Why Am I Here? Creative Essay Example

Why am I here? That’s a tough question for me or anyone else to ask themselves and then truthfully answer. And I’ve come a long way — from China — to ask it and discover the answer.

I never thought that I would find myself at UCI, or at any college for that matter. I was not a particularly good student in middle school — I was a bad student actually. Dramas with girls and conflicts with guys began at that time, right on schedule. I struggled with myself and my parents and friends about all these problems. And that gave me a nice excuse to keep right on being a bad student during my first year of high school.

But then things abruptly changed. My parents told me I would have to finish high school in Alabama, of all places. I didn’t like the idea at all at the time, but now I realize I have my parents to thank for forcing this upon me, because that was the point at which my whole future changed: at age sixteen, I had to grow up, to sink or swim.

With the start of my American life, I faced alone the cultural shock of dealing with an entirely new kind of high-school world. I started to pay attention in class, and to go to church every weekend. I recognized how much pressure my parents felt for me to succeed, how much expectation their own world was putting on them.  The clarity of this insight made me feel reborn, and I began to face all the things that the young have to face sooner or later: that we are not put on this earth free of responsibility. We have to pull our own weight.

I’ve now spent four years of my life in the United States. As a sophomore at UCI, I’ve came a long way to be where I am today. My freshman year began in the summer of 2013. I started with the Academic English program. I’ve taken four different courses in the program in order to get to the 39 Series, which, with its essays and deadlines, really challenged me.  But all good effort is rewarded, and last quarter I finished the 39 Series and entered the 39A Series. However, I also had to take Math 2B. Mathematics is hard on English majors, and I am no exception. I spent so much time working with numbers that I only got a C- working with words.     That was a shock. I was so rattled by it that I just decided to double down and apply to retake English 39A. Unfortunately, all of those classes were full. That was a very real problem, because if I could not retake the course that quarter, my parents would have to foot the bill for another one. But as I mentioned above, all good effort is rewarded. I persisted, finally meeting Abbey an accommodating instructor who enrolled me in her class.

So, why am I here? At the most basic level, I’m here to get a better grade in the 39A Series. And I’m here to graduate with a high GPA. But more broadly, I’m here to train myself to become a better me. I’m here to become someone who will meet and uphold all the responsibilities of my family. I’m here to earn the faith that my parents had, and have, in me. I’m here to prepare for all the things I can and must prepare for before can I step into another real world — a new world where I will have to grow up, all over again, right on schedule.

All good effort is rewarded.