熊二的申请essay

来源: wzg69 于 2022-03-13 16:10:05 [档案] [博客] [旧帖] [给我悄悄话] 本文已被阅读：次 (4581 bytes)

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学校后一半的学生，属于后进向上型的，希望博得AO一点同情，不知道录取中有没有起到帮助作用。他英文一般，自己写的基本没找人修改。（其实我们没有push他学习）

essay prompt：The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

There is a certain phrase I encountered as I grew up, it goes “A is for Average, B is for Bad, C is for Catastrophic, and D is for Disowned”, a phrase used often to describe the intense pressure that many students face be it from family or friends. This is a phrase that I greatly despise.

When I was younger, my mother and father would always compare me to my older brother and family friends. It was always, “Timmy’s mother told me her son got a 1570 on their SAT,” or “your brother when he was your age got all A’s, so why can’t you be more like him.” I would also be scolded whenever I came home with anything other than perfection. I wasn’t safe from this pressure even at school. The schools in my area are sort of famous for rigorous standards and peer pressure for high GPA.

At my school, there was constant discussion about test scores, each other’s SAT scores, and how many AP classes they’re taking. It was suffocating, and yet I still thought it was normal and even accepted it as a way of life. Every test, project, and homework was a matter of life or death, the difference between going to an Ivy League college and failing school, at least according to my parents.

I remembered one time losing sleep days before a test due to the test determining whether or not I would get an A in that class. I would end up severely sleep deprived the day of the test and not do well, resulting in not getting that A. I remember planning which assignments I had to get an A on in order to maintain my grades. I also remember having to forgo many extra curricular activities in order to study and take private lessons. By the time I realized I was unnecessarily comparing myself to others and looking down on myself, I had already bought into the sick idea that grades determined one’s worth.

When I stopped needlessly chasing after the goals of others, it was as if a heavy weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I no longer compared myself to people I was not. Now that test scores and AP classes of others no longer mattered, the only person I needed to worry about was myself.

I now have a much more balanced life, no longer chasing the shadows of my brother and friends and looking down on myself. Grades and test scores no longer mattered and I was more free than ever before. I developed many hobbies over these past few years in computers, programming, and 3D design. My grades have also improved in several classes due to less stress and more sleep. Paradoxically, worrying less about my worth has improved it drastically.

In the end, test scores and grades do not measure your worth and should not be the end all be all. What matters most is that you tried your best and put in your best effort. A is not for Average, B is not for Bad, C is not for Catastrophic, and D is not for Disowned, a grade is just a grade, it measures neither your future success nor your self worth. Comparing yourself to others does nothing but give pressure and self loathing. The only metric you can compete against is yourself.