Significant Experience, Admission Essay Example

All of us are the outcome of our life experiences. As I take this opportunity to critically evaluate myself, I realize that two experiences have shaped me more than any other events. These two experiences have completely changed my views on life and the world and they may also be the reason why I have more confidence in myself as well as a positive attitude towards life.

The first experience was the death of my father and at the time, I was a college freshman. Up to that point I was doing well in academics but after the loss of my dad, my grades started declining. Eventually, I dropped out but instead of taking personal responsibility, I blamed the loss of my dad to psychologically relieve myself of the guilt of dropping out. I knew somewhere inside my heart that my father’s loss was not really a valid excuse because both good and bad things are part of life but I didn’t have to courage to admit my mistake.

One of my childhood friends was struggling with alcohol addiction and his mom asked me to intervene. When I talked to my friend, he replied that alcohol was his way of dealing with stress and life problems. I responded that we can choose to ignore problems but that doesn’t mean they will go away. Sooner or later we have to deal with them otherwise we may have to pay high price. I also tried to persuade him that it is better to deal with life problems through one’s personal strength than through artificial means such as alcohol or smoking that only provide temporary escape and that too at the cost of huge health risks. While I was talking to my friend, it suddenly struck me that I should also have dealt with my father’s loss through my personal strength and not use it as an excuse to ignore my responsibilities as a student. I should have known that now I am on my own and my future is in my own hands.

The second experience was finding out that I have testicle cancer. Even though testicular cancer has far better survival rates than other cancer types but the word ‘cancer’ alone is enough to drive you into deep depression. Moreover, I didn’t know at the time of diagnosis that the survival rate of patients with testicle cancer is much better than other cancer types. But I am proud of the fact that instead of pitying myself, I decided to be strong and told myself that I am going to do everything I can to beat the cancer. I didn’t let it affect my normal life and also understood the importance of relationships such as friends and family. Now I knew I should not have tried to bear the loss of my father by myself and there is nothing wrong in asking for help when it is available.

I have decided to come back to college because I have matured and know that there is nothing I can do about the past so instead of regretting my actions, I should focus on improving my present and future. I also have great self-belief as well as sense of responsibility and I know this time I will excel in academics and take every challenge with courage and determination. I am more motivated than ever before because I also want to make up for time lost as well as show my appreciation to those who have helped me become who I am today. I want to prove to myself that our fate is in our own hands and those who succeed in life are the ones who do not let disappointments stop them. I now believe that failure is not coming short of achieving desirable results but instead failure is to give up.