COA Poster Final

Put Your Mind Over Matter (College Essay Rough Draft)

     "Hakuna Matata." A saying I learned as a kid while growing up and lived by ever since. It means no worries, in Swahili. I learned it from a 1994 Disney movie, "The Lion King". And so far, it's brought me really far in life. Whenever someone I do or don't know looks like they're having a rough day, I would always say it in an ecstatic and merry voice to them. And what do I say when they ask what it means? Exactly what it means. No worries. Why? Because life is too short for you to live and have fun. Every second you spend worrying about something is a second wasted on. I remember back in freshman year cringing at the course 'Physical Education' as I wasn't physically active back then. Right when I saw those two words, the only thing I could think about was running, running, and more running.

     It was one day where the whole class was going to be tested on the mile run. Which was supposed to be ran under a maximum of ten minutes. And being me, I was internally crying and bawling my non-existent tears out because it was part of our grade. But as the saying goes, the show must go on. So I stood there, behind the line that I’m supposed to cross four times in order to pass the activity, or as I like to call it, torture. The only thing  that crossed my mind at that time were hopes of my PE teacher believing that I miraculously got diagnosed with exercise induced anaphylaxis before he yelled ‘GO’.  But it didn't happen.

    So when he started the timer and yelled ‘GO’, I immediately tuned out everything. My surroundings, my negative thoughts, the people in front of me, everything. Then I started running. I mean yeah, I noticed everyone was at least ten yards ahead of me, but I didn't think about it. The only thing I didn’t tune out was the saying. Hakuna Matata. I kept repeating it over and over in my head because I came to realize that it’s not how fast or how slow you go to complete the test. It’s the amount of effort you put in the exercise. I finally grasped onto the idea that it wasn’t just a game to see who was the fastest; it was a way of promoting physical fitness throughout the US. So what was there to be worried about?

    So I managed to finish the mile in ten minutes and forty three seconds. And other than being glad about just finishing the activity itself, I was beaming at the thought that made and helped me get through it. The thought that is tattooed to my skull to not worry about a thing.

    As you can see, I'm one to learn through experiences to show my character and what I can do for myself. I always try to think of the up sides of things so I don't have to worry about the small things because of the saying that I live by. Not my endurance in athletics. And now my record of mile runs hang on my wall. It shows to me that I shouldn't think of the bad sides that make me worry a lot, it's the amount of effort that's needed for the game.

College Prompts (3)

University of Washington

A. Personal Statement (Required)

The Personal Statement is our best means of getting to know you and your best means of creating a context for your academic performance. When you write your personal statement, tell us about those aspects of your life that are not apparent from your academic record. Tell us about the experiences that don’t show up on your transcript:

• a character-defining moment,
• the cultural awareness you’ve developed,
• a challenge faced,
• a personal hardship or barrier overcome.

Directions

Choose either A or B. Please do not exceed 650 words.

A. Discuss how your family’s experience or cultural history enriched you or presented you with opportunities or challenges in pursuing your educational goals.

OR

B. Tell us a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it.

Tips

• Some of the best statements are written as personal stories. We welcome your imaginative interpretation.
• You may define experience broadly. For example, in option B, experience could be a meeting with an influential person, a news story that spurred you to action, a family event, or something that might be insignificant to someone else that had particular meaning for you. If you don’t think that any one experience shaped your character, don’t worry. Simply choose an experience that tells us something about you.

California State University, Fullerton

UNIVERSITY HONORS PROGRAM APPLICATION
for Transfer Students
Please provide typed responses for sections B – D below.
B. Educational and Career Goals
Describe your short term and long term educational and career goals. What do you intend to accomplish during your time at CSUF? What educational and career goals do you intend to pursue after you graduate from CSUF?
C. Essays
Please respond to one of the essay prompts below:

• Provide an essay of your most significant academic or personal achievement.
  
• What idea or concept introduced in a college-level course have you found to be the most intellectually stimulating? Briefly describe the idea or concept and explain how and why it has influenced you.
  
• What book or other creative work has made the greatest impact on your intellectual development? D. Letters of Reference
  Provide the name, title and school and/or organization of the persons providing your two 
• reference letters.
• E. Transcripts
  Include copies of transcripts from all post-secondary institutions and Titan Degree Audit. (Unofficial transcripts will be accepted.)
  Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please send all application materials to University Honors Program, California State University, Fullerton, PO Box 6830, Fullerton, CA. 92834-6830.
  APPLICATION CHECKLIST Please submit all required materials together
  General information (page 1)
  College coursework (Section A)
  Typed responses (Section B-D)
  2 Reference Letters (Section D)
  High school transcript & Titan Degree Audit (Section E) 

University of California, Los Angeles

Prompt #1
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.
Prompt #2
Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?
Following the personal statement, there’s a section called Additional Comments. Use this space — up to 550 words — to tell us anything you want us to know about you that you don’t have the opportunity to describe elsewhere in the application.