Once upon a time, there was an average kid. He was applying to colleges, but deadlines were approaching. Day after day he continued to slack off, thinking "there's a whole month left," but that month turned into 3 weeks, 2 and a half weeks, 2 weeks, and he still had not contacted everyone he needed for the applications. Time seemed to accelerate. Living just to see the weekend, he worried so much about his future, that he dreamed wacky dreams, stuff that looked like it came out of a drug induced haze. Senioritis already set in, uncaring for school, the day to day life he lived become his bread and butter. He no longer looked to the future much, much rather preferring living in the moment.

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.

Moving around the country has greatly impacted my world perspective, which, in turn, has molded my ambitions and life aspirations. Born in Troy, Michigan, I didn’t have enough time to relish a childhood there or even in its weather antithesis Phoenix, Arizona. After bouncing around in California, I finally found my adolescence in Thousand Oaks and San Diego where I spent six and three years respectively with a steady group of friends and a strong community. During that time, the opportunities and challenges I discovered and defeated assisted in forging my career interests in becoming a scientist.
Growing up in Asian dominated communities, I struggled to keep pace with my friends who had set extremely high standards. The pressure to do well in academics mounted every year as college drew near, and as such, I selected many challenging courses for my high school curriculum, and still continue to challenge myself in academics, in order to stay in the competition and in a “respectable” position as an Asian who was supposed to do well in everything.
Coming to San Diego in my sophomore year, I was introduced to the wonderful world of molecular manipulation and in depth studies of the universe’s base elements. The most difficult course of the school in the opinion of every student of the class, AP Chemistry became my favorite class because of its demanding nature and the exacting teacher. Applying science to real world situations every week became the most exciting thing I had ever done in school, and I quickly became an avid fan of setting up situations in my everyday life just like the chemistry lab from “last week”. My interest piqued, I participated in the Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair in 2008 with help from a UCSD professor. Attempting to engineer nanobarcodes by electroplating, I found that I loved applying chemistry in ways that I had never seen before in school and that researching on my own put a further fired up my enthusiasm for the subject.
My physics teacher also played an important role in shaping my passion and understanding of the sciences. A former university professor at UCSD, he mentored my class and me in the importance of making the right decision, doing everything to the best of my ability, and always working hard no matter what the circumstances. Inspired by Mr. Harvie’s eloquent speeches about current and past history and impressed by his knowledge base, I strive to put my teacher’s lessons to heart, whether in the sciences or other areas of interest. Rather than taking difficult classes because my friends expect me to, I pursue difficult classes because they make me stronger, and through that strengthening, I can impart my strength to others just as my physics professor has to me.
My experiences maturing into a man through my community and my school have enabled my passion for chemistry and beyond. I particularly enjoy practical sciences and their application in everyday life. Although biochemistry is an extremely demanding path to follow, I believe that its rewards are worth the fight to the finish.

What do you (not) like about this essay? Would you admit the student who wrote this essay to your university?