally here. The plane ride did not seem as long as it was; partly because I was lost in my own thoughts with hopes and anxiety. I thought about what I will become in this massive country I was headed and how soon I will adapt to this new culture and people.

Every bits of hope I had faded as we drove to our new house after the plane landed. Home Page Moving To America. Moving To America Good Essays. Open Document. Essay Sample Check Writing Quality. I walked around unsteadily all day like a lost baby, far away from its pack. Surrounded by unfamiliar territory and uncomfortable weather, I tried to search for any signs of similarities with my previous country. I roamed around from place to place and moved along with the day, wanting to just get away and go back home. This was my first day in the United States of America. A few months before all of this I was pleased with my calm life in a local city of Taiwan. I settled there at the age of two with my family, and things were going well so far.

Because I lived there for ten years, the longest time that I ever spent living in one place, I had made really good friends and was not looking forward to any significant changes although my mom had told me a long time ago, we might move to USA to settle with our uncle and grandma. My mom also told me that the other reason we move is for a better education and life there but I was not listening at that time.

I thought she was just joking around because my brother and I have always expected to have a vacation to other countries. By the time I finished my first year of middle school I knew that this was nearly impossible. My family was already packing up, cleaning out the house, and reserving four airplane tickets to USA. The day that I discovered my parents' future plans was one that seemed like a normal day for a twelve-year old. I got up, had my breakfast, and then proceeded to hang around with my friends. Later on that day I went out to play basketball at the school along with my older brother.

After we went home, my mom was making dinner and talking to our uncle. After my mom finished the call, she tried to casually approach me and then said in Taiwanese,? Judy, we are moving i