23 Feb Write an essay describing that information. You might include exceptional hardships, challenges or opportunities that have shaped or impacted your abilities or academic credentials, personal
writing project and need an explanation and answer to help me learn.
I’m applying to transfer to some colleges and need feedback on my 2 essay. There are two topics:
Topic A: The statement of purpose will provide an opportunity to explain any extenuating circumstances that you feel could add value to your application. You may also want to explain unique aspects of your academic background or valued experiences you may have had that relate to your academic discipline. The statement of purpose is not meant to be a listing of accomplishments in high school or a record of your participation in school-related activities. Rather, this is your opportunity to address the admissions committee directly and to let us know more about you as an individual, in a manner that your transcripts and other application information cannot convey.
Topic C: There may be personal information that you want considered as part of your admissions application. Write an essay describing that information. You might include exceptional hardships, challenges or opportunities that have shaped or impacted your abilities or academic credentials, personal responsibilities, exceptional achievements or talents, educational goals or ways in which you might contribute to an institution committed to creating a diverse learning environment.
Requirements: no requirements, as long as needed
How was work today, Mom??
Pretty good. But we will need to go somewhere else tomorrow.? My mom answered as she entered the car. I have gotten used to her pretty good? answer and didnt ask anything else. It was the 10th job she applied for this month, and she did not work for any place for more than two days. But my incredible mom has never thought of giving up, simply because we know a new immigrant family in America like us has bills to pay. Sometimes I asked myself: Is this the American Dream that everyone was talking about??
If you are a Vietnamese who has just moved to the United States, everyone tells you to work as a nail technician because it is the king of jobs for Vietnamese people. My mom was an exception. She kept getting rejected no matter how hard she tried. She applied to so many nail salons in Houston that until today, wherever I go in Houston, I would drive past one of the salons she used to work at. Fortunately, her cooking skills unexpectedly opened new hope for our thriving family. People started recognizing her cooking skills as she cooked food for her co-workers. At the same time, the pandemic caused a dramatic decrease in nail technicians income. Therefore, she eventually decided to stay home to open an online food store. Our online store was doing great. Even though we were reported to the Houston Health Department and not allowed to continue cooking at home, it was a blessing in disguise. Because not too long after we stopped selling online, we could finally open a restaurant to continue our growing food business. During the first few months, our income from the restaurant was more than enough to save our family from the financial crisis we were facing. But life does not go smoothly all the time.
The high income comes with an extremely high volume of work. In the first year of opening the restaurant, it was challenging to hire staff because many people refused to work to get free unemployment funds from the government since COVID-19. As a result, our whole family had to work by ourselves from morning to night, seven days a week, to keep the business running. Even though it was exhausting, my parents were happy because we eventually gained a little success after months of struggling. However, I was not feeling good. Working intensively messed up my college education because every day, when I got home around 9 PM, I would be too exhausted to study for classes. As time passed, the homework I missed kept building up, along with my stress. Sometimes during that time, I teared up in the restroom of our business about being overwhelmed with the business and coursework. My grades got worse and worse; my Canvas inbox was filled with e-mails asking my professors for extensions; my to-do list kept getting longer and longer. When my parents learned about my situation at school, they did not allow me to continue working at the restaurant. But despite all the stress, I insisted on helping them because how could I stand watching my parents working their fingers to the bones feeding the family?
But tough time passes, and tough people last. What doesnt kill you makes you stronger.? We finally hired some new people to work with us. The business crisis eventually settled, and we had many customers. I finished the stressful semester with three As and a B grade. That experience trained me to be tough when facing stress and taught me excellent time management for years to come. I am now ready to tackle a bigger challenge at a new university fearlessly. I am proud and grateful for my parent’s hard work; I would not have been here without them. And pressure makes diamonds. Without the pressure from those hard times, I would not be the diamond I am today.
The American Dream? is such a popular term that everyone, no matter where they come from, knows about it. As a high school student in Vietnam who was passionate about computer technologies, especially in the research of Artificial Intelligence (AI), hardly a day goes by without me finding innovations that happen in the United States of America. I was so impressed. Thats when I knew the best place possible for me to become a skillful Artificial Intelligence programmer is the U.S. Fortunately, my father, who was working for the U.S Consulate General in Saigon, put in an enormous effort to earn a spot for my family to become an official residence in America.
The first week of May 2019, 3 months after settling in America, I had to make an important academic decision: to finish my high school program quickly or stay for another year. So, I took people’s advice and pursued a college education at a local community college. You can go to Houston Community College (HCC) for two years and then transfer to a two-year program at the University of Houston (UH),? for someone who is trying to adapt to a new education system like me, it was not the wrong route to take. However, everything has its pros and cons. While going to a community saves me much money, the environment there made me realize that the school was not for me. As a student whose top priority is his academic career, I was disappointed that many fellow HCC students with the same background dont take their studying seriously. Many consider college education something their parents told them to get, or they already had other plans for their future. Therefore, they dont put effort into what they do in classes. Moreover, only a small number of the graduated students I know got a job because the local school did not have a lot of good connections and programs. That is why I decided that I needed an environment where I could work with people who share a burning passion like me. And when I heard my friend studying at the University of Texas (UT) in Austin talk about the school, I immediately decided where I needed to go for my future career.
Firstly, I was impressed at how the students at UT talk about their studies in such an exciting way filled with passion. It was the opposite of the feelings I had talking to my current classmates. Taking a trip guided by my friend around the campus felt different as the community was friendly and enthusiastic about what they were doing. My initial excitement eventually led me to find out more about the school online. Aside from being a top-ten computer science department nationally, UTs Computer Science Department holds so many exciting workshops and events; Im specifically excited about UTs AI Lab or the recently launched AI Masters Program? because a masters degree is also part of my long-term academic goal. Taking high-quality courses from award-winning professors like Dr. Lorenzo Alvisi or Dr. Inderjit Dhillon would be a huge career advantage with a solid foundation of knowledge, especially for a complicated major such as computer science. Though my journey to be a part of UT was not smooth, I did not give up.
The year after, the world was hit with COVID, forcing every school operation to continue remotely. Many students were shocked to have to adapt to a new learning system. I was no exception. Staying at home for a whole year was a nightmare for an extroverted person like me. At the same time, learning online was difficult because it was so easy to fall off track. The first semester with COVID was the worst in my academic career when I dropped all my courses due to being unable to keep up with the courses; part of it was because the depression from staying home made me unable to study effectively.
Like UT, I also want to transform myself and change the world. The past years at Houston Community College might not have given me the best education. Still, they filled me with experiences and the necessary skills to prepare for a university program. As a result, I know what to seek in a new and presumably better environment here at UT, where I have a limitless growth ceiling and numerous career opportunities.
