Essay #1:
The Middle Child
My sister, Rachel, is reserved, polite, and has read more books than can fit on her shelf. In addition to being the scholar of the family, she always does the right thing. My brother, Aaron, takes being the baby to heart. He’s thirteen, and is 5’9, but is still a mama's boy. He’s also a star athlete who continues to amaze us every year. People often label me “the forgotten child” and manage a look of sympathy when they learn that I have an older sister and a younger brother. The middle position in the birth order seems to automatically place me in the shadows of accomplishments made by the first sibling, and parental doting over the last. But the assumption that I will always be overlooked has sparked a desire to stand out. Where it’s assumed I will be vulnerable I summon resilience, and when I’m expected to be passive I strive to be assertive.
My siblings often join together to instigate fights with me, but I eventually learned how to not be taken advantage of. At first this was difficult, but one day my grandmother stepped in to help me find my way. Rachel, Aaron, and I would always argue over who would get to use the shower first. One time I called dibs on showering first (calling dibs was serious in my family). I grabbed my towel and walked up to my room to get my pajamas when I heard the shower turn on. I tried to get in the bathroom, but the door was locked. Rachel was in the shower. I yelled that I had called dibs, but she said I was too slow. Aaron overheard and agreed I hadn’t been fast enough. Devastated, I ran to my grandmother with tears running down my face. I told her I would always be mistreated as the middle child. She said that in life people will try to walk all over me if I let them, but I have to stand my ground.
After that talk I’ve found ways to be true to myself. Sometimes my family teases me by telling jokes at my expense, but I know how to roll with the punches and laugh along with them. When I’m playing soccer I don’t let my coaches or my teammates get to me either. I once had a coach who would try to break me down, but I pushed myself harder to prove to him that I was not impacted by his negative ways. Being a middle child has taught me how to be resilient, and when I should be assertive. Having an older sister is like having a second mom, and Rachel loves to tell me what to do. When we were younger we would play a Disney Princess game on the Wii, but I would never be able to explore the parts of the game I wanted to. I would just follow Rachel around the map as she took on every challenge. My Wii controller even had a number 2 on it.
Before I knew it Aaron started following me. He did whatever I wanted to do because I had become the leader. The first thing I did was assign Aaron the second Wii controller. Finally, I held the first one. In the Disney princess game we had to guide our characters through the map so they were never lost. Helping the character find success gave me the desire to guide people in real life. I am confident in my abilities as a leader and have been recognized for my leadership skills. I was named captain of my soccer team and have been “team captain” for many school events. Having an older sister and a younger brother has allowed me to play both parts: the leader and the follower, and this has helped shape me into the strong and decisive person I am today.
Essay #2:
A Father’s Daughter
From a young age I realized that I didn’t have a relationship with my father like all the other girls did. I did not spend a lot of time with him when I was younger because he was always working, so I can count on my hands all of the things we've done together. He never taught me how to ride a bike, we never had tea parties, and he never read me any bedtime stories. I never got to go with him to the Daddy Daughter Dance that my elementary school hosted, yet almost every girl in my grade went with their fathers. I remember I saw pictures of them on my mom's Facebook page. They were all dressed up in pink fluffy dresses with their hair curled and pink lip gloss on, and I envied them. I didn’t envy them because of what they looked like, but because their fathers looked at them with the brightest smiles on their faces. After I saw this I lay in my bed and cried for hours when I was supposed to be sleeping. I have never felt truly loved by my father because he has not been a strong presence in my life; however, my relationship with him has helped define me as a more caring and considerate person.
Due to the absence of my father during my childhood, I have become more sensitive to the needs of others, especially those who do not have a strong parental presence in their life. For example, this past summer I worked as a counselor at a day camp in my community. One of my campers, a little girl, lost her mother a week before camp started. When I found out about this I made every effort to pay more attention to her. When she showed up to camp I braided her hair and played special games with her. I wanted to make sure she knew that I cared for her, and that if she needed anything she could always ask me. I believe being kind and attentive towards others will not only help me form meaningful and beneficial relationships at college, but also prepare me for my intended major, which is political science. I plan to one day work as a lawyer and I know that to be successful in my career I not only need to be ambitious, but also compassionate.
Although my relationship with my father has affected me in negative ways, it has also made me a sympathetic figure for those who may need an advocate and a friend. I try to always consider what people are going through around me, and I help them out whenever I can. I used to think that acting out would make my father pay more attention to me, but it never did. I eventually learned how to channel my focus and energy into my school work and extracurricular activities, and since I have done that he has started to take notice. In addition to being a camp counselor, I am also the ninth grade key club representative; I have been inducted into the National Honor Society; and I play a varsity sport. Through this experience with my father I realized the disappointments from my past can help create a positive future.
Essay #3:
My Passion
“I feel like I haven’t really known you,” my father said to me one Sunday afternoon. We were sitting in his office, the doors were closed, and there was nothing but the gentle sound of air coming through the vents to break the silence. He asked me what I wanted to write about for my college application essay, and what my passion is. I paused for a moment, because I am passionate about video games, but was hesitant to say so because I knew he didn’t necessarily approve. After a long pause I told him, “Video games give me a sense of accomplishment. I love to truly understand a game so that I can master it and complete everything it has to offer. They also allow me to easily socialize with many different kinds of people both cooperatively and competitively. Most importantly, playing video games has encouraged me to overcome challenges that I’m often faced with in the real world.”
A good example of this was when I started playing a game called Risk of Rain 2. Initially, I was not very good at it. It seemed like it would be impossible to attain mastery over it, but the challenge of overcoming the impossible is something that I don’t shy away from. After struggling a bit, I decided to dedicate some time to researching how I could advance. I read guides that offered advice on improvement and watched informational videos on Youtube. I also consulted with people who were more knowledgeable than I was about the difficulties the game posed. I’m the type of person who is willing to listen to others, and learn from those I know have more experience than I do. As I improved, I increased the difficulty of the game in order to challenge myself and soon achieved mastery over it.
This way of approaching challenges not only applies to video games, but to real life as well. A good example was in my physics class, when we were assigned a worksheet nearly every day. I felt like I didn’t quite understand how to do them because the problems were unclear to me. After attempting to do the worksheets, I decided to approach the teacher before school for help, which I continued to do most days that year. Because of this, I was able to excel on the worksheets, which translated into the highest grade in the class. During the semester, some fellow classmates seemed to be struggling to understand, so I decided to help. Almost daily, I would sit at a table in the lunchroom and help them to better understand the material. Sometimes they would point out a mistake I had made, and I was grateful for their correction. My goal was for all of us to succeed in the class. This mindset that was developed from playing video games helped me to do incredibly well in this class and other areas of life.
After I expressed my passion to my father he said, “I feel like I haven’t really known you, but I’m just getting to know you better. I’m sorry for looking down on your passion.” I now know that putting hard work into completing and mastering a task, whether it’s playing a video game, or understanding a concept in school, pays off. I learned that I am the type of person to persevere when faced with a difficult situation and seek information I am missing. I also understand the importance of accepting other people's passions, even if that passion seems odd to me. I know that they really enjoy it and I should encourage and build community with others, rather than bringing them down or judging them.