Thursday, September 21, 2017
Introducing....ME!
When you apply for college next year, you'll likely be required to write essays for your application for admission. Because schools are interested not only in the academic potential of their students but also in their personal qualities, these essay prompts often ask about ethos-what kind of character the applicant has. For this assignment, click on this link to the common app essays and respond to one of the prompts in a blog NO LONGER than 650 words. It need not be that long, but cannot exceed 650 words. Identify with an asterisk * sentences that establish arete, phronesis and eunoia within your essay.
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A major challenge I faced within my life was dealing with both of my parents being diagnosed with cancer. I was very young at the age of about eleven when my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was old enough to understand what it was but was unsure of the possible outcomes. She battled through it but was in Pittsburgh hospital for a long time. Still very young I did not know much about what was happening. My mom became better and started to get our entire family involved in raising money to find a cure for cancer. Through doing this I learned to help others and that a lot of other people have it worse to the point of even losing a family member to cancer. It made me realize how lucky I was to have my mom. Not long after, about two years later my dad was diagnosed with colon cancer. This time though I realized that I could lose my father depending on how long he has had the cancer develop within him and how serious it was. At this point I was very nervous and had long nights thinking about what could happen, I was very scared and I'm sure my family was too. Through months of checkups, chemo therapy, et cetera my father became great. Yet again one of my parents strived through cancer and was good. *This situation really influenced my life teaching me to try and help others more often because many other people have this experience and have it worse off. It gave me a spark in my belief with God. Before this situation I believed in God but i did not really care I was little and just thought to believe in him because others in my life did, but I was not going to go out of my way beforehand because I had more interest in my mind like legos and television. The situation had given me the quality of how to have hope and faith in something because without hope and faith life will be a struggle. After both of my parents having cancer and becoming very involved with others who had it I had overcome the question I had of what life is about. *It is about helping others and having hope in what your beliefs are because life is much easier to conquer together than alone.
ReplyDeleteNick, I am glad that even despite all of the hardships that came your way, you learned what would be important in the end. You learned the significance of faith and hope, and that is unparalleled in value.
DeleteLife is absolutely so much easier to conquer together than alone. Sometimes we need to understand that we do not know everything and that we do need help and we should not second guess that.
DeleteI guess you can say at some point in a persons life they will face some major challenge. Some peoples challenges will be bigger than others but at some point you will have one. I personally have never liked writing about my life. Usually on the first day of school they make you say interesting things about yourself. I dread having to do this, I really do hate talking about myself. I have had a struggle in my life but compared to some peoples struggles it could've been worse. I don't really like to talk about it because most people really don't care which has made me put on a mask showing them I don't care either. People don't like tragedies and they often push them off because they think if you don't think about them, did they really happen. The answer is yes those tragedies did happen and so did my brothers death. On September 26th 2014 my brother Donovan was in Guam on some op with a bunch of other marines. While I was sleeping safely in my bed around 2am our time Donovan was drowning. I had no idea that my life was changing forever so when my alarm went off in the morning I got up like normal and went to school. I went through the entire day at school not knowing and my parents were in Dubois celebrating their anniversary. All was great until the Marines came looking for us. My nephew and I were at school and I was leaving for my soccer game while my parents and sister-in-law were at home sitting on our couch receiving the news that Donovan was M.I.A. My dad came to school to pick us up and I was angry because I didn't know why I couldn't go to my game because he wouldn't say anything. When we got home we were in my driveway when Tiffany, Donovan's wife came out of the house crying and I knew in that split second that something happened to Donovan. I looked at my dad and he told me that Donovan was missing he didn't give me the details because before he could I collapsed on the ground sobbing, I cried harder then I ever though got possible and he had to catch me. I've heard people say around me before while watching movies that people don't cry that hard and that they can't act, but those people are beyond wrong because I know first hand how hard someone can cry. Throughout the next couple weeks and the last couple years this experience has made me stronger. I dealt with him being missing and being presumed dead and it changed me. *I was in a bad place for awhile and lost some friends but after awhile I learned to use my hardship for the better and built myself into the person I am today. I'm a lot tougher than I was three years ago and I know how to help people who loose someone because I know what they are going through because I've been there myself. I'm able to understand some loss that others can't and I've been there for people who have gone through a tragic loss like myself. I still deal with this everyday and it's hard but manageable, there are times though when the people I'm closest to make it hard. Sometimes people will say things and I'll say something like “When Donovan and Casey went to school here this happened” and at the mention of my brother they get uncomfortable and completely ignore me and remove me from the discussion. Talking makes it easier so why shouldn't I be allowed to say Donovan's name? I will never know but this will help me continue to become stronger just like everyday since then has made me who I am.
ReplyDeleteWow shannon, I'm proud of you for getting through that. I like that you can turn your loss into a positive!
DeleteShannon, I cannot believe the struggle you have endured! Many people would just take it to the worst but you have allowed it to impact your life in the best manner.
DeleteThat's something really personal, and to share what that felt like for you must have taken a lot of courage. Seriously, Shannon, that takes some real strength.
DeleteThe dichotomy between self-sufficiency and dependency has been one to rule my life for over a decade and a half. For as long as I can remember, I have straddled the line which separates the two, never quite happy with my place between them. I spent much of my youth, as many others do, with a false sense of autonomy. I tried for maturity whenever I could, but I often found myself receding back into the comfort of childish action. It was simple, and it was alright. With time, however, I came to realize that this independence was only a farce, but instead of reacting with frustration, I slowly became enraptured with the concept as a whole. I did not necessarily want to grow up, but I also did not want to be reliant on others, despite quite clearly being completely dependent on my parents and any other authority figures in my life. I listened, and I acted as I should have and how I was expected to. All the while, I dreamed of some future wherein I did not need anyone. I desperately wanted to see the day when I could live by myself and for myself. Now, nothing is quite so simple. I still find myself clamoring for any semblance of independence, but I continuously stunt my own development in reaching that end. Independence is not isolation, and yet I continue to lose the focus and differentiation between the two. I fall back into the patterns from my youngest days, declining responsibility and avoiding obligation. I lack the trust and interest in others vital to the survival of my relationships with friends, family, and peers. I put up walls, and I habitually hurt those closest to me. I often find myself wondering how I got to this point. I ask myself how I went from who I was in childhood to who I am now. It has taken quite a bit of thought, but I have come to the realization that the real difference between the me of today and the me of ten years ago is that I understand my failures.* I see my faults, and I know who I would have to be in order to overcome them. I know I need to be more open, honest, and compassionate; I know I need to grow.* This is not to say that I have ever been completely apathetic. I still care about others, worry for their wellbeing, and try to relate with them.* Despite this all, I am still filled with doubt. I am left wondering time and again if what I do will ever be enough.
ReplyDeleteAnna, one of the most necessary objectives for someone is to know themselves to the best extent. I think that you did a good job touching base with that in your life.
DeleteI liked how you can see and understand you failures. That can be a very good quality. Although it was very hard for me to read this because of your intense vocabulary.
DeleteSome people have problems, a great quality about themselves, or a challenge they have overcome. But I have seven brothers and sisters. My big family, however has caused me some problems, challenges, but they also have shaped me to be the person I am today*. I am the second oldest out of eight children. I have an older brother, five younger brothers, and one younger sister. Being in a big family, has taught me selflessness. When you have that many people in your house, you learn to share your things whether you want to or not. Six brothers and a baby sister always insures that you'll have a friend. We fight a lot but we know that If one of us gets into trouble, no one will just stand by and watch. As you can imagine growing up with all boys has definitely made me tough. Up until my sister, Mary Claire, was born I was the only girl in the family. This, as you can probably tell, really made me toughen up. I never had barbies, or watched princess movies. While other girls were dressing up and playing house, I was playing football and taking hikes in the woods. Being in a large family has not always been easy either. We have hardships and faults just like everyone else. Although we are catholic, people often think we are repulsive. They sometimes thing we have many different parents, or that our parents are nasty. Although these people can be really mean, we can easily overlook them. We don't dwell on the fact that other people think we are gross because we know that we aren't. I don't want this to seem like my big family deprived me of my childhood, because if anything they gave me a perfect childhood and the ability to grow up well. Everyone in my family is two years apart, so my older brother is 16 years older than my baby sister. So when I go into college, my sister will be going into kindergarten. This age gap, as you can imagine, has made me grow up in order to be a good influence and caretaker for my little siblings. Being in a big family is hard, annoying, fun, amazing, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how your talked about ignoring the judgments that come from other poeple, that's something we can all take away from this.
DeleteRena, I do think that this situation has really formed you in a good way into the person you are today. I feel as though you have matured through being a caretaker that you continue to have a great sense of fun through being surrounded with your younger siblings.
DeleteEveryone faces challenges and struggles throughout their lives. A huge challenge everyone has to go through at some point is losing someone in your family. I have experienced the pain and struggle of going through the funeral and burial, but, for me at least, there is something even worse than that. In the fall of 2014, my cousin had admitted to my family that she had a drug problem. While disappointed, we were all there for her and willing to support her through her recovery. She started taking medications to suppress the symptoms of withdrawal, but little did we know it was creating more problems. This medication was worsening her already bad asthma. That October, we got a call from my aunt who was sobbing. My cousin’s lung had collapsed, and because of what happened by the time the ambulance got there she was now in a coma. That weekend I went to mass on Sunday and prayed for her, and when it was over my mom and I made the three hour trip to see her and her family. I walked into her room and saw her connected to tubes and wires. But what was the hardest came later that night, when I sat alone in what seemed like an empty hospital, while I prayed and cried alone. This experience taught me two major things in life. One being that life really cannot be taken for granted. We hear this all the time but it never really sinks in. One day my cousin was playing volleyball with her younger sister and laughing and smiling, and the next she was laying in hospital bed. The other is that family really is so important. I have never lived close to my extended family, and honestly we don't usually get along very well. Truth is, my best friend’s family sometimes feels more like one to me than my own does. But it is so important to put these things aside as much as possible and just appreciate and love the people around you. *These life lessons taught me the biggest thing in life, nothing can be taken for granted.
ReplyDeleteShout out to my family! I really like that you brought prayer into your essay, it shows that you can seek God in times of need. I'm sure the colleges would really like that.
DeleteI like I really like how you made a point out of stressing that nothing can be taken for granted. At any moment something could happen that could change your life forever.
DeleteThat's a really great thing that you believe that family is so important, it really is. Without family supporting us without us seeing that or not, it's such an important thing that affects us so much.
DeleteAn accomplishment to one person can be something on a completely different level to somebody else. For me, one of my greatest accomplishments that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of myself to others is when I transferred schools. There's a lot more to it than just catching up in classes that you hadn't started yet at your previous school. For me, I had to grow into a completely different person, a better person. Although it was a slow growth and is still in progress, I came a long way. I used to be someone who just sort of kept to them self and didn't tell anyone anything about anything at all. Now, I have become someone who still isn't completely out of that shell, but has come a little bit closer to being the person I want to be. I have decent grades and have been doing better than I ever was at Johnsonburg. This may be a small thing for many, switching schools is something that a lot of people do very often because of the jobs their parents have or financial problems, along with many other reasons. For me, it was because of the barricade that I had blocking me from reaching my full potential. I got around this barricade within a week. I left one school, enrolled for Elk County Catholic, and started going to ECC within one week. The best thing I decided to do during this was to not think too much about the transfer. My parents asked me if I was 100% sure that I wanted to switch and I just said “yes” with no second thoughts. Having no second thoughts was one of the best decisions I made during this process because it allowed me to do things I would never normally do. All it took was a simple “yes” and I was starting a completely new story. That's all it normally ever takes, but instead of just saying “yes” and facing my fears, I decide to overthink things and never follow through with plans and goals that I make.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you brought up the idea that a simple "yes" can make such a big difference in your life. I'm happy this change is helping you become the person you want to be.
DeleteI'm so happy you said yes Nolan, you are very brave. I have witnessed you grow into a different person since you came to ECC and you have shed your old shell almost completely.
DeleteI like how you said switching schools could be a negative for some people but you took it as a positive. It really shows your belief in change
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