<p>This is my first attempt. I think I went off topic. In any case, I would appreciate all the input you guys put in. </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>
<p>I never completely accepted the idea of leaving my family in India. Now, I did eventually leave my family but it was due to being forced. We were living on a very large farm, with a total of 5 families living on it. As I was growing up in this house, with a multitude of cousins and a little brother, I learned the values that embody the meaning of family. We woke up together, bathe together (not in that way), ate together, studied together and slept together; everything we did, we did together. As we grew older, our values and beliefs did not change. We stopped the bathing part, but we stayed together. In fact, we defined the word together. If you looked up the meaning of together, the definition would tell you to look at us. One of the values I learned from staying together was equality; a value that is somewhat lost today. “The special feature of the Sikh of the Guru is that he goes beyond the framework of caste-classification and moves in humility. Then his labor becomes acceptable at the door of God” (The Vaars of Bhai Gurdas Ji, 1). Coming from a very religious family, this is one of the teachings I received from my family my teachers. I remember the day when I demonstrated this learned value. Normally, in India, there is a caste system that society follows and still follows today. The story goes, I was playing in the hay stacks with a lesser, an orphan who was used as a servant. He and I were playing for hours without end; after some time, a neighbor saw me playing with him and commanded me, yeah he commanded me, to stop playing with him. He told me how dirty he is, how bad he smells, how below me he is, and etc. The neighbor raised his voice and grabbed me. I fought back and told him no. I told him how I didnt care about those things, how I just wanted to play with him, and how many similarities we shared. I stood up for my friend; I didnt care if he was lesser or not, all I cared about was to play with him. The neighbor, shocked at my rebellion, went to my house and told my grandfather. When I went home, my grandfather called for me. I was scared; I thought that a beating was coming. So as I headed for my grandfather, my chin was hanging low and my nose was sniveling. My grandfather told me to come close to him. Oh how scared I was. I waddled on over to him and he stood up; he gave me a hug! He told me how proud he was of what I had done. He told me that he saw his teachings in me! Imagine that! Imagine your true role model telling you this; it was amazing! According to my family, one should control and get rid of Krodth (Anger). I was always told that I am my weakest when I am angry. I thought about it a lot. I thought how one can be weak when one is in complete rage; I didnt make sense. My family told me that I will figure it out as I grow older and wiser. They were right. After some terrible mistakes, which cost me friendships and trust, I learned. I learned one makes poor decisions and gets carried away in anger to act upon the tasks one later regrets. Once I understood that, I felt as if it were too late; too late for me to gain back what I had lost. “Do not meet or even approach people whose hearts are filled with horrible anger” (Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 40). I learned there is no good anger; I was mad that I lost my friends. I lost them by being mad at them. I learned through mistakes and by doing. Aristotle once said, “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them”. Through the life long process of doing and making mistakes, I shaped my dreams and aspirations. I cant wait to leave my town to visit my family again. I cant wait to leave town to meet new people, explore new places, take challenging courses, and learn more about myself and how the values Ive learned will apply to the open world.</p>