College Essay Prompt

3 College essay prompts

Option #1- Berkeley University: Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.

Option #2- Point Loma Nazarene University: Convey a message about yourself, and help set your application apart! You may write, draw, use photographs, or employ other means of communication to tell us something further about yourself. Feel free to be creative – your only limitation is that your piece must lay flat in a 9 x 12 envelope. Don’t forget your full name, and please note that optional pieces cannot be returned.

Option #3- Rice University: The quality of Rice’s academic life and the Residential College System are heavily influenced by the unique life experiences and cultural traditions each student brings. What perspective do you feel that you will contribute to life at Rice? (Most applicants are able to respond
successfully in two to three double-spaced pages.)

Coming of Age Final

            So there’s this girl who didn’t play kickball with everyone during recess because she’d rather be doing some extra credit assignment she had volunteered to do or she was too busy reading the newest addition of National Geographic magazine. That was her idea of fun. While others surrounded themselves with friends and the latest fashions, she was perfectly content with the comforts of her studies, learning was the highest of her passions. Her success in school and the never-ending enhancement of her intelligence was what she had valued most. She thought of her mind as if it was a library. A library that was under constant renovation, constant improvement. It was her responsibility to fill the library with an overflowing amount of books and knowledge. She felt as if she had more books in her library than most of the other kids at her school, and she was proud of that. She was exceptionally smart, she was the “nerd” with few friends, but she was happy. Up until middle school, that had been my whole life. I was the girl who loved science instead of shoes, read scholastic catalogs instead of magazines. 

            When my elementary school days came to end, things started to change, starting with my address. After living in North Carolina, stranded in the country for way longer  than I would deem healthy, 5 years to be exact, I moved here to Hawaii. Getting out of the cornfields was one of the most exciting things that has ever happened to me, I was thrilled. For the first two years in Hawaii, I was homeschooled. Those two years I felt as if I was sheltered from the rest of civilization, I didn’t have many friends, didn’t get out much. So without much to say about my middle school years, it was pretty uneventful. But middle school also came without transition. 

            Going from a small home schooling environment to a public high school with over two-thousand students, I had no idea what to expect. And the best image of high school I had put together in my head was a compilation of High School Musical and Hannah Montana, if that tells you anything about my cluelessness coming into high school. I came into high school with an all too much naive perspective on how it was supposed to be. I was expecting cheery teenagers that would all get along tremendously well, and they’d all be into getting good grades and I could go on with a long list of completely unrealistic expectations I had of high school. In short I was very unprepared for what was to come. 

            The first day of my freshman year, my mom dropped me off at 8:05, not too early, but early enough to wander around campus completely unaware as to what to do or what any of this was. I was so overwhelmed with the amount of people surrounding me, I felt afraid and excited at the same time, and I didn’t know which feeling to act off of. I didn’t know how to act around all these people, or how to talk to them. Basically, the first couple months of my freshman year were some of the most awkward, uncomfortable, and clueless months I’ve had. Being on the outside, I saw everyone with their friends; they knew where to go and who they were going to be with. Still wandering alone during breaks, I started to feel the loneliest I’ve ever felt. Along with the feeling of loneliness, I also experienced a huge loss of motivation. I used to be able to study all day and all night for a test, and suddenly it was hard for me to even turn in my home work on time. 

            Half way into the year, people had begun to tell I wasn’t being myself. My self-esteem had hit rock-bottom, I distanced myself from a lot of things I was previously highly involved with. My parents would constantly have their concerned conversations with me, informing me of my poor decisions, telling me how much better I can do. Even some of my closest friends would talk to me about how I wasn’t being myself. I had tried so hard that year to be like everyone else, tried so hard to conform to the majority. Being myself was completely out of the question at that point, I mean we all know where the nerds end up, you can see them playing ninja in front of the school library. Anyways, I had somehow gathered the notion that my nerdy ways, along with my other odd attributes, were faults, and I made it a mission to be less like me and more like other people. The year had been filled with many mistakes on my part, and I was long due for a summer break.

            The first week of summer had been nothing but a long stay-cation in my bed. But there was something to come in the second week of summer that was going to impact me a lot more than I expected it to. HiPac teen camp 2013, a church camp my denomination hosts every summer. I had gone to the camp the previous year, and at the time I honestly didn't think it lived up to the hype everyone was claiming it to be. But this year's camp went beyond any of the expectations I had. A week being surrounded by the serenity of nature and some of the best and most genuine people, it was just what I needed. Part of the overall message of the camp was overcoming some of the obstacles that can get in the way of your goals and knowing what'll help get you there. Part of what the speaker spoke of was the effect you allow people to  have on you. I remember being in the sanctuary, everyone's attention was focused on Pastor Cory. From the people crying with their heads down at the alter, to the people in the back, you could feel the sense of unity in the air. And I came to several realizations. 

            As he was talking and giving his sermon, I realized that nothing is waiting for me. Time is not going stop and wait for me to get better, for me to get back on my toes. Everything is continuing on, without me. And it’s my responsibility to get back where I was with things and get over being sad. It’s my future. All this time I had been giving others so much of myself, trying so hard to please and be like them. But if I was going to make something great out of what’s to come, I might as well be me. Other people and there opinions aren’t going to get me where I need to be, and it was time I stopped holding onto other’s thoughts of me. 

            After camp, I felt dedicated and motivated to get back on track. After realizing so many of these things, I was ready to make a change in my ways and attitude. I became more confident in who I was, I didn’t feel the need to change for anyone anymore. A couple weeks past, and school started. It hasn’t been much time, so there’s not an ample amount of evidence to my change, but I can’t wait to add more to the list. I don’t procrastinate like I did last year, I’m working so much harder to do well in everything I do. I’m getting more involved with things I really enjoy, and more involved with school. After last year, I’m ready to bring back the books and the hard work, and get back on track. Because after all, my future is up to me, and I better do something good with that. 

Coming of Age Draft

           So there’s this girl who didn’t play kickball with everyone during recess because she’d rather be doing some extra credit assignment she had volunteered to do or she was too busy reading the newest addition of National Geographic magazine. That was her idea of fun. While others surrounded themselves with friends and the latest fashions, she was perfectly content with the comforts of her studies, learning was the highest of her passions. Her success in school and the never-ending enhancement of her intelligence was what she had valued most.

           She thought of her mind as if it was a library. A library that was under constant renovation, constant improvement. It was her responsibility to fill the library with an overflowing amount of books and knowledge. She felt as if she had more books in her library than most of the other kids at her school, and she was proud of that. She was exceptionally smart, she was the “nerd” with few friends, but she was happy. Up until middle school, that had been my whole life. I was the girl who loved science instead of shoes, read scholastic catalogs instead of magazines. 

           When my elementary school days came to end, things started to change, starting with my address. After living in North Carolina, stranded in the country for way longer  than I would deem healthy, 5 years to be exact, I moved here to Hawaii. Getting out of the cornfields was one of the most exciting things that has ever happened to me, I was thrilled. For the first two years in Hawaii, I was homeschooled. Those two years I felt as if I was sheltered from the rest of civilization, I didn’t have many friends, didn’t get out much. So without much to say about my middle school years, it was pretty uneventful. But middle school also came without transition. 

           Going from a small home schooling environment to a public high school with over two-thousand students, I had no idea what to expect. And the best image of high school I had put together in my head was a compilation of High School Musical and Hannah Montana, if that tells you anything about my cluelessness coming into high school. I came into high school with an all too much naive perspective on how it was supposed to be. I was expecting cheery teenagers that would all get along tremendously well, and they’d all be into getting good grades and I could go on with a long list of completely unrealistic expectations I had of high school. In short I was very unprepared for what was to come.

           

Writing Position Statements

3 Position Statements

1. Tourist deaths at local attractions are the state’s fault because there was a lack of signs posted, they weren’t posted around other potentially hazardous areas, and if there were signs, they weren’t adequately maintained to warn visitors. 

2. Tourists are responsible for their safety when visiting hazardous attractions because; signs have previously been placed in various sights and attractions only to be ignored, the state can not be held responsible for any lack of common sense on the person’s behalf, and it’s impossible for the state to know every hazardous point of every attraction, it’s the tourist’s responsibility to know which points to avoid. 

3. In Hawaii there are many incidents at tourist attractions but both sides are at fault because there are a lack of signs on the governments part, tourists should use common sense, and tourist services like Triple A should have warnings about attractions.

Mini Essay

          Though the amount of fatal accidents that occur in the state of Hawaii's main attractions are few, they are still very real and tragic. Millions of tourists come to Hawaii seeking new adventures and thrills, and much of them flock to the many outdoor sites and attractions that Hawaii possesses. Some of these adventurous locations can be hazardous, and there's controversy over who is responsible for the safety of the visitors that visit these dangerous sites, the state or the visitors themselves.

          The responsibility of the safety of Hawaii’s tourists should not be completely placed on the state of Hawaii and it’s departments, much of the tragic mishaps that occur in hazardous attractions are in large part due to the tourists themselves. Tourists are responsible for their safety when visiting hazardous attractions because; signs have previously been placed in various sights and attractions only to be ignored, the state can not be held responsible for any lack of common sense on the person’s behalf, and it’s impossible for the state to know every hazardous point of every attraction, it’s the tourist’s responsibility to know which points to avoid. In the island of Maui on Nakalele Point blowhole, occurred the disappearance of California resident, David Potts. In the parking lot of the site, there is a sign that reads "Blowhole: Park and walk at your own risk". Potts was dancing around the blowhole when a wave struck him from behind and took him into the hole. This goes to show the previous statement on the responsibility of tourist's safety is quite accurate, Potts was aware of the blowhole's danger, but he still chose to act recklessly in it's presence. After the incident, search teams returned to the site the same week and noticed that visitors "continued to gather around the blowhole, despite being told that someone in that same location just a few days ago". Though warnings and signs should be provided, in the end it is up to the individual whether they heed the warnings and act accordingly, or act unheedingly. 

          In the end, the safety of tourists lies in their own hands. It's their responsibility to have the right sense of judgement in the right time, the right place, or in Potts' case, the wrong place. The state should have signs placed at these locations, but the majority of the liability falls upon the tourists and their ability to make sensible decisions. 

As I come into a new year of high school, I'm coming ready and eager to further expand on what I had barely touched on last year, my goals of academic and scholastic growth. But this year is about more than just the books and extensive essay writing, its a time for me to go out and find myself; who I am, where I want to be, what I want to do. And that's where my new blog title came from, I am investigating my own juvenile self, searching for the who, what, when, where, and why's of myself and my life.

The revisions and changes I made to my blog are fairly simple. I went to a more simple background, went with simpler colors, added simpler fonts. The image I used for the header was a photo I took while I was hiking, and the font I selected in the header is a clean, fresh looking font that I think brings a little more to it all.

Thanks for stopping by!