<p>Would anyone be willing to give feedback on my personal statement? Thanks in advance! [:</p>
<p>Describe the world you come from for example, your family, community or school and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.</p>
<pre><code>I come from a world that is worlds away, with theatrical costumes, magical lighting, and incredible talent. The inhabitants flip, fly, and spend a surprising amount of time on their hands. Children often declare they will run away and join the world of the circus, but I never had to run away. Growing up with a father who broke the record for first quintuple summersault on a teeterboard, my world was full of extraordinary feats. Watching amazing artists my entire childhood, at age ten, I pleaded for a chance to become a circus performer too. After two years of relentless practices, repetitive skill mastery, and physical fatigue, I was presented with my first contract to perform. From that moment, the world I came from, became my world.
My first show was in Kansas City, Missouri, for a holiday spectacle. For the duration of the four hour flight, I marveled at how blessed I was to be given my first big break. I thought that all of the hard work and perseverance was finally over. Upon my arrival to the lounge, I realized my own foolish ignorance. The stage looked like a mammoth, ready to swallow me whole. The more seasoned artists were sprawled out in various stretches and made me feel even smaller than the tween I was. By showtime, the consuming fear had never left. I stumbled onto the stage, blinded by the lights, and distracted by the glaring faces in the audience. However, once I stepped onto my prop, a handbalancing table, the terror was like a ghost, instantly vanishing. I hopped into my one-arm stands with ease, and gracefully glided through my poses. When I took my bow, I heard an eruption of cheers and applause. This experience is etched in my mind like a tableau vivant that represents my own bildungsroman.
Becoming a contortionist helped me mature and understand myself more profoundly than I could have ever imagined. The circus has molded me by teaching me many important lessons. I learned the value of hard work by feeling the fulfillment of it paying off. It also influenced my ambitions. The hundreds of performances since the first made me realize that in my life, I crave to be challenged. I want to pour myself into a career in the same way that I poured myself into contortion. The circus made me realize that I aspire to inspire. In a career, I want to make people as amazed by biology as they are by a flexible handbalancer. The world I came from will always be the circus, but as I venture into the world of adulthood, I hope to have a career that becomes the world I grow into.
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