<p>Hello, could you please read my personal essay and tell me what you think of it? Any suggestions?</p>
<p>Every little boy wants to be a superhero. Standing out from the crowd and being loved by many is something most children dream about. For me it was not a dream. It was a mission towards adulthood.</p>
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<p>It was my first year of secondary school. I had made friends, and was starting to feel at ease. I hadn’t seen my old friends from elementary*school for over a year. One day, I saw Elliot from afar. I did not recognize him instantly, but a smile spread across my face as I felt the warmth of meeting an old friend. As I went up to greet him, I noted an air of indifference come over him. He limply grasped my hand and turned around. He joined his other friends who were exchanging sneers. From amongst the group, I could discern Alban, another old friend. He was hiding his face beneath his arms, sprawled out on the table. When he finally glanced at me, I realized not only that it was him, but also, that he was avoiding me. He was too embarrassed to even say hi to me. </p>
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<p>It dawned upon me that this gap in time had brought about unanticipated changes. I had always been overweight. I shunned it and never accepted that it was my responsibility. However, starting a new journey into adolescence gave me a fresh perspective on the matter. My old friends did not accept or even acknowledge me but ridiculed me because of my physical appearance. This epiphany was very painful and made me realize that I wanted and needed to change. The time had come to take control. At the age of 15, I joined the gym and my quest toward superhero status had begun.</p>
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<p>My first step into the gym evoked images of Adonis-like super-humans, such as Superman. I wanted to become one of these aesthetically superior beings. All I wanted was relief from the pain of being ridiculed. I needed to stand up for myself, and prove myself to everyone else.</p>
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<p>Years later, as I started to obtain the physical advantages one seeks so dearly in a rigorous weight-lifting program, the other, more mature, aspects of being a superhero revealed themselves in plain light. Superman is not only a being with astonishing physical features, but also an empathetic, caring figure, who would risk his life for other people. My one-dimensional ideal of a superhero had now evolved. </p>
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<p>As this realization dawned upon me, I started to mimic these other, not so superficial features of being a superhero. I understood how it was to be on the receiving end of ridicule and mockery. <em>At school, when an overweight boy was running laps around the track, my friends sneered at him. I was the only one to scold them. Another time, at an attraction park, a disabled man was being pushed through some doors. For me, it was like when superman transforms in a phone-booth. I went to offer assistance to the handicapped man and help him enter the room while everyone else just went about getting on with the park visit. In school, I was extremely competitive in physics class with little cognizance of struggling students. Eventually, I realized that physics was more challenging to others</em>than to me, so I decided to offer a helping hand by tutoring and making my study notes accessible. All students passed well that year and I was relieved that I could make a difference. I had finally brought out the true superhero I had yearned for for so many years.</p>
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<p>What started out as a childhood vision of strength and freedom from ridicule evolved into a vision of kindness, empathy and helpfulness and thus began my path towards adulthood. No matter how adult one looks on the outside, it is one’s inside that defines when one is no longer a helpless child but a full grown superhero.</p>