| New Member
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 3
| past two summers essay
Can someone read this and give me comments?
:]
Please and thank you
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Unlike most students, I knew after finals, I packed my bags and hopped onto a plane headed to Vietnam for summer of 2008. I had not decided nor did I want to go to Vietnam, but eventually, my relatives were able to convince my parents in letting me go. My parents knew that I did not want to go, but they wanted me to experience their native country and realize how “fortunate” I am to be in the United States. On the long flight across the Pacific Ocean, I sat beside my grandma and uncle. As I waited for the landing, I thought to myself, maybe this would not be as bad as I thought it would to be. Yet, when I arrived, I watched my grandma and uncle receive warm greetings from my relatives, while I was given cold stares. I told myself that maybe it was because they had never met me before, but after trying to be the “nice” girl, I soon realized that my relatives did not like me. Whenever they saw me, they would stare, look down, and then sigh. To them, I was a spoiled, ungrateful, American raised girl. I ended up being left out of family outings, and isolated at my relatives' house. It was one of the worse summers of my life and I counted the days to when I would return back to my beloved California. As I came back to the United States I vowed that the summer of 2009 would be “my summer.”
In the winter of 2008, I spent a lot of time researching summer programs and decided to take the chance and apply to Harvard University’s Summer School. Since I had already heard many interesting stories and experiences about Harvard from alumnus, I thought that it would be a great opportunity and learning experience. Though I was skeptical as to if I would be accepted into the program, I had a strong desire to participate in it.
Not soon after I applied, I received the acceptance letter, it was such a privilege to be admitted into one of the most prestigious schools in the country. Before I knew it, I started my 7 weeks at Harvard. When I was there, I studied Law and Psychology, and 20th Century: Modernism to Post-Modernism Literature. Attending the summer school allowed me access to all the university resources, from being taught by top-notch professors to experiencing the independence and atmosphere of a college life style. Everything was overwhelming and intimidating at first because the academics were rigorous. You were not required to do the assignments, but expected to. It was a challenging knowing that I only had two grades(Law and Psychology) in one, while the other three in one (20th Century: Modernism to Post-Modernism Literature). Although everything seemed to be slightly overwhelming, I was able to participate in intellectual discussions and meet people from all around the world. I found it fascinating how the people spoke. The way they spoke automatically gave a sense of how different, yet similar we were to one another. Despite my difficulties adjusting to the college life, I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of it.
Throughout the time I was there, I created goals for myself to achieve. My main goal was to find my voice and make use of it. I was missing out on having a voice. I wanted to say things to people around me, but I was too hesitant and afraid. I was getting tired of not being able to say things that were on my mind making me somewhat invisible, I wanted this to change. As my classes started to progress I started slowly started beginning to speak up and voice my ideas, questions, and observations to other people. When I spoke it was hard to especially since one of my classes consisting of undergraduates and graduate students, while the other had about 300 students. I slowly raised my hand as my knees were shacking, I said what I thought about the topic, afterwards I felt a sense of relief and accomplishment. I have always been the quiet girl with nothing to say always sitting the back corner of the class hiding behind a book observing everything around me. This change has transformed me into someone confident and it has given me more faith in myself.
Empahis/bigger words
Being at Harvard allowed me to meet more people and learn a great deal about myself, my goals in life, my dreams for the future, and most importantly, my identity: who I want to be in this world. Before, I had been puzzled by which colleges I wanted to attend, major choices, and everything in life. Now I have learned that I need take little steps in getting to my goals while enjoying the ride. I had the time of my life during the summer of '09. It was completely incomparable to my previous summers. This summer program has put all my previous summers to shame.
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