College Essay
Colleges Where I am Applying
University of Hawaii at Manoa
UC Boulder
University of Washington
UC Santa Barbra
Prompt: Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?
Have you ever looked closely at sand? As your eyes focus on the tiny particles, thousands of colors and patterns start to form. Delicate pinks and purples stand out against the beige, the smooth, microscopic surfaces shine like the silky insides of the shells from which they came. Different shapes start to form the longer you stare; some flat, others perfectly round. The tiny pieces are caught in churning waves for years, eroded until they become so small they are recognized as one entity. It only takes one person to see all the different colors, to notice the intricate stories of each minute spec. Some pieces comprised a sea creature's home, some lined the ocean floor, others briefly belonged to the hands of a little girl, before being tossed back into the swell.
It was simple, natural even, for me to think of myself as just another human. In a world bustling with seven billion people, the life of one girl rarely stands out among a million other faces. My incapacity to see the uniquities and depth present in everyone and everything led to a rather primitive understanding of life. The thought that life only exists to be born and then die a tiny insignificant being, incapable of making change, led to a dreary view of myself and the people in my life. My friendships were shallow and fleeting, my attitude at home hostile and uninterested, and my demeanor at school, sketchy at best. I oversimplified my life and found little passion and happiness in minor, everyday pleasures. When my point of view shifted, I discovered a world full of complex beauty. This shifted mindset propelled me to see the splendor and purpose of the smallest things, things I used to view as trivial; as this change occurred my happiness began to flourish
Perhaps my recent appreciation of these tiny granules grew from the feeling that I myself am like a grain of sand. All humans each possess their own elaborate story - each history so ornate I cannot begin to understand the moments they’ve experienced that have led to the person they are today. I have been shaped by the churning waves of life, each blow smoothing my ridges and shining my surface. I can’t quite put my finger on what changed, maybe the complexity of my journey altered my own mindset. All I know is that when my point of view developed, I saw that I am anything but an insignificant particle jumbled together with a population of duplicates. I now notice that every individual is formed by the waves they have been pummeled by, the beaches they have rested on, the colors they have polished, and the shapes that have been made into.
I have assimilated into society like the fragmented shells that pile together but I have not lost my vibrant hue. My mindset changed from one of insignificance to knowing that we are all one grain of sand on a beach and although we make up one human existence, we each shine with our own different colors, shapes, and journeys. It takes someone like you, college admissions officer, to pick up a handful of sand and search for the pieces that stand out. My gleaming pink surface can be seen if you just look a little closer.
University of Hawaii at Manoa
UC Boulder
University of Washington
UC Santa Barbra
Prompt: Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?
Have you ever looked closely at sand? As your eyes focus on the tiny particles, thousands of colors and patterns start to form. Delicate pinks and purples stand out against the beige, the smooth, microscopic surfaces shine like the silky insides of the shells from which they came. Different shapes start to form the longer you stare; some flat, others perfectly round. The tiny pieces are caught in churning waves for years, eroded until they become so small they are recognized as one entity. It only takes one person to see all the different colors, to notice the intricate stories of each minute spec. Some pieces comprised a sea creature's home, some lined the ocean floor, others briefly belonged to the hands of a little girl, before being tossed back into the swell.
It was simple, natural even, for me to think of myself as just another human. In a world bustling with seven billion people, the life of one girl rarely stands out among a million other faces. My incapacity to see the uniquities and depth present in everyone and everything led to a rather primitive understanding of life. The thought that life only exists to be born and then die a tiny insignificant being, incapable of making change, led to a dreary view of myself and the people in my life. My friendships were shallow and fleeting, my attitude at home hostile and uninterested, and my demeanor at school, sketchy at best. I oversimplified my life and found little passion and happiness in minor, everyday pleasures. When my point of view shifted, I discovered a world full of complex beauty. This shifted mindset propelled me to see the splendor and purpose of the smallest things, things I used to view as trivial; as this change occurred my happiness began to flourish
Perhaps my recent appreciation of these tiny granules grew from the feeling that I myself am like a grain of sand. All humans each possess their own elaborate story - each history so ornate I cannot begin to understand the moments they’ve experienced that have led to the person they are today. I have been shaped by the churning waves of life, each blow smoothing my ridges and shining my surface. I can’t quite put my finger on what changed, maybe the complexity of my journey altered my own mindset. All I know is that when my point of view developed, I saw that I am anything but an insignificant particle jumbled together with a population of duplicates. I now notice that every individual is formed by the waves they have been pummeled by, the beaches they have rested on, the colors they have polished, and the shapes that have been made into.
I have assimilated into society like the fragmented shells that pile together but I have not lost my vibrant hue. My mindset changed from one of insignificance to knowing that we are all one grain of sand on a beach and although we make up one human existence, we each shine with our own different colors, shapes, and journeys. It takes someone like you, college admissions officer, to pick up a handful of sand and search for the pieces that stand out. My gleaming pink surface can be seen if you just look a little closer.