Marquette University, Admission Essay Example

To me, Marquette University means success; it means having a good future; and it means that one has made something of oneself.  I have dreamed about going to Marquette for as long as I can remember.  Looking into my closet, one would think that I am already a student.  I own more Marquette apparel than anyone I know.

Despite my desire to go to Marquette, I have run into setbacks that have prevented me from truly reaching my potential.  When I was six years old, I was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD).  This was somewhat of a shock to my family as school was really easy for me at that level.  As a result of the diagnosis, I was put on medication, which put a damper on my self-esteem and made me very anxious.  My parents took me to different doctors continually to try and find out why I was not doing better on the medication.  I did not have any social life and was not getting the straight A’s that I desired.  Furthermore, I did not seem to have all of the characteristics of ADD, which made it hard to take medication for an illness that we were not certain that I had.  My younger brother and sister would ask my parents if I could forego taking the medication on weekends because I was such a different person when I was not taking it.

I spent years seeing different doctors and changing medications.   In the eighth grade, I was diagnosed with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).  I was given an IQ test, told that I was very intelligent, and should be getting better grades. This made me feel worse instead of better.  For some reason, I still could not attain my goals.  Thankfully, my parents never gave up on me and continued to look for answers.  They managed to stumble upon a doctor who took a completely different approach than that of taking stimulant medications and anti-anxiety drugs.  He took some routine blood and urine tests, the results of which showed that I had toxic levels of metal in my system.  There is, apparently, a direct link between toxic levels of metal in one’s system and anxiety and ADD.

On my 16^th birthday, I began a detoxifying regime to rid my body of the metals that were keeping my system from functioning properly.  After six months, I began to feel better than I could recall ever feeling.  I believe that it gave me back the self-confidence that I lacked for nearly a decade.  After not having played sports since I was eight years old, I took up playing football as a junior in high school.  This was by far the hardest physical and mental activity that I have ever done.  Being part of the Xavier football team taught me determination, teamwork, and leadership.  I not only succeeded, but received a varsity letter for my accomplishments.

Although I continue to battle with some ADD tendencies such as focusing, it is not going to keep me from my dreams of becoming an attorney.  As a Catholic, faith has been a big part of my school life,  having attended  Catholic schools from kindergarten to the end of second grade.

My grades three to seven, inclusive, were taken in a public school, after which I returned to the Catholic Education System.  Making new friends and adjusting to a harder grading scale was difficult, but I knew that the benefits would outweigh the negative aspects.  I would love to pursue learning in the faith centered environment of Marquette University.  If given that opportunity, I feel that I can make a difference.