Practice essay -- what do you think?

<h2>I’m doing a lot of practice SAT tests in preparation for my upcoming real test :-S. How does this essay look? Any critique and opinions are welcome :)</h2>

<h2>Do changes that make our lives easier not necessarily make them better? </h2>

<p>My life is definitely easier in London than it was in Bulgaria. Up until the age of five, I lived with my mom in the small town of Yambol, in East Bulgaria. </p>

<p>Now, Bulgaria is not a bad place to live in at all – it is as technologically advanced as, say, the UK and the US. However, values in the smaller towns are much more traditional and give off a late 20th century vibe. </p>

<p>I remember the frequent earthquakes and the stray dogs. I remember tripping over dangerously uneven pavement. Hospitals are run down, the internet is slow, and don’t get me started on the necessity of uprooting your own potatoes for dinner. </p>

<p>We moved to the UK in 2003. The houses are new, the transport is beyond amazing, and the water has never been spontaneously stopped in order to fix old pipes under the building. </p>

<p>However, although life is easier in London, it is not better. Yes, groceries come straight to your door, but there’s nothing like running around barefoot over vast stretches of farmland, trying to guess what each plant is then getting to taste it for dinner. There’s nothing like playing hide and seek in the outskirts of the town, surrounded by sunflowers. I’d rather play volleyball over clothes-lines engulfed by climbing vines and vibrant flowers than over a sterile, dull net. </p>

<h2>The word “easy” is not a synonym for “better”, and there are reasons for this. My reason is the raw, wild feeling of living a challenging life – the feeling I lost when left my town. </h2>

<p>Theres really no typical format for the SAT essay. However im sorry to say this, this essay would probably get a 6/12. You should really go online and see past examples of essays that score above 10. Your intro is weak and your essay seems short. A study has proven those who filled up both pages of the sat essay generally scored higher. I believe its best to use historical and literature examples as it shows depth. Personal examples are fine, but usually they dont get a good score. Im not saying there arent good personal example essay, there are, but way too many people use them because they cant think of other examples. Buy the official sat study guide, it has amazing essays you can learn from.</p>

<p>Heres a perfect 12 essay from Collegeboards website</p>

<p>Memories act as both a help and a hinderance to the success of someone. Many people advise you to learn from the past and apply those memories so that you can effectively succeed by avoiding repeating your past mistakes. On the other hand, people who get too caught up with the past are unable to move on to the future.</p>

<p>Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night perfectly exemplifies the double nature of memories. Wiesel, a Jewish man, suffered heavily throughout the Holocaust and Night is rife with horrific descriptions of his experience. These memories help to spread the view of what life was like. Through recounting these memories, Wiesel is able to educate world readers about the atrocities committed in hopes that the same blatant violations of human rights are never repeated again. Through reliving the Holocaust through his writing, Wiesel was inspired to become proactive in the battle for civil rights. Some would point to his peaceful actions and the sales of his book and label him a success.</p>

<p>Despite the importance of recounting such memories, Wiesel acknowledges the damage that memories can also cause. Following his liberation from the Auschwitz concentration camp, Wiesel was a bitter, jaded man. He could not even write Night until several years later. The end of the novel describes Wiesel’s gradual but absolute loss of faith throughout the experience. His past experiences haunted him for several years, rendering him passive. It was not until he set aside his past that he could even focus on the future. Had he remained so consumed with the pain and damage caused in the past, he may never have achieved the success that he has attained.</p>

<p>Overall, Wiesel’s experiences exemplify the importance of the past as a guide. Wiesel’s past experiences helped to guide him in later life, but it was not until he pushed them aside that he could move on. To me this means that you should rely on your past without letting it control you. Allow your past to act as a guide, while making sure that you are also living in the present and looking to the future.</p>