College Essays

For me, the answer to the question, “Where is the limit of our responsibility in a situation like this?” is to accept that we may not always be able to achieve individual goals if we truly believe ourselves members of a village—a sisterhood. Reaching back and lifting up can rarely, if ever, be achieved without sacrificing our time, energy, money, or personal goals. Perhaps the best example begins in our household, where our parents have sacrificed many of their personal goals in the pursuit of family—of the village. Nowhere is this more evident than in my parents' support of my passion for dancing. While my parents are both professionals, the costs associated with dancing are huge. Not only have they made the financial sacrifice since taking my first dance class as an elementary school student, but they have never wavered in their support. No competition has been too far to go; there have never been too many performances to attend. In essence, their sacrifice has been selfless in the support of me as an individual, and in the support of our family as the village. I would imagine that many of the other sisters in the Spelman Honors Programs have similar stories of selfless sacrifice of their parents in the support of their hopes, dreams, and passions.Spelman College Honors Program

Playing basketball has been a lifelong passion, since picking up my first basketball. However, my passion for basketball was interrupted when I was diagnosed with spondylolisthesis, a spinal disorder in which a bone slips forward onto the bone below it. The condition was corrected through surgery and a six-month period of rehabilitation and dietary restrictions. Rather than wallowing in self-pity or sinking into a state of depression, I discovered another passion—gardening.NC A&T Dowdy Scholar

I only spoke Vietnamese until I entered preschool, where I acquired English as a second language. Over the next several years, with frequent transitions in our living situation, my parents who were non-English speakers worked in low-wage jobs—my mom as a nail technician and my dad, first as a server and then as a boat laminator. I embraced English and became a voracious reader, in part for personal enjoyment, but I also felt duty-bound to develop mastery of speaking and writing in English so that I could serve as the translator for my family—a role that I relish. Since entering school, together with my younger brother, I have spent each day after school and during winter, spring, and summer breaks in the nail salon until my dad picks us up on his way home. My mom has been my first and best example of strength and resilience. After working 10 hours at the nail salon, she arrives home and cooks until midnight for the next day. Until entering high school I shared her Sundays running errands, cleaning house, and grocery shopping. Whether at the nail salon or grocery shopping, I treasured our time together, during which I learned some of my greatest life lessons of perseverance, self-sacrifice, hard work, and developing a vision beyond today’s circumstances to tomorrow’s opportunities.Caltech

Faith, family, and service are the cobblestones paving my American journey. I developed a website offering translation services as an outreach for non-English speaking parents. I help girls and women discover their God-given radiance through an outreach ministry combining hairstyling and Bible Study. Like me, there are so many children at our church who lack academic support at home so I serve as role model, mentor, and tutor. I manage my hectic life through a commitment to routines. I assist my younger sisters and brothers with their schoolwork and homework as soon as I arrive home from cross country practice. I then go to church to tutor both neighborhood students and church members. Two nights a week and on Saturdays, I practice liturgical dance and create routines for the tambourine and other instruments. As a member of the varsity cross country team, I practice 3 days a week immediately after school. As much as the church is important to my spiritual health, running cross country is important to my mental health and physical conditioning. My cross country teammates have become an extension of my family, transcending race, culture, socioeconomic backgrounds, and religion. Williams College*

Nearing the end of the fifth grade, during a parent-teacher conference between my mother and my English teacher, my teacher told my mother that I was reading on a second-grade reading level. The look of sadness on my mother’s face crushed me. I found myself embracing my mother with tears flowing down my face and uncontrollably crying. I just kept repeating, “I’m sorry mama, I’m sorry.” Something happened to me during that meeting. I left the meeting determined to no longer allow the circumstances or my father’s death to serve as an excuse to fail, but as a motivator to excel. I started working with my English teacher before and after school each day to increase my reading skills. I subsequently entered the 6th grade with a mindset of never again being the source of my mother’s disappointment and never again excusing my own failures. Northeastern University Torch Scholar*

I developed a personal connection to the study of health sciences and neurological disorders as a result of my own diagnosis with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). I was dumbfounded with my diagnosis, but enthralled with the voluminous medical literature pertaining to ADHD. I read several pieces of informative material, cynically comparing my attributes and habits to the signs and symptoms of ADHD. I not only accepted my diagnosis, but felt an overwhelming sense of relief, and perhaps a bit of personal pride. Prior to having a clinical diagnosis, I had successfully developed many strategies and routines which had allowed me to achieve educational success despite having a condition infamous for disrupting academic careers. Admittedly, I was looking for anything to prove my doctor wrong—I didn’t find much. What I did find, however, was a plethora of fascinating information about the pathophysiology of ADHD.University of Richmond - Richmond Scholar

Growing up under the watchful care of my grandparents, I entered preschool in the sweltering Jamaican heat with 20 other students in a one-room classroom. Without a cafeteria, air conditioner, or lights, I sat each day in my striped uniform, red socks, and held a wooden pencil looking at the green chalkboard awaiting instructions with natural sunlight shining through the four windows amidst the noise of big ceiling fans. My teacher often wrote notes to my grandparents regarding my willingness to learn at such a young age with such pronouncements as, “I believe Jada will become a top academic student.” However, my Jamaican teacher’s belief in my ability would be questioned shortly after my arrival into the United States. I had no idea America is where I’d face my most significant challenge. NC A&T Cheatham-White Scholar*

Kathryn Lasky’s novel, “Lone Wolf,” describes the life of a wolf born with a splayed paw. While all wolves are born deaf and blind, the lone wolf with the sprayed paw, had dubious odds of surviving the harsh wilderness. Forced to leave the pack, the pup was found by a bear who taught him how to survive. She inspired the wolf’s own ingenuity and forced him to use his injured paw in situations that were uncomfortable and by most accounts, unimaginable. Throughout my life, I too, have been a ‘Lone Wolf.’ I was born with Brachial Plexus (or Erb’s Palsy)—an injury that occurs when the nerves in a baby’s upper arm are damaged as a result of complications during delivery. Since birth, I have been challenged with performing basic physical activities involving my arms and hands. Without assistance, I cannot raise my right arm above my head nor turn my wrist over to where my palm is facing upward. Genetically right-handed, I have forced my left hand to become my dominant hand. My earliest and most memorable challenges were playing sports. I was forced to bat left handed in baseball. While catching was a challenge, running down opposing players and tagging them out revealed the dichotomy of my physical condition—weak arms, strong legs. I also excelled in gymnastics where my inability to securely grab the uneven bars motivated me to master the balance beam where I could focus on balance and leg strength. Xavier University of Louisiana

As I continued to volunteer on the local level, I judged debaters with a familiar passion for debate. I realized that the true barrier for black women and other minorities in debate was not a difference in capability but rather a difference in resources. At my high school, I created and coached a team and utilized my Directed Study to create educational resources that will outlive my leadership. After hosting conversations between coaches and debaters on the Atlanta, national, and college circuit, I formally pitched a reform plan centered around increased access to higher levels of competition and equity in resources to the leadership of the Atlanta circuit. My propositions were incorporated into the Debate Bridge Program of which I am the youngest founding board member. $260,000 USC Debate Scholarship

The hashtag, “Black Lives Matter” has stimulated national, emotional, and oftentimes divisive conversations, however, it is the lesser known mantra, “Black Minds Matter” that keeps me up at night. While President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, provide a historic global example of the heights to which African-Americans can rise, politically, intellectually, and educationally, they are still viewed as ‘exceptions’ rather than the rule of black scholarly achievement. Despite attending racially-diverse public schools, I too, am considered an ‘exception’ by teachers and non-black classmates. Whether in my elementary school ‘Talented and Gifted’ classes, middle school advanced classes, or high school honors and AP classes, I have always found myself set apart from the general African-American student population in my Monday through Friday life. Each Saturday night, anticipating my weekly transformation keeps me awake. Each Sunday morning, as I walk through the doors of the Turner Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Marietta, Georgia, I enter a place where black lives, souls, service, and ‘minds’ matter. I am no longer the exception, but the rule. I am surrounded by exceptional black students in an environment where we are encouraged and celebrated for our spiritual, artistic, and intellectual gifts. Swarthmore Fly-in Program*

Diversity is important to me and the diversity of the UChicago community is amazing. During my brief campus visit, I met people from all over the world. I got to learn about amazing cultures and traditions of students from across the United States and across the globe. Some of my closest friends today are students that I have remained in contact with since attending the program. I love calling my friend in Saudi Arabia when I am eating lunch as he is getting ready for bed or texting my friend in England good morning when she’s been up for hours already. These are the types of experiences I want in life and with over 20% of the student body international students and over 25% of the student body ethic minorities, I know they will not be hard to find. I believe I am a perfect fit for UChicago. Not only can I see myself sitting in the red chairs outside of the John Crerar Library, but I can feel myself walking in the main quad struggling to find Pick Hall because nature has beautifully consumed the plaque with any identification of the building. While I believe that I have demonstrated leadership in both my school and community, I believe there is so much more for me to learn about leadership, advocacy, and making an impact in my community—albeit my home in St. Petersburg, Florida or across the globe. In this regard, as a historic producer of leaders, I believe UChicago is a place where I can hone my leadership skills as I make an impact on the UChicago community and draw from its many enriching opportunities. University of Chicago

Among the many topics of discussion, the most self reflective for me was “privilege.” As a black student, I have had many discussions about “white privilege,” however, I had never talked about “my privilege.” Privilege by definition is an advantage. While I felt comfortable talking about the advantages that whites have over blacks, it was not as comfortable talking about the advantages that wealthier blacks have over poorer blacks; or black students with two parents have over black students from single-parent households; or black students from households of parents with college degrees have over black students from households where neither parent has attended college. However, my immersion into the examination of privilege became so much deeper than black and white, but one which examined ethnic, gender, income, sexual preference, and so many areas of privilege and the associated injustice and marginalization of others. Through this enriching self-reflective and personally challenging experience, I emerged as a more socially conscious and humane person. I recognized that through my own actions or inactions, I was reinforcing inequitable systems, a culprit in the oppression of others, and a co-conspirator in furthering marginalized systems. As a black female, I had learned to recognize the inequities perpetrated against me, but failed to recognize, or accept, the inequities that I perpetrated against others. While “privilege” was my uncomfortable conversation, my week-long journey, one conversation followed by another, changed my view of the world and my place as a citizen of the world. Bowdoin College

From very early on, the days were filled with coloring books, nap times, animal cracker binges, and Elmo sing-along games. But most importantly, there was something that was so much more. Beyond the crayon splattered door of the playroom, there was a little girl with a dream. In her spare time, she sought her stuffed animal patients and would eagerly use her plastic glitter stethoscope to examine pertinent medical issues. Unknowingly at the time, it would drive a goal beyond the blanketed space of the playroom. For me, it was always there. Days spent on childhood playtime further alluded into a passion that extended more on a grand scale. Recognizing something that sparked my interest challenged me to discover the career, to solidify my interest. As the next years made its way through, several instances defined this passion. North Carolina A&T Honors College*

As the youngest member of my family, I became the embodiment of hope of a promising future for our family. Unable to comprehend English, I began my American journey at the Doris Henderson Newcomers School where I enrolled in the school's preparatory classes to learn English and to acclimate myself to the American academic system. After a year at the Newcomers School and during the second semester of the seventh grade, I transferred to a public middle school. Overwhelmed by the new changes, I was emotionally drained and often had difficulties with my classes. My frequent struggles with speaking English, resulted in incredulous comments from classmates, “Can you speak English?” As I retreated into an emotional shell, the comments became, “Are you mute?” During this difficult period of adjustment, my grades shifted up and down while my classroom participation was virtually nonexistent to avoid the curious questioning of my language. However, the beginning of the eighth grade brought many changes. My English proficiency had greatly improved. I could translate and interpret for my parents and I was no longer self-conscious about my difficulty in enunciating difficult English words. I eagerly participated in classroom discussions on my way to receiving my first straight ‘A’ progress report. While such a feat may have been common for others; for me, it was momentous. Obtaining A’s in all of my classes for the first time was symbolic of a successful transition into American life that lightened up my hope and inspired me to work even harder. With newly assured confidence, an entirely new chapter of my life began. I started to thrive for higher goals and endeavored to raise my personal, educational, and career aspirations even higher. Elon University Odyssey Scholar*